No blog for our last class! Regular class meeting on Friday, May 6th

English 3332 students:

In class on Friday, we will discuss this outline for the final exam:

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English 3332 Final Examination

Spring 2016

Date and time: Wednesday, May 11, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 

Part I: Identifications of Quotations. (5 x 8 points each=40 points; closed book.) Please write in complete sentences in the white spaces on the test sheet itself. Each identification should include the author (1 point), title (1 point), speaker (1 point), plot-related context (2 points), and thematic context (3 points). 

Part II: Definitions. (3 x 10 points each=30 points; closed book.) On one loose-leaf page (i.e., one side of a sheet of the attached paper), define these three literary movements, using the literary work that will be specified on the test to illustrate.

      1. regionalism

      2. modernism

      3. postmodernism

To help you prepare for the third definition, here is an additional, concise overview of postmodernism to supplement our textbook’s discussion (950-53):

Variously defined, "postmodernism" can refer to a historical period that began in the 1940s, a style of literature, philosophy, art, and architecture, or the situation of Western society in a late capitalist or postcapitalist age.

The French theorist Jean-François Lyotard succinctly defined postmodernism as "incredulity towards metanarratives;” that is, a skepticism toward the "grand narratives" that seek to explain and plot human life and history. Literary postmodernism is generally characterized by features such as: a mixing of styles ("high" and "low," for example) in the same text; discontinuity of tone, point of view, register, and logical sequence; apparently random unexpected intrusions and disruptions in the text; a self-consciousness about language and literary technique, especially concerning the use of metaphor and symbol, and the use of self-referential tropes. Even though the writers most often associated with postmodernism may deal with serious themes, their work often has absurd, playful, or comic aspects, and sometimes makes special use of parody and pastiche and of references to other texts and artifacts. (“1940s to the Present: Postmodernism,” The American Masters: The American Novel webpage on the PBS.org website)

Part III: Essay. (30 points; open book.) During the exam period, please write a comparison and contrast essay of at least four well-developed paragraphs on Katherine Anne Porter's modernist story, "Flowering Judas" (727-38), and Raymond Carver's postmodernist story, "What We Talk about When We Talk about Love" (1361-71). Please use the definition above and the textbook essays about the two periods (485-505 and 950-53) that these stories represent to create points of comparison and/or contrast between them. You may prepare a one-page essay outline prior to the exam to use while you write the essay. 

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See you in class at 11:00 a.m.,

Dr. K

Conclusion of "Lullaby"

New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo in winter: land, snow, and sky

English 3332 students:

For our final blog of Friday, April 29, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about repetition in the last part of Leslie Marmon Silko's "Lullaby," pp. 1360-61. What earlier elements of the story are repeated in the concluding part? Why do you think these elements are repeated? In your comment, please use at least two direct quotations from the story.

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

Monday's reading assignment:

Sherman Alexie's biographical essay: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/sherman-alexie

Alexie's poems:

"Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World": http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/52923

"How to Write the Great American Indian Novel":  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/52775

Gloria Anzaldúa's selected writings, pp. 1445-62.

Have a good weekend,
Dr. K

Research Paper--Time to Focus on Revisions!

                      


English 3332 students:

For our Friday, April 22, blog, please post a comment of just one well-developed paragraph about the most helpful secondary source of literary criticism you have used for your research paper. In what way is this particular literary critic who authored this source helpful to you? How will you use this critic's insights in your paper?

This week you do not have to reply to another student's comment.

This weekend's reminders:

• Please keep in mind that you may use some secondary sources from other disciplines (social sciences, history, etc.) in your paper, as appropriate to your topic, but that those sources do not count toward your required minimum of seven sources of literary criticism. 
• Also keep in mind that the two literary works you have chosen to write about are primary sources that are not counted toward the required seven sources.
• The paper is due at the beginning of class this Monday, April 25, and the late penalty is 5 points if turned in anytime before midnight on Monday, and 10 additional points per day after that. If you turn in your paper late, you may email it to me as a Word document attachment.

For your convenience, the assignment sheet for the research paper is copied below.

Have a productive weekend,
Dr. K

____________________________________________________

English 3332

Spring 2016

Rough draft due date: Wednesday, April 20^th   

Final draft due date: Monday, April 25^th

Research Paper

Directions: Write an 8-10 page research paper, using MLA documentation style, on one of the topics below. Discuss the ways this topic is represented in two works of your choice, selecting one from each of two (out of the three) different periods covered on our syllabus (i.e., two of these three periods: 1865-1910, 1910-1945, or 1945-present). Delve into controversies that you find in your research, taking a stand, or stake out your own interpretive territory.

