Old Stuff at the Bottom. New Stuff at the top. HBL: A Block and G Block: Go to the integration lab and either finish working on your projects (last day) or begin reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. I want you to read the digital text today and take notes on the following questions? 1. What are the challenges of reading a digital edition of a text? How do you read it differently than you do a book? If all texts are going towards digital editions and, as students, we are going to be spending even more time in front of our computers, how do we learn to really read texts like this? 2. How is this relatively short story a novel? Or is it? What makes it British? How can we, even reading the first few pages, begin to link it to the other works of literature we've read this year? Do these connections teach us something or do they seem rather silly? 3. Imagine that you were the teacher for a second. How would you teach this book to students across different age ranges (juniors and seniors) and how would you teach it to students of the different levels in Winchester? How could you make this book--as old and dusty as it might seem--something that students would enjoy reading? What materials would you need to make this happen? Algebra and the structure of the academic essay:
X+3=6 x=3 So how do you check your results: (3) +3 = 6 You place the answer back into the original equation to see if it makes a true statement. So, in our example the final paper is like the algebraic equation. It may be (perhaps should be) to complex a formula to be able to wrap your mind around in an instant, but if you've got a solid thesis that is consistently pursued by your paragraphs and their analytical topic sentences, then you can take those results, those statements, and put them together in a paragraph to see if they render a coherent, cohesive synopsis of your analysis of the text. Here's the process: Cut and paste your thesis and the topic sentences of all of your paragraphs into a single master paragraph. Thesis Topic Sentence 1 Topic Sentence 2 Topic Sentence 3 Conclusion TS The resulting paragraph should, 1. Make sense. 2. Be primarily argumentative. 3. Equal a convincing abstract--a way of saying synopsis for academic writing. If the structure of the paper doesn't work, then the paragraph will not make any sense. Rewrite the offending sentences to mean what you really want to say and then revise the paragraphs (if necessary), to support the points you need to make Honors British Literature:
Please pair up on a computer to workshop your papers. I've been talking to many students over the past few days and I've seen one common motif, the hypotheses aren't as analytical or as debatable as they should be. And if your thesis (developed from your hypothesis) isn't strong enough, then you won't be able to write a good paper. Please remember that if no one disagrees or questions what you say, then you are writing a report, not an analytical argumentative essay. The example essay we read yesterday, despite its flaws, made a startling and debatable argument. It not only fueled the essay, but could have easily prompted a spirited class discussion. And this is what good analytical essays do: they start conversations that lead to a new understanding of the literature.
As you begin to draft your work you should not only have a thesis that needs a vigorous defense, but topic sentences that directly support and prove what you want to say about your chosen text.
So, please check your thesis and your argument with your partner. Yes, I said thesis. At this late date in the assignment you should have done all your research and should be ready to reform your hypothesis into statement that you can prove. At the end of sixty-seven minutes you should be ready to write your paper. The prewriting should be done. What do Titles Essays Do, Exactly?
It is not uncommon for students of HBL to use titles incorrectly. Each year I get numerous essays that have titles like, "Essay number one", or , "Dracula Essay". Worse yet, I often get multiple essays with no title at all. This year we are going to nip this problem in the bud. I will penalize the writer of any essay who has an ineffective or missing title the equivalent of 1/3 of a grade. You have been forewarned.
So, if titles are so important, what is it that they do? To find out, please log into JSTOR through our Winchester account. Username: Password:
First Essay Topic:
Assigned for Meeting 3 of the current cycle
September 23-24, 2009 Due Thursday, October 1, 2009
Using one analytical "scalpels" we discussed last class, write a paper of up to 1000 words that close reads either Frankenstein or Dracula. Although I fully intend for you to use the group research you did yesterday as the foundation for your thesis, it should be obvious that if you choose to write on Dracula, or if you choose to write using an analytical tool other than the one picked by your group, you will have to start the process from scratch. (This is not necessarily a bad thing because you’d get extra practice!)
This essay should be shared with me as a Google doc with proper formatting (figure it out!) with the following document title: (Name) Gothic Novel Essay (Block) HBL. Keep in mind that this is the document title, not the title of the paper itself. Everypaper should have a good title. If this document naming and sharing formula is not done properly, you will be docked three points on your final essay grade. Please follow the MLA documentation and essay formatting tips found on the Purdue OWL web site. Include the proper title information at the beginning of the document. Please, don't be lax with the presentation of your written work. First Impressions (which happens to be the original title of Pride and Prejudice) are important, even if they may be erroneous.
If you feel lost, please review the websites I provided that discuss close reading. You may also choose to read on of the more successful essays from last year’s first efforts. These are located at the bottom of the HBL page.
Day 2, September 18-22:
Pretty much every work of literature can be pulled apart using a couple of basic interpretive vantage points. The problem with this method is that inexperienced critics (and really bad professors and teachers) can come to have a political or ideological stance that they map onto the text. They read the text from this point of view, force it to say what they want it to say and then exclaim, "Eureka!" This text is about ______, and I'm the best literary critic ever because every text works just like I said it should.
