1.  Revised due dates for essay:

• First draft peer response deferred until Monday, March 2.  
• Final draft due on Thursday, March 5.

2.  Bring Hamlet tomorrow.

3.  4th period people who did not get your prospectus back in class--check your e-mail (the one listed on turnitin.com).

Everyone got the email to check the blog.  NOT everyone is affected by the Nora/Edna syndrome described below, but enough are that I just want you to be aware of the danger. 

AP EXAM REGISTRATION is March 4th.  We will have a conversation about this on Thursday.
If you want a paper copy of the AP bulletin you can get one from Mr. Whitney's room (3302)--he will assume you are old school and wanting to get in touch with the late 1990's, but hey, he will recycle them if some people don't pick them up.  Or you can access it here:
AP Bulletin

TODAY IN CLASS
Collected your prospectus for the A Doll House/ The Awakening essay.
We got a start on Hamlet--Scene 1! :)

FOR TOMORROW
I'm scrambling through the prospectus ideas.  So far:  too many Nora/Edna papers.  Yes, you can do that.  Yes, you can dig deep and do it well.  But too many are choosing the protagonists because it seems easy (Why do I think that's the reason?  Because the prospectus simply skims the surface of the most obvious comparison/contrast claims about these two.)  Such papers will be too superficial to receive a high grade.  And they will be incredibly repetitive from one to the next.  (And I will be bored.)

SO--find creative, interesting insights about these women that not every single classmate who read these works will not already know.

OR--be more bold and focus on anyone/anything other than the two main characters.

There are many excellent ideas suggested on your hand-out, and I have already seen a few original ideas from students who are showing insight and independent thinking even in just the prospectus.

TODAY IN CLASS
Yesterday and today:
Class time for pairs work on the "etude" short story comparison/contrast essay. It is expected that some individual work and perhaps touching base needs to happen outside of class, but people should not need to actually meet up/make time for working together outside of class.  Just follow the instructions, be insightful but efficient, and get this done.  Remember, this is the preparation piece for a more significant individual essay.

For people  working with Elisa, here is the info you need for Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums; this is the link to the version you have as a print-out:
http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1220828.files/The%20Chysanthemums-Steinbeck.pdf

Follow Purdue OWL instructions for e-texts for the Works Cited and in-text citations.

As stated in class, you don't need to turn this essay in to turnitin.com.  You DO need to print two copies, however.  Keep one, and hand one in to me.

This paper is due tomorrow, at the start of class; Friday is not a work-time day.

FOR TOMORROW
As homework: Just finish the pairs paper.

In class on Friday:
We'll go over the individual "big essay" comparison/contrast assignment.
You'll get the poetry terms hand-out.
We'll play with some poetry in honor of Valentine's Day.
There will be some Hamlet frame-setting.

OVER BREAK
1) You could get going on the essay, from a decision on topic to a very rough draft.
2) Or you could read Hamlet, straight through, just to have the overview.  If you do that, expect to re-read each act one at a time, but you will be richer for it.
3) Or you could wait and do Hamlet as we go, but get Crime and Punishment and get into that.  This will also involve a little bit or re-reading at the very beginning, but hopefully more "reviewing" as we take things up.  (And in no way do I expect anyone to get C & P and just read the whole thing over break.

I'll try to get this as a proper GoogleDrive doc later--I'm running out of time now.  But here is the assignment. You will get a hard copy tomorrow.  Be sure to bring Perrine!!

An Etude for Two Brains and Four Hands:   Comparison/Contrast Short Story “Essay”

1) The content for this essay goes back to earlier material; it is the nature of AP English to be “recursive” in the sense that you should keep all material in mind through the exam, think about ways to emphasize further elements in previous work as our focus changes, and be able to be working on one set of things outside class and different works on a daily basis.  So the comparison/contrast prompt is based on two of the following works:

Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”

            Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”

            Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner”

            Joyce’s “Araby”

            Updike’s “A & P”

            Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

            Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”

[“Granny Weatherall” is omitted on purpose; do NOT write on this story.]

The Prompt:

Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the protagonists [or central characters] of two of the stories in terms of their loneliness, isolation or alienation; degree and accuracy of self-perception; and their respective views of the world around them. 

