Pre-AP Reading for Week of 9/13

For next week, please read:

• Chapter 26: "Is He Serious? And Other Ironies" from Foster's How to Read Literature... (If you still haven't acquired your copy of the book -- shame on you -- you can read the chapter online via Amazon's "Look Inside" feature (search for "irony," jump to page 235)).


• James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues." (You were given a copy in class, remember?)

Read "Harrison Bergeron"

Questions updated 9/9 (added 4 & 5)

After reading Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," answer the following questions (in complete sentences).

1. What conflict(s) did Harrison Bergeron have with society?


2. How would he have organized his "empire"? (Who would have power? Who wouldn't?)


3. Is his solution better? Why or why not? (Use the cause/effect graphic organizer below to help you plot your answer.)
   
   


4. Why does the government "handicap" George Bergeron (Harrison's dad) but not Hazel (his mom)?


5. Why don't Harrison's parents respond with more feeling to what they have seen on television?

MLA Standards for IWAs

Please observe these MLA Standards when formatting your Independent Writing Assignment essays:

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.


• Double-space the text of your paper, and use Times New Roman (Garamond if you're "fancy"). The font size should be 12 pt.


• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.


• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.


• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times. Do not skip a line (i.e., leave a blank line) between paragraphs.

Questions for BtWoB

Use the online version of "By the Waters of Babylon" to help you answer these questions:

1. How are the six steps of the Quest demonstrated in "BtWoB"?
   1. Quester
   2. Destination/Prize
   3. Mentor
   4. Challenges x2
   5. Underworld
   6. True Purpose/Self-Awareness
   
   
   
2. [From page 309 of the textbook] The title of this selection is an allusion, or reference, to Psalm 137 in the Bible. The psalm expresses the sorrow of the Jews over their enslavement in Babylon and the destruction of Zion, their homeland. The psalm begins: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion."
   
   How do the words of the psalm relate to the discoveries John makes about the great burning and the gods? Answer in 2-3 complete sentences.

Read "By the Waters of Babylon"

Didn't finish in class? Read Stephen Vincent Benét's short story here.

Story Intro

This week we are writing the introduction to our 6-Weeks' short story project. Please model your intro on Wetherell's "The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant."

There was a summer in my life when the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Sheila Mant. I was fourteen. The Mants had rented the cottage next to ours on the river; with their parties, their frantic games of softball, their constant comings and goings, they appeared to me denizens of a brilliant existence. “Too noisy by half,” my mother quickly decided, but I would have given anything to be invited to one of their parties, and when my parents went to bed I would sneak through the woods to their hedge and stare enchanted at the candlelit swirl of white dresses and bright, paisley skirts.

Sheila was the middle daughter—at seventeen, all but out of reach. She would spend her days sunbathing on a float my Uncle Sierbert had moored in their cove, and before July was over I had learned all her moods. If she lay flat on the diving board with her hand trailing idly in the water, she was pensive, not to be disturbed. On her side, her head propped up by her arm, she was observant, considering those around her with a look that seemed queenly and severe. Sitting up, arms tucked around her long, suntanned legs, she was approachable, but barely, and it was only in those glorious moments when she stretched herself prior to entering the water that her various suitors found the courage to come near.

You need to turn in two paragraphs of exposition, not counting dialogue (you are welcome to write dialogue paragraphs, but they don't count toward the two paragraphs of exposition).

Remember, the story details you will need are:

• Time
• Location
• Antagonist
• Friend for Narrator
• What the Narrator wants
• A secret reason the Narrator can't just take what s/he wants (to provide internal conflict)

Due Friday, Sept. 10.

Quest Storyboards

Using a movie or television show as a reference, complete the six-box quest storyboard chart. (Download here if you lost the copy you received in class.) Each section should be illustrated (to the best of your ability; quality stick figures count) and have a brief sentence or two describing that element of the quest.

The six boxes should be completed as follows:

1. Quester: Who is it that goes on the quest?


2. Destination/Prize: Where is the quester going; what does s/he expect to gain?


3. Mentor: Who is it that provides the quester with the guidance and wisdom needed to successfully complete the quest?


4. Challenges/Trials: Divide this illustration box in half and provide two examples of the obstacles the quester must overcome to succeed.


5. Underworld: What is the quester's brush with death/mortality or other symbolic (sometimes, literal) journey through the underworld?


6. True Objective/Self-Awareness: Regardless of whether the quester achieves his/her goal, what new awareness does s/he gain?

Use Chapter One from Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor as a guide for steps 1, 2, 4, and 6.

This homework assignment is due Friday, Sept. 10.