Category: Literature (2018-2019)

Posts relating explicitly to the study of canonical literature, as dictated by or in response to traditional schooling, for the 2018-2019 school year.

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Reading Macbeth

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019), Literature (2018-2019)

Resources: Macbeth

To study William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, you start with the language barrier. Shakespearean English will make it hard for you to experience the play, even when performed, as you would any other story; the usual narrative beats and character development are often locked behind your ability to understand what’s being said.

I suggest you start with a summary, like the one provided here: Folger Shakespeare Library: Macbeth. You might want to wade into the Wikipedia entry, but remember that Wikipedia intends to be comprehensive — there is a lot of information there.

Macbeth is a great story, and the language used to tell it is worth the effort of decoding. Macbeth’s speeches are timeless; his wife’s, maybe more so. As a play, it is meant to be performed, so we will watch one of these performances:

Each can be rented for free with an Amazon Prime membership. The first one is probably more visually interesting; the second, through its lack of sets, emphasizes the actors more.

To read along, we will use the robust version of the play available online at Open Source Shakespeare:

This allows you to use Snap and Read to translate, plus any and all other online tools that might help you understand and appreciate Macbeth. In addition, we will encourage you to use SparkNotes, especially their translation of the text into modern English:

If that seems strange to you, remember that we approach reading as a source of empathy and experience. There will be no quizzes on plot nor tests on symbolism. If you can handle the intrusive ads on SparkNotes, you should use it to help you understand the play as we read it and watch a performance of it.

In the end, and in lieu of tests and quizzes, you will write a reader-response essay to enrich your experience of Macbeth. That process is outlined here:

Writing Process: Reader’s Response

Ask questions about the unit outline below. Save questions about the play itself, the reader-response essay, and any other related assignments for the relevant post here or on Google Classroom.

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The Invisible Man: Required Final Assignments

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019), Literature (2018-2019)

The Invisible Man

March 19, 2019 Update:

You will be reading the rest of the novel, The Invisible Man, with three days in class to hit specific page goals. You will not be able to choose another book in place of The Invisible Man.

We will then watch the 1933 film version of The Invisible Man. It will take two days. See the course calendar for the planned dates.

Finally, you will write a character analysis essay comparing the film to the novel. The majority of this will be completed in class. Again, see the course calendar for the planned dates.

Direct Link to the Novel Online
Reading Assignments

Page numbers are taken from the Dover Thrift Edition available in the classroom. Use the direct link above if reading online.

  • Due Friday, March 22 — Chapters 13-17 (Pages 43-59)
  • Due Monday, March 25 — Chapters 18-21 (Pages 60-77)
  • Due Tuesday, March 26 — Chapters 22-26 (Pages 78-97)
  • Due Friday, March 29 — Chapter 27-Epilogue (Pages 98-110)
Writing Assignments
  • Due Thursday, April 4 — Character analysis essay

 

An Explanation of These Changes

We started The Invisible Man on February 7. For the next few weeks, we tackled essential questions, in-class discussion, and the next round of 20% projects. Most recently, we did close reading of later chapters in The Invisible Man to practice analytical writing.

Here is what that looks like in Google Classroom:

You were also given a daily calendar for the rest of the year and a streamlined process for choosing between the assigned novel and a work of equivalent literary merit.

This degree of preparation and planning was meant to give you choice. Consider the updated makerspace FAQ or this recently published overview of a makerspace: It takes much more work on our end to give you choices, because we are setting up individual feedback and flexibility.

Consider, too, the transparent attempt this year to focus first on skills while promoting choice in what we read. We gave you time to build stamina and develop good habits, which helped us, after A Long Way Gone, to choose to read instead of being forced to read.

We even showed you empathy and patience by studying, through close reading and discussion, the nature of your struggle with focus and self-control. That was back in October, and we’ve returned to your need for self-regulation and self-discipline repeatedly, most recently by banning phones to increase productivity.

Unfortunately, you have struggled collectively to stay focused. You aren’t meeting deadlines, and the lack of reading means your “choosing to read” analysis is ineffective.

To help you, we are having everyone read The Invisible Man. We may return to choice novels in Q4, but this novel and Macbeth will be mandated. We are also making these changes:

  • You now have assigned seats and group members.
  • You will not be given Fridays to work on your 20% projects until April 12.

