Finishing Touches on the Final Paper

See the "Finishing Touches" link to the right for the handout distributed in class to help you prepare the paper for submission on Tuesday or Wednesday.  See the "Works Consulted" link to the right for a model of what your Works Consulted list should look like. Remember, you must turn in all components of the paper (the précis, the last draft we went over together, and the final version) as well as copies of all of the sources. You do not need to turn in any video recordings. 

Homework for Thursday (5/21) and Friday (5/22)

Read Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV, scene 1 (pp. 101-119). 

Homework for Tuesday (5/19) and Wednesday (5/20)

For Tuesday, complete handout 32-4 on MLA documentation. Then, read Much Ado about Nothing, Act III, scenes 2-4 (pp. 73-93). Finally, bring a flash drive or e-mail your paper to yourself to work on in class. Be sure to have your book and sources as well.

Homework for Wednesday, April 22 (Day 4)

Finish Act I of Much Ado about Nothing. (Be sure to look at the definitions of unfamiliar words and phrases on the bottom of the left hand page.) Prepare for acting by identifying the qualities (voice, posture, how they use words, facial expressions, etc.) of someone you will impersonate in small groups. 

Frankenstein Essay: How to Respond to the Review

I talked about this in some classes, so I want to post this here so everyone understands what to do. 

Respond to the review right after the introduction, or even in the introduction itself. You can use your response to the review to set up the rest of the essay. You can start by saying something like, 

In his review of Frankenstein in the Quarterly Review, John William Croker asserts that Frankenstein "inculcates no lesson of conduct, manners, or morality" (309). An analysis of the theme of domestic affection and social isolation in Frankenstein shows quite the opposite.

Or,

In his review of Frankenstein published ten years after his death, P. B. Shelley observes, "[T]here is no reader...who will not feel a responsive string touched in his inmost soul" (311). A close examination of Frankenstein's theme of domestic affection and social isolation confirms Shelley's claim. 

And then, in a general way, you could go on in the rest of the paragraph to explain why Croker, Shelley, or whoever is wrong or right from the point of view of your theme.

Frankenstein Essay due Tuesday, 4/7, and Wednesday, 4/8

Despite my absence today, your Frankenstein essay is due on Tuesday, April 7 (Day 5), and Wednesday, April 8 (Day 6). Do not hesitate to call me or e-mail me if you have questions about your essay. 

Homework for Friday, 4/3, and Monday, 4/6

Bring two typed pages of your Frankenstein essay. (This means you need to print them out before class.) If you have a paragraph written on the novel or the review, make sure that you have a substantive quote that exemplifies the point you are making. Similarly, any paragraph about one of the movies must discuss a specific scene that demonstrates your point. Be sure to avoid talking about the novel or the movie in general without reference to a specific moment that relates to your argument.

Homework for Wednesday, 4/1, and Thursday, 4/2

Write one page of your Frankenstein essay. For further information, scroll down or click here for the post that describes the essay assignment in detail. In this page, make sure that you include and analyze a quote from the book or a discussion of a specific scene from one of the movies. Since you have unexpectedly viewed The Bride of Frankenstein, you may also write about it for the essay. 

Homework for Monday, 3/30, and Tuesday, 3/31

In your journal, write a one-page response to Young Frankenstein that focuses on its treatment of themes and characters from Mary Shelley's novel. 

Frankenstein Essay due 4/7 and 4/8

Your essay on Frankenstein is due Tuesday, April 7 (Day 5), and Wednesday, April 8 (Day 6). Here is your assignment: Take one of the themes we have discussed in class, or one of the major characters from the novel, and analyze it across the novel, either the 1931 film of Frankenstein or The Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, and one of the reviews you have read. Your essay should consist of at least six paragraphs (an introduction, a paragraph each on your theme or character in relation to the four texts--novel, old movie, Young Frankenstein, review--and a conclusion). 

