Senior English Archive - The Winsome Scholar

Parings, Progress, and SMBC

Senior English

August 30th, 2012

Tags: , , , ,

We’ve moved rather quickly through the first novels, paring Things Fall Apart with the poem that gave it its name and The Stranger with writings by Camus and Sartre. I asked you to write a summary characterization of your novel’s protagonist (an outline is all that’s necessary) before returning the work. If you haven’t done this, remember that your paper will require a synthesis of several works; it would be easy to lose connections in the shifts.

Also:

Mersault, Okonkwo, and Sisyphus

Senior English

August 20th, 2012

Tags: , , , , ,

Solid discussions today.

We looked at what makes these characters (Mersault and Okonkwo) such unlikable people, hoping to contrast their inevitable ((Heh. Fingers crossed.)) change. I won’t go into detail here, so if you were absent ask a peer for notes.

We will continue this pattern for a while, so make sure you’re noting those questions/confusion as arise.

For those reading The Stranger (or those interested), a copy of the essay I passed out today, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” is available here.

Identity and the Novel

Senior English

August 17th, 2012

Tags: ,

Yesterday we read W.B. Yeats’s “The Second Coming” in all its apocalyptic glory. If you didn’t get chills the first reading ((“vexed to nightmare”?! That’ll keep me up…)), give it another go.

Today we discussed what it means to represent an individual, a personality, in literature. This has become our guiding question:

How is identity represented in literature?

An odd question and one worth unpacking a bit before we attempt an answer. In moving toward a better understanding of identity, we made connections between our representation of ourselves to others—or any autobiographical act—and the relationship between an author and his creation.

We’ll read a number of works (Oedipus Rex, The Stranger, Things Fall Apart, others likely) and call on previous readings (Hamlet, especially) to better answer this question. Ensure that you are reading and journaling—you’ll have time for group discussions on Monday.

Things Fall Apart: Plan

Senior English

September 7th, 2011

You are all (surely) familiar by now with what happens when I make a plan like this, but I keep trying. Call me the little engine that could.

Monday 12th: Outlines ((If you feel your outline skills are rusty, talk to your peers, a Junior in my AP class (we’re covering them now) or see me before class. I’ll be happy to walk you through it if I can see you’ve made an attempt.)) (via Google Docs and a hard copy) due. These will be sketchy, but your will benefit from a strong start. Remember the prompt: How is Okonkwo’s identity presented in the novel? We will discuss these in class, sharing ideas and sources. If you come across helpful information that isn’t in a previous post, send me an email with the link and how you used it.

Tuesday 13th: Have a revised copy of your outline on Google Docs and in hand (that is: printed). We’ll have the computer lab to ourselves, so come prepared to work through a peer review of the outlines.

Wednesday 14th: Presentation of outlines. This is a bit new, but will give each of you a chance to talk through your outlines with a group of your peers. Each group will have three students, each student will have 15 minutes to present his or her argument. Peers will be looking for cogency, organization, and support. Each group will have a few minutes at the end of class to present highlights.

Thursday 15th: Computer lab! You’ll have the hour to yourselves to write your paper. With a solid outline chock full of support, citations, arguments, and a mind-melting thesis statement you should be able to wrap up a rough draft before class is over. If not, you can always finish in the evening.

Friday 16th: Peer review in the computer lab. Works Cited pages will be polished, grammar will be corrected, ideas will be organized.

Over the weekend you’ll finish it up for a final due date of Monday the 19th.

More philosophers, more sources: Quick note: if you did not fill out the form here please do so. I’ve set up a shared Google Docs folder for handouts, etc. No email=no access. Also, if you aren’t citing the sources for your synopsis, please realize that it is required, especially if you are pulling from secondary sources. Comments Off on Even More Philosophers