Week 10 -
The Elements of Fiction Ch. 1
Stories: The Most Dangerous Game & Hunter's in the Snow
Reading Quiz Thursday 10/27
Week 11 -
The Elements of Fiction Ch. 2
Stories: The Destructors, How I Met My Husband, & Interpreter of Maladies
Reading Quiz Friday 11/4
Week 12/13 -
Chapter 3 "Characterization"
Stories: Night Roamers, Sin, Everyday Use, Miss Brill, Xingu
Reading Quiz Thursday 11/17
Paper - The Ladies of Xingu: A Study in Characterization. Due (typed, double-spaced, no more than 1,500 words) Tuesday 11/22. Peer-editing schedule to follow.
Week 14 -
Chapter 4 "Theme"
Stories: A Fragment of Life, The Lesson, Gooseberries, A Worn Path
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Week 7 Itinerary
Monday 10/3: Peer-edit second drafts
HW: Blackberry-picking and questions!
Tuesday 10/4: Discuss Quizzes and begin DQs for The Misanthrope
HW: work on paper!
Wednesday 10/5: Discuss Blackberry-picking and finish DQs for The Misanthrope
HW: finish paper!
Thursday 10/6: Dante Papers due (100 pts.)
Misanthrope discussion
NO HOMEWORK!
HW: Blackberry-picking and questions!
Tuesday 10/4: Discuss Quizzes and begin DQs for The Misanthrope
HW: work on paper!
Wednesday 10/5: Discuss Blackberry-picking and finish DQs for The Misanthrope
HW: finish paper!
Thursday 10/6: Dante Papers due (100 pts.)
Misanthrope discussion
NO HOMEWORK!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Quiz Review
We will have our second 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
Metaphor
Personification
Paradox
Assonance
Alliteration
Synesthesia
Onomatopoeia
Ceasura
Rhyme
Meter
Tone
Consonance
The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1635 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters 10-13 won't hurt either.
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Paradox
Assonance
Alliteration
Synesthesia
Onomatopoeia
Ceasura
Rhyme
Meter
Tone
Consonance
The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1635 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters 10-13 won't hurt either.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Poetry Paper I
Option A: Dante’s Inferno.
1. Dante's vision of hell has a very carefully worked out structure, which not only indicates punishments for particular crimes but which also ranks sins according to their seriousness. Discuss the importance of this structure of punishments, paying particular attention to what it reveals about Dante's vision of the individual, society, and the various ways these can become corrupt.
2. Dante presents a ranking of failures of moral virtue. Why, according to this ranking, are the sins of malice and fraud more severely punished than those of sensual appetite?
3. Select a single, short passage of Dante's Inferno (maximum about twenty lines), and write a critical analysis of two different translations of the passage. The essay should focus on the differences between the versions as English poetry. Do not, unless you are fluent in Italian, consider the question of the adequacy of the rendition of the original language. Pay very close attention to how the different phrases, images, rhymes, and so forth affect your response to the passage. How are the passages different? You might want to base the essay on a statement expressing a clear preference. Please include copies of the two passages you are comparing.
4. Select a single incident in the Inferno, and, by a detailed discussion of what happens in that incident (both to the sinners and to the onlookers and to the reader), explore the significance of that episode. What does it contribute to the total effect of the poem? Does the incident raise any challenging questions about or provide important insights into main features of the poem?
5. In what sense is Dante's Inferno a voyage of discovery about the poet-narrator's own self and culture, a necessary descent before he can attain proper spiritual insight? What does Dante (the character in the poem) learn as a result of his trip to hell?
6. The inferno (hell), we are told at the very opening of Canto III, is a place constructed by Divine Justice, Omnipotence, and Love. What problems, if any, does this raise? Can you defend Dante's poem from the charge that it makes God appear appallingly cruel?
Option B: Compare and Contrast: Theme, Tone, Figurative Devices, Etc.
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) Although neither is a comparison/contrast essay, reading the sample papers on pp 46-52 might be helpful.
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/or topic of paper e-mailed to me – Wednesday 9/21
Work-day in Computer Lab – Friday 9/23
First draft of paper – Monday 9/26
Second draft – Monday 10/3
Final draft – Wednesday 10/5
1. Dante's vision of hell has a very carefully worked out structure, which not only indicates punishments for particular crimes but which also ranks sins according to their seriousness. Discuss the importance of this structure of punishments, paying particular attention to what it reveals about Dante's vision of the individual, society, and the various ways these can become corrupt.
