Due by class time on Monday, November 15. (I want to use the responses in class so it's important that you post before class.)
In the comment box below you will post a response (or responses) in which you use close reading to discuss the significance of passages from chapters four and five.
To generate ideas about significance you might think about these questions in relation to the final two chapters:
How does Stephen struggle to figure out who he is in relation to his environment? What are the different aspects of who he is and of his environment that are part of this struggle? Think about family, religion, nationality. How is each significant?
How does the way the story is written -- third person stream of consciousness narration, epiphanies, allusions, images, motifs, style, syntax, diction -- contribute to how the reader experiences and understands Stephen's process of identity formation?
How is the struggle related to becoming an artist, particularly a language artist? How is the struggle? How is the struggle related to the Daedalus-Icarus myth?
*******
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man online.
Click here to find chapter one with some good notes.
& here you'll find chapter two.
The home page for the enotes version of the book is here. You can use it to click on any of the five chapters or on "Reading Pointers for Sharper Insight" which mentions a lot of the elements -- epiphany, stream of consciousness, Daedalus & Icarus -- that I mentioned last week.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Extending the Discussion: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
In the comment box below you will post a response to chapter one and chapter two of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
To generate ideas you might think about these questions in relation to the first two chapters:
How does Stephen struggle to figure out who he is in relation to his environment? What are the different aspects of who he is and of his environment that are part of this struggle? Think about family, religion, nationality?
How does the way the story is written -- third person stream of consciousness narration, epiphanies, allusions, images, motifs, syntax, diction -- contribute to how the reader experiences and understands Stephen's process of identity formation?
How is the struggle related to becoming an artist, particularly a language artist? How is the struggle? How is the struggle related to the Daedalus-Icarus myth?
*******
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man online.
Click here to find chapter one with some good notes.
& here you'll find chapter two.
The home page for the enotes version of the book is here. You can use it to click on any of the five chapters or on "Reading Pointers for Sharper Insight" which mentions a lot of the elements -- epiphany, stream of consciousness, Daedalus & Icarus -- that I mentioned last week.
To generate ideas you might think about these questions in relation to the first two chapters:
How does Stephen struggle to figure out who he is in relation to his environment? What are the different aspects of who he is and of his environment that are part of this struggle? Think about family, religion, nationality?
How does the way the story is written -- third person stream of consciousness narration, epiphanies, allusions, images, motifs, syntax, diction -- contribute to how the reader experiences and understands Stephen's process of identity formation?
How is the struggle related to becoming an artist, particularly a language artist? How is the struggle? How is the struggle related to the Daedalus-Icarus myth?
*******
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man online.
Click here to find chapter one with some good notes.
& here you'll find chapter two.
The home page for the enotes version of the book is here. You can use it to click on any of the five chapters or on "Reading Pointers for Sharper Insight" which mentions a lot of the elements -- epiphany, stream of consciousness, Daedalus & Icarus -- that I mentioned last week.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday's Field Trip During E and F-blocks
I'm looking forward to the walk, film, and talk on Monday. Hope you are too.
Here's the email I sent to each of you earlier today:
I forgot to remind you that we'll be walking over to the Cape Ann Cinema on Main Street on Monday. Let's meet in the atrium at 10:45 and walk over once we have everyone. (Bring lunch or buy something in the caf and carry it. You can probably get something on Main Street too but I can't promise whether it'd be before or after the film.)
We'll return to the school in time for G-block which starts at 1:23.
If you have questions please use "reply all" so everyone gets the question and then I'll respond "reply all" too.
Have a great weekend. See you Monday at 10:45.
all the best,
Here's the email I sent to each of you earlier today:
I forgot to remind you that we'll be walking over to the Cape Ann Cinema on Main Street on Monday. Let's meet in the atrium at 10:45 and walk over once we have everyone. (Bring lunch or buy something in the caf and carry it. You can probably get something on Main Street too but I can't promise whether it'd be before or after the film.)
We'll return to the school in time for G-block which starts at 1:23.
If you have questions please use "reply all" so everyone gets the question and then I'll respond "reply all" too.
Have a great weekend. See you Monday at 10:45.
all the best,
James W. Cook
Gloucester High School
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Every week by Saturday morning...* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Friday, May 14, 2010
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Post-AP English Lit: Final Project
In the comment box write your first name, last initial, and the option you are choosing.
Final Project: Option X: Modern & Postmodern Poetry Groups, Movements, Schools
1. Write a reflection on the experience of as many poems as you can – at least ten – by poets within the group / movement / school.
Final Project: Option Y: Fiction/Drama Groups, Movements, Schools
Final Project: Option X: Modern & Postmodern Poetry Groups, Movements, Schools
1. Write a reflection on the experience of as many poems as you can – at least ten – by poets within the group / movement / school.
The edict of the modern and post-modern age in poetry comes from Ezra Pound: “Make it new!” Think about how the poems employ elements of poetry in inventive ways (new, strange, disorienting, surprising ways).
Think about the treatment of language: speaker’s voice, language style, diction, syntax, sound, stanza structure, line breaks, arrangement on the page. Think about the meaning and effect of the variations from traditional forms of poetry and tradition uses of language.
Think about the content: subject matter, imagery, figurative language, narration. Look for fragmentation and juxtaposition.
Post this reflection (with a list of the poems you have read and who wrote them) on your blog.