For example, if you write about domestic affection and social isolation, you can write about how you see this theme in the novel, how it appears in the 1931 film, how Young Frankenstein treats this theme. You may or may not find that this theme is addressed in the review you wish to include. If it is, then you may simply write about it. If it is not, then you should respond to the reviewer's assessment of Frankenstein. (Because it is general in nature, it would be best to put this paragraph right after the introduction or the paragraph on the Frankenstein novel.)

Keep in mind the purposes of the introduction--to introduce your argument, not summarize the paper--and conclusion--to give the reader a sense of your argument's significance by restating (not repeating) your thesis and showing why it matters. You may find materials on the University of Pennsylvania Electronic Edition of Frankenstein helpful to you. (Click on "Contents" and then go to either "Characters" or "Themes.")

Update for Homework due 3/26 and 3/27

For some reason, I can no longer access the desired page from home, either. So, try reading "Frankenstein and Natural Magic," which you can find here in Google Books. Some pages will be omitted; read up to p. 47 of the article (it starts on p. 39 of its book). 

Update (3/26, ~4:00 p.m.): Some students have had difficulty getting access to this page also. When you click on the link, it will bring you to a book titled Frankenstein, Creation, and Monstrosity. Scroll down a little, and you will see a table of contents. In this table of contents, you will see listed the article titled "Frankenstein and Natural Magic." Either scroll down to page 39, where the article begins, or use the arrow just above the table of contents to get there. Now, Google Books does change the pages it makes available. If you cannot read this article, then read seven or eight pages of one of the other articles in this book. In your journal entry, make sure to list the author and title of the article you read.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me. 

Homework for Thursday, 3/26, and Friday, 3/27

Check back later for the link to the article on the Pennsylvania Electronic Edition of Frankenstein. I cannot access the page from school, so I will have to do it at home later today; check back after 6:00 p.m. If you cannot wait, you may select one of the critical commentaries yourself (click on "Critical Commentary") and write a one-page response to it. (Don't try to access this page on campus because it is denying access from the MPH server.) Once again, this assignment is practice for the final paper, where you will have to engage other critics' responses to your book. Take time to consider what you think of the critic's assessment of Frankenstein in light of your own thoughts about the book. 

Homework for Tuesday, 3/24, and Wednesday, 3/25

First, read the reviews of Frankenstein found on pp. 300-312 of your book. (In class, we read numbers 1 and 3.) Then, in your journal, write a one-page assessment of those reviews. You may write about one of them, all of them, or any number in between. Essentially, you are writing about your thoughts about Frankenstein in relation to one or more of these critics' perspectives on Frankenstein. You may consider the following questions: In what ways do you agree or disagree with them? What do they say that sounds especially true or terribly wrong? Do you agree with them in general but disagree on some specific points?

Précis

The précis is a summary of your argument. It should be no longer than one double-spaced page. In the précis, you should clearly state your main argument and discuss how you will develop that argument. Doing so may involve discussing two or three points related to your central argument.

In discussing your argument, you are writing about the main points you want to address in your essay. In developing this argument, it may be helpful to consider the following questions, all of which may be addressed in your précis: What do you have to say about your book? What key scenes or evidence will you discuss? How did you arrive at your topic?

Be sure to avoid passing off the following sentence as your argument: "In my paper I will discuss the differences between Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby." As we've said from the beginning of the year, this isn't an argument. Instead, you need to make a claim about those differences: "In my paper, I will argue that the differences between Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby reveal the risks and consequences of failing to accept who you really are." Now you're saying something.

Be sure to include three sources that you will potentially use in your essay. Do not stress about the format for these sources. Simply present the following information: the author, the title of the article, the title of the publication (e.g. Time, or The Journal of Contemporary Literature), and the date of the publication. We will use these unformatted listings of the sources as a way to learn how to correctly use the MLA format, which is presented in your Pocket Style Manual.

Remember, this should not be longer than one page.

