BOOK REVIEWS

For examples of book reviews for your own bookshelf book review project, check out this review of Aimee Bender's book and this review of Junot Diaz's book.

Presentation Dates

WEDNESDAY – 12/5

Baizhan

Melissa

Mark

Guled

Luisa

Jefly

Ikenna

MONDAY 12/10

Hassan

Cheyenne

Mike

Muhammad

Raymond Lamothe

Raymond Leiva

Aileen

Leo

Tsiane

WEDNESDAY 12/12

Jennifer

Juliana

Lovely

Tony

Jean Paul

Sotheary

Hicham

Resources for Poetry Presentations

The close reading slideshow can be found here. You can also consult this handout on writing about poetry.
 

If you want to make a Power Point of your own, this is a great set of instructions.

The following sites are great places to look for bios of poets and/or recordings of their work:

poets.org
poemhunter.com
biography.com
poetryarchive.org

Homework for Wednesday

Read Ch. 8 & 9. Write a paragraph explaining the use of literal and figurative language in your assigned poem.

IMPORTANT!

BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR BHCC EMAIL FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT TOMORROW'S CLASS!

Son of a Citation Machine

Use this link to create your citation:

http://citationmachine.net/index2.php?reqstyleid=1&mode=form&rsid=3&reqsrcid=MLAChapter&more=yes&nameCnt=1&source_title=Anthology%20or%20Compilation%20(including%20textbook)

Using Quotes. Paraphrases and Summary in a Literary Analysis Paper

You can review the handout we looked at in class here:
http://www.gmc.edu/students/arc/documents/Literary%20analysis.pdf

You can also find a list of signal phrases here:
http://www.plattsburgh.edu/files/2/files/Signal%20Phrases.pdf

Assigned Poems

Hassan – “It’s Raining in Love” by Richard Brautigan

Baizhan – “Death Be Not Proud” by John Donne

Cheyenne – “Legacy” by Amiri Baraka

Melissa – “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron

Michael – “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks

Mark—“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop

Jennifer – “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds

Juliana – “Elvis Kissed Me” by T.S. Kerrigan

Hicham – “The Colonel” by Carolyn Forche

Lovely – “Making a Fist” by Naomi Shihab Nye

Guled -- “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by William Shakespeare

Muhammad – “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost

Raymond (Lamothe) – “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa

Raymond (Leiva) – “Not Waving But Drowning” by Stevie Smith

Luisa – “Song” by Christina Rossetti

Aileen – “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde

Leo – “Morning Song” by Sylvia Plath

Jefly – “If Grief for Grief” by Emily Bronte

Tsiane – “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks

Ikenna – “Little Boy Found” by William Blake

Tony –  “A Story About the Body” by Robert Hass

Jean Paul – “Selecting a Reader” by Ted Kooser

Sotheary – “The Body as Braille” by Lorna Dee Cervantes

Homework for Monday, Part 2

Consider the following prompts:
1. Compare and contrast the themes of choice, consequence, and personal responsibility in Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
2. Compare and contrast the use of dramatic irony in Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
3. Compare and contrast the cultural views of women portrayed in Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
4. Compare and contrast the cultural views of masculinity portrayed in Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
5. Compare and contrast definitions of legality and morality portrayed in Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
6. Compare and contrast dynamics of dominance and submission in  Oedipus Rex and A Doll's House.
7. Choose another basis for comparison/contrast between the two plays and have it approved.

1. First, write a thesis statement you might use to begin an essay written in response to your chosen prompt.
2. Next, make a list of three examples from EACH text that you would use to illustrate EACH similarity or difference you would discuss in your essay. (Note: You can simply write a few keywords and a page # for each).
3. TYPE this assignment and bring it in for Monday.

Homework for Monday, Part 1

MID-SEMESTER REVIEW

BOOKSHELF PROJECT

**Copy and paste the following into a word document, type in your answers, and print it out for class on Monday.**

Name –

Selected Title & Author –

Choose two quotes from the book that you enjoy or find meaningful. Copy them below and then explain their significance.

