This is the end . . .

. . . of the '07 - '08 school year.

Misc. loose ends.

1. Gatsby essay submissions: As was the case with the Catcher essay, the Turn It In class ID is 2220665 and the password is phony. Do not be alarmed if after you upload your essay the formatting looks different. When I download the files they should retain their original format as you intended them to look.
   
2. Spring cleaning: Please stop by my office before the end of the day Wednesday (I won't be in Thursday or Friday) to pick up your:
• summer reading book, The Remains of the Day.
• Writer's Reference book (you'll need them for the next two years, theoretically).
• Comic Life projects.

Thanks, and my best to you on your exams this week. Make me proud.

Course Eval.

Please complete the American Lit 07-08 Course Eval by the end of the day Friday, May 30.

Please know that I will take your feedback to heart and it will inform changes to the course for next year.

Thanks, Patrick.

Gatsby final exam.

If I were to give a final exam on Gatsby, which I'm not, some of the questions below might end up on it as short answer essay options. I thought you might like to see them. (You know, learning for learning's sake.) Peruse and post comments if you are inclined to do so.

Characters & Characterization.

• Who is the most affable character in the book? Why?
• How has Nick matured by the end of the novel?
• Why does Nick “like” but ultimately disapprove of Gatsby?
• Who is the “hero” of the novel? Is there a hero?
• The novel is a tragedy, and ultimately, Gatsby is a tragic character. Why?
• Which characters seem to “have it all”? Do they really?
  

Theme & Symbol.

• What kind of world does the novel portray? Who succeeds—or rather, “survives"—in this world? Why?
• Why are characters who seem to have it all often desperate and immoral? How does this reflect the notion of the American Dream and specifically, the importance of money and material wealth?
• What, then, do you think the Fitzgerald is saying about the American Dream?
• Who—or rather, what—killed Gatsby? (Think beyond the literal; investigate on a figurative level.)
• Gatsby dies by the pool. Why? Wilson dies in the garden. Why?
• The novel begins at the end of spring/beginning of summer. Gatsby meets Daisy in the fall. Gatsby dies in the fall. So, who cares? Why is any of this significant?

Beyond the text.

• Gatsby is a novel of the 1920s, but how might is it also be a novel of today?
• Why do you think Fitz named it The Great Gatsby? Was Gatsby “great”? (At one point, Fitzgerald considered the title Under the Red, White, and Blue. Why?)
• Some have cited the novel as the “Great American Novel.” Do you agree or disagree? Why? What is distinctly “American” about it?

Do you believe in your thesis?

Find out with the Thesis Statement checklist.

Intro/Thesis Exchange and Writing Conferences.

Introduction/Thesis Exchange.
Please exchange introductions with someone in class. Critique each others' intro, especially the thesis. (Use the thesis statements handout for reference! If you no longer have yours, here it is again: Thesis Statements.)

I also encourage you to seek me out (either personally or by email) for intro/thesis feedback. The sooner you approach me the better; I wouldn't want you to get too far invested in the essay before knowing whether or not you have a solid foundation in a thesis.


Writing Conferences.

• Wednesday: Tutorial: Christopher & Maddie | After school: Taylor
  
• Thursday: Block 3: Andi & Erik | Block 4: Scott | Block 7: Shaina & Nina | After school: Nik
  
• Friday: Block 3: John| Block 4: Jack | Block 6: Kelins & Tyler | Block 7: Adam, Becca, & Carly

It is your responsibility to remember your writing conference day and time. Writing conferences will take place either in the classroom (#344) or my office (#327). (Try the classroom first and if I'm not there go to my office.) Please let me know in advance if you need to reschedule, as a "no show" will not receive credit. Also, remember that you will facilitate the discussion. To this end, come to the conference with:

1. Either an electronic or a hard copy of your essay.
2. At least two specific aspects of the writing process that you're struggling with, have concerns about, or would like feedback on.
3. Specific questions. (Go beyond simple "yes" or "no" questions and vague questions such as "Is my thesis good?" or "Does my paper make sense?")

Poll results.

Clockwise beginning top left: prb., Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Edgar Allen Poe, Johnny Depp.

It's all about diction. And the dictionary.

After class today, Christopher and I did some more investigation regarding Nick's "brooding on the old unknown world." Below are the results of our findings, which may help to further illuminate the passage and in turn, help to make connections elsewhere in the text.

