Regionalism, Naturalism, and Existentialism
Unit Introduction Notes
THE GREAT MARK TWAIN
"The Mesmerizer" excerpt
"Advice to Youth" excerpt
"The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
"Adam's Diary"
Twain's Epigrams (quote list)
"Amended Obituaries"
"My First Lie, and How"
"How to Tell a Story"
Twain's News Articles archive
Twain Mini-Bio video
Mark Twain works (links to full-texts)
MARK TWAIN ESSAY HANDOUT
"Yankee-Rebel Test"
"Advanced Yankee-Rebel Test"
"How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk"
Mark Twain and the American Landscape (assignment sheet)
Mark Twain Essay Guidelines (assignment sheet)
Narrative Sample (Angela Garrett)
"OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT"
Argumentative Essay - "We need society to live."
"OPEN BOAT"
"MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS"
JACOB RIIS ASSIGNMENT:
Jacob Riis was a Danish photographer and social reformist who documented the slums of NYC around the turn of the century (the time period of "Maggie"). Here are links to a combination of his work from a book called "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) and scholarly articles based on that book.
Choose one of the following websites and complete the Google Forms assignment (linked below) based on the one you read.
Unit Introduction Notes
THE GREAT MARK TWAIN
"The Mesmerizer" excerpt
"Advice to Youth" excerpt
"The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
"Adam's Diary"
Twain's Epigrams (quote list)
"Amended Obituaries"
"My First Lie, and How"
"How to Tell a Story"
Twain's News Articles archive
Twain Mini-Bio video
Mark Twain works (links to full-texts)
MARK TWAIN ESSAY HANDOUT
"Yankee-Rebel Test"
"Advanced Yankee-Rebel Test"
"How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk"
Mark Twain and the American Landscape (assignment sheet)
Mark Twain Essay Guidelines (assignment sheet)
Narrative Sample (Angela Garrett)
"OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT"
Argumentative Essay - "We need society to live."
- Define (notes) outcast, exile, society, and consequence
- Agree/Disagree?
- Define "live." (biological vs. philosophical)
- What are the consequences of living "outside?"
- Evaluate exile as punishment
- "Argumentative" means make a point and stick to reasons that support your point.
"OPEN BOAT"
- Define "naturalism" and how it's different from "realism"
- Read Crane's story "Open Boat"
- News Article: "The Commodore Sinks at Sea"
- News Article: "Stephen Crane's Own Story"
"MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS"
- Immigration in NYC assignment
- "Maggie" full-text
- Chart in notebooks detailing three objectives (Social Issues, Regionalism/Naturalism, and Character Motivation)
- Pre-Reading Question: What kinds of changes might Maggie's personality exhibit as she gets older?
- Exit Question 3: How can Maggie's escape from her reality (Pete & the theatre) hurt her instead?
- Exit Question 4: Explain Mary's hypocritical assessment of Maggie.
- Exit Question 5: How is The Bowery almost a character, too?
- Maggie Essay
JACOB RIIS ASSIGNMENT:
Jacob Riis was a Danish photographer and social reformist who documented the slums of NYC around the turn of the century (the time period of "Maggie"). Here are links to a combination of his work from a book called "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) and scholarly articles based on that book.
Choose one of the following websites and complete the Google Forms assignment (linked below) based on the one you read.
- "Genesis of the Tenement" (Chapter 1 from Riis's book)
- "Jacob Riis: Shedding Light On NYC's 'Other Half'" (NPR article)
- "The Problem of the Children" (Chapter 15 from Riis's book)
- "Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed "How The Other Half Lives" in America" (Smithsonian article on Riis's photography)
- "Documenting 'The Other Half': The Social Reform Photography of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine" (UVA article with five links)
- "Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Knee-Pants at Forty-Five Cents a Dozen - A Ludlow Street Sweater's Shop" (Khan Academy article about working conditions in the slums)
"THE YELLOW WALLPAPER"
Failure Poetry - click the link and follow the directions on the assignment.
Dante and Prufrock:
Below is the quote from Dante's "Inferno" that precedes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Find the exact translation, copy it into a document, and explain IN YOUR OWN WORDS how it connects to the poem. Use your Google Docs account and share your response with me at [email protected]
"S'io credesse che mia risposta fosseA persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma penciocche gammai di questo fondo
Non torno viva alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo"
Below is the quote from Dante's "Inferno" that precedes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Find the exact translation, copy it into a document, and explain IN YOUR OWN WORDS how it connects to the poem. Use your Google Docs account and share your response with me at [email protected]
"S'io credesse che mia risposta fosseA persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma penciocche gammai di questo fondo
Non torno viva alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo"
The South in Literature
After reading multiple pieces of literature set in the South, you will be composing a literary analysis based on one specific aspect of the writing.
