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Priorities for the impending perennial protracted pause:

(1) Over the break please read Chapters 11-13 of Things Fall Apart, found on pages 95-125. Also read “The Code of Hammurabi” in the unit reader, pages 32-33.

(2) You may revise your essay. If you plan to resubmit, it will be due the day we return after Thanksgiving break. Please staple your revision to the top of the essay I returned to you. Please indicate in some way the changes you made by changing the color, tracking changes, or something of the sort. No meetings necessary this time around. Remember that you had to have turned it in on time originally.

(3) Begin the research phase of your single story project.

week 14

green/white 1 november 16, 17

Today we’ll continue or discussion of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, focusing specifically on the actions and events of of chapters 7 and 8 and their connection to the story of Abraham and Isaac.

I’ll also introduce your final project for the semester.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

By our next class I’d like you to read Chapters 9-10 of Things Fall Apart, found on pages 75-94, AND “The Supreme Court: What Does It Do?” in the unit reader, pages 30-31.

FLEX WEDNESDAY november 18

Combine each set of the following sentences INTO ONE SENTENCE. Notice how different subordinating conjunctions (such as "because" and "if") and coordinating conjunctions (such as "and" and "but") can alter the meaning of sentences. Your revisions should not only be grammatically correct, but should also exemplify some of the elements of good writing we have covered in class this semester (combining multiple clauses into one sentence).

Sentence Six:

Michelangelo studied anatomy.

He dissected cadavers.

Such gruesome work helped him understand human bones and muscles.

His sculpture celebrates the human body.

Sentence Seven:

X-rays can penetrate the human body.

They produce images on photographic film.

Shadows on the picture reveal changes in body tissue.

Sentence Eight:

The early history of medicine is filled with guesswork.

Doctors did not know what caused disease.

They developed cures through trial and error.

Most of the cures did not work.

Cures that worked were considered magical.

Sentence Nine:

People went to spas to restore their health.

Most spas were located in beautiful settings.

They featured special mineral waters.

The waters were supposed to purge the body of disease.

These watering spots developed into vacation resorts.

Sentence Ten:

Coronary heart disease is the major cause of death in this country.

Cancer also causes many deaths.

AIDS causes deaths as well.

My grandfather has coronary heart disease.

green/white 2 november 19, 20

We’ll begin today by looking at the sentence exercises I had you complete on Flex Wednesday.

Then we’ll continue discussing the next few chapters of Things Fall Apart.

I’ll also give you time to ask questions about and begin researching your final project for the semester.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Over the break please read Chapters 11-13 of Things Fall Apart, found on pages 95-125. Also read “The Code of Hammurabi” in the unit reader, pages 32-33.

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week 13

green/white 1 november 9, 10

We’ll begin today’s class with a quiz on the vocabulary and the reading before returning to the lecture I didn’t finish last time and some passages from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Then we’ll begin our first discussion of Achebe’s novel. What do we learn about Igbo culture in the early going? What do we learn about Okonkwo? Let’s compare and contrast him with his father? How might his relationship with his father shape his most predominant worldview.

We’ll also read together William E Henley’s 1875 poem “Invictus.” It’s found on page 25 of the unit reader. The speaker in this poem reflects on his struggles and how he faces adversity. We will compare and contrast the opinion of the speaker in the poem to Okonkwo.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

By our next class I’d like you to read Chapters 4-6 of Things Fall Apart, found on pages 26-51.

FLEX WEDNESDAY november 11

1. Begin by watching this video explaining the difference between simple and compound sentences. This is a concept you came into Strake Jesuit knowing already. It’s good review. Don’t skip this step even if you think you absolutely know this already. It’s 4:30 long.

2. Now move to this presentation on the distinction between independent and dependent clauses. Recall last semester when we talked a great deal about the differences between these two and, more importantly, about how to combine multiple clauses together in the same sentence. This is absolutely something you want to review to be able to complete the following exercies. Don’t skip this step even if you think you absolutely know this already. It’s 7:32 long.

3. Combine each set of the following sentences INTO ONE SENTENCE. Notice how different subordinating conjunctions (such as "because" and "if") and coordinating conjunctions (such as "and" and "but") can alter the meaning of sentences. Your revisions should not only be grammatically correct, but should also exemplify some of the elements of good writing we have covered in class this semester (combining multiple clauses into one sentence).

