english 1 - sophocles
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friday, september 7 (7)
Today we'll delve into PLOT, using the supplemental video and reading, Lit to Go's official textbook definition, and the selection of Tarzan of the Apes. How is Tarzan a great example of that typical plot structure from the Disney/Pixar video?
By the next class, you will read Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," a short story with a very different type of plot structure when compared to Tarzan. Respond to the following in your notes after you read the story: (1) Trace the timeline of this story, and then analyze why the author decided to recount the tale in this manner. (2) How does the order of the telling help shape the story’s meaning? (3) What details foreshadow the story’s conclusion?
tuesday, september 11 (1)
Today we'll discuss Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," using the questions I had you answer in your notes. We'll especially consider why you think the events of the story were ordered in the way they appear. How does the plot of "A Rose for Emily" compare to "Tarzan"? One final time: What's plot?
No homework for the next class. We'll be using my handout with passages from various novels that create character in fun and diverse ways.
wednesday, september 12 (2)
Today we'll begin our study of CHARACTERIZATION, using this handout with short passages from 3 novels.
By our next class, simply read Updike’s “A&P” in the anthology, pages 149-54. It’s a classic coming-of-age narrative. We’ll use it not only to think about character but also to begin our discussion of point of view, the single most important element of fiction in my opinion.
friday, september 14 (4)
Today we’ll finish the two passages on my character handout and use Updike’s “A&P” to continue our discussion of how characters are built by storytellers. Then we’ll transition to thinking about point of view, using both “A&P” and “A Rose for Emily.”
Let’s summarize. What have we learned about plot and character? How are they inextricably linked? Now how does point of view complicate the equation?
For our next meeting I’d like you to print, read, and annotate James Joyce’s “Araby.” Pay particular attention to the ways in which spaces, places, buildings, weather, atmosphere are all described.
monday, september 17 (5)
Set One, Glorious Detail; Element of Fiction 4: Setting — We’ve discussed plot, character, point of view. Now we add setting. We’ll use “A Rose for Emily,” “A&P,” and now “Araby” to thin about why authors set stories in certain places and time periods. How does setting help us understand the story’s larger ideas?
Remember you have a vocabulary quiz on Wednesday. I’d like you to bring your grammar workbook to class on that day as well; we’ll use it after the vocabulary quiz.
By Thursday, please read Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado,” found in your anthology.
wednesday, september 19 (7)
Vocabulary Quiz, Units 1-2; Set new vocabulary words; Grammar day 1
thursday, september 20 (green)
Theme: Answering the question, “What’s this story really about, anyway?” We’ll compare the idea of revenge in both “The Cask of Amontillado” and “A Rose for Emily” as a means of demonstrating how to arrive at a complete statement of theme.
tuesday, september 25 (1)
Today we’ll continue discussing “The Cask of Amontillado,” specifically as it relates to theme. I’ll also tell you what your short fiction in-class assignment will look like.
By our next class I’d like you to read chapters 1-2 of Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades.” This is a really fun story filled with psychological intrigue. Though we’re moving away from short stories, the same elements of fiction apply. So, while you’re reading, think specifically how we get to know the characters early on in the story. From whose point o view is the story told? Why?
wednesday, september 26 (2)
Pushkin, “The Queen of Spades” Discussion
By our next class I’d like you to read chapters 3-4 of “The Queen of Spades.”
friday, september 28 (4)
Pushkin, “The Queen of Spades” Discussion
By our next class I’d like you to finish “The Queen of Spades.”
monday, october 1 (5)
Pushkin, “The Queen of Spades” Discussion
wednesday, october 3 (7)
Vocabulary Quiz, Units 3 and 4
friday, october 5 (1)
Short fiction, in-class assignment
what's due?
Monday, September 10 - Fahrenheit 451 essay REVISION
Wednesday, September 19 - Vocabulary Quiz, Units 1 and 2
Monday, September 24 - One, Glorious Detail
Wednesday, October 3 - Vocabulary Quiz, Units 3 and 4
Friday, October 5 - Short fiction, in-class essay assignment
Monday, October 15 - Short story
Monday, October 29 - Persepolis essay
current text to bring daily
texts to buy now
ongoing extra credit
Required reading can at times feel like drudgery. And while it's important to do the reading I set for the class, I fully recognize that you'd rather have a say in what it is we read. Unfortunately the freshman curriculum has little student choice built in, so your ongoing extra credit gives you the opportunity to read an outside text in your own time at some point during the semester. I'm very happy to reward you with additional course credit if you take it upon yourself to read a text outside of class and meet with me to discuss it. A few things:
(1) This must be a text you've never read before.
(2) It should be imaginative and of recognized literary merit. The text must be approved beforehand.
(3) The amount of credit awarded is variable depending on the chosen text and how our follow up conversation goes.
(4) While you may read as much as you'd like, I will only award extra credit once per semester.
short fiction study links
General questions for most short stories
"A Rose for Emily" Study Guide
What is a story of initiation? See Updike, "A&P"
Questions for Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades"
enjoying literature
“In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally—picks them apart and weaves them back together to make meaning. This narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is. A life story doesn’t just say what happened, it says why it was important, what it means for who the person is, for who they’ll become, and for what happens next.”
