UNIT II ASSIGNMENT + ESSAY SHEET
· Your UNIT II Essay will be your second textual analysis.
· Essay will be five full pages of analytical writing + a Works Cited with three source materials (one will be your primary text + two others that shed new meaning on your analysis).
· This Portfolio will constitute 20% of your overall grade.
· We will take American Gothic literature as our main focus for this unit. Gothic literature is a reaction to mainstream culture. By understanding this reactionary literature, we will gain a better understanding of problematic issues in American history and culture. Many of America’s best writers have worked in this mode. How come? Are we by nature pulled in by misfits, the weird, outcasts, abnormality, and the deranged (vampires, werewolves, phantoms, etc)?
· In the text American Gothic, editor Charles Crow states: “To understand American literature, and indeed America, one must understand the Gothic, which is, simply, the imaginative expression of the fears and forbidden desires of Americans.” Through a cross-genre study of fiction and poetry, we will gain entry into bigger issues of race, region, class, gender, and history itself.
· JOURNALS WILL BE DUE ON OCT 21.
☼ TUES, OCT 7 ☼
►Unit I Essay Portfolio will be due in the first 10 minutes of class.
►Unit I Self-Evaluation
►View the film Smooth Talk (dir. Joyce Chopra, 1985). This film won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in ‘85 and is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
►Journal Entry #11: notes from the film. Just jot reactions & initial thoughts. Yup, this is a crazy film to watch—a bit disturbing, no? Try to get 250 typed words.
►Homework from WR: read Joyce Carol Oates’ fictional short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” on pg. 207-219. This is one dense short story absolutely laden with symbol & metaphor: it is pretty much nuts! I mean, why all the flies & weird religious stuff? What do you make of the dedication “For Bob Dylan”. Look heavily into the time period when this was written: what was going on in America during this era (this will explain a lot of the narrative)?
►Journal Entry 12: 250 typed words of critical thinking analysis over this intrinsically gothic short story. Include textual strategy terms from the SG (pg. 124-5). Look into the story on the web: why did she write it? Tucson has something to do with her initial interest in a narrative like this. Do a bit of footwork via research (or, have fun Googling this crazy thing!), as your UNIT II Essay will involve some research and you should always have fun with your research. As always, do you on the page.
☼ THURS, OCT 9 ☼
► Oates discussion day
►Homework: read Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” (handout). This gothic poem is but five lines long and is without a doubt one of the most famous—if not the most famous—war poem ever written. I know you’re thinking OH NO, not a war poem. But this thing is just stellar—try to get below the surface here—few readers like it or even fully get it at first, but afterwards you might change your mind. It has such a powerful message that I promise you will not forget it any time soon.
Journal Entry #13: 250 typed words over this seminal war poem. Give reactions, think metaphorically; do you “get” what the poet is doing here? What is Jarrell’s message? Why is this thing as famous as it is? Who was the poet? What can you find out about him via Google? What makes this poem gothic?
☼ TUES, OCT 14 ☼
►Jarrell day: let’s split our minds in half…yeh!
►read Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” (on D2L; print & have in class—I will do a check). This is for real southern gothic—especially the ending, yikes.
►Journal Entry 14: 250 types words of critical thinking analysis. What do you make of Hurston’s story? What do you know of the author? Knowing a bit of her story is key, so do some footwork here. Why is this gothic? Try your hand at a thesis statement for this entry.
☼ THURS, OCT 16 ☼
►Hurston’s “Sweat” day
► Homework: read Louise Gluck’s “Gretel in Darkness” (handout).
►Journal Entry #15: 250 typed words of analysis over this poem that seeks to turn our girl Gretel into a madwoman. What are your initial impressions? What is Gluck trying to accomplish? How is she accomplishing it?—(look to textual strategy terms in your SG). In your opinion, why is this poem gothic? And further, why, as a culture (Hollywood!), are we so dang interested in returning to fairy tales? Do you know the orig. Grimm Bro’s tale?
WEEKEND HOMEWORK: JOURNALS WILL BE DUE ON TUESDAY, THE 21ST. You must have 15 typed entries in the folder, hole-punched. Due in the first 10 mins of class.
☼ TUES, OCT 21 ☼
► Journal Entries 1-15 are due (FIRST 10 MINS OF CLASS).
►Gluck’s “Gretel in Darkness” day
►Homework: read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (D2L—have on you in class on Thurs). Do a Google search to find out more about the author and the mov’t she was at the helm of: southern gothic! You might want to know a little about Catholicism, as you’ll find the “redemption of Christ” is a huge theme as is religion in general.
►Journal Entry 16: 250 typed words of critical thinking discourse. Really hone in on what the “revelation” is and why this is a central gothic text. Use textual strategy lit terms from your SG. Why is this gothic? Why would O’Connor write this story—what is her intention here? Make sense of the title.
☼ THURS, OCT 23 ☼
► O’Connor day: seems our good lil ole peahen raisin’ southern lady was a bit out there, eh?
►Choose which text you want to write your UNIT II Textual Analysis over. You have Oates, Jarrell, Hurston, Gluck, or O’Connor to choose from.
►Weekend homework: compile your FORMAL OUTLINE for your chosen text.