2. Write a careful, insightful explication of one of the poems. Post this on your blog. For explication help look here. Also, look at the directions above for ideas about what to explicate/explain/interpret/unfold. You're only doing one explication so it should show an imaginative, insightful grasp of the whole and of the particulars of the poem.
When explicating write about what the poem seems to say and how it says it. With modernist and post-modernist poetry the how (or form)--the speaker's voice, diction, syntax, tone, sound, line breaks, arrangement, etc.--is often as important or more important than the what (or content)--the speaker, the occasion, the subject, the plot or events, other people or characters in the poem.
Or to put it more succinctly, Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot) said that James Joyce (A Portrait of the Artist) isn't "writing about something. He is writing something."
3. Research the group / movement / school and write a reflection that demonstrates that you understand the group / movement / school, its relationship to the poems you’ve read, and to your own developing ideas about literature and language. {Notice the three parts to this: 1. show that you understand the group & what it was/is all about, it's significance, etc.; 2. show how the group's ideas, values, etc. has some relationship to the how (form) and what (content) of the poems you've read; 3. develop your own thoughts about the poems you've read and the group that created them, especially in terms of what you think literature should or could do, as well as what you get from & want from literature.} Include works cited.
4. Find a work of art other than a poem—painting, sculpture, musical composition, dance, film, etc.—that is somehow related to the group / movement / school. In some cases—surrealism, Dadaism, futurism for example—this will be easy because these movements occurred in the visual arts too. In other cases, you’ll have to be a bit more inventive. I can help with this. Ask me.
Write a response explicating the work of art and explaining how it relates to the poetry movement. (Notice there are two parts to this. 1. Provide a close reading of the work of art. For help explicating visual art check out step four at my friend's blog (Mr. Gallagher of
5. Create a work of art—poem, painting, short film, script, etc.—that relates in someway to the poems, other art, or movement / group / school. Write a paragraph explaining the connection between your creation and the work you have done. The art & paragraph should be on your blog. (If the art is visual and you don't know how to scan it or take a digital photograph let me know; I'll help.)
Final Project: Option Y: Fiction/Drama Groups, Movements, Schools
Same as Option X except replace poet/poem/poetry with playwright/play/drama or writer/novel (or novella)/fiction.
And for #1: instead of listing and reflecting upon ten poems, name and reflect upon one play or one novel/novella.
And for #2: instead of an explication of one poem, explicate a scene in the play or a substantial passage in the novel/novella.
Final Project: Option Pi: Track a Motif through Several Works
If you take this option you will create a blog devoted to the motif. (I will teach you how to create blogs next week.)
1. You will write an explication the use, effect, and meaning of the motif in at least three literary works. In a concluding section arrive at a bold, nuanced insight by comparing and contrasting the use of the motif in the three works. (1000+ words)
2. You will write a summary and critique of a work of literary criticism that deals with how the motif functions in at least one of work of literature that you have read. (300 words)
3. You will write a careful, insightful explication of how another work of art -- film, painting, sculpture, song, etc. -- makes use of the motif in a significant, relevant way. (As well as explicating the use of the motif within the single work, consider meaningful similarities and differences between its use in the non-literary work and its use in the literary works.) (300+ words).
4. You will create a work of art of your own that makes use of the motif. The work of art must be accompanied by a paragraph that discusses the use of the motif in the work you have created.
This option is new and I'm still fleshing it out a bit.
Final Project: Option i (imaginary number): Analyzing Several Works through a Critical Lens
If you take this option you will create a blog devoted to analyzing several works of art (literary and non-literary) using a particular critical lens (Marxist, Freudian, Feminist, Structuralist, Post-structuralist, Russian Formalist, etc.).
1. You will write a reflection upon researching the critical lens. Show that you understand the critical lens and its significance, etc. Show how the poet lens has some relationship to the how (form) and what (content) of the literature and art you know. Develop your own thoughts about the critical lens, especially in terms of how it might help or hinder the interpretation of literature and other art. (This reflection must be accompanied by at least three works cited.) 300+ words.
2. You will write a careful, insightful explication of three works of art (novel, play, poem, film, painting, sculpture, symphony, song, photography, etc.) using the critical lens. (At least one explication must be of a literary work.) 900+ words (or 300+ each).
3. You will create a work of art of your own that makes use of the critical lens. Write a paragraph explaining the connection between your creation and the work you have done. The art & paragraph should be on your blog.
This option is new and I'm still fleshing it out.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Every week by Saturday morning...* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Equus by Peter Shaffer
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
GHS AP English Goes to the National Finals
Go here to review lit terms. (Look through the list. If you're unsure of any of the meanings scroll down for a definition.)
Remember to bring a snack, #2 pencil, and pen tomorrow.
Remember to bring five (5) Question #3 prep notes & your multiple choice answers to "Soul and Body" packet #3. You'll staple these together and put them in the tray at the front of the room.
Then you will rock the test. One hour for 55 multiple choice questions. Two hours for three essays.
I'll see you in the morning.
Remember to bring a snack, #2 pencil, and pen tomorrow.
Remember to bring five (5) Question #3 prep notes & your multiple choice answers to "Soul and Body" packet #3. You'll staple these together and put them in the tray at the front of the room.
Then you will rock the test. One hour for 55 multiple choice questions. Two hours for three essays.
I'll see you in the morning.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Annotated Bibliography
Here's Cornell University's "How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography" page. (At GHS we use MLA format. There's an example at the bottom of the page.
Here's Purdue University's "Annotated Bibliographies" page.
