Homework for Monday, 11/24 (Day 3), and Tuesday, 11/25 (Day 4)

Find a humorous text and bring it to class to share with your classmates. The text may be a short video clip, an audio recording, or a reading. You must also write one-paragraph (in your journal) that discusses how the situation, characters, and language of your text contribute to the humor. If your piece is ironic, discuss the qualities that make it ironic, as well. 

Technical details: If your text is  on DVD, be sure to write down the timer markers for the beginning and end. If your text is online, e-mail the link to me so I can have it ready for viewing in class

 

Homework for Wednesday, 11/12 (Day 2), and Thursday, 11/13 (Day 3)

Write a transitional paragraph that connects the two sections of the paper on Antigone and the story from Uncle Tom's Children. You should continue to work on your thesis, and do anything else you can to improve the essay (find evidence for the Uncle Tom's Children story, make sure that you have interpreted or analyzed your evidence, make sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence that interprets some aspect of the story, and so on). Print two copies of the essay, and either e-mail it to yourself or put it on a flashdrive. This is the last class that you will have to work on the essay; you are off Tuesday and Friday, and the essay is due Monday, Nov. 17 (Day 4), and Tuesday, Nov. 18 (Day 5).

You are bringing two copies to class because with one copy, you will peer-edit your essays on Wednesday and Thursday; the other copy will be for me to compare to your final essay. You need to e-mail it to yourself or bring it on a flashdrive because you will continue to work on it in class. 

On transition essays consider the following from Floyd Watkins, et al., Practical English Handbook, 11th edition:

A transitional paragraph usually occurs in longer essays to indicate that the author has finished discussing one major point and is now moving to another. Transitional paragraphs can be relatively brief as the following example illustrates:

The women of some ancient tribes exercise a great deal of control in the family unit even though they have little political power in the tribe as a whole. The men, on the other hand, may rule the tribe but lack power in the domestic aspects of life. (PEH, p. 61) 

In the preceding paragraph, it should be clear that the first sentence refers to some aspect of the earlier part of the essay, and the second sentence refers to the remainder of the essay. The first sentence summarizes what has already been analyzed, and the second sentence anticipates what is to follow this transition. 

Homework for Monday, 11/10, Day 1

Write one page on a story from Uncle Tom's Children for the essay that you've been working on. E-mail this page to yourself or put it on a flash drive and bring it to class. We will continue working on  the essay in class. The questions for that section of the essay are posted below. In class, we will work on developing a thesis and working on a transitional paragraph from the Antigone section to the Uncle Tom's Children section. 

To clarify, the end product of all the work you've been doing and will do over the next couple of classes is an essay on Antigone and a story from Uncle Tom's Children. The final paper will be approximately four to five pages in length. 

Uncle Tom's Children and Antigone essay

Now that you have worked on revising the Antigone essay, you are now ready to begin writing about Uncle Tom's Children. The following reproduces the topics from the in-class essay, and adds directions for writing about your story from Uncle Tom's Children.

If you answered Topic 1 (whether Antigone is a tragedy), consider the following: In what ways is your story tragic (if it is at all)? Do you find that your story reverses the critic's statement about tragedy's imitation of real life? If it is not tragic, why does it not rise to the level of tragedy?

If you answered Topic 2 (whether Antigone or Creon is the central tragic figure), consider the following: Is the main character of your story a tragic figure? If so, is he or she tragic because of a major failure (like Creon), or because his defeat becomes a triumph (like Antigone), or because of some other criterion? If not, why do the characterization, circumstances, and other factors fail to render your character a tragic figure?

The final version of this essay is due Monday, Nov. 17 ( Day 4), and Tuesday, Nov. 18 (Day 5).

Homework for Wednesday, 10/29, and Thursday, 10/30

For Wednesday, those sections that received the in-class essay should type it over, edit it, and make any revisions necessary for making it a formal essay. These include making revisions according to my comments, referring to specific examples from Antigone, repairing the introduction, and the like. On Wednesday, you will receive the directions for converting this essay into a new essay that compares Antigone to a story of your choice from Uncle Tom's Children. We will have access to a laptop cart on Wednesday, so make sure that you bring a hardcopy of your typed revision and e-mail the essay to yourself so you can continue working on it in class. If you own a laptop, you may bring it to class. 

The section that did not receive their in-class essay (due to my error) should read and annotate the handouts distributed in class and write one journal that combines a response to both handouts. In response to the Margolies article, you should focus on your response to his analysis of Wright's writing; in response to the Miller essay, you should concentrate on the differences between Miller identifies between ancient and modern tragedies.

In-Class Essay Wednesday, 10/15, and Thursday, 10/16

In class on Wednesday and Thursday, you will have to write one essay about Antigone. For reasons I will explain in class, I have decided to offer the same two topics for all of the sections, and you will be able to choose your topic. Here they are:

In a well-organized and well-written essay, address one of the following topics. Be sure to skip a line and write on one side of the page.  You may not use your book, your journal, or any notes of any kind. 

Topic 1: A critic has written that "tragedy begins as art, which real life then imitates." With this observation in mind, do you consider Antigone to be tragic, or do teachers and critics overstate its tragic qualities? In your response, be sure to define tragedy, refer to specific aspects of the play (plot developments, characterizations, conflicts, themes, and so on) in support of your position, and discuss the connection (or lack thereof) between Antigone and real-life tragedies.

Topic 2: Concerning Antigone, one critic has claimed, "The play is about Creon's failure." Another critic has argued that Antigone's "very defeat is [her] triumph," which gives her a "sublime dignity." Based on these observations, who is the play's central tragic figure? Or, can you reconcile these perspectives and argue that the play is about both Antigone and Creon? If you select Creon, consider the following: What exactly is Creon's failure? How does this failure render him tragic? If you select Antigone, address the following: Is Antigone's defeat in fact a triumph? If so, how does this triumph render her tragic? If not, in what ways is Antigone a tragic figure?

How to Write a Journal Entry

With the reading from Antigone due next class, you will write your first journal entry without a prompt. Follow the guidelines in the Google document posted to the right that is labeled "How to Write a Journal Entry." The main thing I want to see in your journal entry is that you are thinking about what you have read. You should annotate as you read Antigone, and you should be prepared to discuss your observations, your significant passage, and your questions. If you have any questions, as always, don't hesitate to ask.