The Last One

My primary goal in incorporating the blog into the course this year was to foster some discussion outside of the classroom and to afford you the opportunity to present and discuss ideas not necessarily covered in class. How successful do you believe the blogs were? Are there any changes (form or content) you think I should make for next year?

A Hall of a Time ...

Please provide a reaction to Mr. Hall's classroom visit. What did you think of the analytical methodology (SQFR) presented over the past couple of days? Were there any other thoughts on the short story that you did not get a chance to make during class?

Southern Short Stories

Do you have any final thoughts on the mini-unit of short stories by Southern writers? Any particular favorite? Any interesting overlap or similarities (characterization, theme, style, etc.)between or among the stories?

Graduation Celebration: Consternation or Elation?

As your graduation from NHS looms ever nearer (two months and counting ...), take a moment and reflect on your feelings about leaving NHS behind. Do you leave here with some consternation (regrets? fears? dismay? confusion?) or with great elation about your four years at NHS and about what the future brings?

Summer Reading (Some Are Not)

Now that the weather is finally beginning to suggest that Winter '08-'09 may, indeed, be behind us, it's time to start thinking about summer reading! For the first time in several years, you will not have a required NHS Summer Reading Assignment. So what will you be reading this summer? What tome will you drag out to the beach? What classic will you curl up with in the cool air conditioning? What poet will you peruse in the late afternoon shade of a maple tree?

Pick a Prompt, Any Prompt ...

You have been given (or will shortly be given) a list of the A.P. open-ended free response prompts from the past 30 years or so. Select any prompt (just note the year) and explain what work you would choose to address the prompt and why.

Love is ...

Have you ever been in love with a fictional character? Wait - don't answer that. If you WERE to fall in love with a fictional character, or were offered the opportunity to enter a novel and become romantically involved with a fictional character, who would it be and why? (If it's too weird to think about this in romantic terms, then feel free to simply identify the fictional character whom you'd most like to meet.)

Look - A Stone Left Unturned!

Thus far we've discussed a number of aspects of Flaubert's novel; however, we certainly have not exhausted the work. What is one aspect of the novel (theme? character? passage? scene?) that class discussion did not touch on thoroughly (or at all), but which you feel demands attention?

"A poem should not mean,/ But be."

Of the poems we've studied over the past few weeks (consult the presentation list if necessary), which (other than yours) did you find the most memorable and/or meaningful? Why?

Free Indirect Discourse

We have discussed Flaubert's use of free indirect discourse in Madame Bovary. (For a reminder, here's a helpful link: http://everything2.com/title/Free%2520Indirect%2520Discourse) Cite a passage from the novel that illustrates the use of free indirect discourse and briefly explain how the author makes use of this narrative technique. (You may wish to use this link -- http://www.online-literature.com/gustave-flaubert/madame-bovary/ -- to access the text in order to simply copy and paste a passage. Be forewarned, however, that the translation is not the Lowell Bair translation that we've been using.)

Qui est Madame Bovary?

A quick "google images" search of "Emma Bovary" (or "Madame Bovary") turns up a multitude of images trying to capture the essence of the character. (1) Select the visual representation that you feel best captures the essence of (or, at least, some aspect of) Emma. (2) Either paste the image into your response or provide a link to the image. (3) Finally, explain why you chose the image you did. (That is, examine the quality or characteristic of Emma Bovary that is captured well by the actress, painting, portrait, photo, etc.)

Reality ... What a Concept!

Critic Lionel Trilling famously observed, "All prose fiction is a variation of the theme of Don Quixote." Indeed, throughout the Western literary tradition, novelists (like visual artists) have been forced to align themselves somewhere along a continuum that can be thought of in any number of permutations: Realism vs. Romanticism, Real vs. Imagined, Actual vs. Symbolic, What Is vs. What Could (or Should) Be, Fact vs. Fiction, External Truth vs. Internal Truth, etc. Another way of saying this is that every novelist must face the paradoxical task of how to convey truth through the medium of fiction.

What are your thoughts on this? You might address where a specific novel might fall in one of the continuums listed above or you might reflect on the very nature/role of novels themselves. (That is, why do we read novels? Is it to learn about our world or to escape from it?) You may even think about the relevance of this notion to the current television trend towards "reality shows"!

Assessment Assumptions

Think of the many different ways by which teachers have assessed you over the course of your schooling: objective quizzes/tests, open-ended quizzes/tests, essays (in-class and take-home), projects, presentations, etc. What are your thoughts on assessment? What types of assessment do you find most valid and/or valuable? What are least valid/valuable? (I'm not asking what you "like" best, or what's "most fun," though you can certainly mention that. What I'm more interested in is your opinion on what form(s) of assessment is/are the most educationally sound.)

Poetry is ...

Check out this link to peruse some well-known statements about poetry: (http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/quoap1.htm).

Now that you're sufficiently inspired, come up with your own original definition what poetry is ...

Hedda the Class

Respond to any of the following critical commentaries on Ibsen's Hedda Gabler:

A. “Hedda is neither a monster or a saint … simply a tragic character who is destroyed by the unharmonious and irreconcilable contrasts in her own character.”
B. “Hedda is not a vampire-woman. If she is dangerous, it is because she stands at bay. She is frustrated at every turn. Her plight is desperate. All her aggressions are aroused; she is defending her inmost life.”
C. “Hedda has no source of richness in herself and must constantly seek it in others, so that her life becomes a pursuit of sensation and experiment; and her hatred of bearing a child is the ultimate expression of her egotism, the sickness that brings death.”
D. “Bound in as Hedda is by the literal and figurative corsets of the day, it’s easy to understand how, years before, she had been eager to live vicariously, channeling her libido into listening to Lovborg’s tales of his debaucheries, while at the same time too terrified of her own sexual desires to respond to his overtures.”

