UPDATE: HW Due Wed. Oct. 5; Journals Collected Friday Oct. 7

Due Wednesday Oct. 5: Read "On Style" by Susan Sontag. Create dialectical journal entries.
Dialectical journals will be collected next Friday, Oct. 7

HW Due Wed. 9/28

Read and make minimum 4 dialectical journal entries by Wed. 9/28: (your journal entries should be at least 1 composition notebook page each).
"Death by Landscape" by Margaret Atwood
If you can print the story, do so.

Dialectical journals will be collected Friday.

Great Gatsby due in class Oct. 11.

The Great Gatsby due Oct. 11

Please bring in your own copy of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Oct. 11. You will be required to read nightly and annotate within the text.

UPDATE: HW Due Monday 9/26; COLLEGE ESSAY DRAFT #2 DUE TOMORROW

DUE TOMORROW:
College essay draft #2 due. Please come to class with a handwritten or typed draft to earn credit. You can't get any feedback with a digital file because you can't use technology in class. Plan ahead.

We had such a great discussion of "The Fall of the House of Usher", let's continue tomorrow.

UPDATE: DUE MONDAY 9/26
Read chapters 4-7 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Create dialectical journal entries that make connections between what you learn in the chapters and what you are reading/have read.

HW Due Thurs. 9/22

Read and take dialectical journal notes (minimum 2 pages): "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe. Relate his style, plot, characters, literary devices, etc. to Foster's chapters 2 & 3 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

DUE FRIDAY: Revised draft of college essay. We will peer review again.

HW Due Tues. 9/20

1. Read and annotate chapters 2 and 3 in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. 
2. Dialectical journal: Minimum 2 pages of entries. Some possible thoughts for entries:

• Critique of themes emerging in novel - track themes as they mature and grow and analyze them

• Surprises: You see something you didn't see/notice before (aha! moments)
• You recognize patterns - imagery, gestures, phrases, details seem to overlap or repeat
• Patterns of symbolism: what is symbolized, when, and what is the “bigger picture” meaning?
• Author’s style: syntax, diction, tone - analyze its contribution to the quality of the text
• Characterization - motivation, relationships, how characters sees himself/herself, how others see character, morals/values, what character represents, etc.
• You discover that you were misreading - what do you know now that you didn’t know then? How did it happen?
• You realize that the writer has introduced a new context or new perspective (...or narrator/voice/POV changes)
• You notice new vocabulary, especially new words, that are being repeated throughout - discuss the importance of those words to the overall effect of the novel
• Things don't make sense— clearly pose questions and/or state problems that occur to you
• Note ways in which the story makes you think about about real life (text to world connection) or a connection to another text (text to text connection) or another academic discipline (history? science? psychology?, religion?)
• Make a claim about a chapter and support it with details
• Analyze the author’s use of literary devices, their functions, and their effectiveness

HW Due Friday 9/16

Read and annotate Francine Prose's "What Words Can Tell". Compare and contrast her analysis of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" with your own analysis.
Write new dialectical journal entries reacting to Prose's analysis, or add to what you have already reacted to (previous night's homework). If you have misplaced your copy of the Prose analysis, find it HERE. http://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/david.brenner/engl-1301/course-materials-important-read-religiously/critical-analysis-essay-assignment/reading-prose-what-words...-due-now-7-23
Not a great scan, but the only one I could find.

College essay draft #1 due Monday. Please PRINT your copy so that we may work on it in class. Sharing it with me will not allow your peers to view it and comment/give feedback on Monday.

HW Due Thursday 9/15

Read and annotate (in your dialectical journals): "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor. Respond re: the journey characters take through the text.
Create dialectical journals this way:
Left side:
Text Evidence - choose a poignant passage or sentence or even word
Right side:
Reaction: Analysis, response, question, connection, etc.

HW Due Tuesday Sept. 13

Print, read and annotate "Close Reading". In your dialectical journal notebook, apply as many of the points to your summer reading book as possible. DO NOT APPLY #12. Number your points to correspond with the list on the printout, and offer text evidence for your remarks.

Be Ready for Day 2

We will continue to go over the expectations and the syllabus. We will also be grouping by summer reading book. Please bring your copy of the book.

Getting Ready for Day 1

Please be aware of what you will need to bring in to school on the first day:

• 5-page typed reading response log. DO NOT write an essay! All I want is for you to transfer your daily reading responses into a typed format. See the email I previously sent with the instructions. This will be collected and graded. Late assignments will not be accepted. Please print (not just email) the paper. I need a hard copy of your work.
• Handwritten or typed reading response log. It can be a copy of the paper you turn in to me, that's fine. This will be your copy and you will use it the first 2 or so weeks of school as we learn how to read literature like a professor.
• Speaking of How To Read Literature Like a Professor, you need your own copy of the book by Tuesday, Sept. 13 (please note that we are off from school for a holiday on Monday Sept. 12). Please make sure you purchase the revised edition. Used copies are fine, as long as they are in good or better condition. You will ALSO need The Best American Short Stories of the Century by 9/13. Please don't show me your Amazon shipping notice You need to have the books, in hand, on Tuesday 9/13. 
• Your summer reading book. Your copy should be annotated. Stuck with so many post-its you can barely see the actual text. You should have read this book with your eyes, your mind, and your pen.
• Your supplies:

1. Two composition notebooks (1 for notes/vocab and 1 for reading response)
2. Blue/black and colored pens (nothing too light, these eyes are tired)
3. Post-it-Notes
4. Lined index cards (large size, please)
5. Loose leaf paper 
6. Highlighters (varied colors)
7. 2-pocket folder (for portfolio work)
8. Tissues
9. Hand sanitizer

• A great attitude. A strong work ethic. Lots of energy, patience, and humor.

I am really looking forward to seeing you Thursday Sept. 8!