| Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 |
| 11:38 am |
THE ROAD FINAL PAPER
You are to write a 3 page, 750-word EXTRA CREDIT composition on the book. Take quotes, proofread and make sure your essay is thoughtful with a complete thesis and well-organized.
OPTION 1:
Choose a passage from the novel and use it to START the essay. You will then connect your thesis to this passage. You must go through the novel and find a phrase, sentence or passage you wish to write on. This can be a few lines or a whole paragraph, but no longer. Place it in block form at the BEGINNING of your essay.
This passage needs to reflect some crucial aspect of the novel you wish to discuss. It can represent a stylistic aspect of the novel or a thematic idea that McCarthy is working with. Whatever passage you choose, it must be rich enough for you to create a 750 word paper where you fully explicate its importance to understanding the text. Your passage should draw from the entire breadth of THE ROAD demonstrating a greater significance that plays out throughout the story. Give relevant examples of where, when and why.
OPTION 2:
Create a thesis where you connect an idea found in THE ROAD with either Art Speigleman's MAUS or D.M. Thomas's THE WHITE HOTEL. You will compare and contrast a theme, an idea or a style that you find rich enough and detailed enough to write a three page paper. Use passages from the works to support your thesis.
DUE WED. MAY 2. |
| 11:33 am |
THE ROAD conclusion What were your thoughts on the book? Why did McCarthy choose to end the book the way he did? Was the book full of hope or is there no hope. What was the significance of some of the last sequences? Why did the father do what he did to the man who stole the cart? What was the boy's reaction to it? What do you suppose was going on in his mind? Is there any "hope" in this novel? Yes or no and WHY? P.S. Thought you'd like this...you can see what the Oprah discussion is saying! We should link to them! http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/road/obc_featbook_road_main.jhtml |
| Saturday, April 21st, 2007 |
| 11:05 am |
THE ROAD (up to p. 204)
Again, the same assignment as above. As you get further into the saga, pay attention to how MacCarthy is writing to create mood, tone AND character.
Find another passage. ANALYZE IT IN DEPTH!!!
What is the effect of this writing and how does it define the action, the character or the greater theme MacCarthy is trying to establish.
What is effective and why? |
| Thursday, April 19th, 2007 |
| 2:53 pm |
THE ROAD (up to. p. 114)
Everyone choose a few lines from what you read so far. (This could be a paragraph of descriptive writing or a couple of lines of dialogue) Write it as it appers on your posting with page number.
Then, explain what it is you like about those lines and how those lines reveal something about either the character, the book's tone, the themes McCarthy is working with or his unique writing style. |
| Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 |
| 7:13 pm |
THE ROAD: Up to p.37
What do you think of the book so far? What do you think of the style of writing? Analyze.
What is the EFFECT of the style on you the reader. Why do you suppose McCarthy is utilizing it in this particular story. |
| Friday, April 13th, 2007 |
| 4:26 pm |
SEVEN BEAUTIES
This film is very complicated for a number of reasons: It's story, it's tone, it's structure and it's larger theme. SEVEN BEAUTIES works as a novel on screen because of its complexity. There are no American films like it in terms of depth and provocation.
You will remember some of the scenes in SEVEN BEAUTIES for life. The director, Lena Wertmuller, is certainly trying to make a big statement about human nature. Examine some of these sequences (notice the unique structure of the film!) and consider what she is trying to do with them.
Choosing to use a morally bankrupt, abhorrent antihero Pasqualino as the center of the drama makes the film different from most characters you usually root for. He is awful at the beginning and stays horrible throughout. Even at the end, how Pasqualino understands his experience is the ultimate message of the film. The Concentration Camp sequence is the finale...but what is worse, what the prisoners lived through or what Pasqualino had to do to survive? Justify your response and maybe think would you or anyone do ANYTHING to live? What is the psychological effect on a person if they survive afterwards?
Analyze any part of these ideas that struck you and why. |
| Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 |
| 10:10 pm |
MAUS: PRISONER ON A HELL PLANET
Write down your thoughts on this section of the story. Why is it included? How does it connect to the psychology of Vladek...of Artie...? You may discuss how it is "drawn" and what Art Spiegelman is trying to do by including it in the bigger story of MAUS. Go deep and speculate. Think with an "artistic" sensibility because Speigelman is trying to connect a lot of dots...
Besides this section, now that you have finished the first book, what are your thoughts so far on it? |
| 10:09 pm |
MAUS II
What were the things that struck you the most about reading MAUS?
