December Literature Circle Posting Assignment (Round Two)

Image: Louise Bourgeois in 1990 with her marble sculpture Eye to Eye (1970) Photo: Raimon Ramis. Taken from Telegraph.co.uk.

This is a 100 point homework assignment.

• You need to make 4 posts in total. There is a Part A and a Part B to each post you make.


• All posts are due by December 23rd @ noon., though you should be posting within the next week. Keep in mind others depend on your comments to continue with their own.


• Please title your posts Post 1-5, Parts A and B, etc.
  Part A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the book (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a couple hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
  Part B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a couple hundred words as a minimum.)

You will be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric.

The above prompts are vague because it is up to you as a group to start to develop your own focus. You can feel free to bring in outside research etc, just make sure you cite or give a link to your sources—but I’m most interested in your “philosophical” discussions about specifics in the books and your ability to discuss the writer’s technique and how he or she affects meaning.

Middle Eastern Feminist Literature (Round Two)

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas

Group members:

Sodaba D.

Jenny L.

Vanessa G

Ashley A.

An interesting "conversation" between Khaled Hosseini and Firoozeh Dumas.

Monsters in Literature: Othello (Round Two)

Group members:
Kristen W.
Mario P.
Kayla P.
Emily C.
Tzivia H.

I'll post image and book when you all finalize.

Comparative Theme: The "Journey" (Round Two)

Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha".

Group members:

Michaela I.

Alinne D.

Mary N.

There's tons of info on this book, like the wiki page, but I think it best if you stick to both your philosophic reaction to the book, comparisons to The Alchemist, and passage explications.

Spirituality and / or Philosophy in Lit Group THE INFERNO (Round Two)

Group members:

Mels R.
Matty Z.
Cynthia R

I'll post an image when you give me the translation of Dante's Inferno that you are all reading.

Ibsen's Ghosts (Round Two)

Group members:

Andy V.
Stephen C.
Carla C.

November Literature Circle Posting Assignment

Image from the ICA at Boston's website. Tara Donovan Through January 4, 2009

This is a 100 point homework assignment.

• You need to make 5 posts in total. There is a Part A and a Part B to each post you make.
• All posts are due by December 5^th @ 3:00p.m., though you should be posting within the next week. Keep in mind others depend on your comments to continue with their own.
• You can also use the comment stream to make some decisions among yourselves about what the posts should be on: topics, parts of the book schedule, or even (for those of you that prefer or think you need a stricter schedule—make one up.)
• Your group should have book # 2 chosen by Dec. 1^st. You may want to do this as soon as possible, in case your book takes a while to acquire.

Please title your posts Post 1-5, Parts A and B, etc.

1. Part A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the book (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a couple hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
2. Part B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a couple hundred words as a minimum.)

You will be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric.

The above prompts are vague because it is up to you as a group to start to develop your own focus. You can feel free to bring in outside research etc, just make sure you cite or give a link to your sources—but I’m most interested in your “philosophical” discussions about specifics in the books and your ability to discuss the writer’s technique and how he or she affects meaning.

Here’s a links to a solid discussion from last year: Madame Bovary. The requirements were a bit vague for the postings and there is a variety of effort and insight in these posts, but on the whole I thought it was quite nice to read.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Group members:

Sodaba D.
Jenny L.
Vanessa G
Ashley A.


Image: "Two Orientalist paintings: Sir Frank Dicksee's Leila and William Clarke Wontner's Safie, One of the Three Ladies of Baghdad; Three colonial picture postcards of young Algerian women--staged, produced and bought by French colonial officers; The original picture from which the cover of Reading Lolita in Tehran was cropped." (Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM) Click link for image in context of an interesting article.

Reading / Posing schedule TBA

Monsters in Literature

Group members:

Kristen W.
Mario P.
Kayla P.
Emily C
Tzivia H.

Looks like we can go with David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Here's a link to the online book, so you can read while you wait for the hard copy of your book.

Posting schedule TBA.

Comparative Theme Group, will change name when you pick...

Group members:

Michaela I.
Alinne D.
Mary N.

Book choice: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Paulo Coelho has a blog. I think it might be nice if you referenced it and maybe even framed some conversations around his topics--but make sure you also write about the book. This is a pretty quick and easy book to read, so you should also force yourself to search a bit for outside material to read and discuss--that way you can also build your theme.

Spirituality and / or Philosophy in Lit Group

Group members:

Mels R.
Matty Z.
Cynthia R

I think a good place to start, to get some "philosphy" from Camus before you being, is his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." You can wiki it to read about the essay as well.

