WEEK 1

Hi guys!

Read this first (even if you think you know it already; there's new info here):

GOOGLE DOCS REVIEW...

There are three parts to your doc: the spreadsheet at the top, a section to keep essay drafts, and a section for other work. Let's look at each one:

SPREADSHEET. This where I'll put your grade for essays and weekly work. Keep an eye on this. I update it every week. And read my comments! 

ESSAYS. This section is for essays only. Paragraphs are not essays. Keep the essay assignments together (if you have three drafts on the Helmet Law essay, they should all be next to each other with the latest one on top). LABEL the essay with title and draft #, like this: "Helmet Law draft 2". Keep the most recent assignment at the top of the section.

MISC. WORK. Anything that's not a full essay goes here. Labels are even more important for this section, so include the week and a title, like this: "WEEK 3, Watership Down c10-15 questions". Keep the most recent assignments at the top of the section.  

LATE WORK...

If you need more time, you can ask for an extension by Wednesday midnight. After that I'll grade it at half credit. I'll let you do that TWICE. We'll have two "catch-up" weeks, so that should help you stay on top of things. 

In this course we'll pick up where we left off in HSW1.

We covered a number of essay types last term, but they all worked toward the overall objective, which was to beat into your heads these two ideas: 1) that an essay needs to have a point and 2) that good organization helps you make it. 

Over these next ten weeks we'll apply those same ideas to literary analysis as you read and write about various pieces in various literature forms.

Literary Analysis.

In college (especially if you go the liberal arts route) you will need to be able to speak and write intelligently about what you're reading. You'll recall the essay you wrote on the short story themes from "The Necklace." That was literary analysis. You were analyzing something literary, in this case the theme. 

Of course, literature is a wide field: novels, plays, poems, short stories, and essays are all forms of literature. And analysis is even wider: you could analyze theme, motif, plot, subplot, character, setting, historical context, and those are just the big-category, obvious ones. You could write a doctoral dissertation (i.e., a really long literary analysis) on Shakespeare's use of cross-dressing in his comedies. Seriously. 

So we'll be working with lots of literature, including a novel, a Greek tragic play, short stories, poems (long and short), and a film. Some of the analysis will be prescribed by me. Some will be chosen by you.

This week's work...

1. Get a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams and read the first 8 chapters (they're short). We won't be writing about this text until mid-way through the course, but next Monday I'll assign a few comprehension questions to keep you on track (and accountable).

2.  Read this bio on Sophocles.

3. Read the first part of this summary of the Oedipus story. Don't read "The Aftermath" or anything beyond that, because there are spoilers. The play we'll be reading this week involves the children of Oedipus, so it's important we have this background knowledge.

4. Read the play Antigone by Sophocles. (If the link doesn't work, just search "Antigone full text" and pick a readable translation.) Our first literary analysis will be focus on this play, but more on that next week. 

5. For each of the 7 sections of the play (Prologue, 5 scenes, and the Exodus), write a short summary. A few sentences for each is plenty. 

6. For each of these characters -- Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haimon -- write one paragraph (50-75 words) that discusses the role that conscience plays for that particular character. Be sure to have clear topic sentences. Keep this in mind: the Greeks believed that the conscience of all people carried one message: obey the gods! Assuming that was true for these characters, think about (you don't have to write anything; just think) how well they followed their consciences by obeying or not obeying the gods? One more time: the consciences of these characters DON'T CHANGE. It's the same message for all of them, but other stuff gets in the way of their hearing it. That's what we'll be writing about next week.

*TURN IT IN BY FRIDAY, MIDNIGHT.  

Have a great week!