While "brood" can be a noun (and even an adjective), in the passage it is used as a verb, which has the following definitions:

brood |broōd|
verb
1 [ intrans. ] think deeply about something that makes one unhappy : he brooded over his need to find a wife.
2 [ trans. ] (of a bird) sit on (eggs) to hatch them. ( ! )
• (of a fish, frog, or invertebrate) hold (developing eggs) within the body.
3 [usu. foll. by over] (of silence, a storm, etc.) hang or hover closely : a winter storm broods over the lake.

ORIGIN Old English brōd, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch broed and German Brut, also to breed . Sense 1 of the verb was originally used with an object, i.e. [to nurse (feelings) in the mind] (late 16th cent.), a figurative use of the notion of a hen nursing chicks under her wings.

Gatsby essay resources.

• Close annotation example.
• Passage analysis example. (Note: this essay uses a different passage than the one used for the close annotation above.)
  

Roaring Twenties Reinvented.

Watch this:


Then this:

Gatsby board notes, Monday 5.12.

Click images to enlarge.

Miscellaneous need-to-know info.

1. For Wednesday, read chapter 7 up until the break after "So we rode on toward death through the cooling twilight."
   
2. Wednesday's multiple choice quiz will cover chapters 1-6. Specifically, it will cover:
• Characters: Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, Jordan, the Wilsons, Owl Eyes, Wolfsheim, Dan Cody.
• Themes & Symbols: green light at the end of the dock, T.J. Eckelberg and the valley of ashes, time, colors, light and darkness, and possessions (cars, houses, lawns, etc.).
• Vocab: supercilious, fractiousness, incredulously, vacuous, jaunty, haughty, punctilious, exultation, ineffable, Platonic.
3. If you requested a copy of the supplemental extras from my "Authorized Text" edition of Gatsby, please stop by my office to pick it up.
4. Get in on the last bonus opp of the year here: Character Sketch.
   

Gatsby & the American Dream.

• A recent New York Times article: "Gatsby's Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers."
• An interactive Minnesota Public Radio feature: "Preserving the American Dream."
• A Symbol of the American Dream: Buy the One Million Dollar Bill for only $9.50!

Gatsby on Google Maps.

Click photos to enlarge.


Long Island.


Great Neck (West Egg) & Port Washington (East Egg).


The "eggs" up close.


Gatsby Lane. (No joke.)


The green light at the end of the dock?

Homework for Monday, 5.5.

Character Sketch pre-writing.

Say it with me . . .

P - A - G - I - N - A - T - I - O - N

Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress.

The Zora Neale Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress present a selection of ten plays written by Hurston (1891-1960), author, anthropologist, and folklorist. Deposited as typescripts in the United States Copyright Office between 1925 and 1944, most of the plays remained unpublished and unproduced until they were rediscovered in the Copyright Deposit Drama Collection in 1997. The plays reflect Hurston's life experience, travels, and research, especially her study of folklore in the African-American South. Totaling 1,068 images, the scripts are housed in the Library's Manuscript, Music, and Rare Book and Special Collections divisions.

Found after class . . .

Busted.

But for what, I'm not exactly sure; I suppose technically this isn't a note. On principle, though, I think I've got something on you two . . .

"Their Eyes" Bonus Opp.

Option 1: Compose a soundtrack for Janie’s journey. Choose 4-5 songs that illustrate different aspects of Janie’s life. Create a CD with these songs, organized in an intentional sequence. Then, write a liner notes for each song. The liner notes must include:

• a synopsis of the song.
• an explanation of how the song relates to Janie and her experience.
• one quote from the song and one quote from the book, integrated and cited correctly.

Option 2: Capture 4-5 images that illustrate your own unique interpretation of different aspects of Janie’s life. Submit the photographs (in an artistic, aesthetically organized manner) along with a didactic statement for each. The didactic statements must include:

• the location of the photo, camera and equipment used.
• an explanation of how the photo relates to Janie and her experience.
• one quote from the book that speaks to a particular aspect of the photo.

I’m also open to your own ideas. See me if you have suggestions for how you might depict Janie’s life and development as a character in an artistic medium other than those listed above. Also, please see me if you'd like to focus on a different character, such as Tea Cake or Joe.

Due Monday, May 12.

Remind you of anything?