Topics:

1. Education and/or literacy
2. Childhood (or another period of our lifespan)
3. Marriage, sexuality, or other gender-related issues
4. Labor/employment or other class issues
5. Racial issues

MLA Format: You can find guidelines for MLA style on the Purdue OWL website. In your paper, use at least seven varied secondary sources of literary criticism—for example, two to three electronic sources, two to three book-length studies, and a few journal articles. Please do not rely primarily on electronic sources. They are generally not as substantial or authoritative as books or journal articles. Journals that provide full-text online access to their contents are not considered electronic sources in this count, but their electronic access information should be included on the Works Cited page.  

Characters on the Road

Hobos of the Great Depression

               

English 3332 students:

For your Friday, April 15, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs in which you contrast the depiction of characters defined by their relationship to the American road by Flannery O'Connor, in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1011-1014) and Jack Kerouac, in "The Vanishing American Hobo" (1124-1147).

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

Reminders for next week:

Monday's reading: Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love,” 1361-71, and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif,” 1398-1415.

Wednesday: draft workshop for research paper.

Have a great weekend,

Dr. K

Selling Oneself

           


English 3332 students:

For our blog of Friday, April 8, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about the topic of American salesmanship and the delusions/myths it is sometimes founded upon in the conversation Willy and Howard have at the New York office of Howard's firm, at which Willy works as a traveling salesman: First watch this 9-minute clip: link for the beginning of Act II

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

Reminder: Monday's reading assignment is Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1011-24).

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K

Computers Take Over!

                  

English 3332 students:

For our Friday, April 1, blog, please read “Contemporary Period: 1945 to the Present,” pp. 950-53 in our textbook, before you post your comment of at least two well developed paragraphs. Please write about the influence of computer technology in America after World War II, drawing upon both what the textbook's editors say about this topic and on what you already know about it.

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

Viewing for Monday:

Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman. ASU library streaming video.

As was the case for The Iceman Cometh last week, watching (and listening to) a relatively unabridged production of the play, which is linked below, is essentially the same as reading it, so for Death of a Salesman, we will rely on the video. It is about one hour and 45 minutes long.

Instructions for watching the film in the ASU library's streaming video collection:

1. Click on this link: ASU library's streaming video of Death of a Salesman

2. Type in your ASU username and password.

3. When the web page for the video opens, click on the triangle play icon.

4. Enjoy!


Have a relaxing weekend,

Dr. K

The Iceman Cometh

               
                     Eugene O'Neill at rehearsal for The Iceman Cometh in 1946

English 3332 students:

This week we will not have a written assignment for the blog because Friday, March 25, is a school holiday. But at home or wherever you can access the Internet over this long weekend, you should put aside the time to watch the 1960 film production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, starring Jason Robards and Robert Redford.

The running time of the video is a bit more than three hours, and you might want to divide your viewing time unless you have that stretch of time available in one sitting. But please keep in mind that you should watch the last hour (or more, if possible) in one sitting so that you will understand the suspense and intensity in the play's climactic conclusion.

Instructions for watching the film in the ASU library's streaming video collection:

1. Click on this:  ASU library link for The Iceman Cometh

2. Type in your ASU username and password.

3. When the web page for the video opens, click on the triangle play icon.

4. Enjoy!

In the play, you will find unfamiliar slang from the New York City area that was used a century ago. Here is a list of terms and definitions that you should review carefully before you watch the film:

1. the iceman: a delivery man who supplied people with blocks of ice for their iceboxes (old fashioned refrigerators that were large coolers needing a steady supply of ice blocks). The jokes about a wife having an affair with the iceman, made by several characters in the play, would be similar today to jokes about a wife having an affair with a UPS delivery man or a cable guy.

2. to croak: to die or to kill

3. a tart: a promiscuous woman (in today's slang, a slut)

4. a ball: a shot of liquor

5. a soak, souse, stew bum, or tank: an alcoholic

6. pie-eyed, paralyzed, oreyed, or stinko: drunk

7. a nail: a sexually transmitted disease

8. a pipe dream: an impossible fantasy (alluding to the hallucinations of opium users, who smoke opium with a pipe.)

9. bughouse: crazy

10. a yap: a stupid person or a mouth

11. a periodical: a drinking binge

12. a grifter: a petty criminal, con artist

13. a bazoo: mouth

14. a drummer: a salesman

15. bejees: short for "By Jesus;" today, this slang expression is shortened to "jeez" or "gee"

16. the Movement: an anarchist group of terrorists who kill innocent people with bombs to send a message to society at large.

