Class Communications and Contacting Mr. Vilbig:

Class blog: The class will use a blog to communicate assignments and other important matters. It can be accessed at www.vilbigwriting.blogspot.com. I highly suggest that you register for the blog and ‘follow’ it, since this will result in your receiving an email notification when new posts are made.

Contact information: The best way to contact me is through the Engrade email system. You also can reach me by phone 718 724-8560. The best times to contact me are between 10:30 and 11 a.m., and 2 to 3 p.m.

The Importance of Fiction

In this video, excerpts from a television interview, the novelist David Foster Wallace talks about why fiction matters. Please watch and come to class Friday ready to discuss the following: how does television differ as an entertainment or art form from novels and short stories? What might novels and short stories give readers that television cannot? Conversely, what can television provide its audience that novels and short stories cannot?

Instructions for T.S. Eliot and E.E. Cummings poems

Print out and read The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot and the poems by e.e. cummings -- choose one poem and write a response in which you a) give your view in a paragraph of the poem's theme or controlling idea, citing evidence from the poem and b) develop a paragraph in which you show how the poet used two literary devices (metaphor, simile, imagery, irony, etc.) or elements (characterization, setting, etc. -- but not theme).

Due Monday.

Critical articles about Emily Dickinson

Read these:

1) A Brooklyn College overview.

2) An essay on Dickinson's poems. (Read at least first page.)

3) Finally, an essay by the novelist Joyce Carol Oates. (Read the first three screens worth -- to the end of the paragraph that begins: "Surely there is a witty irony that lightning can be domesticated ...")

Emily Dickinson poems

Go here to find an archive of poetry by Emily Dickinson.

Parameters for Essay

Formatting:
1) Minimum four pages.
2) 12 point or smaller type
2) Times New Roman or similar font
3) Black ink

4) One-inch margins

Structure:
1) Introductory paragraph  that at minimum roughly follows the format discussed in class (thesis statement and background/explanation in whatever order you choose).
2) Body paragraphs (at least three) that develop your primary arguments in each paragraph. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence (first sentence) that essentially states your point, followed by a development of that argument, examples, and if appropriate a quote. The last sentence of each body paragraph should wrap up the argument made within.
3) It's perfectly alright to have other body paragraphs (for example, ones that talk about how to solve the problem you're discussing, or that further develop arguments in other body paragraphs). But there must be at least three body paragraphs that directly develop the arguments in favor of your thesis.
4) A conclusion that summarizes the essay's conclusions.

Writing:
Try to make your writing concise, logical, striking, and grammatical.

I hope you're enjoying your break! See you in a week!

Example of Body Paragraph

[Topic:]Currently pilots are only tested for psychological problems at the time of hire. [Explanation]That's a big problem, because it's well known that people's psychological condition can change with time. In addition, flying planes can be a very stressful job. It doesn't make sense to put pilots under such stress without recognizing the need to give them psychological tests periodically. In many other high stress professions, people are required to undergo regular testing. [Example:] For example, members of the U.S. military and people who work in high risk jobs in combat zones are given regular tests and have access to counseling. [Quote:] "We would be in a lot of trouble," said Mark Saunders, head of the American Testing Association, "if we didn't do testing of people like CIA officers." [Wrap-up sentence:] If these other professions require regular testing, then so should pilots.
(material in this paragraph are for demonstration purposes only and do not necessarily bear any resemblance to persons living or dead)

Lit'rature Explained

This week's Sunday Review of The New York Times focused on writing and language. Here are three pieces on:
what makes writing good,
how language learning helps us,
and how fiction works in the brain.

We'll read and discuss these in class this week. I'll let you know due dates, etc. in class on Monday.

Monte Cristo Vocabulary, Part 2

Chapter 45: impassable, irksome, condescension, temperate
 

Chapter 46: abated, auspices, yonder, apoplectic, phantom

Chapter 47: distraught, reconciliation, resolute, ineffable, supplications, torpor, desolation, scrutinizing, austere

Chapter 48: notary, convulsively, stupefied, injunction, filial, candor, ominous, recourse, ruffian

Chapter 49: misapprehension

Chapter 50: amorous, laden, contemptuous, dainty, perceived, ascend, reminiscence, sonorous, aperture

Writing contest info

Essay for the contest should be 500 words or less. Poems have no fixed limit, but don't overdo it. The two topics are:

1) Exploring themes of intolerance, prejudice and hate. Communicate through essay or poem how the tragedy of Sept. 11 reinforces the need to teach our young people about the Holocaust and the consequences of what intense prejudice, hatred, and discrimination can bring about.

2) The Holocaust Experience of Jews from the former Soviet Union. (This does not require that you have some personal connection to this topic.)

Good luck writers!

First lines of novels ...

For more first lines of well-known novels, read here.

Quotes

For Wednesday, write your interpretation of ONE of the following quotes:

Jealousy contains more of self-love than of love.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.

George Eliot

Jealousy is a dog's bark which attracts thieves.

