Week 17 and Semester Exam

Reading - Chapter 6 pp 274-285; The Rocking-Horse Winner, Young Goodman Brown, and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.

Tuesday - Discuss Roccking-Horse
Wednesday - Discuss Goodman Brown
Thursday - Discuss Enormous Wings
Friday - Read and discuss A & P

The Semester Exam will be on Tuesday 12/15 at 12:30. It will take the entire two hours and will consist of two prompt essays and @ 35 MC questions. I would spend some time reviewing your rubrics/essay samples and any practice MC questions I have given you this semester before the Exam.

Itinerary: Short Fiction Chapter 5 and Pan

Tuesday 11/17 - Finish sample MCs, read Ch. 5 pp. 227-233 and The Lottery.
HW: The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, bring text and comp. books to class!

Wednesday 11/18 - Discuss The Lottery, comp. book work on Jilting
HW: Hills Like White Elephants

Thursday 11/19 - Comp. book work on White Elephants, then discussion
HW: Xingu papers!

Friday - Papers due. Composion book assessment/collection.
HW: Read and mark-up, Pan. I will collect annotated copies on Monday 12/30 and we will have a CPS quiz over the book. If you have any questions during the break, e-mail them to me by Saturday morning 11/28. I will check e-mail at noon and respond to all question at that time.

Short Fiction Itinerary #2

Week 12 -

Chapter 3 "Characterization"

Stories: Night Roamers, Sin, Everyday Use, Miss Brill

Story Quiz Thursday 11/5

Essay: The Ladies of Xingu: A Study in Characterization. Due (typed, double-spaced, no more than 1,500 words) Friday 11/20

Week 13 -

Chapter 4 "Theme"

Stories: A Fragment of Life, The Lesson, Gooseberries, A Worn Path

CPS Story Quiz Friday 11/13

3-Day Itinerary 10/23, 26, & 27

Friday 10/23 - Xingu/Roman Fever discussion in 100 Building Conference Room
HW: Ch. 2 pp 103-110 and The Destructors (111-124)

Monday 10/26 - AP Prompt Essay (9 pts.)
HW: How I Met My Husband (pp 125-140)

Tuesday 10/27 - In groups (A = Char/Julie/Caro/Emily; B = the boys; C = Emalie/Po/Grace)
answer ?s 1, 4, & 6 on p. 124 and 1, 4, & 7 on p. 141
HW: Read the article at the link below...does he persuade you?

http://american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/abolish-the-sat

Short Fiction Itinerary #1

Week 10 -

The Elements of Fiction Ch. 1
Stories: The Most Dangerous Game & Hunter's in the Snow

Reading quiz Wednesday 10/21
In-class essay Friday 10/23

Week 11 -

The Elements of Fiction Ch. 2
Stories: The Destructors, How I Met My Husband, & Interpreter of Maladies

Reading Quiz Friday 10/30

Questions to consider: Ode.

Is it a poem about nature? Childhood? Life? Death? Is it a religious poem? Is it a Christian poem? Is it about the subconscious? Who is the speaker? Is it an allegorical poem? What are the “Tree, of many, one” and the “single field”? What is the “something” that they speak of that is gone? Where did it go? Is the poem optimistic or pessimistic? How many different connotations of the word “nature” occur in the poem? Is it a poem about human nature? What ultimately are the “splendor in the grass” and “glory in the flower”? What is the “philosophic mind”? Is it a positive thing or a negative thing?