War Games
by Vince Aletti

The grainy haze that settles over the soldiers in David Levinthal’s photographs isn’t the fog of war, it’s the impressionistic murk that results from setting his camera lens for an extremely shallow depth of field. The artistic effect is necessary to prevent—or at least delay—the recognition that the soldiers are all model toys. The pictures, published in 1977 in the book “Hitler Moves East,” a collaboration with Levinthal’s fellow Yale School of Art grad student Garry Trudeau, are having a timely revival at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller. Levinthal has made a career of turning scale-model figures into soft-focus icons, but this series remains a crucial turning point. As Trudeau notes in the book, the images “set up an exquisite tension . . . between the innocence of the facsimile and the insidiousness of the original.” Displayed alongside Nazi source material and the tiny toys themselves, the sepia-toned photographs have a peculiar power. We know they’re far from real, but, when it comes to war, deception and confusion still rule.

From The New Yorker, April 21, 2008.

"Computer talk."

Fittingly, I received this email last night:

hey patrick. unfortunately I wont be abl 2 help setup this year... I have 2 be @ my internship (@ the pillsbury house) around the same time 2mrw...sry bout this. hopefully u have enuf people!

Homework summary, 4.23.

• Finish the book (chapters 19 & 20, pp. 168-193 [26]).
• Post a final discussion question for Their Eyes. (Post to this entry, as a comment below.) Question must be cumulative in nature and must address the resolution of a particular aspect of the novel (for example, with respect to character, theme, symbol, extended metaphor, etc.). Be sure that your question is relevant, open-ended, and can be supported with textual evidence.
• Review the 140s for issues of racism and inter-racism, as well as God and authority.
• Two Bonus opps.
  
• To anyone who at the beginning of class tomorrow can demonstrate the difference between symbol, metaphor, and extended metaphor using examples from Their Eyes.
  
• Lucille Clifton poetry reading bonus opp. See post below for complete details.
  

Bonus Opp: Lucille Clifton.

Lucille Clifton, author of "Homage to My Hips," the poem that we looked at in class a few weeks ago, will be featured at the University of Minnesota's NOMMO African American Authors Series this next Thursday, April 24 from 7:30-9:30pm at the Cowles Auditorium in the Hubert H. Humphrey Center. Cost is $10. Complimentary tickets available for U of M students and members of the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Order tickets through Northrop Ticket Office at www.tickets.umn.edu, by phone at 612.624.2345, or in person Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm at 105 Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church Street S.E., Mpls, 55455.

Bonus opp.
Write a two page critique of a particular aspect of the event. Write the piece as if it will be submitted for publication in a local newspaper or magazine. For example, you can write about impact of poetry as performance, the physical environment and space, etc. See the documents below for examples of event critiques.

• Yusef Komunyakka in the Face of Adversity.
• Three Female Perspectives in Poetry.
• The Loft’s Equilibrium: Luke Warm Water and “The Expected.”
  

Beef up your vocab with sweet (and totally unpretentious) words like . . .

Litotes: n. an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary, as in “not a bad singer” or “not unhappy.”

Congrats. You now know a lit term that your teacher doesn't even know how to pronounce. Click the definition above to receive your surprise prize.

Bonus Opp.
What are now and know are examples of? A bonus point has been awarded to Erik, who was the first to submit the correct response: homophone. A homophone is a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as in “heir” and “air,” or “read” and “red,” or “whine” and “wine.”

Details on Friday, 4.18.

Thursday's Homework.

• Read & annotate chapter 10-12, pp. 94-115 (22).
• Please bring your "Authentic Dialogue" warm up exercise and field work to class tomorrow so you receive credit for them.

Friday's In-Class Essay.
You may use your book and annotations in order to make connections to elsewhere in the text. Regardless of which one of the three options you choose (options are good, so I added a third; see details below), you must:

• Respond in three to four solid paragraph. (By solid I mean substantial. Every sentence and word ought to be carefully considered and skillfully articulated.)
  
• Include two substantial citations. They must be different page numbers than the one listed in the option you chose.

Waste no time; waste no ink. Ultimately, shoot for “Yahtzee!” We solid? Solid.

Your three options will be as follows:

1. the mule stories.
2. the head rag.
3. the horizon.
   

Read each specific question here: 4.18 In-Class Essay.

Quiz: chapters 1-9.

