Transcript American Lit, 8/19/13

American Lit, 8/19/13
Opening
 “Indeed, it strikes me that to lay this obscenity off to some mitigating factor, no
matter how worthy, is to make the crime smaller than it is and offer rationalizations
that insult the sufferers.
Meaning that I don’t care what video games these wretches played. Don’t give a damn
if they were picked on by other kids.
It makes no difference.
This was a special category of evil.”
- Leonard Pitts, Jr., writing about the young men who committed the Columbine HS
massacre
1.
2.
What is Pitts’ attitude toward the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre? How
do you know?
In the second paragraph, Pitts uses two incomplete sentences. How does this
contribute to his overall tone and purpose?
Opening
 “Twenty bodies were thrown out of our wagon. Then the train
resumed its journey, leaving behind it a few hundred naked
dead, deprived of burial, in the deep snow of a field in
Poland.”
- Elie Wiesel, Night
1.
2.
This scene describes the transporting of Jews from
Auschwitz to Buchenwald, both concentration camps in
WWII. In this selection, Wiesel never refers to the men who
die on the journey as men. Instead they are bodies or simply
dead. How does this use of diction shape your
understanding of the situation?
How would the meaning change if we substitute dead people
for bodies?
Essential Question
 “How can we learn from the way in
which an author structures his/her
story?”
The Five-Act Plot Structure
Key Vocabulary
 Plot – The main, overall story of a work of fiction.
 Exposition – The introduction to the characters and
their world. Necessary background is given,
characterization and relationships are established.
 Rising Action – The conflict is introduced. Tension
heightens.
Key Vocabulary
 Climax – The most important part of the story; NOT
the end of the story. Usually in the climax, the
protagonist make a fateful decision that determines
the outcome of the story. After the climax everything
is different and you should have some sense of how
the story will end.
 Falling Action – The part of the story immediately
following the climax. If the results of the climax were
not already apparent, then they are now.
 Resolution – The end of the story. The conflict is
resolved and the fates of all characters are clear.
Opening
 “Her face was white and sharp and slightly gleaming in the
candlelight, like bone. No hint of pink. And the hair. So fine,
so pale, so much, crimped by its plaiting into springy zigzag
tresses, clouding neck and shoulders, shining metallic in the
candlelight, catching a hint, there it was, of green again, from
the reflection of a large glazed cache-pot containing a vigorous
sword-leafed fern.”
- A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
1. When Byatt describes a face “like bone,” what do you
picture? What feelings do this generate for you, the reader?
2. How can hair be “clouding neck and shoulders?” What does
that mean? How do you picture that image?
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
 The story is on pg. 620.
 As we read the story, complete the day’s handout
(Burke’s ‘Plot Notes’ graphic).
 Decide which parts of the story are the exposition,
rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
 Also, for the beginning, middle, and end of the story
explain what you think is most important and why.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What advice from the old-timer does the man choose to
ignore? What can you infer from this about the man’s
character?
What do the dog’s instincts tell it about the cold? Why
does the cold make no impression on the man?
In the rising action, what traps does the man try
(unsuccessfully) to avoid? When he’s unable to avoid
the traps, what chain of events is set into motion?
What is the climax of the story? It what ways does the
climax determine the story’s outcome?
Do you think the outcome of the story is mostly due to
fate or the man’s own character? Explain.
Closing
 3-2-1 regarding today’s lesson.
 3 = Things you learned today.
 2 = Things that are still unclear to you.
 1 = Question.
 Complete the closing on a half sheet of
paper.
Opening
 “He went on till he came to the first milestone, which
stood in the bank, half-way up a steep hill. He rested his
basket on the top of the stone, placed his elbows on it,
and gave way to a convulsive twitch, which was worse
than a sob, because it was so hard and dry.”
- Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
How do the details in this passage prepare for the
convulsive twitch at the end of the passage?
2. This excerpt does not describe the character’s face at
all. What is the effect of this lack of detail for the
reader?
1.
Essential Question
 “How do authors use setting to
create mood?”
Key Vocabulary
 Setting – Where the story is set (duh).
Includes not only the geographic location,
but also the time and mood.
 Mood – The atmosphere that pervades a
work of lit. Or, the feeling that we the
reader get from a work of lit.
 In
plays and movies, the physical sets and the
music contribute to the mood.
 We
use adjectives to describe mood.
 Mood is distinct from tone (more on that later).
Mood in Film
 Clip #1 – Dracula. 1931, Browning.
 Clip #2 – The Shining. 1980, Kubrick.
 Clip #2 – Blade Runner. 1982, Scott.
 Clip #3 – The Princess Bride. 1987, Reiner.
Mood In Literature
 Together, we will read James Baldwin’s “The
Rockpile.”
 Pay particular attention to Baldwin’s descriptions of
the story’s setting.
 Locate five notable descriptions of the setting and,
using strong adjectives, describe the mood the
descriptions conjure.
Mood in Literature
 Together, we will read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of
the House of Usher.”
 Pay particular attention to Poe’s descriptions of the
story’s setting (Usher’s mansion).
 Locate five notable descriptions of the setting and,
using strong adjectives, describe the mood the
descriptions conjure.
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
In Poe’s initial description of Roderick Usher’s house,
which words suggest the presence of decay in the house
itself?
2. In what ways does the description of the house
foreshadow the end of the story?
3. Which details in the description of Roderick Usher’s
appearance suggest he has been shut off the from the
world and decayed in much the same way as the house?
4. Briefly describe the way in which each of the following
contribute to the overall mood of Poe’s story:
1.
a)
b)
c)
The description of the house.
The description of Madeline’s entombment.
The storm that occurs near the end of the story.
Opening
 “If my mother was in a singing mood, it wasn’t so bad. She would
sing about hard times, bad times, and somebody-done-gone-andleft-me times. But her voice was so sweet and her singing so melty I
found myself longing for those hard times, yearning to be grown
without “a thin di-I-me to my name.” I looked forward to the
delicious time when “my man” would leave me, when I would “hate
to see that evening sun go down…” ‘cause then I would know “my
man has left this town.” Misery colored by the greens and blues in
my mother’s voice took all of the grief out of the words and left me
with a conviction that pain was not only endurable, it was sweet.”
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
1.
What are the parts of the excerpt in quotes? What are they quoted
from? What do they add to the passage?
2. Why does Morrison’s narrator say that “pain…was sweet”? How
does the author set this statement up?
Theme Statements
 Use this structure for all future theme statements:
 The short story/novel/poem title of the poem by name of the
author is about pick a topic related to the story and reveal that
state the author’s attitude about the topic.
 Relationships, war, love, death, human nature, and religion are
all common topics in novels, short stories, and poems. There
are, of course, many more.
 The short story “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien is about
war and reveals that war makes even good people do
bad things.
Key Vocabulary
 Theme – A universal statement about
life made by a work.
 Themes
should be written as statements (that
is, complete sentences). They are not one
word!
 They should be based on the work being
studied/written about, but also be broad
enough to apply to other works.
 Themes are not always lessons. There are
ideas, though, that the authors want us to
understand.
A Skit
 Mr. B: Okay class, what’s the theme of Tim O’Brien’s
story “Ambush”?
 Student: War.
 Mr. B: That’s not a theme, that’s only one word.
 Student: Gosh darn it!
 Mr. B: No, no. Back up. You’re right, it is a story
about war.
 Student: Okay…
 Mr. B: Does O’Brien make war look like a good or a
bad thing?
A Skit
 Student: Well, he talks about how the things he did in

