Class One
1) Course Rules and Expectations (See Policy and Procedure sheet)
2) Course Introductions:
What is this course about? (<-Click for Intro Video)
Activity:
Coke Can Investigation: (<--Click to watch Video)
4) What are ten questions we can ask about a can of coke?
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5) What are ten answers we can come up with to those questions? (<-- Click to Watch Video)
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6) What can these questions and answers tell us about our society and culture? (<-- Click to Watch Video)
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We can approach literature by asking simple questions about it.
This can help us develop as critical thinkers.
Let’s look at William Carlos Williams' The Red Wheelbarrow
7) What kinds of questions can we ask about it? (<-- Click to Watch Vide0)
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Let's watch a video of The Red Wheelbarrow
8) What kinds of questions does this video raise?
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9) How are they different than the questions we just asked?
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Don’t approach poetry to know something concrete.
Rather, come to poetry expecting to ask questions,
And to leave a poem with some answers and more questions.
How do we read poems?
When you begin to think about a poem, you are beginning to interpret it.
Interpretation:
To interpret a poem, you need to focus on specific details, such as:
1) Sensory Details
2) Images
3) Detailed Descriptions of Things
Focus on Specific Details:
Let’s look at Robert Frosts’ “Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening”
10) What are the specific things that are being discussed? [Watch Video]
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11) Why are these details in the poem, and what do they tell us?
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You will probably come up with more questions than answers.
That is always okay.
Read for next Class:
Emily Dickenson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Miniver Cheevy”
Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Write for Next Class:
Find the Lyrics to your favorite song, bring them in, and bring in a copy of the song, too, if you have one.
Class Two
Part 1:
Interpretation (Day 2)
When you interpret a poem, you can ask any questions you want to ask.
However, if you focus your questions on SPEAKER, AUDIENCE, and SITUATION, you will almost always come up with some useful questions and answers.
Speaker: Who is speaking?
Audience: Who is the poem speaking to?
Situation: What is going on in the poem?
Speaker:
The speaker is not necessarily the author.
They are not necessarily the same person.
For example, Seth Green is not Peter Griffin from The Family Guy.
Sylvester Stalone is not Rocky Balboa.
These are just characters these people play.
For example, Emily Dickenson is not the speaker of “I’m nobody, who are you?”
Who is it, then?
We find out by paying attention to the specific details in the poem.
Let’s Read the Poem
1) What are some questions we might have about the speaker?
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Let’s watch a video of the poem
2) How was this interpretation of the speaker different from what you came up with?
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Different people will come up with different interpretations,
which is fine as long as they can find a way to justify their interpretations.
Let’s consider another poem: Edward Arlington Robinson’s Miniver Cheevy
Let's Read the poem
3) What are the specific details that tell us something about the speaker?
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4) How can they tell us something important about the speaker?
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5) How is this interpretation different than your own?
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Again, different people will have different interpretations of the speaker.
That’s okay, as long as you can defend your interpretation.
Let's read Walt Whitman's "I hear America Singing"
6) What are the important details here that relate to the speaker?
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7) Again, what can we tell from this information?
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Now let's watch watch this video
8) How is this a different interpretation of the speaker than the one you came up with?
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Read For Next Class:
William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe”
Alfred, Lord Tenneyson ‘s “Ulysses"
William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe”
Alfred, Lord Tenneyson’s “Ulysses”
William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming”
Class Three
Interpreting Poetry (Day 3)
Now that we have thought about the speaker, we need to begin thinking about the second major part of the poem, the audience.
Audience: The individual or individuals for whom the poem is intended.
Each of the poems you read for today was intended for a specific audience .
William Carlos Williams’ Danse Russe:
Read the poem.
1) What is this strange little poem about?
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You can come up with many answers, but it is important to know that Danse Russe is the name of a famous piece of Piano music written by Stravinsky. Williams knew this, and he expected his audience to know it too.
Let’s listen to the music. (<-- Click to listen to the music)
Cultural References:
Poems sometimes make cultural references. They refer to things that are part of a common culture for the audience the poem is intended for.
We come across cultural references all the time.
2) We see them in tv shows and in movies that reference other tv shows and movies. There are in music as well. Can you think of some examples?
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If you know the cultural reference being made in the title, you have a better chance of understanding the poem.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's: Ulysses:
3) What is this poem about?
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4) What are the cultural references being made here?
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How would an understanding of The Odyssey help you better understand this poem?
When poems make a cultural reference, and you don’t know the reference, you need to look it up, or else you will miss out on part of the meaning in the poem.
The Second Coming: Apocalyptic Imagery.
5) Again, what are the cultural references here?
