Greetings, Eh 112 Students

If this is your first visit to the site, please follow the steps below. If you have been here before, just scroll down to the on-line syllabus to get started.

Step One: Policy and Procedures Sheet

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to review the Policy and Procedures sheet for this class. It contains all the important information about what is generally expected of you, and what you can generally expect from me.

Step Two: How to Use Our On-line Syllabus

The on-line syllabus below contains information for every class meeting we will have this semester. Under each meeting, you will find basic information, such as key concepts and links to your readings,  videos and podcasts. Generally, each item can be clicked on for more information.

For example:

• Clicking on a class meeting will take you to a detailed outline for that meeting. You will need to visit these outlines to post your daily responses.
• Clicking on a key concept – marked in red – will take you to the class concept page, where you will find helpful definitions.
• Clicking on any of the readings — such as “William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” — will take you directly to a reading. The same is true of the links for the course videos and podcasts.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at: crowleya@fc.husson.edu

On-Line Syllabus

Tuesday, September 2

Thursday, September 4

Tuesday, September 9

Thursday, September 11

Tuesday, September 16

Thursday, September 18

Tuesday, September 23

Thursday, September 25

Tuesday, September 30

Thursday, October 2

Tuesday, October 7

Thursday, October 9

Thursday, October 16

Tuesday, October 21

Thursday, October 23

Tuesday, October 28

Thursday, October 30

Tuesday, November 4

Thursday, November 6

Tuesday, November 11

Thursday, November 13: Academic Research Paper

Tuesday, November 18

Thursday, November 20

Tuesday, November 25

Thursday, November 27

Tuesday, December 2

Thursday, December 4

Tuesday, December 9

Thursday, December 11

1) Review Course Policy and Procedures

2) Introductions: Who are you? Who am I?

3) Our Webpage

• Always bring your laptop to class.

4) Why are we here? We are here to become better critical thinkers and writers:

• What is Critical Thinking?
• How will it be useful to you at Husson?
• How will it be useful to you in the workplace?

Exercise One: Coke Can Investigation

• What are ten questions we can ask about a can of coke?

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ect…

• What are ten answers we can come up with to those ten questions?

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• What can these questions and answers tell us about our culture?

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Part Two: Literature

• What is literature?
• What does it mean to approach literature?
• We study literature because it helps us develop as critical thinkers.

Lesson For The Day #1:

We approach literature by asking simple questions about it. We study literature because it helps us develop as critical thinkers.

Exercise Two: William Carlos Williams’ poem The Red Wheelbarrow

• What kinds of questions can we ask about this poem?
• What kinds of answers can we come up with for those questions?

Video of The Red Wheelbarrow

How is this video different than the poem we just read?

More on The Red Wheelbarrow

Lesson for the Day #2:

Don’t approach poetry to know something concrete. Rather, come to poetry expecting to ask questions, and to leave a poem with some answers and more questions.

Homework:

Post the title of your favorite song to this page: I will demonstrate how to do this in class.

Optional Videos:

One:

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Three

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Five

Today, I asked you to come to class ready to talk about your favorite song. For the next five to seven minutes, I want you to write a well developed paragraph (6-8 sentences) on the following topic: What is your favorite song, and why is it your favorite song. If you need help posting, please let me know.

Group Work:

When you are done posting, I want you to get into a small group (3 people, no more or less). Introduce yourself, and begin to discuss what your favorite song is, and why it is your favorite song.

Class Lesson:

Major Lesson for the Day #1: When songs have lyrics, they can be considered poetry. If you like music, surprise!, you probably are more of a poetry fan than you know.

Important Question:

How do I understand the meaning of a song?

There are two basic levels of understanding songs and other forms of literature

Experience: The “experience” of literature is often felt, and not articulated with any specificity. It is essentially a determination of whether or not you “like” or “do not like” something.

Interpretation: When we interpret literature, we focus on specific detail in it, and describe the connections between these details.

