Due Monday, January 6

Read Huck Finn through chapter 33. There will be a reading quiz on these chapters.

Complete the analytical vocabulary assignment explained below.

Vocabulary and Analytical Sentences

Chapters 1-18

The words that you use in your writing have a significant effect on the voice you create. Accordingly, this activity will help you learn the definitions of some “mature” and “academic” words, and also help you apply them to your thinking about Huck Finn.

For each word, you’ll need to complete a two part process. After you look up the definition of the word, write down a meaningful definition; this will complete part one. Make sure you put this definition in your own words: do NOT just copy and paste! The second step is to create a statement (maybe 2-3 sentences) making an analytical observation about Huck Finn that uses this new word. (You can change the form of the word if necessary). It’s important to avoid making a sentence that is simply a plot summary. Instead you need to analyze a character, theme, idea, etc, much like we’ve been doing in our class discussions. In fact, you can even use some of the observations from our class discussions. Remember, analysis presents an observation (a reference to a specific event or events in the text) and then seeks to explain why that observation is important or significant to the story.

Also, please use this as an opportunity to focus on creating mature sentences. I recommend typing this assignment so you can revise as you go along; my example sentence below underwent at least 10 revisions before I decided to leave it alone. Notice you’re only being given a few words, so I expect high quality thinking and writing.

Here is an example:

0.) ambivalence: (Noun) a sense of uncertainty; undecided conflict between two emotions.

Huck’s ambivalence about his living conditions, the fact that he can be content under the rules of the widow but then quickly readapts to the harsher living environment with Pap, serves as an important indication of his malleable character. Because it is not in Huck’s nature to make up his mind fixedly, this indecision allows for perhaps his greatest act of open-mindedness-- the ability to come to see Jim as a person.

1.) juxtapose
2.) ostensible
3.) incongruous
4.) conventional
5.) ephemeral
6.) elicit

Extra Credit (Also due January 6th)

You will need to write a 2 page (double spaced) essay on the video that you viewed. One page or so should be summary information of what you learned, and the second page should be a reflection on the importance/significance of what you learned. The second half of the paper is reflective, so it can be written in the first person. Other than that, there are no specific structural requirements for the assignment.

Due Wednesday

Huck Finn reading through chapter 13.

Reading Due Tuesday

Huck Finn Chapters 6-9.

Please make an effort to get caught up with the reading if you have already fallen behind.

Remember you should be reading for plot details as well as looking for evidence of and thinking about our themes and motifs in the novel. (See previous posts.)

Reading Due Monday

We will be working with Mark Twain as we transition to Realism, which will include working with the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although copies are available through the library to check out, I strongly recommend that you get your own copy so that you can take notes on your own text. Our first reading assignment will be due on Wednesday, so you have a few days to get a copy, either paper or electronic.
Please note that the web version does not flow from chapter to chapter. Instead, when you finish with chapter 1, you will need to click on chapter 2 on the left hand side of the screen.

More information about Huck Finn reading below.

For our reading of Huckleberry Finn, pay careful attention to the following topics. I suggest that you mark these topics in your text (or on a post-it). If you want to be extra fancy, you can also color-code these different ideas in your notes.

Supersition
The role of the river
Women (and their influence on Huck)
Religion
Education
Class Consciousness
Racial Identity
Clothing
Money/Wealth/Acquisitiveness (wanting to acquire stuff)
Deception
Search for Approval
Protectiveness

Here is a link to an electronic copy, if you do not have your own yet.

Homework Info

1. Please finish reading the Whitman "Song of Myself" excerpts found in your book on pages 456-460. We will continue to discuss Whitman tomorrow.

2. Please remember to check your "Usher" antithesis essays for comments on Turnitin. I am almost halfway finished (through the L's, I think), and I am hoping that your feedback will be helpful for your essay next week. I have changed the settings to allow a late submission, so you may upload your assignment if you haven't already done so.

3. The quizlet is available here. There are a few glitches: there are some questions we haven't done yet, and a couple of times the answer is a quotation which doesn't work that well on the fill in the blank tests. But the flashcards are a great resource, and it is definitely better than no quizlet, which is what I usually have for my students. Yay for Evelyn! Now, get studying!

OAKS Score Info

I decided to post your entire set of OAKS scores as one big number like 4444, 4345, 5445, etc. The first number is your score for Ideas Content, the second is Organization, the third is Sentence Fluency, and the fourth is Conventions. A passing score must show at least a 4 in each category. We will talk more about next steps in class. Remember, these scores are not having an impact on your class grade, and although they look kind of obnoxious, is at least an easy way to get the information to you.

Romanticism Reading List and Study Guide

Available here.

Precise dates are still up in the air, but I am hoping for Monday or Tuesday of next week. Most likely, we will do both portions of the test on the same day, using both class periods.