English homework due before break

Hi all:

So, here is a list of the work that is due by the end of next week:

1) You all have received back from me the drafts for the book review - make changes and post it on the community blog by midnight on Friday (12/16)

2) Although some of you have already submitted it, I need you to submit a draft of the critical paper of your independent reading by this Friday (12/9). I will look over them at the weekend and give them back to you next week. You will post the final draft of the paper on the community blog by midnight on Friday (12/16).

3) Go online and choose a poem by Emily Dickinson. Over the next few classes we will be doing recitations of the poem that you choose, and you will also have to spend a couple of minutes explaining why you chose the poem and what you liked about it. Please let me know what poem you chose so we can project in while you present it. This will be a graded oral exercise!

Any questions let me know!

Mr. T-S

Homework for next class

Hi all:

Sorry about missing class today - but hopefully you enjoyed the grammar worksheets :-)

Seeing as I was unable to get the drafts back to you today, you will be unable to post them this weekend on the blog. Instead, please start/continue working on a draft for the formal paper. For next class, please bring in a draft of the paper into class. I will return your drafts from the book review and then you can make the changes and post it on the blog by Thursday. By Thursday's class, I will return to you the drafts of the formal paper and then you can work on it and post it over next weekend.

“Analyze and explain one theme from the novel you read? Don't just give me one word, but a statement, an idea. (please refer to the definitions from our class discussions)
THEN:
Consider one of the major characters. This character does things and says things that address this theme, either directly or indirectly. Describe the character for me (as if I were unfamiliar with the novel) and explain for me, using events in the novel, how this character's actions are used to address this theme. Please refer directly to the book to illustrate and reinforce your argument”

This paper will be between 3&4 pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, double spaced.

Homework for Wednesday 11/30

Book review:

Please bring into class a copy of a book review of the book from your independent reading over the holiday. Try to find a credible, published source (such as the New York Time Review of Books or a journal article - check JSTOR on the library website) rather than something like a blog. Also, bring in a copy of a book review of your choice. We will spend time in class on Wednesday discussing book reviews and their structure.

Along with the published book reviews, please bring a draft of your own book review with you into class, modeled on the style of the reviews you have found. We will spend time in class peer editing the reviews. The review should be 1-2 pages long, single spaced (12 pt Times New Roman font), or 3-4 pages double spaced.

Homework for Thursday

Hi all:

As mentioned in class, for Thursday please do the following:

1) Finish and post your quarterly reflection on your informal blog by 12am Wednesday
2) Finish reading the stories by Ambrose Bierce - we will discuss them further on Thursday
3) Select your book for Thanksgiving reading - here are your choices once again:
       One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest - Ken Kesey 
       All the King’s Men - Robert Penn Warren
       Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
       The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula LeGuin
       Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
       The Color Purple - Alice Walker

Homework for Thursday's class

There will be an in-class writing assignment on Kindred on Thursday. Please prepare for this assignment by spending the next couple of days going over your notes and re-reading parts of the book. Also, please read the critical essay by Robert Crossley at the back of the book - this will help you think more critically about the book in preparation for the assignment.

Homework for Thursday

Hi all:

Thank you for keeping up with the reading over the last week. We'll take a small break from reading the book for Thursday and focus on the questions I raised in class:

What is the purpose of the "third" narrative in Kindred (i.e. the part of the story where Dana recalls the development of her relationship with Kevin)? What purpose does this narrative play in the overall story? Why are we being shown how Dana feels about how she met and married Kevin? How does it contribute to the other parts of the story?

Spend a some time re-reading these parts of the book and then think about these questions. Bring into class at least a page worth of notes on these questions as we will discuss it further in Thursday's class. I will ALSO collect your notes to read from (they won't be graded but you will get a check mark for completion).

Also, as a heads up, you will be finishing the book for Tuesday - I'm letting you know now so you can plan the reading accordingly...

Good luck,

Mr. Twomey-Smith

Homework for the weekend

Hi all:

Sorry about missing you last week - was out sick and still not feeling the best.
Homework for the next class - read the first two chapters of Kindred for discussion on Monday.

Homework for Wednesday - continue working on your Whitman-esque poetry and post by Wednesday evening. We can talk about your progress Monday, as you were expected to work on it in last Thursday's class when I was out.