Specific details includes subjects such as:

• Sensory Details
• Images
• Detailed Descriptions of Things

Today, we are going to being an interpretation of a poem by reading it and then focusing on its specific details:

Let’s look at Robert Frosts’ “Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening”

10) What are the specific things (people, places, ect..) that are being discussed in this poem?

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11) What are some questions that we might come up with about these specific things?

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Read for next Class:

Emily Dickenson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Miniver Cheevy”
Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”

Write:

1 Page interpretation of one of the assigned poems.

Also, post to this class one paragraph (6-8 sentences) on your experience of your favorite or least favrotie T.V. show or movie.

Optional Refresher Videos:

Video One

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Video Five

Video Six

For the next five-seven minutes, I want you to write about your favorite actor or speaker. What is it that makes them such a good actor or speaker? Do you like them because of the movies or speeches they have given, or is there something particular about the person? Post when you finish, and we will discuss in class.

Today’s Group Assignment:

Get into groups of three and discuss the following: Identify one major actor and talk about the differences between a ROLE that actor has played and the actual PERSON that that actor is. For example, Mel Gibson plays the ROLE of William Wallace, but Mel Gibson is NOT in real life a rebel warrior living in Scotland. Come up with your own example and a list of DIFFERENCES.

Lesson for The Day #1

When you interpret a poem, you can ask any questions you want to ask about the specific details. However, if you focus your questions on SPEAKER, AUDIENCE, and SITUATION, you will almost always come up with some useful questions and answers.

Speaker: Who is speaking?
Audience: Who is the poem speaking to?
Situation: What is going on in the poem?

Speaker:

The speaker is not necessarily the author.

They are not necessarily the same person.

For example, Seth Green is not Peter Griffin from The Family Guy.

Sylvester Stallone is not Rocky Balboa.

These are just characters these actors play.

For example, Emily Dickinson is not the speaker of “I’m nobody, who are you?”

The speaker is a CHARACTER Dickinson has CREATED

Who is it, then?  Can we tell by just talking about our experience of the poem?

No. We need to interpret the poem to come up with an answer for that question.

Let’s read the poem

1) What are some specific questions we might have about the speaker? Look for specific details that tell you something about the speaker.

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Discuss questions.

What are some answers we might come up with for those questions?

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Notice that you were able to answer SOME of your questions, but not all of them.

This poem is very much on people’s minds, and is begin discussed across the country by students like you right now, in fact.

Here is someone’s interpretation of the poem:  I’M NOBODY, WHO ARE YOU?

2) Spend five minutes either writing or posting an answer to this question: Did this interpretation help you understand the poem differently?

Did it help you understand something different about the speaker?

video answer any of the questions you yourself were not able to answer on your own?

2) In your groups, talk about how the interpretation of the speaker in the video is different than your own?

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Lesson for the Day #2:

Different people will come up with different interpretations, which is fine as long as they can find a way to justify their interpretations.

Let’s consider another poem: Edward Arlington Robinson’s Miniver Cheevy

Let’s Read the poem

3) What are the specific details that tell us something about the speaker?

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What are some questions we might come up with?

Which questions are we unable to answer right now?

Now let’s watch this video

5) How is this interpretation of the speaker different than yours?

Optional Lecture Videos (watch if you want a refresher)

Video One

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Video Five

Homework:

Your homework is to write a one page interpretation of the SPEAKER in either I’M NOBODY, WHO ARE YOU?, MINIVER CHEEVY, or I HEAR AMERICA SINGING. Remember, to write this paper you will need to FOCUS on specific details that RELATE to the speaker. You can choose to either hand this paper in to  me in class, or you can POST it direclty to this webpage.  Also, please remember to bring your laptop to class if you have one. It can help you keep track of the writing we are doing this semester.

Refresher

Journal/Blog Assignment:

For the next five to seven minutes, I want you to write on the following topic: This will go in your JOURNAL, or directly onto our BLOG as a post for today, your choice.

