Syllabus, week of February 4

THIS WEEK, STUDENTS WILL FINALIZE THEIR THEME novel choice. Remember, while I hope you enjoy reading the text, primarily you are studying it as the basis of a thematic research paper. If the novel itself is the author’s response to a question, what question does the novel answer? Using that question, you will research what other American writers and artists have done on that same topic, theme, or question. Your research, completed publicly with your peers, will state your findings after an established period of time. The paper is not an end, in and of itself, but merely a point in time on the continuum of research on American literature, but New Trier students, over the decades past, and the decades future.

MONDAY

• Lecture on junior theme novel choices. From there, we will begin discussing chapter ten, “Liberty Paints,” and will use the recent news about the governor from Virginia’s racist yearbook pictures as a lens for understanding the Invisible Man’s experience.

• HW: Why does Brockway support the company, and not the union workers, when they are fighting for better wages, work conditions, and working hours?

TUESDAY

• Individual analysis of chapter 10, the IM at Liberty Paints. Part lecture and part small group work.

• HW: Finish the worksheet for class tomorrow. Read chapter 11.

WEDNESDAY

• An overview of chapter 11, in which the IM suffers electro-shock therapy. We will also complete the worksheet started on Tuesday.

• HW: Read the first part of chapter 12.

THURSDAY

• Day one of an introduction to Song of the South and Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus Tales. We will look at Brer Rabbit as the trickster figure, one who attempts to escape the brutal and omnipresent threat of white American racial oppression.

• HW: Finish reading chapter 12.

FRIDAY

• In library. Today, students will a) finalize their novel choices and b) begin gathering journal articles about their novel. Rather than book reviews, students should look for longer sources that describe the themes of the novel, or analyze it in greater depth.

• HW: Read chapter 13 in IM.

Today in library...

All:

Today in the library you are to accomplish two things:

1) Access our google sheet that list your top three book choices. If they are completed and solid choices, highlight your #1 choice in GREEN.

2) Continue reading in Invisible Man.

If you are NOT settled on your three books, Mr. Garneau can assist you in finding books. Our students new to class should work with him to find three novels that are by a) American authors and b) would support a thematic research project.

The Final

Our final is at 10 AM on Thursday, January 24 in room W-336. For the final, students should bring a) your copy of Ellison’s Invisible Man and b) your notes to the documentary “Many Rivers to Cross.”

For the final, you will be required to read a short story and a poem that topically relates to the themes of Ellison’s novel Invisible Man. You will write an essay that uses for evidence a) the novel Invisible Man, b) the documentary ‘Many Rivers to Cross,” and c) either the poem OR the short story.

I will collect and grade annotations of the poem and the short story. You should pre-write for the essay, and I will collect and grade that as well.

As with all our writing assignments so far, you should use argumentative structure and evidence in your essay.

The final is 90 minutes long. Students with extended time will need to use that time directly after the testing time, in the extended time room following the test.

The documentary:

Why does Mr. Norton want the IM to know Emerson's essay, "Fate"?

Syllabus, week of January 14

LOCATE AND READ TWO PUBLISHED BOOK REVIEWS by credible sources for each of your chosen three books. Later this week, students will meet with me privately to discuss book choices. Our goal is to have a book selected and on order by the final. The final will be at 10 AM on Thursday, January 24th in room W-336.

MONDAY

• Comparison between the advice that Dr. Bledsoe gives the IM, and the advice that the expelled veteran gives the IM on the bus heading north.

• HW: Catch up night. If you haven’t read chapters 6 and 7, finish those tonight.

TUESDAY

• Introduction to IM in New York City. What is it like, being a young black man travelling alone in New York City in the late 40s / early 50s? Why might the IM need the Gideon Bible?

• HW: Finish reading chapter eight, and read the first 10 pages of chapter nine.

WEDNESDAY

• Push comes to shove, as the Invisible Man stumbles blindly through Harlem, confronted by the Peter Wheatstraw's who attempt to guide him. Discussion of the importance of Peter Wheatstraw and his blue prints. We will look briefly at the Blues as a mode of American art.

• HW: Finish reading chapter nine.

THURSDAY

• Returning to Emerson’s essay, “Fate.” Perhaps obviously, the IM learns the true contents of Dr. Bledsoe’s letters—and what his fate is—from the son of Emerson. What was Dr. Bledsoe’s purpose is providing the letters that he does? Is this the IM’s true punishment? And is that just?

• HW: Read chapter 10, up to page 211.

FRIDAY

• Lucius Brockway's who attempt to thwart or destroy him. That the IM cannot understand his world--that he cannot understand what is happening and why--helps us sympathize with his plight. Who hasn't felt uncomfortable and confused, bewildered by social expectation?

• HW: Finish reading chapter 10 in IM for discussion on Tuesday.

