April 1

AGENDA:

1. Common Thread
2. Read ending of Act 2 



HW: Read Act 3 for Spring Break and be ready to discuss, debate and write about it


HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

March 31

AGENDA:

1. Turn in your short answer
2. Common Thread
3. Review ending of Act 1 
4. Read Act 2


HW: Read Act 3 for Spring Break

March 30

AGENDA:

1. Memorization
2. Act 1 completed - short answer
      
        Examine the staging directions at the beginning of Act 1. What significance do you think these stage directions have on the play's conflict and/or themes? Why do you think Ibsen set A Doll's House at Christmastime? 

3. Common Thread Project 


HW: Common Thread; Update your character analysis on Nora and Torvald; complete the above response - 3/4-1 page of in depth analysis - spend some time considering the questions before answering

March 27

AGENDA:

1. Memorizations
2. Common Thread - Mini Project

To show the thread of our common humanity. 

Your instructions are simple: 

You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a creative group project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative.

There will be a box in the back of the room - please place your sealed, unmarked envelope in there completely anonymously beginning Monday, March 30 and no later than April 1. I will mark your name off the list as you turn them in. Examples....

HW: Complete Act 1 for Monday's class - "A Doll's House"; Common Thread

March 26

AGENDA:

1. Career Fair - see you in the gym

HW: Memorization begins tomorrow

March 25

AGENDA:

1. Prepare for tomorrow's Career Fair
2. Motifs - reading
3. "When liberal-minded men want to bring about some improvement in the position of women in society, they first inquire whether public opinion—men—will approve. It is the same as asking wolves whether they favor new measures for the protection of 
sheep. . . .Women artists and business women try to conceal their sex. On their pictures, their nameplates, etc., they put only the initial of their first name so that people will think they are men."

Henrik Ibsen, Notes and Jottings (winter 1882–83), quoted in Henrik Ibsen: A Critical Anthology, edited by James McFarlane 

HW: Prepare for memorization on Friday

March 24

AGENDA:

1. Characteristics of Realism and how it fits into literature
2. More reading of the play
3. "A Well Made Play"
4. Proscenium Theater - framed arch - transparently apparent 


HW: Memorizations start on Friday

March 23

AGENDA:

1. "A Doll's House"
2. Discussion and on going character analysis - Nora and Helmer 


HW: Memorization begins Friday 

March 20

AGENDA:

1. Hand out "A Doll's House"
2. Read Notes as well as setting and stage direction 



HW: Memorization starts Friday

March 19

AGENDA:

1. Complete Creative Project


HW: Memorization right around the corner..... one week

Fresh! Brilliant! Fearless! - YES!

Just a sample of the creativity from today.

March 18

AGENDA:

1. Creativity! Be FRESH, be FEARLESS, be BRILLIANT


HW: Memorization March 27

March 16

AGENDA:

1. More on "The Hit Man" and creating images and subtleties 
An unsympathetic character - the way that T. Coraghessan Boyle has written “The Hit Man.” Use a “The Dictator” or “The Senator.” Exaggeration is the key here.

 T. Coraghessan Boyle's short-short "The Hit Man" uses the approach of a scrapbook that catalogs a hit man's early years until his death. A very short work can contain a novel. The reader sees this four-page story as a coming-of-age, fictional biography, which tells about the hit man's trouble with teachers as a youngster, his life on the streets, the death of his parents (he "wastes" his father, but his mother dies naturally), first job, moods, first child, retirement, and death. Afterward the reader has experienced a character's life and times in under a half hour. 


HW: See you Wednesday for Creative Project presentations!

GOOD LUCK ON CAHSEE 

March 13

AGENDA:

1. Vocab quiz + Literary Terms
2. Literature Analysis - make sure it is turned in
3. "The Hit Man" by TC Boyle

HW:  Creative Writing Project on Wednesday, 18th; Memorization March 27

Sunday night: a time to reflect on life and frantically complete homework you should have started two days ago.

March 12

AGENDA:

1. Stream of Consciousness writing - internal monologue


HW: Vocab on Friday; Lit Analysis on Friday; Creative Writing Project on Wednesday, 18th; Memorization March 27

March 11

AGENDA:

1. Complete our analysis reviews
2. CAHSEE review



HW: Vocab on Friday; Lit Analysis on Friday; Creative Writing Project on Wednesday, 18th; Memorization March 27 - WHEW!

