Thursday, September 25

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Today’s Agenda

1)      Let’s begin class today with a Journal Entry:

For the next 10 minutes, I want you to write on the following topic:

What is one of your favorite stories? You do not need to cite a book. Your favorite story may be of a family event or of something that happened to one of your friends. Please describe this story, and then explain why this story is one of your favorites.

2)      Group discussion: In your groups, I want you to discuss the following:

Where do our stories come from? Think about who your favorite storyteller is. Is it someone you know personally? Is it an author? Who is this person, and why are they your favorite storyteller? What are the characteristics that make them a good storyteller?

We are going to begin examining what is known as the “short story” today.

• While poetry has its origins in ancient Greece, the short story is much more modern – really popularized by Edgar Allen Poe, who believed that you should be able to sit down and read a story in about an hour.

Question: How do we approach a short story? How do we figure out what a short story is about in an active way?
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There are many answers to that question, but one of the things we might all agree on is that many of the terms and ideas we discussed when examining poetry are useful of examining short stories.

For example: We begin by asking general questions about specific details.
Let’s look at: Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour“

In your groups, I want you to come up with 5 questions about this story.

Class Discussion of questions.
2) What are the most important specific details in the story?

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We can better understand this story if we think about Point of View

When we read a short story, we need to be aware that the story is coming to us from a certain point of view. That is, it is being told to us by someone. The more we know about who, or what, this “someone” is the more we will know about the story.

How can an understanding of Mrs. Mallard’s Point of View help us understand The Story of an Hour?

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4) It is also important to notice the kinds of things we learn about a character as we come to understand his or her point of view. This can tell us a lot not only about the character, but about the story as well.

Major Lesson for Today: Who you are, and how life has shaped you, will impact how you read short stories.

4) What are some possible conclusions we can come to about Story of an Hour? How will different kinds of people read this story?

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5) How does this interpretation of the story differ from your own?

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We are now going to workshop out Exposition Essay drafts.

For Tuesday:

Finish your draft of the Exposition Essay and read the following two stories (see notes below)

I also want you to read the following:

John Updike’s “A&P”

Sarah Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.

Notes on HOW TO WRITE THE FIRST PAPER: Due Tuesday September 30

Assignment Explication Essay (3 pages): This essay should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of a single poem. It should present a textual analysis and interpretation of the poem, not just a summary or retelling. An effective explication pays close attention to the relations between content (what a work says) and the form (how it says it), providing a helpful guide to a reader seeking to understand a poem in all its detail of sound and sense. THE PAPER MUST HAVE A CONTESTABLE THESIS.

Format:
3 double-spaced pages, 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins.

Possible Procedure:

1) Reread the poems you are most interested in.

2) Using the terms we have covered in class, create some notes on what interests you most about the one poem.

3) Go over your notes and identify a possible contestable thesis for your paper. Is your thesis contestable? Is it something that someone would disagree with? If so, you’re on the right path.

4) Develop a contestable thesis about one of the poems we have read this semester. For example: Make a statement about the speaker, audience, situation, or imagery in the poem, something you can defend with solid evidence.

How to Write a Paper:

1) Begin with an introduction. In 6-8 sentences you should generally summarize the poem for the reader. What is the poem? Who wrote it? When did they write it? What is the poem generally about? You do not need to use any specific quotes here. You are just setting the reader up so that they will be able to understand what comes next. Value: 10pts

2) Your thesis paragraph: Begin with your contestable thesis. Your contestable thesis is what you will be arguing about the poem. It is the idea or notion that you are going to try to convince the reader to believe. Follow your thesis up with at least three specific examples from your poem that you believe support your argument. Explain each of these examples in a sentence or two. There is no need for heavy quoting in this paragraph. You are just setting the foundation for your paper. Value: 10 pts

3) 1st Body Paragraph. Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 1st example you just mentioned to support your thesis. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the text that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail -three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis. Value: 10pts {Remember how we QUOTE correctly from a poem!)

4) Find similar evidence in the text that supports your thesis in the same way, and then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence. Use the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph. Value: 10 pts

5) Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 2nd example you mentioned in your thesis paragraph. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the text that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail – three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis. Value: 10 pts

6) Find similar evidence in the text that supports your thesis in the same way, then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence that follows the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph. Value: 10 pts

7) 3rd Body Paragraph. Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 3rd example you mentioned in your thesis paragraph. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the poem that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail -three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis. Value: 10 pts

Find similar evidence in the poem that supports your thesis in the same way, then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence that follows the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph. Value 10 pts

9) Summary. In the summary, you need to restate your thesis, then restate each of the points that you have used to support your thesis.

Value 10 pts

Grammar: 10

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