Have you ever been part of an experience where you and someone else have had a very different interpretation of an event? For example, have you ever had a specific argument about a situation with someone? Have you ever had a disagreement with someone about a movie, television show, book, or play? Describe the argument, and why you think you were correct in the argument. Post when you are finished and we will discuss in class.

Group Assignment:

In groups of three, talk about why you prefer certain forms of literature to others. Why do you prefer movies to books? Or books to movies? Why do you prefer television shows? Talk about your favorite and least favorite forms of entertainment.

Less on for the Day #1: [This lesson is so important we think about it twice!] Different people will have different interpretations of the speaker. That’s okay, as long as you can defend your interpretation.

Take out the homework for today.

Let’s get into groups of four, count off.

I want you to share your writing with each other. Every person in the group should read every other person’s writing. When finished, discuss similarities or differences

Group discussion: What kinds of interpretations did we produce? How close were we sticking to the actual specific details that were in the poem? THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Today, we are going to talk about AUDIENCE.

Audience: The individual or individuals for whom the poem is intended.

Each of the poems you have read so far was intended for a specific audience. How do we figure out who the audience is, or was? How would we describe the audience?

The Red Wheelbarrow?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?

I’m Nobody, Who are You?

I hear America signing?

Journal entry:

For the next five-seven minutes, I want you to describe your culture. We each have our own. What or who are the most important influences on your day to day life? Understanding out culture can help us understand why we like or do not like a particular poem (it can help us figure out whether or not we are part of its intended audience)

Let’s look at a poem:

William Carlos Williams’ Danse Russe:

Read the poem.

1) What is this strange little poem about?

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You can come up with many answers, but it is important to know that Danse Russe is the name of a famous piece of Piano music written by Stravinsky. Williams knew this, and he expected his audience to know it too.

Let’s listen to the music. (<– Click to listen to the music)

Cultural References:

Poems sometimes make cultural references. They refer to things that are part of a common culture for the audience the poem is intended for.

We come across cultural references all the time. Can we think about some of the cultural references in the poems we have already read?

Optional Lecture Videos

Video One

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Video Five

Homework:

Read For Next Class:
Alfred, Lord Tenneyson ‘s “Ulysses”
William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming“

Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:

William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe“
Alfred, Lord Tenneyson’s “Ulysses“
William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming“

Write a page and a half journal entry in which you A) interpret who the intended audience is for one of these poems and B) whether or not you are part of that audience. If you are or are not, then you need to explain WHY you are or are not.

Today’s Agenda

1) Standards for ALL BLOG POSTS and JOURNAL entries:

• All of the writing you produce for this class should follow some basic guidelines.

1. Writing should ALWAYS meet the minimum length requirement. If you are asked to write a page or a page-and-a-half, then you are to produce that amount of writing. Failure to produce that amount of writing will result in you not receiving credit for the assignment. I will be enforcing this rule starting today.

Remember out grade breakdown:

20% Explication Essay (3 pages)

30% Literary Argument Essay (6 pages, two secondary sources)

20% Genre Tests

20% Final Exam

20% Participation < — Blog Posts and Journal entries, as well as in-class discussion. If you are a B student, you will be a LOW C OR D student in this class if you do not receive this credit, and if you are a C student, you will probably not receive credit or FAIL this course if you do not get this credit.

1. All writing needs to be CAREFULLY proofread. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE to be writing without proper punctuation at the college level. For many people, it would be EMBARASSING to write this way. You MUST, for example, use apostrophes in your contractions, use the comma correctly, and capitalize the correct words in your sentences. You also need to be writing in COMPLETE sentences and must avoid RUN-ON sentences. You also need to be using SPECIFIC DETAILS in your writing. These are all BASIC grammatical features of writing that you learned in Eh 111, no matter how long ago you took it or a simialr course. If you need help with these issues, you should talk to me. If you do not, I will simply assume that you are being lazy, and will mark you as such.

Certainly, I understand that when you are writing in class you will make mistakes that you would not otherwise make. However, if you go home to write something, I expect polished writing! It is expected of adults in the business world, and it is expected here. Nothing less will be accepted.

