11: World Literature assignment template

Download the MS Word document here.

9 self assessment

Put your self assessment in a comment. Make sure you include your name.

reading lists part 2

So here are some interesting lists I found. Click on the image to go to the site.

I strongly recommend this well-designed site from The British Council. It has recommended lists for different age levels with specific categories, and the blurbs are interesting and useful. I went in for a quick skim and came out with five new titles I want to read.

This seemed to be a pretty standard list of young reader classics from the American perspective. The same site has other reading lists.

This is a lively list of new stuff to read from New York Public Libraries. NYPL also has the ALA Top Ten Young Adult Books list, with short reviews.

Users can register and vote on books, and those books are assembled into various lists. It's a bit of a mess, but has lots of reviews of lots of books. I linked the teen section but there are many other lists as well.

A review site for 10-15 year olds written by 190-15 year olds. The newest reviews are of books from 2005, so it's not too up to date, but the categories seem useful, and it is well designed and easy to read.

For something more serious, check out a list of 101 Great Books recommended for college applicants.

The Big Read is a American National Endowment for the Arts literacy program, and they have assembled a nicew list of classics of American literature. Of course, it has the same name as the BBC Big Read, a 2003 competiton throught the UK to choose the nation's most popular books. They have ranked them up to 100.

Any other lists to recommend?

reading list part 1

I am often asked about recommended books for different aged students. I have some thoughts about how to choose books to read generally.

• My first recommendation is to go to a library and just start pulling stuff off the shelf. Does the cover look attractive? Is the blurb interesting? Read the first page. Browsing and sampling is what most readers do.


• Choose a genre and start working your way through it. I recommend mysteries, or spy novels, or westerns ... whatever you are interested in.


• Ask friends what they've read, and try out those books.


• I find the Amazon sites useful for finding new books. If you enter a book you like, look at the 'Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought'  listings for more ideas. Also, Listmania! allows Amazon users to make lists of books they like or that fit some category in which they are interested. For instance, I like Boy by Roald Dahl, and I found a list called 'Children's Books I could read forever' put together by a teacher in Norway.

In part 2, I have some links for some interesting and useful online reading lists.

10: Pride and Prejudice commentary assignment

Here's the pdf.

draft due: Monday 11 May
published due: Friday 15 May

9: Network clip

We were talking in class about how a System can be accepted and then opposed. I was reminded of this clip:

11: world lit intro slideshows

Antigone:


Three Sisters:


Mother Courage:

11: Room with a View introduction slideshow

11: Bible help

Literature often has references to the Bible with which you may not be very familiar. The Brick Testament is fun to read and accurate.

11: Frost on Modern American Poetry

Here's the entry for Robert Frost on the Modern American Poetry site.

10: Pride and Prejudice discussion questions, ch. 35-38

Pride and Prejudice discussion questions, ch. 35-38

What to discuss as a class or in small groups and put into your notes:

11: sample planning for 3 Sisters essay

This is the practice we did in class, developing a thesis for a Three Sisters essay.

10: Pride and Prejudice links

Sparknotes summaries

etext of the novel

a hypertext of the novel, with loads of other ways of accessing the novel

For those who want a little more action in the novel, check out this new book:

11: lecture notes for Mother Courage intro.

1. Bertolt Brecht (1898-1955); German political playwright, exiled in 1933

2. Brecht: ‘How can theatre be entertaining and at the same time instructive? How can it be taken out of the traffic in intellectual drugs and transformed from a place of illusion to a place of insight?’

3.Epic, non-Aristotelian or dialectic theatre

4. alienation effects :

• titles


• fragmentation of scenes


• music


• staging: minimalist, but with the texture of reality


• language


• acting style

5. Brecht: ‘What is a performance of Mother Courage & Her Children primarily meant to show?
That in wartime big profits are not made by little people. That war, which is a continuation of business by other means, makes the human virtues fatal even to their possessors. That no sacrifice is too great for the struggle against war.’ (xvii)

6. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648):
Imperial Catholic Germanic states
vs.
Protestant Germanic / Scandinavian states

7. Philosophical position of communism

• dialectic


• minimalism of individuality


• need for action

11A1: The Three Sisters reviews

When studying a play, it can be useful to read reviews of productions of that play. Here are a few I found:

• a NYT review of a 2001 production.