Here's the University of Wisconsin at Madison's "Annotated Bibliographies" page. Of particular interest is the "What goes into the content of the annotations?" page (click on "combination" for an example of the type I want you to write) and the "What writing style should I use in the annotations?" page (click on "paragraph" style for an example of the style in which I want you to write)?
Here's Purdue University's "Annotated Bibliographies" page.
Here's the University of Wisconsin at Madison's "Annotated Bibliographies" page. Of particular interest is the "What goes into the content of the annotations?" page (click on "combination" for an example of the type I want you to write) and the "What writing style should I use in the annotations?" page (click on "paragraph" style for an example of the style in which I want you to write)?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Stranger and The Plague by Albert Camus
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Every week by Saturday morning...* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Every week by Saturday morning...* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
The Awakening
Every week by Saturday morning...* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Othello by William Shakespeare
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Every week by Saturday morning...
* Read 100 to 150 pages.
* Write 300+ words a week in response to your reading.
* Respond analytically and personally to what you have read.
* Discuss the significance of at least one passage/quotation.
* Discuss the relationship between what you are reading and something(s) else you have read this year.
* Respond to a comment made by a peer (after the first week).
Monday, March 29, 2010
New Book...
(If you're looking for the project directions they're below. &, if you have not, don't forget to respond to the racism/ethnocentrism/imperialism in Heart of Darkness controversy with an intelligent blog comment.)
***In class today I forgot to give you the options for the next book.***
Each of these books picks up at least one theme from a book we have already read this year. As we read we'll be analyzing the book on its own and comparing it to what we've already read. If you want to take a look at any of these or want to get started on the reading stop by 2207 tomorrow. You'll choose a book on Wednesday. These are the books that GHS owns that are challenging, engaging, and speak to the themes we've been dealing with this year. (If you have another idea -- something of "literary merit" that you want to read -- bring it up in class on Wednesday.) (Further note: I'd like at least one other student to read the book too so you can carry on an analytical dialogue in the comment box.)
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Equus by Peter Shaffer
Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
The Theban Plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone) by Sophocles
***In class today I forgot to give you the options for the next book.***
Each of these books picks up at least one theme from a book we have already read this year. As we read we'll be analyzing the book on its own and comparing it to what we've already read. If you want to take a look at any of these or want to get started on the reading stop by 2207 tomorrow. You'll choose a book on Wednesday. These are the books that GHS owns that are challenging, engaging, and speak to the themes we've been dealing with this year. (If you have another idea -- something of "literary merit" that you want to read -- bring it up in class on Wednesday.) (Further note: I'd like at least one other student to read the book too so you can carry on an analytical dialogue in the comment box.)
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Equus by Peter Shaffer
Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
The Theban Plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone) by Sophocles
Interact analytically and imaginatively with a text
Stage or Film a Scene (from either King Lear or Heart of Darkness)
* Each member of the group will watch at least three productions based on the play or novel.
* Each member of the group will write an annotated bibliography for the productions.
* Each member of the group will also write an essay responding to the other productions, especially with regard to the relationship between the versions and your understanding of the original text.
All of the above due Friday, April 16.
* Film or stage the scene. Thoughtful, imaginative use of theatrical elements is important.
* Write a behind-the-scenes newspaper article about the production. The article should include reflective quotations from every member of the group, discussing each person’s role and experience. The article should also discuss the relationship between your production and other versions.
The above due before the AP English Literature and Composition Test, May 6.
***or***
A Critical Blog for Future Students
* Each member of the group will read at least three critical essays about King Lear or Heart of Darkness.
* Each member of the group will write an annotated bibliography for the critical essays.
* Each member of the group will write her/his own essay in which s/he synthesizes her/his critical reading into her/his own (new) understanding of King Lear or Heart of Darkness. (This essay will have a works cited page.)
All of the above due Friday, April 16.
* Write a critique of at least two online help-for-students websites (Sparknotes, BookRags, etc.). (You will need a works cited page for this too.)
* Produce your own alternative "important quotations explained".
* Post all of the above on a blog of your own.
The above due before the AP English Literature and Composition Test, May 6.
* Each member of the group will watch at least three productions based on the play or novel.
* Each member of the group will write an annotated bibliography for the productions.
* Each member of the group will also write an essay responding to the other productions, especially with regard to the relationship between the versions and your understanding of the original text.
All of the above due Friday, April 16.
* Film or stage the scene. Thoughtful, imaginative use of theatrical elements is important.
* Write a behind-the-scenes newspaper article about the production. The article should include reflective quotations from every member of the group, discussing each person’s role and experience. The article should also discuss the relationship between your production and other versions.
The above due before the AP English Literature and Composition Test, May 6.
***or***
A Critical Blog for Future Students
* Each member of the group will read at least three critical essays about King Lear or Heart of Darkness.
* Each member of the group will write an annotated bibliography for the critical essays.
* Each member of the group will write her/his own essay in which s/he synthesizes her/his critical reading into her/his own (new) understanding of King Lear or Heart of Darkness. (This essay will have a works cited page.)
All of the above due Friday, April 16.
* Write a critique of at least two online help-for-students websites (Sparknotes, BookRags, etc.). (You will need a works cited page for this too.)
* Produce your own alternative "important quotations explained".
* Post all of the above on a blog of your own.
The above due before the AP English Literature and Composition Test, May 6.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Responding to *Heart of Darkness*: Imperialism, Ethnocentrism, Racism, the so-called Noble Savage, etc.