Karl Kraus

Count of Monte Cristo Vocaublary

Chapter 1: bespoke, countenance, obsequious, imperceptibly, proverb

Chapter 2: insinuation

Chapter 3: promontory, cordiality, mesmerized, demented, vengeance

Chapter 4: donned, piquant, epicure, betrothed, commissary, consternation

Chapter 5: annihilation, plebeian, suffused, partisans

Chapter 6: jaunty, dowry, betrothal, partaking, haggard

Chapter 7: formidable, gendarmes, repugnance, abode, gaol, dungeon

Chapter 8: banished, sanguine, pang

Chapter 9: boisterously, conspiracy, adherents

Chapter 10: usurper, ineptitude, scaffold, recompensed

Contact information

By far the most effective way to contact me is through the email providedby Engrade. However, I can also be reached at (718) 724-8500. Leave a message, and I will return the call as soon as possible. You can also email at my Dept. of Education email: pvilbig@schools.nyc.gov.

Grades/class info

Grades will be based on the following:
Tests/ at home writing and projects (including creative writing projects): 60 percent
Classwork, quizzes, and homework: 40 percent
Total: 100 percent

How we'll work:

For creative writing, we will use a workshop approach, in which you'll share your work with other writers in the class and get their feedback. (More on this later.)

For each book or literary work we read, you’ll be expected to read about 15 pages a night. In addition you will sometimes have homework in which you'll be asked to write brief responses or answer questions about your reading or topics for class discussion. You can expect that for each book or literary work, you'll write one at-home essay and have one to two tests. Pop quizzes occur whenever the teacher (me) gets the sense that students are not reading the material!

IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class.

We will use Engrade, an online grading system in this class. I’ll give you information shortly about how to register. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.

Edgar Allen Poe birthday

Today (Thursday) was the 203rd anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe's birth. For years a mysterious figure had visited his gravesite and left behind a bottle of cognac each on year on his birth date. He didn't show this year. Here's a video that goes into the background.

Stories for Poems

Here are a few stories to consider:

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

Story 4

Story 5

Story 5

Story 6

How to use peer review feature on turnitin ...

Go to this url on turnitin to find a tutorial on how to use the peer review feature of turnitin.

A Plethora of Words

imperviousness, indelicacy, abnormal, drudgeries

intermittent, perverse, mused, coexists

ostensible, credulous, impartiality, implication

dejection, altruism, aloof, innocuous

prosaic, proverbially, panoramic, inexorable

Homework for Tuesday

Give your assessment of Chapter 3. Create a brief summary. Then choose the moment that you find either most important or most striking and explain the significance of the scene, and why you believe it's important. (This doesn't have to be the most dramatic scene or the most important from the standpoint of plot.)

Times articles

Choose one of the following articles and write a response in which you a) briefly explain what the article is about and briefly state your opinion or view in response to it (first paragraph); b) detail the articles main points (second paragraph); and c) elaborate on your opinion in response, using evidence from the article to back up your point (third paragraph). One page minimum. Due Monday, October 31.

Use turnitin.com to file your work.

Articles: horses, Murakami, homework, bike trip, end of Nazism in Germany

Hurrah! More vocabulary!

disparities, contortions, solicitations, obstinately subdued

irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous aspirations

rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination

deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity

What are stories supposed to do?

Remember when we talked about Junot Diaz on our first day of class? In addition to being a novelist and short story writer, he's the editor of a literary magazine, the Boston Review. Here's how he describes what he's looking for in a good short story. (I'd like you to consider how this could apply to your own writing)

“I’m looking for fiction that resembles the Thirty-Mile Woman from Toni Morrison’s Beloved: ‘She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.’ Or as Takashi Murakami puts it: ‘We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art.’ I’m looking for fiction in which a heart struggles against itself, in which the messy unmanageable complexity of the world is revealed. Sentences that are so sharp they cut the eye."

More vocabulary words

admonishing, circuitous, depleted, consoled,complacency, ambiguity, mystically, repugnance, fastidiousness, perplexity, provocation, conjecture, coquetry, perpetual, discomfiture, disillusionment, conducive, pessimism, promenade vindication, seclusion, denouement, denunciation, grotesqueness

Creativity and "flow"

Watch this video by the the social scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and come to class prepared to discuss his ideas involving creativity, fullfillment, and flow.

Registering for Engrade ...

Grades for this class will be recorded on Engrade, the online grading system. How to sign up:

1) Go to Engrade at www.engrade.com.

2) Click on Sign Up, and then click on Student.

3) In the box provided put your information: teacher name-student id-special access code. Example: mrvilbig-284950604-5403.

4) Note: mrvilbig is spelled with no capitals or periods; I'll give you your special access code in class.

5) Click next and set your own username and password.

Once you are registered, you and your parents or guardians can check grades at any time.

9/11 Reactions

The playwright Christopher Shinn offers some thoughts on his personal reaction to the September 11 attacks and how they affected his writing. I'd like you to watch the video this weekend and think about his reaction for a discussion in class on Monday. What was the main way, in his view, that his focus as a writer changed? He questions whether television and movies will be able to address the profound issues raised by the September 11 events. Why do you think he takes this view? What are your own thoughts?

Contact

I can be reached at (718) 724-8500. Leave a message, and I will return the call as soon as possible. A more effective way to reach me is to write an email using your Engrade account. Or you can email at my Dept. of Education email: pvilbig@schools.nyc.gov.

Grades

Grades will be based on the following:
Tests/ at home writing and projects (including creative writing projects): 40 percent
Classwork, quizzes, and homework: 60 percent
Total: 100 percent

How we'll work:

For creative writing, we will use a workshop approach, in which you'll share your work with other writers in the class and get their feedback. (More on this later.)