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



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war still bother him today…so I guess, bad?
Mr. B: Right on! Okay, so let’s turn that into a sentence.
Why does O’Brien think war is bad?
Student: …Because it makes good people do bad things?
Mr. B: Bingo! Okay, let’s write it as a theme
statement…“Ambush” by Tim O’Brien is about…
Student: War.
Mr. B: …And reveals that…
Student: War makes good people do bad things.
Mr. B: Awesome!
Aesop’s Fables
 You and your partner will be given one fable (that’s the genre)




by Aesop (that’s the author).
Read your fable carefully.
Determine a topic in the story (some of them have multiple
topics).
Determine what Aesop wants us to understand about that
topic (there might be multiple things at once).
Write a theme statement for your fable including all of the
above info.
 The short story/novel/poem title of the work by
name of the author is about pick a topic related
to the story and reveal that state the author’s
attitude about the topic.
Homework
 Read “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker.
 Study for your vocab quiz!
Reading Quiz #2
How does the narrator know Roderick Usher?
Briefly describe the nature of Usher’s illness.
Name one of the two things that the narrator remarks
are unusual when gazing upon Usher’s “deceased”
sister, Madeline.
4. How does Usher die at the end of the story?
5. What happens to the house of Usher at the end of the
story?
BONUS #1: What clues are there throughout the story that
the narrator might not be entirely reliable? Name one.
Bonus #2: What is the story about that the narrator reads
Usher during the story’s falling action?
1.
2.
3.
Opening
 Let’s revisit the stories we’ve read so far…
 So far we’ve read “Ambush,” “Marigolds,” and “To
Build a Fire” (all in the textbook).
 Pick ONE story and explain, in writing and with
examples, how the story exemplifies some part of
American culture or history.
 What about the story makes it uniquely American?
Homework
 Read Julia Alvarez’s story “Antojos.”
 Anticipate a possible reading quiz.
Essential Question
 “What makes both Walker’s “Everyday Use”
and Alvarez’s “Antojos” quintessentially
American short stories?
 In what ways do these two stories expand
our understanding of what make a story
American?
“Antojos”
 Complete Burke’s “Story Notes” for Alvarez’s short
story.
 For character, make sure you describe how the
author characterizes whomever you consider the
main character.
 Describe the story’s mood under setting.
 Write both a theme statement for the story and the
p.o.v. from which the story is told under the section
called “Observations/Conclusions.”