That Four-Letter Word

In honor of the upcoming CAPT . . .

What does this play say about people in general? In what ways does it remind you of people you have known or experiences you have had? You may also write about stories or books you have read, or movies, works of art, or television programs you have seen. Use examples from the play to explain your thinking.

(You may adapt this to either of the Ibsen plays. Also, please don't feel the need to write a page-long response. Make your point(s) clearly and succinctly.)

The Write Stuff

It's always beneficial to take a moment and reflect on your writing. What do you see as your major strengths and/or weaknesses as a writer? What aspects of your writing are you most proud of? What would you like to work on as you head off towards college? (Feel free to think in either large or small terms ...)

A Doll House - General Reaction

Please provide some general commentary/reaction on Ibsen's A Doll House as a whole. You might comment on the play's overall theme, including whether or not its status as a "feminist play" is justified or serves to limit the play's scope, appeal, and/or effectiveness. You might also choose to discuss the play's relevance to today. That is, does the ending of the play still hold the shock value that it did over 100 years ago? Why or why not?

IMPORTANT: Since I'd like to use your comments in class discussion on Monday 2/23, this blog entry MUST be submitted by or on Sunday 2/22 in order to receive credit.

A Doll House - Specific Analysis

Please offer analysis with respect to some particular aspect of Ibsen's A Doll House. You might choose to explore a significant symbol in the novel, a particular quotation, or a specific scene or action. Also, you might choose to comment on the issue surrounding the correct translation of the play's title (A Doll's House vs. A Doll House), or on the alternate ending written by Ibsen (http://ibsen.net/index.gan?id=11111794&subid=0). Please limit your discussion to ONE point in conjunction with any one of the above topics in order to ensure that other students have opportunities to provide commentary.

IMPORTANT: Since I'd like to use your comments in class discussion on Monday 2/23, this blog entry MUST be submitted by or on Sunday 2/22 in order to receive credit.

2008 A.P. Free-Response

In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

What work of literature would you select? Briefly sketch out your main argument.

People Are Strange, When You're a Stranger ...

Love? Gentle indifference? Cries of hate? Just what are your lingering thoughts concerning Camus's The Stranger? You might address something covered in class that was particularly striking or an issue that wasn't addressed in class discussion. You might choose to discuss style, characters, plot, or philosophical implications of the novel.

Crimes and Misdemeanors

What are your thoughts on Woody Allen's film Crimes and Misdemeanors? What's a crime? What's a misdemeanor? Are there parallels to Crime and Punishment? If so, why does Allen conspicuously remove the "Punishment" from the title? What are the moral and ethical implications of the film? What existential themes does this film posit? (Note: These questions are meant to get you started. Feel free to comment on any aspects of the film.)

Rock and Roll

What are your thoughts on the myth of Sisyphus and his punishment? You may approach this question in any ONE of several ways:

1. Comment on Camus's interpretation in his "The Myth of Sisyphus."

2. Provide your own metaphorical reading of Sisyphus's punishment.

3. Discuss another punishment in the Greek underworld.

(Please choose only ONE of the above.)

Russian Idol

If Crime and Punishment were a contestant on a version of American Idol that fostered competition between works of literature rather than pop singers ... well, I'd probably watch it. Anyway, how would it do? Compare it to another great work of literature you've read, providing justification for a "winner" in terms of literary success. (This is admittedly rather silly and less than useful, but I'd be interested in what you have to say here ...)

Your Turn

By now you've been exposed to a few examples of "Question #3," the open-ended prompt at the end of the free-response section of the A.P. Literature test. (For further examples, follow the link at the bottom.)

Please write your own original open-ended prompt that could be applied to a variety of works of literary merit. (Also, please include a title that you have in mind as a response to your prompt.)

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lit/samp.html?englit

Mr. Raskolnikov, Meet Mr. Tolstoy ...

During the course of his epic War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy alternates historical fiction on a grand scale with a number of short, analytical "essays," ultimately proposing a theory of historical events that challenges conventional views of historians. Please follow this link for one such chapter, occurring at or near the midpoint of the novel and serving as a type of thesis statement for Tolstoy's work:

http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/war_and_peace/168/

(Note: This is not Chapter 1 of the entire book, but rather Chapter 1 of Book 9.)

How does Tolstoy's theory of history relate to and/or contradict the theory proposed by Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment? You might instead choose to discuss your own thoughts on the validity of Tolstoy's theory of historical events and persons.

The Root of All Evil?

"The root of all evil: that the slavish morality of meekness, chastity, selflessness, absolute obedience, has triumphed -- ruling natures were thus condemned (1) to hypocrisy, (2) to torments of conscience -- creative natures felt like rebels against God, uncertain and inhibited by eternal values ..."

- Friedrich Nietzsche (1884)

Please comment on the above passage. Feel free to respond in light of Dostoevsky or Raskolnikov, or to simply express your own thoughts about Nietzsche's comments.