O BROTHER!

As we begin our literary analysis of O Brother Where Art Thou, we need to make ourselves familiar with its literary background.  The following questions will help you locate information that will establish such a background.  You may work with a partner for this research.


a) This film has a color combination and actual scenes that are said to be reminiscent of Dorothea Lange's Depression era photography.  Locate two sources that actually comment on such a comparison.  Identify your sources and their commentary. 


b)  OBWAT has several parallels to the Odyssey.  Investigate these parallels, using reputable sources.  Share ten points of comparison. 


c) Besides being inspired by Homer's story, the film also parallels The Wizard of OZ and an even older film, Sullivan's Travels (also a possible reference to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels). How is OBWAT patterned after those films?


d) Use the KYVL or a university site to locate a scholarly article regarding the film.  Briefly summarize the article's commentary.


e) How did the film do at the Academy Awards?  Report.  


Enjoy!

Help with tone.



This might help you more specifically identify the author's tone. 

 

Sweat--Honors Only

Analysis: “Sweat” By Zora Neale Hurston

1)     Examine the author’s use of symbolism by listing 3 objects or abstract nouns associated with Sykes or Delia.  How does the author use those symbols to characterize Sykes and Delia?

2)     Dialect makes this story.  Based on their dialect, what demographic information can we determine about the characters?  List three things.

3)     List two ways the narrator explicitly and indirectly develops Delia’s character.   (4)

4)     List two ways the narrator explicitly and indirectly develops Sykes character. (4)

5)     The text is loaded with irony.  Identify an example of each form:  dramatic, verbal, and situational.

6)     The text contains many allusions, some of them Biblical.  Identify several (3).  What comparison is implied with each?

7)     When we first met Delia and Sykes, we were amused at their dialect.  The author, Zora Neale Hurston, is renowned for writing feminists texts, as well as texts that show understanding of domestic issues in general, and issues specific to African Americans.  How does Hurston make Delia a respectable person?

8)     Syntax, or deliberate choice of sentence structure, is important to the mood and meaning of a text.  Read this portion from the text:

 "Ah wantah cross Jurden in uh calm time," she was singing again. The mood of the "love feast" had returned. She threw back the lid of the basket almost gaily. Then, moved by both horror and terror, she sprang back toward the door. There lay the snake in the basket! He moved sluggishly at first, but even as she turned round and round, jumped up and down in an insanity of fear, he began to stir vigorously. She saw him pouring his awful beauty from the basket upon the bed, then she seized the lamp and ran as fast as she could to the kitchen. The wind from the open door blew out the light and the darkness added to her terror. She sped to the darkness of the yard, slamming the door after her before she thought to set down the lamp. She did not feel safe even on the ground, so she climbed up in the hay barn.

 

What does the syntax do for the mood of the text?  How does it help us understand Delia’s experience?

9)     How do plants, the weather, and the final sunrise serve as symbols for the text?

 

 

 

A Review of Argument

For the next day or so, we want to review argument.  We will use the text, "The Border Patrol State," by Leslie Marmon Silko.  To prepare for the carousel activity, complete the following:

Border Patrol State:  A Review of Argument

1)         As you read, make note of the author’s use of the rhetorical appeals.  Provide three examples of each:

Logical appeal

Emotional appeal

Ethical Appeal

2)         The author uses several of the SMARTIES strategies.  Identify several examples she uses, but do not uses those you may have mentioned for the rhetorical appeals.

3)         Can you identify the author’s thesis?  Describe the organization she uses.  Overall, why is it effective?

4)         Go to YouTube, and watch The Border Fence on PBS Now, Part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPzhmaWJSWM

First, respond to the contents of the video.  Next, compare and contrast the viewpoints presented in the video with those presented by the author of “The Border Patrol State.”

 

Link to the file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/avd8lhku47b4sdo/The%20Border%20Patrol%20State.pdf?dl=0

 

 

The World's Biggest Membrane

Here's a link to the text: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sht0btj37swxmfq/The%20World.pdf?dl=0

The World’s Biggest Membrane

1)      This text is somewhat dense.  Look at the author’s use of organization.  Which combination best reflects the author’s use of organization?

a)      Description, cause /effect, sequence                 

b) Analogy, description, problem/solution

c)      Example, description, problem/solution        

 d) Description, sequence, cause/ effect

Support your answer.

2)      In paragraphs 9-12, the author’s tone shifts.  Use one of the tone words from the blog.  What makes you choose that word?  Support it with your statements from the text (4).

3)      In your own word(s), what is the world’s biggest membrane?

