Here’s the plan we worked out in class today. Tuesday will give us a chance to take more time in discussing the articles on Monday, or provide me with more time to explain concepts and such. All of this is subject to change with prior notice.

Here’s a copy of the “Formatting Your Paper” handout I mentioned in class. If you notice anything that is misleading or incorrect, let me know.

In which you change the world’s view of an issue near and dear to your heart.

In this essay you will be writing an original argument, but without the pesky required topic of your previous one.

You will be keeping a journal of your progress, so start now. In addition to this, you will be meeting with me daily to explain your progress, so set aside some time each night for your work.

Your first step in this process is to find a topic or issue that you are interested in. Journal your ideas and bring them to class tomorrow. Together we’ll be brainstorming possible approaches to the different topics and offering resources or knowledge.

We’ll work out a calendar and other guidelines in class tomorrow.

In which you compile a number of sources to prove an amazing point about a novel of your choice.

I’ll present the essay in steps, then lay out the rules. Remember to record all information (essay titles, author names, URLs of interesting essays, and search queries) in your journal. Bring this journal tomorrow.

1. Think about a few novels you’ve really enjoyed.
2. Look up the titles or authors in the EBSCO Databases here. (Click the link, then click “EBSCO Databases, then “Select All,” continue, then “Continue,” check “Full text,” then enter your terms.)
3. If you don’t find several articles about your book or author, start over from #1 –or– search for similar titles and authors, the period in which it was written, or the genre. Root around, you may come up with an idea just by searching similar works.
4. Once you have a number of articles, check the bibliography, the source, the subject matter of each. If one looks solid, continue. If not, move on to the next one.
5. Skim the article. If it’s interesting, print it (or email a copy to yourself and print at school tomorrow) and repeat #4 with another article. If it isn’t interesting, discard it and repeat #4.
6. Once you have a number of interesting articles, grab your copy of the book and begin re-reading it if you’d like.
7. Reflect and feel content about your full night’s work.

We’ll discuss all of the specific guidelines in class tomorrow, but here are some to set you in the right direction:

This is going to be a research paper over the historical, philosophical, or cultural context of the novel. As you go, you’ll record all steps, information gathered, and ideas in a journal. I will meet with each of you daily until you have a solid footing with this project. Come to class every day with an explanation of your night’s work along with your research, the work and your journal.

Historical: You will be explaining what circumstances may have enabled the novel to come about (the impact of previous works or the historical context). For example, if you wrote over Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, you might write about the “perfect storm” of Victorian Gothic literature and scientific exploration during the Edwardian eras.

Philosophical: You will be writing over the philosophy presented in the novel. A Freudian interpretation of Lord of the Flies (which we touched on during our discussions) would be appropriate here.

Cultural: Some novels seem to be timeless and continue to have impacts today. With the cultural essay, you will research the impact a novel had on a time period other than the one in which it was written. Of course, tracing the repercussions of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein would be great, or the resurgence of Lord of the Flies during the sixties (thanks, Ellen!) or recently, with the production of the movies.

Post any and all questions below or write them in your journals for class tomorrow. We’ll be looking at all of these approaches in more detail then.

We finished Hamlet today in fifth hour (we’ll finish tomorrow in third). Your completed journals are due the day after we finish (tomorrow for fifth hour, Wednesday for third). If you elected to write the essay, a draft is due before Thursday.

I’m very excited about how things are going. Journaling, like essay writing, is a skill that takes time and practice to master. For those of you with questions, I can offer practical advice: “Write your reactions to and questions about the work. Quote nearly as often as you react or question.” My longer answer can be found in the previous post.

I can also offer more experimental advice: “Play around with your journal. After all, it is yours. I’m only grading on coverage (did you write about the whole story), so the rest is up to you. Choose a cool notebook; use page tabs; use colors for different ideas, themes, characters, questions/responses, or vocab; draw pictures… I may look over it, but your only audience is you. Literature means nothing without a reader; it’s just words on a page, but a good journal can make a dusty work relevant and alive. Make yourself proud; it’s your education.”

I’ll follow this up tomorrow in class, before we begin our foray into existentialism.

All:

The format for any essay in my class (and the works cited page) can be found here. How to head your paper is over here.

Read through chapter 20 for Monday. (See the reading schedule for the rest of the week here.)

Third Hour:

Use the following prompt to guide your first essay over the novel. While we have not finished the book, you should have more than enough information to support your claims.

The following quotation comes from John Donne’s “Meditation #17”:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

In your paper, create and support an argument about how theme of About a Boy compares or contrasts with the theme of John Donne’s “Meditation #17.” Remember that the actions and thoughts of the characters contribute to the theme of the book, so your support will primarily come from the characters’ thoughts and actions.

Put another way, you should do the following:

1. Decide what you believe Donne’s message is in “Meditation #17.”
   1. Write it down so you can reference it as you begin writing your paper.
   2. Remember the short paper you wrote over Donne’s piece? That might help here…
2. Read through your notes over the book, and skim through previous chapters.
   1. Which characters interact like Donne says he does?
   2. Which do not?
   3. Mark passages that answer these questions.
3. If a character changes his or her actions over time, definitely mark the passages that show this.
4. Create an outline.
   1. Write your overall explanation of the characters’ actions in relation to “Meditation #17” at the top. (This would be your thesis.)
   2. Group together similar (or contrasting) scenes together in your outline. (These would be your paragraphs; include as many paragraphs as necessary to make your point.)
5. Use your outline to write a rough draft.
6. Type it.
7. Be proud.
8. Bring it to class Monday.

This may seem like an awful lot, but break it down into manageable parts. For example, do #1-4 Saturday morning and #4-5 Sunday afternoon, and edit it as you type it Sunday night.

Fifth Hour:

Follow the format guidelines at the top of this page; bring your rough drafts to class Monday.

As always, email or post questions below.