For each book or literary work we read, you’ll be expected to read about 15 to 25 pages a night. In addition you will sometimes have homework in which you'll be asked to write brief responses or answer questions about your reading or topics for class discussion. You can expect that for each book or literary work, you'll write one at-home essay and have one to two tests. Pop quizzes occur whenever the teacher (me) gets the sense that students are not reading the material!

IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class.

We will use Engrade, an online grading system in this class. I’ll give you information shortly about how to register. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.

Welcome to Creative Writing!

We will be focusing in this class on becoming skilled writers in a variety of genres, but our special emphasis will be on fiction. You'll be asked to write your own short stories and to respond to fictional works of literature in a way that demonstrates your increasing understanding of how fiction works.

This class will take the view that fiction remains one of the most powerful means by which human beings can pose basic questions about the meaning of their lives, about right and wrong, about their place in society, and even the nature of reality itself. In other words, fiction can be seen as a form of philosophy (the branch of knowledge that asks ultimate questions about the meaning of human life), and we'll approach it from the standpoint of the big ideas it addresses, while never forgetting that what makes fiction unforgettable is powerful and dynamic storytelling. Honing your skills in these areas will be a big part of what this course is about.

This class will involve a great deal of writing in which you will be asked to become a self-aware writer and creator, knowledgeable about the traditions of literature and conscious of the choices you make in creating a work. Because good writers are also good readers, we’ll read a wide variety of fiction of high literary polish. I’ll ask you to begin reading as a writer – that is, you will read with the goal of understanding the techniques and methods that permit writers to create their own unique vision and style, while just incidentally writing prose that dazzles and demands attention.

Occupational Handbook (Final Assignment)

For you'll final assignment, you'll access the federal government's Occupational Handbook and other sources to prepare a brief class presentation on a career you're considering entering. You'll find the Occupational Handbook, which lists thousands of professions and gives a run-down on salary ranges, educational requirements, and projected needs, here. Presentations will be made on Monday and Tuesday.

Your critical lens response

Click here to find the sample responses to the critical lens essay you worked on in class today. Go to page 64 and read the response that begins with the quote. Then read the second sample paper that begins o page 67. Compare your own response. How would you rate your effort?

Vocabulary Words!

A: abdicate , abhor, abode, abominable, abstinence , acquiesce, acrimony , adage, adamant, adulterate
B: baffle, balmy, banish , betrothed , blasphemy , boisterous, boorish, brevity, buccaneer
C: callous, captivate , celestial, censure, chasm, chivalrous, clandestine, clemency , conciliatory, condescend
D: debilitate , decorum, degradation, delirium , delusion, deplore , depravity, depreciate, desolate, despicable
E: eccentricity, ecstasy, edifice , effigy , egotistical , elapse , elate, elixir, eloquence , emaciated
F: fastidious, felicity, fervent, fester, fidelity , filial, fluctuate, foible , foliage, formidable
G: garb, genteel, grandeur
H: haggard, haughty, humility , hypocritical
I: idiosyncrasy, ignominious, illuminate , imbecility, imbibe, immaculate, immolate , immure , immutable, impartial, impassable
J: jaunty, jest, jocular
K: kindle , knight
L: laborious , labyrinth , lackadaisical, lament, languish , laudable, lax, liquidate, lithe, livid
M: machination, malady , malefactor , malice, malicious, malignant, mandate , mangy, maudlin, meander, meddle
N: neophyte, nether, nocturnal, notoriety, novice , nuptials
O: obelisk, oblige , obliterate, oblivion, obnoxious , obscure , obsequious, obstinate, odious, ominous, omnipotent
P: palatable, palpitate, paltry, pandemonium, pantomime, papyrus , paragon, paramour , paroxysm , patriarch
Q: quail , quaint, quay , quell , quench, quiver
R: ramble, rant, rapture, ravage, ravenous, rectitude , relinquish, reminiscence , remorse, rendezvous
S: sagacious , sanction, sanctuary, sarcasm , satiate, saunter, scion, scruple, serenity, servile
T: taciturn , taint , talisman , tedious , temperament , tenacious, timidity , tranquility, transgression , traverse, trepidation
U: uncouth, undulate, unmitigated, unparalleled , unsullied , unveil , unwonted , urchin, usurp , utter
V: vacillate, vagabond , vagrant, vanquish , variegated, venal , venerable, venial , veracity, verdant, vicissitude
W: waddle, waft, wallow, wanton , wheedle, witticism, woe , writhe
Y and Z: yore, zealous , zephyr

Frankenfinal!

Take-home essay test: Due Thursday. File using google.docs. Make sure the box that says "send an email notification" is checked. Share with pvilgrade@gmail.com

1) Choose a specific literary element (e.g., theme, characterization, point of view, etc.) or literary technique (e.g., symbolism, irony, figurative language, etc.) that Mary Shelley employs in the final chapter of Frankenstein. Using specific details from the chapter, in a well-developed paragraph, show how Shelley uses that element or technique to develop the chapter.

2) Write a two paragraph critical response (introductory paragraph and one body paragraph that backs up your thesis) in which you discuss the novel Frankenstein from the particular perspective suggested in the Critical Lens. In you essay you must first explain the meaning of the quote, then say whether you agree or disagree with it, and then state how the quote applies to the novel. Finally you must back up your viewpoint using specific references to appropriate literary elements from the novel.

The critical lens: “The difficulty in life is the choice…”-George Moore, The Bending of the Bough, 1900

History of Science Fiction

You should click here to see an amazing graphic representation of the history of science fiction. (And why am I posting it? Because Gothic literature and Mary Shelley are part of it. By the way, you can enlarge the graphic by clicking.