2. Dante presents a ranking of failures of moral virtue. Why, according to this ranking, are the sins of malice and fraud more severely punished than those of sensual appetite?
3. Select a single, short passage of Dante's Inferno (maximum about twenty lines), and write a critical analysis of two different translations of the passage. The essay should focus on the differences between the versions as English poetry. Do not, unless you are fluent in Italian, consider the question of the adequacy of the rendition of the original language. Pay very close attention to how the different phrases, images, rhymes, and so forth affect your response to the passage. How are the passages different? You might want to base the essay on a statement expressing a clear preference. Please include copies of the two passages you are comparing.
4. Select a single incident in the Inferno, and, by a detailed discussion of what happens in that incident (both to the sinners and to the onlookers and to the reader), explore the significance of that episode. What does it contribute to the total effect of the poem? Does the incident raise any challenging questions about or provide important insights into main features of the poem?
5. In what sense is Dante's Inferno a voyage of discovery about the poet-narrator's own self and culture, a necessary descent before he can attain proper spiritual insight? What does Dante (the character in the poem) learn as a result of his trip to hell?
6. The inferno (hell), we are told at the very opening of Canto III, is a place constructed by Divine Justice, Omnipotence, and Love. What problems, if any, does this raise? Can you defend Dante's poem from the charge that it makes God appear appallingly cruel?
Option B: Compare and Contrast: Theme, Tone, Figurative Devices, Etc.
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) Although neither is a comparison/contrast essay, reading the sample papers on pp 46-52 might be helpful.
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/or topic of paper e-mailed to me – Wednesday 9/21
Work-day in Computer Lab – Friday 9/23
First draft of paper – Monday 9/26
Second draft – Monday 10/3
Final draft – Wednesday 10/5
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Poetry Unit Reading Assignment
The poetry section of Perrine's begins on page 655 (645 for those of you with the older edition) 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 Wednesday September 28 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.
On Friday 9/30 we will have a poetry quiz very similar to the disgnostic one we just took, only this one will count!
On Friday 9/30 we will have a poetry quiz very similar to the disgnostic one we just took, only this one will count!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Poetry Review Site
We will have a diagnostic poetry quiz tomorrow (mostly multiple choice with a few anlaytical short answer questions). The main purpose of this is to see how much you have retained from last year, so spending three hours reviewing will defeat the purpose. However, if you want to spend a few minutes perusing this site and re-aquaining yourself with the terminology, it won't hurt!
http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_of_poetic_terms.htm
http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_of_poetic_terms.htm
Monday, August 29, 2011
College Essay Assignment
APLC
Fall 2011
College Essay Assignment
Pasted below is the essay requirement from the Common Application. Your first writing assignment for this course (and for Ms. Trask and Mr. Clark) is to select one of the topics below and address it in a polished and compelling piece of writing. We will keep to the following timeline:
Wednesday 8/31 - In-class work day
Friday 9/2 - Two copies of first draft due, one to Ms. Trask and one for peer-editing in class.
Wednesday 9/7 - Second drafts due for final peer editing session.
Friday 9/9 - Final drafts due.
Please write an essay of 250 – 500 words on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below, and attach it to your application before submission. Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box. This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself. NOTE: Your Common Application essay should be the same for all colleges. Do not customize it in any way for individual colleges. Colleges that want customized essay responses will ask for them on a supplement form.
1 Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2 Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3 Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
4 Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
5 A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6 Topic of your choice.
Fall 2011
College Essay Assignment
Pasted below is the essay requirement from the Common Application. Your first writing assignment for this course (and for Ms. Trask and Mr. Clark) is to select one of the topics below and address it in a polished and compelling piece of writing. We will keep to the following timeline:
Wednesday 8/31 - In-class work day
Friday 9/2 - Two copies of first draft due, one to Ms. Trask and one for peer-editing in class.
Wednesday 9/7 - Second drafts due for final peer editing session.
Friday 9/9 - Final drafts due.
Please write an essay of 250 – 500 words on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below, and attach it to your application before submission. Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box. This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself. NOTE: Your Common Application essay should be the same for all colleges. Do not customize it in any way for individual colleges. Colleges that want customized essay responses will ask for them on a supplement form.
1 Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2 Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3 Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
4 Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
5 A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6 Topic of your choice.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Hamlet
We will spend the next two weeks on Hamlet. You will need to bring your copy of the play to class everyday.
Tuesday 4/19 – Hamlet Essay (9 pts)
Thursday 4/21 – Hamlet Test (20 pts. MC, 50 pts. quote identification, 30 pts. short answer).
