Week 5 Syllabus: November 21

WE HAVE FINISHED WATCHING THE FILM VERSION OF FRANK BAUM’S novel, The Wizard of Oz, the film that Rushdie based his book upon ( in structure, character, and theme). While watching, we took notes on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth (or hero journey). We will apply this concept to our annotations in the novel. This week, we take a break from this study to think about the literary tradition that helped establish Thanksgiving as an American, national holiday: correspondence.

Tuesday, November 21

• We will a) watch two clips from a documentary about the beginnings of and the establishment of Thanksgiving as an American, national holiday.

• We will also read Lincoln’s proclamation as well as Sarah Hale’s editorial about the holiday.

• HW: If you are behind in your reading in Haroun, catch up.

• EXTRA CREDIT: Write a poem, at least 20 lines, about “giving thanks.” The topic itself can be about anything you are thankful for, but do use some poetic devices (rhyme, rhythm, structure—not ALL devices, of course, just some).