Poetry Paper #2

Poetry Paper #2 – Using the suggestions on pp 5-7 of “Writing about Literature” in Perrine’s and “The Book of Thel: An Analysis of Death as a Progenitor of Fear”, write a paper either analyzing Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations of Immortality. (See link below) This paper should be a minimum of 1,000 words, typed and double-spaced. We are going to workshop this paper, so you need to keep to the following schedule:

Thesis and outline of paper – Wednesday 10/7
First draft of paper – Friday 10/9
Second draft – Wednesday 10/14
Final draft – Friday 10/16

http://www.bartleby.com/101/536.html

Sample Paper

The Charles River Bridge Case

The Charles River Bridge CaseIn 1835, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall died. Since Marshall had served as Chief Justice for over 30 years and had done much to shape the Judiciary, no one quite knew what to expect when President Andrew Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney to replace him. (Henretta 327) Americans would soon find that Taney would not imitate Marshall’s pro-Federalist decisions. In 1837, the landmark case of Charles River Bridge Co. v. Warren Bridge Co. was decided by the Supreme Court. In 1785, the Massachusetts legislature had chartered the Charles River Bridge Company to construct a bridge connecting Charlestown to Boston. (Ariens 1) When the legislature allowed a group of merchants from Charlestown to build the Warren Bridge connecting the same areas, the owners of the Charles River Bridge sued to halt its construction. In a reversal of the Marshall Court’s tendency to support the sanctity of contracts and property, Taney ruled in favor of the defendants by maintaining that the Massachusetts legislature retained the power to charter a competing bridge company. (Bailey 253)
The Charles River Bridge Case was groundbreaking in several ways. In his decision, Taney stated that, “While the rights of private property are sacredly guarded, we must not forget that the community also has rights.” (Henretta 327) This appeal to the public exemplified the democratic spirit of the Jacksonian period and the demise of the Hamiltonian protection of individual and corporate wealth characteristic of the Marshall court. In the wake of the case, competitive enterprise grew and charters for railroads to compete with canals and turnpikes proliferated. The decision also reflected Taney’s animosity toward Hamiltonian monopolies like the Bank of the United States and foreshadowed his preference for states rights over federal power. (“Taney” 24)

Works Cited

Ariens, Michael. “Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge.” michaelariens.com.29 October 2004 <http://michaelariens.com/ConLaw/cases/charlesriver.htm>

Bailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Spirit. New York:Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Henretta, James A., David Brody, and Lynn Dumeil. America: A Concise History. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.

“Taney, Roger Brooke.” The Worldbook Encyclopedia. 2004.

One-Page Paper Assignment (due Monday 10/5)

Research and write a one-page (@300 words) paper on the topic assigned to you below. Title the paper at the center of the top line, but do not change the settings (1” top and bottom margins, 1.25” left and right margins) and be sure to double-space and use size 12 Times New Roman font. Use parenthetical citation and include a Works Cited list that has one book, one encyclopedia entry, and one on-line source. You must also use and cite one quote in your paper.

These papers should contain two paragraphs, one that presents a brief biography of your writer and one that discusses his or her relative position and importance within the Romantic movement. These papers are due on Monday, October 5 and will be worth 50 points, 15 for the list of Works Cited, 10 for accurate citations, and 25 for the appearance, structure, and content. Be sure to refer to the MLA section of the Hacker guide as you construct your paper!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Caroline
William Blake – Michael
William Wordsworth – Julie
John Keats – Portia
Percy Bysse Shelley – Luke
Heinrich Heine – Emalie
George Gordon, Lord Byron – Nathaniel
Johan Wolfgang von Goethe – Grace
Novalis – Charlotte
Walt Whitman – Emily
Robert Burns – Audrey

Poetry Quiz II Thursday 9/25

We will have our second poetry quiz Thursday (50 pts.). This will be mainly a multiple choice exercise, and you will need to know the following terms to do well on it:

Assonance
Alliteration
Synesthesia
Onomatopoeia
Ceasura
Rhyme
Meter
Tone
Consonance

The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1660 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters 10-13 won't hurt either.

Poetry Quiz I Wednesday

We will have our first poetry quiz tomorrow (50 pts.). This will be mainly a multiple choice exercise, and you will need to know the following terms to do well on it:

Simile
Apostrophe
Metaphor
Personification
Metonymy
Allusion
Paradox

The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1660 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters five and seven won't hurt either.

