Great American Memo

Help me by answering one to three of the following questions in a memorandum to me.

The more insight you have into any one question, the fewer you need to write about. I expect 2-5 pages of double-spaced, Times 12-point writing. I hope you will focus both on the content and the style of the literature you read this year.

1. What two pieces of writing gave you the most interesting thoughts about the central question? How did they do it?
2. What book, poem, movie, or other work of art did we NOT deal with in class, that needs to be a part of the study of American Literature? (Explain why!)
3. Among the independent reading books you read, is there one that should replace Huck Finn, Gatsby, or Grapes as a class assignment? (Explain why!)
4. What lesson(s) were the most helpful or memorable for you this year, and exactly how did it (they) change your thinking in relation to the central question?
5. What unit or aspect of the course was least useful, and what alternative would have been more helpful to you in thinking about the central question?
6. Is there a better central question that this course should be asking, or a more essential one that the course made you think about? Show how things you read this year pushed your thinking in that direction.

BONUS (optional, just for fun): make up two or three ORIGINAL American Literature jokes...

Question: Why did Myrtle Wilson cross the road?

Answer: I don't know, she never made it...

or Answer: Breast reduction...

or Answer: To push up Daisies.