Mission
To
provide a space for book lovers to read great works, share ideas, and learn to
read and write like a professor of literature.
Summer
Reading
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth
Tim
O’Brien, In a Lake of the Woods
Michael
Cunningham, The Hours
Short Story
Boot Camp
Students
will read three (3) assigned stories. In
class we will discuss 1-2 of the stories in-depth. Next, you will compose an essay on the story
we did not discuss as a means of evaluating your understanding of the skill
set.
Plot
Margaret
Atwood, Happy Endings
James
Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Only Goodness
Narration and Point of View
Ernest
Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants
Shira
Nayman, The House of Kronenstrasse
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth
Character
Nikolai
Gogol, The Overcoat
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Gogol
Herman
Melville, Bartley the Scrivener
Setting
Kate
Chopin, The Story of an Hour
Anton
Chekov, The Lady with the Dog
Jhumpa Lahiri, A Choice of Accommodations
Jhumpa Lahiri, A Choice of Accommodations
Symbol
Franz
Kafka, A Hunger Artist
Nick
Hornby, Nipple Jesus
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Hell-Heaven
Theme
William
Faulkner, That Evening Sun
William
Faulkner, A Rose for Emily
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Nobody’s Business
Whole Text
Jhumpa
Lahiri, Hema and Kaushik:
Once in
a Lifetime
Year’s End
Going Ashore
Major Works
Jane
Austen, Persuasion
Virginia
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Albert
Camus, The Stranger
William
Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
James Joyce, Portrait of an Artist as a Young
Man
Drama
Henrik
Ibsen, Ghosts
Oscar
Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Peter
Shaffer, Amadeus
William
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Poetry Boot
Camp
Students
will read a collection of assigned poems.
In class we will discuss 1-2 of the poems in-depth. For homework, you will compose an essay on
one of the poems we did not discuss and you will be expected to bring it to the
next class. We will also compose our own poems and perform in a public space.
Poetry
Texts
Norton Anthology of
Literature,
8th edition, ed. Jerome Beaty
Poetry 180 and 180 More, ed. Billy Collins
Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, ed. Miguel Algarin &
Bob Holman
Poetry SLAM: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry, ed. Gary Mex Glazner
Tone
Marge Piercy, Barbie Doll
Richard
Wilbur, A Barred Owl
Billy
Collins, The History Teacher
Taylor
Mali, Like, Totally Whatever
Jan
Heller Levi, Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad
Theodore
Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz
Morrissey,
There is a Light That Never Goes Out
Speaker
Billy
Collins, Introduction to Poetry
Sharon
Olds, First Hour
Ted
Hughes, Hawk Roosting
Mark
Doty, Golden Retrievals
Andrew
Marvell, A Dialogue Between the Soul and
Body
Richard
Wilbur, Advice to a Prophet
Taylor
Mali, What Teachers Make
Metaphor & Symbol
Robert
Bridges, Eros
Anne
Stevenson, Eros
Seamus
Heaney, Blackberry Picking
Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, The Eolian Harp
Alexander
Pope, Imitations of Horace
Setting & Situation
Rita Dove, Fifth Grade Autobiography
Seamus Heaney, Mid-Term Break
Robert
Penn Warren, Evening Hawk
Laura
Gilpin, The Two-Headed Calf
Stephen
Dunn, Death of a Colleague
Ted
Kooser, Selecting a Reader
Internal Structure
Philip Larkin, Church Going
Sharon Olds, The Victims
Gerad
Manley Hopkins, The Habit of Perfection
Taylor
Mali, The The Impotence of Proofreading
Sylvia
Plath, Daddy
Ryan
Adams, Sylvia Plath
External Structure
John Donne, Death Be Not Proud
William Shakespeare, Let Me Not to the Marriage
of True Minds
Elizabeth Bishop, Sestina
Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good
Night
Marianne Moore, Poetry
Thomas Gray, Hymn to Adversity
William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow
Sound: Spoken Word & Hip Hop
Jack
McCarthy, Careful What You Ask For
Jessica
Care Moore, Warrior Walk Alone
Mos
Def, Mathematics
Nicki
Minaj, Super Bass
Missy
Elliot, Work It
N.W.A.,
Straight Outta Compton
The
Notorious B.I.G., Juicy
Haki
Madhubuti, The B Network
Nikki
Giovanni, Mothers, Talk to Me Poem
Eminem,
Lose Yourself
Bassey
Ikpi, Like Sometimes
Big
Poppa E, The Wussy Boy Manifesto
Public
Enemy, Fight the Power
Beastie
Boys, Root Down
Assessments
for Term 1
Essays
55%: This is will be the bulk of your grade. We will be working on the writing process
throughout the year, but you should see the most progress during boot
camp. Some essays will be work-shopped. Some essays will be written at home. Most will be in a timed classroom
session. Criteria and rubrics will be
made available.
