For Tuesday, October 1

Finish The Great Divorce this weekend.  Your journal entries will not be due until Monday, October 7.  

Continue with your annotations, especially paying attention to setting/attitude.  Examine each of the illustrations below.  Select one image and compare it with one of the Ghost/Spirit interactions within the chapters.  Write a one page discussion explaining the parallels.  Use "snippet quotes" from the text (a minimum of 6).   

We will be working on your visual and written essays over the atmospheres of Heaven and Hell on Tuesday.

For Friday, September 27

Complete the final draft of your college essay.  You're welcome.

Watch out for "to be" verbs; they're boring!
Watch out for generic statements; they don't say anything.
Be in the moment! Action! Action! Action!

For Wedneday, September 25

Conduct a Web Quest on George McDonald, the Scottish author.
What did he write?  What influence did he have on his generation and the generations to follow?
What is his connection with C.S. Lewis?
Why might C.S. Lewis include him in The Great Divorce?
Beatrice is to __________ as George McDonald is to ________________.

Read Chapters 8-10 in TGD.

Remember to read the novel like a literature professor.
Grapple with Lewis's concepts; fight for understanding. 
You should probably highlight and reflect on 5 quotations per chap
ter.

For Monday, September 23

Read The Great Divorce through Chapter 7.

I have put study guide questions here for you.  Make sure you can mentally answer the questions before you come to class next Monday.  Enjoy your reading! Dig deep and ponder the Christian Journey.

Chapter Four (The Big Ghost)

1.                  Describe the approach of the Solid People.  Why does the earth shake at their coming?

2.                  Why does the Big Man not think it’s fair that the Solid Man has been sent to Heaven and he has not?  Who is Jack?

3.                  What reasons does the Big Ghost give for deserving to be sent to Heaven?  What does the Big Man say are his rights?

4.                  The Solid Man answers that, no, he will not get his right, but what instead?

5.                  The Big Ghost says he is not asking for anybody’s “bleeding charity.”  What is the Solid Man’s answer?

6.                  The Solid Man tells the Big Ghost that he has been sent to him to ask his forgiveness.  For what?

7.                  What does the Solid Man reveal about all of the men who worked under the Big Ghost?

8.                  What is the Big Ghost’s final response?  Why is this significant?

Chapter 5 (The Episcopal Ghost)

1.  The E.G. says that happiness is found in what?
2. Does the ghost believe in a literal Heaven or Hell?  Why are his views ironic in light of where he has been and where he is now?
3. What are his views on the resurrection?  On the death of Christ?
4. The ghost tells Dick that if he stays in Heaven, he wants a promise of a sphere of influence and a place that can use his talents as well as a free spirit of inquiry.  Dick tells him that he is bringing him not to the place of questions but of what?
5. When Dick inquires, “Do you believe that He exists?” what is the ghost’s answer?
6. The ghost finally tells Dick that he has to get to the grey town to do what?  What is so ironic about this statement?
7. On what topic did the Episcopal ghost “preach his famous sermon?”

Chapter 6 (Golden Apples)-Apples…again?

1. What is the via dolorosa of the man gathering apples?  Is this something he has put upon himself?
2. Why does the man have such a hard time picking up apples?
3. Of what does the voice remind the narrator?
4. What does the voice mean when it suggest that the man “stay here and learn to eat such apples?”  How would it be possible for the “very leaves” of that land to “teach” him how to eat such apples?

Chapter 7 (The Hard-Bitten Ghost (the cynical man)

1. What does the ghost in this chapter reveal early on about his desires to stay in heaven?
2. This ghost is a hedonist.  Define hedonism.  Connect this concept with the amusement parks in Hell.  Do you see any interesting parallels?
3. This ghost thinks that Heaven is, like all other advertised places, just another what?
4. Describe the narrator’s emtions after talking to this ghost.  Why does he feel this way?
5. Toward the end of this discussion, the ghost shows his resentment toward Heaven’s “management team” for what?
6. Later he asks, “Who wants to be rescued anyway?”  Explain the significance of this question generally.  Then explain it specifically in relationship to questions #5.

 

For Tuesday, September 17

Do a TPCASTT analysis over the two John Keats sonnets in your packet.  I have placed them at the bottom of this post for your convenience.

Finish reading Chapter 2 in The Great Divorce.  We will discuss the chapter and add to our analysis of setting and tone.

Work on polishing your Kafka essay.  REMINDER:  The final draft of the essay is due Thursday, September 19.

For those of you who were out on Friday, you will need to turn in your TPCASTT analyses over the Shakespeare sonnets on Monday.  Tuesday will be too late.

MLA citation format for The Metamorphosis in the AP textbook.

Lastname, First name. "Title of Story/novella." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.




