For Monday, March 31

Research the texts of Heart of Darkness and "The Hollow Men" for your upcoming essay. 

New Due Date:  Friday, April 4.  Since we spent time today discussing what I wanted to discuss rather than your papers, I decided to move the paper to Friday.  This will not hurt our schedule in that we are a little ahead (because you are so AWESOME.) On Wednesday, we will have a practice exam essay and practice multiple choice, but this still gives you a couple of extra days.

Possible Prompts:
T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Chapter 3 both address hollowness or emptiness.  Write a well-organized essay in which compare how the authors explore the hollow/vacant existence of man.
OR
Write a well-organized essay in which you compare how the authors illustrate the depravity of man.

Another interesting essay would be to examine the theme of self-reflection in Heart of Darkness.  I am not sure if you could pull  "The Hollow Men" into that or not.  See what you think.  If this prompt interests you, go for it!

Possible Theses:
"The Hollow Men" and Heart of Darkness explore the theme of "hollowness" or "vacantness" of humanity through the authors' use of character, setting, and figurative language.

through the authors' similar use of setting and perspective.  (Marlow and Speaker)  Either setting or perspective could include multiple paragraphs.

TSE and JC contend that man's depravity leads to a lack of hope for a fulfilled life through their works "THM" and HOD.  You might look up existential philosophy or "entropy" to help you define this a little bit deeper.

TSE and JC observe man's need for (or journey of ) self-reflection in their works through the use of character and perspective.    (I would take each work and demonstrate the steps taken toward self-reflection.)  So..your paper is organized chronologically through each work.  If you wanted to add imagery/figurative language to the list of discussion topics, you would have more than enough to evidence.

Ross...maybe
In HOD, Joseph Conrad explores man's tendency to give in to fleshly desires when no cultural, spiritual, or community boundaries are not in place.  ???This could work.

For Thursday/Monday, March 28/31

Obviously, we did not create a character map today because we chose to bask in the sunlight/sonlight:)  We will complete this project together on Thursday.  We will also take a look at AP Exam questions that would be excellent prompts for The Heart of Darkness.

COME TO CLASS THURSDAY WITH YOUR RESEARCH DONE...MARKING TEXTS...AND I CAN HELP YOU STRUCTURE YOUR PAPER.

For homework due Monday, March 31.

Compare the poem "The Hollow Men" to Chapter 3 of Heart of Darkness.  I know I said that I would give you just one passage to work with, but as I review Chapter 3, I am seeing that you could incorporate so many sections of this excerpt.  I will leave that to you.  If you are reading on an electronic device, you can easily search for the words "hollow" and "shadow." 

Format for analysis:
Introduction and thesis; a minimum of three body paragraphs; a conclusion (think of the doctrine of existentialism in our conclusion).

Spend approximately an hour doing your research (within the texts) and gathering quotes/examples. 

Spend approximately an hour writing your essay (typed or handwritten).

You may focus on literary device or thematic elements.

Possible Prompts for this essay:

T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Chapter 3 both address hollowness or emptiness.  Write a well-organized essay in which compare how the authors explore the hollow/vacant existence of man. 

OR

Write a well-organized essay in which you compare how the authors illustrate the depravity of man.

Another interesting essay would be to examine the theme of self-reflection in Heart of Darkness.  I am not sure if you could pull  "The Hollow Men" into that or not.  See what you think.  If this prompt interests you, go for it!

                                                                           

For Tuesday, March 25

Finish the novel Heart of Darkness.

Continue to annotate as we have been.  Look specifically:  continue to find new information about Kurts; the role of the Harlequin; the details you find out about The Intended; the details about the savage woman; Marlow's journey into his personal heart of darkness.

We will work together to create a map of the characters and their purposes.  Fact:  Marlow and Kurtz are the only characters to have names.  Why is this significant?

How is Marlow truthful?  What does he hide?

For Wednesday, March 19

Review Chapter 2.

You will have a timed writing on Wednesday.

Also, re-examine the illustrations on the previous post.

For Monday, September 17

Read Chapter 2 in Heart of Darkness.  Continue annotating for irony, satire, and imagery.  Chapter 2 is the hardest...so press on.

DON'T FORGET TO WEAR GREEN ON MONDAY!  

WE WILL HAVE A GREEN CELEBRATION!

Let me know if you want to come over to my place and watch A Serpent's Kiss or Hamlet when you return from New York.

The last few images are from the website posted below.  I have ordered the book.  This would be a great article to read and some excellent artwork to ponder.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-kish/on-my-illustrated-edition_b_4273

506.html

For Thursday, March 6

MEET AT THE TOASTED YOLK ON THURSDAY AT 8:15 A.M.  I will probably be a little late because I will come to school in case someone needs a ride.

HOMEWORK:
Read Chapter 2 of Heart of Darkness through the paragraph that begins:  "The current was more rapid now."  As you read, think about the discussion we had today concerning Conrad's use of irony, satire, juxtaposition, and imagery.  Look through Chapter 1.  Can you find another excerpt that you believe Exam Preparers might choose because of its richness in writing style?  Mark it and bring it to breakfast on Thursday.  Make sure to write a quick annotation as to why you chose the excerpt.

EXTRA CREDIT NEWS AND APOLOGY:

Forgive me:

Last time I posted, I forgot to include the alternative extra credit assignment.  You may watch Mel Gibson's version of Hamlet and meet with me during a lunch period to discuss elements of the play that may come up on the AP exam.  As we have seen in poetry ("Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"), Hamlet is, probably along with Macbeth, one of the most quoted works of Shakespeare.  This shows up through literary allusion over and over again, so a review is a great idea.  Mrs. Dudley has a copy of this film that we share; she said you could borrow it from her.

I also received my copy of The Serpent's Kiss in the mail.  If you would like to watch that together when you return from New York, let me know.  We could also watch it after school the Monday we get back from Spring Break if that helps.

In either case, we will need to discuss by March 18, or Tuesday of that week.