Tribute to Rev. C.L. Franklin

Syllabus, week of January 7

POST THE THREE NOVELS YOU’RE CONSIDERING onto the shared google-sheet “2018 Theme Novels” by class on Wednesday. For each book, you will want to include the following information: Author, Title, Year of Publication (not printed, first published), Catalog/Categories, and a short summary. The summary should be approx 50-150 words, and may be copied from a library overview OR from one of the NT Library databases. It may NOT be copied from Amazon or a google-found site.

MONDAY

• Introduction to the google-sheet on theme novels. We will identify author, title, publication date, catalog groupings, and a short summary for Ellison’s Invisible Man. We will then turn our attention to chapter three of IM, the Golden Day chapter. I will write some notes while listening to the recording.

• HW: Finish reading chapter three of IM.

TUESDAY

• We meet the de-facto leader of the college, Dr. Bledsoe, who seems inclined to punish the IM for bringing Mr. Norton to the former slave-quarter / share-cropping section of the campus. What is in store for the IM?

• HW: Read chapter four tonight, pages 98-108.

WEDNESDAY

• Today we will look at Rev. Barbee's sermon, and also read a short biography of Booker T. Washington, the actual founder of the Tuskegee University, and the person on which Ellison bases "The Founder." Here's a link to the biography we looked at in class: go here.

• HW: Continue reading in chapter five tonight, up through and including page 123.

THURSDAY

• Small group reading of a handout on the literary tradition of black-sermon’s in America. We will also watch a sermon by Rev. C.L. Franklin, the father of late singer Aretha Franklin.

• HW: Finish reading chapter five.

FRIDAY

• Research day on selected novels. Please make sure that your ipad/laptop is fully charged and ready for use in class today. We will begin researching what published critics have said about your three, selected novels.

• HW: Read chapters six and seven in IM. Locate, print, and skim through two credible critiques/sources on each of your three novels (six sources total).

Audio for Invisible Man

Gordon Parks, Untitled (Harlem, New York), 1952

COURTESY THE ARTIST / ART INSTITUTE CHICAGO

Syllabus, week of December 17

WE MEET MR. STU IN THE LIBRARY on Monday. Something to consider: New Trier’s library has been helping juniors find their theme book every year. Over the last 10 years, they’ve helped approximately 10,000 alumni find their theme books as juniors. That makes our librarian staff the #1 source for help finding junior theme books. Your goal is to find three quality choices for your project. But more importantly, I want you examining and researching novels and examining books that wouldn’t be a good fit. That part of the process—and the research skills used to find and dismiss choices—will be more valuable that which book(s) you eventually select.

MONDAY

• Meeting today in the library to continue searching for a) novels by b) American authors that c) are suitable for a thematic research project. Mr. Stu will review some research sources that you should take advantage of, and some tips that you would be well served to utilize.

• HW: Spend half-an hour researching novels. Investigate titles, finding out about that authors other works and themes she explores, reading published reviews.

TUESDAY

• Back to Buffy! A short discussion on social invisibility. What is it like to be a person in the world that everyone treats as a cipher? We will listen to the “Preface” together, and I will lecture intermittently to fill in “the blanks” of interpretive meaning, the historical allusions that might be beyond us.

• HW: Read chapter one of Ellison’s Invisible Man. It’s a longer read, but also a great read. Use the audio!

WEDNESDAY

• Short lecture on the symbolism in chapter one, and review of annotations. Which details provide insight into Ellison's view of American racism? Novel journal assignment one: The details of the Smoker are likely heightened--carefully so--for symbolic purpose. But we shouldn't dismiss it's events flat-out. What is the likely (and hopefully historical) reality that Ellison describes? What events likely did take place in a 1940s battle royal such as this?

• HW: Read chapter 2 of IM by Friday.

THURSDAY

• Mr. Norton: who is this rich, old, white man, and what is he doing at an all-black college? We will explore what the college looks like in terms of visual imagery, and also Mr. Norton, and why he recommends that the IM read Emerson. Read this overview of Emerson’s essay, “Fate.”

• HW: Finish reading Trueblood's account of his treatment by the white community. We'll discuss his story in depth tomorrow. 

FRIDAY

• Paternalism and Trueblood's dream. Why isn't he welcome in the black community? Why does the white community treat him kindly? What is he doing in this novel at the outskirts of the college?

• HW: Break. Take a break, and have a happy new year!

Syllabus, week of December 10

JUNIOR THEME IS UPON US. This week we will begin work on our junior theme. Our first task is choosing a novel. For the purposes of the project, you should choose an American novel. But choose one that you haven’t read AND one that could support thematic research. Eventually, you will research what other writers (poets, playwrights, journalists, scholars) and artists (painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, film-directors) have said about the theme of your chosen, core text.

