Due Thursday, 9/16

1. Thesis/Antithesis Practice is due Thursday.

2. Passive Progressive Linking Practice is due Thursday. Identify if the sentence is using to be as a linking verb, progressive tense, or passive voice.

3. Your first reading assignment is due on Friday:

Smith: "General History of Virginia" (42-47)
Bradford: "On Plymouth Plantation (50-54)

Compare and contrast the writing styles and content of these two authors. Also, be sure to think about your lecture on geographic determinism and what you know about the differences between the Northern and Southern colonies as you do your reading.

Due Thursday, 9/16

Your thesis/antithesis practice is due Thursday. A link to my categories of transition words should be available off the Hamlit homepage.



Step 1: Select a topic of your choice that you would like to write practice antithesis/thesis paragraphs with. You might consider something from:
 Music
 Movies
 Politics/Policy
 Food
 Hobbies, Sports, activities
 (Anything else that interests you—if you’re unsure about your topic, check with me first)

Step 2: Following the guidelines in the “Musings” packet, write an Antithesis/Thesis statement with 2 POA points. Remember to focus on the concept of opposing, not just opposite. (Note that you’re not writing an entire introduction, just the antithesis/thesis).

Step 3: Write a corresponding antithesis paragraph. Make sure to remember your qualifying transition. You should have 3 pieces of evidence to support your antithesis paragraph and use standard paragraph format.

Step 4: Write a corresponding thesis paragraph. Make sure to use an appropriate contrasting transition word that acknowledges your antithesis, and clearly state your thesis and POA point. You should have 3 pieces of evidence and use standard paragraph format.

Step 5: Proof read your paragraphs, checking for conventions errors, and making sure that you match the structure given to you in the packet.

A more printable version is available here.

Due Monday, September 13th

Read Part 2 of the Musings Packet.

Then, take this list of transitional words, and sort them into like categories of your own choosing. For example, you may create a category of "sequence" and put all words in that category that seem to suggest a sequence.

Randomized Transitional Phrases

Due 9/10

Read Part 1 of the Musings packet and prepare for quiz questions based on your reading.

Due Thursday, 9/9

You have two assignments: Your signed syllabus form and the writing pretest.

Imagine you are writing an essay on one of the following topics:

1. Why is the study of past events (history) important in a world that is focused so much on the present and future developments?

2. Why is the study of past writing (literature) important in a world that seemingly places little emphasis on this medium of expression?

Now, the assignment:

Write an introduction and a body paragraph that address ONE of these topics. Set up your introduction as if you were writing the entire essay, but you, of course, will just be writing one body paragraph.

Please use this as an opportunity to show off your best writing in terms of vocabulary, structure, organization, and ideas. I understand that this is essentially a ‘first draft’ and has not undergone a lengthy revision process, but you should proof read for conventions.

Please type in 12-point font.

HAMLIT Extra Credit Due Monday

For your extra credit in English, you'll need to do the following:

1. Pick up a passage from my room. I currently have 40 available with more coming on Thursday, so first come first serve.

2. Read passage carefully and provide thoughtful answers to the questions below. Longer and more thoughtful answers will likely receive more points.

3. Turn in passage and your responses no later than MONDAY (the day of your final). No exceptions...this is a one time offer only.

John Dos Passos was an influential Modern writer at the same time as Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald. Like Hemingway, his experiences in World War I contributed greatly to his writing. One of his most famous works, the U.S.A. trilogy, traces the lives of several characters in the years preceding, during, and following World War I. In addition to telling the stories of these characters’ lives, he includes several “biography” sections in this work, in most cases of famous Americans. The biography he presents in this section is of a different sort. Read this section carefully and answer the following questions in detail using specific quotations from the text. The excerpt is challenging, so you may find that you need to read it more than once.

1. Identify several instances in which Dos Passos uses language/structure in a unique way.
What overall effects does this use of language have on the piece?
2. What insight does this piece give into society of this time period in regards to racial relations?
3. How is war depicted in this passage?
4. What are some ironies that this excerpt addresses?
5. What role does repetition play in this passage?
6. How does this passage’s style and content compare to the writings of Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald? (Be sure to address all three.)
7. What is your personal opinion of this passage? (Reactions, thoughts, comments, etc.)

Some finals information

Semester 2 Reading List

Test breakdown:

Multiple Choice:

20 Time period questions (Puritans-Moderns)
40 Author identification questions
10 Literary devices
20 Analytical short story questions
10 4 Modern author questions
4 Modern author passage identification questions (new passages)
20 Poet/quotation identification
25 Gastby character quotation identification
10 General modernism questions


Essay Question