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