Good Afternoon! On this page, you will be given prompts and asked to respond to the prompts for each of your readings we do in class. You will be given 1 short story a week to respond to. At the end of the course, your final will be a compilation/portfolio from your blogs. Your first assignment is to create your own blog! Be creative and have fun! Make sure to include your name, my name and your class name and block/time on your page. Assignment 1: January 22, 2015 After creating your blog site, now react to your first reading assignment- the Introduction to Short Story. Summarize what you read. Last- take ONE of the quotes from the authors in the reading and react to it. Why did you choose the quote? What did it mean to you? Why do you think this quote was important to the Introduction to Short Story? Please write in complete sentences. There is no limit to how much or how little you are to write. Remember: the more you create now, the less you have to do in the end. Assignment 2: The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe January 26th - January 30th From your Reading Questions, Go to the "Optional Questions" page. Answer the Writing prompt at the bottom of the page. Your answer should be 3-5 paragraphs long (a paragraph is 5-7 sentences). Be sure to type the question you are answering! Assignment 3: The Storm by Kate Chopin February 9 - 12 Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it. Your answer should be between 1-3 paragraphs long (a paragraph is 5-7 sentences). 1. Compare the storm that occurs on the story to the affair that Calixta and Alcee have. 2. What does the story say about having an affair? How is this reflected in the characters of Calixta and Alcee and their spouses. 3. After the storm has passed and so has the affair, predict how this event will have an affect on the future of Calixta and Alcee. Will this happen again? Will their marriages survive? How will they react to each other if they see one another again? 4. Chopin’s characters here do not rebel against the institution of marriage; they object only to being confined by traditional roles..... In fact, for marriage to succeed, Chopin argues, such freedom is crucial. Far from threatening marriage, this liberty is its only means of salvation. (www.enotes.com) Do you agree with this statement? Why or Why not?
Assignment 6 The Ghosts by Lord Dunsany Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences). 1. Define Personification. The author uses this technique in the opening paragraphs of the story. What does he describe? Give 2 examples from the story. Next, tell what effect this technique has on you, the reader. 2. Does anger ever translate itself into fantasy? Do people ever work on angry thoughts through fantasizing? How does this relate to the narrator and his brother? 3. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not? 4. Would you do what the narrator did- try and prove the existence of ghosts? If so, what would you do or what have you done? Would you do it again? 5. Change the ending of the story. Describe what would have happened if he would have fallen for the 'sin'. Assignment 7 The Girl From Red Lion PA by H.L. Mencken Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences). 1. The reader is introduced to Peebles in the beginning of the story. Tell me about Peebles (Paragraph #1). What is his profession? What type of person is Peebles-what are his character traits? Next, tell me about Peebles past (Paragraph #2). How does this affect the reader's opinion of him? Why would the author add this to the description? (Hint- think about the ENTIRE story.) 2. Why is the girl from Red Lion, PA convinced that she needed to come to Baltimore? Give details from her story. 3. Why does the author, Mencken, use Peebles, Percy and Miss Nellie to give advice to this young girl? (Hint- think about what they ALL have in common) 4. Does this same thing happen today? Are young girls convinced to become certain professions due to society's beliefs? 5. Change the ending of the story. Describe what would have happened if the father came to Miss Nellie's? MARKING PERIOD 4: Assignment 8 The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences). 1. Think of any ritual or custom that is practiced in the United States today but is seldom questioned. Name 2-4 traditions and discuss why you think they are seldom, if ever, questioned. Keep in mind that these rituals or customs are things that have been going on for many years and usually only happen 1 time a year. 2. You live in a small town (Columbia), much like the setting of the story. Name 2-4 traditions that are unique to Columbia. Explain how (you believe) they were started and how long they have been occurring. Keep in mind, too, that some are even gender biased- meaning only males or only females are involved. Next, discuss how you feel about traditions in Columbia, their importance or their place in this community and why they are rarely questioned or challenged. Assignment 9 Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences). 1. Carefully observe the details of the story's opening, how the narrator learns of his brother's downfall, where he is at the time, the interaction with Sonny's friend, etc. How do these scenes help set up the issues in the story? 2. How do events in the past, presented as flashbacks or as the narrator's recollections, help to develop the plot and characterization in "Sonny's Blues"? Consider the narrator's description of his and Sonny's childhood, their lives on the Harlem streets, the Sunday dinners at home, the death of their uncle, the narrator's last conversation with their mother, etc. 3. Toward the end of the story, as he is trying to explain his addiction to heroin and his passion for music, Sonny tells the narrator that everyone tries to find a way not to suffer, even the narrator himself. What are the narrator's ways of coping with his pain and fear? 4. What statement does the story make about the relationship of art to life or about the relationship of art to suffering? Assignment 10 A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it. Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences). 1. What does the title of the short story mean? Support your answer with at least 2 examples from the story to prove your belief. 2. In part II of the story, the women notice a smell coming from the house. They blame it on Miss Emily’s male servant. First, what do ‘they’ do to solve the problem of the smell? Next, what do you think really caused the smell? Give 2 examples from the story to support your answer. 3. Why didn’t Miss Emily pay her taxes? Why did the townspeople eventually ‘forgive’ her? What could this be symbolic of? Support your answer with at least 2 examples from the story. 4. How and why did Miss Emily kill Homer Barron and then sleep beside him all those years? Give 2 examples from the story to support your answer. Assignment 11 Araby by James Joyce Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it Your answer should be 2-4 paragraphs long (a paragraph being 5-7 sentences).
examples from the text. 4. If you read this story as a quest- an adventure in search of something (real or unreal) of value, what is the quest? Who is the ‘hero’? What is the treasure? What are some of the obstacles the hero faces? Assignment 12 A Party in the Square by Ralph Ellison
Answer (1) of the following questions. Copy the prompt onto your page and then answer it. Your answer needs to be 2 -4 paragraphs long. 1. Why do you think the black man's name is never mentioned? What is the reason for the repeated use of the word 'nigger' in the story? 2. Make a comparison between the narrator's and the townspeople's of the 'nigger' and the 'party' at the square from the beginning of the story until the end. Identify any changes in the perceptions of the narrator and or townspeople. What does this tell the reader? 3. Describe the 3 'disasters' that happen in the story. Compare them to one another. What is the significance of each 'disaster' to the story? 4. What is significant or symbolic of the meaning of "Phenix City"? |