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En 200 Goleman & Sampson Assignment 1: due Sept. 9 Read: Living Literature, Introduction pp. 1-5; pp. 11-26 Plot in “The Story of an Hour” and “Under the Radar”
In his discussion of plot, John Brereton writes, “Plot is how the story gets told by the storyteller’s artful shaping . . . [T]he same basic story . . . can give rise to many different plots” (15).
After you have read the assigned pages, do this: .
_______________________________________________________________________ En 200 Goleman and Sampson Assignment 2: due Sept. 11 Read: LL, pp. 26-32, pp.70-71 Character and Symbol in “Stockings” and “Prue”
In his discussion of character, Brereton writes that “Short stories rely . . . on compression, focusing on a single salient detail to reveal character” (29). Brereton also refers to something Henry James, the nineteenth century American writer, observed about the close link between plot and character when he asked, “What is incident but the illustration of character” (26)?
Please read the assigned pages once. Then to examine for yourself the way character is shaped by detail and incident in fiction, do this:
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Goleman and Sampson Assignment 3: due Sept. 16 Read: LL, pp. 32-47 Setting in “Araby” and “Mary’s Convert”
Brereton writes, “The setting, the time and place where the story happens, can have a powerful influence on how we understand it.” This may be true, but still it’s no secret that readers sometimes skip descriptions of setting, finding them boring.
Please read the assigned pages once. Then, to examine for yourself what the power of setting may or may not be, do this:
____________________________________________________ En 200 Goleman and Sampson Assignment 4: due Sept. 18 Read: LL, pp. 48-56, 86-89 Point of view and Tone in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings”
Brereton writes that point of view is “the perspective from which a story is told” (48). He goes on to say, “Often the teller can matter as much as the tale itself, since there is always a relationship between the events in the story and the actual way they are presented” (48).
Please read the assigned pages once and then do this:
. __ En 200 Goleman and Sampson Assignment 5: due Sept.23 Read: LL, pp. 57-64 Theme in “A&P”
Brereton writes, “Once you have noted a theme in a story, you are off to a good start, but you are closer to the beginning, not the end of your discussion” (63). To build on this point, he goes on to paraphrase the writer Flannery O’Connor arguing that “meanings are not neat little messages to be abstracted or drawn from stories” (64). To begin testing the uses and limitations of theme-finding, do this:
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Assignment 6 Due Sept. 30: “A&P” paper for grading: typed, titled and proofread Suggested length: 3-4 double-spaced, numbered pages
We have returned Assignment 5, your first attempt to analyze a theme in “A&P” with our suggestions for taking it further. For Tuesday, you should revise your work on “A&P,” turning it into an essay on the theme you have chosen to work with and its limitations. You can follow the format of Assignment 5:
Assessment Criteria:
______________________________________________________ Assignment 7 due: Thursday, Oct. 2, typed Read “The Third and Final Continent,” Jhumpa Lahiri, 448-461
Part 1
I like to think of that moment in Mrs. Croft’s parlor as the moment when the distance between Mala and me began to lessen.” (460)
With the above sentence, the narrator announces a turning point in the plot of Jhumpa Lahiri’s story, “The Third and Final Continent.” What exactly happens in this scene and how could it possibly lessen the distance between Mala and the narrator?
Part 2
Now look at the story in terms of form. Choose a passage that stands out to you as striking or important. Copy the passage word for word. Below the passage or in double-entry format, analyze the passage’s significance and identify the elements of fiction at play ______________________________________________________ Assignment 8 Due Tuesday, Oct. 7, typed Read “Fiesta, 1980”: Junot Diaz
The descriptions of Yunior’s car sickness make for some pretty funny scenes that hold the plot together in “Fiesta, 1980.” But why does he throw up every time he rides in his father’s green van? That’s an unanswered question in this story.
To begin to build an answer this question, do this:
Based on your work with these passages, generate a list that describes as fully as you can Yunior’s feelings toward his father. __________________ Assignment 9 Due Thursday, Oct. 9 Read : “Her Mother” by Anjana Appachana, pp. 490-499
“Her Mother” is a gripping account of a transcontinental mother-daughter relationship. However, you may find it hard at times to pay attention to every word because the narrator is a nagging mother. But there’s a big pay-off for doing so and I encourage you to hang in there!
After you have read the story once, review and mark your book in two ways:
1. Bracket sections that represent clues to the mystery that you notice upon a second reading. Name the clues in the margins.
2. Put a star* next to at least 3 sections that provide insight into the character of the mother. Try to find sections that represent different sides of her character. Write words in the margins that represent her characteristics as revealed in each passage.
Note: If you do not want to write in your book, you can use post-its. We will give you credit for this homework by asking you to show us your work in your book. ________________________________________________
Assignment 10: Paper on two immigrant stories Draft due for Peer Review: Tuesday, Oct. 14 Draft due for Teacher Review: Thursday, Oct. 16: Typed, Titled and Proofread (Students who do not attend peer review with a full draft forfeit the chance to revise after teacher review. Sending the draft electronically while missing class will not fill this requirement.)
Critics complain that sometimes writers offer oversimplified or one-dimensional representations of the immigrant experience in terms of plot, character, incident, point of view, symbolism or theme. However, our class discussions on “The Third and Final Continent,” “Fiesta, 1980” and “Her Mother” have (I hope) demonstrated that there is much in them that offers powerful, unexpected, multi-dimensional insights on the experiences of immigrants in America and their families.