Today’s Blog Post Assignment:

For the next five to seven minutes, I want you to write on the following topic: You have probably had the experience of not liking something that is popular with people from other generations. For example, your parents probably like movies or sports that you do not like, and if you have younger brothers or sisters, they probably like things that you do not like.  For the next five to seven minutes, I want you to describe something that someone from another generation likes that you do not like, and explain why you do not like it.

Group Assignment:

In your small groups, I want you to talk about a specific experience you have had in an audience. Think about a time that you have been in an audience and were bored (you can’t use this class as an example!) Identify 1) why you were in that audience and 2) why you were bored.

For today you were to read:

Alfred, Lord Tenneyson ‘s “Ulysses”

William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming“

How did we deal with this poem?

What was our EXPERIENCE?

Let’s get out our writing and think about the kinds of audiences that we may have been dealing with.

1) Underline the most important points that you made.

2) Let’s get into our groups and discuss who these audiences may have been, based on the questions we came up with.

Class Discussion

Let’s take these poems on!

Speaker: What can we say?

Situation: What can we say?

But we are still a little at sea if we do not think about the SITUATION.

What is the situation?

The situation is what is going on in the poem.
What is being described?
What is happening?

Before we think about the situations of the above poems, let’s think about the situation in a different poem.

Let’s look at Robert Frosts’ Mending Wall

Where are the specific details that tell us what the situation of the poem is?

We should never simply IMAGINE we know what the situation is. We need to be able to describe what is happening and HOW WE KNOW IT by discussing the specific details that relate to the poem’s SITUATION.

Writing assignment: For the next 10 -15 min, I want you to describe the situation being described in the poem Mending Wall. What is going on, and how do you know that it is going on?
START BY LOOKING FOR CULTURAL REFERENCES

What kinds of cultural references are being made in this poem?
Why would he write this way?

What is the point?

Now — before we go back to Ulysses and The Second Coming, let’s take on one more, slightly more difficult poem:

Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress

How can an understanding of situation help us figure out a poem that is written in archaic (old) language?

Notice that even with the language is unfamiliar, you can figure out what is going on by paying attention specific CULTRIAL REFERENCES

Optional Lecture Videos

Video One

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Will be posted soon

Video Five

Will be posted soon

Read For Next Class:

Elizabeth Bishop: First Death in Nova Scotia

Margaret Atwood: The Is A Photograph of Me

John Donne: The Flea

Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:

Elizabeth Bishop: First Death in Nova Scotia
Margaret Atwood: The Is A Photograph of Me
John Donne: The Flea

Wriite:

You are to write a two page paper on ONE of the poems you are reading for homework. In your paper, I want you to interperet the poem by focusing on TWO of these THREE subjects: Speaker, Audience, or Situation. You are to use SPECIFIC EXAMPLES and DIRECT QUOTES. I also want you to have a CLEAR THESIS STATEMENT in the OPENING PARAGRAPH of your writing.

Today’s Agenda

1)      Writing assignment: For the next 5-7 minutes I want you to write on the following topic:

During the course of our lives, each of us will see or witness events that will have a tremendous impact on us. For example, you may remember the first time you saw your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend. You may remember a specific event that happened while you were with a grandparent or a parent. You may even remember a specific event from when you were in school, such as graduation or the way a particular friend once acted. In this journal entry or post, I want you to describe in significant detail a powerful IMAGE that you carry in your mind. Please only write about subjects that you would not mind sharing with the class (or, if you are posting on the blog, with the world)

2)      Group Discussion: Get into your groups and discuss a particular national event that has had a major impact on you. Subjects could include anything from the assassination of President Kennedy, Sept. 11^th, an Olympic opening ceremony, or some other significant event. When you picture this event in your mind, what do you see?

3)      Class Discussion

Okay: We are going to think about a new way to approach poetry today, which you will need to understand to be able to write the first major paper for this course.

Let’s review our steps:

Approach poetry by asking questions….

