Homework For The Week of February 23rd-27th

DUE MONDAY
--Read “A Wagner Matinee” p. 676

DUE TUESDAY
--Response To Literature Essay

DUE WEDNESDAY
--Read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” p. 718

DUE THURSDAY
--Precis #2

DUE FRIDAY
--Read the poems of Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, H.D. p. 729-743

ONGOING
--Book Report #1 (Due March 3rd)

Homework for Week of February 17th-20th

DUE TUESDAY:
--All Handouts/Worksheets for Of Mice and Men

DUE WEDNESDAY:
--Read the Poems of Laurence Dunbar, p. 658-665

DUE THURSDAY:
--Exam: Of Mice and Men

DUE FRIDAY:
--Read the Poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson and Edgar Lee Masters, p. 666-675

ONGOING:
--Response to Literature Essay (Due February 24th)
--Precis #2 (Due February 26th)
--Work on Book Report #1 (Due March 3rd)

*p.s. sorry for the late posting.

Homework for the Week of Feb. 10th-13th

DUE TUESDAY
--Read "Lonesome Dove" p. 626

DUE WEDNESDAY
--Read Of Mice and Men p. 84-98
--Read "The Story of an Hour" p. 634

DUE THURSDAY
--Precis #1

DUE FRIDAY
--Read Of Mice and Men p. 99-107
--Read "April Showers" p. 644

ONGOING
--Characterization Handouts (Due February 17th)
--Foreshadowing Handouts (Due February 17th)
--Theme & Slang Terms Handouts (Due February 17th)
--Response to Literature Essay (Due February 24th)
--Work on Book Report #1 (Due March 3rd)

Response To Literature Essay (Due February 24th)

Directions: You will choose any of the literary works that we have read, or will read, in the second semester (see reading schedule) and will write a 3-5 page essay on the work itself. You may choose the specific topic to focus on within the work (though you may wish to discuss your ideas with me beforehand to ensure that it is a topic that you can write in-depth upon). This paper does not require any outside sources, though you are welcome to use them (be sure to cite your sources if you do use such sources).

Precis (Due Feb. 12th, Feb. 26th, Mar. 12th, & Apr. 30th)

Directions: You will write four (4) short (one page) critiques of the articles or chapters you read for your research, one of which must relate to your report topic and three of which must relate to your research paper topic (you will submit the one for your report topic on the day of the report). Each of these must contain a full MLA style reference and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the piece you read. You may include enough summary for readers to understand the main thrust of the article, but keep summary to a minimum and focus on your analysis. No more than a third of the page should be summary.

Literary Presentations/Reports (Due on the Date For Which You Have Signed Up)

Directions: Each student will sign up for a topic and date to give a presentation (10-15 minutes in length) and lead the class in a discussion of the assigned reading for that day. You will be required to submit a paper containing all of the information you are including in your report on the day of your presentation. You will receive bonus points if you bring copies for the entire class to read over during your presentation (there are 38 students enrolled in the course, plus the instructor). Guidelines for the report are as follows:
1. Brief description of the Literary Period of the author and work.
2. Brief biography of the author.
3. Historical context of the work.
4. Literary Analysis, including but not limited to: theme, style, figurative language, key terms, etc.
5. Textual evidence.
6. Discussion questions.

Book Report #1 (Due March 3rd)

Directions: You must read a book that is appropriate of your grade level and has at least 200 pages that you have never read before and complete a book report on it. Identify or answer the necessary information from the following questions.

1. Your Name, class period, and date.
2. Title of the book and number of pages.
3. Author
4. Identify the theme of the book and explain how the author supports this particular message.
5. Identify the main characters, give a brief description of each and identify whether they are the protagonist, antagonist, foil, static, or dynamic character. Explain how they receive this title.
6. Describe the setting of the story.
7. Identify five examples of figurative language from a fiction story (e.g. metaphor, symbol, ironic statement, foreshadowing, etc.) or five examples of objective writing (facts) and subjective writing (opinions) from a nonfiction text.
8. Give a brief summary of the beginning of the story.
9. Give a brief summary of the middle of the story.
10. Give a brief summary of the ending of the story.
11. My favorite part of the story was. . .
12. My favorite character was _____ because. . .
13. Write four memorable quotes from the story (be sure to include page numbers).
14. I do/do not recommend this story because. . .
15. Draw a picture to illustrate a favorite part. Write one sentence to explain the picture.