Keat's Sonnets:

When I have fears that I may cease to be

      Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,

    Before high piled books, in charactry,

  Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,

  Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,

And think that I may never live to trace

  Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,

  That I shall never look upon thee more,

Never have relish in the faery power

  Of unreflecting love; -- then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,

            Let it not be among the jumbled heap

            Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,—

Nature's observatory—when the dell,

Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,

            May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep

            'Mongst boughs pavillion'd where the deer's swift

            leap

Startles the wild bee from the fox-glove bell.

But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,

            Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,

            Whose words are images of thoughts refin'd,

Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be

            Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,

When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee. 

For Friday, September 13

Analyze the two Shakespeare sonnets in your packet.  I think they are 18 and 116???, but I know they are:  "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" AND "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments."  For each sonnet, completely fill out a TPCASTT worksheet or duplicate the tasks on your own sheet of paper.  When writing your "theme" as the last step, attempt to write a working thesis.

For extra credit:  Do an additional TPCASTT analysis for Shakespeare's sonnet "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun..."

For Wednesday, September 11

Rough draft of The Metamorphosis essay is due today.  Do not bring me a written copy or a "start" or a few ideas.  This needs to be a complete draft, ready for serious revision in style and structure, but the content of your paper should be in tact.

College Essay final draft will be due on Monday, September 23. 

Thank you for drinking deeply from the Holy Sonnets of John Donne.  He is worth your efforts!

Second Post for Monday

This is an excellent biography about Kafka.  It could offer you some insight for your papers.


http://www.themodernword.com/kafka/kafka_biography.html

For Monday, September 9

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT:

Select the topic for your Kafka essay.  Below you will find a copy of your assignment sheet which contains several suggestions.  You could also look at the questions at the end of the story in your textbook for some ideas.

 

Once you have chosen your idea, begin gathering evidence:

Required:

Step 1:  Mark every place in the story where your topic can be found.  Highlight the scene/quote and then decide what it says about your topic.

Step 2:  Think about the outside sources you might use for this essay:  a second short story, a Kafka poem, Kafka's biography, or the era in which the story was written.

Optional:

Step 3:  If you have time, you might read or look at the secondary sources to see if you can use them.

Step 4:  Write a thesis.

 

TEMPLATES FOR THESIS:

In Franza Kafka's The Metamorphosis, he explores the condition of the modern man through the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a "monstrous vermin".

Here:  I would look at each stage of Gregor's transformation and compare it to the modern man's feeling of powerlessness.

So a template:

In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, he _____________ the __________________________________ through _____________________________________.

Choices for that last blank?  characterization, plot, theme, imagery, humor, etc.

 

 

Copy of your handout.

 

The Metamorphosis Essay Assignment

Kafka's The Metamorphosis strikes me as a particularly well-chosen novel for the Penn Reading Project, and I say this not only because the adult life into which you are entering will inevitably have its kafkaesque moments. Rather, with its exploration of identity, of belonging and exclusion, of tolerance and intolerance, The Metamorphosis raises many questions for people like you, students who are facing a time of transition and transformation. Of course, my hope is that your education at Penn (you can think Covenant) will not transform you into beetles, but into less earth-bound creatures. Nonetheless, the tale of the unfortunate Gregor Samsa can make us think more deeply about our own identity, about the fluidity of what we take to be stable and fixed, and about the perils and miracles of our own metamorphosis.  (Breckman)

http://www.upenn.edu/nso/prp/met/breckman_lecture.html

Essay Requirements:

·         You choose your own topic.

father-son relationship, family relationships, displacement/ isolation, the modern man, human condition, the nature of sacrifice, all transformations within the story, the plight of the artist, voice and power

·         1000-1200 word (exactly…no less/no more))

·         A balance of detailed examples (embedded quotes), explanations, and structural fluidity

·         Minimal use of “to be” verbs and helping verbs (maybe 5 for the essay)

·         Adding outside resources or additional Kafka short stories into your writing will give your essay added academic weight; therefore, “A” papers will probably include one or both of these. DO NOT RESEARCH WHAT OTHER LITERARY ANALYSTS SAY ABOUT THE METAMORPHOSIS IN PARTICULAR; STICK WITH KAFKA BACKGROUND, HISTORICAL RELEVANCE, AND/OR FAVORITE THEMES.  “A” papers that only include The Metamorphosis will be so spectacularly written that I will be weeping at their beauty as I grade them.

·         A bonus of 5 points will be given to all papers that include an artistic rendering (artwork must match your essay’s theme)

 

FINAL DRAFT DUE DATE:  BOP~18/19 SEPTEMBER 2013

ROUGH DRAFT DUE DATE:  11 SEPTEMBER 2013

 

For Thursday, September 5

College Essay...



















Sonnett
Requirements:

•  Your Metamorphosis
•   Rhyme Scheme (abab, cdcd, efef, gg)
•   beginning 8 lines= problem; last 6 lines=resolution
•   Shift at line 9
•