What is the overall effect of the book you are reading? What is the tone and how does this work to establish your mood as a reader?

Does this book have a common theme? If you are reading a short story or poetry collection, how do the individual pieces you have read so far establish that theme?

This book contains _______ pages. I have read ______ so far.

Look through the anthology’s poetry selection. Choose three poems you would like to use for your poetry explication essay and presentation. List them in order below. I will use these lists to assign one poem to each student.

1.

2.

3.

Homework for Monday (In Addition to Reading 1st Section of Oedipus)

1. Visit -- http://www.magazine-ads.com/BTY0187.php
2. Choose an ad that portrays something about gender - man or woman.
3. Copy & paste a link to the ad on your homework.
4. Describe how the portrayal of gender in the ad compares to the portrayal of gender in the plays you're reading.

Homework for Wednesday

1. Make a list of differences between the film and the text.
2. Write a thesis statement explaining the following: Why is Nora's decision to leave Torvald so controversial?

HOW TO WRITE A COMPARE AND CONTRAST THESIS

1.     Begin by making a list of similarities and differences between the two subjects you are asked to compare and contrast.

2.     Narrow down the list to fit the prompt and avoid writing a thesis that’s too broad.

3.     One way to start a compare and contrast thesis is by using words like whereas, while, even though, and although to suggest a contrasting element will follow.

a.     Although Nora pretends her financial situation is much better than Mrs. Linde’s, both women know what it is like to be in deep debt.

b.     Whereas Mrs. Linde did not feel grief over the loss of her husband, Nora was willing to do anything to save Torvald.

4.     Typically a thesis comparing two plays, stories or poems will compare and contrast two or more ideas. Here is a common format.

a.     While Work #1 underscores Theme A & B and Work #2 considers Theme D & C, in juxtaposing them it becomes clear that ….

5.     A thesis comparing and contrasting two characters or symbols, may work with only one idea.

a.     While Character A exhibits Trait A and Character B exhibits Trait B, comparing them side-by-side reveals that ….

PRACTICE

1.     Work with a partner to write a compare and contrast thesis for each of the following topics:

a.     Compare and contrast Nora and Torvald’s attitudes about money.

b.     Compare Nora and Krogstad. Are there any similarities between them, especially as far as their relationship to society is concerned?

HOMEWORK

            Write a thesis statement comparing and contrasting Nora’s outlook on life in Act 1 and Act 2.

            Write a thesis statement that compares and contrasts Torvald’s view of a woman’s role with the view of a woman’s role in contemporary society.

Homework Due 10/17

1. What are the differences between a play and a story?
2. How do we know what characters in a play are thinking?

HOMEWORK INSTRUCTIONS & SCHEDULE CHANGE REMINDER

I will be giving you extra time for your rough draft. Rather than being due 10/3, it will be due on 10/8 via email to me and your assigned peer review partner.

The following homework will need to be done for Wednesday:

1. Revision of your outline -- PLEASE EMAIL TO ME BEFORE CLASS ON WEDNESDAY.
2. Read the two stories & the four sample essays. Read "Bullet in the Brain" here. Check your email for a .pdf of Caitlin Horrocks' "Somewhere in America."
3. Score each essay using the rubric and write the scores in your notebook.

Sample Essay #4

Prompt: What does Anders' last memory symbolize?

Memories Taken for Granted

            Have you ever caught yourself in a life or death situation?  What memory came to mind?  “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff is about a jaded story critic. Anders is so caught up in working that criticizing became apart of his everyday routine. The story starts off at the bank and illustrates Anders personality. His personality is described as, “a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed” (Wolff). Then suddenly two men wearing black ski masks, one carrying a sawed off shotgun enters the bank. Anders wise criticisms left him with a bullet to the head. During Anders dying moment, his memory flashes back to when he was watching the neighborhood kids play football.  He was intrigue by the neighbor’s cousin’s grammar, “they is.” Anders final memory symbolizes that there was an Anders that existed before the Anders of the first section and he also realizes his life has become an impersonation of the stories he critiques.