Click on these links for helpful information:
Exploring the South in Literature (assignment sheet)
Stream-of-Consciousness (assignment sheet)
Stream-of Consciousness (mine - don't laugh)
Jim Crow Laws
Medgar Evers biography
John Kennedy Toole biography (short video)
The Southern Literary Trail
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (Katherine Anne Porter, 1930)
A Worn Path (Eudora Welty, 1940)
A Rose for Emily (WIlliam Faulker, 1930)
The Life You Save May Be Your Own (Flannery O'Connor, 1955)
The Moviegoer (Walker Percy, 1961)
The Moviegoer Assignment
Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Bob Dylan, 1971)
The "Confederacy of Dunces" excerpt is below. We will read part I of Chapter 1, which ends on page 13. If you want to read more, go ahead...it's great!
After reading multiple pieces of literature set in the South, you will be composing a literary analysis based on one specific aspect of the writing.
Click on these links for helpful information:
Exploring the South in Literature (assignment sheet)
Stream-of-Consciousness (assignment sheet)
Stream-of Consciousness (mine - don't laugh)
Jim Crow Laws
Medgar Evers biography
John Kennedy Toole biography (short video)
The Southern Literary Trail
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (Katherine Anne Porter, 1930)
A Worn Path (Eudora Welty, 1940)
A Rose for Emily (WIlliam Faulker, 1930)
The Life You Save May Be Your Own (Flannery O'Connor, 1955)
The Moviegoer (Walker Percy, 1961)
The Moviegoer Assignment
Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Bob Dylan, 1971)
The "Confederacy of Dunces" excerpt is below. We will read part I of Chapter 1, which ends on page 13. If you want to read more, go ahead...it's great!
Modern Literature
post-WWII through today
"Social and Personal Injustice"
No More: The Children of Birmingham
Interview with Bombing Survivor
post-WWII through today
"Social and Personal Injustice"
No More: The Children of Birmingham
Interview with Bombing Survivor
Modern Literature
post-WWII through today
"Staking Your Claim"
Naturalization Test
THE GREAT GATSBY
Original NY Times review of novel (1925)
"Money Always Talks"
"Income Inequality Goes Viral" (video)
"The Lost Generation"
"Jay Gatsby, Dreamer, Criminal, Jazz Age Rogue, Is a Man for Our Times"
"Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby Review"
"7 Life Lessons From 'The Great Gatsby'"
Choose two of the above articles and write a response. Include your thoughts on the article, agreements and/or disagreements with the author and, of course, the way you see the novel connected to the articles. I won't give a specific length of paragraphs, words, or pages, but I will say that if you spend 15 minutes or one paragraph on it, you haven't given it enough depth or thought.
Gatsby assignments, all due no later than the first day of final exam week are:
These assignments can be turned in as you finish, or as one collected piece. You may type and print them, submit them electronically, or complete them in your composition books.
post-WWII through today
"Staking Your Claim"
Naturalization Test
THE GREAT GATSBY
Original NY Times review of novel (1925)
"Money Always Talks"
"Income Inequality Goes Viral" (video)
"The Lost Generation"
"Jay Gatsby, Dreamer, Criminal, Jazz Age Rogue, Is a Man for Our Times"
"Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby Review"
"7 Life Lessons From 'The Great Gatsby'"
Choose two of the above articles and write a response. Include your thoughts on the article, agreements and/or disagreements with the author and, of course, the way you see the novel connected to the articles. I won't give a specific length of paragraphs, words, or pages, but I will say that if you spend 15 minutes or one paragraph on it, you haven't given it enough depth or thought.
Gatsby assignments, all due no later than the first day of final exam week are:
- article response
- narrative essay (Which Gatsby character are you? Gatsby, Nick, Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle?)
- evaluative essay (Who is responsible for Gatsby's death? To what extent?)
- movie response (Analyze Baz Luhrmann's treatment of three symbols: The Valley of the Ashes, The Eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, and The Green Light.)
These assignments can be turned in as you finish, or as one collected piece. You may type and print them, submit them electronically, or complete them in your composition books.
THE THINGS THEY CARRIED - FULL NOVEL PDF