WEEK 6

Good morning!

This is another catch-up opportunity. You will have TWO weeks to get this work done. Don't procrastinate. Use your time wisely.

This week, we'll be moving on to poetry. As this is not a survey course in which you would get the whole sweep of a particular classification of literature (Ancient Greek, American, British, etc.) but a course in writing about literature, we'll focus the poetry on a particular "chunk" called the Romantic movement. You might recognize the names: Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, and the one we'll start with, Coleridge. But in order to get at the Romantics, we also need to know a little bit about what came before: neoclassic poetry. 


Here's your work for the week:


1. Read the two articles below and follow the instructions for each: 

Neoclassic poetry  Write a 100+ word summary of the key ideas of this movement (You can stop reading at the "Alexander Pope" section). 

Romantic poetry. Write a one-sentence definition of romanticism using link.


2. Read this bio on... Samuel Taylor Coleridge.


3. Read Rime of the Ancient Mariner. (The notes in the margins are Coleridge's commentary; don't forget to read those!) I suggest printing out this version so you can make notes for item #4. Give yourself time for this. You might want to even break it up over a couple of days. I also suggest listening to an audio version. This one on Youtube lets you listen and see the words (It's also read by Ian McKellen which is kind of cool). 

a. For each of the poem's 7 parts, write a brief paragraph summarizing the plot.

b. Explain in a paragraph (50-100 words) how R.A.M. emphasizes or relies on nature, strong emotion, and gothic elements. 


4. Define each of the following (you'll need to look them up) and provide an example from R.A.M. for each:
a. masculine rhyme
b. feminine rhyme
c. near rhyme
d. end rhyme
e. internal rhyme
    (here's a good source for the 5 types of rhyme)
f. alliteration




TURN IN EVERYTHING BY MIDNIGHT, NEXT FRIDAY. HAVE A GREAT TWO WEEKS!

WEEK 5

Good Morning!

SOME IMPORTANT NOTES...

1. Title formatting: BIG items (books, plays, movies, etc.) get italicized. SMALLER items (chapters, short stories, poems, songs, etc.) get "quotes." And formatting is never mixed, so don't use both just because you forget which is which.

2. Quote formatting: Don't put direct quotes in italics (or bold or highlighted or any other formatting). Some of you really like doing that. I'm not sure why. Quotation marks are all you need.

3. Topic Sentences. Part of how I grade most of these literary analysis papers is to glance through the body of the essay and look at the topic sentences (the first sentence of the paragraph). I'm looking for simple, clear sentences that get right to the point of that paragraph. "Finally, Antaeus and T.J. both have to face a Hercules." Or something like that. If I can't do that, then there's a problem. While there are times when putting a topic sentence somewhere else (in the middle or at the end) is appropriate, for these kinds of essays, it's not. 


Your work for this week:

1.  You MAY have another draft to do for the "Antaeus" essay. 

2.  Watership Down essay...

I hope you enjoyed reading one of my all-time favorites. An aunt read it to me and my siblings when we were kids, so I grew up thinking it was just a silly children's story. Then for some reason I picked it up as an adult and recognized right away that there was a lot more going on than bunny rabbits getting chased around farms.

You've probably guessed correctly at our first piece of writing. You'll be discussing Hazel as a leader. This is straight-forward literary analysis of the simplest kind. You'll identify those characteristics of Hazel's that make a good leader and cite examples (with lots of quotes) from the text. Nothing tricky or nuanced here--it's meat-and-potatoes literary analysis. And for that reason, there will only be ONE draft of this essay. Keep that in mind. You have all week to draft, revise, and proof. 

So...

Write an essay in which you thoroughly discuss Hazel's leadership qualities. Here are the basics...

• Discuss FOUR leadership traits (so be thinking 4 body paragraphs with clear and simple topic sentences).
• Include at least TWO "QUOTES" PER TRAIT. (Remember, quotes don't need to be lengthy; in fact, they shouldn't be longer than 2 lines, and even that should be rare. Review the 3 ways of incorporating quotes into your writing.)
• Title and author's name in the intro paragraph
• 800 words minimum
• Absolutely no plot re-telling (I've read the story a dozen times; I know the plot. Just talk to me about Hazel's leadership. We're just talking – one expert to another.)

3.  LBGB...

• Read the "Style and Usage" section of chapter 3. 
• Look at these usage pairs and write a correct sentence using each (You may use my examples as models, but write your own):

            a. affect / effect
            b. assure / ensure / insure
            c. compose / comprise
            d. farther / further
            e. i.e. / e.g.
            f. me / myself

        

DUE FRIDAY NIGHT.

Have a wonderful week! 

WEEK 4

Hi Guys,

One business item first:

A few of you may not have read this part of the organization assignment from last week: Keep all drafts of essay assignments grouped together with the latest draft at the top of the group.

Like this:

"Antaeus" dr1

Antigone Conscience dr2

Antigone Conscience dr1

Antigone Tragedy dr2

Antigone Tragedy dr1

I need to be able to compare drafts side by side. 

Thanks!

Here's your work for week 4... 

1. Final draft for the "Antaeus" essay. 

There were a few common problems:

1.  Failing to stick to the thesis: that TJ is a modern-day Antaeus. That means showing how the two characters are alike. And that means each body paragraph tackles a specific way that the two are alike. Shoot for 3 or 4 ways. If you're not sure how to approach this, just have each topic sentence begin, "Like Antaeus, T.J....." or "In the same way that Antaeus _____ , T.J. also _____....." or  "Both Antaeus and TJ share the trait of _____...."

2. Analyze. Don't tell me what happened in the story (or in the myth), just refer to the things that help you make your points. Then support that with evidence from the text.

3.  Literary analysis relies heavily on quoting the text. The best supporting evidence of your point is the text itself. Also, there are only 3 acceptable ways of formatting the quoted text in your writing. I've posted information on this a few times. You might want to review. 


2. Watership Down - Go ahead and finish it and complete the chapter summaries. 


3. Write up a list of Hazel's leadership qualities. Find 10 examples from the text that demonstrate these qualities. 

Here's a model:  TRAIT - Hazel takes input from others in the group. EXAMPLE - We see this demonstrated when Blackberry figures out how to ride on something that is floating on water, and instead of taking credit for it or begrudging Blackberry the idea, Hazel is grateful.  

You probably won't end up with 10 separate qualities. Just try to come up with 10 total examples from the book. So if one quality has 3 or 4 examples, that's fine. Use your chapter summaries to jog your memory. 




Have a great week!