Poetry Paper #1

Poetry Paper #1 – Using the suggestions on page 8 of “Writing about Literature” in Perrine’s, write a paper comparing and contrasting any two poems in the poetry section of the text. (pp 647-1024) This paper should be a minimum of 500 words, typed and double-spaced.We are going to workshop this paper, so you need to keep to the following schedule:


Poems and topic of paper selected and e-mailed to me – Monday 9/14
Thesis and outline of paper – Thursday 9/17
First draft of paper – Monday 9/21
Second draft – Wednesday 9/23
Final draft – Friday 9/25

HW for Thursday 9/10

Read Ch. 5 (pp 714-724) and complete the 10-question exercise on p. 724.

Poetic Terms Site and HW for Wednesday 9/9

Bookmark the site below and refer to it regularly throughout the remainder of the term.

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_of_poetic_terms.htm

For Wednesday, pick any two poems in the book (make sure you have a first and second choice). Paraphrase each and be prepared to read either one out loud in class.

Poetry Reading Assignment

The poetry section of Perrine's begins on page 645 and is divided into 16 chapters. Each of those chapters consists of anywhere from 3-9 pages of introductory/explanatory narrative (with a few poems included as examples), a textbox with the heading "REVIEWING CHAPTER ____", and several pages of poems and critical reading questions. By Tuesday September 8 you need to have read the narrative parts of each of those chapters. You should read and consider the poems included as examples, but you do not need to answer the questions or read any of the poems that appear at the end of the respective chapters.

APLC Syllabus and Frist Term Itinerary

AP Literature and Composition
Fall 2009

Objectives –

The main purpose of this course, beyond the obvious goal of understanding and appreciating the world’s great works of literature, is twofold…to hone your critical reading and writing skills to the point where you can pass the AP Literature and Composition Exam in May. The term hone is important here, as it is assumed that you already possess strong reading comprehension and writing skills.

Course Methods –

Needless to say you will be doing a tremendous amount of reading and writing in this course. Readings will frequently be accompanied by either individual or group analysis or response exercises. Writing assignments will be many and varied. We will obviously need to practice the type of timed, prompt-response essays that you will be asked to write in May (as well as practicing for the very difficult MC section). To this end, we will frequently write 40-minute prompt essays from past AP Exams. We will also read and score sample essays using the AP 9-point rubrics (I will typically not mark on your essays when I score them, because I will expect you to objectively, and accurately, score your own once you have familiarized yourself with the rubric and scored/ranked several samples.)

However, since passing the Exam will exempt you from the one real writing course you would otherwise take in college, we also need to spend a significant amount of time on the writing process. We therefore will have a number of longer writing assignments that will be “work shopped” during class and extensively edited and revised out of class. During the first semester, I will collect and assess draft versions of papers, and I will also assess your comments on/criticism of your peers’ papers. However, starting in the second semester, you will be expected to be able to effectively read and revise each others essays, and I will no longer collect or assess anything but final drafts of out-of-class papers. Like all literature classes, this one will be primarily discussion-based, though I will present important information through lectures from time to time.

Course Materials:

The text we will use for this course is Perrine’s. You will need a large three-ring binder for this class, preferably with at least one folder-insert. Each student will also need a black-and-white composition book which will be used as a response journal.






Grading –

Reading Comprehension Exercises (reflective response, explication, and analysis)
Quizzes (consisting of MC and short answer questions)
Unit Tests (some will be entirely MC questions, some will have MC and essay sections)
AP Essays (timed, in-class writing scored with 9-point rubric)
Longer Essays (out-of-class, careful revision required)

Homework –

You will ALWAYS have work to do for this course outside of class, and failure to do it will affect you grade. (If you haven’t read a poem or passage that I ask you to respond to during class, you’re obviously not going to do well on that assignment!) However, I will only rarely “take-up” homework assignments for points. When I do they will be scored on an effort-basis, so take advantage of the opportunity to pad your average.

