Short Story Essay Checklist

Proper MLA Format

• name class teacher date
• header with page numbering
• centered title
• 2x space, 12 point font
• in-text citations
• Works Cited page with hanging indents

Intro/Thesis

• intro discusses story or subject in general terms and flows into thesis

• subject assertion how shown/why/how

Body Paragraphs

• introduce idea (I) of paragraph which demonstrates an aspect of the thesis
• provide relevant details (D) with explanations of their meanings and significance (E)
• quote critical details (D) that are relevant to the idea being developed
• finish with analytic conclusion (AC) that directly ties point of paragraph to thesis: use key words
• effectively use set-up phrases and transitions between and within paragraphs

Quotations

• mostly integrated quotes
• direct quotes utilize explanatory set-up phrase with a colon or comma before the sentence long quote
• provide key words and phrases which help explain
• do not merely repeat what has already been summarized or paraphrased
• citations at end of sentence only

Conclusion

• returns to thesis (not a mere repeat)
• feels like a resolution to essay
• consider using resolution of story or other critical moment to illustrate thesis

Rough Draft for Essay

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette

Due 12/15-16

SOLID rough draft for an essay with the focus of your choice on either "The Rocking-Horse Winner", "The Lottery" or "The Hand" and "The Story of an Hour".

Focus of grading will be on thesis quality, effective use of AC, and proper quotation flow and format.


I would suggest that "The Hand" and "The Story of an Hour" are the most straight-forward in their message; the other two are more subtle.

Homework Due 12/11 and 12/12

In an MLA formatted Google Doc, compose a thesis and a body paragraph to a hypothetical essay on either "The Lottery" or "The Rocking-Horse Winner".

Thesis should include subject, assertion, and how shown.

Body paragraph should include ISDE>AC. Be sure AC ties back to thesis.

Stories For Next Class

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence
complete story curve
come with written thesis and an outline of an essay that explains thesis

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
just read

Works Cited

Due to time constraints, you do not need to cite a scholarly source in your essay; however, if you do use any other sources of information, they must be cited.

You do need to have a Works Cited page for your essay, even if the only text you use is our Hamlet text. You do not need to make the Works Cited page on its own page (although that is standard procedure).

Link to sample page is here. My sample is here.

Please submit your essay by sharing via Google Docs and upload on Turn It In.

Bring a Rough Draft Next Class

Sit down with Hamlet open and read and write fast and furious for an hour. Don't worry about citing or even correct grammar stuff. Just read and write and connect ideas and see where you end up. Turn off your phone; don't check your instagram...just write.

You will be happy you have that hour of work next class.

Preparing to Write Your Essay

There will be study sessions after school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week. If you are struggling with this assignment at all, please find time to attend. I can address overall structural issues, quote flow, thesis construction and defense, or anything else that students tend to struggle with.

For your next class, please be sure you have completed the following:

Finished reading Hamlet
Read "Hamlet: A Modern Perspective" by Michael Neill (307-326)
Decided on a prompt or focus issue you will address in your essay
Have ready to use three quotes from the text that directly relate to the essay you will write

The essay attempts to clarify meaning and examine how it is generated.
The text itself is where meaning begins.
Thus, your essay must use the text extensively to make the particular point your essay focuses on. That is, you must close read and quote a whole bunch. Your thesis should arise from the text; your point should be supported by the text; your essay should document through paraphrase and many quotations that the text suggests what you claim it does.

You are going to need a thesis.

Hamlet (present tense verb) ____________ by/through _______________.

Consider:

Shakespeare used Saxo's story of Hamlet's pretended madness and delayed revenge to explore the brutal facts about survival in an authoritarian state. 

This is Neill's thesis for the section of his essay dealing with surveillance.

Paraphrased to fit the format I offer above:

Hamlet explores the tragic consequences of spying through Hamlet's inability to navigate the web of surveillance that dominates Claudius's regime.