To reiterate, the quiz will be multiple choice and will cover chapters 1-9. It will be heavily focused on prominent characters (especially Janie, Nanny, Johnny Taylor, Logan, Joe, etc.), symbols and themes, and some vocab. Here's the study guide.

Bonus Opp.

Catcher/Graduate Snapshot.

Friday, 4.11 homework.

1. Reread Their Eyes chapter 6, pp. 51-75 (25). Complete handout.
2. Complete the Field Work part of the Authentic Dialogue assignment. Now that you are warmed up (from the Warm Up Exercise), go in search of dialogue. If you're in school, listen in the lounges, library, hallways, and at classroom doors. Outside of school, listen . . . well, anywhere. You must do this assignment alone. No two people should be together—hunt down an isolated conversation. Record about 7-10 minutes of actual dialogue, including expressions, body language, etc.
   

Thursday, 4.10 homework.

1. Reread Their Eyes, chapters 4 & 5, pp. 26-50 (25). Complete handout.
2. Complete the Warm Up Exercise part of the Authentic Dialogue assignment. Recall one conversation over Spring Break or today with friends or family members you are comfortable with. In ten minutes write this conversation verbatim (or as close to it as possible). Try to capture the actual language of the people involved. (For instance, runnin’ instead of running, cuz instead of because, whassup instead of what’s up, etc.) Insert facial expressions, body language, and other actions or interruptions as they occur.

Homework revision.

Due to the number of students out in the next two days because of band and choir, I'm revising the homework.

• For tomorrow (Thursday), thoroughly review--in other words, reread--chapters 1-3.
  
• For Friday, reread chapter 4 & 5.
  
• For Monday, reread chapter 6. You'll likely have something else over the weekend, too. I'll let you know what that something else is when I get there.
• For next Wednesday, read chapters 7-10.

I'll let you know what to expect from there on out early next week.

Also, there will be a quiz next week Wednesday on chapters 1-10. For the most part, it'll be structured similarly to the last Catcher quiz.

Yours in reading,
Commandante.

Zora's Roots.

The new documentary, Zora's Roots, will air on PBS stations beginning April 18. Paying tribute to the most prolific woman writer of the Harlem Renaissance, the film traces Hurston's life and work from her childhood in the all-black township of Eatonville, Florida, to her days as a Barnard student in New York City, to her anthropologic field work in Honduras and Haiti, and eventually back to Florida, where she died penniless and was buried in an unmarked grave.

During the Roaring Twenties, Hurston was central to Harlem's evolving literary scene alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman. She was Barnard College's first black graduate, and her studies in anthropology contributed to a lifelong exploration of language, culture and the African American experience. More than 40 years after her death in 1960, Hurston's writing remains an integral piece of America's literary fabric. In addition to her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which has been cited as one of the 100 greatest literary works of all time, she is renowned for her journalistic, cinematic and non-fiction work.

"Zora['s] courage and determination to look at black culture with an analytical eye enabled her to express so beautifully the richness of the culture, its complex history and diasporic nature." said Barnard English Professor Monica Miller, who appears in the film.

Zora's Roots will air on PBS stations nationwide beginning April 18. Find your local listings here: Zora's Roots.

"New Yorker" cartoon channels young Janie.

This New Yorker cartoon seems to be directly inspired by pp. 10-11 of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

"Their Eyes" passages, chapters 1-5.

Review the passages below for Wednesday's class.

• Passage 1: “Ships at a distance … The dream is the truth” (1).
• Passage 2: “She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree … That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes” (11-12).
• Passage 3: “There are years that ask questions and years that answer … But anyhow Janie went on inside to wait for love to begin” (21-22).
• Passage 4: “Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien … so she became woman” (24-25).
• Passage 5: “They, all of them, all of the people … It was just a handle to wind up the tongue with” (46-48).
• Passage 6: “And now we’ll listen tuh uh few words … Ah’ll sit on this case first thing” (43-44).

Take Aways from "Their Eyes" Foreword.

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is:

1. A bildungsroman; coming of age and "consciousness" novel; Self-revelation—or self-realization—of and through voice. To these ends, identity and place are crucial (x, xiii-xv, xvii).
   
2. A celebration, empowerment of:
• African American traditions; “blackness” (xi, xvi).
• women, specifically black women (xi, xii, xiv, xvii).
3. Harlem Renaissance lit, African American lit, feminist lit, and ultimately American Lit.

