A Return to "Evil."

At the beginning of the year we wrote some blog posts exploring how concepts of "evil," threat, fear and desire are dramatized in stories like Dracula.  Now we're returning to these ideas as we get ready to read Shakespeare's Macbeth.  For this blog post, discuss and explore the ideas of "evil," fear and desire in our culture: you can focus on one concept or you could discuss how the three concepts interrelate or reinforce each other.  What is "evil"?  What kinds of things do we fear or desire, and why?  Why are these things so deeply ingrained in us?

Midterm Essay Questions.

Hi Everyone: Please remember that you need to choose ONE of the following questions, and we will be writing the essays this Thursday and Friday, Jan. 23-4.  These are the same questions that were handed out in hard copy last week.

Question #1: Mark Twain once described The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a novel in which “a sound heart & a deformed conscience come into collision & conscience suffers a defeat.”

Using the novel, explain what you think Twain means in this statement and why this conflict is important to the book as a whole.  Be sure not to ignore or smooth-over what is complicated about Huck’s inner self.  To put it another way: why is it not always clear if the heart or the conscience should be trusted?  Select scenes and quotations to help illustrate your argument.  

Question #2: 

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the film Modern Times, the main character is an outsider who can not fit into the society of his time and is forced to wander restlessly, without a clear goal.  In a well developed essay, explain how the characters’ journeys are used to either a) show a development or change in the characters that is meaningful, or b) reveal significant truths about the characters’ social environments.  An excellent response will use specific details and scenes from the novel and the film – not just those discussed in class – and will explain why the characters’ reactions to their environments are meaningful.

 

Midterm Items

Hi Everyone: Here is a copy of all of the midterm info that the class is responsible for.  This is the same information that is on the handout from one week ago.  I will create a separate post with the essay questions.

Midterm Vocabulary

1. Antagonism                       41.  Scapegoat
2. Ideology                               42.  Sagacious
3. Paradox                               43.  Shrewd
4. Iniquity                                                44.  Abhorrent
5. Evasion                                                45.  Aversion
6. Parochial                             46.  Conscience
7. Primal                                  47.  Jest
8. Hysteria                               48.  Meddle
9. Symbol                                 49.  Gaudy
10. Cynicism                             50.  Trifling
11. Communal
12. Maturity                              GRAMMAR UNITS
13. Romanticize                       1.  Subject, Object, Indirect Object I.D.
14. Oracle                                   2.  Passive and Active Voice
15. Ingenuity                             3.  Subject / Verb Agreement
16. Irony                                     4.  Phrases and Clauses
17. Authenticity                      5.  Verb Tenses
18. Regionalism
19. Identity                                                OTHER UNITS
20. Satire                                    1.  Poetry Terms (see worksheet)
21. Picaresque
22. Oppression                         ESSAY
23. Antebellum                        Question #1 (On Huck Finn and Modern Times)
24. Dialect                                 
25. Culture                                 Question #2 (On Huck Finn)   Sep. Handout.
26. Pathos
27. Equivocation
28. Simile
29. Metaphor
30. Personification
31. Onomatopoeia
32. Assonance
33. Consonance
34. Hyperbole
35. Alliteration
36. Allusion
37. Satire
38. Apostrophe
39. Imagery
40. Class

Policy for Blog Posts.

An upsurge in late and mishandled blog posts has necessitated a clarification of the blog post policy.  Please read below:

Here is the protocol for what to do if your blog will not post, which is a rare occurrence:

1)      Email a copy of your blog post to me as a place-holder.  (Remember to always type your post on a word document first, and then paste it to the blog, just in case).

2)      Bring a hard copy of your blog to me on the due date. 

I typically give blog posts three days in advance, so my advice is to try to get them done early to avoid any last-minute mishaps.  If you claim that your computer appears to put your post on the site but then it disappears (which is highly unlikely), then double check to see if your post registered by using another computer.  I can not accept hand-written blog posts after the beginning of the class period on its due-date, and I can not accept posts that appear on line after the due-date, which will be clearly marked on the blog.

Irony Writing Assignment Directions.

Directions for the Irony Writing Assignment:

Write a 2 + page ironic paper in which you focus on a social problem that you have clear opinions about.  However, you will need to write about this social problem from the perspective of someone with the opposite viewpoint as yourself in order to create an ironic effect.  Your paper should 1) open by briefly describing the social problem you are focusing on, 2) provide a ridiculous or over-the-top solution to the problem or simply expand upon your ironic opinions about the problem, and 3) leave the reader with some final thoughts on the problem.  You will be pretending to be someone else and pushing their ideas to the point of absurdity, but your reader will understand that your real feelings are the opposite (as long as you strike a clearly ironic tone).

The two keys to success with this paper are:

1) imitating the voice of your opponent.  You should try to use as faithfully as possible the vocabulary and writing / speaking style of the character-type you are presenting.

2)  Structuring your argument so that it builds from what seems normal and acceptable to something irrational and outrageous.

Keep in mind, irony always depends upon opposite forces coming into contact.  In this paper, the voice of your character will express a message that is opposite of your true, covert message.

Irony Paper Proposal

Hi Everyone:

In the comment section below, let me know what your ideas are for the irony paper.  You'll want to mention what social problem you are discussing, what your real opinion of the problem is, and what type of voice you will be adopting to ironically mock the opposing position's view point.  You may also want to address how you will structure your argument: will it be a mock letter to the editor, an opinion piece, or a speech?  How will your argument begin and how will it end?  Remember that irony works best when it builds: in other words, it helps to begin by sounding vaguely reasonable and become more and more extreme as it goes.

Comments due by Class Time Friday.

Goodbye, Mr. Putnam . . .

Hi Everyone:

For our final post on the Crucible, you can either a) share your thoughts on the play as a whole and how the ending affected your experience of the play, or b) share your impressions of the film.  Were scenes dramatized well? Did some scenes deviate from the play or were they faithful to the play? And what did you think of the scenes that were not in the play but were in the film?  How did these scenes change your understanding of the play?  This will be due the evening of Wednesday, October 30th.  Thanks, Mr. Telles.