Extend the Wednesday discussion in the comment box.
Respond to the novel itself.
Respond to the readings (Achebe, etc.)
Respond to your classmates and teacher.
Due by class time on Monday.
Respond to the novel itself.
Respond to the readings (Achebe, etc.)
Respond to your classmates and teacher.
Due by class time on Monday.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Reading Heart of Darkness
Reading Heart of Darkness
Comments on chapter one (page 15-55) are due by pumpkin time on Tuesday, March 9.
Comments on chapter two (page 56-90) are due by pumpkin time on Friday, March 12.
Comments on chapter three (page 91-124) are due by pumpkin time on Tuesday, March 16.
Imperialism in relation to hypocrisy, cruelty, absurdity, madness, and evil. (Is Marlow suggesting something about civilization, about human nature?)
What is the significance of darkness, fog, forest, and many haunting but inscrutable (mysterious, uncertain, dark, foggy, impenetrable) aspects of observed physical reality? Think about the connection (or lack of connection) between the physical and the psychological. Is Conrad suggesting something about existence, about the relationship between the mind and the world, about the relationship between self and other?)
What is significant about the role of women, about the role of race? Think about power, knowledge, control.
What is significant about the role of the river? What is its relationship to time, to space, to mind?
Write a 300+ word response by each of the above dates (three total). You can write insightfully about any aspect of the novel but I've put suggestions above.
Comments on chapter one (page 15-55) are due by pumpkin time on Tuesday, March 9.
Comments on chapter two (page 56-90) are due by pumpkin time on Friday, March 12.
Comments on chapter three (page 91-124) are due by pumpkin time on Tuesday, March 16.
Imperialism in relation to hypocrisy, cruelty, absurdity, madness, and evil. (Is Marlow suggesting something about civilization, about human nature?)
What is the significance of darkness, fog, forest, and many haunting but inscrutable (mysterious, uncertain, dark, foggy, impenetrable) aspects of observed physical reality? Think about the connection (or lack of connection) between the physical and the psychological. Is Conrad suggesting something about existence, about the relationship between the mind and the world, about the relationship between self and other?)
What is significant about the role of women, about the role of race? Think about power, knowledge, control.
What is significant about the role of the river? What is its relationship to time, to space, to mind?
Write a 300+ word response by each of the above dates (three total). You can write insightfully about any aspect of the novel but I've put suggestions above.
Reading and Responding to King Lear
Reading King Lear
1. Take notes on the following motifs by marking down the motif(s), speaker(s), act, scene, lines. For example, parenthood/sex/unfaithfulness, Gloucester, 1.1.8-1.1.24; Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, saying v. truth, 1.1.60+; Cordelia, Lear, “nothing” 1.1.96; Lear, appetite/savagery 1.1.131, 136; Kent, loyalty, madness, flattery, wisdom, emptiness, hollowness 161-174
What is the relationship between literal and figurative imagery, on the one hand, and thematic development on the other?
Is what is said understood? Is what is said true? (flattery, lies, etc.)
Is what is seen or (otherwise sensed: touched, smelled) understood? Is it true?
(Eyes are very important!)
What is natural? What is unnatural (or monstrous)?
What is sane? What is mad?
What is wisdom? (What is reasonable?) What is foolishness? (What is excessive?)
What is loyalty and faithfulness? What is betrayal and unfaithfulness?
What is kindness? What is cruelty?
How are these related to age and youth?
How are these related to parents and children?
How are these related to rank and status?
How are these related to property and wealth?
How are these related to the line between animals and humans?
How are these related to storms and calms?
How are these related to planets, stars, fates?
What is the significance of nothingness, emptiness, hollowness, loss, and nakedness in the play?
What is the significance of eating, appetites, consuming in the play?
What is the significance of sex and lust in the play?
What is the significance of blood (both as a signifier of family and of violence)?
All of the aforementioned motifs interact, weaving in and out of each other to form a matrix of association. So when Lear denies Cordelia her inheritance, he doesn't say "get away from me; you're no longer my daughter" (in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter). He evokes several motifs and images: "Thy truth, then, be thy dower" "For by the sacred radiance of the sun... by all the operation of the orbs" "paternal care" "property of blood" "gorge his appetite" "avoid my sight" (1.1.120-139).
Also be on the look out for inversions: the natural becoming unnatural, the truth that is false, the sight that is a lie, the fool that is wise, etc. & look out for parallels. ("Monster" is tagged on Cordelia and Edgar in Act One.) Look out for motif-words with ambiguous multiple or shifting meanings (especially "nature"). Listen for playfulness and for echoes. Figurative associations often haunt the literal meanings. And repetitions often reveal the play's obsessions.
2. On the blog analyze at least two interrelated motifs. Your comments should refer to at least two specific passages (at least one passage for each motif). Demonstrate your understanding of the play so far by linking the motifs and the passages to each other and to the overall events and themes. Again, we're using close attention to small particulars to illuminate the whole. At the beginning of your post include your name, name the motifs, and quote the passages (include act.scene.line). Your insightful well-supported commentary comes next.
Comments on act one are due by pumpkin time on Monday, March 8.
Comments on acts two are due by pumpkin time on Wednesday, March 10.
Comments on acts three are due by pumpkin time on Monday, March 15.
Comments on acts four are due by pumpkin time on Wednesday, March 17.