• a nytheatre.com review of a 2009 production

9: Caged Bird map

Here is a map of the locations of the book around the United States. Click the link below to zoom in and see street-level views.

View Larger Map

11: Three Sisters act I movie on YouTube

11: 10 things to know before studying The Three Sisters

12 standard: paper 2 planning

Here's the question we worked with on Wed. 11.3.09:

“What happens in fiction is what distinguishes it…” Using at least two works, show how far your interest in novels and short stories has been based on the events and how much of your interest has been in other aspects?

Here are the notes preparing a thesis statement:

See the great London race!

10: reader response essay

The goal of this essay is to explain how you experienced reading the play relative to specific techniques and elements of the play. In a reader response essay, you may refer to yourself as a reader, (using ‘I’ or ‘we’), explaining how specific elements of the play affected your emotional and intellectual response. You should not express your attitude about the quality of the play: it should analyze the way the author uses the text to have an effect on a specific reader, namely yourself or a reader just like you.

Basically, you are linking technique to the impact it has on the reader, instead of theme. Your thesis statement will identify the specific effect the identified techniques or features have on your reading of the play.

Choose one of the following prompts below: I have listed them in order of increasing difficulty. Again, please choose wisely.

Uploading London photos

I've created a Picasaweb site for our London pictures. Here's the link to see photos.

Here's how to upload photos:

Let's celebrate!

For the week of 23 February - 1 March.

Let's celebrate!

For the week of February 9-15.

London trip

I've created a Google map for the grade 10 London trip. Check it out!

Here is also a pdf of the trip information.

Map for London trip

View Larger Map

Much Ado About Nothing act III quotations

For 2 (TWO) of the quotations below, explain the significance of each passage. Relate it to a theme, the development of character or the development of conflict.

For each passage, you must cover the needed analysis in less than 200 words.

10A: Due Tuesday10 February.

10B: Due Wednesday 11 February.

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." (III, i)

"If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her tomorrow, in the congregation where I should wed, there will I shame her." (III, ii)

"Yet Benedick was such another, and now is he become a man. He swore he would never marry; and yet now in despite of his heart he eats his meat without grudging. And how you may be converted I know not; but methinks you look with your eyes as other women do." (III, v)

Let's celebrate!

For the week of February 2-8.

10: sample Much Ado quote paragraph

"There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her. They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them." (I, i)

Leonato provides exposition for the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice and one of the conflicts of the play, and sets the tone for that conflict. Leonato’s use of war as a metaphor is apt since Benedick is a soldier, and foreshadows the contrast between being a soldier and a lover as discussed later in the play. The paradox of a 'merry war' sums up a view of love: that it is competitive, but at the same time light. This sets the context for the relationship between the two characters and lets the audience know that their respective jibes are not to be taken seriously. Beatrice has already made insulting comments regarding Benedick (contrasting the praise the messenger has heaped on him), and so the audience sees her as a shrew, but Leonato's explanation contextualizes her behaviour and makes it less threatening. Leonato follows this exposition with the further explanation that they engage in a 'skirmish of wit' when they meet, and Beatrice’s play on words on the lost wits of Benedick illustrate her use of wit. This is contrasted in the scene with Hero’s lack of verbal interaction generally, encouraging the audience to see Hero and Beatrice as foils.

199 words

Much Ado About Nothing act II quotations

For each of the quotations below, explain the significance of each passage. Relate it to a theme, the development of character or the development of conflict.

For each passage, you must cover the needed analysis in less than 200 words.

11: Antigone website

Structure and Plot of Antigone is a website about, well, the structure and plot of Antigone. I'm using it in class.

10: Playing Shakespeare site

Shakespeare's Globe has a website called Playing Shakespeare about aspects of their production of Much Ado About Nothing. Interesting and useful, I think.

11: Fatboy Slim

This video -- the amateur dance troupe -- is how I picture the skeels of the non-professional Greek chorus.

Enjoy.

9B: Macbeth performance assignment

You will be delivering a performance of part of a scene from Macbeth and analyzing your own performance in a character/interpretation assignment. Here are the rules:

• You may work alone and perform a soliloquy, or in groups. If you work in a group, each group member needs to have a major part, with at least 5 lines. Minor parts can be cut or filled with members of other groups.


