Questions On Revised Syllabus Of English 214: Introduction To Fiction

Revised Syllabus
Assignments and Due Dates
April 9, 2011
English 214: Introduction to Fiction
Professor PearsonEmail: [e-mail] 301 [phone]Office Hours: A-Day (10:50-1:00) B-Day (7:30-9:10) After School: 2:30-3:30 or by appointment | | | |
Tentative Schedule of Assignments/Cognitive Reflections/Essays: April 4-April 8 | April 6: Reading Poetry pp. 743-750 a. Read Robert Frances, “Catch” pp. 750-751 b. A Sample Student Analysis pp. 751-754. c. Read Elizabeth Bishop, “The Fish” pp. 755-756.BCR: Which lines in this poem provide especially vivid details of the fish? What makes these descriptions effective?Homework: Poetry in Popular Forms pp. 774-777. a. Read S. Pearl Sharp, “It’s the
Law: A Rap Poem” pp. 778-779. b. Answer questions 1, 2, and 3 p. 779 Due April 8, 2011.April 8: Writing about Poetry: From Inquiry to Final Paper pp. 790-797. a. Read William Blake, “The Lamb” p. 961 b. Read William Blake, “The Tyger” p. 961BCR: The poem “The Tyger” from Blake’s Song of Experience is often paired with “The Lamb.” Describe the poem’s tone. Is the speaker’s voice the same here as in “The Lamb”? Which words are repeated, and how do they contribute to the tone?Homework: Read Robert Frost’s “Design” p. 1116 and William Hathaway’s “Oh, Oh” p. 748. Write a 100 word response to the following: Compare the ironic tone of “Design” with the tone of William Hathaway’s “Oh, Oh”. What would you have to change in Hathaway’s poem to make it more like Frost’s? (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by April 10, 2011, 12:00 midnight).Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close April 12, 2011, 12:00 midnight. Will be completed in class April 12, 2011. | April 11-15 | April 12: Word Choice, Word Order, and Tone pp. 799-804. a. Read Katharyn Howd Machan, “Hazel Tells LaVerne” p. 807. b. A Sample Student Response pp. 808-809. c. Read Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool” p. 827. d. Read Joan Murray, “We Old Dudes” pp. 827-828.BCR: Compare the themes of “We Old Dudes” and Brooks’s “We Real Cool.” How do the two poems speak to each other?Homework: Write a poem similar in style that characterizes your life as a student. Due April 14, 2011.April 14: Reading Drama pp. 1363-1365; 1381-1384; 1393-1394 a. Read Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” pp. 1365-1375. b. A Sample Close Reading pp. 1376-1378. c. Read Susan Glaspell, “from the Short Story Version of Trifles” pp. 1378-1380. d. Writing about Drama, pp. 1407-1409 e. A Sample Student Paper, pp. 1410-1412BCR: Which version brings the reader into more intimate contact with the character? How is this achieved?Homework: “Seinfield” pp. 1394-1396Read Larry David “Seinfield: The Pitch” pp. 1396-1405. Write a 100 word response to the following: Write a response that explains whether or not you think David Ives’s play Moby-Dude, Or: The Three-Minute Whale, pp. 1801-1803, fills George’s prescription that a story should be about “nothing”? (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by April 17, 2011, 12:00 midnight). | April 18-22 | April 18: Images pp. 837-838 a. Read Mary Robinson, “London’s Summer Morning” pp. 848-849. b. Read William Blake, “London” pp. 850 c. A Sample Student Response, pp. 851-852Homework: Read Patricia Smith, “What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren’t) pp. 854-855. BCR: Describe the speaker’s tone. What images in particular contribute to the tone? How do you account for the selected tone? Due April 20, 2011.Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close April 22, 2011, 12:00 midnight.April 20: Figure of Speech, pp. 864-874 a. A Sample Student Response, pp. 875. b. Read John R. Searle, “Figuring Out Metaphors” pp. 886-887Homework: Read Linda Pastan, “Marks” p.883.BCR: Explain the appropriateness of the controlling metaphor in this poem. How does it reveal the woman’s relationship to her family? Due April 22, 2011. April 22: Symbol, Allegory, and Irony pp. 888-894. a. A Sample Student Response p.895 b. Read Kenneth Fearing, “AD” p. 896 c. Read E. E. Cummings, “next to of course god america i” p. 897.Homework: Read Gary Soto, “Behind Grandma’s House” pp. 914.BCR: Identify the central irony of this poem? Support your response with specific and relevant examples from the story. Due April 24, 2011.Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close April 24, 2011, 12:00 midnight. | April 25-29 | April 25: Sounds pp.