Comments on acts five are due by pumpkin time on Friday, March 19.
1. Take notes on the following motifs by marking down the motif(s), speaker(s), act, scene, lines. For example, parenthood/sex/unfaithfulness, Gloucester, 1.1.8-1.1.24; Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, saying v. truth, 1.1.60+; Cordelia, Lear, “nothing” 1.1.96; Lear, appetite/savagery 1.1.131, 136; Kent, loyalty, madness, flattery, wisdom, emptiness, hollowness 161-174
What is the relationship between literal and figurative imagery, on the one hand, and thematic development on the other?
Is what is said understood? Is what is said true? (flattery, lies, etc.)
Is what is seen or (otherwise sensed: touched, smelled) understood? Is it true?
(Eyes are very important!)
What is natural? What is unnatural (or monstrous)?
What is sane? What is mad?
What is wisdom? (What is reasonable?) What is foolishness? (What is excessive?)
What is loyalty and faithfulness? What is betrayal and unfaithfulness?
What is kindness? What is cruelty?
How are these related to age and youth?
How are these related to parents and children?
How are these related to rank and status?
How are these related to property and wealth?
How are these related to the line between animals and humans?
How are these related to storms and calms?
How are these related to planets, stars, fates?
What is the significance of nothingness, emptiness, hollowness, loss, and nakedness in the play?
What is the significance of eating, appetites, consuming in the play?
What is the significance of sex and lust in the play?
What is the significance of blood (both as a signifier of family and of violence)?
All of the aforementioned motifs interact, weaving in and out of each other to form a matrix of association. So when Lear denies Cordelia her inheritance, he doesn't say "get away from me; you're no longer my daughter" (in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter). He evokes several motifs and images: "Thy truth, then, be thy dower" "For by the sacred radiance of the sun... by all the operation of the orbs" "paternal care" "property of blood" "gorge his appetite" "avoid my sight" (1.1.120-139).
Also be on the look out for inversions: the natural becoming unnatural, the truth that is false, the sight that is a lie, the fool that is wise, etc. & look out for parallels. ("Monster" is tagged on Cordelia and Edgar in Act One.) Look out for motif-words with ambiguous multiple or shifting meanings (especially "nature"). Listen for playfulness and for echoes. Figurative associations often haunt the literal meanings. And repetitions often reveal the play's obsessions.
2. On the blog analyze at least two interrelated motifs. Your comments should refer to at least two specific passages (at least one passage for each motif). Demonstrate your understanding of the play so far by linking the motifs and the passages to each other and to the overall events and themes. Again, we're using close attention to small particulars to illuminate the whole. At the beginning of your post include your name, name the motifs, and quote the passages (include act.scene.line). Your insightful well-supported commentary comes next.
Comments on act one are due by pumpkin time on Monday, March 8.
Comments on acts two are due by pumpkin time on Wednesday, March 10.
Comments on acts three are due by pumpkin time on Monday, March 15.
Comments on acts four are due by pumpkin time on Wednesday, March 17.
Comments on acts five are due by pumpkin time on Friday, March 19.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
As I Lay Dying Essay
Distortion
Flannery O’Connor, a 20th century southern writer, has commented in a few places about the purpose of grotesque distortion:
“I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe it is the only way to make people see.”
“I have to make the reader feel, in his bones if nowhere else, that something is going on here that counts. Distortion in this case is an instrument; exaggeration has a purpose, and the whole structure of the story or novel has been made what it is because of belief. This is not the kind of distortion that destroys; it is the kind that reveals, or should reveal.”
Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion” in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. How do distortions – grotesques, exaggerations – help Faulkner to reveal what would otherwise remain hidden? How do distortions contribute to the effectiveness of As I Lay Dying?
***
Madness
One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote:
Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness --
‘Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail --
Assent -- and you are sane --
Demur -- you're straightway dangerous --
And handled with a Chain --
Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” How does madness or irrational behavior play an important role in a novel or play? (Write a well-organized essay) explaining what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole.
***
Semitransparent Envelope
Virginia Woolf wrote that “life is a luminous halo, a semitransparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.” Explain how William Faulkner shows the "semitransparent envelope" around his characters and how this envelope of consciousness is significant to the work as a whole.
1000+ words, twelve-point font, double spaced
Flannery O’Connor, a 20th century southern writer, has commented in a few places about the purpose of grotesque distortion:
“I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe it is the only way to make people see.”
“I have to make the reader feel, in his bones if nowhere else, that something is going on here that counts. Distortion in this case is an instrument; exaggeration has a purpose, and the whole structure of the story or novel has been made what it is because of belief. This is not the kind of distortion that destroys; it is the kind that reveals, or should reveal.”
Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion” in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. How do distortions – grotesques, exaggerations – help Faulkner to reveal what would otherwise remain hidden? How do distortions contribute to the effectiveness of As I Lay Dying?
***
Madness
One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote:
Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness --
‘Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail --
Assent -- and you are sane --
Demur -- you're straightway dangerous --
And handled with a Chain --
Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” How does madness or irrational behavior play an important role in a novel or play? (Write a well-organized essay) explaining what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole.
***
Semitransparent Envelope
Virginia Woolf wrote that “life is a luminous halo, a semitransparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.” Explain how William Faulkner shows the "semitransparent envelope" around his characters and how this envelope of consciousness is significant to the work as a whole.
1000+ words, twelve-point font, double spaced
Monday, February 22, 2010
As I Lay Dying motifs 169-end
Due by Monday (2/22) night pumpkin time.