Tuesday 4/19 – Hamlet Essay (9 pts)
Thursday 4/21 – Hamlet Test (20 pts. MC, 50 pts. quote identification, 30 pts. short answer).
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Week 25 Itinerary
Reading: Perrine's "The Elements of Drama," Ch 1. pp 1027-1030; Ch. 3 pp. 1209-1216; Oedipus Rex pp 1216-1261.
T 3/29 - Introduction to Greek drama; Begin Oedipus
HW: selections from "The Elements of Drama"
W 3/30 - Oedipus Reading Day
HW: finish the play
Th 3/31 - Oedipus discussion day
HW: review for quiz
F 4/1 - CPS Quiz over Oedipus/"Elements of Drama" (35 pts.)
HW: Score AP-prompt essay on Madame Bovary
T 3/29 - Introduction to Greek drama; Begin Oedipus
HW: selections from "The Elements of Drama"
W 3/30 - Oedipus Reading Day
HW: finish the play
Th 3/31 - Oedipus discussion day
HW: review for quiz
F 4/1 - CPS Quiz over Oedipus/"Elements of Drama" (35 pts.)
HW: Score AP-prompt essay on Madame Bovary
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Madame Bovary Final Itinerary
Tuesday 3/8 - Passage analysis #1 due (30 pts.)
Work on vocab
Wednesday 3/9 - Vocab (pp 18-146)
HW: Read through Part III, Chapter II ( p. 180)
Thursday 3/10 - Reading day
HW: Read through Part III, Chapter VI (p. 208)
Friday 3/11 - Passage analysis #2 (In-class, 30 pts.)
HW: finish the novel.
M-W 3/14-16 - Work on questions. Pick any 10 from the original list.
Thursday 3/17 - Questions due (100 pts.)
Final vocab/discussion day.
Friday 3/18 - AP Prompt Essay over Madame Bovary (9 pts.)
Work on vocab
Wednesday 3/9 - Vocab (pp 18-146)
HW: Read through Part III, Chapter II ( p. 180)
Thursday 3/10 - Reading day
HW: Read through Part III, Chapter VI (p. 208)
Friday 3/11 - Passage analysis #2 (In-class, 30 pts.)
HW: finish the novel.
M-W 3/14-16 - Work on questions. Pick any 10 from the original list.
Thursday 3/17 - Questions due (100 pts.)
Final vocab/discussion day.
Friday 3/18 - AP Prompt Essay over Madame Bovary (9 pts.)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Madame Bovary Questions
1. Find three passages spread over the first 75 pages that illustrate Flaubert as a master of realistic detail at work. Explain and defend your choices.
2. How does the point of view in the novel work, and how does it affect your impressions of the main characters? Pick a passage in which you find the point of view striking, and analyze why it interests you.
3. How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else?
4. What is the role of women in the text? How are mothers represented? What about single/independent women? Could Emma ever have survived as a single woman?
5. Do you consider this novel a work of feminist literature?
6. What are the conflicts in Madame Bovary? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional) are in the novel?
7. What is the central/primary purpose of the story? Is the purpose important or meaningful?
8. What are some symbols in Madame Bovary? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
9. How would you describe the tone of the book? Does it change?
10. Discuss how Emma's fascination with romantic (and Romantic) ideals affects her life.
11. Images of machines reappear at intervals; what ideas do these images call up?
12. Describe how Flaubert portrays basic bourgeois behavior and attitudes. How do these compare with the aristocrats; does either group come out ahead?
13. How does socio-economic class figure in Bovary? How would a Marxist analyze the book?
14. Why begin and end with Charles? How does this place Emma in perspective?
15. Is Emma's fate tragic? Is the novel tragic? Why or why not?
2. How does the point of view in the novel work, and how does it affect your impressions of the main characters? Pick a passage in which you find the point of view striking, and analyze why it interests you.
3. How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else?
4. What is the role of women in the text? How are mothers represented? What about single/independent women? Could Emma ever have survived as a single woman?
5. Do you consider this novel a work of feminist literature?
6. What are the conflicts in Madame Bovary? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional) are in the novel?
7. What is the central/primary purpose of the story? Is the purpose important or meaningful?
8. What are some symbols in Madame Bovary? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
9. How would you describe the tone of the book? Does it change?
10. Discuss how Emma's fascination with romantic (and Romantic) ideals affects her life.
11. Images of machines reappear at intervals; what ideas do these images call up?
12. Describe how Flaubert portrays basic bourgeois behavior and attitudes. How do these compare with the aristocrats; does either group come out ahead?