Formal Outline = 1 strong analytical thesis statement (author’s intent + the core truth of the text) + 7-8 topic sentences + supporting details that include quotes from the text and research already well-organized. See Hacker pg. 20 for an example of an outline.
►A copy of your Formal Outline will constitute Journal Entry 17.
►Print two copies for class on Tues. Without this draft, you will have no function in class and will be asked to leave and given an absence. I H-A-T-E to do this, so please get it done. Knuckle down!
☼ TUES, OCT 28 ☼
► FORMAL OUTLINE PEER REVIEW (6 per semester = 7.5% of overall avg.)
►Homework: Rough Draft is due for peer revision on Thurs = five full pages of writing + a Works Cited with three sources (one will be the primary text + one speaking towards gothic nature perhaps + one adding another layer of understanding to the text).
► Print a copy for class. This is a must: I will check.
► Essay must be in MLA at this point.
► Without this draft on Thurs, you will be asked to leave class & given an absence. Work hard—I am here as always if you need me.
☼ THURS, OCT 30 ☼
►Rough Draft Peer Review
►Peer Review sessions are 7.5% of your overall grade so please be ready today.
►Weekend homework: the final draft of your UNIT II Essay which you will turn in as a portfolio = final draft + your rough draft + peer critique sheets + formal outline + peer critique sheets
--If your portfolio will not staple, please get a binder clip.
--The essay is due the first 10 mins. of class.
☼ TUES, NOV 4 ☼
► UNIT II Portfolio is due today in the first 10 mins of class. See syllabus for late policy.
► Essay Two is 20% of your overall grade.
--UNIT II Self-evaluation
UNIT II ESSAY SHEET: Gothic Textual Literary Analysis
· Due TUES, NOV 4 (first 10 mins of class)
· Length requirement: 5 pages of textual analysis
→ Works Cited would be page 6 at the very least
· Sources required: 3 (1 primary text + 2 minimum contextual sources. One source might want to allude to gothic literature)
· 20% of your overall grade
For this UNIT II Essay, write a textual analysis on one of the assigned readings from either UNIT II. Pick a text that is interesting to you: you will write a better essay if you are genuinely interested in/puzzled by/enthralled with your primary source. Your choices are Oates, Jarrell, Hurston, Gluck, or O’Connor.
from Literature: A Portable Anthology: “To analyze, by definition, is to take something apart and examine how the individual parts relate to one another and function within the whole. Typical candidates for lit analysis include plot development, characterization, tone, irony, and symbols, etc.”
►Incorporate textual strategies from your SG, pg. 124-5.
Your Unit II Essay should make a claim about the meaning of the text. This is your thesis. A strong thesis statement makes a claim that is debatable, innovative, and manageable for the essay length requirement. The thesis resides in the introductory paragraph & needs to be immediately discernable, concise, and succinct. A thesis statement is one sentence in length and asserts your central point-of-view. In a textual analysis thesis statement, you must concisely get at the core truth of your primary text and your author’s central intention.
· Organize your essay in standard academic fashion: an introduction, thesis, topic sentences, well-developed paragraphs, with a conclusion.
· Select a creative title that reflects what you are doing in your essay.
· This UNIT II ESSAY WILL BE TEXTUAL + slightly CONTEXTUAL: look at the context— the space around the text—in order to find fuller understanding of the primary text itself. Use the gothic theme here.
· Your sources will build this context = the other two sources. A context can be build by looking at the author’s bio, the time period, what socially/politically/historically was going on around the time of the text’s publication, etc...External contextual sources must enhance the analysis and understanding of your primary text.
· Use direct quotes from the text as your evidence, and in your in-text parenthetical, cite the page number (for the story) or line (for poem).
· Head your paper and cite using MLA conventions exactly. Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker has every rule you need to know and more: Sec 59a/b will be your MLA guide.
· Some summary can be included in your analysis, but avoid lengthy plot summary: assume your reader has just read the text, is well-educated, and has the text sitting in front of her.
· For each point (topic sentence) you make in support of your thesis, provide explanation and analysis to allow your reader to see the text as you see it (P.I.E.). An “A” essay is one that provides sufficient depth of analysis to make your point clear.
· In this UNIT II Essay, push past the 5-paragraph essay form. The problem with any formula is that, while it may be successful up to a point, it becomes predictable, boring, and limiting.
· Sec 4 of Rules for Writers covers paragraph development/organization and is a great tool for you. **59a covers in-text citations (--) / 59b covers everything you need to know for your Works Cited page.
Assignment Requirements:
Essay II should be at least 5 full pages in length. You may, of course, write longer should the urge strike you to do so, but keep the essay within 7 pages, using double-line spacing, with 1” margins, 12 point font, and Times New Roman. Your target audience is an educated, college-level reader. You must write in standard written English with correct grammar and mechanics to receive full credit.
Make sure to include literary terms covered in class thus far. You should review the rubric before submitting your final draft.
· Essays must be in present tense.
· Please avoid using “I” and “you” references as they are informal.
· Avoid usage of the vague pronoun “It”: name what “it” is instead—-be exact/specific.
· Make sure to allow time to fully revise/polish. Most of the Unit I issues were due to a lack of overall polish.
· The THINK TANK is available for peer tutoring.
· I am available to meet during office hours.