Frankenstein Online

You will find below the link for the University of Pennsylvania's online hypertext of Frankenstein which I have shown in class. It is an outstanding resource for understanding the book and placing it in its proper context. Within the text, it provides links that illuminate details of the time period and provides definitions for some words that are specific to Mary Shelley's time period. Click on the "Table of Chapters" to get started.

http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/frank.html

Completing your book for Wednesday and Thursday

A few students have asked about getting an extension for the book that is due on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. After giving it some thought, I have decided I will not give an extension for completing the book, but I will give an extension for completing the journal entries.

The annotated book is worth up to ten percent of the paper's grade. Tomorrow and Thursday, you will receive a certain number of points for your book whether or not you have finished it. To be clear: I will not look at the book at a later date and then give you additional points for it. The points you receive tomorrow will remain the points you earn for this portion of the paper's grade.

Nevertheless, I will allow you to have until Tuesday, March 3 (Day 5), and Wednesday, March 4 (Day 6), to complete the four journal entries for (potentially) five bonus points.

I want to emphasize that delaying the journal entries is not purely beneficial to you. Over the next week, we will be starting a difficult novel in Frankenstein. The following week, on March 11 and 12, the one-page précis with three sources is due. So, understand that by putting off the journal entries, you are making it harder to keep up with other work that is due. So, if you have finished your book, you should turn in the journal entries on the original due date. If you haven't finished your book, well, sometimes it is better to take you lumps and move on.

Assignment Schedules posted

Note that the third-quarter assignment schedules are posted to the right, under the heading "Assignments and Syllabus."

Short Essay Due 2/4 (Day 3) and 2/5 (Day 4)

Essay Topics on The Stranger and The Battle of Algiers

Compose a well-crafted essay on one of the themes below in relation to The Stranger and The Battle of Algiers. This essay is due on Wednesday, February 4 (Day 3), and Thursday, February 5 (Day 5).

This essay should be roughly four paragraphs in length: an introduction, a paragraph on The Stranger, a paragraph on The Battle of Algiers, and a conclusion. Remember your writing of the tragedy essay—the introduction should mention both texts, and it should say something about how these texts illuminate the theme your essay takes up. By the same measure, your conclusion should not summarize the essay. Instead, it should give the reader a sense of why your thesis is important—it should give the reader an idea of what really matters when they think about this theme.

Your paragraph on The Stranger should include a quote that you then analyze. Be sure to include page numbers only in parenthetical references. Your paragraph on The Battle of Algiers should include specific references to scenes or dialogue, and so forth.

You may decide that you need a transition paragraph that links the two sections. If so, this should be a brief paragraph of maybe one or two sentences. You may find that you can link them with a sentence at the end of The Stranger paragraph or the beginning of The Battle paragraph.

Individual and Society

Choice and Responsibiity

Silence and Communication

Absurdity and the Meaning of Life

Final Paper Book Selection

Just a reminder that your book selection for the final paper is due Tuesday, Jan. 27 (Day 3), and Wednesday, Jan. 28 (Day 4). You will find the link to the final paper assignment to your right under "Assignments and Syllabus." Your selection of the book is worth 5% of the final paper's grade. 

A little more time...

Since some students haven't had their writing conference yet, we will postpone the due date for revisions to Jan. 28 and Jan. 29. Once again, you may choose which paper you wish to revise, and that grade will be calculated as an additional grade; it will not replace the original grade. 

Adjustment in the Schedule

The assignment schedule posted to the right mentions that all revisions must be turned in this week. I will change this due date to Monday, January 26, and Tuesday, January 27. Beginning with Thursday's and Friday's classes (1/15 and 1/16), we will set aside time during class to confer about your writing across all of your assignments.

Reminder for Friday, 1/9, and Monday, 1/12

Once again, e-mail to me your journal entry for The Stranger by the night before class. Friday's class must read pp. 34-59, and Monday's class must read pp. 34-71.  Be sure to include two questions about the reading as part of your journal entry. 

Reminder

Just a reminder to e-mail me (fmontas@mph.net) your journal entries for The Stranger, pp. 11-33.  Be sure to follow the guidelines distributed in class for writing a journal entry.