            Anders spends so much of his time working that he becomes a pretentious critic and doesn’t realize the difference between reality and what is a fantasy.  In reference, “Anders couldn’t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women, whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper” (Wolff). Right away, this shows Anders pretentious thoughts of the woman he has never met.  The woman also turns to Anders remarking her hatred towards the bank teller hoping that he would share his hatred as well. But Anders responds back sarcastically saying “Tragic, really. If they’re not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they’re closing their position” (Wolff). With his dialogue, it symbolizes how much his work has an effect on him in real life situations that causes him to not know how to respond to the woman in a humane way. Wolff also shows Anders in a life-threatening situation during the bank robbery.  With his “weary and savagery” ways, Anders whispers sarcastically “oh, Bravo” and “Dead meat” to himself even when no one is listening. Anders didn’t seem to find making wise comments life-threatening because everything that happens to him is a representation of something that never exists. Thus, Anders realizes his life has become an impersonation of the stories he critiques.

            Furthermore, during Anders dying moment, his final memory symbolizes there was an Anders that existed before the Anders of the first section. The character Anders portrays in the first section is someone who is cold, rude, and especially belittling. Anders character in the first section also shows that he becomes so caught up as a critique that his real life transforms into an impersonation of the fantasy he read. This enables Anders to remember events that happens through his life because he doesn’t know if its true life or not. As Wolff writes in “Bullet in the brain”, he notifies events that make the reader believe Anders will remember them such as his wife, or a single line of the hundreds of poems he had to read. Wolff writes,  “It is worth nothing what Anders did not remember, given what he did remember. He did not remember his first lover, Sherry, or what he had most madly loved about her” (Wolff). But what Anders does remember, he is on a baseball field, leaning against a tree and watching the boys from the neighborhood gather to play football and Coyle’s cousin’s grammar “Short’s the best position, they is” (Wolff). As Wolff describes Anders personality as savagery, Anders behavior from the first section would habitually be quick to criticize Coyle’s cousin’s grammar but he doesn’t. Wolff writes, “He wants to her Coyle’s cousin repeat what he’s just said, but he know better than to ask. The others will think he’s being a jerk” (Wolff). This reveals what characteristic still exists in the Anders persona from the first section. It also shows that at one point Anders was able to enjoy his work as a critic and enjoy the events at the moment.

                        Granted that the bullet is already in the brain symbolically shows that Anders’ thoughts are now at rest.  Anders dying moment is the reality check he received and realizes that it’s too late for him to change. This also shows the act of karma for the unnecessary criticism and comments he made. Anders final memory symbolizes that there was an Anders that existed before the Anders of the first section and he also realizes his life has become an impersonation of the stories he critiques.

Sample Essay #3

Prompt: Does the ending of the story indicate a change in who Anders is as a person or does it indicate that his character is static throughout the story?
Bullet in the Brain

Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain” is a short story that shines a spotlight on the devotion a human being can demonstrate towards a subject. The story is about a book critic, Anders, whose passion for language and tendency to criticize is so great that it complicates his social interactions. Anders cannot hold back his opinion.  His tendency to criticize, which is a trait in his character that remains unchanged throughout the story, ultimately results in his death. Wolff excellently described the obsessive critic Anders had become.

The story’s title gives out the climax of the story. Wolff doesn’t mind. The bullet passing through the brain is the plot device he uses to deliver his message. He wants to juxtapose Anders with his past self. He uses Anders last memory to account for the first time Anders felt the urge to criticize. Wolff contrasts that memory with the ones Anders did not remember to show us a more loving Anders, capable of using clichés such as “Lord have mercy!” This comparison illustrates Anders transition from a loving man to a hardcore critic.

