Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Poetry

Poem:

Setting: geographical, temporal
Subject/theme/thesis
Genre:Lyric, ballad,sonnets,ode,epic
Voice/personna
Distance from poem: historical, cultural
Diction: use of words, imagery,fugures of speech,simile,metaphor

Notes on "An occurence at owl's creek"

Takes place during the american civil war.
Industrialized north against 11 southern states( economy based on agriculture, slave labor)
The southern states decided to secede from the USA and to form a conferency
Northern soldier known as union soldiers (blue)
Southern soldiers called confederate soldiers(gray)
500 000 soldiers died

Book review

5 choices:

1- Tell what happened plot/stroyline

2- Describe your favorite part

3-Write a letter to the author

4-Tell how you would react if you were a character

5-Choose several "quotes " from characters and say why they're meaningful

6-Why the book is awesome or not

7- Suggest a different ending for the story

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sentence pattern #2

IC + Colon (:)
Statement: explanation (specific)

Eg1: Bernard Shaw Told a writer
" There a three things I disliked about your story : they are the beginning,middle and end."

Eg2: There is one rule in my life: always be well-dressed at work.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Sentence pattern #1

Sentence = complete idea/subject + verb+ object
independent clause
Clause= incomplete idea / subject + verb

phrase= Preposition ( in, on ,at), no verb,
Could have a participle present:(ing) past:(ed)

Eg: Csl(subject) has(verb) 3200 students(object).


Eg: FS wrote many short stories; he filled 23 volumes

#1 a) IC semicolon+conjunctive adverb+comma+IC
FS started as a wood engraver; however , he became a famous writer.

#1 b) IC+comma+coordinating conjunction (fanboys)+ IC
The story has no ending, so the reader is left wondering what happened.

Thesis statement

1- Clear, avoids vague language

2- Avoid I

3-Reflects what the text is about

4-Connects all the subelements of the text

5-Makes a "claim"

6-Passes the "so what " test

7- Directs the structure

8- Introduces an essay

9-Determines the type of paper you write

10- Uses literary elements

11- Make use of "quotations"

Three components:
1- What: Claim about the text (interpretation)
2-How: The literary elements( figures of speech, symbolism,theme)
3- Why: The significance of your claim answers the question: so what

Bad thesis statement:
1-This poem shows the narrator comparing his love to a summer's day (plot summary)
2-The poem presents the power of love to conquer death. (too universal)
3-The poem shows how narratives can last while nature cannot. (too general)
4-The poem proves that the pen is mightier than the sword. (cliché)
5-The structure,character and dialogue in the poem show us how human search for knowledge. (list of themes)

Good thesis statement:
Despite it's emphasis on love and physical beauty, the poem reveals the ways in which human can triumph over the vagaries of nature.

Qualities:
-specific
-arguable
-provides a structure for your argument
-Goes beyond "so what?"

Monday, February 9, 2009

An occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

Questions :

1- Who is the main character of the story ?

2-What is the climax ?

3-What is the point of view ?

5 intersting facts about the author:

1- Ambrose Pierce has been in the army for about 2 years and his experience has influenced him in his writting

2-He gets married in 1871, in the same year, he publishes his first story

3- His first son kills himself in 1889

4- His second son dies from alcolism in 1901

5- No one has seen Ambrose since 1910

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Lady or the Tiger ?

Questions:

1.What is the point of view?

2. What is the climax of the story?

3. What is the theme ?


5 intersting facts about the author :

1- He was the son of a prominent methodist minister who discouraged him from being a writter

2-His first fairy tale was called "Ting-a-ling"

3-Stockton married Mary Anne Edwards Tuttle in 1860

4- He was forced to stop writting because of eyes problem

5-"The Lady or the tiger" is his most remembered short story


Possible thesis statement:

The story revolves around two dilemnas. The first conflict is the external one between the young man and the two doors. The second conflict is internal involving the princess's feelings: jealousy or love, selflessness or altruism.

The Tell-Tale Heart

A ) Interesting facts about the author:

1. He lost his parents when he was very young.
2.He was married to his 13 years old cousin.
3.His first book was published under the name of ­­­­" A bostonian "
4.The cause of his death is still unknown.
5.He lied about his age to get in the army.

B) Plot of the story

This story is about a servant who is obsessed by the eye of his master. He sees it everywhere and he is always thinking about "the eye". For seven days, the servant is thinking about killing his master to be releaved from the hypnotizing effects of "the eye ". One night, the servant finally decides to deliver himself of his obsession, and he kills his master. He then hides the body under the floor of the master's bedroom.

After few minutes, three policemen arrive at the house and explian that the neighboors just heard a scream and they alerted the police. The narrator lets the policemen in and they begin searching in the house. Everything seems normal so the are ready to leave but the narrator asks them to stay and to have a cup of tea with him. While sitting and discussing, the servant becomes very nervous because he can't stop hearing the thumping of the heart of his dead master. He goes through a psychotic moment and he confesses the murder.

C) Analysis
1. Setting

It takes place in the house of an old man where the narrator of the story lives. It takes place in the 1840 in the U.S.A. and probably in Boston. The story last 8 days.

2. Characters

The servant, he thinks he is sane but he is a madman. we dont know he is really a man or not. But Poe always writes with men's point of vue.

Old man: He has the evil eye.

The neighbors: They hear the scream and they call the police

The policemen: They investigate and the arrest the servant.

3.Themes (reader interpretation)

A) A human being has a perverse,wicked side-another self-that can provoke him to doing evil things without an apparent motive.

B) He was afraid of being discovered, wich lead to his discovery.

C) The evil within is worse than the evil without.

4. Point of view

1st person narrator.

5. Sentence style

"Object there was none, passion there was none, I loved the man..."

6. Figures of speech

A) Anaphora (repetition) : "I heard thongs in heaven, I heard things in hell..."

B) Personification: "death" becomes a person .

C) Simile: "a single ray of light like the thread of a spider"

D) Aliteration(repetition of sound): "Heardden ! Observation how heartily how calmly."

E) Irony " I was never kinder to the old man during the week before I killed him. "