December 5th, 2012

12/5/12

In Class:
Journal: Respond to the following quote: "One can acquire everything in solitude except character." -Stendhal
Read and discussed "Lost in Translation: What the First Line of 'The Stranger' Should Be" by Ryan Bloom. What sort of character does Meursault seem to be? How do Camus' style and our particular translation affect the character of Meursault?
Read "Volar" by Judith Ortiz Cofer.
Used remainder of class to:

• Work on outline and/or rough draft of Literary Analysis #1 (due Mon., 12/3)
• Work on Literary Analysis #1 (due Mon., 12/10)
• Read The Stranger through Pt. 1, Ch. 5 (due Mon., 12/10)
• Catch up on any missing work
• Identity illustrations (due Mon., 12/10)

Homework:
Finish Literary Analysis #1.
Read The Stranger through Part 1, Chapter 5.

December 3rd, 2012

12/3/12

In Class:
Collected outlines/rough drafts.
Journal : Recall your first day at Boulder Prep. How did people see you and define who you are? Is this the person you wanted them to see? Are you the same person today?
Lecture/discussion of various identity roles and characteristics, including 'ascribed' vs. 'achieved' status roles and 'inward' vs. 'outward' perception and portrayal.
Students individually listed 10 roles/characteristics which they saw as essential to their independent identities, then began the identity illustration mini-project (due Wednesday).
Class collaboratively read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut to discuss social and intellectual imprisonment and the idea of independence.

Homework:
Work on Literary Analysis #1.
Read Part One, Chapters 1-2 of The Stranger.

November 28th, 2012

11/28/12

In Class:
Read "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost and briefly discussed its relevance to The Tortilla Curtain.
Journal: Respond to the following quote: “Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.” - Albert Camus
Mini-lesson on different types of conflict--

• Person vs. person
• Person vs. society
• Person vs. self
• Person vs. nature
• Person vs. supernatural/technology

In pairs or independently, students completed this graphic organizer:



Students began evaluating sample essay for essential characteristics, e.g.:

• Plot summary 
• Quotes/textual evidence 
• Explanation of quotes
• Introduction 
• Thesis statement
• Conclusion 
• Thematic shift (where do I finish setting up the case and draw an insight?)

Distributed copies of our next novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus.

Homework:
Finish outline and/or rough draft of Literary Analysis #1 by Monday!
Review sample essay.

Tortilla Curtain Example Essay

I wrote a model essay for Literary Analysis #1 in order to give you an idea of my expectations and hopes. Your essay doesn't haven't to be a carbon copy of mine--I don't expect (or want) that. But this is the sort of analytical style I want to see.

You can download the essay as a PDF by clicking here.

November 26th, 2012

11/26/12

In Class:
Journal: Wade back through the last 15 pages of The Tortilla Curtain. Identify one passage--no longer than a paragraph--that sums up a theme or thread of the novel. Make note of this passage, and then briefly explain the theme or significance of the passage.
 
In groups of three, students reviewed the primary plot and character developments from Part Three of the novel. Each group should write a 2-paragraph summary of about a) what happened, and b) how the characters change or don't change.  
 
Individually, each student wrote an alternative ending to The Tortilla Curtain, beginning anywhere in the course of the plot.

Class reviewed Shane's model outline for Literary Analysis #1. An image is included below. Important notes:

a. I copied the passage into the outline so I had an easier time reviewing and quoting within my essay. Students should do this on their outlines/first drafts too.  b. I incorporated general ideas and sentence fragments, but focused mostly on thesis and structure/organization so I would have some idea where the essay was going. c. This is not the only way to format an outline, and I do not require any specific format; the purpose, rather, is to give you a starting point, some direction, and an opportunity to begin thinking more critically before writing.

 

Homework:

Work on your outline or rough draft; it is due next Monday, and you will not have much class time dedicated to it on Wednesday.

November 14th, 2012

11/14/12

In Class:
Journal--Describe an experience when the presence or absence of money somehow changed the course of your life.

The class was arbitrarily into two separate groups using traits beyond the control of group members (e.g., eye color, birth place, etc.). Each group began building a model bridge; one group used considerably weaker materials, while the other group had several material advantages. 

After testing and presenting the bridges, the class determined that the end result would have been much stronger if the class had collaborated, using the stronger materials of the 'advantaged' group and the ideas of the 'disadvantaged' group. This exercise demonstrates the inequity of resources and access in a stratified capitalist society, as well as revealing the futility of competition between various classes.

Introduction to Marxist literary critical theory, including ideology, socioeconomic status, hegemony, commodity fetishism, and reification. Introductory reading packet distributed to students.

Homework:
Finish The Tortilla Curtain by the end of break.
 

November 12th, 2012

11/12/12

In Class:
Journal: Respond to the following quote--
“Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.” -Desmond Tutu
 
Independently, students read and annotated “Putting up the Gates” by Edward J. Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder on gated communities and the 'fortress mentality.'
 
Discussed the mentality and social implications of gated communities, as well as the relation to The Tortilla Curtain:
   - What is a gated community? 
   - What are the primary rationalizations for living in a gated community? 
           Crime/safety; traffic; privacy; prestige  
   - What do Blakely and Snyder mean by ‘fortress mentality’? 
   - What is homogeneity, and how do gated communities encourage it?
    - How can gated communities be detrimental to actual community?
    - How does the plight for safety relate to the gated community mentality?
    - How does the gated community mentality reinforce social distinctions (e.g., classism, racism, etc.)?
    - In what specific ways do you think gated communities are inextricably intertwined with capitalism?
           Socioeconomic distinction and homogeneity; prestige and pride; media, developers, and real estate industry playing on the market of fear-mongering

Introduced Literary Analysis essay assignment. See assignment sheet in below post.

Homework:
Journals collected on Wednesday. (You should have 8 by the end of class on 11/14.)
Golden Lines collected on Wednesday. (Complete the sheet using The Tortilla Curtain text.)
Read through p. 265 of The Tortilla Curtain by Wednesday.