The story is about a bank robbery at Anders local bank. There are two other main characters in the story. The first one introduced is the lady standing in front of Anders. Wolff uses her to show us common behavior and contrast it with that of Anders. We all tend to criticize every now and then. Wolff relied on this comparison to deliver his point effectively. This is first noticed when one of the cashiers closes her register and goes to the back to chat with a collage. It irritated Anders, as well as the lady standing in front of him. Her reaction was to vent with Anders, she says “One of those little human touches that keep us coming back for more.” Instead of simply agreeing with her Anders killed the small talk with sarcasm and pessimism, by replying “Tragic, really. If they are not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they’re closing their position. Unforgivable, heaven will take note.” She doesn't appreciate his attitude and concludes by replying “I didn’t say it was tragic. I just think it’s a pretty lousy way to treat customers.” The cashier’s actions did not warrant such drastic remarks. His arrogance demonstrates his lack of control when it comes to harsh criticisms. Anders actions indicate his inclination to treat people in a contentious way.

The situation worsens when robbers arrive at the bank, which introduces the second main character, the man with the pistol. He comes in and says, “One of you tellers hits the alarm, you’re all dead meat. Got it?” Rather than stay quiet, Anders goes on to criticize the robber by turning to the women in front of him and saying, “Oh Bravo, Dead Meat, Great script, eh?” She once again shows her disagreement with him by looking at him with drowning eyes. Anders is unable to control himself, even when life is at risk. The man with a pistol overhears Anders and asked him, “Hey! Bright boy! Did I tell you talk?” Anders ignores the robbers and says to the woman in front of him, “Did you hear that? ‘Bright boy’. Right out of ‘The Killers’.” Referring to Ernest Hemmingway's short story “The Killers.” As a book critic, he has read many stories and is extremely critical of the improper use of quoting terms from famous stories. He acts as if anyone cares to hear his opinion regarding the robber’s words. “Please be quiet,” the women in front of him replied to Anders. Wolff uses her once again to demonstrate how out of line was Anders’ foolish obsession with criticism.

 “Hey, you deaf or what? You think I’m playing games?” The man with the pistol says as he walks toward Anders. “Fuck with me again, you are history. Capiche?” He warns Anders for the last time. Anders appears fearless and bursts out laughing at the cliché replying “Capiche – oh, God, capiche.” The man with the pistol shot Anders in the head. Wolff uses this extreme example to demonstrate that criticism had become more important than his own life. He admits Anders’ tendency to criticize when he writes, “Once in the brain, that is, the bullet came under the mediation of brain time, which gave Anders plenty of leisure to contemplate the scene that, in a phrase he would have abhorred, “passed before his eyes.” Anders lost his life because he couldn’t hold back on criticism for one occasion.

Wolff uses the time it takes for the bullet to pass through his brain to explain Anders last memory. He takes the time to highlight what Anders didn’t remember to show us a different side of him. He was doting father, loving husband, and caring man. Wolff notes how criticism went from a job to a lifestyle in the passage, “He did not remember when he began to regard the heap of books on his desk with boredom and dread, or when he grew angry at writers for writing them. He did not remember when everything began to remind him of something else.” What he did remember was a simpler memory. Wolff describes a young Anders playing baseball in a field with other boys. He meets the cousin of one of his friends who upon being asked what position he wanted to play replies, “Shortstop, Short is the best position they is.” Anders is elated by those words, their unexpectedness and their music. This may seem trivial but it marks the moment in which Anders first falls in love with language. The words “they is” remained with him. Wolff showed a fitting end for Anders. Dead due to his passion for criticism, but whose last memory was about the first time he fell in love with it.

Sample Essay #2

Prompt: Why does Susannah decide that Jason Brockman needs saving and what is her motivation for taking it upon herself to do it?
Analysis of Caitlan Horrocks Somewhere in America

            Have you ever felt out of control? This is exactly the case for Susannah Kircher, the main character in “Somewhere in America” by Caitlin Horrocks. After losing her husband to colon cancer, she looks for relief from the overwhelming crises of her life by trying to help 470 pound Jason Brockman, a man she saw on Wife Swap (a show is about two families who swap their wives and mother and experience lives from different outlook). Even though she hasn't solved her own issues through grief after the lost of her husband, Susannah becomes convinced that by helping Jason Brockman that she can swap her life for a new one. Susannah's becomes also obsessed with trying to save Jason Brockman because she couldn't save her husband or her son, and with saving Jason Brockman from his wife Trudi she gains relief.