Reading Schedule (Presentation Topics)

1. “The Story of an Hour” --Kate Chopin p. 634
2. “April Showers” --Edith Wharton p. 644 (Julia p. 6)
3. Poems of Laurence Dunbar p. 658-665
4. Poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson and Edgar Lee Masters p. 666-675
5. “A Wagner Matinee” p. 676
6. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” p. 718
7. Poems of Ezra Pound, Willaim Carlos Williams, H.D. p. 729-743
8. “Winter Dreams” –F. Scott Fitzgerald p. 744
9. “The Turtle” from The Grapes of Wrath p. 768
10. Poems of E.E. Cummings and W. H. Auden p. 776-785
11. “The Far and the Near” –Thomas Wolfe p. 786
12. Poems of Wallace Stevens, Archibald MacLeish , and Marriane Moore p. 796-808
13. “In Another Country” –Ernest Hemingway p. 809
14. “The Corn Planting” –Sherwood Anderson p. 815
15. “A Worn Path” –Eudora Welty p. 820
16. Poems of Carl Sandberg p. 838-844
17. “The Jilting of Granny Weahterall” –Katherine Anne Porter p. 846
18. Works of William Fualkner p. 860-881
19. Poems of Robert Frost p. 882-897
20. Nonfiction works of James Thurber and E. B. White p. 898-909
21. “Dust tracks on a Road” Zora Neale Hurston p. 914
22. Poems of Langston Hughes and Claude McKay p. 926-935
23. Poems of Countee Cullen, Arna Bontemps, and Jean Toomer p. 936-941
24. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” p. 972
25. “The First Seven Years” p. 988
26. “The Brown Chest” p. 1002
27. Poems of Robert Lowell, Robert Penn Warren, William Stafford, Theodore Roethke p. 1014-1027
28. “Average Waves in Unprotected Waters” –Anne Tyler p. 1028
29. Nonfiction works of N. Scott Momaday, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joy Harjo p. 1042-1055
30. “Everyday Use” –Alice Walker p. 1056
31. from The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston p. 1070
32. “Antojos” –Julia Alvarez p. 1082
33. Poems of Lorna Dee Cervantes, Martin Espada, Diana Chang, Simon Ortiz, and Garret Hongo p. 1098-1111
34. Nonfiction works of Carson McCullers, William Safire, and Ian Frazier p. 1112-1127
35. Nonfiction works of Sandra Cisneros, Rita Dove, Amy Tan p. 1128-1147
36. “The Rock Pile” –james Baldwin p. 1148
37. Works of John Hersey and Randall Jarrell p. 1162-1179
38. Poems of Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Hayden p. 1180-1191
39. Poems of Colleen McElroy and Lousie Edrich p. 1192-1201
40. “The Writer in the Family” –E. L. Doctorow p. 1202
41. Works of Yusef Komonyakaa and Tim O’Brien p. 1220-1227

Spring Semester 2009 Due Dates and Grading Scale

JUNIOR ASSIGNMENTS DUE DATES

February 12th: Precis #1

February 24th: Response to Literature Essay (Of Mice and Men)

February 26th: Precis #2

March 3rd: Book Report #1

March 12th: Precis #3

March 19th: Reflective Essay

March 26th: Midterm Exam

April 2nd: Annotated Bibliography

April 16th: Analytical Essay

April 24th: Book Report #2

April 30th Precis #4

May 5th: Vocabulary/Lit Terms Project

May 14th: Creative Writing

May 28th: Research Paper

June 2nd: Book Report #3

June 2nd: Extra Credit: Soundtrack to Life

June 8th-12th: Final Exams

GRADING SCALE
Book Reports (5%)
Research Paper (15%)
Annotated Bibliography (5%)
Precis (5%)
Unit Exams (10%)
Student Presentations (10%)
Creative Writing (5%)
Midterm (5%)
Final (10%)
Response to Literature Essay (5%)
Analytical Essay (5%)
Vocabulary/Literary Terms Project (5%)
Participation (10%)
Reflective Essay (5%)