Theme and Controlling Idea

Most people would agree that theme and controlling idea are quite similar concepts. The main difference, I would suggest, is that theme is often specifically tied to the way we respond to a work of literature, while controlling idea offers a more general way of thinking about responding to a wide range of writing, including non-fiction work.

Theme is often described as what a literary work tells us, though never directly, about life, about the problems we face as human beings, about the issues we struggle with. Theme is usually the issue the work of literature addresses plus what the story tells us about that issue.

Same thing with controlling idea, except it can tell us about a broader range of issues. For example, a controlling idea could be found in a scientific paper. The controlling idea is usually the topic addressed in the work plus what the work says about that topic.

Try looking here for what I think is a pretty good descpription of the difference between a topic or issue and what the work says about the topic or issue.

Creative Writing Class Portfolio Etc.

Creative Writing:

As we move forward in this class, we’ll need to consider what work you will be doing as the semester progresses. I’m envisioning this process in the following way:

1) Creative Writing: This will be the imaginative writing you do inside and outside class and will be divided into two main branches --

a. Assigned creative writing exercises – this will include all the writing exercises we do in class or as homework, such as the dream writing you did last week;

b. Your own creative work. This is your work, which will be presented in a portfolio at the end of the semester. The portfolio must include the following examples of your work (see portfolio posting for the exact requirement of this aspect of the course):

i. Non-fiction personal narrative or reflection
ii. Short Fiction
iii. Poetry

2) Literary Response Essay and English Regents: This will involve honing your skills in writing tightly organized responses on theme, character, other important literary elements in response to works of literature. Key words in this domain will include: thesis statement, topic sentences, body paragraphs, use of supporting evidence from text.

3) Reading: this area of study will focus on continuing to read compelling but challenging works of literature. I’ll give the class a menu of possible directions for spheres of study. Choice will not be unlimited, and you will need to enlist at least a small group of students in your class to pursue one of the tracks. Here are three possible areas for further reading:

a.The Mary Shelley/Gothic Lit Track: Students in this group will have an opportunity to read Mary Shelley’s remarkable later novel, The Last Man,and another famous example of the gothic, The Monk by Mathew Lewis
Here’s a description of the Mary Shelley’s novel:

“This novel follows Frankenstein as one of the earliest examples of science fiction in English. It also presents characters who can be seen, in some of their aspects, to resemble certain members of the Shelley circle. The narrative begins in the late 21st century in an England which has become a republic, focusing at first on the conflicting worlds of the domestic and political. But as the plague takes hold and spreads relentlessly, the novel's view expands to encompass Europe and the world scene. Dark, even existential in its mood, The Last Man shows the demise of the human race highlighted against its greatest achievement as the ever decreasing band of survivors make their way across the Alps to the warm cities of the South.”

Here a plot description of The Monk followed by two excerpts from reviews:

“Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, The Monk is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The great struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions leads its main character, the monk Ambrosio, to temptation and the breaking of his vows, then to sexual obsession and rape, and finally to murder in order to conceal his guilt.

`This is the highly popular and equally highly vilified Gothic novel, written in 1794. Gruesome, voluptuous, and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, The Monk is a masterpiece of its genre.' Sunday Telegraph

`What distinguishes The Monk from a whole raft of lesser imitations is the quality of the storytelling ... There's always a danger of bathos in narratives where horror is piled on horror ... Lewis avoids that pitfall by judicious use of humour. He also writes with great visual immediacy. Lewis has a remarkable understanding of human psychology. The Monk is a stunning read. It was published 200 years ago. I hope this article is not the only celebration of that bicentenary.' Simon Brett, The Sunday Times.”

b. The Dickens track: For those less interested in Gothic literature, the chance to read Dickens’ great novel, David Copperfield, is offered. This is a deeply autobiographical novel about Dickens early life. It examines the effect of brutal parenting, poverty, and deep injustices on a child, and then goes on to depict a society in which social class and money dominate all things. It is one of the great world novels, and is filled with powerful scenes. For those interested in vocabulary development this novel offers perhaps the best chance for further development. Because the novel is longer than the others, readers of this novel will receive bonus credit for selecting it.

c. The Count of Monte Cristo track: For those with a taste for adventure writing, Alexander Dumas’ masterpiece makes powerful reading:
From a slightly edited Amazon review: “Monte Cristo is an absolutely wonderful and wonderfully written masterpiece that tells the story of a young man who could be any of several people that you and I know. It is a story of injustice, despair, remorse, cruelty, misfortune, and evil. Edmond is one of the greatest dynamic characters of all time, innocently sent to face punishment that he in no way deserves. After escaping from prison, Edmond then becomes an avenger, rewarding those that were his true friends, and exacting revenge upon those that caused him pain. A wonderful story, with excellent characters and an intricate plot.”

Vocabulary for Chapters 1-8

Here are vocabulary words for Chapters 1-8

prognosticate, imbue, dabble, deprave, ignominy, vacillate, palpitate, console, exculpate, elixir, immutable, irreparable, serene, perpetrate, imbibe, livid, multifarious, ramble, indefatigable, abode, mien, invulnerable, bauble, pittance, traverse, irreproachable, philosopher, fester, disposition, turbulence, allude, indelible, ardent, timorous, alleviate, incipient, rapture, progeny, perdition, tedious, guile, physiognomy, ignominious, emaciated, verdant, callous, menace, depravity, omnipotent, repugnance, celestial, conjecture, vagrant, sustenance, desolate, filial, eulogy, incredulous, apathy, chivalrous, impediment, inexorable, inconceivable, delirium, impenetrable, subdue, indignation, oblivion, dismal, acquisition, appall, integrity, disdain, despise, grandeur, dreary, venerable

How to Overcome Essay Writing Anxiety

Check this post out with interesting thoughts about how to reduce anxiety about taking an essay test -- but I'd say the advice might be helpful for all forms of writing anxiety.

