Unit+06+Homework+Archive

** ANNOUNCEMENTS **

 * 1.** Sorry for the late posting! Here is the argument essay practice powerpoint from today's class (2/4).
 * 2.** See below for updated information on assignments related to the reading of //Huck Finn.//
 * 3.** I highly suggest that you revisit the [[file:Mythological and Archetypal Approaches.pdf|essay on myth and archetype]] from earlier in the year. The sections on naturalistic archetypes and the journey of the hero are especially worth revisiting. You should also consider the general presence of myth in human consciousness as you read over Jim and Huck's superstitions, Tom Sawyer's romantic visions, and the folklore of the "Raft Epsiode", which is attached below.
 * 4.** Here's the "[[file:The Raft Episode.pdf|Raft Episode]]".
 * 5.** We have not discussed the obvious racial issue in //Huck Finn// in class. I do not want this to come across as a matter of avoidance or trivialization, as if the issue of racism (especially Huck's use of the n-word) were one to fear or downplay. It is neither. However, I do not believe the issue deserves the spotlight it is often given for one simple reason: Twain is dramatizing the racism of Huck's society; he is NOT endorsing it. There is an enormous difference and I think [|this blog article] discusses it nicely. We will address the issue of racism in class soon; for now, I want to focus on understanding the novel itself first. (As a necessary point of context, the article is written in response to a movement to replace every use of "n-word" in //Huck Finn// with the word "slave".)
 * 6. [[file:Word Journal (Gatsby).doc|GREAT GATSBY WORD JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT]]:** Although we have not officially moved onto the Jazz Age yet, those of you who are able to spare the time may start working on your Gatsby reading journal by clicking on the link at the beginning of this announcement. Suggested words for tracking in this journal are: Car (and all associated driving words), water (and all associated uses or bodies of water), white, light, music, or eyes. You may do your journal as you read, or read the novel first and complete the journal retrospectively. Neither approach is preferable. Here is a link to an [|etext of the novel]. The journal will be due on Friday, March 15.

**1. Comedy Essay **
Choose one of the humor writers listed [|on this website], read/research the author and his/her style, and compose a 2-4 page imitative rewrite of a scene from //Huck Finn//. Your final submission must include two drafts: one unmarked copy and a second copy on which you annotate specific features of written style that you have imitated. I hope it goes without saying that you may **not** choose to imitate Mark Twain for this rewrite, in spite of his presence on the list...
 * Due: Friday, March 1 **

The list on the website is rather long, so I'll offer the following sub-lists just in case they help:

__Authors I personally find funny__: Jane Austen Erma Bombeck P.J. O'Rourke Dave Barry Maureen Dowd David Sedaris James Thurber H.L. Mencken Kurt Vonnegut Roald Dahl Anne Lamott <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jonathan Swift <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Onion <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Authors that people I know find funny__ (and I might too except that I haven't read them): <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bill Bryson <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">David Foster Wallace <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art Buchwald <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Joseph Heller <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Douglas Adams <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Candace Bushnell <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Authors on the list that I DON'T find funny__ (but maybe I haven't read the right thing): <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Frank McCourt <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">J.D. Salinger <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Douglass Adams (ok, I admit he's funny...I just don't like him) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Charles Dickens <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">F. Scott Fitzgerald <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tobias Wolff <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tom Wolfe <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Actors whose writing is on the list__: Steve Martin Woody Allen Al Franken <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Authors that you may add to the list__: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stephen Colbert: I am America! (And So Can You!); I am a Pole! (And So Can You!) ; America Again: Rebecoming the Greatness We Never Weren't <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Daily Show: America (A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction); Earth <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And if you just don't know what to do, I recommend you choose an author from the contemporary non-fiction section -- their work is (generally) the most straightforwardly funny and easily imitable.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**2. American Realism Presentation**

 * Due: Monday & Tuesday, March 4 & 5**

Read the short story assigned to your group and complete the following presentation structure independently as preparation for group work on Thursday and Friday (2/28 -3/1).
 * Situation:
 * Setting Description:
 * Character Description:
 * Major Plot shifts:
 * Motif Analysis:
 * Theme/Worldview Analysis:

**Assignment #3: Read and annotate "Hills Like White Elephants"**
to download the Hemingway short story "Hills Like White Elephants." It is a quick read, so do a repeat reading with progressive annotation -- that is, annotate your questions and confusions the first time through (you'll have plenty of those) along with any initial patterns you notice, then continue to re-read and re-annotate in order to work your way toward clarity. Bring your annotated text to class on Weds for a homework grade. (Note: This assignment begins our transition into the Jazz Age.)
 * Due: Wednesday, 3/6**

**Assignment #2: //Huck Finn// Reading Journal**
Since the novel is largely an Americanization of the European [|bildungsroman tradition], the reading journal for //Huck Finn// will require you to track the development of the main character over the course of his (mis)adventures. Rather than completing a chapter-by-chapter journal, you will select specific snapshots from the text, which may be as short as a sentence or as long as an entire multi-chapter episode, that provide material for analysis of certain //bildungsroman// conventions. __Your journal must be organized as follows__:
 * Due: Friday, 2/22**

__Part A) The emergence and development of the main character__ Complete //**five entries**// based on snapshots that illustrate key moments in Huck's emergence as an individual. At least one entry should explore an example of Huck's naiveté, especially in the form of unwitting conformity, and another should explore an example of an interaction with, as Goethe puts it, a "well-disposed friend" who helps Huck move toward maturity. Other entries may focus on a topic of your choice, though you may find it useful to select a specific feature of the traditional //bildungsroman// that Twain uses (whether sincerely or satirically) to structure Huck's growth.

__Part B) The hero's spiritual crisis__ Choose one or two moments that dramatize Huck's concrete transition from immaturity to maturity. Complete //**one journal entry**// that analyzes this epiphany both as a result of a key catalyst(s) in Huck's experience and as the end of a longer chain of experiences.

__Part C) The end(?)__ The //bildungsroman// often ends ambiguously, with a certain lack of closure. Complete //**two entries**// that analyze the novel's denouement and conclusion. These entries should focus on the consequences of Huck's epiphany and the resulting thematic message of the novel as a whole, and should conclude by offering an evaluation of the rhetorical effectiveness of the conclusion.

__Part D) Analytic Essay__ The journal should conclude with a //**2-page essay**// that offers a holistic analysis of Huck's moral development. This is a chance to make a single cohesive argument out of the material scattered across your various journal entries and to extend your observations by connecting them to other literary traditions, such as the //picaro// figure or the archetypal hero. This essay will be graded separately from the journal itself.

__Grading__ Parts A, B, and C -- 25 points per entry for a total of 200 homework points Part D -- 50 major assessment points (100 point rubric weighted x0.5) //Further note: While there is no specific requirement regarding frequency or timing of comic analysis in any of this work, it is expected that you will enrich your journal and essay by discussing Twain's use of various comedic conventions we have discussed in class: these include irony, satire, frontier humor, and metacomedy. You must also submit your annotated copy of the novel along with your journal.//

**Assignment #1: Background Reading and an Intro to Frontier Humor**
1. Dust off your class textbook and read the historical essay on "Division and Discovery" found on pages 290-300. Take reading notes (to be checked in class on Monday). 2. Download the story attached below. Print it out, read it, and annotate the text. Pay special attention to [|irony] as a comic tool, especially in the form of [|understatement] and [|euphemism].
 * Due: 1/25**