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...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, October 18, 2010
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
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
Monday, October 4, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
House of Mirth Vocabulary, Chapters 1-8
The House of Mirth Vocabulary Sheet
Part 1:
Chapter 1
desultory, contrive, cotillion, plaintively, fastidiousness, perplexity, provocation, interrogatively, conjecture
Chapter 2
scruples, obdurate, dissembling, idiosyncrasies, despoil, candid, contingency, germinating, inculcate, sinuous
Chapter 3
decanters, meagreness, abject, odious, interminable, remittances, resentment, deplored, magnitude, immemorial, dinginess, volatility, indulgence
Chapter 4
servitude, harmonious, incongruously, reminiscence, extraneous, tacitly, inarticulate, recapitulation, volubility, encroaching, contemptuous
Chapter 5
lustre, subversive, deplorable, malleable, alluring, acquiescence, temperate, jocularity, crestfallen, disconcerted, piqued, boisterous
Chapter 6
exhilaration, aloofness, obscurity, fastidious, dismal, poignant, celibate, refurbish, eclectic, belitte, hideous
Chapter 7
admonishing, retaliate, circuitous, depleted, crudity, desecration, consoled
Chapter 8
complacency, ambiguity, mystically, complacency, aspirations, philanthropy, blundering, repugnance, allusion, superfluous
Part 1:
Chapter 1
desultory, contrive, cotillion, plaintively, fastidiousness, perplexity, provocation, interrogatively, conjecture
Chapter 2
scruples, obdurate, dissembling, idiosyncrasies, despoil, candid, contingency, germinating, inculcate, sinuous
Chapter 3
decanters, meagreness, abject, odious, interminable, remittances, resentment, deplored, magnitude, immemorial, dinginess, volatility, indulgence
Chapter 4
servitude, harmonious, incongruously, reminiscence, extraneous, tacitly, inarticulate, recapitulation, volubility, encroaching, contemptuous
Chapter 5
lustre, subversive, deplorable, malleable, alluring, acquiescence, temperate, jocularity, crestfallen, disconcerted, piqued, boisterous
Chapter 6
exhilaration, aloofness, obscurity, fastidious, dismal, poignant, celibate, refurbish, eclectic, belitte, hideous
Chapter 7
admonishing, retaliate, circuitous, depleted, crudity, desecration, consoled
Chapter 8
complacency, ambiguity, mystically, complacency, aspirations, philanthropy, blundering, repugnance, allusion, superfluous
Monday, September 20, 2010
Satire examples from The Onion
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Registering for Engrade
To register for Engrade, go to www.engrade.com. Click the student button and go to register. You'll be prompted to enter your special code. Your code is: mrvilbig-yourMidwoodId#-your top secret special four digit code #.
(The top secret special four digit code # is the one I gave you in class.)
Please note that mrvilbig is spelled with no periods and no capitals.
Good luck!
(The top secret special four digit code # is the one I gave you in class.)
Please note that mrvilbig is spelled with no periods and no capitals.
Good luck!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
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.
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.
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