This is the sort of statement you should be looking to define as you respond to any of the prompts you pursue an issue of personal interest.

A final offering on an issue we have discussed little:

Hamlet uses humorous, clever wordplay in an attempt to deal with the overwhelming emotions he feels.

Hamlet Final: Formal Academic Essay

Due Date: Monday, November 24th at 1pm
Submit through Turn It In

Requirements:
MLA format with Works Cited page
12 point Times font, double spaced
Two page minimum
At least one academic source
Extensive use of text
Use or formal thesis

Link to a brief list of academic essays, find your own, or use the one in our text.

Prompts:

The question of why Hamlet does not immediately avenge his father’s death has been a central interpretive mystery of the play for over 400 years. Why does Hamlet procrastinate?

Hamlet’s sanity, his “antic disposition”, and his erratic behavior that often seems very real is another central issue of the play, especially over the last couple of centuries. Does Hamlet in fact go crazy, or is he just playing a part? Or is he just profoundly disturbed, emotionally overwhelmed by circumstance and fate?

Ophelia’s madness, on the other hand, seems quite real. Why does she go mad? And in what ways is her madness different than Hamlet's?

A more modern concern of the play is the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Did they deserve this death? Be sure to include Hamlet’s assessment of his decision to have them executed.

Much is made of honor, conscience, and temperament in Hamlet. Compare and contrast the characters of Hamlet, Laertes, Horatio, and Fortinbras.

Analyze and discuss the position and power of women in Hamlet. In general, how are they treated and viewed, and how do they assert their own identities? Alternatively, outline Hamlet's attitude toward females and their sexuality.

There are three families portrayed in the play: Hamlet's, Ophelia's, and (to a lesser degree) Fortinbras's. Compare and contrast the different roles of elders and children and how the younger generation manages and reacts to their different situations.

How is friendship and romance represented in the tragedy and how do those dynamics influence the plot? What about the resolution?

Focus on Hamlet’s three major soliloquies. What is the progression of Hamlet’s thoughts revealed in these assessments of self and society? How do they reflect the major developments of plot, conflict, and resolution?

Hamlet declares, “Denmark is a prison”. What conditions, both personal and public, make this metaphor a defining point of Hamlet’s world and how do those conditions contribute to the tragedy?

Death, obviously, permeates this play from beginning to end. From the murder of King Hamlet, to the Prince’s famous meditation in the “To be or not to be” soliloquy, from Ophelia’s apparent suicide to “poor Yorick”, from the brutal blood bath that ends the play to the mere addendum that “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, death is never far from the plot or the characters’ thoughts. Discuss the play’s various attitudes towards death and suggest whether the play reaches a final conclusion regarding the “undiscovered country”?

The Player King comments: “Our wills and fates do so contrary run/That our devices still are overthrown;/Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own” (3.2.234-236). This seems to suggest that fate rather than an individual’s own volition is the ultimate determinant of earthly events. Might this thought be viewed as the great theme of this play? Explain.

The ability to speak clearly is essential to how we relate to others and ourselves and in Hamlet this is especially true as a character’s ability to speak is linked with their power and identity. Discuss the play’s attitude towards “Words, words, words” (2.2.210). This seems to fit quite well with the above observation.

Certain types imagery and metaphor (sickliness, e.g.) runs throughout the tragedy. Trace any such use of language and discuss its artistic contribution to the play’s themes.

Select a single quote and explain how it represents a major theme of the play.

You may also create a prompt of your own, but it does require my approval.

Finish Hamlet

Periods 1-3 for Thursday 11/13
Period 5 for Friday 11/14

"the rest is silence"

Lit Device #3 is due next class!

After School Study Sessions and Writing Help

Tuesday (11/4)
and Thursday (11/6)
after school.
If you want to come
in another time,
let me know
in comments
or send an email.
Let's get this right!