Quarter Three eval.

Contrary to previous evals, the Quarter Three eval is not mandatory. Additionally, it is anonymous. That said, I encourage you to complete it and to own up to your feedback. As I've said before, your feedback is invaluable and regardless of what you say, so long as it is said respectfully, I won’t think differently of you.

The eval is four short answer questions. You are not required to answer every question. You can answer only those that you wish to address with respect to your performance, my teaching, and the class as a whole. That said, the more of the eval you complete, the more helpful it will be to me.

Please complete before coming to class this next Monday, April 7.

24-hour countdown to Spring Break.

But before that...

1. Complete your Catcher essay final draft. Submit it via Turn It In by 4pm Friday. Our class ID is 2220665 (not the previously posted 220665!) and the password, for obvious reasons, is phony. See Sherf if you do not have a turnitin account and need help setting one up. If you had difficulty with Turn It In last night, please resubmit your essay (even if you've since emailed me your final draft), as the issue is now resolved. For your convenience, I'll have a few laptops available in class today so that you can do this.
   
2. Catcher quiz #2 is Friday. See Study guide.
3. Turn in your Catcher book for an annotations check before you leave for Spring Break.

Thesis statements and passages.

Post here. You do not need to include full passages; a page numbers will do just fine.

Stop studying.

Quiz postponed. Details forthcoming. Spread the word in the lounge and halls. Today we'll discuss the end. (Of Catcher.) Specifically, chapters 22-26. See you then.

—Maurice

Friday's announcements.

1. Finish Catcher.
2. Review Catcher essay assignment and complete prewriting (thesis draft and list of passages).
3. Quiz Monday. Mostly multiple choice; perhaps a few fill in the blanks.

Thursday's board work.

(Click images to enlarge.)

Found.

This newspaper clipping was found in the pages of a used copy of Catcher in the Rye that I bought at a bookstore a few years back. I've forgotten what page I found it in, but it will remain in the book so long as it's in my possession. I can be superstitious like that.

(Click image to enlarge.)

Countdown to Spring Break.

• Thursday, 3.6: Board work on ducks on the pond, Museum of Natural History, red hunting hat, kings in the back row, “catcher in the rye,” etc.
• Friday, 3.7: Continuation of Thursday's board work; a look at chapters 21-24.
  
• Monday, 3.10: Quiz #2; brief thoughts on Catcher's conclusion; Paul Kivel's article.
  
• Wednesday, 3.12: In-class work on Catcher essay; begin The Graduate.
• Thursday, 3.13: In-class work on essay; The Graduate continued.
  
• Friday, 3.14: Essay due; finish The Graduate.
• Spring Break: No homework; optional Catcher bonus and short story supplements.
• after break: Q3 eval; begin Their Eyes Were Watching God.

"Piano Lesson" bonus opps.

After having seen the Penumbra’s staging of The Piano Lesson on Tuesday, you may do one of the following three bonus opportunities.

Write a…

1. Snapshot.
2. Thematic analysis of The Piano Lesson and Fences. (Go beyond a simple compare/contrast; analyze a particular—and specific—element that occurs in each.)
3. Analysis of how staging or other aspects of performance impacted, affected, and worked for or against the content and themes of the play.
   

All options must be one typed page and adhere to MLA formatting. Due before you leave school for Spring Break. Let me know if you need clarification or have any other questions.

So what's the deal with J.D. Salinger, anyway?

- Biography.
- New York Times archives: news and reviews.
- BBC News: "A Glimpse Inside the Life of a Recluse."
- New York Review of Books: "Justice to J.D. Salinger."
- Time Magazine: "All-Time 100 Novels."

FirstClass? Not so much...

More like Second Rate. (Anyone else having problems with it today?)

When it's back up, I'll email you your monologue analysis with marginal comments; however, I won't include a scoring rubric or a formal assessment of any kind. As mentioned in class on Thursday, you are to use the self-assessment I handed out to evaluate yourself. Use my comments, then, to help you determine the answer to each of the five questions on the self-assessment.

I am putting an enormous amount of faith in you that you will be fair and honest. Do this not for my sake, but for your own. I trust that you will not cheat “the system,” but more importantly, I trust that you will not cheat yourself. At first I hesitated in doing this, but after further thought determined that is was a risk worth taking. Sounds dramatic, huh? It isn’t really, but in a way, it is. (This is my best attempt at a Tim ‘O Brien-like contradiction. Profound, I know.)

