but this wouldn’t:

Levi Weaver "You Are Home" from Paper Beats Rock on Vimeo.

Just a thought.

During the last three weeks of this session we will be pulling from everything we’ve done before: critical analysis of texts, cultural analysis of works, integration and synthesis of works from different eras and cultures, and explication of literary devices.  "How will we do this?" you ask?  By answering an apparently simple question:

What do Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Wilfred Owen’s "Dulce Et Decorum Est," H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine (and The Days of the Comet, and The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness), the Danse Macabre, 1984, punk music (The Clash!), Twitter, Wikipedia, The Wisdom of Crowds, The Starfish and the Spider, DIY, Internet piracy, and podcasting have in common?

Our answer can be as simple and complex as we want, but it will take our understanding of all these cultural phenomena and works and the skills we’ve acquired this year to pull off a solid answer.

Now that’s a cumulative test.

I hope the overview in class was clear, but in case it wasn’t, here’s a primer:

• Heading your paper (link to AP site).  The link also provides an example of in-text citations, margins, and headings.
• MLA format guide at OWL at Purdue.  Most of you will be using the “book” and “online periodical” sections.
• Works cited page (click to make larger):

• Keep in mind that the entire document should be 12pt Times New Roman, double-spaced.  To make sure: after you finish your paper, save it, hit ctrl+A, right click the text, then hit “Paragraph.”  The line spacing option should say “double”, and the spacing before and after should read “0”.  Hit “OK,” then (with the text still highlighted) check the text size and font boxes to ensure they read “12” and “Times New Roman,” respectively.  If not, or if they’re blank, fix them.
• 
• You’re all set!  Send me a copy tonight if you want me to look it over, but don’t depend on me to do your final editing.  I won’t have access to a computer all night.

[This post was WinsomeWiki’d on 4 Jul. 2009.]

Or not.  Stupid snow.  Hopefully it gave you guys a chance to spend some time with Okonkwo and crew.  If not, go outside today and finish up the novel.  We’ll be discussing the end in class tomorrow, and I don’t want to ruin the ending for you.  Here’s the plan:

The Plan

Until now, we’ve focused on the effects of Okonkwo’s father’s legacy on the man, and Okonkwo’s choices in interacting with those around him.  The final section places him in an environment that he cannot control, and forces him to realize that he does not have complete power over those around him.  This is a sobering realization for our strong protagonist, and he makes some difficult choices (or are his (re)actions purely a result of his environment?  We’ll see).

On Tuesday and Wednesday (if we finish our discussion of Okonkwo’s life on Monday) I will present a brief overview of Existentialist ideas.  If you want to get a head start, I suggest The Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology‘s page on “Existentialism” or *sigh* the Wikipedia‘s entry.  We may also read Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Existentialism is a Humanism” to gain a better understanding of our author’s ideas (you can find a copy here).

By Thursday we will discuss Part One of The Stranger.  Thirty pages per night may be more than you’re used to reading, but Sartre’s prose is not too dense.  Do plan to set aside some time to read the book in chunks, though.

On Friday we will discuss your tentative (hypo)thesis statements in class.  I will also ask you to write a brief paragraph contrasting the philosophies of Things Fall Apart and The Stranger. (Hint: it goes beyond TFA=fate and TS=choice.)  More on this later.

So.  We’ve embarked upon a new project; one that will challenge your creative genius, your communication skills, your writing abilities, and your willingness to get your hands dirty (unless you’re working in the South; they don’t allow dirt.  There was an ordinance).

In case you missed it, here’s the list of the topics chosen by your peers:

• PC/GS: city regions (N, S, Mid)
• SH: architecture
• LN: housing market over the past 5 years
• LD: public/private schools
• ND: livability of Tulsa and surrounding areas
• CD: enterprises turned landmarks
• RK: sprawl
• JWS: pets in the city
• AO: Two Degrees of Tulsaparation
• LE: high school drawability

Hope you can crack my code. 

Here’s the deal:  You are all focused on one geographical area, but are looking at it from many different angles.  Because of this, and because there are too many resources for us all to read/watch/visit/experience, please share your resources.  They are going to overlap often, and two people may certainly use the same one.  Post them below as you are doing your searching.  It would be helpful if you also posted a brief explanation of the link, picture, etc.  That way, we have a running annotated bibliography as we progress.  (It doesn’t have to be in proper format, but that would certainly help. Practice is always a good thing.)

The Goal

This project requires you to draw upon your understanding of how a certain message or argument can be most effectively presented to an audience.  As you are all presenting different messages to different audiences, I cannot give you a list of requirements for the finished product.  That will come as we move further.  What I can do, however, is guide your individual projects as they develop.  We will discuss your progress and share resources on Wednesday.  I will ask you to write out what you believe your message will be, who your audience is, and how you will present this message to them.  These elements will change as you do more searching, but I would like a hypothesis from which to start.

This is such an exciting project; I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.