March 10

AGENDA:

1. Memorization handout - due March 27
2. Creative Writing Assignment - Due March 17
3. Go over papers and discuss the art of the analysis 


HW: Vocab and literary terms Friday

March 9

AGENDA:

1.  Paradox vs Antithesis + examples

HW: Vocabulary Friday - all new + new literary terms on this weeks quiz

ANTITHESIS

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
ï  Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n. in Paradise Lost by John Milton
ï  To err is human; to forgive divine. - An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope

ï  Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. - Hamlet by William Shakespeare

• “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong
• "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Unlike short-sighted, egocentric humans, God "sees with equal eye" the fall of a hero and a sparrow, the destruction of an atom or a solar system.” - Alexander Pope.
• "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." - Abraham Lincoln - The Gettysburg Address
• "I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." - Jack London
• "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe
• “Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.” - Aristotle
• “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” - Samuel Johnson
• “Folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” - Abraham Lincoln
• "All the joy the world contains Has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself." - Shantideva

Antithesis can be used in many different contexts; but, the common thread is that it contains two contrasting ideas.

Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.

Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or clauses, i.e. the structures of phrases and clauses are similar in order to draw the attention of the listeners or readers. For example:

“Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”

The use of contrasting ideas, “a small step” and “a giant step”, in the sentence above emphasizes the significance of one of the biggest landmarks of human history. 

PARADOX

Paradox can prove to be very revealing about human nature and the way that we speak. If someone says to you "I'm a compulsive liar," do you believe them or not? That statement in itself is a paradox, because it is self contradictory, which is precisely what a paradox is.

At the most basic level, a paradox is a statement that is self contradictory because it often contains two statements that are both true, but in general, cannot both be true at the same time. In the aforementioned example, can someone be both a compulsive liar yet telling the truth at the same time?

Paradox Concept: Starts with Shrimp

Starting with some very basic examples of paradox will lead to the examination of how and why paradox is used in literature.

One of the most well known examples that teachers frequently use to introduce the idea of a paradox is a "jumbo shrimp." Certainly, "jumbo" and "shrimp" are contradictory statements. However, that is merely an introductory example, since a shrimp can certainly be jumbo sized in comparison to other smaller shrimp. Still, it is an appropriate starting point for students who are new to the concept of paradox.

Here are some more examples of paradox in simple forms in order to further define the term "paradox":

• You can save money by spending it.
• I'm nobody.
• "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw
• Wise fool
• Bittersweet
• "I can resist anything but temptation."-Oscar Wilde
• I'm a compulsive liar- am I lying when I say that?
• A rich man is no richer than a poor man.
• Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded.
• You shouldn't go in the water until you know how to swim.
• If you didn't get this message, call me.
• The person who wrote something so stupid can't write at all
• Men work together whether they work together or apart. - Robert Frost
• Be cruel to be kind
• The beginning of the end
• Drowning in the fountain of eternal life
• Deep down, you're really shallow.

Paradox in Literature

Have a better idea of what a paradox is now? Let's continue on to some larger examples of paradox that appear in works of literature. In doing so, examining their purpose will become an important part of the process.

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the words "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" are part of the cardinal rules. Clearly this statement does not make logical sense. However, the point of a paradox is to point out a truth, even if the statements contradict each other.

Orwell is trying to make some sort of political statement here. Perhaps it is that the government claims that everyone is equal when that is clearly false, or perhaps it is that individuals have skewed perceptions of what it means to be equal. The interpretation is up to the reader to decide.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the title character states "I must be cruel to be kind." On the surface, once again, this statement does not seem to make much sense. Can an individual convey kindness through evil?

However, Hamlet is speaking about his mother, and how he plans to ultimately slay Claudius in order to avenge his father's death. His mother is now married to Claudius, so of course this will be a tragedy for her. However, he does not want his mother to be the lover of his father's murderer (unbeknownst to her) any longer, and so he believes the murder will be for her own good.

Purpose of Paradox

After examining the examples from works of literature, one will see that a paradox is not just a witty or amusing statement. Paradoxes have serious implications in the world of literature, because they make statements that often sum up the the main ideas of the work.

What is the purpose of using such a statement then, instead of just forthrightly stating the work's intent?

One reason is that to do so would be boring. It is much more interesting for a reader to carve out the meaning, than to have it fed to them on a silver platter.

Furthermore, summing up the totality of the work in one statement is more memorable. "I must be cruel to be kind" is a famous statement that has transcended history, whether or not people know where the words originally came from.

The term Paradox is from the Greek word “paradoxon” that means contrary to expectations, existing belief or perceived opinion. It is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. A paradox is often used to make a reader think over an idea in innovative way.

Literature Analysis for Spring Semester

Each student must complete two Literature Analyses this semester, and may do up to two extra. (each additional L.A. will be worth 50 points, not to exceed 100 points) You may not do a literary analysis on Dante's Inferno, Frankenstein or A Doll House.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

Please answer the following questions about the book you selected. 

Make sure to provide appropriate examples to support your ideas.