            From the start of the story we see the main character feels that she has the right tools to bring to Jason's life the control she lacks in her own life. Susannah feels that she can easily fix Jason Brockman’s weight problem (he weighs 470 pounds). She's driving with this content for him. Susannah says "I have a carton of weight loss shakes in the backseat, a disassembled exercise bike in the trunk. I have a stopwatch and a scale and a book about the caloric cost of common foods." Susannah thinks she can solve Jason's problem just by repeating the judge’s statement that “a burrito is not a sandwich." Susannah tells herself that she is going to save him from himself. On page 2 paragraph 3, she thinks she is going to put her hands on his shoulder and say, "No more burritos, Jason. They aren't sandwiches, and they sure aren't good for you either". Susannah feels she can reiterate the judge's ruling and everything will change for Jason Brockman. Human nature would dictate differently because this is his habit, and it takes time to change.

            The life that she dreams about with Jason is totally different from what is real in her life. In reality she suffers from grief due to the loss of her husband, and this creates problems in other aspects of her life. She could not save her son or gain control over his life after her husband's death, and her son soon began to snort meth and got a girl pregnant, though he's only sixteen. Although the boy showed some resistance she felt she had no other choice but to institutionalize him. She said, "I paid some people to take my son." Further proving how her grief affects her life, she says: "They set them straight. And God knows I don't know how to." This phrase gives us the feeling that because of her grief she becomes an unfit parent. Susannah correlates her issues with how Trudi treats her husband Jason Brockman. She sees the outcome of what would happen because Jason is overweight, and his wife provides no support. Furthermore Susannah sees the same thing happening to Trudi’s family that happened to hers’. She writes in her letter “I just don’t want your son turning into a wild dog because last January a doctor diagnosed his father with colon cancer.” She has not gotten over her grief because when she sees Jason Brockman she sees her Jason, when she writes in her letter “My Jason played racquetball every Sunday, some pickup basketball games in the summer,” really she just relives how different her Jason is from Jason Brockman. She also writes “My Jason was healthy and God had to shoveled him full of cancer.” This shows how delusional she is, she sees the vast difference between her Jason and Jason Brockman, and she is grieved by it. That's why she recalls it; it gives her the motivation to save him from his obese state. Jason Brockman is unhealthy physically, Susannah's husband was not. She has failed saving the ones she loves, but with overwhelming confidence feels she can save Jason Brockman.

            What she sees on Wife Swap motivates Susannah to want a change after her husband dies. Susannah's life is in shambles, and she wants a new life with Jason Brockman. She is obsessed with Wife Swap to the point where she thinks that she could just change her life. Her obsession is evident by her conversations with her brother when he said “You need to stop watching so much television, especially Wife Swap.” She explains that her husband is gone, and her son is a wild dog and I don't know how you feel about Trudi, but maybe we could run away together." Her own opinion is that Jason's wife "Trudi Brockman is a raw deal." As well Jason Brockman could not be saved even though he was on the show wife swap. The person he had as his wife for the show was not a match and Susannah imagines what Jason was thinking: "hoo boy not her either." Despite the enormous pounds on Jason she says "We can do this together. You have sweet eyes and a nice smile and a good heart." She see the best in Jason Brockman which she feels Trudi does not. Trudi does not assist her husband, or encourages him to exercise, but Susannah can. Susannah is the right woman for Jason Brockman in her mind, and not Trudi.

            Susannah has overwhelming grief over the loss of her husband and feels she has lost all control over her life. She can’t gain control over her son to get him right. She sees the solution through Jason Brockman if she could save him from his obesity, she could save herself. Susannah begins to believe that the only way to get control back is to make a change on the same level as the change in Wife Swap but in this case, she’ll change not her husband, but her life.

Sample Essay #1

Prompt: Why does Susannah decide that Jason Brockman needs saving and what is her motivation for taking it upon herself to do it?