Hamlet Reading Schedule Change

For November 5 & 6:        4.1 - 4.4
For November 7 & 12:      4.5 - 4.7
For November 13 & 14:    5.1 - 5.2
For November 17 & 18:    "Hamlet: A Modern Perspective"

Literary Device Assignment: These are the Keys!

Listen Up!

There are three keys to a quality product here:

First, it is essential that you establish the basic situation for the line or lines that contain the literary device you will be analyzing. What has happened just before? What plot developments are relevant? This should take no more than a sentence or three.

Second, you must D>E correctly. Quote properly and explain your brains out. Shakespeare often has all kinds of multiple meanings and connections to other ideas and plot developments. Unpack metaphors; discuss emphasis. Seriously, say as much as you can.

Third, and perhaps most challengingly, connect to larger issues that are evolving. This can include plot and conflict, character development, motifs, themes, and other imagery, metaphors, etc.

"Ozymandias" Grades

I believe I have corrected all the analyses of "Ozymandias". If you do not have a score in StudentVue, it is because you are yet to make up the test from an absence, your assignment did not reach me, or you are blowing it off. Please, if you have no grade, let me know which it is. (Option three is not recommended.)


Sorry, not the greatest representation here; the "visage" is not "half sunk" and I am not sure that facial expression qualifies as a "sneer of cold command", but you get the idea. I can only assume this image is a photoshop. But it is interesting how this poem, taught in high schools and colleges everywhere, keeps old Ozy alive, barely, for another generation. Does anyone currently "despair" while viewing it?

(You guys and gals could comment every now and then.)

Hamlet Reading Schedule

Day 1     1.1
Day 2     1.2 - 1.3
Day 3     1.4 - 2.1
Day 4     2.2
Day 5     3.1 - 3.2
Day 6     3.3 - 3.4
Day 7     4.1 - 4.7
Day 8     5.1 - 5.2
Day 9     "Hamlet: A Modern
                Perspective"


Reminder: Your first Lit Device Assignment for Act 1 is not due until next week. You should, however, be keeping up on the Scene Themes.

Hamlet Assignments

The following are your two play-long assignments for Hamlet. Keep all entries together, organized, and shared with me. Name the document “Hamlet: Themes and Devices".

Scene Themes and Tone

Each of the scenes in Hamlet, generally speaking, has a kind of thematic concern that emerges through the action and dialogue along with an overall tone that reinforces the thematic concept. This part of the assignment is to simply make a list of each scene’s theme and tone along with a quick list of plot elements that demonstrate them.

1.1

theme: uncertainty

tone: mysterious, apprehensive, tense

events: setting is at night, outside; characters are on watch (opening words of play “Who’s there?); the appearance of ghost (what is it? what does it want? what should we do? what does this mean?);  why the preparations for war; tell Hamlet?

Literary Devices and Techniques in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Literary devices are what puts the art in literature. Each has a specific function and adds meaning and depth to a text. One of our goals with Hamlet is to gain experience identifying these techniques as they appear in a text and then appreciating how they enhance meaning of that particular passage, but also contribute to larger ideas of the text as a whole. (This is essentially D>E, right?)

Step 1: Learn the meaning of the following terms and begin to identify them in the text as we read.

•Alliteration  •Allegory •Allusion  •Ambiguity  •Anaphora   •Anastrophe  •Analogy •Anecdote •Antihero •Aphorism  •Apostrophe  •Aside  •Assonance  •Antithesis •Asyndeton  •Cacophony •(Metaphysical) Conceit  •Connotation  •Caesura •Colloquialism •Consonance  •Chiasmus •Denotation • Deus Ex Machina  • Dialect  •Double Entendre  •Enjambment  •Epanalesis • Epigraph •Euphemism •Euphony  •Flashback  •Form  •Hyperbole  •Foreshadowing •Imagery •(Situational) Irony  •(Verbal) Irony  •(Dramatic) Irony  •Juxtaposition  •Litotes •Meiosis •Metaphor •(Extended) Metaphor •(Implied) Metaphor •(Mixed) Metaphor •Metonymy •Malapropism  •Mood  •Motif  •Onomatopoeia •Oxymoron •Paradox •Paralipsis •Parallel Structure •Parody •Periphrasis •Personification •Polysyndeton •Pun •Rhyme •Sarcasm •Simile •Soliloquy •Stream of Consciousness •Symbol  •Synecdoche •Synesthesia •Tone •Tragic Flaw  •Understatement  •Zeugma

Step 2: For each act of Hamlet, choose one device and create a literary device analysis assignment. Follow the format of the example below precisely.