                                                Length:  750-1000 words (original length, for full essay)

This is the most forumlaic paper we will do all year; you must follow the prompt above, which spells out the criteria on which you will compare the selected characters.  The point (or purpose, or nature) of the comparison/contrast, however, is absolutely up to you.  Therein lies the challenge.

2) In some ways, this should be an “easy” paper; however, do not underestimate the task.

Major grading weight will rest upon the richness and complexity of the thesis, often simply referred to as “depth.”  Lightweight, overly simple and obvious comments are not worthy of college-level writing.  Everyone has read the same texts; everyone should be able to discuss the obvious.  Your job is to ILLUMINATE by probing more deeply and thoughtfully. The fact that you are working in pairs is meant in part to serve as a cross-check here.  If you think your partner is suggesting ideas that remain too superficial, then your job is to speak up and suggest something more illuminating and insightful.

3) An additional major focus of this paper is organization.  Of course, this relates to content; the strength and power of your main thesis is derived from the depth of your analysis.  However, this is an excellent essay topic for making sure that you can reliably handle the relationship of each body thesis both to the central idea and to the textual evidence and commentary provided in each paragraph.  For a comparison/contrast paper such as this one, that means that each body thesis must make an evaluative (comparative) claim that acknowledges BOTH characters but provides additional richness (“value added”) to whatever the main thesis might have asserted. 

Note:  It is possible for you to break a single “body thesis” section into two paragraphs if the development seems to warrant doing so.  Then you need only a minor transitional phrase to begin a topic sentence pertaining to the second character.

Procedure

You are going to set up a complete MLA-style essay, do everything that such a format requires, EXCEPT that the support within the body paragraphs will be given as “chunks” of textual evidence and bullet-style commentary.

The Purdue OWL remains the best source for all things MLA, but here is a run-down of essential MLA formatting:

• 12-point Times New Roman font
• 1 inch margins
• Complete MLA heading (your name, my name, course title, date: 13 February 2015)
• Running header
• Creative, relevant title
• Double-space throughout.  (Consistently.  All parts. Remember to “remove space after paragraphs.”)
• Include a Works Cited that provides separate entries for each work, even if both of them are in the same textbook.
• Then your parenthetical citations will be (author + page) regardless of which works you have selected.

Introductory paragraph:  Write out in full as a polished, complete introduction.

Ø  Hook (just a strong opening sentence that pulls the reader into your subject; avoid strained, artificial-sounding hooks)

Ø  2-3 sentences of directing (“funneling”) reader’s attention

Ø  Include author/titles within those sentences, together with other selected information that prepares the reader for the significance of the thesis itself.

Ø  A ONE SENTENCE thesis

Body paragraphs: Complete topic sentence/BT, with essential bulleted or outlined support

You will write out each body thesis (BT) in full sentence form as well, with appropriate transitional phrases.  How many?  Three—because your essay needs to respond EXACTLY to the prompt.  (But remember that though there must be three body sections, you might have more than one paragraph within a section.) Each BT must be an appropriate “umbrella” for that which the paragraph will contain as well as making a link back to the main thesis. You will be making some sort of evaluative claim concerning the particular element as it pertains to each character.

Under each BT, you will provide “chunks” of supporting material—at least 3, more if necessary.

A “chunk” consists of textual evidence (which may be a direct quotation or a careful paraphrase) PLUS the “so what” elements:  what is significant here? why does it matter? how does it support the claim?  (Yes, in the terms of the late Jane Schaffer, this means CD’s and CM’s).  You may find it more appropriate to indicate the commentary-the point—first, and follow up with the supporting evidence.  You don’t need to worry about lead-ins vs commentary, and quotations will not have to be embedded. 

Conclusion: Make it a separate paragraph, but nothing elaborate needed here.

Your conclusion should also be a complete paragraph.  Reinforce your claim without repeating verbatim.  “Global insight” is not an essential component of every piece of analysis—don’t overstress about that on this assignment.

TODAY IN CLASS
Some extra absences due to field trips, counselor visits, etc.
Read Ch. 38 carefully.  Know as much as you can about what the doctor thinks/suspects, and how Edna responds to him.  What has she been thinking about?  Look closely at her thoughts as she is about to enter her house, expecting to see Robert there.

Why EXACTLY has he left?