MONDAY

• After collecting essays, everyone will sign up for a writing conference. Discussion of junior theme. What is the project? What will I be required to do? And how shall I begin? We will start by discussing the criteria for the theme. The first assignment is selecting an American novel to read independently. We will discuss these expectations, and also watch the following video about what makes for a quality read.

• HW: Revisit your annotations in the play. For your writing conference, please please come either on time (or a few minutes early) so we can finish the conference in a timely way. Revised essays will be due one week from the conference.

TUESDAY

• Continuing research into junior theme novels. We will take a deeper dive into what makes for a good book for your junior theme. Students will continue researching titles. Remember, you want to have THREE good choices for your theme. The books themselves can be very different! But all of them should be best choices.

• HW: Purchase your copy of Ellison’s Invisible Man.

WEDNESDAY

• Collecting annotations and packets. Introduction to our next book, Ralph Waldo Ellison’s Invisible Man. We will start a documentary about race relations in early 20th century America, called Many Rivers to Cross: Making a Way Out of No Way.

• HW: Once you have met with me outside of class, you should revise your essay. You have one week from the conference to revise your paper. When you turn it in, you should include the first draft with my handwritten notes.

THURSDAY

• Continuing and finishing the documentary from yesterday. We will watch the first 5 minutes of a Buffy: Vampire Slayer episode that pertains to our novel. How does a white, female Californian teenaged-vampire killer have to do with Ellison’s novel, you ask? You shall SEE…

• HW: Revising your paper. Obtain IM.

FRIDAY

• Buffy day.

• HW: Read, and then re-read the prologue in IM. Make sure to circle words and write questions that you have. We will answer these questions in class on Monday.

Syllabus, week of December 3

WE FINISHED READING MILLER’S play last week. After the snow day, and reading the fourth act of The Crucible, we spent three days reading, discussing, analyzing the writing of Anne Bradstreet, including “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” and “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House.” What do we make of Bradstreet’s world view? What do her poems reveal about the role of women in 17th century Puritan society? We will finish our unit on The Crucible with a paper. What does the play say about free expression? What freedom(s) must an individual relinquish in order to survive in society? Why do the people of Salem turn on one another?

MONDAY

• Follow up to last week’s analysis of the Bradstreet poem. Then, discussion of act four. Why does Proctor confess to a sin he does not commit? And then, why does he refuse to sign a written confession? Why does Danforth demand such a confession, when Proctor freely admits to dealing with the Devil?

• HW: Revisit your annotations in the play.

TUESDAY

• Starting a documentary, “Colonial House.” 17 modern American and European laypersons take on the role of 16th century colonists for a four month period to experience the life of founding European settlers.

• HW: Review your reading of the Sarah Vowell selection. Furthermore, begin writing your claim for the Puritan paper: “After reading The Crucible and selected readings, the MOST important idea about the Puritans is ________. Knowing this, one comes to realize about America that __________. Have a first draft of your claim for class tomorrow, typed and printed.

WEDNESDAY

• We will start in small groups, reporting out claims and reading them aloud. I will collect your annotations. We will then finish yesterday’s part one of the documentary, and begin the third (and final part we will watch) on religion in pre-colonial America.

• HW: Revise your claim and begin drafting reasons that support your claim. Remember, if your claim is too broad and not debatable, you’ll have problems developing reasons in support. You should be able to ask and answer the question, “So what?” to check your claim.

THURSDAY

• We will return to the writing circles established yesterday, and report out on the revisions to the claims for your Puritan papers. We will then finish the documentary, Colonial House. Then, students will select one well written sentence from Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates here.

• HW: Finish a working outline for your paper. Have a hard copy with you in class tomorrow.

FRIDAY

• Meeting in 377-N to work on Puritan papers.

• HW: 1st draft of papers are due on Monday.

Syllabus, week of November 26

IS MILLER’S PLAY ABOUT FREEDOM of speech, about Proctor’s desire to speak truthfully about the lies being spread and the injustices being done in the name of God? And/or is Miller’s play about keeping order and the public good, about Danforth’s desire to protect society from the evils that lurk without? And/or is Miller’s play about fear and suspicion, about Putnam’s need to protect himself and Mrs. Putnam’s need for certainty in a world where a mother can loose so many children so cruelly?

MONDAY

• Snow day! No school.

• HW: No homework.

TUESDAY

• In class reading, finishing Act 3 and starting Act 4.

• HW: Finish reading and annotating the play by Friday.

WEDNESDAY

• No homework for Thanksgiving Break.

• HW: No homework.

THURSDAY

• No homework for Thanksgiving Break.

• HW: No homework.

FRIDAY

• No homework for Thanksgiving Break.

• HW: No homework.