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.