Frankenstein Movie Posters

As you go over your vocabulary words this weekend, here's a site that collects together some of the many cinematic images bsed on Mary Shelley's story.

Reading on Gothic Literature

Read this Wikipedia article on Gothic Fiction and come to class on Monday ready to discuss the Gothic.

Run-on sentences

Due Monday, Feb. 7. Do the following exercises on run-on sentences here.

Frankenstein Vocabulary List, Letter 1-4

Look these words up and write a sentence using each one. Due Monday.

satiate, ameliorate,capitulate,peruse,lustrous, suppliant, emaciated, celestial, paroxysm, eccentricity, fastidious, illiterate, inexorable, traverse, fortitude, laborious, fervent, apparition, melancholy, famine, integrity, quiver, apt, diposition

Grammar and Writing Do's and Don'ts

Modified No-No list Revised Fall 2010
This is a list of the most common errors found in your writing. Don't lose it; you may use it every time you write something in class or at home. Proofread! Use a dictionary.

1. Avoid these words: "Nice," " a lot," "very," "I think."
2. Maintain verb tense. Use all past tense, all present tense, or all future tense. Avoid using “had + verb”. This means that of two things that happened in the past the one with the “had” came first. You can only use this tense if you have two verbs in the same sentence.20. Wrong: “He had gone to the store.” Right: “He went to the store.” Wrong: “He had walked home.” Right: “He walked home.”
3. "Good" is an adjective. "Well" is an adverb.
4. Don't use the expression "Being that"; it's slang for the word "since".
5. Avoid the conversational "you." Don't directly address your reader if he/she is not part of your story or essay.
6. All pronouns must have antecedents and all pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number.
7. Avoid run-on sentences and sentence fragments. Remember sentences must have subjects and verbs. Dependent clauses can't be written by themselves. Independent clauses may be written by themselves. Make sure each sentence expresses a complete thought.
8. Remember these homonyms:
to (direction)
too (also, excessive)
two (2)

there (place)
their (possession)
they're (they are)

know (to have knowledge)
no (negative)

through (to pass by)
threw (tossed, passed)

its (possession)
it's (it is)

your (possession)
you're (you are)

9. Do not confuse these words:
quiet (opposite of loud) and quite (rather or very)
then (a time in the past) and than (comparative)
lose (fail to win) and loose (not tight)
accept (to take as it is) and except (to leave out)
10. People are referred to as "who" or "whom" and not "that" or "which."
11. Avoid redundancies such as "The reason why is because . . ."
Correct: "The reason is . . ."
12. "Of" is never a verb. There is no correct expression as "He would of. . ." You may use: "He would've. . ." where "would've" is a contraction meaning "would have."
13. When you write the title of a novel, underline it. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a great book. Titles of plays, short stories and poems should be placed in quotation marks.
14. In spelling, remember: "I" before "e" except after "c", or when sounded like "a", as in "neighbor" and "weigh." These words are spelled correctly: "relieve" and "receive."
15. Past tense of the verb “to use” is “used”: I used to go to PS 321.
17. Avoid using the conditional tense: The character would be considered a hero.
16. ALWAYS USE PARAGRAPHS. Every paragraph should have a topic sentence followed by supporting details. Indent the first line of each paragraph.
17 Events occur, they aren’t a time period. “Another example is when…”. Instead write: another example occurs when..
18. When writing decades don’t use an apostrophe: 1970s not 1970’s
19. People get hanged, pictures get hung.

Grades

Grades will be based on the following:
Tests/ at home writing and projects (including creative writing projects): 40 percent
Classwork, quizzes, and homework: 60 percent
Total: 100 percent

How we'll work:

For creative writing, we will use a workshop approach, in which you'll share your work with other writers in the class and get their feedback. (More on this later.)

For each book or literary work we read, you’ll be expected to read about 15 to 25 pages a night. In addition you will sometimes have homework in which you'll be asked to write brief responses or answer questions about your reading or topics for class discussion. In addition, you can expect that for each book or literary work, you'll write one at-home essay and have one to two tests.

IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class.

Welcome to Creative Writing

We will be focusing in this class on becoming skilled writers in a variety of genres from fiction to creative non-fiction to poetry to the literary essay. This class will involve a great deal of writing in which you will be asked to become a self-aware writer and creator, knowledgeable about the traditions of literature and conscious of your own process and the choices you make a writer. Because good writers are also good readers, you’ll read a wide variety of fiction of high literary polish and skill, and you will read as a writer – that is, you will read with the goal of understanding the techniques and methods used by the writer you are studying to create his or her vision.

Mayakovsky poems

You'll find poems here by Vladmir Mayakovsky. Please read the poem titled "Listen," and the poem titled "To His Own Beloved Self The Author Dedicates These Lines." You'll find something about Mayakovsky here. Come to class Friday ready to discuss the poems. Thanks.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Listen to this song by Leonard Cohen and write a response in which you speculate on the following (due Tuesday):
1) What is the story the song tells?
2) How is it similar to the story in The Scarlet Letter?
3) How is it different?