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Remember: Poets have cultural expectations of their readers.
If you do not know what is being referenced in a poem, you need to look it up!
Read For Next Class:
Robert Frost: Mending Wall
Andrew Marvell: To His Coy Mistress
Watch This YouTube Video For Next Class:
Listen to this Podcasts For Next Class:
Robert Frost: Mending Wall
Class Four
Interpretation, Day 4: SITUATION
The situation is what is going on in the poem.
What is being described?
What is happening?
Let’s look at Robert Frosts’ Mending Wall
Where are the specific details that tell us what the situation of the poem is?
We should never simply IMAGINE we know what the situation is. We need to be able to describe what is happening and HOW WE KNOW IT by discussing the specific details that relate to the poem’s SITUATION.
Watch Video of Mending Wall
What is his interpretation? Is it similar to yours?
Cultural References:
Notice that Frost is not making too many cultural references.
Frost is using simple language, and not a lot of allusions or references
Why would he write this way?
What is the point?
How are there interpretations different than yours?
Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress
How can an understanding of situation help us figure out a poem that is written in archaic (old) language?
Watch this YouTube Video For Next Time
Read For Next Class:
Elizabeth Bishop: First Death in Nova Scotia
Margaret Atwood: The Is A Photograph of Me
John Donne: The Flea
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Elizabeth Bishop: First Death in Nova Scotia
Margaret Atwood: The Is A Photograph of Me
John Donne: The Flea
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Notes on HOW TO WRITE THE FIRST PAPER: Due July 23
Format:
3 double-spaced pages, 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins.Due Date: July 23
Possible Procedure:
1) Reread the poems you are most interested in.
2) Using the terms we have covered in class, create some notes on what interests you most about the one poem.
3) Go over your notes and identify a possible thesis for your paper. Is your thesis contestable? Is it something that someone would disagree with? If so, you’re on the right path.4) Develop a contestable thesis about one of the poems we have read this semester.For example: Make a statement about the speaker, audience, or situation in the poem, something you can defend with solid evidence. You could also think about how imagery works in the poem.
How to Write a Paper:1) Begin with an introduction. In 6-8 sentences you should generally summarize the poem for the reader. What is the poem? Who wrote it? When did they write it? What is the poem generally about? You do not need to use any specific quotes here. You are just setting the reader up so that they will be able to understand what comes next.Value: 10pts
2) Your thesis paragraph: Begin with your contestable thesis. Your contestable thesis is what you will be arguing about the poem. It is the idea or notion that you are going to try to convince the reader to believe. Follow your thesis up with at least three specific examples from your poem that you believe support your argument. Explain each of these examples in a sentence or two. There is no need for heavy quoting in this paragraph. You are just setting the foundation for your paper.Value: 10 pts
3) 1st Body Paragraph. Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 1st example you just mentioned to support your thesis. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the text that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail –three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis.Value: 10pts
4) Find similar evidence in the text that supports your thesis in the same way, and then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence. Use the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph.Value: 10 pts
5) Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 2nd example you mentioned in your thesis paragraph. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the text that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail – three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis.Value: 10 pts
6) Find similar evidence in the text that supports your thesis in the same way, then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence that follows the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph.Value: 10 pts
7) 3rd Body Paragraph. Here you are going to begin by reminding the reader of the 3rd example you mentioned in your thesis paragraph. Basically, you are repeating that sentence, but rewording it slightly. Next, present a quote from the poem that supports your point. Don’t include an extensive quote, a line or two will do. Next, explain in detail –three to four sentences – exactly how the quote supports your thesis.Value: 10 pts
8) Find similar evidence in the poem that supports your thesis in the same way, then include another body paragraph focusing on that evidence that follows the same format as your previous body paragraph. If you cannot find this evidence, move on to the next paragraph.Value 10 pts
9) Summary. In the summary, you need to restate your thesis, then restate each of the points that you have used to support your thesis.
Value 10 pts
Class Five
If we want to get even more specific about the kinds of questions we ask about Speaker, Audience and Situation, we can begin to ask questions about a poem’s Imagery.
Imagery:
Poet will use specific images to create a definite impression for you.
The poet will describe something so that you will see or feel something.
Eliabeth Bishop's "First Death In Nova Scotia"
Let’s read the poem and then think about the imagery.
Why do we have the image of the loon?
Why do we have the image of the child?
What can the colors tells us?
How does she use white?
How does she use red?
Connections?
What are the colors of the Canadian flag?
Why might that be important?
The images can lead us to questions and conclusions
Margaret Atwood: This is A Photograph of Me
Let’s read the poem and think about the imagery
1)What's going on in this poem? How can an investigation of its imagery help us understand it?