• The scene should be at least one minute long per group member but a minimum of 3 minutes long (unless doing a monologue).


• You may cut lines, speeches, and anything else that gets in the way of a clean & focused performance, but you need to use the original language.


• You need to bring some kind of costumes. Decide as a group what you want and what you can bring.


• The scene should have a clear interpretation: you will use the scene to tell us what you think the play is really about.


• You will not need to memorize your lines, although you need to know them well.


• Your goal should be to be interesting, meaningful, creative, and well prepared.

9B: Macbeth essay sample introduction and conclusion

thesis statement: While the behaviour of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth demonstrate a conflict between emotion and reason, Shakespeare shows that emotion is more powerful.

introduction:

Generally, in the modern world, we prefer reason over emotion. We are taught that reason and logic are more trustworthy, while emotions can lead us astray. However, Shakespeare presents a different view in Macbeth. While the behaviour of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth demonstrate a conflict between emotion and reason, Shakespeare shows that emotion is more powerful.

conclusion:

In conclusion, the behaviour of M and LM shows the superiority of emotion over reason in the play. But can that be true in our modern world? Yes, reason plays an important role in all decision making, but emotion is needed to provide the human aspect that ends up being so important to us. We as people are not only rational but also emotional by our nature: to ignore this is to risk making our lives tragedies, like Macbeth.

9B: Macbeth essay

You will write a four-paragraph essay, following the provided outline. In each paragraph, use the best possible structure, and provide examples whenever appropriate. Also, use transitions between paragraphs to explain the relationships between the ideas.

Choose one of the conflicts of the play we have identified:

• appearance / reality

• ambition / honor

• fate / will

• guilt / amorality

You will explore what the play has to say about that conflict.

Introduction: Find an interesting way to introduce the conflict generally, put the conflict in the play and end with a thesis statement.

Thesis statement: In a single sentence, explain what you will say about the conflict, including the structure of the two body paragraphs.

Body paragraph one: Show the presence of the conflict throughout the play. Use examples and use the key words from your thesis statement to analyze those examples.

Body paragraph two: Explain how Shakespeare resolves the conflict. Use examples (probably from the last act or two) and analyze.

Conclusion: Restate the thesis briefly and express your own ideas about that conflict in the real world.

Rules

Essays should be 500-1000 words long.

In the final draft, essays should be 1½ -spaced or double-spaced.

Due Dates

Tuesday, 20 January: complete working drafts reviewed in class

Thursday, 22 January: published essay due

Assessment

A: Content	B: Organization	C: Style & Language
· Do show a perceptive understanding of the ideas from the novel? · Do you carefully choose details from the novel or other wise to support your ideas? · Do you discuss and analyze ideas in a manner which focuses on significant concepts in a sophisticated manner?	· Are the paragraphs organized in a way to focus on the main idea of the essay? · Are examples integrated in a sophisticated and focused manner? · Do transitions show cohesion and movement between paragraphs?	· Are you ‘following the rules’ of spelling, grammar and punctuation? · Do you use the right word for the right situation? · Are you using the language of literary analysis?

9B: Sample Macbeth paragraph

Here's the sample paragraph we wrote in class Tuesday.

Discuss the symbolism of blood in scene two, and apply it to specific lines.

In act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses blood as a symbol of guilt in order to contrast for the audience how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deal with the guilt over the death of Duncan. When Macbeth returns from having killed Duncan and finds blood on his hands, he worries about the ability to wash his hands clean. ‘Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, / Making the green one red.’ (II.ii.27-30) Shakespeare does this to show Macbeth’s strong sense of guilt over the act he has just performed. By saying that he doubts whether he can wash his hands clean, Macbeth symbolically shows his doubts that he will ever be free of the guilt over the murder. In fact, not only will his guilt be permanently on his hands, but it will make all of the sea red: this foreshadows the fact that Macbeth’s sense of guilt will affect not only him, but all of Scotland as it motivates his tyranny. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth has a totally different attitude about the blood and, symbolically, her sense of guilt. She says, ‘My hands are of your colour,’ but in contrast with Macbeth, assumes that ‘A little water clears us of this deed: / How easy is it, then!’ (II.ii.39-40) Lady Macbeth sees the guilt, symbolized by the blood on her hands, as insignificant; it can easily be washed away, forgotten, left behind. By having both characters talk about the blood on their hands, Shakespeare contrasts the two characters’ attitudes about guilt and the consequences of evil actions.

