Week 15 syllabus: December 2 forward
WHAT DOES KNOWLES WANT HIS READER to know or understand better as a consequence of reading his novel? That’s the framework we’ll use to write our first, longer paper for English class. We will subsequently compare the book to another work, in this case, a film version of a novel, in order to deepen our thinking about Knowles’ novel. This paper will be due before Winter Break, and will be the last major writing assignment for the quarter (though, as always, you will revise it). This week we will tie up some lose strings from A Separate Peace, including some discussion, emblem analysis, paragraph revision, and even some new artwork for your own benefit.
MONDAY
Revisiting the emblems. We will revisit the emblems for Brinker Hadley. If we had to make emblems for Gene and Finny, what would they look like? Class wide brainstorming and note taking. We will then return to the paragraph notes we were taking before Thanksgiving break. Where do you see indefinite pronoun or collective nouns? Where are there excessive helping (to be) verb forms?
HW: Finish reading the body paragraphs about Finny, marking both vague language and the to be verb worms.
TUESDAY
Watching the film “Birdy,” which describes two teen-aged friends living on the East Coast during the Vietnam War, one of whom becomes injured and requires the help of his friend. Sound familiar? It should. We will use the film as a lens to discover deeper truths about A Separate Peace. During the film, I will meet with students to discuss revisions to the Finny paragraph which should be revised by Monday.
HW: Begin revising your body paragraph on Finny. You will want to develop your current claim, adding nuance and complexity to the idea you initially wrote about. Revisions are due Monday. For those of you NOT in class, on Identity Project, please watch this 20 minute clip of the film Birdy, located here.
WEDNESDAY
Continue watching the film Birdy. During the film, I will have writing conferences with student.
HW: Revising your paragraphs on Finny.
THURSDAY
Continue watching the film Birdy. During the film, I will have writing conferences with student.
HW: Revising your paragraphs on Finny.
Friday
Finishing the film.
HW: Finny paragraphs are due on Monday.