916-922 a. A Sample Student Response pp. 922-923. b. Rhyme pp. 924-930 c. Read Haki R. Madhubuti, “The B Network” pp. 937-938.BCR: Why has the poet included all those words beginning with b? How do you explain the title?April 27: Patterns of Rhythm pp. 946-952. a. A Sample Student Response p. 953 b. Read William Butler Yates, “That the Night Come” p. 954. c. Read Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz” p. 967.BCR: Characterize the rhythm of the poem. Does it move “like death” (line 3), or is it more like a waltz? Is the rhythm regular throughout the poem? What is its effect?Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close April 29, 2011, 12:00 midnight.April 29: Poetic Forms, pp. 970-975 a. Read Edna St. Vincent Millay, “I will put Chaos into fourteen lines” p. 977. b. A Sample Student Response pp. 978-979. c. Read Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” pp. 981-982.BCR: How does Dylan Thomas vary the meanings of the poem’s two refrains: “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”?Homework: Read “Sestina” p. 983; “Epigram” p. 986; “Limerick” p. 987; “Haiku” p. 988; “Elegy” p. 989; “Ode” p. 992; “Parody” p. 996; and “Picture Poem” p. 997.Find an example of each of the aforementioned poems. Examples CAN NOT come from the textbook. Write a brief explanation of how the poem meets the
identified type of poem. Due May 1, 2011. | May 2-6 | May 3: Open Form, pp. 1000-1003. a. A Sample Student Response pp. 1004-1005. b. Read Richard Hague, “Directions for Resisting the SAT” p. 1006.BCR: Discuss Hague’s use of spacing and line breaks. What is the effect of the space between lines 15 and 16?May 5: A Study of Langston Hughes p.1129-1134 a. An Introduction to His Work pp. 1135-1139 b. Read “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” p.1134 c. Read Two Complementary Critical Readings pp. 1155-1157.BCR: Describe how the poem’s images support Rampersad’s assertion that Hughes’s personal experiences is “alchemized” into a reflection on the history of his race.” | May 9-13 | May 9: Read “Song for a Dark Girl” p.
1144.Respond to the following: a. What allusion is made in the first line of each stanza? How is that allusion ironic? b. What is “the use of prayer” (line 8) in this poem? Is the question answered? What, is particular, leads you to your conclusions? c. Discuss the relationship between love and hatred in the poem.Homework: Write a 100 word response to the following: Compare the speakers’ sensibilities in this poem and in Emily Dickinson’s “If I can stop one Heart from breaking” (p. 1048). What kind of cultural assumptions are implicit in each speaker’s voice? (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by May 11, 2011, 12:00 midnight). May 11: Read “Red Silk Stockings” p. 1145. Respond to the following: a. Who do you think is speaking? Describe his or her tone. b. Discuss the racial dimensions of this poem. c. Write a response from the girl—does she put on the red silk stockings? Explain why you imagine her reacting in a certain way. Homework: Write a 100 word response to the following: Compare relations between whites and blacks in this poem “Red Silk Stockings” and in “Song of a Dark Girl” (p. 1144). (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by May 13, 2011, 12:00 midnight).May 13: Combining the Elements of Poetry: A Writing Process pp. 1028-1038.Essay 3: Poetry A. Defend, refute, or qualify the following statement in a well-organized essay using
evidence: Langston Hughes’ poem “Dream Deferred” is an expression of isolation and inequity related to his life experiences as an African American man. Include evidence related to the prompt about historical time period, or the author’s life. . (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by May 15, 2011, 12:00 midnight). | May 16-20 | May 17: A Study of Sophocles pp. 1414-1421 a. Oedipus the King pp. 1421-1464May 19: Read Aristotle, “On Tragic Character” pp. 1502-1504 and Sigmund Freud “On the Oedipus Complex” pp. 1504-1505. A. Write a 100 word response to the following: Read the section on psychological criticism in Chapter 53, “Critical Strategies for Reading” (pp. 2050-2052), for additional information about Freud’s theory concerning the Oedipus complex. Explain whether you agree or disagree that Freud’s approach offers the “key to the tragedy” of Oedipus the King. (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by May 22, 2011, 12:00 midnight).Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close May 22 2011, 12:00 midnight. | May 23-27 | May 23: A Thematic Case Study: The Literature of the South pp. 548-550. a. Read John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed, “Definitions of the South” pp. 550. b. Read Alice Walker, “Roselily” pp. 253-256.BCR: Compare the treatments of the North and the South in “Roselily” and in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” pp. 91-97.May 25: Read Margaret Walker, “The Southern Writer and Race” pp.558-560 and Richard Wright, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” pp. 560-562. a. Read William Faulkner, “Barn Burning” pp. 503-514. b. Read Jane Hiles, “Perspectives on Faulkner” pp. 515-517.BCR: To what extent does Faulkner’s description of clannishness in the South affect your understanding of whether Sarty resolves his dilemma at the end of the story?Complete cognitive reflection on (http://quizstar.4teachers.org/indexs.jsp). Access to cognitive reflection will close May 27, 2011, 12:00 midnight.May 27: A Thematic Case Study: Remarkably Short-Short Stories pp. 608-609. a. Read Sandra Cisneros, “Eleven” pp.609-611BCR: Discuss the teacher’s impact on the student in this story and in Judy Page Heitzman’s poem “The Schoolroom on the Second Floor of the Knitting Mill” p. 878. | May 30-June 3 | June 1: Read Ron Carlson “Max” pp. 612-613 and Ron Hansen “My Kid’s Dog” pp. 584-587.BCR: Compare “Max” and “My Kid’s Dog” as revenge stories.Homework: Write an additional final paragraph that describes what happens when Max is let back into the house, a paragraph that is worthy of the humor in the rest of the story. Due June 3, 2011.June 3: Read Josefina Lopez “Real Women Have Curves” pp. 1830-1868. A. Write a 100 word response to the following: Identify the theme of the play, “Real Women Have Curves”. Is this theme relevant to today’s woman? Explain your response using specific and relevant examples. (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by June 5, 2011, 12:00 midnight). | June 6-June 10 | June 7: Introduction Final Essay: Literary CriticismJune 9: Final Essay Literary Criticism Essay (Writing A Thesis Statement) | June 13-June 15 | June 13: Final Essay Literary Criticism Organization and Editing. (Assignment must be submitted via email to [e-mail] by June 13, 2011, 12:00 midnight).June 15: Final Class: Review of Final Essay Literary Criticism |