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Watch the Video
How is this interpretation of the poem’s imagery different than your own?
John Donne’s The Flea:
2) What are the important images here?
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Read For Next Class:
William Blake’s “The Lamb”
Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors”
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors”
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
Class Six
We can ask general questions about imagery, or we can get more focused by paying attention to different kinds of imagery. In class today, we will be thinking about:
Metaphor
Simile
Symbol
But let’s begin by just thinking about plain old imagery
William Blake: The Lamb
What are some questions and answers we can come up with about imagery in this poem?
Okay, now what is a metaphor?
A metaphor is something used to represent something else.
Metaphors are useful because they help us make powerful connections between subjects we would not normally associate with each other.
Sylvia Plath: Metaphors
1) Let’s begin by thinking about what the riddle in this poem may be, and how we can answer it.
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2) Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
What are some metaphors in this poem?
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In addtion to metaphors, poets will also use similies.
A simile connection made between two dissimilar things with "like" or "as"
3) What are some similies in The Raven?
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A poet can also use symbols.
Symbol: an image in that is used to represent something more than what it actually is.
Read For Next Class:
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
John Updike’s “A&P”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
John Updike’s “A&P”
Class Seven
What is a short story?
How do we appraoch a short story?
Many of the terms and ideas we learned while talking about how to approach poetry are useful for approaching short stories.
Let's look at: Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
1) What is this story about?
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2) What are the most important specific details in the story?
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We can better understand this story if we think about Point of View
When we read a short story, we need to be aware that the story is comming to us from a certain point of view. That is, it is being told to us by someone. The more we know about who, or what, this "someone," is the more we will know about the story.
At the end, of Story of An Hour, we know that the point of view of the doctor is incorrect. We know that it is incorrect because we have come to know Mrs. Mallard and her point of view about the death of her husband.
3) How can an understanding of Mrs. Mallard's Point of View help us understand The Story of an Hour?
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4) It is also important to notice the kinds of things we learn about a character as we come to understand his or her point of view. This can tell us a lot not only about the character, but about the story as well.
Who you are, and how life has shaped you, will impact how you read short stories.
4) What are some possible conculusions we can come to about Story of an Hour? How will different kinds of people read this story?
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Let's look at a video of Story of an Hour
5) How does this interpretation of the story differ from your own?
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Let's look at John Updike's "A&P"
6) General Reaction:
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Let's begin by noticing that there are a lot of details in this story.
We have details about people, products, and the shopping environment.
But also notice that, even though we have all these details, they all come to us from one point of view.
Who is our point of view? Sammy.
Sammy isn't just reporting things as he sees them.
7) How does Sammy color our view of what is going on in the A&P
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8) How would it be different through someone else's eyes?
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9) What can we tell about Sammy by paying attention to his obervations
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Read For Next Class:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Class Eight
Elements of Fiction:
Now that we have thought about point of view, it is important to understand that most short stories have a PLOT.
Plot: The series of events that make up the story.
Example of a Plot:
1) Consider the order of events in the Wizard of Oz. What are they?
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2) These events are related by causes. One event makes another event happen.
We break plots up into EXPOSITION, RISING ACTION, CLIMAX, FALLING ACTION
Expostion: Information that establishes the stories sestting and characters
Rising Action: A series of increasinly more dramamtic incidents
Climax: The moment of greatest conflict in the story
Falling Action: All post-climax parts of the story. They tend to be increasinly less dramataic as the story comes to its conclusions.
What would be the plot of the The Story of an Hour? or A&P?
Now let's talk about The Yellow Wallpaper
Reaction?
Let's talk about the story's Plot: expostion, rising action, climax, falling action
What is the plot strucutre?
Stories also have a SETTING
Setting: The place and location in which a story takes place. It puts the story in a specific historical and cultural conext.
We can figure out what the setting of a story is by paying attention to specific details.
One of the really cool things about setting in a short story is that it tends to reflect the mental state of our point of view character.
Read for next time:
Flannery O'Conner A Good Man is Hard to Find
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Flannery O'conner A good man is hard to find
Class Nine
Now that we have thought about point of view, plot, and setting, it is time to think about character.
We can learn a lot about a story by paying attention to important character information
For example, A Good Man is Hard to Find does not make a lot of sense unless you try to understand who the grandmother is, and how she is connected to what happens to the family.
The Grandmother, what do you make of her?
Who are some important characters in this story, and why are they important?
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Read This For Next Class: Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.
Class Ten
Now that we are starting to think about the importance of character, we need to begin thinking about the importance of the specifc details that an authro associates with each of his or her characters.
