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Monday, October 27 (3) - Introduction to epic; RAGE! (Achilles', not mine); "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships?"; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book I, lines 2-211 (Norton 107-112). A reminder that you will have a vocabulary quiz on units 12-13 on Wednesday. Also, as an extra credit assignment, complete Practices 6 and 8 of the Appositive Phrase Focus in your Killgallon text (pages 74; 76-77). I expect your hand-written responses to be turned in at the beginning of class on Wednesday to receive credit. Lastly, EVERYONE must read pages 80-83 of the Killgallon text (Focus 8 - Participial Phrases). There will be questions about the reading on the vocabulary quiz.
Tuesday, October 28 (4) - Set Creative Writing Assignment; Homer, Iliad
Wednesday, October 29 (5) - Vocabulary Quiz (Units 12-13); Killgallon; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book I, lines 212-361 (Norton 112-115).
Thursday, October 30 (6) - Updated Participation Rubric; Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book I, lines 361-520 (Norton 115-119).
Friday, October 31 (1) - Homer, Iliad; Over the weekend, finish Iliad, Book I, (Norton 119-122).
Fourth-century fragment from Book I of Homer's Iliad
Monday, November 3 (2) - Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book VI, lines 117-245 (Norton 122-124).
Tuesday, November 4 (3) - Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, finish Iliad, Book VI (Norton 125-131).
Wednesday, November 5 (4) - Homer, Iliad; Killgallon Exercises TBA (Due tomorrow for extra credit)
Thursday, November 6 (5) - Vocabulary Quiz (Units 14-15); Killgallon; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book VIII - Book IX, lines 1-310 (Norton 132-139).
Friday, November 7 (6) - Homer, Iliad; Over the weekend, finish Iliad, Book IX (Norton 139-148).
Monday, November 10 (1) - Homer, Iliad; By Wednesday, read Iliad, Book XVI, lines 455-666 (Norton 148-153).
Tuesday, November 11 (2) - Writing the in-class essay; Sample Question 1; Sample Question 2; Sample Question 3; Preparation and Tips; Samples
Wednesday, November 12 (3) - Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, finish Iliad, Book XVI (Norton 153-158).
Thursday, November 13 (4) - Set Iliad simile writing assignment; Homer, Iliad; By Monday, read Iliad, Book XVIII (Norton 158-173).
Friday, November 14 (5) - In-class, Free Response Essay
Monday, November 17 (6) - Set Research Essay, Part I; Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book XXII, lines 1-209 (Norton 173-178).
Tuesday, November 18 (1) - Homer, Iliad; By Wednesday, finish Iliad, Book XXII (Norton 178-186).
Wednesday, November 19 (2) - Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, read Iliad, Book XXIV, lines 1-501 (Norton 186-198).
Thursday, November 20 (3) - Homer, Iliad; By tomorrow, finish Iliad (Norton 198-205).
Friday, November 21 (4) - Homer, Iliad
PRIORITIES FOR THE IMPENDING, PERENNIAL, PROTRACTED PAUSE:
1. Read from page 2217 to 2220 (“Miguel de Cervantes”) and from 2226 to 2233 (chapters 1-2, “I Know Who I Am, and Who I May Be, If I Choose” of Don Quixote).
2. Choose your research text.
Due Dates
Greek Drama Essay - Monday, October 27
Creative Writing Assignment - Monday, November 3
In-class, Free Response Essay - Friday, November 14
Epic Simile Assignment - Friday, November 21
Research Text Selection - Monday, December 1
SEMESTER 1 EXAM - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 8:15AM
Below are 5 of my annotated pages from various texts and 1 of David Foster Wallace's copy of DeLillo's Players. The pages of the texts that you will be working with most closely should look just like these.
“In reading exam papers written by misled students, of both sexes, about this or that author, I have often come across such phrases — probably recollections from more tender years of schooling — as ‘his style is simple’ or ‘his style is clear and simple’ or ‘his style is beautiful and simple’ or ‘his style is quite beautiful and simple.’ But remember that ‘simplicity’ is buncombe. No major writer is simple. The Saturday Evening Post is simple. Journalese is simple. Upton Lewis is simple. Mom is simple. Digests are simple. Damnation is simple. But Tolstoys and Melvilles are not simple... ”
Here is the official, departmental description of English 4:
Using The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, seniors build on their knowledge of the traditions of American and British literature by studying literature of the wider world, reading excerpts and full-length works from Western and Eastern cultures. Seniors continue their study of writing with The Little Brown Handbook, learning to improve their prose style and to write clearer and more cogent essays of literary analysis and personal reflection. In the spring, students learn the basics of academic research while producing an essay that combines their own insights with their synthesis of the ideas of scholars.
You are, however, to expect for things to vary. We have, for instance, added the Killgallon, Sentence Composing for College to the course syllabus. This will take up a good deal of time throughout the year. Below is a list of texts that we may or may not read. There are also, in fact, a few million texts not on the list that we may or may not read. Be flexible. I am. I like it that way.
First Quarter – The Ancient World
Stories of creation and ancient ideologies - Genesis, Hesiod, Plato, Lucretius
The Epic – Homer, Virgil, Ovid
Ancient drama – Sophocles, Aristophanes, Aeschylus
Second Quarter – The Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Narrative fiction before the novel – Boccaccio, Dante, Chaucer, The Arabian Nights, Cervantes
Renaissance thought – Montaigne, Castiglione, Machiavelli
Drama – Shakespeare, Marlowe
Third Quarter – The 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries
The Mock-epic and satire – Swift, Pope, Voltaire
Russian literature – Gogol, Pushkin, Chekhov
Fourth Quarter – The 20th Century
The Novel and the Novella – Conrad, Achebe
The Short Story – Kafka, Joyce
Course Texts
Killgallon, Sentence Composing for College
The Little, Brown Handbook (11th Ed.)
The Norton Anthology of Western Literature (8th Ed.)
Shostak, Vocabulary Workshop, Level H
If you do not mind (even if you do mind) bring in the Killgallon text on each day 5.