Thanks; see you tomorrow. Go Bears. Go Literature.

Found in an obscure file folder location:

Quarter 2 eval results.

A letter to you.

Class,

Apparently you have other classes. Weird. I'm mindful that your lives aren't (yet) spent engulfed in and embracing literature every waking moment of the day. I'd be lying if I said that this didn't disappoint me just a bit, but I've cried and I'm over it. Mostly.

I have been thinking about revising the reading skedj for a few days now. We're getting too far ahead in the reading and we need to catch up in class. (For the most part, that's my fault, not yours.) Because of the ease and flow of the narrative, I thought the reading would move along quickly and at a manageable pace. That said, annotating and reading closely certainly slow a reader down and as you might presume, I wouldn't want for any of us (myself included) to go light on the annotations.

So basically, in short, I'll revise the reading assignments and update the class accordingly on Wednesday.

And as if you didn't have enough to read, check out this Stop—Grammar Time! feature: Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location." It is a recent New York Times article that ought to get you on the grammar bandwagon. Thankfully, there's hope for the semicolon after all...

See you all in class,

—El Jefe.

"Piano Lesson" at the Penumbra.

A remdiner that Tuesday, March 4 we'll be going to the Penumbra Theatre to see The Piano Lesson, an August Wilson's play that, like Fences and many of his other works, offers audiences a unique opportunity to examine American history through the prism of the African American experience.

Check out the The Piano Lesson study guide.

Catcher notes.

Post your group notes from Monday's class here. Once each group has posted, fill in your individual handout accordingly.

Groups:

1. Becca, John, Scott, & Taylor: physical description & other characteristics | narrative language & tone.
2. Adam, Eric, Kelins, & Shaina: family, friends, acquaintances, & other characters | themes.
3. Christopher, Maddie, Nina, & Tyler: symbols, metaphors, & other literary devices.
4. Andi, Carly, Jack, & Nik: allusions.

Miscellany.

1. The Hennepin County Library has over a dozen copies of August Wilson's "Piano Lesson." If you do not have a library card and would like to check it out, please let me know and I will check it out for you.
2. "Good-by" is not a misspelling of "good-bye." Both are acceptable, as is "goodbye" and "goodby."
3. "Ironical" is a word. It is an adjective derivative of "ironic" (also an adjective).

Taking "In Rotation" requests.

What's getting heavy play in your rotation? Hard bop? Dub and rock steady? Alt-rock and rock-a-billy? Ambient? Swedish black metal? Show tunes? The Juno soundtrack?

Who's getting heavy play in your rotation? All the Usual Tropes? The Deadly Potholes? DoppleGangstas? Perpetuating Irony? Ryan Hogan & the Pillar of Bees? Trapdoor Survivalists? The Wounded Butterflies?

Post a group or artist, song, or genre that you'd like for me to add to the "In Rotation" section of the sidebar at right.

Supplements to "Twilight, Los Angeles."

• "Riot Act, April 29, 1992," a poem by Ai.
• "April 29, 1992 (Miami)," a song by Sublime.

MPR's "Talking Volumes" with Sherman Alexie.

Author Sherman Alexie recently ventured into young adult literature with two new books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Flight. His books are sharp observations of growing up Indian among whites.

Alexie joined Kerri Miller on the stage of the Fitzgerald Theater on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007.

Listen to the program: Talking Volumes with Sherman Alexie.

Homework for Monday, 2.11.

Read and annotate the Adrian C. Louis poems. (Download them under the "Quarter Three Class Documents" section located on the sidebar to the right.)

Then, in your notebook, compare and contrast one of the poems to Alexie's "What You Pawn..." short story from last week. Go beyond the typical "How are they similar?" and "In what ways are they different?" questions. Consider the following question instead: How do the poems "speak" to one another, thematically and otherwise?

Homework for Friday 2.8.

1. One Word, Revisited.
Do you remember the one word you chose to describe "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" from Monday's class?

What one word would you use to describe it now? Do not chose the same word from Monday. No synonyms either!


2. Based on your observations of Wednesday's discussion, complete the sentence below.
For the remainder of the semester, one thing I can do in discussions is ________?________. I will know that I have accomplished this when ________?________. (In other words, how will you know you've accomplished this?)