Literary Device Glossary Act One: Alliteration in Hamlet

Alliteration is the use of repeated sounds (usually consonants) at the beginning of words for various poetic effects. When used properly, alliteration places special emphasis on words essential to the meaning of the poem or passage or creates sound effects resonant with the ideas or events of the text.

Example: “A little more than kin and less than kind.” (1.2.67)

Description and Effect: Hamlet’s first words, as an aside in response to Claudius, are this alliterative line which repeats the ‘l’ sound in “little” and ‘less” and the ‘k’ in the words “kin” and “kind”. “Kin” and “kind” are worthy of the emphasis the alliteration imbues, as his mother’s “o’er hasty” marriage to his father’s murderer Claudius is the initial conflict and impetus for the plot (2.2.60). “Kin” and “kind” are juxtaposed with their descriptors “more” and “less” to suggest that Hamlet resents the marriage and his new position within his restructured family. He and Claudius are now “more than kin” in that his uncle is now his father – that is, twice related; further, the line, taken with a bit of sarcasm on the word “little”, suggests Hamlet’s lack of love and respect for Claudius who he values at “little more than kin.” The second half of the sentence, “less than kind”, reiterates his distaste for Claudius. Shakespeare surely intended “kind” to be also read as “natural”; in other words, the marriage of Claudius and his mother is unnatural, even “incestuous” (1.2.162). Further, Hamlet may be implying that Claudius is of a less worthy stock than he or his Father, as in “less than” their “kind”. That Hamlet’s opening line is phonetic wordplay rich with multiple connotations fits well with his wit and his inscrutability. The less obviously alliterated measuring words “little” and “less”, spoken as an aside rather than a direct verbal confrontation, underscore Hamlet’s “measured” thinking, his introspective nature and lack of commitment to decisive action that will haunt and torment him as his tragic flaw throughout the play.

Notice:

The first part is a formal definition in complete sentences. As a resource for definitions of the terms, use a literary glossary, not a standard dictionary; paraphrase definitions.

The second part is a quote of the passage that contains an example of the device you have defined; include an MLA citation.

The third part is the analysis. The analysis clarifies the use of the device in the quotation, provides basic context of the situation, discusses, in depth, the contributions the device makes to the meaning of the passage (D>E), and attempts to connect the device and its meaning to large issues such as character or plot development and thematic ideas.

Hey DingBat!

Are you still reading this?

What is the significance of that little life detail?
...

You left your Psychology text in my room.

Acquainted with the Night

Acquainted with the Night (1928)

Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat 5

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye; 10

And further still at an unearthly height

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

1. How many stanzas does this poem contain?
2. What do the numbers to the right of poem delineate?
3. Who is the speaker of this poem?
4. What, in the most literal sense, does the speaker talk about in the poem?
5. Give an example from the poem that illustrates each of the following literary term and concepts:
1. a word possessing connotative significance
2. an image
3. a metaphor (extra credit)
4. a repetition
6. When considering the opening stanza, what words or phrases seem most worth commenting upon?
7. What is suggested by the speaker’s claim that he has “outwalked the furthest city light” (3)?
8. What do you think a “watchman” is? How does the speaker react to him? Why?
9. Describe what happens in lines 7-10. What does this suggest about the speaker?
10. What is the “luminary clock” (13)? What does it do and what does that mean?
11. Overall, what mood is created by the series of images that largely comprise this poem? Suggest at least three adjectives.
12. Is there anything about what the speaker says that suggests his tone is different than this mood? Explain.
13. What does this poem do? What is this poem about?
14. What is the affect of the speaker repeating the first and last lines?
15. Write an analytic paragraph dealing with a basic interpretation of this poem.