What scenes affected you? What graphic sequences were effective? How did writing this book begin to affect Artie? Explain the role of "GUILT" in this story and how it manifested itself in Artie, Vladek, Anja and Mala. |
| Friday, April 6th, 2007 |
| 7:02 pm |
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| Saturday, March 31st, 2007 |
| 12:09 pm |
THE WHITE HOTEL CREATIVE PAPER So here is your creative assignment. You are to Compose a JOURNAL from some made-up character. You are free to create this personality and situation this character finds him/herself in. Write from THEIR perspective. This is NOT you! Then, you must create a narration that comments DIRECTLY on what we are reading from your characters journal. You may choose to go BACK AND FORTH between the Journal and this narration. Or, you may decide you just want the second narration to follow the journal altogether. This second narration can either be a "God's eye" third person narration or you can create another character all together to comment on the journal. Again, the situations these characters are in can be anything. Be imaginative. It will be nice to see the STORY you create with the CONFLICT and ACTION and RESOLUTION. You can make your narrator "unreliable" if you wish. You can make your follow up narration from an objective or subjective perspective as well. They can either "know" the person or not. Remember, third or first person for the follow up to the journal is allowed. I would like to be convinced of your characters' authenticity. I'm giving you a lot of freedom so you can take advantage of it. I would like this to be around 20 pages. You can do this in whatever font you wish and any aesthetic style. You can post it on any paper you wish as well. Have fun. Oh yeah...for those of you interested, here is the link to the movie version of THE WHITE HOTEL that they're making. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0835884/ |
| 12:07 pm |
THE WHITE HOTEL LITERARY ESSAY
You are to write a 750 word essay on ONE of the following three topics. Proofread and integrate QUOTES and commentary SMOOTHLY into your essays to back up your arguments.
Your paper must included quotes in ALL your paragraphs except your Intro and Concluding paragraphs. Set up the context first and then provide textual evidence. It must be followed byat least TWO sentences of commentary explaining the significance. PROOFREAD for cohesion, clarity and FLOW.
This is a ROUGH DRAFT which youmust bring in FRIDAY, April 13. We will workshop it in class.
TOPIC #1
The "Sleeping Carriage" section is the most gruesome section of The White Hotel. What makes the brutality of Lisa's death so horrible? Trace everything in this chapter that lead up to it paying close attention to human psychology. What goes through Lisa's mind throughout the march to her death and how does she respond to what's occurring?
What is the significance of what has happened to her and what happens to her in the mass grave pit of Babi Yar?
TOPIC #2
What are the ways the final two chapters are linked with the previous sections? What images, characters, events and situations reappear throughout and why? What was D.M. Thomas's purpose in the various "re-enactments" and repetitions?
What does he say about life and how does Thomas, as an artist, seek to examine it?
TOPIC #3
Sigmund Freud believed that all humans were driven by the primordial forces of love/sex and death. How do we make our peace with these two conflicting tugs at our brain? When you look at human history, which seems to win out?
The novel begins with a line from a poem by W. B. Yeats:
We had fed the heart of fantasies,
The heart's grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love...
Examine the poem carefully. Where are places in the novel where you see this conflict played out...in history...in human nature...in Lisa...? |
| 12:06 pm |
FINSIH THE BOOK BY FRIDAY! The Sleeping Carriage and The Camp "What torments me is whether life is good or evil." --Lisa Erdman (p.192) What made you shudder as "The Sleeping Carriage" reaches its climax? How does Lisa face her fate? What goes through her mind? What hints have you received in the past that forshadow what occurs? Sex, religion, bravery, cowardice, cruelty, children and death, all play a part. The final chapter is definitely the most bizarre. In "The Camp" you see how the story ends. What prepared you for this ending based on Lisa's "explanations of her life" based on her analysis, writings and "visions"? WHY does Thomas choose to end the novel in this manner. This is the greatest thing about writing fiction. You can create worlds that reflect larger truths. What truth is D.M. Thomas aiming for? I think it's important that everyone look at this link as well: http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/byalbum/list00.html |
| Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 |
| 7:31 pm |
The Health Resort
"What torments me is whether life is good or evil." --Lisa Erdman (p.192)
In "The Health Resort" chapter, you get the story of Lisa (Freud's Anna G) from yet another perspective. The chapter deals with what happened after her psychoanalysis, but it dove-tails back to the events previous through a series of letters.
What is the significance of this chapter? What is happening to "truth"? What can you trust? What is going on with all the people in Lisa's life currently? What links are there to the past? |
| Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 |
| 8:18 pm |
THE GASTEIN JOURNAL
What stylistic devices are used in this section which are unique? What is the effect of their inclusion?
