Archives for February 2015

HW12G due 2/10: Poetry and Tongue Twisters

February 6, 2015 By

1. Print out and annotate the following two poems. Focus your annotations on sound and theme!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

2. Tongue Twister–Get funky with alliteration, assonance, and consonance and create your own Tongue Twister. Let’s have fun with this!

3. Six Word Poem/Story–finalize your six word poem/story! Please print these neatly on any size paper up to 8×11! NEATLY! I would like to post these, so feel free to get funky creative in presentation!

4. Closely review the poetic terms and poetry fundamentals handouts!!!

HW10 due 2/9: SH5 Thesis Process/Thesis

February 6, 2015 By

1. Slaughterhouse Five–This weekend revisit your class forum and choose one of the posted questions that you think will lead to a compelling thesis. So, you can choose any question and use that question. Feel free to tweak any question to your liking. After you have chosen a question, develop an answer to that question. Ultimately, your answer should be the root of your thesis, an argument! Think about parts of the novel that will be necessary to answering the question. These parts (i.e. devices, elements) become your points of analysis.

So, on Monday here’s exactly what I want to see:

  • On one sheet of paper, your typed question  followed by a thesis statement (that would be a response to that question).
  • On another sheet of paper, the handwritten process that led you to your thesis.

2. We begin The Alchemist on Monday!

3. Review your class vocabulary!

HW12 due 2/9: Existentialism is a Humanism

February 6, 2015 By

Monday, we will continue/finish our discussion of Barrett’s The Encounter with Nothingness. Then, we will pick up with Sartre.

1. Existentialism is a Humanism–Jean Paul Sartre is often the first name to come to mind when one considers Existentialism. His brand of atheistic existentialism so dominates the existential landscape that one forgets that the “first existentialist” Kierkegaard was indeed a theist. Nevertheless, Sartre’s essay most clearly defines the existential mindset. It becomes a fundamental piece of this course’s foundation.   Additionally, his essay establishes some of the tenets of existentialism that are universally applicable.  Read and ANNOTATE! Be sure you are able to discuss the four reproaches of existentialism and his defense against those reproaches.

2. Class Forum–Remember you must post by midnight Sunday! AND REMEMBER TO BRING A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR RESPONSE IN TO CLASS.

HW12C due 2/6: The Encounter with Nothingness

February 5, 2015 By

1.  Read and annotate William Barrett’s The Encounter with Nothingness (Second reading in the packet). Be sure to read all three parts (the third part being Science and Finitude). Barrett’s reading will give us just a nugget of context before we move ahead. Remember, you must annotate all readings for this class! Failure to do so will result in a zero!  You will learn how to provide some focus to your annotations.  Ultimately, focused annotating prepares you for your reading responses, formal essays, and class discussions.  To annotate is to supply with critical or explanatory notes:

  • identifying lines that resonate with you, confuse you, or make you want to know more
  • asking questions of general thematic/philosophical value
  • tracking the development of a theme that may connect to one or more of the philosophical readings or other fiction.

HW12G due 2/6: Handouts and Six Words

February 5, 2015 By

1. Print out the following, put them in a folder and have them with you everyday in class!

2. Six Word Poem/Story

For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn

Tonight, you will write the first draft of your six word poem/story. Consider each word and consider the story you want to communicate through those six words.  In the example above (attributed to Hemingway) there is great depth to that narrative. Imagine the joy, the anticipation, the inspiration, the anxiety, the tragedy, the despair behind those words… All of that and more communicated through six words. Be scrupulous in your selection of words, be thoughtful in your arrangement, be authentic in holistic composition.

3. By Monday, please have your dedicated notebook/journal for this class. I do not want binders…

4. The three rules of Poetry Seminar:

  • Take your time
  • Don’t be afraid
  • Always have a notebook with you (Fry)
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