She stays awake all night long, lying on the couch in the sitting room (living room).  A few of you believe that she drowned accidentally; that is, she swam out too far, became exhausted, realized there was not much use fighting it, and basically gave in to the inevitable without much of a fight.  Most of you believe she made a willful decision at some point.  Where/when, exactly; and WHY (precisely). These (personal) answers have a deep bearing on your (personal) view of the the meaning of the work as a whole.

4th got back the papers that were returned in 3rd last week.

FOR TOMORROW
Bring the Paradise Lost material; you don't need to have Frankenstein with you. Later tonight, if possible, I'll get some material online for you, but it's okay with me if you don't see it before class tomorrow; I'd just as soon finish out some in-class work on Milton first.

BUT, tonight, find Perrine (not lost, I hope), and start thinking about connections between major characters (usually protagonists) in the following stories:
"The Chrysanthemums" (hand-out; I've got some more)
"Miss Brill"
"Araby"
"A & P"
"The Rocking-Horse Winner"
"Sonny's Blues"
even Metamorphosis

and beyond . . .
1) You are going to do a pairs essay, on an assigned topic with pre-set parameters of comparison/contrast.  Some parts will be written out in full, others in bulleted quick format. Although depth and insight of thesis and major points is of course desirable and WILL BE REFLECTED in the scoring, the main purpose is frankly pedagogical; we are getting everyone on the same page in terms of comparison/contrast essays, knowing that people are bringing in different levels of experience.

You will have Wednesday and Thursday in class to work on this, and it will be due (typed) on Friday.

2) There will be an online-only follow-up to Paradise Lost/Frankenstein--not an essay, exactly, but some responses to . . . Again, by tomorrow it should be online in full. It is the "homework" component of the week since the bulk of the pairs essay work will be done in class.

3) By Thursday, you will receive the major comparison/contrast essay for A Doll House and The Awakening. The first draft will be due late in the week we return from break, and the final draft 4-6 days later (will definitely include a weekend).

You might not have any ability (or interest) in working on that essay over break. That's okay.

But you might be willing/wanting to read:
Option 1:  Read Hamlet.  Yes, just read it.  Straight through (not at one sitting--but it only takes 2 or 3 hours to "read" the text.  Then as each act is assigned, and we will start in earnest the day you return,  you'll have a heads- up on what's going on.  But this is optional.

OR
Option 2:  Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment will follow Hamlet.  It's long. Some people want to start reading it over break.

Okay, I'm hitting Publish for this, but tonight, with more time, I hope to add to this with something further on the PL/Frankenstein material.

YESTERDAY/TODAY IN CLASS

We've looked at several scenes in detail from the Grand Isle section, but made connections later on as well:

• the opening interaction between Edna and Mr. Pointellier, and between Edna and Robert
• the sewing circle, etc.--what cultural differences matter in considering Edna and Robert?
• the fight that starts with "Does the child have a fever, and what kind of mother are you anyway?"
• the day-trip visit and nap (imagery, effects, etc)
• the piano scene during one of the last evenings of the summer
• learning to swim--the imagery re: the night, the waves, Edna's feelings
• connections to imagery of Adele's hair in the childbirth scene
• the walk back with Robert/their conversation/underying attitudes
• Alcee Arobin--how is he different?? How do we know?
• What's her relationship based on . . . 

Now, today in 4th we looked at elements from her interaction with Arobin, esp. in 25-27; students also prepped a close annotated view of the dinner party/birthday party in Ch. 30--but then we ran out of time.

3rd, you could help our cause by reviewing those sections on your own.  

TOMORROW

We will hop-scotch across some key elements/quotes in 31-36, and then slow down for a closer look at 37-end:  the delivery, the doctor, the note, the night on the couch, the return to Grand Isle . . . 

TODAY IN CLASS
Mr. Pontelier/Edna:  their marriage/relationship (initial impressions)
Edna/Robert:  what do they see in each other?  what's the nature of the relationship?
How is Edna an outsider?
Creole and Cajun (as terms, as Louisiana cultures)

FOR TOMORROW
Expect a reading check quiz.
We'll focus (about 20 min. max) on the marital spat at Grand Isle, Robert and Edna's day trip, and the last night at Grand Isle (the piano playing and the swim).

Optional Reading (but do take a look at it for sure--the first page or two will give you a flavor of Cajun speech and lifestyle)

Kate Chopin's "The Storm"