Who are the main characters in The Things They Carried.
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What does each of them carry?
What do these items suggest about each of these characters?
Jimmy Cross
Henry Dobsonc
Dave Jensend
Ted Lavendere
Mitchell sandersf
Rat Kileyg
Kiowa
The Dead Boy
3) What do the things they carried symbolize?
4) What do YOU carry?
5) What do the things you carry symbolize?
Read for next time: Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
Class Eleven
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”
Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" (It ain't no Megabucks)
Reactions
What are the significant details?
WHh are the major Characters?
What is the setting?
When does this story take place?
This story is an example of an allegory:
Allegory: A series of symbols that stand for something else.
What do you think The Lottery an allegory for?
In-class writing assignment: What are some routines that you are aware of in your day-to-day, or year-to-year life? Why do we have these routines? Why might they be good?
Read This For Next Class:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”
Class Twelve
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
What is your reaction to this story>
What is the plot?
What is the Exposition?
What is the Rising Action?
What is the Climax?
What is the Falling Action?
Who are theseCharacters and why are they important?
Pelayo
Elisenda
Child
“Angel”
Father Gonzaga
Villagers
The Spider Woman
Setting
Read This For Next Class:
Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Class Thirteen
Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”
What is your initial reaction to this story?
Get into groups and begin to discuss this story
Who are the major Characters?
What is the Setting?
There are motifs in this story.
A motif is a recurring subject, theme, idea, ect.
What are some of the motifs in this story?
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8) What is the speaker right about? What is the speaker wrong about?
9) Writing Assignment: For the next ten minutes, I want you to write in response to the following question: What is the meaning of “Grandfather’s Curse”? And, more importantly, do you think the Grandfather’s advice was particularly good?
Begin with this question: What can the MOTIF in this story tell us about Grandfather's curse?
10) How can an understanding of, and attention to, motif improve our understanding of a story?
Read this for next class:
Edgar Allen Poe: The Fall of The House of Usher
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Class Fourteen
Edgar Allen Poe: The Fall of The House of Usher
1) Reaction:
2) What are some important specific details about these Characters?
a. Speaker:
b. Roderick:
c. Madeline:
d. Servant/Doctors:
3) Setting:
a. Where are we?
b. When are we?
c. Who are “the Ushers?”
d. What are some of the Cultural References in this story?
i. What do you make of the Strange Books and Paintings that are described in this story?
4) Identify the following aspects of the Plot
a. Exposition
b. Rising Action
c. Climax
d. Falling Action
5) Motifs. What are some of the motifs, or recurring ideas or images, in this story?
b. How can an understanding of the motifs help us understand the story?
6) Theme:
a. A Theme is the Dominant or Unifying idea.
i. What is one of the themes of this story?
7) What about The Haunted Palace!
a. How do the themes of “The Haunted Palace” and the “Mad Trist” (the story of Ethelred and the Dragon) resemble the themes of the main story?
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
Video 1
Read For Next Class:
No Reading For Next Class
Class Fifteen
What is Drama?
Most of us are familiar with Drama as it comes to us via television, the movies, and the internet.
BUT THERE'S MUCH MORE TO IT THAN THAT!
How is Drama like Short Fiction?
Character
Setting
Cultural References
Plot
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Symbolism
Allegory
Motif
Theme
How is it likePoetry?
Speaker
Audience
Situation
Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Symbol
Allegory
However, it is also different from Poetry and Short Stories in that it is a Staged Art.
It has a THEATRICAL DIMENSION AND LITERARY DIMENSION.
We see it preformed, and our understanding of its performance, of its THEATRICAL dimension, is just as important as our understanding of its LITERERAY dimensions.
In Dramatic works, you will find STAGE DIRECTIONS that will tell you how the play is to be performed.
Thus, our first step in approaches Dramatic Works should be to consider the physical and practice realities of the performance.
We need to remember that Drama is a COMPOSITE ART.
It is made up of many other arts, and we need to understand these relationships to understand the work.
Class Sixteen
Oedipus
Literary Dimension:
Characers:
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Cultural References
Theatrical Dimension:
Stage Directions:
What can they tell us about the play?
What kinds of props would you need for a play like this?
Why is it important to know where the characters are standing?
Tuesday, August 5
How does a poet emphasize something?
How does a short story writer emphasize something?
What are some of the motifs we are starting to see in Oedipus?
What is a monologue, and how is it used?
What are some of the major monologues we have encountered so far?
Why would a playwright let someone talk for so long?
Wednesday, August 6
Review for the final
Thursday, August 7
Final Examination
(The rest of the classes are TBA)
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