Due Wednesday, June 8

Read King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Pay careful attention to his use of rhetorical appeals, allusions, syntax, structure, and other persuasive techniques.

Which parts of the letter do you find most effective?

You may wish to print a copy and bring it to class with sections annotated and highlighted to help with discussion.

Extra Credit Information

Due Friday, June 10th by 2:30:

1. Obtain and read the Dos Passos passage after reading my preface:

Preface:

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.


2. Think about and read the following questions:


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.)

Assignments to work on

Create a 4 quadrant chart in which you write down the following information for Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Faulkner

Location(s)
Types of Characters
Common Themes
Stylistic Observations
A defining Quotation

This will be turned in along with your Rough Draft and Final Copy of your Author Imitation Essay.

Author Imitation Assignment

Rough Draft Due 6/1 (Please put your name only on the back of the last page)
Final Copy Due 6/3

Your task is to write a short story in the style of one of the major 4 Modern American authors we have studied this semester. You have randomly been assigned your author based on your last name. If you want to switch with someone with another author, you both must come in and get my formal permission to switch authors.

The alphabet breakdown:

A-Free: Hemingway
Gloe-Kuce: Faulker
Kuch-Misc: Fitzgerald
Og-Van: Steinback

Your short story should be between 3-4 pages in length (hopefully closer to 3.) You must imitate your author in regards to:

- Subject matter
- Setting
- Characters
- Themes
- Style (diction, syntax, figurative language, etc.)

Other students will be reading your story and attempting to guess which author you are imitating. Therefore, give your story a real (and hopefully significant title) as opposed to calling it “Hemingway imitation story.” Also, this is why for your rough draft, you name should occur only on the back of the last page.

Due Thursday, May 18th

Read "Flight" by Steinbeck.

(This story is available in your textbook, so the link is provided just in case you forgot to take your book home.)

Due Tuesday, May 10

Sorry for the late post. Let you group members know the stories are now online.

Read "Hills like White Elephants" and "A Clean well-lighted Place."

Suggested thinking topics:

Hills: What can be inferred about the relationship between the man and the woman? How does the extensive use of dialog convey some of these dynamics?

Place: Alienation and isolation? Importance of paragraph beginning "'Good night', the other said" in terms of style and content?

English Reading Due Monday, May 9th! English!!!

WELCOME BACK!

For Monday, please read the story "In Another Country" by Ernest Hemingway. (722-727).

Pay special attention to:

- The role of technology
- Existential elements (alienation, creation of essence, anxiety)
- Symbolism of characters

(In other words, if I ask a question about these topics in class, you should be able to point to specific quotations and add your own thoughts.)

Here is the complete text (I think) just in case you've forgotten your book.)

Harlem Renaissance Assignment Due 4/22

All of the poems for the Harlem Renaissance activity can be found here.

Remember a reaction for each collection of poems includes:

Author(s):
Titles of Poems:

Paragraph addressing the following:

-Observations about STYLE
- Observations about CONTENT
- Comparison to previous author(s)
- Personal reactions (yes, this part can be written using informal voice.)