Turn It In

I want to try grading papers on Turn It In. And anyway, you guys are jamming my Gmail Inbox something fierce, so I gotta figure something else out. I am not sure I will continue to use Turn It In regularly, but I do want to try it. Please get your account active by the beginning of next week.

Here is how you enroll in your class:

Period     Class ID
AP 1       8799292
AP 2       8799315
AP 3       8799322
AP 5       8799326

Password: verse

Notice from the Powers That Be

For the 2014-15 school year the AP test fee structure will be: 

Free/Reduced Lunch Students = Free AP test

Full Pay Lunch Students = $20 per test

Your Evolving Poem Close Reading Guide

Close Reading Steps, So Far, For Analysis When Reading Poems:

A Recommended, But Not Required, Order of Intellectual and Emotional Processing

1. Read the title.
2. Pause.
3. Allow associations to roll. Let them hang around, but commit to none.
4. What emotional or intellectual connotations might fit with this title? Keep them in mind.
5. Ask yourself: What is this poem going to be about? Literally.
6. Read the poem. Denotation is essential here.
7. Wait...what? 
8. Don't start spazzing out.
9. Ask: How, does the speaker feel about it all? That is, what is the speaker’s general tone about he or she has said? Positive or negative is a good start, but then get more precise, if possible.
10. Ask further: Why did this person bother to write this poem? What (subject, issue) are they trying to say something about?
11. Oh, its a poem about ____________. (I) Alternatively, I still have no idea what this poem is about. Either way, proceed to step #12. If you think you know, it will need to be tested; if you think you don't know, it will need to discovered.
12. Draw a picture of the poem, with a suggestion of chronological order of events...like a film or  comic book sequence. This will help you to…
13. Order and comprehend the literal events, images, details, etc. of the poem.
14. Remind yourself of and summarize in your mind the basic situation. (S) This need not include the climax, conclusion, or resolution.
15. Go to the first detail (D) of the poem that seems like it might be worth explaining something big or even fairly obvious about. This might be an image, an interesting word choice, a particular selection of detail, etc.
16. Realize the significance of that detail. What intellectual or emotional idea or impact does it convey or suggest? Jot down an E right there on the page next to that line, in your drawing, or wherever you take notes.
17. Go to next D of note. What does it suggest? How does it “fit” with the previous D>E? (This is what is known as context!)
18. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE SIMILARITY OR CONTRAST BETWEEN THESE D. How do they fit together and what does that mean? What are their differences and what do those contrasts highlight or suggest?
19. Repeat #17-#18 for the rest of poem.
20. Return to step #9. What message about the subject is being suggested?
21. Ask yourself: What D>E specifically backs up my interpretation?
22. What does this poem “do”? Find the right verb. This plus a subject and a suggestion of direction becomes your I.
23. Begin to write analysis.
24. I have suggested beginning with I (#11) or S (#14). This is certainly not necessary, but it allows you to build the rest of the paragraph on the foundation of an idea or a situation. Even if you are lost on I, you should always be able to get S.
25. Remember the Mad Hatter: Proceed chronologically (usually) through poem as your write D>E’s, selecting those D that illustrate the I and/or S you are analyzing.
26. CONTRASTS AND REPETITIONS!!!!!!
27. As you approach the end of your paragraph, the Es should be getting longer and more totalizing....almost like it is flowing into your AC.
28. Work, feel, think, and play towards an AC: What is said, more completely, about the I you have introduced? Think big picture concepts, simple emotional expressions, or observations about society and humanity. Remember, ambiguity, even contradiction or paradox, are often part of this meaning.