Sentence One:

My doctor warned me about trying to lose weight too fast.

My coach reminded me of the danger involved.

My mother told me the same thing.

Sentence Two:

The first documented case of AIDS within the United States occurred in 1977.

The AIDS crisis continues to grow.

The number of newspaper and magazine articles on AIDS has declined in the last few years.

Sentence Three:

Breakfast cereals contain fiber.

Oat bran may reduce cholesterol.

Advertisers stress the health benefits of their products.

Sentence Four:

The cost of running shoes is escalating.

Most people are very selective about the kind of running shoe they buy.

Sentence Five:

Scientists use guinea pigs in their laboratory experiments.

They inject them with a disease.

They observe their behavior.

They dissect them.

They examine the effect of the disease on their organs.

green/white 2 november 12, 13

We’ll begin today by looking at the sentence exercises I had you complete on Flex Wednesday.

Then we’ll continue discussing the next few chapters of Things Fall Apart. We’ll also read together Rudyard Kipling’s1910 poem “If—.” It’s found on page 26 of the unit reader. The poem centers on the advice that a father gives his son on how to become a man. Think of how Okonkwo reprimands Nwoye and Ikemefuna. We’ll compare and contrast the advice given by the father in Kipling's poem with the parenting style of Okonkwo. What parts of the poem would Okonkwo reject, and what parts would he agree with?

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

By our next class I’d like you to read Chapters 7-8 of Things Fall Apart, found on pages 52-74, AND “Abraham Tested by God” in the unit reader, pages 28-29.

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week 12

green/white 1 november 2, 3

Today I’ll show you how to approach writing the opening and closing paragraphs of essays. We’ll look at many examples of each. You’ll have time at the end of class to begin drafting yours.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Please remember that the final version of your essay is due by 3:30 PM on the date of our next class, either Thursday or Friday. You’ll submit only to turnitin.com to the portal “Final ‘Sonny’s Blues’ Essay”. Thank you for all of your hard work on this assignment; I hope you learned a great deal about the essay writing process.

FLEX WEDNESDAY november 4

Sign up for office hours here. Please come with specific things for me to look at.

You’ll use Flex Wednesday to get a head start on our new unit. I prefer to show the following videos in class, so we can immediately begin to discuss it, but because class time is so valuable this semester, I’m going to have you watch them asynchronously from home. We’ll begin our next class with a quiz on and a great deal of discussion about these two videos. Please watch them carefully as they really do set the foundation for our final unit of the semester.

The first video I’d like you to watch is a TED talk by the novelist Chimamanda Adichie. The 2009 talk, now incredibly famous, is called “The Danger of a Single Story”; it gives us one of our premises for the unit: Our limited perspectives stem from a lack of diverse representation in the stories we tell and, as a result, creates stereotypes; “the problem with stereotypes,” according to Adichie, “is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” What do you think Adichie means here? Do you agree with her? Please take notes as you watch.

The second video you’re to watch is an excerpt from actor Riz Ahmed’s 2017 address to the UK House of Commons. Once again, please take notes. You’re welcome to watch the entirety of the video but are only required to watch from 1:37 to 12:15. What overlap do you see between Adichie’s and Ahmed’s arguments?

green/white 2 november 5, 6

Let’s start with a look at THETRUESIZE before returning to the videos I had you watch on Flex Wednesday.

We’ll then look at European imperialism and conquest during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Who was Joseph Conrad, and why am I having you read excerpts from his novel, Heart of Darkness?

Let’s look as a few pages of the excerpts from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

(1) Read Chinua Achebe’s Obituary from the New York Times, found in your unit reader on pages 1-3.

(2) Read Mike Kubic’s “The Scramble for Africa”, found in your unit reader on pages 9-13.

(3) Read Chapters 1-3 of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. I will lead the first discussion on the novel.

(4) Remember that the vocabulary quiz on the first 20 words is during our next class early next week.

STUDYING achebe

Annenberg Media’s Introduction to World Literature - TFA

Things Fall Apart Study Guide

Biography of Chinua Achebe

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.

OUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM CODE

Each time we’d have a regularly scheduled class, you’ll follow this link and enter code:

640-291-5956

enjoying literature

Why should we spend our time reading novels and poems when, out there, big things are going on?
“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.”
— Julie Beck, The Atlantic

word of the day