Sample Essay #1

Character Motivation in Caitlin Horrocks' "Somewhere in America"

Would you quit your job, pack your bags and go look for someone that you don’t even know just to save his/her life?  In the story “Somewhere in America” by Caitlin Horrocks depicts Susannah’s life, who gives up on everything just to save an unknown 470 pounds guy. After her husband died of colon cancer, she starts to watch a reality show, Wife Swap.  It’s a lifestyle change in which two wives switch their families for two weeks in order to be a better person and also to make change in their families. At the end the two couple meets each other and exchange a frank assessment about the other family. Each family is supposed to learn how important their families are. In fact, Jason’s situation is depicted on the Wife Swap; For Susannah, he does not chance his lifestyle. After analyzing Jason’s situation Susannah decides to save him because she wants to escape, she feels guilt, and she feels powerlessness.

         ”I’m going to hell but first I have to save Jason Brockman”, says Susannah when she feels guilt about everything that has been happing in her life.  She feels quilt because her husband died and she could not do anything. In reality, that’s not her fault because her Jason died because of colon cancer. In fact, they had a healthy life.  Sometimes people have a guilty conscience even if it’s rational. Susannah says “I googgled Jason Brockman, Trudi, Gertrude: nothing. And I spent a lot of time searching”. Susannah mentions that because she is feeling guilt that she does anything to save Jason Brockman. When she says “I’m going to hell” it shows how quilt she feels. People that go to hell are the ones who do bad things and she feels like she did a bad thing for her husband letting him go. Later on, she even sends Trudi Brockman, Jason’s wife a letter begging her to save him.  In the letter she says “I saw your episode of Wife Swap and I am not judging you but you are killing your husband and I will never forgive you”.  Susannah mentions that in the letter because she feels so guilt that she talks to her like they know each other for so long. She also feels guilty because Mac does not have a father. She mentions in the letter, “I just don’t want your son turning into a wild dog because last January a doctor diagnosed his father with colon cancer”. Susannah says it because she feels guilty that Mac is acting like crazy because of his father. Moreover, there is a reason why she choose this guy named Jason, because her husband s name is also Jason. She feels quilt because she could not save him and she feels like she has to save this Jason. In fact, she compares Jason Brockman with her Jason saying “Or maybe the point of Wife Swap is just that you, Jason are a kind man with a good heart and a harpy of a wife and three children …”The way she talks about Trudi’s Jason sounds like her Jason was also this kind and honest person.  In essence, Susannah feels like she killed her husband like Trudi is killing Jason Brockman.

         In addition to guilty, Susannah also feels powerlessness. “I never said if your father was here “says Susannah. She never said that but she knew that the reason why Mac is acting like an animal is because his father died. She feels powerless, it’s like that her life does not make any sense. After her Jason died it seems like they had a perfect life. In the letter she even mentions, “We ate a lot of vegetables in this house, Trudi. My Jason played racquetball every Sunday, some pick-up in the summers. We’d go on bike rides together, evening walks”. She is explaining to Trudi how happy their lives were, but now their world collapse. Now they even argue with each other, “He said, fuck, Mom. And I said, fuck you, Mac”. That shows how Susannah is out of control and she can feel that she stressed with everything that’s going on in her life. “And I thought, I’ve become a woman who says ‘fuck’ to her child like that’s ok. I never thought I’d be the kind of person who says things like that “, says Susannah. She never thought she would say those kind things because she was a good mother, but not anymore. She has lost all the control.  In principle, Susannah is realizing how she does not have any power over herself and anything. Now that her Jason his gone.

