11/5: Here's the link to Paths of Glory online. The analytical paper assignment is attached.
11/3: In addition to the homepage reflection work, choose one of the poems that we have worked on in class. Find either a thematic idea that it has in common with All Quiet on the Western Front OR a stylistic one (like – use of imagery, the –isms, use of metaphor, use of synecdoche, use of sensory details, use of color, of light, etc. ) and find two close reading sections that back up the connection that you are making. Do the close reading of the two novel sections (on a piece of paper), THEN outline at least two different ideas about how the poem and the novel intersect , and for each, pull evidence from both the novel’s close reading sections and the poem.
Examples: if your overarching connection is: both novel and poem treat the idea that war is a place for heroics with cynicism, then one intersection might be the way both portray the situations the men who fight find themselves in with cynicism and another might be the way the idea of war heroes is cynical.
If you are using stylistic connections, then you might be looking at something like: both the novel and the poem use sensory details to illustrate that war is a disease that infects men’s lives – one intersection might be both novel and poem’s use of color and light and another might be their use of synecdoche (part = whole).
11/2: We did some clarifying work on impressionistic and expressionistic writing. We also began work on "More Light! More Light!" (you can find the printed poem and a recording of Hecht reading here). Tonight: Mark up the poem – circle words you do not know and look them up, underline images that particularly stick out and write about why, use those lines as a way into understanding the “plot” of each stanza. Look for word choice, especially patterns in word choice that help you to get a sense of tone (make these notes and those that follow here at the bottom of the page or on the back). Revisit the title and think about how it fits in with or shifts your thinking about tone. LOOK at the images you chose in the first or second read through – pull out at least 4 of these and write about WHY Owen uses them – what he gains, how they propel the poem forward, etc.. Make at least 3 strong connections between this poem and the novel.
10/28: We worked on close reading in All Quiet looking for connections to Paths of Glory. See "AQWF+Ebert+Paths" below.
10?26: We continue to watch Paths of Glory. Friday, I am going to give you an assessment focused on the last several chapters of the book (chapters 8-the end). It will be a mix of factual questions (like: What is wrong with Paul’s mother?) and thoughtful questions (like: write about ways in which Paul explores how war creates enemies of the other and why that matters? OR make connections between the novel and the film that show that each view self-preservation as one of war’s brutalities). You will have some choice about which questions you answer, and this assessment will give you a chance to get some practice with the types of questions I am likely to ask on the final exam. You can bring notes in on an index card (handwritten). Turn this in stapled to the assessment. This grade will go on term 2.
10/22: Continue to read All Quiet. We started watching Paths of Glory today (see below).
10/19: Close reading assignment is due on Thursday (not Wednesday). See the sample below ("AQWF close reading homework sample." Remember that if you want it to count as an assessment, I will be looking at right and wrong and will grade it that way (you will need at least here examples for at least three trays and you need to include analysis). Write ASSESSMENT at the top of the page.
10/16:HOMEWORK: Here's the online text I showed you in class. You can use it to copy and paste your close reading section. Remember to use the "find" function under "Edit" in the toolbar at the top of the screes, NOT the search function on the site itself.). Find the materials you need and the instructions for homework below on page one of "AQWF close read chap 4). That's due on Wednesday. Here's the reading schedule: Chapter 6 for Monday (it’s long – don’t save it for Sunday night). Chapter 7 for Friday (it’s 50 pages long). 8-9 for Monday 10/26. 10 for Wednesday. Finish the novel for Friday 10/30 (read the very last page…).
IN CLASS: On the front of the notecard: tell me the most brutal part of the reading last night and defend it (prove to me that it is MOST brutal)/ Fill the front of the card. We discussed the outcome from groups of close reading, then looked at artistic techniques (see impressionism and expressionism below). I have also attached some of the art that we looked at, including Gassed (students wrote about this piece on the back of the close reading notecard from yesterday). Finally, we looked at two sections from chapter 4 to close read and think about how Remarque uses techniques of impressionism and expressionism and WHY (pages 2 and 3 of "AQWF close read chap 4" below).
10/15: Close reading small groups in an effort to start to see how Remarque is writing about war ( close look at language, thematic ideas, motifs he might be using and why). Start by completing the close reading for your section (see "AFQW close read 2-3" below). Do that work in your blue book. Then, when you are finished, on the front of the notecard: reflect about what you saw. What patterns do you see and why might they matter? How does your passage touch upon the ideas we talked about Tuesday (like brutality, innocence, the difference between those who fight and those who do not, power, comradeship)? What new ideas do you see? Fill the front of the card. Homework: As you finish chapters 4-5 tonight, build on what you did in class. Mark passages that might be fruitful to close read as part of your group work tomorrow.
10/13: On the front of the notecard: List questions and confusions about the reading for today, then react - what was memorable and why? What is your sense of Remarque's view of war? What surprised you? What disgusted you? What character(s) were particularly memorable and why? On the back of the notecard: watch the film made of Kumanyakaa's "Facing It." The first time through, after you've watched, write down what strikes you about the reading of the poem itself. What lines or images stick out and why?