Thoughts on body paragraphs

Here are some ideas about how to develop topic sentences for body paragraphs in your essay.

So here is the thesis statement we proposed in class on Thusrday: Love is an emotion that is often in conflict with society's demands.

We discussed one method of proceeding on Thursday: You analyze the concepts in the thesis statement without immediately linking it to the book. We'll call this Method 1. Another way is to mention the book but not by giving an example. We'll call this Method 2. Here are examples of each method. Each sentence can become the topic sentence of a paragraph in your essay (although bear in mind, the topic sentence can more than one sentence):

Thus you might start one paragraph:
Method 1:
* Love is a private emotion that is a deep expression of our most basic individuality. [Follow this by examples.]

OR you could write:
Method2:
* The novel draws a picture of love that emphasizes its private nature and the way it expresses individuality.

A second body paragraph might begin:
Method 1:
* Society makes its own demands of the individual, and is interested in maintaining stability and the status quo. [Followed by example}

OR it might read:
Method 2:
In the novel society is portrayed as a force destructive to indvidual liberty or freedom.

Again, note the difference between Method 1 and Method 2. Method 1 doesn't specifically reference the novel, and only gets into what the novel has to say in the examples that follow. Method 2 references the novel but doesn't jump right into the examples from the novel, which it only gives after first making the point the examples will help prove. Make sense? I hope so.

Next add here a third body paragraph that develops a counterclaim, meaning how might someone argue against the views you've developed so far.

* Some people would disagree with Hawthorne's analysis. They would suggest that society's rules are actually meant to protect the indvidual and society from relations that may harm others. The individual is not always right, and his or her feelings may be false or based on falsehood.

Conclusion: The body paragraphs should flow into the conclusion naturally. A good phrase to help put this into context is: "As you can see ..."

Essay Assignment

You will write a 2-3 page literary response essay on theme. This essay should be double-spaced in 12-point type with one-inch margins. It should follow the format we've discussed in class. (Introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Take special care in your body paragraphs to have a clear topic sentence, and examples from the text. Also make sure, your body paragraphs develop your arguments and that one of the paragraphs develops a counter-claim.

As we’ve discussed, The Scarlet Letter is a novel whose themes are often presented in the form of dichotomies. Choose one of the following paired concepts (dichotomies) and write your essay on the theme you develop:

1. society and the individual
2. individual freedom and societal law
3. guilt and innocence
4. holiness and sin

Remember, developing a theme from these topics requires you to really think about what the book says about the topic. This can't be a simple thought that could apply to any book on the subject; it needs to really reflect what Hawthorne is saying in The Scarlet Letter. For example, it won't be sufficient to say that society has rules that limit the individual. Or that the law and individual freedom are often in conflict. Instead, you need to get at how society and the individual are in conflict, according to Hawthorne; what kind of conflicts arise between freedom and law and how does this affect people’s lives, again, according to Hawthorne.

This paper is due on Monday, January 3. It must be uploaded to turnitin.com by that date and must be sent as an attachment to me in your engrade account. Attach the file as a Word document or, if you don't use Word, attach it as an .rtf file.

The Scarlet Letter and Trolls

For Friday, take a look at this article and see if you can identify some ways that the ideas discussed within it interplay with themes in The Scarlet Letter.

Questions on Chapter 4 and 5

Chapter 4: The Interview
1. After standing on the scaffold, Hester returns to prison. What is her mental state like and why?
2. Hester’s jailers decide to bring a physician to her. Who is this physician?
3. When the physician gives Hester medicine, what does she think might be in it?
4. When Hester and her husband talk, what picture emerges of their marital relationship?
5. When her husband says, “Thou wilt not reveal his name. Not the less is he mine?” what does he mean?
6. What secret does Hester agree to keep for her husband and why does her husband wish her to keep it?
7. When Hester says to her husband, “Hath thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?” her husband answers: “Not thy soul … No, not thine.” What does he mean?

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle
1. Several reasons are given for Hester’s decision not to leave the community once she’s released from prison. Read the passage carefully where this is discussed.
2. The paragraph beginning, “It might be, too,-- doubtless it was so …” discusses what may the real reason for Hester’s staying in the community. What is this reason?
3. How does Hester make a living after her release?
4. The paragraph beginning “In this manner, Hester Prynne came to have a part …” describes her relationship with society. What is this relationship?
5. The paragraph beginning, “Her imagination was somewhat affected …” gives a sense of how she is beginning to regard the Scarlet Letter. What is this sense?

Some Thoughts on The Scarlet Letter

Here's some points to focus on in Chapter 2. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Important Test Info

1) I will be giving credit to those who selected B on question 2 of the Mirth Final (of course, those who answered F will continue to have their credit). Show me your test on Monday to obtain this credit.

2) Here is the exam. Write a brief paragraph explaining the reasoning for the correct answer for all questions you missed; and for those who lost point for your thesis statement, rewrite the thesis statement only in a convincing manner for extra credit on the test. (You'll note that question 2 has been rewritten to be more clear.)