10B: sample analysis paragraph

Here’s the sample we wrote in class. It’s about the ad linked above.

Association

One of the most common ways of selling a product is through association. With this technique, the product is linked to a desire to which the advertiser believes the target audience will have some attachment. In the 1971 Coca-Cola advertisement, the association is with idealism, unity and internationalism. Because the late 1960s and early 1970s were heavily influenced by the youth counter-culture movement of the anti-war protests and the ‘hippie lifestyle,’ these were ideas and desires that were important, especially to young people. Naturally, young people are the target audience of the ad. When the ad starts, a young woman is singing the song alone. Her natural appearance and the fact that she is looking off into the distant sky gives the impression of her sincerity and idealism. As the song continues, more people start singing with her, giving the impression that the song is gaining in strength as the voices, belonging to a group of people with various ethnicities and wearing clothing suggestive of national costumes. (I would then go on the describe the nature of the song, the outdoor setting, the girl at the end looking like she might cry, the slogan 'The Real Thing,' etc.)

10A: sample analysis paragraph

Here's the sample we wrote in class. It's about the ad thumbnailed above. (Click for a bigger copy.)

ironic ad

Some advertisers will avoid the more mainstream advertising techniques and instead use ironic ads. Ironic ads make fun of traditional ads, and by so doing they make the consumer feel like the product trusts them. In other words, the consumer is treated like she is too smart to actually be advertised to. A classic example is the Volkswagen ‘Think Small’ campaign. Volkswagen wants to make a claim of a unique selling proposition, so they emphasize not only the differences between this car and other cars on the market, but also the differences between this ad and other car ads. For instance, the car is shown very small and on a neutral, white background, making it look somewhat ridiculous. Most car ads would show the car in great detail and in a highly associative context. The slogan ‘Think Small’ is the opposite of what one expects a car ad to say, thus making fun of that more traditional style of advertising. (Then you would keep writing about the other techniques in the ad.)

10: advertising analysis assignment

You will choose three techniques of advertising and create a poster, notebook or PowerPoint demonstrating how those techniques are used, analyzing specific ads that are examples of those techniques in use. You must include copies of the ads which you are analyzing.

9: Macbeth act II questions

Choose 2 of the following questions and answer them in structured, planned paragraphs. Aim for more than 200 words. Use specific references to the play with scene and line numbers. It would look like this: Macbeth says, “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” (I.ii.126-128)

1. Discuss the significance of omens in this act.

2. What is Macbeth’s state of mind in either scene 1 or 2, and what specific techniques does Shakespeare use to establish it?

3. Discuss the symbolism of blood in scene two, and apply it to specific lines.

4. Is Lady Macbeth’s response to the deaths of the guards is sincere or pretended? Why do you think so, and what difference does it make in our understanding of her character?

DUE: Thurs. 27.11

10: short sentences

10: poetry presentations

Here are some places to look for poems for your presentations:

Here is a webpage from a few years ago with the poems on which the students presented.

Here are some random sites with other poems:

• British War poetry - WW1


• An introduction to WWI poetry


• 120 War Poems

Here is a copy of the assignment (in case you lost it).

11: Victorian poetry orals

Victorian poetry orals

1. Find a poem by one of the poets we looked at and do an analysis of that poem, identifying theme and technique. Some poems:
   
   
   
   
   1. 
      
      
      
      1. 'Grief' by Elizabeth Barret Browning
      
      
      2. 'Consolation' by Elizabeth Barret Browning
      
      
      3. some Tennyson poems
      
      
      4. some Hardy poems
      
      
      5. some Robert Browning poems
         
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   

1. Do some research on one of the poets we looked at, and use that information to explain something about the poems we looked at. Make sure the focus is on the poetry, not a long summary of a biography.

1. Look at elements of Victorian culture and values and explain how we see those present in some of the poems we read.

1. Write your own Victorian poem. Use the techniques and elements you saw used in these poems, and have a presentation explaining how you used the poems as a source for your own poem.