Blogs
& Quizzes 30%:
Every night you will read a selection and be expected to compose a blog
response or take a quiz (from official A.P. Exams). If you are absent, a
make-up quiz will be given. Criteria and rubrics will be made available.
Journal
15%: Everyday you will freewrite in your journal
as a means of actively thinking during class discussions. You will be asked to share your ideas. These journal responses will also be used to
compose blog responses, in-class essays, as well as fully processed
essays. You will receive a grade at the
end of the term for your overall body of work.
Criteria and rubrics for the above will be made available. (For the
grade conscious: This is how the B+
becomes an A-…and vice versa)
Classroom
Behavior
Students
must adhere to the rules of conduct outlined in the Andover High School
Student Handbook 2017-2018 edition.
If you act like an adult, I will treat you like one.
No
Cellphones: No handheld devices should be in my view at
anytime. Administration will be
contacted if this becomes a persistent problem.
Late
Work: It
is your responsibility to approach me about your work. Please refer to the Andover High School
Student Handbook 2017-2018 edition for details.
Aspen: Grades and progress reports will be
consistently posted on Aspen. It is your
responsibility to track your progress.
Jhumpa Lahiri, the author of the short story “Only Goodness,” featured in Unaccustomed Earth, chose a non-traditional plot development to highlight the chaos of the events. This unconventional structure includes a quick and direct introduction of the subject of the story which is Rahul’s alcohol addiction followed by a series of flashbacks describing different childhood memories of him and his older sister, Sudha. This tactic engages the reader right away and makes him or her gain sympathy to the main characters and their family. It also deepens the understanding of the events that led to the current situation. Lahiri starts the story by describing Sudha’s most regrettable memory stating that “It was Sudha who introduced Rahul to alcohol...” (128). The memory of her supplying her younger brother with his first bottle of beer and his first cup of coffee haunted her throughout the story. It makes the reader paint a picture of the two siblings, both young and vulnerable with a close bond, making you more sensitive to the plot twist in the following events. She was dedicated and “determined that her little brother should leave his mark as a child in America. She sought out all the right toys for him, scavenging from yard sales..” is the twist and turning of the knife making us feel her deep pain (136). It later became a ritual to drink over the school breaks, and when Sudha no longer pleased to, Rahul began to drink by himself, carrying their tradition alone. His drinking eventually turned into a big problem, making his parents become increasingly concerned along with the audience. The suspense would heighten as Rahul disappeared making the reader worried about where he is and whether he is safe. The author adds a lot of emotions and detailed descriptions as the action rises to keep the attention of the reader. The story reached its climax at Sudha’s wedding, when her brother stood up to give a speech. The reader at this point holds his breath to see what’s going to happen. Rahul ends up making a scene, leaving his sister humiliated and leading to the turning point in the plot when Sudha switched from her usual feeling of guilt towards him to a feeling of anger. The hope she maintained after all these difficult years diminished, leaving not only her disappointed but us as well. The reader can feel her pain and wants to help her brother as much as she does. This event prepared to the quick ending of the story when Sudha finally cuts the ties with her brother who failed her again when she entrusted him with the care of her child and he left him unattended in the bathtub. The end comes after very suspenseful series of events that kept the excitement of the reader at its peak. The conclusion sends a very powerful message that, sometimes, when parents such as theirs, are forced to deal with problems they’re unfamiliar with, they may have difficulties coping the right way. It also leaves us feeling pity for Sudha, wanting to just jump in the book and give her a hug.
ReplyDelete-Tamara