Week 36: May 29–June 1
On Tues./Wed. there is a reading quiz on Act III of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. We watch some more film and continue to discuss elements of modernism as a literary movement.
On Thurs./Fri. we spend most of class in writing workshop. You need to bring in a complete first draft of WA#7 - Intertextual Analysis for peer review and a conference with Mr. Wells.
The final deadline for WA#7 - Intertextual Analysis has been moved to first class of next week: Tues. 6/5–Wed. 6/6, depending on your block.
The final semester exam takes place during the second class session of next week: For Blocks C, D, and E, that's Thursday, 6/7, and for Blocks A and B, Friday, 6/8.
The final exam will cover Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and the elements of literary Modernism. On Thurs./Fri. I hand out a short article discussing Modernism and Post-Modernism, which you should read and understand for next week. One question on the final exam will ask you to apply what you learn from this article to your reading of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
In case you want to cite this article for WA#7, here is the MLA bibliography information:
Literature of the Western World. Wilkie, Brian, and James Hurt, ed. New York: Macmillan, 1988.
Week 33: May 7–11
We discuss Act V of Hamlet, with an introduction to the concepts of narrative fragments and gaps.
We begin work on the last major writing assignment of the year: WA#7 - Intertextual Analysis.
Week 30: April 16–20
Over break you read Act III of Hamlet, and there is much to discuss. Both class sessions begin with reading quizzes. On Tues/Wed the quiz and ensuing discussion focuses on the first two scenes of Act III—Hamlet's confrontation with Ophelia and the play within the play. Thurs/Fri we look closely at the aftermath of the play within the play (scenes 3 and 4).
Also on Thurs/Fri, you review and assess your performance in the third quarter using the course grade rubric.
During conference/STAR-testing week, you are responsible for finishing Hamlet; have it read by the time class resumes on Tues/Wed 5/1–2.
Week 29: April 2–6
This week we continue our routine of reading Hamlet, discussing important scenes in class, and comparing film versions of these scenes. Keep up with the reading (schedule posted along the right of this page); expect a reading quiz for both class sessions.
This is the last week of the quarter, so if you are missing Writing Assignments #5 or #6, wrap them up and get them in by the end of the week.
Week 26: Mar. 12 - 16
More writing workshop for Writing Assignment #6: Crime and Punishment Literary Analysis.
During the Tues.–Wed. class session, you will trade papers with your classmates. By the end of the class you must turn in a form that describes what you learned from reading at least three different student papers. Remember, the principal value of peer editing lies not in the feedback you receive but in the lessons you learn from reading other writers.
For Thurs.–Fri., you must do a deep revision to your paper: substantive changes that improve the quality and structure of your argument. Bring both a digital and paper version of the revised draft for another workshop session at the end of the week.
The final draft is due on the first class of next week: Tues. 3/20 or Wed. 3/21, depending on your block.
Week 25: Mar. 5 - 9
This week is a writing workshop for Writing Assignment #6: Crime and Punishment Literary Analysis.
The second class session (Tues.-Wed.), you will share a thesis proposal for your paper.
The third class session (Thur.-Fri.), you will submit a structural outline. Complete draft of the paper is then due 3/13-3/14.
During the block sessions, you will have a significant portion of classtime to work on your paper, so it is vital that you come prepared to every class this week with
- your copy of Crime and Punishment, and
- all three literary criticism articles that we read last week.
Week 24: Feb. 26 - Mar. 2
This week you will be reading some literary criticism on Crime and Punishment. The reading is college level and will be difficult at times, but if you give it time and focus, you will gain confidence as an academic reader.
The first article, distributed on Monday, is called "Motive and Symbol," by Richard Peace. Read it before the second class of the week (Tues/Wed). In addition to reading, you must do the following:
- Talk to the text (according to your own style)
- Mark at least one passage that resonated with your thinking
- Mark at least one passage that for you is a "wonder," or with which you disagree in some way
- Look up and define at least three words that are unfamiliar to you (in the margins)
- Pay attention to the experience of reading the article. How does it differ from reading narrative fiction?
Be prepared for a quickwrite and/or reading quiz at the next class.
You will read another article between the second and third class of the week. All of this is prepartion for an upcoming writing assignment, in which you must refer to some external literary criticism in an essay on Crime and Punishment.
Week 23: Feb. 13 - Feb. 16
In the aftermath of the Inferno project, we quiet down and catch up on reading, thinking, writing, and talking about Crime and Punishment. You need to finish the novel this week. See the reading schedule to the right. Be prepared for quickwrites and/or reading quizzes for both class sessions, and lots of in-class discussion.
You have a writing assignment this week, WA#5: Inferno Artist Statement, due at the beginning of your last class of the week (Thursday or Friday). Be prepared for a read-around.
Week 22: Feb. 5 - Feb. 9
Exhibition week for the Inferno Mosaic Retelling Project has arrived. Things will be crazy and chaotic, but of course, very creative and exciting. Stay focused, and spend all evenings before the show practicing your part.
MEMORIZE YOUR LINES! Just about everyone needs to put major effort into this. When you are not on stage, you should be working on this.
I would like to put together a program for the show, which provides a sentence or two from each artist (or artist group) that provides some context for the art. By Tuesday morning, on your block's Wiki program page, provide a title of your art piece, label its genre, and give one or two sentences of context. Here is an example for my art project:
Justin Wells
Title: Not My Thirst
Art piece: Song, sung and performed on guitar
Shriveling up on the bottom of the 10th Bolgia of Circle 8, Master
Adamo gives the Inferno's
most vivid description of suffering from the point of view of a sinner.
My song explores the irony of what makes Hell such a terrible place.
Week 21: Jan. 29 - Feb. 2
This is rehearsal week for the upcoming Inferno Mosaic Retelling Project exhibition nights (happening next week; see schedule to the right). During the block sessions of class (Tues. through Fri.), we will use classtime to rehearse the assembled presentations, according to the scripts you have written on Mr. Wells's Wiki site.
Dante art projects must be complete, brought to school, and ready for rehearsal starting Monday, 1/29.
Outside of class, you should be working every night to practice your part of the block's presentation. All lines should be memorized.
For Crime and Punishment, there will be a reading quiz on Monday 1/29 for pages 374–467. After Monday, we will not have time to discuss C&P in class, but you need to keep up on the reading at home, continuing to page 535 by next Monday, 2/5 (see the remaining reading schedule posted to the right).
Week 20: Jan. 22 - 26
Our focus will be on the Inferno Mosaic Retelling Project. The block sessions of our class time (the second and third classes of the week) are workshop time for putting the Dante exhibitions together. By the end of the week, you need to complete your staging map and group script. We go into dress rehearsals next week.
Each block will develop the script for its presentation on Mr. Wells's Wiki site.
Meanwhile, you need to be memorizing and practicing your Dante lines to recite in class during the last class session of the week (Thursday for Blocks C, D, and E; Friday for Blocks A and B).
Continue reading Crime and Punishment every night. There will be a reading quiz on Monday 1/22 for pages 318–374. Read to page 427 by the third lesson of the week.
Course Description
World Literature examines how art has both reflected and shaped the culture of the Modern Era, from the Renaissance to the current age (1500-2000). Students will study the progression of major Western literary movements during this period, including Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism. In addition, students will be introduced to the major lenses of critical theory over the last century, such as New Criticism, structuralism, feminism, and deconstructionism.
The work in this course prepares students for college-level reading (both fiction and non-fiction), critical thinking, and analytical writing.