Questions about specific details…

Specific details that relate to the speaker

Or the audience…

Or the situation….

But we can also ask specific questions about the IMAGES, or IMAGERY in a poem.

LESSON FOR THE DAY #1: Poets will use specific images to create a definite impression for you. The poet will describe something so that you will see or feel something.

Let’s look at Elisabeth Bishop’s

Elisabeth Bishop’s “First Death In Nova Scotia”

Let’s read the poem and then think about the imagery.

In a new JOURNAL ENTRY or BLOG POST, I want you to identify THREE important images in this poem, and then attempt to explain what the images make you THINK about or FEEL.

Group Discussion

Class Discussion

Bishop has CAREFULLY chosen not just the subjects of these images, but also the SPECIFIC DETAILS she has used to describe them.

The images can lead us to questions and conclusions

Let’s come up with some QUESTIONS about the Specific Details.

Okay, now let’s shift to a slightly different poem:

Margaret Atwood: This is A Photograph of Me

This is a poem in which it is MUCH harder to come up with specific statements about the SPEAKER, AUDIENCE, and SITUATION. This does not mean that it is a hard poem, only that you will need a different approach. This should be an indication to you that you should approach it by focusing first on its IMAGERY.

Journal Assignment:

1)      Let’s identify some images.

2)      What are some specific details that the author uses to describe these images?

3)      What do these images make you think or feel?

Now, let’s think about THE FLEA

Read For Next Class:

William Blake’s “The Lamb”
Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors”
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”

Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven“
Write:

I want you to write a page and a half on the following topic: What are THREE major images in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” Identify the major details that Poe uses to describe these images, and then explain to me how these individual images CONTRIBUTE to the MEANING of the poem.

1)      Writing assignment: For the next 5-7 minutes I want you to write on the following topic:

In the United States of America, there are a number of arguments that surround the national flag. Different people have different views on what should and what should not be done to the flag. For example, some people think that it should be illegal to burn the flag, while other people think that such actions are protected by our right to free speech. Regardless of what you may personally BELEIVE about the issue, why do you think the treatment of the flag is such an important issue for people on either side of the debate?  To get started, think about this question: What does the flag represent, and does it represent the same thing to every American?

2)      Group Discussion: On TV shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, contestants often talk about “America.” They ask “America” to vote for them, or that “America,” give them a second chance. We all know that America is not a person, so who – or what – is it that these contestants are talking to when they ask for “America’s” help? After you have discussed this for a few moments, I want you to come up with a short list of SPECIFIC ITEMS that you think REPRESENT America.

3)  Class Discussion on LITERAL Language and FIGURATIVE Language

4)  When we spoke about Specific Details, we say that there were DIFFERENT CATEGROIES of Specific Details in poem. We could look for SPECIFIC DETAILS that relate to the SPEAKER, the AUDIENCE, or the SITUATION.

Last time, we talked about imagery, and how important it is to investigate the imagery in a poem as we are trying to make sense of it. Well, today we are going to learn that there are SPECIFIC KINDS of imagery in poems, and that we can learn a LOT about a poem by paying attention to this imagery:

The basic kinds of imagery we will encounter are:

Metaphors:

Similes:

1: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”

Symbol:

Let’s begin today with Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors.” The poem claims to be a riddle in nine syllables. For the next 7 minutes, I want you to write a journal entry in which you explain attempt to SOLVE this riddle. If you can solve it, I want you to EXPLAINE how you solved it.

Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors”

Discuss

We can take this poem LITERALLY or FIGURATVILY. Does it make more sense to read this as a LITERAL Conversation with a lamb, or as a FIGURATIVE conversation with a lamb? And if it is a figurative conversation, what is going on here? Discuss in Groups

William Blake’s “The Lamb”

Now we are ready to take on an amazing poem, Edgar Allen Poem’s “The Raven.” What is this poem literally about, what is this poem FIGURATIVLTY about? How do you know

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”

Homework:

Draft first two pages of Explication Essay

Read Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

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

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