4)      The author likes (compares) the cell to the world’s biggest membrane.  List several ways (4) in which they are similar. 

5)      Describe the author’s diction, or word choice.  Is it more colloquial or technical? Is it solemn?

6)      Once again, we have a text that does not have a lot of visual appeal.  What would you add, and where? Finally, why?  Choose 3 text features.

 

High Flight
   -by P/O John Gillespie Magee RCAF

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew -
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

 

1)      This poem, while a completely different text from the article, is similar to the tone seen in paragraphs 9-12.  Describe that similarity.  What phrases from the poem are most indicative of tone?

2)      Besides tone, how is the poem similar in the ideas explored?

3)      Does the poem qualify as a sonnet?  What are the requirements of a sonnet?  Analyze the poem for iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme.

4)      Describe the word choice in this poem.  How is it different from the article? As you think about this, consider the difference between sensory language and technical language.

Spring 2016 Honors Project

English II Honors

Independent Project

Spring 2016                                                                         Due: May 16, Monday

This spring, you have a number of options.  As we have been limited in creativity this semester, I would like for you to have some fairly creative options:

a)   Think of someone whom you admire—a character, a celebrity, athlete, writer, etc.  Research that person—via interviews, texts, etc. 

·       Provide a works-cited list of the resources you used, as well as a description of the kinds of information you found from that source.

·       In honor of the person whom you admire, compose a monologue poem expressing some aspect of their life, or compose a bio poem. 

·       Use this link for your sample template and poem.  Your poem should be at least as elaborate as the sample included.  Feel free to experiment with poetic elements.  http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson398/biopoem.pdf

 

b)  This year, we have examined ideas or texts that tend to leave us thinking.  Consider some of the texts we have read.  If I asked you to present your understanding of that text in the form of art, what would you create?  Think about the text or idea.  Using the artistic medium of your choice, create a piece representing either a question, statement, or other understanding of the text.  With that art, turn in a 150-200 word summary of how the art represents your experience with the reading.

 

c)    (Opportunity for collaboration.) Last semester, you seemed to enjoy reading A Raisin in the Sun, as well as the small scenes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.   Write a mini-play of your own including dialogue, stage directions, and narration.  Your play should include a symbol as well as thorough characterization.   Act out the scene, either in front of the class, or on film.  This cannot be something you might have done for another class.

 

d)   Grab your instruments!  Compose a song reflecting some theme or idea explored this year.  It’s okay if you want to borrow a few chords, but keep it as authentic as possible. Collaborate with a partner to add music and voice!  Consider use of the poetic elements.

 

e)   Several of you have expressed an interest in looking at a historical film and comparing its presentation of a historical event to the actual event as it has been documented.  If you choose this option, you will not have a partner.  You will also need my approval and your parents’/guardians’ before doing the study. Your work will include the following:

·       A journal of observations as you watch the film.  What is your reaction to key scenes? (4 entries)

·       Your research, using at least two sources and how their presentation of events either counters or confirms what you saw in the film.  Include proper MLA Works Cited entries for these two sources.   

·       A reflection concerning the changes and why you think they were made.  Obviously, the purpose of film is different than the purpose of a novel.  Why must a story be reformed for a film? 

Rubric:  40 points

Your work will be scored to the degree to which it shows the following characteristics:

Authenticity—Your work is your own, and does not appear to have been borrowed from any source.  There is no evidence of plagiarism.  Plagiarism warrants a score of zero.

Quality—Your work has been designed, created, and refined.  It is not rough or shabby in quality, and has been checked for errors. Writing has been proofread for sense, and explanations are not rough.   

Depth—Your work is not hastily thrown together nor is it elementary in level of thought.  There is evidence of creativity, consideration and application. The writing components of your work are thorough and show evidence of thinking beyond surface-level or recall. 

Completion: Your work has each of the items associated with your choice of options.

 

 Please understand: 

·       I cannot accept this assignment late.  It will be crunch time and I need a reasonable window of time in which to grade them. 

·       Please submit your work electronically, via OneDrive, unless you are going for the art project.    I do not want a paper copy.

Link to Scrimmage

Please click on the link below for your scrimmage test.  You may have to run JavaScript.  Click on English II Practice Test 1--it is the first link.

Once the program is up and running, enter your name and begin the test.  At bell, you can click on the "Submit Answers" option.

http://www.pearsonaccess.com/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Tennessee%2FtnPALPLayout&cid=1205461143253&p=1205461143253&pagename=tnPALPWrapper&resourcecategory=ePATs&testingprogram=EOC&start=20