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
6. Write a fourth paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in relation to another motif. Make direct reference to comments made by your peer who is tracking this other motif.
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
6. Write a fourth paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in relation to another motif. Make direct reference to comments made by your peer who is tracking this other motif.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Writing your own poems...
You must bring a poem you have written to class tomorrow (Friday, February 12).
Ideas...
Here's what we talked about in class:
Write using a form you've studied: sonnet, villanelle, sestina, etc.
Write modifying a form you've studied.
Write using an invented form.
Think about rhythm (meter, stresses, syllables), sound (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance), number of lines (per stanza, per poem), acrostics (or double acrostics or mesostics), typography (shape, poem-as-picture, l(a leaf falls)oneliness, font style, font size), repeating or omitting words or letters (anaphora, epistrophe, no words with the letter "e", etc.)
**********************
Here are a few other ideas:
Write a poem based on a dream you've had related to your theme. (Or invent a dream related to your theme.) Check out "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and "The Librarian" [scroll down to Reading in Boston, June 1962 #16] for examples of poems based on dreams.
Freewrite for five minutes about your topic. Write whatever you're thinking. Follow the wanderings of the mind. Try to be true to your stream of consciousness. Then, circle ten or fifteen or twenty (or any other number of) words from the stream. Finally, write a poem in which the number of words you've circled determines the number of lines in the poem. Make sure you use at least one of the circled words in each line and make sure you use each circled word at least once. Choose a phrase from one of the poems you've found to be the title.
Start with a line from one of the poems you've found. Write your own poem spinning outward from that line. Your poem might correspond with the line lengths and number of lines of the poem you've borrowed the first line from. (Here are two poems that use this technique: one by Robert Duncan and the other by Lisa Jarnot.)
**********************
Here are the directions for the poems you will write for the Personal Poetry Project Anthology (You can read the rest of the directions here).
8. A poem that you have written
containing an allusion
9. A poem that you have written
using a traditional or invented form
10. A poem that you have written
that is a strict, loose, or homophonic translation
11. A poem that you have written
in any form
*note four poems will be "free choice"; these can be poems you have found, written, and/or translated.
Ideas...
Here's what we talked about in class:
Write using a form you've studied: sonnet, villanelle, sestina, etc.
Write modifying a form you've studied.
Write using an invented form.
Think about rhythm (meter, stresses, syllables), sound (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance), number of lines (per stanza, per poem), acrostics (or double acrostics or mesostics), typography (shape, poem-as-picture, l(a leaf falls)oneliness, font style, font size), repeating or omitting words or letters (anaphora, epistrophe, no words with the letter "e", etc.)
**********************
Here are a few other ideas:
Write a poem based on a dream you've had related to your theme. (Or invent a dream related to your theme.) Check out "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and "The Librarian" [scroll down to Reading in Boston, June 1962 #16] for examples of poems based on dreams.
Freewrite for five minutes about your topic. Write whatever you're thinking. Follow the wanderings of the mind. Try to be true to your stream of consciousness. Then, circle ten or fifteen or twenty (or any other number of) words from the stream. Finally, write a poem in which the number of words you've circled determines the number of lines in the poem. Make sure you use at least one of the circled words in each line and make sure you use each circled word at least once. Choose a phrase from one of the poems you've found to be the title.
Start with a line from one of the poems you've found. Write your own poem spinning outward from that line. Your poem might correspond with the line lengths and number of lines of the poem you've borrowed the first line from. (Here are two poems that use this technique: one by Robert Duncan and the other by Lisa Jarnot.)
**********************
Here are the directions for the poems you will write for the Personal Poetry Project Anthology (You can read the rest of the directions here).
8. A poem that you have written
containing an allusion
9. A poem that you have written
using a traditional or invented form
10. A poem that you have written
that is a strict, loose, or homophonic translation
11. A poem that you have written
in any form
*note four poems will be "free choice"; these can be poems you have found, written, and/or translated.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
As I Lay Dying motifs pages 85-168
Due by Wednesday night pumpkin time.
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
6. Write a fourth paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in relation to another motif. Make direct reference to comments made by your peers who is tracking this other motif.
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
6. Write a fourth paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in relation to another motif. Make direct reference to comments made by your peers who is tracking this other motif.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Poetry Searches
Looking for poems?
Try these websites.
Poetry Magazine (This site keeps expanding. [Several years ago a very wealthy woman gave the Poetry Foundation a lot of money. & this website is one of the ways they're using it.] I found many interesting poems -- including a poem by C.P. Cavafy called "The Afternoon Sun" -- by searching for several of the themes you have chosen.)
American Academy of Poets (Click on the "advanced search" underneath "Find a poem or poet". One of the categories is "vampire".)
Jacket Magazine (The search function is here)
Try these websites.
Poetry Magazine (This site keeps expanding. [Several years ago a very wealthy woman gave the Poetry Foundation a lot of money. & this website is one of the ways they're using it.] I found many interesting poems -- including a poem by C.P. Cavafy called "The Afternoon Sun" -- by searching for several of the themes you have chosen.)
American Academy of Poets (Click on the "advanced search" underneath "Find a poem or poet". One of the categories is "vampire".)