_____________________________________ En 200 Assignment 11: due Tuesday Oct. 21
Read Chapter 20, Plays, 1159-1165 Reread Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, pp.1166-1180 (includes context and commentary)
This assignment invites you to transform part of the play, Trifles, into part of a short story in order to get a first-hand sense of how the two genres differ.
Please do this:
Note: If you want to turn Trifles into a complete short story, you can do this for extra credit. ______________________________________ En 200 Assignment 12: Due Thursday, Oct. 23
In Trifles, Mrs. Hale is a conventional law-abiding citizen by all appearances. However, through the course of the play, she changes to the point where she breaks the law by hiding evidence that could lead to the conviction of Mrs. Wright for murder. Go through the play and make a list of all the events that take place and all the statements by other characters that produce this change in Mrs. Hale.
Bring this list to class where it will be the basis for further analysis and writing.
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En 200 Assignment 13: Due Thurday, Oct 30 Read in LL: “From Avant-Garde to Contemporary Theater”, pp. 1857-1861 : Los Vendidos, by Luis Valdez, pp. 1868-1877
Please read Los Vendidos and make sure to read about El Teatro Campesino on page 1876. In that section, you will see a reference to an interview that playwright Luiz Valdez gave to Carl Heyward. In his introduction to that interview, here is what Heyward wrote:
El Teatro Campesino was the cultural wing of the United Farm Workers union, a popular theater that took its material directly from the lives of its audience in the bean fields of California’s central valley. With a pointed political mission, the theater, and its driving force, Luiz Valdez . . . remain true to its original vision: performance that addresses the Chicano experience in America.
For Thursday, do this:
--Select 4 passages where you notice the play’s “pointed political mission” in regard to the “Chicano experience in America.” Quote the passages in the right-hand column of double-entry notes and explain your selection in the left-hand column.
---Compose one or two questions that would help you to advance your understanding of this play by being addressed in class discussion. _______________ _____________________________________________ En 200 Assignment 14: In-class essay exam on Tuesday Nov. 4 (open book) Reread: Trifles and Los Vendidos (no make-up exams will be given without a documented reason for absence)
The exam on Tuesday is meant to consolidate the work we have been doing recently on finding and forming relationships between texts. It is not meant to be tricky or hard and will consist of two questions:
Question 1 will cite a passage from each play. We will ask you to name a connection between these passages and to support the connection that you name specifically.
Question 2 will ask you to add a passage from each play that fits the connection you have made and to explain how these passages fit.
To prepare for the exam, I recommend rereading the plays, the introductory material to the plays by John Brereton and your own homework assignments. For all the differences between Trifles, a melodrama written in 1916, and Los Vendidos, a farce written in 1967— think about what they might be said to have in common.
Bring your book to class and a dark pen.You may also bring your homework to refer to,but this is not necessary and may not be helpful. _________________________________________________ En 200 Read the introduction to Poetry in Living Literature, pp 719-723, and do this:
En 200 To begin our study of poetry, read the above pages which introduce two of poetry’s key elements: tone and imagery. After you have read this section, choose 3 of the poems in it and reread them a number of times. In a double-entry format, do this: • Select at least 4 lines each from two poems that you find interesting in some way. Do not choose poems that Brereton explains at length.
__________________________________________ Assignment 17: due Nov. 18 To practice analyzing the meter, stanza and form of a poem do this: • Then read the following three poems: “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” p. 770; “The World Is Too Much with Us,” p. 1029; “Facing It,” p. 1107-08; “Quinceanera,” p. 1113 • Using double entry notes, copy “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” and “The World Is Too Much with Us” in the right-hand column. Mark the meter and rhyme scheme. In the left-hand column, name meter and the rhythm scheme using the terms introduced on 755-67. • Copy one of the two free verse poems in the right-hand column (“Facing It” or “Quinceanera”) Underline any shaping devices or patterns you notice that help to give form to the verse in the absence of traditional meter and rhyme scheme. In the left-hand column, describe the shaping devices or patterns you have underlined. _________________________________________________
Choose three of the poems in the “For Further Reading” section, pp. 748-752, and make notes in your books that describe the poetic language devices you see. You should use the bold-faced terms that Brereton presents in the chapter. Note: If you do not want to write in your books, please use post-its. We’ll give you credit for this homework at the beginning of class. ________________________________________________
When you read the excerpt from “How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry,” you will see Edward Hirsch reviewing what various writers have said about the role of the reader in the creation of a poem’s meaning. Please read this excerpt a few times and mark passages that help you to think about yourself as a reader of poetry. For your paper, we would like you to discuss the role of the reader in poetry based on passages from Hirsch that you find helpful. Then we would like you to perform the role of a reader in relation to the poem you have chosen. You should draw on the elements of poetry we have been studying to analyze your chosen poem. Finally, we would like you to look at the role you have played as a reader in terms of the ideas you brought forward from Hirsch’s essay and say what you notice. Here, in short, are the three guiding questions that your essay should address: • What do Hirsch and his sources say about the role of the reader in poetry? (based on selected passages)
Coming Up: The final draft of this paper will be due on Dec. 4. We will ask you to bring copies of the poem and your paper for everyone in the class. No late papers will be accepted except for a documented emergency. You will then have a collection of essays demonstrating “how to read” a set of poems. The final exam for the course will ask you to begin organizing the collection into chapters based on groups of poems that you think go together in some way. You will be asked to write an introduction to one chapter. In this way, you will complete our course in Understanding Literature by performing the role of literary editor that you have observed John Brereton perform in his anthology. _____________________________________ Assignment 19 Here are the guidelines for Assignment 19: • Bring to class 29 collated and stapled copies of your poem and your paper
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