3. Snapshot Essay. (See "Quarter Three Class Documents" below for a detailed handout.) Please submit it as an email attachment or to my dropbox on the mamabear server.

Directions for Wednesday's TASC.

We'll use Wednesday's class period to finish up with Sherman Alexie short story, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem."

Wednesday's homework, then, will be to go to the Forum during the first half of TASC (the full TASC period runs from 1:05-1:50). There, you will observe 6-7 juniors discussing the short story. You will be expected to take notes on the observable features of the discussion and to consider whether or not the characteristics contribute to an effective discussion. It is my hope that observing a discussion will help you to further conceptualize and reinforce the purposes of and means by which to accomplish success in a discussion.

Find an online copy of the short story here: Sherman Alexie's "What You Pawn I Will Redeem."

A Prelude to the Much Anticipated (and Much Delayed) "Stop—Grammar Time!"

Get to know parts of speech. Parts of speech are to the sentence what engine components are to a vehicle. If this analogy were on the SAT, it would appear as follows: parts of speech : sentences :: engine components: vehicle. In each instance, each part has a specific purpose and things break down if they're not used correctly or go too long without maintenance. Below is a "Parts of Speech" song you should try to get stuck in your head. "Parts of Speech" is written and produced by Boy Iowa and filmed by Son Wisconsin.

Augsburg College Invitational Reading.

On Wednesday, April 9, 2008, Augsburg College will host its 23rd Annual High School Invitational Reading. All high school students are invited to submit their best work. You may submit up to two poems and/or one prose piece. Winning submissions will earn an invite to a luncheon where students will read their work publicly. In addition, finalists will earn a Barnes & Noble's gift certificates and Augsburg t-shirts. Beyond that, the two best poets and two best prose writers will be awarded tickets to the Guthrie, Theater in the Round, or the Walker Art Center.

Guidelines for submissions:

• Submissions must be submitted on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, typed or computer printed, in 12-point font, and double-spaced.
• Poetry submissions should not exceed 100 lines in length; prose submissions must not exceed four pages.
• All submissions should be suitable for public reading.
  

Submissions deadline is Wednesday, March 10, 2008.

Mail submission to:
Augsburg College
English Dept., C.B. 59
Attn: High School Invitational Reading
2211 Riverside Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55454

Today in class ...

Upon entering class ...
Individual Free Write: Turn to p. viii. Read the last paragraph. Then, in your English notebook, spend 20-25 minutes reflecting upon and responding to the questions raised. Find at least one significant passage (approx. ½ page of text) that supports your response.

Before leaving class ...

1. Turn in your Fences annotations.
2. Pick up Sherman Alexi’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.”
   

Homework.

1. Check email later this aft for ABC Comic Life identity project grade and comment.
2. Complete any blog posts you are missing from this week, regardless of whether it was late or due to an absence. Same goes for Q2 eval.
3. Read and annotate Sherman Alexi’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.”
   

Homework for Friday, 2.1.

Post a response to the following:

Compare what you know about Troy to Wilson's references* of Milwaukee Braves' player and until recently, the Major Leagues home run champ, Hank Aaron. Explore their similarities and differences. Aspects to consider: dreams and aspirations, outcomes, the fence as a symbol, baseball as a metaphor, and historical context.

Be sure to provide page number citations.

* Use the entire text, including the pages the precede the actual play.

About "Homerun" Henry (Hank) Aarons.

“Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster.” — Curt Simmons

Exhibiting an understated style that became his trademark, Hank Aaron became the all-time home run champion via one of the most consistent offensive careers in baseball history, with 3,771 hits. In addition to his 755 home runs, he also holds major league records for total bases, extra-base hits and RBI. Aaron was the 1957 National League MVP, won three Gold Gloves for his play in right field and was named to a record 24 All-Star squads. —From the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.

Homework for Thursday, 1.31.

Generate a discussion question from Act One, Scene 3 through Act Two, Scene 1. Post to blog. Again, your discussion question must be narrow in focus and address a significant symbol, metaphor, or passage of dialogue.

Also, remember to complete the survey and your annotations by class time this Friday (read complete details under the 1.26 post below).

Homework for Wednesday, 1.30 & Friday, 2.1. (It's not as much as it appears to be.)