13. How does socio-economic class figure in Bovary? How would a Marxist analyze the book?
14. Why begin and end with Charles? How does this place Emma in perspective?
15. Is Emma's fate tragic? Is the novel tragic? Why or why not?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
DQs for Wednesday 2/23
1. What is the film about?
2. What are the major symbols in the film and how are they used? What is the overall message of the film?
9 – Compare the parents of Kazuo, Ishmael, Hatuse, and Karl Heine, Jr. How do they shape the values of their children and reflect the prejudices of their community?
24. What is the significance of the climate changes (the rain, the blizzard) throughout the film?
28. Why do you think Ishmael finally decided to help Kabuo Miyamoto in his trial, despite his hatred for the Japanese and his bitterness towards Hatsue for leaving him?
33. Snow Falling on Cedars opens in the middle of Kabuo Miyamoto's trial. What effect does the film create by withholding background information of the trial and introducing it in the form of flashbacks? Where else are critical revelations postponed?
2. What are the major symbols in the film and how are they used? What is the overall message of the film?
9 – Compare the parents of Kazuo, Ishmael, Hatuse, and Karl Heine, Jr. How do they shape the values of their children and reflect the prejudices of their community?
24. What is the significance of the climate changes (the rain, the blizzard) throughout the film?
28. Why do you think Ishmael finally decided to help Kabuo Miyamoto in his trial, despite his hatred for the Japanese and his bitterness towards Hatsue for leaving him?
33. Snow Falling on Cedars opens in the middle of Kabuo Miyamoto's trial. What effect does the film create by withholding background information of the trial and introducing it in the form of flashbacks? Where else are critical revelations postponed?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Snow Falling on Cedars DQs
Come up with a minimum of 5 discussion questions over the film and post them to the blog sometime before class on Tuesday.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Pan Itinerary
I will give you time in class over the next three days to read Knut Hmasun's novella, Pan. We will begin each class with a brief discusion or Q/A session, but you can count on at least 45 minutes to read each day.
Wednesday 2/2 - Pan reading day.
Thursday 2/3 - Pan reading day.
Friday 2/4 – Pan reading day.
Monday 2/6 - CPS Pan Quiz (50 pts.); annotated copy of Pan due. (50 pts.)
Tuesday 2/7 – AP Prompt essay (9 pts.)
Wednesday 2/2 - Pan reading day.
Thursday 2/3 - Pan reading day.
Friday 2/4 – Pan reading day.
Monday 2/6 - CPS Pan Quiz (50 pts.); annotated copy of Pan due. (50 pts.)
Tuesday 2/7 – AP Prompt essay (9 pts.)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Short Story Paper Assignment
Write a 1500-word essay on a topic and story/stories of your choice. You may want to spend some time reading the “Choosing a Topic” chapter in Perrine’s (pp 7-11), and you will definitely want to review the chapters on “Introducing Quotations” and “Documentation” (pp 16-32).
Some possible topics might include:
- A study of the three stories by Knut Hamsun, focusing on devices and strategies the author employs to create differences in tone and theme
- A comparison and contrast of stories in Angela Carter’s book
- An in-depth study of The Bloody Chamber
- An in-depth study of Paul’s Case
- The use of symbol in Miss Brill, The Rocking Horse Winner, and Young Goodman Brown
Tomorrow (Tuesday 1/25) will be a work day in the 508 Computer Lab. By the end of class, please e-mail a précis of your paper topic.
First drafts should be completed by Friday 1/28 which will be a peer-editing day.
Final drafts are due Wednesday 2/2.
Some possible topics might include:
- A study of the three stories by Knut Hamsun, focusing on devices and strategies the author employs to create differences in tone and theme
- A comparison and contrast of stories in Angela Carter’s book
- An in-depth study of The Bloody Chamber
- An in-depth study of Paul’s Case
- The use of symbol in Miss Brill, The Rocking Horse Winner, and Young Goodman Brown
Tomorrow (Tuesday 1/25) will be a work day in the 508 Computer Lab. By the end of class, please e-mail a précis of your paper topic.
First drafts should be completed by Friday 1/28 which will be a peer-editing day.
Final drafts are due Wednesday 2/2.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Short Fiction Itinerary #4
Week 13 -
Chapter 4 "Theme"
Stories: A Fragment of Life, The Lesson, Gooseberries, A Worn Path
CPS Story Quiz Friday 11/13
Chapter 4 "Theme"
Stories: A Fragment of Life, The Lesson, Gooseberries, A Worn Path
CPS Story Quiz Friday 11/13
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