You will need to work on your Pareto Projects on your own time, carving out 20% of your schedule elsewhere. You are still responsible for the project itself. On April 12, before Spring Break, we’ll dedicate the period to these projects again, with the hope of using every Friday after that to plan and create.

Instead of your projects, you’ll be using the next three Fridays to catch up on the required reading and writing. You can see in the daily calendar what this specifically entails.

You will first finish the SOAPSTONE analysis assigned for this week:

SOAPSTONE: “The Siege of Kemp’s House”

We will update the daily calendar to reflect these changes. We will note page counts and other specifics, too. Ask questions in the comment section below.

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Cuckoo’s Nest: Weekly Assignments

  By English 11 Regents (2018-2019), Literature (2018-2019), Triage

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

March 18, 2019: Read on for updates to our study of the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in English 11 ICT.

Overview of the Novel: Parts 1-4
  • Part 1 — Pages 3-145
  • Part 2 — Pages 149-201
  • Part 3 — Pages 205-258
  • Part 4 — Pages 261-325
Reading Assignments
  • Due Tuesday, March 19 — Pages 3-41
  • Due Friday, March 22 — Pages 42-75
  • Due Friday, March 29 — Pages 76-158
  • Due Friday, April 5 — Pages 159-258
  • Due Friday, April 12 — Pages 261-325
Writing Assignments
  • Due Monday, March 25 — Response to Pages 3-75
  • Due Monday, April 1 — Response to Pages 76-158
  • Due Monday, April 8 — Response to Pages 159-258
  • Due Monday, April 22 — Response to Pages 261-325

Note that the final writing assignment is due after Spring Break.

On each Friday, when a reading assignment is due, you will write an in-class response based on the assigned reading. You will then type that response over the weekend and submit both the handwritten and typed writing by the beginning of class on Monday. Work handed in after the beginning of class will be considered late, and all insufficient or incomplete work will factor heavily into your GAP scores.

Mondays will still be reserved for sustained, silent reading.

A Thorough Explanation of These Changes

Copies of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were distributed before the February break. For the next few weeks, we balanced essay-writing assignments with essential questions related to the novel. Finally, you were given a daily calendar for the rest of the year and a streamlined process for choosing between the assigned novel and a work of equivalent literary merit.

This was a massive amount of preparation and planning. It was meant to give you choice and freedom. Consider the updated makerspace FAQ or this recently published overview of a makerspace: It takes much more work on your teacher’s end to give you choices, because we are essentially creating 32 separate lessons for 32 individuals.

Consider, too, the transparent attempt this year to focus first on skills, and then to build from shorter nonfiction and fiction to several canonical novels. This gave you time to build stamina and develop good habits, and it opened up the possibility of choosing to read over being forced to read.

We even showed you extraordinary empathy and patience by studying, through close reading and discussion, the nature of your struggle with akrasia and self-control. That was back in October, and we’ve returned to your need for self-regulation and self-discipline over and over again.

As a class, you’ve recently failed to demonstrate self-control. You’ve failed to follow directions and take advantage of the opportunities given to you. As a result:

  • Your freedom to choose what to read is revoked.
  • The choice-related assignment that was originally due on Wednesday is now null and void.
  • You now have assigned seats and group members.
  • You will not be given Fridays to work on your 20% projects.

You should work on your Pareto Projects on your own time, carving out 20% of your schedule elsewhere. You are still responsible for the project itself.

Instead of your projects, you will now spend every Friday writing an in-class response on the assigned pages from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. You will then type that response over the weekend and submit both the handwritten and typed writing by the beginning of class on Monday. Mondays will still be reserved for sustained, silent reading.

You will still do the reading and writing assignments outlined for Tuesdays and Thursdays. The next two are a narrative response based on an essay, “Learning to Lie,” and a character analysis response based on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. You will still do silent, individual Regents Exam prep every Wednesday. The only difference will be your assigned seats and groups.

We will update the daily calendar in the next few days to reflect these changes. We will note reading assignments there, too. You may ask questions in the comment section below.

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SOAPSTONE: “The Siege of Kemp’s House”

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019), Literature (2018-2019)

Head back to the hub for The Invisible Man for essential questions, background, and a copy of the novel:

The Invisible Man

SOAPSTONE Overview

Handout #1: SOAPSTONE Overview

SOAPSTONE is an acronym that breaks down persuasive or expository writing into discrete components. By separating elements this way, you can analyze the overall rhetoric of a piece more efficiently and effectively. The acronym stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, and Tone.