Before class Wednesday, post to the blog:

1. Your answers to Monday’s in-class work, specifically:
• three major symbols (and your explanations) from “Setting.”
• 2-3 questions you generated from “The Play.” Then, attempt to answer them.
2. A discussion question from Act One, Scenes 1-2. Your discussion question must be narrow in focus and address a significant symbol, metaphor, or passage of dialogue.
   

Also, by Friday:

1. Complete the Quarter 2 Eval.
2. Revisit your Fences annotations (I will collect them on Friday) and improve accordingly. Specifically, they should:
1. Mark significant passages; highlight key words, images, and patterns.
2. Raise questions in the margins.
3. Draw connections with page number references (for example, “See page xx for ...”).
   

Thanks.

Growing Up Chinese, Graphically.

Gene Luen Yang recently spoke with NPR about his graphic novel, American Born Chinese, the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award. Listen to the program and view an audio slide show at:
Growing Up Chinese, Graphically.

Also, hip-hop artist Jin is the first Asian-American rapper to release a major-label record. His new CD, The Rest is History, challenges negative images of people of Chinese heritage in American culture. More at: Asian-American Rapper Jin Makes Hip-Hop History.

Visual supplement to Kelins' presentation.

Click here for PDF.

Didactic Statement.
Here is my paragraph to explain my Symbol. It includes some difference between the two countries. And I use the form of symbolization to make it clear and interesting.

Here are a few examples: The first one shows the difference between the ways that American and Chinese use to give suggestion. American are usually much more direct. And Chinese usually try as mild and indirect as they can. Then look at the fourth, it shows interpersonal relations. You can tell that Chinese interpersonal relations are much more complicated. It’s because the situation of the society.

The seventh shows the difference of ego. Americans’s ego are bigger than Chinese. Chinese people are used to giving in to others. And I found that American usually not. And look at the next one. That’s the difference that pretty much everyone knows. You can always see a lot of people on the street in China at any time. But you never see here except for State Fair. —Kelins

American Born Chinese identity project info.

Logistics.
We will have lab time with "Comic Life" this week Wednesday and Thursday to work on your American Born Chinese identity projects. You must have a sketched draft of your project completed by class time on Wednesday. I will check to see that you've completed it at the beginning of class. Bring your ABC note-taking handout, too; I will check it as well.

Project Suggestions.
Images.
In a medium such as graphic literature, you'll want to emphasize image over text. Allow the visual aspects of each panel to narrate. This includes, for instance, color, line, and form. To gather image content for your project, you may ...

1. use photographs* (as I've done)
   
2. images or avatars from the web (a Google Image search would work well to this end)
   
3. draw your images by hand
4. use any combination of the above
   

* If you would like to use digital photographs, bring them in on a disc, flash drive, email them to yourself, or upload them to a web-based photo gallery such as Picasa or Flickr. If you have hard copies of photographs that you would like to use and do not have a scanner, bring them to school and you can scan them in using the scanner in the Classroom Lab or the one in the LW office.

Text.
Supplement your images with minimal text. Text should add to, rather than reiterate, what your images are "saying."

See above right (or see the attachment in my recent email) for my own example. (Click on the image to enlarge it. I'll post my Didactic Statement soon, too.) You'll notice that I've taken some artistic liberties. For instance, there is no dialogue; the strip is exclusively narrated in third-person. Also, the narration is a poem. Here, one might argue that the images are supplementing the text and not the other way around. (Or, perhaps one may say that the images and text are complements.) That is a fair argument, however, given the poetic form, I believe it works. It's like where graphic art meets poetry. Hence the title of the strip: "Poetic License." Way baller, I know. So wizard.

Here's another example, featuring my cat, Tolstoy.

Introducing ... the book.

Project Week skedj.

• Monday, 1.7 (12:35-1:20): read American Born Chinese in classroom.

• Tuesday, 1.8 (2:15-3:00): read and discuss ABC in classroom.
  
• Wednesday, 1.9 (11:55-1:55): ABC project work in Classroom Lab.
• Thursday, 1.10: no class.
  
• Friday, 1.11: no class. End of the first semester. Analytical essay rewrites and any missing work must be in by then. Anything not turned in will not be given credit.
• Monday, 1.14: no class. Grade activities.
• Tuesday, 1.15 (12:35-1:20): Second semester begins. Class will meet from this point on two doors down in room #344 (Mrs. Hennessey).