Thanksgiving Break Assignment

Read Ayn Rand's introduction and Part I of The Fountainhead (through page 200). Post answers to the following questions over the break.

1. Explain in detail the reasons for Howard Roark's expulsion from the Stanton Institute of Technology. The Dean states that Roark has "a determined little group of defenders" among the faculty, while other professors "felt it their duty" to vote for his expulsion. Why do the faculty members on each side evaluate Roark and his work so differently?


2. Peter Keating graduates as valedictorian frm the Stanton Institute of Technology. Does this mean that he is an outstanding architecture student? By what methods did he get such high grades? What does this say regarding his moral character?

3. Roark gains employment with Henry Cameron. Cameron, though a genius, is a commercial failure. Why has society rejected his work? Why does Roark nevertheless revere him? What qualities do Roark and Cameron share in common? What is the fundamental difference between them and Francon and Keating?

HW for Thursday 11/12

Read pp 198-202 and do the Make the Connection exercise on p. 202 in your composition book.

Assignment for Monday 11/9

Read the article below and post a one-paragraph summary of the author's argument and a one-paragraph response.

http://american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/abolish-the-sat

Schedule through Monday 11/9

Wednesday 11/4 - Schindler's List Essay Due
The Myth of Sisyphus, pp 898-902,
1. Make the Connection on p. 899
2. Thinking Critically #4, 6 & 7

Thursday 11/5 - Composition Book Check
Sayings of Saadi, pp 564-567
Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching, pp 413-416
Excerpts from the Analects, pp 407-410
Excerpts from the Bhagavad-Gita, pp 370-378

On Monday 11/9 we will discuss all of the above non-western readings and then begin Oedipus.

5-Day Itinerary, 10/23, 10/26-10/29

Friday 10/23 - Thursday 10/29: Schindler's List. The last 5 minutes of each period you will be writing in your composition books in response to the following prompt:

We have discussed the role of character foils in several of the works we have read this semester, and it is clear that Spielberg intended Itzhak Stern to be a foil to Oskar Schindler (or vice versa), especially for the first 2/3 of the story. At the end of each class period, answer this question -
How was each man charatcerized during this part of the film, and how does the "foil" relationship contribute to your impression of each up to this point?

HW 10/23-10/30: Work on response paper.

Questions over The Alchemist and Candide

Post 1 or 2 questions over each novel by class tomorrow. Try to make them tie into the the paper topic.

Example:

1. What is the purpose of Candide's quest? How is his quest different from Santiago's?

HW for Wednesday 9/30

Read Don Quixote, pp 687-702 and complete the following in your composition book for discussion in class tomorrow:

1. Quickwrite on p. 688
2. Question #6 on p. 702.
3. Question #8 on p. 702.
4. Question #9 on p. 702

HW for Tuesday 9/29

Finish the passages from The Inferno (pp 655-665) and answer questions 4-7 on p. 665 in your composition book.

HW for Monday 9/28

Read the Cantos 1 and 3 from The Inferno (pp 649-655).

HW for Friday 9/25

Read all of the introductory material on Dante and The Inferno (pp 645-648) and "discuss" your answers to the questions in the "Make the Connection" section on p. 648 in your composition book.

HW for Tuesday 9/22

Read the introductory material to The Aeneid, pp 268-271. Make sure you bring your textbook and composition book to class tomorrow.

HW for Friday 9/18

Read pp 31-35 in your textbook, then answer Response and Analysis questions 4, 5, 8, and 9 in your composition book. We will discuss these at the beginning of class tomorrow.

HW for Thursday 9/17

Read pp 21-31 in your textbook (from Gilgamesh). As you read, identify at least five words that your are not sure you know (vocab from text does NOT count). Re-write the sentence in which they appear in your composition book, and define the work in context as best you can. We will go over your words at the beginning of class yomorrow.

Homework for Wednesday 9/16

Starting tomorrow we will begin our fist literary unit, The Quest. As many of the works we will cover in this unit are epics and revolve around heroes, go to the site below and read about the characteristics of the epic and epic hero in the Western tradition.

http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/epic_traditions_the_hero.htm

Then answer the following question in your composition book, which you will need to bring to class tomorrow!

1. Write a paragraph about a contemporary hero, real or fictional. Describe your hero and briefly analyze him or her using these questions:
- What sort of evil or oppression does your hero confront?
- Why does he or she confront evil? What's the motivation?
- For whom does your hero confront evil?
- What virtues does your hero represent?

HW for Friday 9/11

Read Charles Baudelaire's Invitation to the Voyage (pp 786-789) and answer guestions 1, 3, and 5 on p. 789.

Homework for Wednesday 9/9

Read the poem below, then post answers to the following questions:

1. The Latin quotation, from the Roman poet Horace, means "It is sweet and becoming to die for one's country." What is the poem's comment on this statement?

2. List the elements in the poem that seem not beautiful and therefore "unpoetic." Are there any elements of beauty in the poem?

3. How do the comparisons in lines 1, 14, 20, and 23-24 contribute to the effectiveness of the poem?

4. What does the poem gain by moving from plural pronouns and the past tense to singular pronouns and the present tense?


Wilfred Owen
Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots (5)
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; (10)
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, (15)
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; (20)
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest (25)
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Glossary of Poetic Devices and Terms

Bookmark the site below on your computer and spend some time this week learning and reviewing the terms you find there.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html