Answer the following multiple choice questions:

1. At the beginning of Book 2, what character does the Duchess really like? A) Bertha Dorset B) Gus Trenor C) Mrs. Fisher D) Lily
2. What agreement does Jack Stepney make with Selden in response to Lily’s being kicked off the yacht? A) He offers to explain Lily’s side of the story B) He offers Lily a place to stay for the night C) He agrees to speak with Carrie Fisher about the incident D) He insists that Lily leave Monte Carlo early the following day E) A and B only F) B and D only.
3. This character says, “…I don’t mean to ask you to marry me if I can keep out of it…” Who is he? A) Seldon B) Rosedale C) Atherly D) George Dorset
4. How did Rosedale find out about the letters Lily possesses? A) He heard about them from Trenor B) Cary Fisher’s husband told him C) He owns the Benedick D) The fact of the letters was widely known among Mrs. Dorset’s circle.
5. Lily’s second escape from scandal in New York, after Monte Carlo, took her to __________ and was arranged by __________ who introduced her to ________________. A) Alaska/ Grace Stepney/the Gormers B) Montobello/Gerty/Mrs. Haffen C) Alaska/Mrs. Fisher/the Gormers D) Van Osburgh estate/Mrs. Fisher/Mrs. Hatch
6. When Lily becomes connected with the social world of Mrs. Hatch, we are told she “had an odd sense of being behind the social tapestry, on the side where the threads were knotted and the loose ends hung.” This is an example of A) a metaphor that suggests Lily is on the wrong side of society B) characterization that gives an idea of who Mrs. Hatch is C) a metaphor that suggests that society is a machine that crushes those who oppose it D) imagery that depicts the complexities of life in society.
7. “Look at these spangles, Miss Bart—every one of ‘em sewed on crooked.” This quote refers to A) Lily’s ball gown for her reentry into “society” B) Lily’s new job overseeing workers in a clothing factory C) Lily’s plan to present a “new style” at an upcoming fashion show D) Lily’s poor skills in sewing at her new job
8. When the pharmacist tells Lily, “It’s a queer acting drug. A drop or two more, and off you go …” this is an example of: A) metaphor B) personification C) foreshadowing D) alliteration
9. When Lily says goodbye to Seldon, she tells him: “There is someone I must say good-bye to. Oh, not you—we are sure to see each other again—but the Lily Bart you knew. I have kept her with me all this time, but now we are going to part, and I have brought her back to you; I am going to leave her here. When I go out presently, she will not go with me. I shall like to think that she has stayed with you; and she shall be no trouble, she’ll take up no room.” This means that Lily A) is renouncing the self she has been, the flighty society girl and intends to live a better life B) is telling Seldon that he will always be tormented by her memory C) is telling Seldon that the Lily Bart capable of loving him and meriting his love can exist no longer D) Lily is apologizing for all the trouble she’s caused Seldon.
10. Who says, “If you’d only let me, I’d set you up over them all—I’d put you where you could wipe your feet on ‘em.”? A) Gus Trenor B) Ned Silverton C) Rosedale D) Mr. Dorset

Short Answer Questions: Answer each of the following questions in a few sentences.

11. What does Lily finally do with Mrs. Dorset’s letters and why?
12. How does Selden try to help Lily when they are in Monte Carlo?
13. When Lily and Mr. Dorset meet, what does he ask of her and what power does Lily realize she has?
14. How does Lily’s attitude about Rosedale change as the novel progresses and why?
15. What suspicion does Selden have as he goes through Lily’s things after her death, and what does he find that bears upon his suspicion?


Write ONLY the first paragraph of a literary response essay on ONE of the following topics. This paragraph should contain general thoughts on the topic, a bridge sentence linking the novel to the topic, a thesis statement, and one brief example. IDENTIFY THE TOPIC YOU’VE CHOSEN AS THE TITLE OF YOUR RESPONSE.

Competition for status

OR

Appearances

OR

Money versus morality

Final Vocab List for Tuesday's Test

scruples, idiosyncrasies, contingency, inculcate

odious, interminable, magnitude, volatility

incongruously, reminiscence, extraneous, contemptuous

lustre, acquiescence, jocularity, boisterous

obscurity, poignant, celibate, refurbish

admonishing, circuitous, depleted, consoled

complacency, ambiguity, mystically, repugnance

fastidiousness, perplexity, provocation, conjecture


coquetry, perpetual, discomfiture, disillusionment, conducive, pessimism, promenade

vindication, seclusion, denouement, denunciation, grotesqueness

disparities, contortions, solicitations, obstinately

subdued, irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous
aspirations, rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination

deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity

imperviousness, indelicacy

abnormal, drudgeries, intermittent, perverse, mused
coexists, ostensible, credulous, impartiality, implication

dejection, altruism, aloof, innocuous, prosaic

proverbially, panoramic, inexorable, unalloyed, insinuations, incredulity, impenetrable, inclined, legitimate

inexorable, predominant, conspicuous, incredulity, immorality

improbable, succumbed, improvisation, sumptuous, exquisite

culminating, nip, ingenuity, forsook, conciliate, consciousness, expatriate

subdued, revulsions, utilitarian, interminably, prude, aphorisms, compassionate, smitten

pretext, precipitated, priggish, perilous, tentative, indignation

More vocabulary words

Chapter V: aspirations, rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination

Chapter VI: deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity

Chapter VII: imperviousness, indelicacy

Chapter VIII: abnormal, drudgeries, intermittent, perverse, mused

Vocabulary for Wednesday

Define the following words and write at least one sentence using each word by Wednesday.

