Oral Timed "Writes" work like this...

A page number will be announced and 5 minutes provided to read the poem and, if desired, take written notes. I will select poems of medium difficulty. Nothing too wierd or cryptic.

Volunteers may go first. If there are no volunteers, names will be drawn. When it is your turn, you will stand beside your desk and speak loudly and clearly enough for everyone in the room to hear and comprehend. You are not required to make eye contact with anyone however. No one may talk to you or prod you as you speak. We will stay on the same poem until 2-4 students have analyzed it and I deem it "exhausted" of new commentary.

You will first give a 3-sentence intro paragraph, exactly like the fill-in-the-blank version we practiced with last week. Then you will proceed into one body paragraph using 8 sentences (TS, CD, CM, CM, CD, CM, CM, CS). That's it.

You may speak slowly and look at your notes. You may backtrack a little bit, within the sentence you are speaking, but extensive backtracking or too much hesitation will cost you a point.

You will be graded on the basics: understanding of the poem, ID of tone, use of terms, selection of CDs, quality of CMs, use of the organizational format. You could also lose a point for overly vague or fake commentary... you know what I mean! One easy point will be offered for a smiling disposition :)

Each student must go once. If there is time left on Tuesday or perhaps Friday, persons who feel dissatisfied with their performance may take a second shot.

A Short Short-Story Unit

We will be finishing up our literary time line with a quick foray into short stories (and then on to poetry for the month of April, leading into the Exam). The purpose of the unit is to solidify your understanding of literary developments from "traditional Western" to Modernist.

1. Look back at TOTC as a traditional work: Truth is out there, we can find it, let's learn from our mistakes, use stories as a way of resolving chaos... Story is linear... Good triumphs over evil... What other works from the 20th century and even now continue to be "traditional?"

2. Look at the period of transition: romanticism, revolutions, Darwin, socialism/communism, Industrial Revolution, World War, Depression, loss of American Dream... Think about C&P's place in this.

3. Look at a couple of Modernist short stories: The Yellow Wallpaper, p. 316-26. Second selection T.B.A.

4. Look at some Modernist art and study the overlap.

5. Take a time line test!!! Will refer to Oedipus through R&GAD.

Research Paper

Topic: A Tale of Two Cities through a critical lens of your choice: archetypal, biographical/historical, new historical, psychological/Freudian, feminist, Marxist, or deconstructive.

Purpose: To do some work with "BL" instead of "VISI" and to ensure that you can handle writing a research paper independently

Specifications:
1) 4-5 pages, a typical college freshman paper length
2) MLA format
3) 5 scholarly sources (nothing ending in "pedia") including at least one print source. Notecard system is up to you along with full responsibility for accurate quotation and citation -- I will not check notecards.
4) Due on-line March 18th by midnight with additional deadlines as listed below
5) Scored out of 30 points -- see rubric below

Research Phases/Deadlines (updated)
(Please email to ckirk@seattlechristian.org)

> Reading, Book 2, Monday 3/2

> Reading, Book 3 (end), Thursday 3/5

> Working Thesis, Monday 3/9 -- Consult broad sources in order to create a working thesis suitable to direct continued research. Email thesis for approval. Approval overnight.

> Verify Sources, Friday 3/13 -- Consult narrowed sources in order to complete research. Email list of 5 sources with brief justification of each source's validity. Approval over weekend.

> Paper Due, Wednesday 3/18 -- Synthesis and organization of sources up to you unless you request a conference. Quotation and citation format will be reviewed in class Monday. Email completed essay as an attachment by midnight.

Grading Rubric
10 points for content/analysis
10 points for composition skills: organization, fluency, diction...
10 points for quotation/citation format (MLA)
+Up to 5 penalty points for basic skills editing errors; one "free" error

Resources I found for you...
1) description of schools of criticism, some with sample essays
2) a quiz on critical perspectives

A note on historical criticism:
The difference between traditional historical crit and "new" historical crit can be difficult to grasp. Here's how I understand it -- In the traditional vein, you look at the work from within the historical/biographical point of view, almost as if the literary work is a type of history textbook from which you can reconstruct historical reality. New historical crit is said to be more ideological than the traditional version, and it is based on the fact that historical "reality" is impossible to reconstruct. The new historical critic looks backwards with a more postmodern, liberal-leaning judgment of the work's historical culture. A new historical critic might analyze the historical aspects of a work in order to understand a much broader treatment of cultural issues. Example: A traditional historical critic might read Hamlet as a conflict between Catholic and Protestant worldviews, delving into the Wittenburg and Reformation context of Shakespeare's audience. A new historical critic would put that conflict in the context of how human grapple with worldview in general, even noticing naturalist and postmodern worldview conflicts lurking about in Hamlet's psyche. Hope that helps.

Blog Assignments

I discovered this article in my Christianity Today email, and I thought it would be an appropriate and timely read for our class. Consider this your first blog assignment of the new semester. Read and comment.

Inauguration Blog assignment date: Monday 1/26. Due date: Friday 1/30.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/januaryweb-only/103-56.0.html

Regarding R&G blogs, here's the plan: Please blog at the end of each act, after the class discussion is concluded. Your comments should be personal and literary, making connections between your world and the world of the play. The style is informal. Lindsey, write straight to the computer! :)

R&G Act I Blog assignment date: Wed 1/28. Due date: Friday 1/30.

Oh How I Love Terms, Part III - Challenge Terms!

These "challenge" terms represent potential test items for the A.P. Exam. They are largely figurative and syntactical terms, and they will appear in individual sentences/phrases.

TERMS TO BE POSTED ASAP!!!

Oh How I Love Terms, Part II - Storytelling

These terms relate to the structure of storytelling and the sub-genres of narrative:

Random terms, alphabetically:
allegory
anecdote
antagonist
aside
black humor / dark comedy
catharsis
characterization
chorus
comedy (vs. comic) (high vs. low)
epic
epiphany
epithet
fable
fantasy
farce - has broad comic situations
flashback
flat / round character
foil
foreshadowing
frame device
genre
hamartia
hero / monomyth
hubris
humor (vs. wit)
joke (vs. gag)
legend
limited / omniscient
motivation
myth
narrative, narrator
parable
parody
plot
point of view
romantic
satire
scene
setting
slapstick
soliloquy
stereotype
stock character
Theatre of the Absurd
theme
tragedy, tragic hero
trilogy


Classic structural terms, particularly for tragedy and comedy:
prologue
exposition
rising action
climax, turning point
falling action
denouement
resolution
catastrophe
peripetia
anagnorisis
parode
agon (act 1)
episode (act 2)
exode
*Conceptually, you should be able to compare and contrast these two original classic storytelling forms on points of religiosity, scope of conflict, types of heroes, type of ending, and determinism/improbability

"Rhetoric of Humor"
establishment of superiority
incongruity / irony
hyperbole / caricature
puns / repartee
repetition / rhythm
slapstick / noises off
violating taboos