Course Itinerary –

First Semester: Poetry & Short Fiction
Second Semester: Longer Fiction & Drama

Term 1 (Weeks 1-9)

Reading: Perrine’s “Writing About Literature” pp. 1-23; Elements of Poetry
(chapters 1-7, 9, and 11-13)
Mortimer Adler, “How to Mark a Book”

Research Assignments: Historical and Biblical Allusions (posted to blog)
One-Page Paper: Romantic Poets

Writing Assignments: 2 in-class AP-prompt essays
2 out-of-class papers, workshopped over a 2-week period

Fever Chart Assignment

Hamlet: The Fever Chart

The purpose of the fever chart assignment is to allow you to do a close reading of the text, which will lead to an essay that supplies evidence for the idea you are developing. The basic idea of the fever chart is that you are tracking Hamlet’s psychological state through the course of the play, using your own created (sanity-insanity) scale as the “Y-AXIS” and using direct quotes from the play as the “X-AXIS.” A careful look at the fever chart will allow you to draw conclusions.

You can choose to do Hamlet alone or you can have several lines for several different characters. Some traditional questions/issues have been Hamlet’s outer v. his inner life, Polonius’s observation that “Though this be madness, yet there is method in it,” and the theme of appearance versus reality. You do not have to focus on Hamlet, however, but might want to consider the characters of Claudius, Ophelia, or Gertrude and their respective psychological and emotional plights. If you are brave, you might also consider a topic/chart that combines Hamlet and Moby-Dick.

Sample Fever Chart Scoring Rubric:

Originality of Format (20 pts.)
Use of the Text: # of citations (40 pts.)
Presentation: Art, Construction, Neatness (20 pts.)
Clarity and Demonstration of Thesis (20 pts.)

Total _________

Comments:

Week 31

We will spend the week reading and discussing Hamlet. You will need to bring your copy of the play to class everyday. Tuesday 3/31 will be a reading day. You should be through Act II by Wednesday and finished witht he play by Friday.

You will also need to be working on your Hamlet Fever Chart. We will discuss this assignment (which is due next Wednesday 4/8) in class, but the links below will be helpful.

http://mtsnetworks.net/ngeorge/
http://casgex.tripod.com/index.html

Assignment for Monday 3/30

Read Act I, Scenes I and II of Hamlet and post responses to the following questions. These will be recorded as homework grades...15 pts. each if you do them reasonable well, 0 if you have not posted by the beginning of class Monday.

1. What portents appear in Act I Scene I? What does Horatio think these signs mean? What portents appeared in Moby-Dick? Do you think Shakespeare influneced Melville in this regard? Why or why not?

2. In his soliloquy, Hamlet uses the image of an unweeded garden. What is Hamlet comparing to a garden? What are the weeds? Who is responsible for tending the garden? If Hamlet were the chief gardener, how do you think he would go about restoring the garden?

Week 29

Reading: Perrine's The Elements of Drama, Ch 1. pp 1027-1030; Ch. 3 pp. 1209-1216; Oedipus Rex through Scene 1 (pp. 1216-1231)

M: MC Practcie

T - Th: Watch Moby-Dick, discuss reading

F: CPS Quiz on reading (15 pts.)

HW: finish Oedipus Rex

Week 28

Papers due Friday!

M & T - MC Practice

Tues. HW: Review Ahab and Starbuck quotes/charatcer analyses from blog.

W - AP Prompt Essay (in library comp lab. e-mail to me when done.)

Th - Essay Day...I will BRIEFLY read over and comment on any drafts brought to class.

F - Papers Due; AP Prompt Samples

Week 27

Papers will be due WEDNESDAY 3/11 instead of Monday 3/9...hopefully this will give you more time to revise and re-write!

Notecard Assignment (you will have the rest of the week to work on this assignment and/or your paper!)