         Furthermore, Susannah has no power over his son and herself that she wants to escape. She’s on her way to save Jason and she says “I have a carton of weight-loss shakes in the basket, a disassembled exercise bike in the trunk”. She has all the equipment that she will need to exercise with Jason. She tries to get into the ABC to get her into the “Wife Swap” but tells her that she can only add her into a list of prospective camp. “I can drive I-70 out of the mountains: Byers, Deer Trail, Stratton, the Kansas state line” says Susannah. She’s willing to do anything and anyone can’t stop her.  The first thing that she does is send Mac to an intervention camp in the Utah desert. Mac is being through a lot after his father died as smoking, drinking and even getting someone pregnant. Susannah’s solution was to send him to this camp. She is so obsessed to escape that she also quits her job. She writes a letter to her brother saying “I wrote another letter to the Personnel Supervisor for Instructional Development at Regal College Online and when I got home that evening I called my brother to tell him I quit my job”. Her brother even asked her if she has enough money to support herself and she replies, “I realized a shitty job was the last steady thing in my life and realizing that made it worse because the last steady thing in my life was a shitty job.” Susannah’s sounds sure about quitting her job. In fact, the life insurance is also paid off the mortgage and Macs program is also paid off.  Moreover, in the letter she writes to Jason Brockman she reveals emotional feelings that she feels she could say it for her husband. She feels like she did not fight for her husband. She mentions “My husband is gone and my son is wild dog and I don t know how you feel about Trudi, but maybe we can run away together”. In essence, Susannah just wants to escape from everything and everybody that remind her of Jason, her husband.

    - In essence, Susannah’s life collapse after her husband Jason died and she feels quilt that she could not save him. Her conscience of guilty was rational and made her feel that he died because of her. She finds this guy also named Jason and she going crazy trying  save him. In fact, when you lose somebody that you love is hard to get over it. Life is hard and sometimes we have to accept it and move on. Because of her guiltiness she starts to lose her power as a mother and also over herself. She decides to send Mac to Utah because she does not know how to deal with him anymore. In addition of being powerless she decides to escape. Susannah even quits her job and wants to go save Jason Brockman. Overall, Susannah just wishes she could save her Jason and have a normal like before.

Announcement

You can now view the course schedule, the syllabus and the handouts given in the prior class ("WHAT DID I MISS?") by clicking on the labeled page links directly under the title of the blog.

For the rest of the semester, any edits to the schedule will be noted in class and published on the schedule here.  Any handouts given in class will be posted to the blog AFTER class. If you miss a class, check the "WHAT DID I MISS?" page to get any handouts you need.

A few more reminders ....
Lateness is becoming a huge, annoying issue. DO NOT ARRIVE LATE. Class begins at 7am. Many of you are repeatedly late. I do track this. Your grade IS being penalized. ARRIVE ON TIME or don't come. It's rude to the other students to show up late. VERY DISTRACTING!

How to Write a Short Story Analysis Paper - Read for Monday

1. Choose a story and re-read it.
Example: I liked the story "Good Country People"; I‟ll read it again.

2. React personally. What aspects of the story do you seem to be most affected by? You should look at more than one aspect. Example: I find when I look at how I reacted in my journal to this story, what I really liked about it was the way the plot developed. I was really surprised at the climax – when Manley took Hulga‟s leg and left her stranded. It was funny, yet sad at the same time. I also enjoyed the way the plot "unraveled" after that, going to Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell‟s remarks as they saw Manley go by in the distance.

3. Determine the theme of the story. What is the main point? HINT: Try to complete this sentence: This story argues that … Example: I think the theme is that people are often not what they appear to be on the outside (Manley). Also, people are often not who they really think they are (Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell).

4. Connect #2 & 3: How do you see this aspect and the theme relating? Example: The theme is that people are often not as we expect them to be. The plot illustrates or supports this theme because the plot did not develop as I expected it to. At the climax Manley shows that he is not "good country people" and Hulga learns that she is not as smart as she thinks she is. Now BRAINSTORM on this connection.
Example: The unstable situation that begins the plot is the relationship between Joy and her Mother. Mrs. Hopewell cannot see her daughter (or anyone else) as she really is. The daughter, Hulga/Joy, cannot see herself as she really is. The conflicts that move the plot along involve the mother trying to maintain her preconceived notions about people (seeing Manley as "good country people" even though he barged in on them at dinner time, Mrs. Freeman as a lady and her daughters as the "finest girls"). Also the plot is moved by Joy/Hulga‟s internal conflicts, trying to define herself as intellectually and philosophically superior to those around her, seeing herself as the sophisticated seducer of Manley Pointer … etc.