See you Monday!

Homework for next week

Please study hard and do well on the PSATs!

Also, re-read the Whitman poetry, consider his style and ideas, and begin to think about how you would model this in your own poetry, which we will do as an informal writing assignment next week.

Good luck this weekend!

Homework for Friday

For next class, please start a draft for your next formal assignment.  The question for this assignment is the following:

With reference to the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, what are the implications of considering autobiographies as either historical “truth” or narrative “fiction” of a life’s journey? In your response, think about the goals of autobiographers (specifically Douglass, but also consider your own goals/motives when you wrote about your own “journey”), in terms of why they wrote the piece and who their expected audience would be. Also, does the fact that Douglass possesses multiple narrative voices in this novel - his past voice and his present voice the two dominant voices  - highlight the problem of memory and motive in writing autobiographies?

Bring in at least one page of your draft. We will continue our discussions of Frederick Douglass and this question in particular Friday. You will be working on this draft over the weekend and hand in a formal draft on Wednesday.

Those of you who have not had a chance to do a second performance, also practice for your recital!

Homework for our long absence....

Hi all:

So, it looks like we won't be seeing each other for a while - this is sad :-( but the work must go on! :-)

I would like you, by Monday 10/3, to have finished reading the Frederick Douglass Autobiography. I would like you to read the introduction and the main text (about 100 pages), but don't worry about the essays and appendices at the back (unless you want to read them, of course). While reading the text, I would like you to annotate in your books, considering the questions that we raised when we discussed the values and problems with autobiography. This will be important so you have critical comments to make when we discuss this book on 10/3, as well as for the writing assignment that I will be giving you.

Also, in addition to finishing the book, I would like you to write an informal piece of writing on your personal journal. In approximately 600 words, please describe a journey that you have been on. Consider the conversations that we have had about journeys in the texts we have read so far - The Road and Young Goodman Brown and also address the journey that Frederick Douglass is taking. Remember, when describing a journey, consider whether there are beginning or end points, what the goals or objectives of the journey are, what obstacles you faced that jeopardized the completion of the journey, and the feelings and emotions you experienced. Also consider the audience you are writing this to.

Be creative and consider this writing piece a culmination of our discussions on journey and autobiography. As an informal piece, it should be posted on your journal and not the community. This should be posted on your journal on Friday 9/30.

Any questions over the next couple of weeks, please email me. You will be expected to go to class next week, as there will be important work covered during those sessions that will help you with your assignments. I will know if you are not there :-)

Best,

Mr. Twomey-Smith

Home work - informal blog

By Wednesday, please write a short, informal creative piece of writing on the following and post to your blog:

As you saw in the Hawethorn short story, he makes an effort to accurately recreate the dialogue of colonial Puritans. This is a device used by many other authors (e.g. Mark Twain) to make the novel appear more authentic.

Listen to a conversation and try to recreate that conversation in written form. Don't try too hard (i.e. some words are just pronounced the way they are actually spelled!) but pay attention to how accents can change the way certain words sound. Please place the dialogue in context (e.g. briefly describe the locale, the situation and the people in the conversation). Be as creative as you wish.

Homework for Friday

Please read the short story "Young Goodman Brown" by Friday and take notes ready to discuss the story in class.

Also, by the end of the cycle, please write up and post on the community website the written response to in-class assignment on The Road that addresses the question "What is distinctly American about this novel?"

Homework article

Hi all:

Great class today - we will discuss The Road further in class Wednesday. To aid our discussion, please read this short but very good discussion of The Road and genre:

http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/feature-articles/but-is-it-horror-a-critical-re-examination-of-genre-in-corma.html

See you Wednesday.

Greetings....

... and welcome back to a new year at MPH. I'm really looking forward to exploring American Literature with you all, where we will read some excellent novels which I believe will inspire some great writing and discussion.

I expect that you have finished reading McCarthy's The Road as well as completed the summer assignment. We will be spending some time discussing the book in the first couple of classes, before moving onto Frederick Douglass' autobiography.

In the meantime, read through the syllabus I have given you and be sure to sign up for a LiveJournal account as soon as possible.