Kakos' 2nd Hour American Literature

Chapter 8 Live Blogging!

2007-04-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

Please see reminders on the previous post.

Live Blogging! Gatsby: Chapter 7

2007-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Reminders:

(1) Please reference by name to whom you are responding. Ex: I agree with Clay's comment about Gatsby's childlike approach to love, but I think we need to give Gatsby more credit because he is the only character in this novel who stays true to his love.

(2) Please use correct punctuation and spelling (as always).

(3) Hit the F5 key to refresh. You will need to do this continually in order to see everyone's comments.

(4) Try to find a balance between listening to the inner circle and having your own blogging discussion on the outer circle. Please don't abandon the inner circle altogether.

Uncle Walt

2007-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Although Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are often paired together as "New" American poets--they were writing roughly around the same time, and they both broke away from the traditional meter embraced by the Romantics--they varied dramatically from each other in terms of personal and poetic style.

Think back to Emily Dickinson's photograph and her poetry for a moment. Then, click on the following link to browse pictures of Walt Whitman and to read his commentary on his own pictures: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/whitman/photos.htm

What can you infer about Walt Whitman from these pictures and captions? What questions do you have about him? How does he differ from Ms. Dickinson?

Essay of Place Feedback

2007-01-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

As/after you listen to each of your classmates read his or her essay of place, please share your positive feedback by posting a comment on this blog.

Be sure to include the name of the person whose essay of place you're addressing, as well as the SPECIFIC comment you'd like to offer them. This is not a space for editing or critique; this a space to reveal what you found powerful, original, or otherwise interesting about each piece.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT ON THE POST BELOW THIS ONE AS WELL ("Hope is the thing with feathers...").

Hope is the thing with feathers...

2007-01-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

The Emily Dickinson poem below is my mother's personal mantra and my favorite Dickinson poem as well. Have a look and read the question that follows:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Please pick one of the metaphors in this poem (essentially, you can pick any line here) and explain your interpretation of it. Please also explain to what extent you agree/disagree with Dickinson's interpretation of hope. Feel free to incorporate any personal stories to back up your thoughts.

Her Letter to the World

2007-01-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

Please read the following poem by Emily Dickinson and respond to the questions below:

This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!

What inferences could you make from this poem about Emily Dickinson as a poet and a person? Examine also her picture above and comment on her expression, clothing, and/or overall appearance. How does she strike you?

Slaveholders

2006-11-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

Consider the slaveholders and overseers described by Douglass in the first two chapters of his Narrative. Can we call these people "evil"? Explain your response.

Please respond by 10 pm Tuesday night.

The Village Questions

2006-11-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

Please post one discussion question regarding The Village that we have not yet addressed in class (or perhaps you brought it up, but it didn't get the full attention it deserved). Please read others' questions first to avoid repeating a question that has already been posed.

Has 300 Years Changed Anything?

2006-10-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

Are there any similarities between Salem in the 1690s and our society today?

Questions to consider:

Are our justice systems similar?
Which takes precedence and why in Salem 1692 and the United States 2006-- individual freedom, or safety for the greater whole?
Are we driven by the same needs and values as the Puritans were?

PostSecret and Poe

2006-09-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

After looking at the sample PostSecrets, why do you think so many people send these in? What's the appeal? Is this something you would consider doing?

After reading "Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," why do you think Poe is fascinated by stories about deep, dark secrets? Why is he such a popular American author? What does this say about American society?

Venturing Inside "The Fall of the House of Usher"

2006-09-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

If you have made it through Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" without collapsing into your own pit of despair, congratulations. If not, my condolences. Either way, please respond to one or to both of the following questions:

What might the house symbolize?

What is Usher's illness?

As always, defend your response and show me your thinking. Hope you had a relaxing weekend.

For the Romantic in you...or not

2006-09-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Please remember that you have two choices for this blog:

(1) Analyze the Longfellow poem given in class ("The Cross of Snow" or "The Tide Rises the Tide Falls"). Your interpretation should have a thesis and should be backed up with the techniques used in class on Wednesday.

(2) Compose your own Romantic poem using Romantic subject matter and form.

Please post by 10 pm Thursday night.

Civil Disobedience

2006-08-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

Imagine that an administrator were to walk into this classroom right now and dictate to you the following message:

"Starting today, Arapahoe will have a closed campus. Students are not to leave the grounds during the school day for any reason. This is designed not to punish you but for your own protection. In order to accommodate the extra students in the cafeteria during lunch, the school day will be extended by one hour. Any questions you have need to be submitted in written form to the principal."

How would you react? What actions would you take (or not take)? How far would you be willing to go? Use one quotation from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" to support your response.

Living Deliberately

2006-08-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thoreau wrotethe following of his experience at Walden:
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

What do you think Thoreau means by this?
Do you think that you live "deliberately"? Do you think that Chris McCandless was living "deliberately"?