Extra Credit

There are many opportunities for extra credit in my class. All extra credit is only collected on exam day at the end of a book in the extra credit folder. The possible number of points is provided in parenthesis below. This is the maximum based on effort, sophistication, thoughtfulness, and creativity.

Extra credit will be added to the lowest test grade or essay grade in that grading period.

Here are some options for extra credit:

1. Attend a publicized play production, bring me back the ticket stub with your name on it and write a 350+ word analysis of the play. What did you experience? What connections did you make? What did you learn by attending and seeing it in person? The more specific, the better (10 points max)

2. Read a scholarly essay about the novel or play we're reading in class. Ask Mr. Chilton for essays to borrow or read. There is a potential ten points of extra credit for doing this assignment. You are not guaranteed that much, it is based on the thoroughness of your response, the amount of work you put in, the sophistication of your thoughts, and the art of your writing. Write a 500+ word response to one of these questions (10 points max):

    1. Print out the essay and turn in a thoroughly detailed annotated copy with questions, arguments, exclamations, praises, and analysis

    2. Standing on this giant’s shoulders, what do you see differently about the play?

    3. How did this essay change your perspective on a specific character?

    4. If you were this professor’s colleague at their prestigious university, how would you respond/critique/provide feedback to their essay?

    5. What did they leave out? Need to add? Further evidence they should have provided?

    6. Write an essay of questions about this essay and play. Each question must link to the previous. Not randomly connected, but linked with thoughtful transitions.

    7. Analyze and discuss the thesis and supporting points of the essay itself.

    8. Analyze and discuss (like above) but in terms of arguing (agreeing and disagreeing and qualifying) with their views about the play itself.

    9. Apply given criteria (figurative devices, thematic material, specific passages) to a passage from the essay and or the play.

    10. Take a critic’s thesis and fill in your own examples to support what they neglected.

    11. Compare two diverging views of a passage or perspective on a character from multiple essays and argue for/or against one or the other. Must use careful analysis of each essay to prove understanding and analysis of all three sources (both essays and the novel) to receive full credit.

  1. Other ideas? Propose them to me and we’ll find something that works for us both.

3. Film analysis: Watch a film version of a famous book of "literary merit," ideally one which we read in class. Ask Mr. Chilton to borrow if you don't have access to one. Write an 500+ word analysis of the film using one of the following prompts (10 points max):

    1. How did this film change your perspective on a specific character?

    2. If you were this director’s film colleague at film school, how would you respond/critique/provide feedback to their film? How did you appreciate or critique their work from your professional opinion?

    3. What did they leave out? Need to add? What needed more development when compared to the book?

    4. Write an essay of questions about this film and work of literature. Each question must link to the previous. Not randomly connected, but linked with thoughtful transitions.

  1. Read a scholarly essay on this film adaptation. Print out the essay and turn in a thoroughly detailed annotated copy with questions, arguments, exclamations, praises, and analysis. Ask Mr. Chilton if you can't find one online (Advanced Search on Google, limit your domain to ".edu" and use key words "film analysis or interpretations")

  2. Other ideas? Propose them to me and we’ll find something that works for us both.

4. Book Reviews: You may receive extra credit for creating and turning in the Extra Credit folder any Book Reviews (see your "Reading Packet" for a blank example or this document: Book Review) from books you've previously studied in high school English classes or classics you've been reading on your own.

Limit of one book review per test.

Freshmen, sophomore, junior years? I'd recommend Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Huck Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. Reading any classic books on your own time? (5 points max)

5. Artistically respond to a work of literature we read this year: a novel, play, or poem. For example, create a painting about Lady Macbeth, draw a picture of Antigone, etc. The good ones will be on display in Chilton's room this entire year, the best ones will be on display forever. (10 points max)