This is a disingenuous and lazy methodology, if you've been trained to read carefully. Today's exercise is meant to show you how to one can use these larger categories as a place to start a careful close reading of the text. Here are the topics.
Old School conflicts in literature: Man v. Man, Man v. Himself, Man v. Nature, Man v. Society
In many cases, these ideas overlap, but if you have these thematic elements in your tool kit, you'll always be able to approach a text.
Mining Quotations, Making Connections: Close Reading and Writing. Google Doc: (Name) First Close Reading (Block) HBL
Please analyze the following quotation to the best of your abilities. Locate the significance of the descriptive language and the dialogue to ferret out the possible importance of this quotation. Attempt to read closely: pay attention to grammar, to punctuation, to location—in short, any bit of language that you see as important. Then write a full, formal paragraph that attempts to situate quote relative to the issues we’ve already discussed in the text. Please write neatly! This is a writing assignment and a prelude to our discussion of the college level essay. You have twenty minutes:
“Of what strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on a rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand" (85).
Harvard University’s writing lab on the subject: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html Jack Lynch, Professor at Rutgers University: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/EngPaper/close.html George Mason University: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rmatz/close_reading.htm Frank Lentricchia, noted writing teacher and literary scholar: College Board (those wonderful people who administer the SAT): http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/189995.html A college course (At Stanford) devoted to the subject: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/english/deptWebFiles/syllabi/1439syllabus.doc University of North Carolina Writing Center : The differences between High School and College Writing
Harvard University Writing Center Resources : This is how they tutor writing at Harvard. It might work for us.
How to write Analytical Paragraphs : Even Community Colleges have much to teach.
2009 Close Reading Example
Frankenstein, p. 85
Quotation:
“Of what strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on a rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand" (85).
Analysis: Thanks to two G Block students!
The creature is born with a blank slate for a mind and has developed to the maturity that he can reflect on his own mental development. The sophistication of his speech, with the inclusion of figurative language, "like a lichen on a rock" demonstrates his advanced intellectual capacity. However, he includes language that suggests a negative connotation to knowledge, such as the words "clings" and "seized", as well as its comparison to a parasite. He reveals that thought brought him not a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, but instead a "sensation of pain". His new ability to think and feel proves to be an obstacle he believes he needs to "overcome". The way the sentence is articulated makes it seem that thought and feeling are the equilivant of pain in his mind. While thought and knowledge brings the monster pain, he recognizes that the unknown brings fear. He believes death to be the only escape from pain, but is trapped as the uncertainty of life after death brings him uneasiness. Its paradoxical that he "wished sometimes to shake of all thought" but also fears the unknown realm of the afterlife.
Each paragraph has an audience and a rhetorical aim.
Each paragraph of literary analysis ought to contain:
1. Analytical topic sentence
2. Properly contextualizes, properly cited evidence.
3. Analysis of the evidence that proves the topic sentence
4. A concluding sentence that stages the next paragraph.
Mining Quotations, Making Connections: Close Reading and Writing. Google Doc: (Name) First Close Reading (Block) HBL
Please analyze the following quotation to the best of your abilities. Locate the significance of the descriptive language and the dialogue to ferret out the possible importance of this quotation. Attempt to read closely: pay attention to grammar, to punctuation, to location—in short, any bit of language that you see as important. Then write a full, formal paragraph that attempts to situate quote relative to the issues we’ve already discussed in the text. Please write neatly! This is a writing assignment and a prelude to our discussion of the college level essay. You have twenty minutes:
“Of what strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on a rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand" (85).
Harvard University’s writing lab on the subject: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html Jack Lynch, Professor at Rutgers University: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/EngPaper/close.html George Mason University: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rmatz/close_reading.htm Frank Lentricchia, noted writing teacher and literary scholar: College Board (those wonderful people who administer the SAT): http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/189995.html A college course (At Stanford) devoted to the subject: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/english/deptWebFiles/syllabi/1439syllabus.doc University of North Carolina Writing Center : The differences between High School and College Writing
Harvard University Writing Center Resources : This is how they tutor writing at Harvard. It might work for us.
How to write Analytical Paragraphs : Even Community Colleges have much to teach.
What exactly is a novel?
The term novel derives from the french word meaning new. In the first half of the 18thc century, when the novel in English was being developed, the novel represented something truly new in writing. Since its inception, the novel has continued to be the dominant literary form in the English language. This domination continues today. Our goal is to answer the following question:
What is a novel? Why is it still culturally relevant?
Using at least three internet resrouces not listed on the first page of a google search. I'd like your group to write a research paragraph that addresses these two questions. This should be shared as a google doc with the following subject line. Please do this properly.
Names Defining the novel A Block HBL
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Welcome! Mr. Eric Lister
English Department
Winchester High School
80 Skillings Road
Winchester, MA 01890
781.721.7020
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