Chapter II: vindication, seclusion, denouement, denunciation, grotesqueness

Chapter III: disparities, contortions, solicitations, obstinately

Chapter IV: subdued, irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow

Watch the following video and write a one-page summary of what you learned (DUE THURSDAY):

Song

Listen to this song by Josh Ritter, which tells a story about a contemporary situation or problem. What techniques does Ritter use to tell his story? Come to class Wednesday ready to discuss the storytelling techniques Ritter employs.

Vocabulary homework!

Here is the work. Define these words and write at least one sentence using each word by Wednesday:

Chapter 1: coquetry, perpetual, discomfiture, disillusionment, conducive, pertinence,pessimism, promenade

Chapter X: dejection, altruism, aloof, innocuous, prosaic

Chapter XI: proverbially, panoramic, inexorable, unalloyed, insinuations, incredulity, impenetrable, inclined, legitimate, immorality

Writing the literary response essay

So how do you transform your burning desire to say something about an important theme in Wharton's The House of Mirth into a finely wrought essay?

You will need the following ingredients:

1) Organization. Essays need to be tightly focused and make an argument in an incisive way. That means you'll need a THESIS STATEMENT in your first paragraph. The thesis statement is a succinct telling of the main argument you intend to make in the essay. (More on the opening paragraph later.)

2) You'll need the body paragraphs that follow to be tightly focused on the sub-points of your arguments. You can't afford to wander around from point to point. That means you'll need a topic sentence at or near the beginning of each paragraph that tells your reader the point the paragraph is going to prove. This sentence is then followed by specific evidence from the text that backs up your assertion.

3) You'll need to write with passion. Grinding out something that has no commitment or urgency on your part will lead to BOREDOM. This is the cardinal sin, the punishment for which is much worse than anything that has ever happened on the Sant'Angelo Bridge, if you catch my drift.

4) You'll need to use language that is sparkling and original that is full of energy and precision at one and the same time.

More on all of this later...

What are you alluding to?

It's a small moment in The House of Mirth. On page 178, Lily asks to speak with her aunt and notices a bronze box on her aunt's table that has a small portrait (a miniature) of Beatrice Cenci. Read here to find out who she is. And here for the location where she was executed.

Now why is this allusion important? What does the story of Beatrice Cenci tell us about the story in the The House of Mirth.

How Much Does Lily Owe Trenor?

To find out go to the inflation calculator. I'd suggest putting in the year 1895, and see what you find out.

New vocabulary words!

It's what you've been waiting for, it's what you live for (admit it!), it's your new vocabulary list!

Mirth Vocabulary Part 2:

Chapter X: elegance, dejection, indulge, geniality, allusion, convivial, expletives,

Chapter XI: inexorable, predominant, conspicuous, incredulity, immorality

Chapter XII: improbable, succumbed, improvisation, sumptuous, exquisite

Chapter XIII: culminating, nip, ingenuity, forsook, conciliate, consciousness, expatriate

Chapter XIV: subdued, revulsions, utilitarian, interminably, prude, aphorisms, compassionate, smitten

Chapter XV: pretext, precipitated, priggish, perilous, tentative, indignation

Book II

Chapter 1: coquetry, perpetual, discomfiture, disillusionment, conducive, pertinence,\pessimism, promenade

Chapter II: vindication, seclusion, denouement, denunciation, grotesqueness

Chapter III: disparities, contortions, solicitations, obstinately

Chapter IV: subdued, irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous

Chapter V: aspirations, rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination

Chapter VI: deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity

Chapter VII: imperviousness, indelicacy

Chapter VIII: abnormal, drudgeries, intermittent, perverse, mused

Chapter IX: coexists, ostensible, credulous, impartiality, implication

Chapter X: subordinate, candor (candour), insatiable, promiscuous, phenomenon

Some thoughts on tomorrow's test

Here's a few suggestions for areas in the novel you might want to focus on:
1) During Lily and Selden's walk, Selden discusses his idea of what would constitute the good life. What is this idea and how does Lily respond to it? Also did you notice how the walk in the country seems almost to function as a symbol of paradise before the fall (as in the Garden of Eden story)? Taken this way, the world of money and social standing is close to hell, or at least to the world after Adam and Eve were forced from paradise. This makes Selden's last line of the chapter, "Let us go down" all the more ominous -- in returning to the house, they are almost literally returning to the hell of money and social standing.
2) Mrs. Trenor is annoyed with Lily for having spent time with Selden, thereby neglecting Gryce. How did Bertha Dorset "poison" Gryce against Lily and why did she do so?
3) When Lily agrees to have Gus Trenor invest money for her, be aware that he is really not investing her money and making a return on the stock market; he's just giving her money. This is to have power over, boost his ego, and just possibly (though we can't be sure yet this is his plan) to have an affair with Lily in return for the money. I.e., be aware that in accepting the money Lily is putting herself in a terribly compromising position.
4) When Lily runs into Trenor and Rosedale, be aware of what Rosedale says and what he implies about Lily.
5)Be aware of what marriage plans Percy Gryce settles on and how this affects Lily.
6) Be aware of the satire about Mrs. Peniston at the beginning of Chapter 9. Have you ever known anybody who lives in that kind of highly scheduled, organized way? How does Mrs. Peniston's overly ordered existence contrast with Lily's?
7) Be aware of the meaning of the letters that Mrs. Hafner brings to Lily. Who are they from? They involve an affair between Mrs. Dorset and whom? How will the male in the affair be judged? What does Lily stand to gain, and why does she accept the letters?

See you tomorrow.