5. Re-read the story again looking specifically at your chosen aspect. Find places in the text where you see this aspect relating to the theme.
Example: Unstable situation – "Mrs. Hopewell thought of [Joy] as a child though she was thirty-two years old and highly educated" (105). "Mrs. Hopewell likes to tell people that Glynese and Carramae were two of the finest girls she knew and that Mrs. Freeman was a lady and that she was never ashamed to take her anywhere or introduce her to anybody they might meet" (105). Rising Action: Mrs. Hopewell is finding it hard to stick to her "clichés": „"Won‟t you stay for dinner? We‟d love to have you!‟ and was sorry the instant she heard herself say it" (111). Hulga maintains her superiority to others: "[Manley] crossed the highway and said, „I knew you‟d come!‟ The girl wondered acidly how he had know this" (115). Etc…

6. Evaluate the material you have developed. Do you have enough for a three-page paper? If yes, determine the working thesis of your essay and move on to step

7. Example: In O‟Connor‟s short story "Good Country People" the plot and its unexpected climax are essential to supporting the theme of people are not often what they seem, even to themselves. If no, you do not have enough material for a full paper, return to step 2 and find a second aspect to focus on.
Example: In my journal I reacted personally to how the characters are created. I think it is interesting that most of what we know about Joy/Hulga is through what the narrator says about her and how other characters react to her and say to her. The reader doesn‟t get much information about the daughter from her own actions or what she says directly. One interesting occurrence when Hulga does speak up for herself: when her mother wanted her to walk the field with her, Hulga says, "If you want me, here I am – LIKE I AM" (107). Ironic? I think, in addition to plot, that I will look at how characterization adds to the theme: Hulga can‟t reveal herself directly to the reader because she doesn‟t know herself well enough – people are often not what they seem even to themselves.
BRAINSTORM: What different sides of Hulga do we see in this story? Are these revealed in different ways by the author (directly, indirectly)? Does Hulga have an epiphany at the climax? Does this change her, i.e. does she ever really see the "real" Hulga? Etc.. Next, find specific textual evidence to support what you want to say about characterization.

8. Impose order to your findings. What is the most logical and compelling way to present your material? Some natural guides for order:

• Chronological (if dealing with a chronological plot)
• The order of the story
• Cause and Effect
• Build an argument, starting with the least compelling evidence and building to the most impressive point.

If you are discussing more than one element of the story, which should go first? Do you want to start with the main focus and present the other(s) as supporting material? Or do you want to start with the more obvious material and build to the most interesting and insightful? These are stylistic choices you need to make. Make an outline.

Example:
I. Introduction
     A. Introduce O‟Connor‟s story B. Present Thesis: The plot structure and characterization create and 
          reinforce the story‟s main theme: people are often unable or unwilling to see people, including
          themselves, as they really are.
II. Plot How to Write a Short Story Analysis Paper
    A. Unstable Situation
         1. Main conflict
         2. Supporting conflicts
    B. Rising Action 1. least compelling textual example 2. more compelling textual example 3. most    
         compelling textual example
    C. Climax 1. ECT
III. Characterization
     A. Direct methods 1. least compelling textual example 2. more compelling textual example 3. most  
          compelling textual example
    B. Indirect methods Etc…
IV. Conclusion

9. Write the body of the essay. Put your thesis in front of you as you lay out your argument as quickly and as fully as possible. Do not worry about an introduction as this time.

10. Read over your essay as a whole. NOW write the introduction to your essay.

11. Re-read and Edit. Make sure every point you make is supported with evidence. Make sure all quotes are set up and explained. Make sure that everything that you are saying ultimately supports your thesis.

12. Write the conclusion of your essay.

LINKS TO FILM VERSIONS OF STORIES

Click here to view the two-part short film based on Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

Click here to view the short film based on Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People."