Have a great three-day weekend,

Dr. K

Babylon Revisited and Roman Fever

                   
                              F. Scott Fitzgerald and his daughter

English 3332 students:

For your blog of Friday, March 11, please post a comment of two well-developed paragraphs comparing and contrasting the symbolism attached to Honoria and Barbara in, respectively, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited," (710-27), and Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever" (546-55). In your comment please include at least two quotations from each story.

After you post your comment, please reply to at least one of the other students' comments.

Have a relaxing and fun spring break,
Prof. K

"Hugh Selwyn Mauberley"

                               

English 3332 students:

For our Friday, March 4, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about the connections you see between the ideas in "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" (626-35) and those that characterized Pound's intellectual development according to this 20 minute video biography of Ezra Pound: link for streaming video (After you click on the link, please click on "Part of the Films on Demand collection, access requires login to the proxy server." Then type in your ASU username and password. If you have problems opening the video, you are probably using Internet Explorer instead of Google Chrome, so clost the former and open the blog page in the latter.)

In your comment, please include at least three quotations from "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley."

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the others students' comments.

Reminder for Monday: Susan Glaspell. “Trifles,” 585-96; Sherwood Anderson’s “Hands,” 613-18; and Katherine Anne Porter’s “Flowering Judas,” 727-38.

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K

Meet in our classroom today.

English 3332 students:

To prepare for our test on Monday, we will meet in our classroom today, Friday, February 26, instead of having a blog assignment.

See you there,
Prof. K

The Souls of Black Folk in Poetry and Prose

Dunbar's portrait, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC

                                         


English 3332 students:

For our blog of Friday, February 19, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about any connections in ideas that you observe in Chapter 1 of W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk and in the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar that your group was assigned in class on Wednesday. (If you were not in class, please use "Sympathy.") In your comment please use at least two direct quotations from DuBois and two from Dunbar.

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

Reminder of Monday's reading: Stephen Crane. “The Open Boat,” 442-62.

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K

Regionalism to Realism

                       


English 3332 students:

For our Friday, February 12, blog, please post a comment, during the fifty minutes of our class time, of at least two well-developed paragraphs explaining how Kate Chopin's "Désirée’s Baby" (418-24) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" (424-38) illustrate a transition from regionalism to social reform-oriented realism in short fiction written by American women in the late 19th century. Before you write your comment, please click on this link and read this concise and insightful article by Lucinda MacKethan about Southern "Local Color."  

For our Monday, February 15, class, here is the Stephen Crane poetry link. Please read it online if you like to stick with that format or print it out if you would prefer.

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K

Nature in "A White Heron" and "A New England Nun"

                         
                       
                                          A white heron's nest in the pine canopy

                       
            New England's standard of beauty: quaint, plain, white church accents nature

                         
                                    A classic New England cottage like Louisa's


English 3332 students:

For our Friday, February 5, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs comparing and contrasting the depiction of nature in Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" and Mary Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun." Please use as least two quotations from each story (in other words, at least four total) in your comment.

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

For Monday, February 8, please read Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Goophered Grapevine,” 354-64.

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K

Realism Defined via Women Characters: Howells and James

            

                     William Dean Howells and Henry James as young writers

English 3332 students:

For our Friday, January 29, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs comparing and contrasting Julia Tinker and Daisy Miller, the female protagonists of "A Romance of Real Life" and "Daisy Miller," respectively. Please use as least two quotations from each story (in other words, at least four total) in your comment.

After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.

                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alternative topic for those who attended the film screening of Daisy Miller on Wednesday afternoon:

Rather than posting your comment in the blog, please email me (linda.kornasky@angelo.edu) a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about specific differences between the film version of Daisy Miller and the original short story. Please be specific and use quotes from the story to develop your answer.

                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reminders about upcoming reading: please remember to read the Mark Twain selections, pp. 53-55 and 60-69, in the textbook before Monday's class, and please read the poems by Twain on this web site link and here: link for additional poems by Twain.

Have a great weekend,
Dr. K

Welcome to American Literature after 1870!

                         

Dear English 3332 students,

Please read pp. 1-37 in our textbook before posting a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs on this introductory question:

In what ways did the U. S. Civil War affect trends in American literature in the 1865-1910 period, as discussed on pp. 1-37?

After you post your comment, please reply to at least one of the other students' comments in one well-developed paragraph.

Please post comments and replies during the fifty minutes of our class time (11:00-11:50 a.m.).

Handout for Monday's reading: "A Romance of Real Life" by William Dean Howells: story link

Over the weekend, please read "A Romance of Real Life," and please bring a printed copy of this story and your textbook to class with you on Monday.

Have a great weekend,
Prof. K