There will be an update tomorrow reviewing the past several days.  BUT if you missed the Part II quiz before Thanksgiving (Tuesday, Nov. 25), you must make it up.  Several have . . . but if you have not, come to my room anytime before school tomorrow morning--7:30 to 9:40.  It takes only ten minutes.

Three Short Essays: the out-of-class component for the Short Fiction Assessment (this material will not be covered on the semester exam).

Essay #1--the same topic for everyone.  It's an out-of-class Question 3--similar in structure to what you'd do closed book on the AP exam, but different in that you will be expected to incorporate quotations:  600 words or so including some well-chosen, finely honed quoted material. This question comes with the restriction that you are writing here about "Metamorphosis."  That WAS on the list of choices for 1989, and that is the only work you may use for responding to this question:

1989. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see.” Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion”" as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of the work you choose are “distorted” and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work. Avoid plot summary.

DUE on Monday, Dec. 8 --Hard copy only

The next two essays--DUE on Wednesday, Dec. 10.  

• Put them on turnitin.com under the headings Short Fiction Essay 2 and Short Fiction Essay 3. 
• You do not need to submit a hard copy for these two essays.

2) Essay #2--Choose either A or B
A.  Review the criteria that are necessary for developing a convincing character (see chapter 3), and write a short essay (about 500 words) in which you determine whether Sonny in "Sonny's Blues" meets these criteria.

B.  In studying Joyce's "Araby," we traced the various images of light and shadow through the story and noted that they defined the boy's feelings at each point. You received a hand-out of light/dark imagery in "Sonny's Blues"; however, I am not making any claim that it is absolutely complete. Write a short essay (500 words or so) in which you establish a significant function of light/dark imagery in "Sonny's Blues."

3) Essay #3--Choose two of the following stories as the basis for your response.Review the chapter on symbolism, allegory, and fantasy in Perrine (Ch. 6).  Compare the use of symbolism in any TWO of the following stories, clarifying how each achieves compression through the use of symbols:
A) Steinbeck, "The Chrysanthemums" --accessible online, but I also still have quite a few hand-outs
B) Mansfield, "Miss Brill" (p. 174)
C) Joyce, "Araby" (p. 434)
D) Lawrence, "The  Rocking-Horse Winner" (311)