Jacket Magazine (The search function is here)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
As I Lay Dying motifs pages 3-84
Due by Wednesday night pumpkin time
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
1. Write your first name, last initial, and motif.
2. List every reference to the motif you have found. Write the chapter name (the name of the narrator), a short description, and the page number. For example, if the motif is "eyes" you might write "Darl (re: Jewel's eyes--like wood) 4; Cora (re: Addie's eyes--like candles & blank) 8 and 9; [etc.]"
3. Choose two quotations that seem especially significant to the novel so far. Type the whole quotation, include the chapter name (the name of the narrator) and page number.
4. Write one paragraph (about 100 words) analyzing the significance of the motif in the first quotation and another paragraph (same length) analyzing the significance of the motif in the second quotation.
5. Write a third paragraph (about 100 words) exploring the significance of the motif in the novel so far.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sherwood Anderson & William Faulkner: Understanding the Grotesque
Read "The Book of the Grotesque" a story from the book Winesburg, Ohio (a cousin of Dubliners) by Sherwood Anderson. Write a thoughtful response in the comment box. You might write an analysis linking technique to meaning. You might write a comparison between this story and another, focusing on theme, style, characterization, or several elements or something else. You might write your own "interfiction" by fleshing out some part of the story (the back story, the "dream that was not a dream," the narrator as character, etc.) Or you might have another idea you'd like to try out.
*******
Then start reading As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Read and take notes on pages 3-84 by class time on Monday.
Here are the motifs. (Thanks to Mr. Phillips for motif ideas)
*******
Here's Faulkner talking about his intent to write a literary masterpiece:
"I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall." - William Faulkner
*******
Click here whenever you want to see a map for As I Lay Dying. The map is a revision of a map made by Faulkner himself. For Faulkner's map click here.
*******
Then start reading As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Read and take notes on pages 3-84 by class time on Monday.
Here are the motifs. (Thanks to Mr. Phillips for motif ideas)
Animals
Maternity/Feminity
Language/Words (uses and limits)
Religion
Existence and Identity (ontology)
Death and Life (Dying and Living, Non-being and being)
Community/Society
Sanity and Insanity
Trauma, Suffering (Responses to Trauma and Suffering)
Dark Humor & the Grotesque
Hope and Despair
Family (Loyalty and Betrayal)
Paternity/Masculinity
Secrets
Tools/Building
Sexuality
Money/buying/selling
*******
Here's Faulkner talking about his intent to write a literary masterpiece:
"I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall." - William Faulkner
*******
Click here whenever you want to see a map for As I Lay Dying. The map is a revision of a map made by Faulkner himself. For Faulkner's map click here.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Place for Andrew Ryan to Post His A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Part-to-Whole Essay
Andrew, it's probably too many characters to fit in one blog post so break it up.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Personal Anthology Poetry Project
AP English Literature and Composition
Personal Poetry Anthology
1. Email me your theme.
2. Bring typed copies of seven of the fifteen poems to class on ____________________
3. Bring a draft of one of your own poems to class on ____________________
4. Bring a draft of the introduction to class on ____________________
5. Completed project is due ___________________ (no extension letters will be accepted)
Theme: ___________________________________
For this assignment, you will prepare a poetry anthology. For our purposes, poetry will include song lyrics. The anthology will be unified by a common theme, and must consist of the following minimal requirements:
Criteria Title of Poem (Author of Poem)
1. A late sixteenth or seventeenth
century poem (Elizabethan,
Metaphysical, Cavalier)
2. A nineteenth century poem
(Romantic, Gothic, Victorian)
3. A twentieth century poem
(modern or post-modern)
4. A twenty-first century poem
(post-modern)
5. Lyrics to song
6. A sonnet (or poem written in
another traditional form: sestina,
terza rima, rondeau, villanelle, etc.)
7. A poem translated
from another language
8. A poem that you have written
containing an allusion
9. A poem that you have written
using a traditional or invented form
10. A poem that you have written
that is a strict, loose, or homophonic translation
11. A poem that you have written
in any form
12. Free choice
13. “ “
14. “ “
15. “ “
You must include
a. A title page with MLA information (See Compass page 58-59.)
b. A dedication and epigraph page
c. An introduction (300-500 words introducing the theme, briefly explaining the relationship between the poems and the theme, and reflecting upon the theme.)
d. A table of contents with titles and authors
e. A minimum of fifteen (15) separate poems/songs.
f. A Works Cited page, including discography (MLA format See Compass page 56-58)
You may include:
a. More of your own poems
b. Illustrations and/or photograph (Art taken from other sources much be cited)
c. More than one song lyric
d. A mixed-CD/mixed-tape with the song(s) and poems
Personal Poetry Anthology
1. Email me your theme.
2. Bring typed copies of seven of the fifteen poems to class on ____________________
3. Bring a draft of one of your own poems to class on ____________________
4. Bring a draft of the introduction to class on ____________________
5. Completed project is due ___________________ (no extension letters will be accepted)
Theme: ___________________________________
For this assignment, you will prepare a poetry anthology. For our purposes, poetry will include song lyrics. The anthology will be unified by a common theme, and must consist of the following minimal requirements:
Criteria Title of Poem (Author of Poem)
1. A late sixteenth or seventeenth
century poem (Elizabethan,
Metaphysical, Cavalier)
2. A nineteenth century poem
(Romantic, Gothic, Victorian)
3. A twentieth century poem
(modern or post-modern)
4. A twenty-first century poem
(post-modern)
5. Lyrics to song
6. A sonnet (or poem written in
another traditional form: sestina,
terza rima, rondeau, villanelle, etc.)