The overview and explanations in the handout come from Ogden Morse and the College Board:

SOAPSTone: A Strategy for Reading and Writing – AP Central

Introduction For many students, the creation of a piece of writing is a mysterious process. It is a laborious, academic exercise, required by teachers and limited to the classroom. They do not see it as a way of ordering the mind, explaining their thoughts and feelings, or achieving a personal voice.

Chapter 27: The Siege of Kemp’s House

Handout #2: Chapter 27 Analysis

The following letter comes from Chapter 27 of The Invisible Man. You are to analyze the rhetoric of this letter — the Invisible Man’s declaration of war — by using the SOAPSTONE tool.

Rhetoric is defined simply as “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” To understand the rhetoric of Griffin’s missive, you should first annotate it, and then you can apply SOAPSTONE.

You have been amazingly energetic and clever, though what you stand to gain by it I cannot imagine. You are against me. For a whole day you have chased me; you have tried to rob me of a night’s rest. But I have had food in spite of you, I have slept in spite of you, and the game is only beginning. The game is only beginning. There is nothing for it, but to start the Terror. This announces the first day of the Terror. Port Burdock is no longer under the Queen, tell your Colonel of Police, and the rest of them; it is under me—the Terror! This is day one of year one of the new epoch—the Epoch of the Invisible Man. I am Invisible Man the First. To begin with the rule will be easy. The first day there will be one execution for the sake of example—a man named Kemp. Death starts for him to-day. He may lock himself away, hide himself away, get guards about him, put on armour if he likes—Death, the unseen Death, is coming. Let him take precautions; it will impress my people. Death starts from the pillar box by midday. The letter will fall in as the postman comes along, then off! The game begins. Death starts. Help him not, my people, lest Death fall upon you also. To-day Kemp is to die.

The handout has a printable SOAPSTONE chart. You can also work in a notebook or with a separate sheet of paper. Look to Google Classroom for the formal/typed assignment.

Ask questions about this work below.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

  By English 11 Regents (2018-2019), Literature (2018-2019)

This is the instructional hub for a study of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Essential Questions

First, students will work in small groups to write answers to a set of essential questions adapted from the year-long questions suggested by the syllabus. These questions inform the literature and nonfiction we study.

  1. To what extent should we trust that what we see is what is really happening?
  2. To what extent should we trust our memories of the past?
  3. Is it better to be ignorant and happy, or to gain knowledge, even at the cost of happiness? Why?
  4. To what extent and in what ways does power corrupt?
  5. What does it look like to be truly alone, and what is the impact of loneliness on us?
  6. To what extent is human nature self-destructive?
  7. How should we deal with individuals who threaten a community?

Remember that you have precise feedback about how to answer essential questions thoroughly in this post: Insufficient vs. Sufficient Work.

We start with handwritten responses. After small-group discussions, those responses can be typed up and submitted for feedback.

Holt’s Threshold

Students will be given class time to read the novel and find what we call “Holt’s threshold.” We can then discuss whether to continue to read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or to select a work of equivalent literary merit. Here are the two relevant instructional posts:

The Reading Process

Choosing to Read [2018]

Non-Fiction

We will also study this nonfiction piece, written on the 50th anniversary of the novel:

Ken Kesey’s Wars: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at 50

Ever since it was published 50 years ago critics have described Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as the great nonconformist novel, but Nathaniel Rich writes that the novel’s true message is about the militarization of American society-and the trauma of war.

This is literary analysis and argument from Nathaniel Rich, who writes often about literature. The first paragraph:

When a novel becomes a “classic”—when it is digested by critics and English teachers and study guide authors into bite-size morsels that can be slurped with a spoon—it undergoes a peculiar type of transformation. For one, it ceases to resemble a novel. Even the messiest, most obstreperous books are reduced to a litany of bullet points, or a single bullet point. Moby Dick: Obsession devours. Crime and Punishment: Guilt corrupts. White Noise: Technology numbs. It can be disorienting to actually read the damn thing, and find out the epitaph is no more descriptive than a chapter title, and a misleading one at that.

This fits our approach to reading. For a refresher, look back at the reading process posts, or read this:

Well, Why Read?