What are your theories about what is going on here? |
| Saturday, March 17th, 2007 |
| 2:45 pm |
THE WHITE HOTEL: Entering the night of the "labyrinth of the heart" In the Prologue you get an exchange of letters. Did you notice anything about these correspondences? Then you get the Don Giovanni section. Provocative, right? Examine what this "poem" possibly could be. Are there any clues? What does it make you think about? HINT: Remember, psychoanalysis is one long deconstruction. ps. Freud's life is very interesting and you should know a little bit about him to "understand" some parts of this novel. This website offers a very brief page about Freud's life and see how even in this brief sketch, you can see some concepts we've already discussed in THE WHITE HOTEL: http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_sigmund_freud.htmlThere are hundreds of biographies on him and particularly the concepts of his work. Do a google search on him and see how many entries there are! He was one of the most influential human beings that ever lived. Check out some more information about him in the future. |
| 2:37 pm |
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN PAPER
This paper is for Extra Credit. Those who NEED it, NEED to do it.
This novel by Cormac McCarthy is unusual in many ways: its style, its characters, its symbolism, its themes. You are to write a 750-WORD essay where you develop your own thesis that seeks to explain something provocative that McCarthy does within this novel. Explain completly and well one aspect of the book that you found compelling and detail why. Give plenty of examples and explanations to why your choices are significant. Create a good argument and follow it through until the end.
DUE: Wed. March 26.
If you have questions, you can post here. |
| Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 |
| 7:29 pm |
No Country: The finale
What did you think about the ending? What surprised you? What did McCarthy do that was so different from other books?
What is Bell's role in the book? Think about the war secret that was carried. What was Chigurh's role? Think in terms of symbolism and metaphor. What was the novel about? What was Bell worried about the whole time? Think about a connection between the themes of the book and the title.
Go off on a tangent. You will be doing an in-class paper on Friday. Think about topics that interested you about this novel. Come to class with a thesis! |
| Friday, March 9th, 2007 |
| 3:40 pm |
NO COUNTRY (up to p.196)
Again, the same assignment as above. As you get further into the saga, pay attention to how MacCarthy is writing to create mood, tone AND character.
Find another passage. ANALYZE IT IN DEPTH!!!
What is the effect of this writing and how does it define the action, the character or the greater theme MacCarthy is trying to establish.
What is effective and why?
Aloha...i miss you all and hope you are doing well and you're creative writing is smart and compelling. I'm looking forward to reading your work! |
| Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 |
| 9:43 pm |
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (up to p. 91)
Everyone choose a few lines from what you read so far. (This could be a paragraph of descriptive writing or a couple of lines of dialogue) Write it as it appers on your posting with page number.
Then, explain what it is you like about those lines and how those lines reveal something about either the character or McCarthy's writing style. |
| Friday, March 2nd, 2007 |
| 10:18 pm |
AS I LAY DYING PAPERS
AS I LAY DYING analytical paper
You are to write a 750 word typed PROOFREAD paper. You must included quotes in ALL your paragraphs. Set up the context first and then provide textual evidence. It must be followed by two sentences of commentary explaining the significance.
You may choose any of the following topics to write on:
1) Examine how Faulkner's multiple narrative style works in the novel and WHY he employed it to tell the story. What was the greater purpose and how do the confluence of narratives work to tell the complete tale?
2) How are the themes of sex and death explored in Faulkner's novel? What relationship does the author draw between them? Examine how sex and death play vital roles in what happens in the narrative and to the characters' understanding of their world.
3) How is AS I LAY DYING both a comedy AND a tragedy? What does Faulkner reveal about the nature/meaning of life through the characters and their situation(s)?
AS I LAY DYING creative story assignment
Write a 15 to 20 page paper where you get into the mind and psychology of at least FOUR CHARACTERS. You need to write, like Faulkner, from their perspective. What dialogue do they say? What do they observe based on their psychology? What does their "voice" sound like? You are to create a scenario where a story is told and we see it through these different eyes and ears. You can do MORE CHARACTERS if you want or your story needs.
Each character needs to be distinct and the reader should NEVER be confused with another character. So if your character is a little girl, it should sound like a little girl and we should see the world through a little girl's eyes. If your character is a 50 year old Ambulance worker, what would that be like after all those years on the job. It is your job to CONVINCE the reader that your characters are REAL!!!! You need to BECOME the characters you are writing about as you write in FIRST PERSON their observations and ideas about life.
One paper due Wednesday, March 7 and the other is due Tuesday, March 13. Your choice which you want to turn in first. |