7. A poem translated
from another language
8. A poem that you have written
containing an allusion
9. A poem that you have written
using a traditional or invented form
10. A poem that you have written
that is a strict, loose, or homophonic translation
11. A poem that you have written
in any form
12. Free choice
13. “ “
14. “ “
15. “ “
You must include
a. A title page with MLA information (See Compass page 58-59.)
b. A dedication and epigraph page
c. An introduction (300-500 words introducing the theme, briefly explaining the relationship between the poems and the theme, and reflecting upon the theme.)
d. A table of contents with titles and authors
e. A minimum of fifteen (15) separate poems/songs.
f. A Works Cited page, including discography (MLA format See Compass page 56-58)
You may include:
a. More of your own poems
b. Illustrations and/or photograph (Art taken from other sources much be cited)
c. More than one song lyric
d. A mixed-CD/mixed-tape with the song(s) and poems
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sonnet Responses
Read as many of Shakespeare's sonnets as you can stomach. Read 'em all if you can. I dare ya.
The Sonnets at Shakespeare Online
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Open Source Shakespeare
Write a say-play-imply, SOAPSTone + Theme, and/or TPCAST + Theme for three of the sonnets other than sonnet 130 by Friday (1/15) pumpkin time.
(If you're feeling inventive you cold -- for one of the responses -- write a modernized version of the sonnet in the manner of Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady".)
The Sonnets at Shakespeare Online
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Open Source Shakespeare
Write a say-play-imply, SOAPSTone + Theme, and/or TPCAST + Theme for three of the sonnets other than sonnet 130 by Friday (1/15) pumpkin time.
(If you're feeling inventive you cold -- for one of the responses -- write a modernized version of the sonnet in the manner of Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady".)
Midyear Exam Literary Vocabulary
Post clear, thorough definitions & clear, appropriate examples (offer an explanation if necessary) by pumpkin time January 13.
Sonnets & Poetry (21)
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter, Meter, Iamb, Rhyme Scheme, Volta, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Stanza, Octet, Sestet, Quatrain, Couplet, Enjambment, End rhyme, Full rhyme, Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme, Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets, Blank Verse
Other Types of Poems (5)
free verse, villanelle, sestina, terza rima, ballads
Other Poetic Techniques (3)
anaphora, epistrophe, inversion
Figurative Language (16)
figurative language, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, pun, double entendre, rhetorical question (=erotema), oxymoron, paradox, synesthesia, denotation, connotation
Irony (4)
irony, verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Narration (5)
narration, first person narration, third person limited narration, third person omniscient narration, stream of consciousness
Writing Style (9)
style, voice, diction, syntax, tone, mood, dialect, colloquialism, vernacular
Character (13)
characterization, direct characterization, indirect characterization, dynamic character, static character, round character, flat character, foil, protagonist, antagonist, tragic hero, antihero
Plot & Events (10)
Plot, exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, denouement (resolution), flashback, foreshadowing, internal conflict, external conflict,
Other Literary Terms from First Semester (4)
motif, symbol, epigraph, epiphany
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Blog Blurbs
Write a blurb for Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
Example Blurbs:
"Splendid art...a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears." Wilfrid Sheed, Life
"Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful...very Vonnegut" New York Times
"Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer...a zany but moral mad scientist." Time
"Unique...one of the writers who map our landscapes for us, who give names to the places we know best." Doris Lessing, The New York Times Book Review
"Our finest black-humorist....We laugh in self-defense." The Atlantic Monthly
"A laughing prophet of doom." New York Times
***
A good blurb captures the nature of the book and offers an opinion (implied or overt).
Some blurbs use figurative language (similes, analogies, metaphors).
Vonnegut is a "zany but moral mad scientist". Vonnegut "maps our landscapes for us." Reading Slaughterhouse-Five can feel like riding several rollercoaster at the same time.
Some blurbs use comparisons. "Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer." Slaughterhouse-Five makes one wonder what would happen if, first, one of Adam Sandler's absurdly incompetent characters took over Saving Private Ryan and then that story were put into a blender.
Some blurbs use paradox: "a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears" "A laughing prophet of doom" "We laugh in self-defense"...
Some blurbs simply rely upon adjectives: "Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful..."
Have fun. Try more than one if you'd like.
Example Blurbs:
"Splendid art...a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears." Wilfrid Sheed, Life
"Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful...very Vonnegut" New York Times
"Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer...a zany but moral mad scientist." Time
"Unique...one of the writers who map our landscapes for us, who give names to the places we know best." Doris Lessing, The New York Times Book Review
"Our finest black-humorist....We laugh in self-defense." The Atlantic Monthly
"A laughing prophet of doom." New York Times
***
A good blurb captures the nature of the book and offers an opinion (implied or overt).
Some blurbs use figurative language (similes, analogies, metaphors).
Vonnegut is a "zany but moral mad scientist". Vonnegut "maps our landscapes for us." Reading Slaughterhouse-Five can feel like riding several rollercoaster at the same time.
Some blurbs use comparisons. "Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer." Slaughterhouse-Five makes one wonder what would happen if, first, one of Adam Sandler's absurdly incompetent characters took over Saving Private Ryan and then that story were put into a blender.
Some blurbs use paradox: "a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears" "A laughing prophet of doom" "We laugh in self-defense"...
Some blurbs simply rely upon adjectives: "Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful..."
Have fun. Try more than one if you'd like.
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