Each of you will need to post three "notecards" on the blog by the end of the period Friday. Individual assignments are below, but each of you need to do one character card for Ahab that includes:

1. A one-paragraph character analysis.
2. A list of adjectives describing Ahab.
3. At least three quotes from Ishmael (or Bildad or Peleg or Starbuck) that reveal Ahab's unique character and fate.
4. At least three quotes from Ahab himself that reveal his "monomania" and his complex/ambiguous personality.

You also each need to do a symbol card (be prepared to do a symbol encyclopedia of you choose the White Whale!) that includes:

1. A one-paragraph analysis of the symbol and its role in the novel.
2. At least one quote by Ishmael refering to the symbols and its importance.
3. At least one quote by another character refering to the symbol and its importance.


Individual character card assignments are below. These need to follow the same format as the Ahab cards, but you need only use two quotes from your character and two from Ishmael or Ahab.

Tatum - Queequeg
Kyle - Father Mapple
Emily - Elijah
Whitmore - Bildad
Megan - Peleg
Julia Bambla - Starbuck
Sammy - Stubb
Luke - Flask
Colleen - Pip
Sarah - The Carpenter
Kailtyn - Steelkilt
Jessica - Fedallah
Kelsey - Ishmael (you won't find any quotes about him, so use four quotes by him.)

Week 26

You should have the book finished by Tuesday 3/2!

Monday 2/23 - Reading Day

Tuesday 2/24 - Vocab exercise; discuss M-D paper topics

Wednesday 2/25 - The Writer's Craft lecture 1

Thursday 2/26 - CPS Quiz, pp 305-367; M-D Vocab #3 (due Tuesday 3/3)

Friday 2/27 - 20-minute timed-writing exercise

Week 24

By the time we get back from break, you need to have read through "Queequeg in his Coffin," pp. 367. We will have a CPS quiz on the chapters btn. pp 254 and 367 first thing Tuesday!

Monday 2/9 - Pan samples.

Tuesday 2/10 - CPS quiz (The Mast-Head-The Jeoboam); Vocab #2

Wednesday 2/11 - 20 minute timed-writing; work on vocab.

Thursday 2/12 - 20 minute timed-writing, discuss M-D paper topics, vocab due.

Week 23

For Monday 2/9: Read through The Cassock (p. 325)

Monday 2/2 - Melville papers due; M-D reading day

Tuesday 2/3 - CPS quiz M-D chs. 1-35; discsuss vocab #1

Wednesday 2/4 - 20-minute passage response in composition book

Thursday 2/5 - AP-prompt essay ("open" question set up for Pan)

Friday 2/6 - AP Exam Prep session with Mrs. Filak

Week 22

For Monday 2/2: Papers due; have read through The Mast-Head (p. 136)

Monday 1/26 - AP Essays back; first drafts, read/work on vocab #1

Tuesday 1/27 - 20-minute passage response in composition book; discussion

Wednesday 1/28 - 20-minute passage response in composition book; finish vocab #1 (due end of period)

Thursday 1/29 - second drafts, read/work on rubrics and samples 2008 AP #3

Friday 1/30 - AP Exam Prep session with Mrs. Filak

Melville Paper #1

Your first out-of-class paper of the semester will be over Melville’s short fiction. The topic is up to you…you can do a comparison/contrast of the two stories in terms of theme, narrative voice, prose style, etc., a Freudian analysis of I and My Chimney (Sophie’s World has a good basic discussion of Freud, but you might want to dig a bit deeper), a “historiography” of Bartleby interpretations, or an analysis of one or both stories based on a chapter(s) from HTRLAP. Use MLA format for parenthetical citation and lists of works cited.

I will only collect/grade the final draft of these papers, which are due Monday February 2.

Partners –

KB/KR
KC/EC
MWD/MT
JG/JW
SG/CM
SP/LH
TB/BL*

You are advised to follow the time-line below:

Thursday 1/22 – e-mail précis of your paper to me and your partner

Monday 1/26 – First Draft to partner

Thursday 1/28 – Second Draft to partner