Orals will be presented Tues. 18 and Wed. 19 November.

9: Macbeth Act I assignment

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="408" caption="A cartoonist's rendition from Act I scene 5. Click the image to go to his blog."][/caption]

Choose two images from  Act I that you think are important in establishing character, conflict or setting. For each, quote the lines (including reference*), create an image and write a short paragraph explaining the significance. The paragraphs should be structured.

Due Thursday 13.11.

* act, scene, line number = I,ii,15-17.

9: Macbeth links

Here are some things to help you keep up with the play:

No Fear Shakespeare Macbeth: The original text side-by-side with a more modern, easy to read translation.

MIT Shakespeare Macbeth: Just a straight text, good for cutting and pasting when needed.

10: Cruel to Be Kind

A musical paradox...

11: Ebony and Ivory

More education for you:

11: 'Don't Fear the Reaper'

So we mentioned reapers today while reading 'The Lady of Shalott,' and I remembered a song title. 'Don't Fear the Reaper' is originally by Blue Oyster Cult, but a good version is by Helsinki's own HIM.

11: grammar issues

Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab) is a good resource for grammar issues.

Here's a handout called 'Comma vs. Semicolon.' Very useful.

Here's a handout about various punctuation, including the colon, parenthesis, dash, quotation marks, and italics.

And one about active and passive voice.

11: Ulysses paragraphs

Here are the paragraphs we wrote in class today.

12:

9B: 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair'

Choose one of these questions and respond, using an organized paragraph and using examples to support your ideas.

1. How can a virtue ('fair') sometimes be dangerous or harmful ('foul')? Choose one virtue and describe some situations in which that virtue would be a negative.


2. Look at the virtues and choose two that might be in conflict with each other -- for example, tact and honesty. Explain how a person decides how to prioritize competing virtues in different circumstances, using an anecdote to illustrate how that decision might be made.

Due: Tuesday November 4

A: Content	B: Organization	C: Style & Language
· Do your ideas show clarity, originality and creativity? · Do you support your ideas well?	· Does your paragraph have structure? · Do you move from idea to idea clearly?	· Are you ‘following the rules’ of spelling, grammar and punctuation? · Do you use the right word for the right situation?

9: Declaration movie

Here's a Quicktime version of our little movie.

12: commentary structure

Download a pdf with a basic commentary structure.

12: Hamlet review

10: sample conclusion

Here's the sample conclusion we wrote in class:

While the novelist shows the vulnerability and flexibility of individuality in different circumstances, people today still consider to what degree we are truly individuals and to what degree we are victims of our environment and circumstances. For instance, are career criminals just bad people, or are they bad because of the environments in which they were raised? Is the best way to deal with crime to isolate criminals because of their individual traits, or should we attempt to change the environments which sees to produce criminals? The issue of individuality and its real power is a something we still consider today.

12A1: 'I Have a Dream'

Here's a link where you can read, listen to or watch the speech.

10: sample paragraph

Here's the paragraph we wrote in class:

Thesis: During wartime, social norms and rules are abandoned and replaced by practical and physical needs.

In the environment of war, social rules are easily abandoned. One social rule which is abandoned is respect for authority. Before the war, Paul and his friends respect Kantorek enough to join the army at his encouragement. However, when talking about people like Kantorek and their responsibility for the deaths of young recruits, he says, ‘[T]hat is the very root of their moral bankruptcy’ (9). In the environment of war, the idea that a headmaster ought to be respected merely because of his age and social position is easily discarded; the soldiers’ experiences have shown him to be wrong, and so the respect is unnecessary. Additionally, respect for human life is abandoned in war. In chapter nine, Paul finds himself in the shellhole with the French soldier he has killed, and he feels deep sympathy and guilt for his death, feelings we find consistent with social norms. However, as Paul returns to his own line, he finds that sympathy ridiculous, and his fellow soldiers agree. ‘What else could you do? That’s why you’re out here,’ they tell him (161). The requirements of the war environment make the normal sympathy in the face of the loss of human life wasteful and unnecessary. As Kat encourages Paul to watch the celebrating snipers, Paul finds it easy to abandon the social norm of respecting human life.