Author/Title

1.       Genre 

2.       Historical information about the period of publication if applicable

Looking Closer at a Character

1.       Five fun facts about the character

2.       Three questions you would like to ask this character

3.       What would the character recommend for you to read? Why?

4.      Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

5.       After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

Meeting the Author

1.       If you could meet the author, three questions you would ask the author? Why?

2.       What gift would you give the author? (Think of something that would be meaningful to them)

3.       A picture of the author and an image that reflects their accomplishments, things they are known for, era, etc.

Tone

1.       Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

Creating your own analysis of the novel

1. Identify a question about the book that could drive a paper, i.e. What was the author trying to accomplish in writing this novel? Why?; Why does the author use such complex characters and what purpose does it serve? In the end, did Beckett shape my views on man’s purpose? Does Beckett really accomplish anything? Etc…..

2. Create a thesis or assertion about the novel (answer the questions above) using our complex thesis formula to answer the question.

Although clause, (other words work just as well here – despite,  admittedly, notwithstanding, granted, in spite of, etc.)
assertion clause;   (what do you believe to be true and why)
therefore, (other words work just as well here - so that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then, finally, consequently, in short, as a result, accordingly, for this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind.)
call to action.  (this needs to be to all, society, individuals, we (collectively).

March 5

AGENDA:

1. Collaboration on analysis

HW:   Paper Assignment – Close Reading 

 Overview – This assignment is essentially trying to get you to focus in on the importance of the synecdochal moment – that is, the importance of the part to the whole. You will be given a choice of quotes from ―Prufrock, and what you’ll basically be doing is dissecting them: explaining why those words were chosen above all other words, why that word order (or repetition) is significant, what that figure of speech implies, and how these parts all relate to the whole of the poem. You will, in short, be examining the whole through the ―keyhole of one part. 

Directions: 

1. From the list below, choose a significant quote from ―Prufrock. 

2. In your brainstorming, ask (and answer) questions such as the following: 

Why that word? * Why that image? 

Why that word order? * What tone or emotion does this evoke? 

Most of all, what does this moment reveal about Prufrock? Does it make me sympathize with him? Pity him? Be frustrated with him? Understand him? 

3. You will be answering two major questions in your paper: 

a. What does this moment reveal about the soul and self of J.Alfred Prufrock? 

b. What is the message Prufrock is delivering to us through the words of this poem? 

4. Organize your thoughts into a coherent pattern. Address the quote chronologically – that is, in the order of the words. 

5. Make sure you explain the overall ―picture of the poem for the reader. What happens before your quote? What happens after? Where are we in our ―journey with Prufrock? Though you will be focusing most of your time analyzing the specific quote you have been given, you absolutely must ―locate the quote in the poem, giving us a sense of where it fits into the poem as a whole. Please look at how this is done in the example we will go over in class. 

6. Spend most of your time in analysis, bringing out the ideas you developed during brainstorming. 

7. As always, you are to turn in work which is entirely the product of your own mind working alone. 

Choice of Quotations from “Prufrock” 

1. In the room the women come and go 

Talking of Michelangelo. 

2. There will be time, there will be time 

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; 

There will be time to murder and create, 

And time for all the works and days of hands 

That lift and drop a question on your plate… 

3. Time for you and time for me. 

And time yet for a hundred indecisions, 

And for a hundred visions and revisions, 

Before the taking of a toast and tea. 

4. For I have known them all already, known them all: 

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, 

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons… 

5. Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets 

And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes 

Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . . 

6. But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, 

Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, 

I am no prophet--and here's no great matter… 

7. I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, 

And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, 

And in short, I was afraid. 

8. And would it have been worth it, after all, 

After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, 

Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me, 

Would it have been worthwhile, 

To have bitten off the matter with a smile, 

To have squeezed the universe into a ball 

To roll it toward some overwhelming question, 

To say: `` I am Lazarus, come from the dead, 

Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all''-- 

If one, settling a pillow by her head, 

Should say: ``That is not what I meant at all. 

That is not it, at all.'' 

9. No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; 

Am an attendant lord, one that will do 

To swell a progress, start a scene or two, 

Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, 

Deferential, glad to be of use,

Politic, cautious, and meticulous; 

Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; 

At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-- 

Almost, at times, the Fool. 

10. I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. 

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. 

I do not think that they will sing to me. 

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves 

Combing the white hair of the waves blown back 

When the wind blows the water white and black. 

11. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea 

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown 

Till human voices wake us, and we drown

March 4

AGENDA:

1. Group work on quotes and preparation for analysis
2. Turn in your Career Portfolios

March 3

AGENDA:

1. Discussion on poem
2. Split up the poem into sections

HW: Career Portfolio due tomorrow in class; 

March 2

AGENDA:


1. Modernism
2. Nude Descending Staircase - Modernism
3. Review "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" together bringing in all our ideas

HW: Career Portfolios