Schedule TBA.

Japanese Literature (possible author study of Kawabata?)

Group members:

Andy V.
Stephen C.
Carla C.

Looks like we are going to start with Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. I think you'll enjoy it. There's some interesting background info here and you can also check out the wiki site.

Some Model Metas

Here's some good model student work for some metas:

For example, look at Ashley's insight (with detailed specifics that refer to the book) for each song on her "soundtrack."

Jenny does the same thing; her meta is not by song, but is more of a personal-prose-reflection. Both are well done. Pick a style that works for you--but please make sure the quality and depth remains.

Also, here are some nice covers with links to metas from

Michaela

and Cynthia

Independent Reading Assignments (Memoir)

Image: Painting Title: Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh V 1957
Francis Bacon (Even great artists imitate other great artists.)

You must complete three out of five assignments. They are worth 20 points a piece. The meta-cognition will be worth 40 points—this is where you will be able to “explain a lot of your choices”, so develop all of your ideas completely.

1. Design a cover. You will be graded on the following items:

• 10 points: Your cover should show creativity, depth in thought, and visually represent important events, themes, or symbols throughout the book. The cover should look professionally and carefully constructed. You may draw or use the computer, but be careful not to commit the visual equivalence of plagiarism.
  If you use someone else’s images, change or collage them until they are your own.
  Make sure you have a front and back cover as well as a spine.
  Spelling the author’s name wrong would be about the worst thing you could do!
• 10 points: You should provide a 100 word description of the book on the back cover. WARNING: DO NOT PLAGIARIZE THIS!—you will risk a zero for an easy part of the requirements. Remember: the point of a 100 word description on the back of a book is to convince someone in a store to buy the book. Remember this when you write the blurb. Why should someone buy this?

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

2. Write a “filler page”. In other words, write what happens in between two chapters or pages or rewrite a page.

• 10 points: The details and facts in your story are factually and contextually accurate in relation to the existing story. This includes the setting and historical time frame!
• 10 points: You successfully capture the tone and style of your author.[1]

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

3. Rewrite a page, but include yourself. In other words, use the author’s style to write your own memoir.

• 20 points: You successfully capture the tone and style of your author.[2]

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

4. Passage Explication Assignment

• 20 Points. Please refer to Passage Explication handout.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

5. Mix CD: The Memoir’s Soundtrack

• 20 Points . Choose 10 songs that you think best fit the memoir (explained in “meta”), whether a connection to lyrics, the tone of mood of the song, etc. Make sure you provide me with a CD.

If you have another creative idea, propose it to me with criteria on which you would like to be graded. I must approve this first.

[1] (which includes, but is not limited to: how author presents dialogue, appropriate word choice, symbols, etc.)

[2] (which includes, but is not limited to: how author presents dialogue, appropriate word choice, symbols, etc.)

Independent Reading Project: Memoirs

My biggest goal this year (since it is your senior year) is to transition you to life beyond high school--in other words, to make myself unnecessary in your life (in less than ten months.) So, I must hand over much of the responsibility of the class to you. In addition to what we study as "whole class texts," you will also be reading books in literature circles as well as independently this year. Our first "unit" (obviously with the college essay in mind) will cover memoirs--and I left a few choice first person narratives on the list because they achieve similar effects that we will be looking into. As you choose a book, you may also want to start to consider what "topic" you are interested in, because we will develop reading plans for ourselves after this first memoir.

Here's a short list of suggestions, but it is up to you to do the research on the books and make sure they fit your criteria. My criteria is that they should be at least 250 pages long (we can fill in the gaps with supplements if need be.)


Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff
Chronicles by Bob Dylan
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Furthering My Education by William Corbett
Kafir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
Gray's Anatomy by Spalding Gray
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
When I Was Cool by Sam Kashner
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)
The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

This is also (obviously) an election year and both major party candidates happen to have compelling memoirs.

And some other first person narratives that may be good to have under your belt for the AP Exam:

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (or any number of his novels)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Nadja by Andre Breton
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Native Son by Richard Wright

and the list goes on...I think I'll add Ms. Pettit's and Ms. Musilli's suggestions to the comment stream when they come in. Any of you can feel free to add a book and explain it a bit in the comment stream.

You will need a copy of the book you choose on Tuesday in class. Please plan accordingly.

Image is Three Studies for a Self-Portrait (1980) by Francis Bacon (the 20th century painter, not the Renaissance thinker) It is expected to reach £5.5m at auction.