On a 3” by 5” index card or paper, prepare an outline for each of these possible essay questions. Be sure to include brief quotes to use as evidence in your essay. We will select one of these questions at random just before the test. You may use only your index card for reference during the test.
1. Compare and contrast the character Dexter from Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” with the character George from Anderson’s “Sophistication.” You may consider their actions, thoughts, speech, and/or physical descriptions. You may also consider how each character is perceived by others.
2. One common theme in modern fiction is the realization that isolation and loneliness are typical of the human condition. Explore how Anderson develops this theme in “Sophistication.”
3. As above, but explore how Hemingway develops the same theme in “In Another Country.”
Monday, February 18, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Ernest Hemingway Notes
Stay tuned for essay questions.
Ernest Hemingway was a handsome young man.
Early life
b. 1899, Oak Park, IL (near Chicago)
Father was a doctor
Grew up athletic, outdoorsy
Loved boxing
Young Adulthood
School newspaper and literary magazine
WWI, 1917, tried to enlist, rejected (boxing injury)
Became a reporter, Kansas City Star
Europe
1918, joined the Red Cross ambulance corps
Severely wounded on Italian front
Hospital in Milan
Returned to U.S. and reporting
Sherwood Anderson
Return to Europe
1921, became foreign correspondent
American ex-patriates in Paris
Gertrude Stein, simplicity in writing
Success and fame
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1954)
Hunting, deep-sea fishing, boxing, bullfighting
Lived in Cuba, later moved to Idaho
Behind the scenes
Big persona, depression, alcoholism
d. 1961, self-inflicted gunshot
Notable Works
In Our Time
The Sun Also Rises
A Farewell to Arms
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Old Man and the Sea
A Movable Feast (posthumous)
Ernest Hemingway was a handsome young man.
Early life
b. 1899, Oak Park, IL (near Chicago)
Father was a doctor
Grew up athletic, outdoorsy
Loved boxing
Young Adulthood
School newspaper and literary magazine
WWI, 1917, tried to enlist, rejected (boxing injury)
Became a reporter, Kansas City Star
Europe
1918, joined the Red Cross ambulance corps
Severely wounded on Italian front
Hospital in Milan
Returned to U.S. and reporting
Sherwood Anderson
Return to Europe
1921, became foreign correspondent
American ex-patriates in Paris
Gertrude Stein, simplicity in writing
Success and fame
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1954)
Hunting, deep-sea fishing, boxing, bullfighting
Lived in Cuba, later moved to Idaho
Behind the scenes
Big persona, depression, alcoholism
d. 1961, self-inflicted gunshot
Notable Works
In Our Time
The Sun Also Rises
A Farewell to Arms
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Old Man and the Sea
A Movable Feast (posthumous)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Extra Credit Assignment (10 pts.)
Due Friday, March 7
Read Kira-Kira by guest author Cynthia Kadohata (available for purchase in our school library for only $6). Complete all three of these activities. Type and double-space your work.
1. Kate gives one of the eulogies at Lynn’s funeral but sits down before she tells a special memory of Lynn. In a well-thought-out paragraph, write about a special memory of Lynn that Katie might have included in the eulogy.
2. Lynn always wanted to go to the ocean in California. Write a haiku titled “Kira-Kira” that Katie might write and dedicate to Lynn after her family returns from the west coast.
3. It is a Japanese custom to purchase souvenirs (or omiyage) from places the have traveled. Write a one-paragraph description of a souvenir that Katie might bring back from California to put at Lynn’s grave.
Read Kira-Kira by guest author Cynthia Kadohata (available for purchase in our school library for only $6). Complete all three of these activities. Type and double-space your work.
1. Kate gives one of the eulogies at Lynn’s funeral but sits down before she tells a special memory of Lynn. In a well-thought-out paragraph, write about a special memory of Lynn that Katie might have included in the eulogy.
2. Lynn always wanted to go to the ocean in California. Write a haiku titled “Kira-Kira” that Katie might write and dedicate to Lynn after her family returns from the west coast.
3. It is a Japanese custom to purchase souvenirs (or omiyage) from places the have traveled. Write a one-paragraph description of a souvenir that Katie might bring back from California to put at Lynn’s grave.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Final!
You will have 50 multiple choice questions and one essay to write.
Here are the possible topics. You may use your book and notes for this portion of the exam.
1. Compare and/or contrast Smith’s ambivalent account of the Indians in Virginia with Cooper’s presentation of the Hurons in Deerslayer.
2. Compare and/or contrast the persuasive styles (techniques, tone) of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry.
3. Show how sound devices—rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, repetition, etc.—increase the emotional effect of Poe’s poem “The Raven.”
4. Compare and/or contrast Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” with Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” You may consider mood, character, plot, theme, and setting.
Here are the possible topics. You may use your book and notes for this portion of the exam.
1. Compare and/or contrast Smith’s ambivalent account of the Indians in Virginia with Cooper’s presentation of the Hurons in Deerslayer.
2. Compare and/or contrast the persuasive styles (techniques, tone) of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry.
3. Show how sound devices—rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, repetition, etc.—increase the emotional effect of Poe’s poem “The Raven.”
4. Compare and/or contrast Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” with Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” You may consider mood, character, plot, theme, and setting.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Possible Essay Questions for Monday, Dec. 3
Possible Questions
1. Compare and contrast the tone of Thomas Paine’s essay “The Crisis” with the tone of Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention.”
2. What is the function of imagery in Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”?
3. In what ways is Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” a satire of Puritan America?
4. How is Cooper’s character Deerslayer (Natty) a symbol of the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries?
1. Compare and contrast the tone of Thomas Paine’s essay “The Crisis” with the tone of Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention.”
2. What is the function of imagery in Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”?
3. In what ways is Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” a satire of Puritan America?
4. How is Cooper’s character Deerslayer (Natty) a symbol of the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Where is my essay grade?
Dear Parents and Students,
This is Mrs. Hopkins. First quarter grade reports will be printed today (Nov. 7). I have decided to categorize your narrative essays as second quarter grades in order to spend more time on comments and feedback. Please come and see me if you have any questions about your essay. We can even sit down and talk about your essay in a conference if you wish. Keep working hard! I’m proud of your efforts.
This is Mrs. Hopkins. First quarter grade reports will be printed today (Nov. 7). I have decided to categorize your narrative essays as second quarter grades in order to spend more time on comments and feedback. Please come and see me if you have any questions about your essay. We can even sit down and talk about your essay in a conference if you wish. Keep working hard! I’m proud of your efforts.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Sample short essay response
The Short Essay Sample
Sample question
Compare and contrast the passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative.
1. Turn the question into an answer.
The passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative share many similarities, but for the most part, are quite different.
2. Set up your argument to support this answer.
Similarities
Differences
3. Go into more depth.
Similarities – physical difficulties
Differences—forced vs. choice
4. Find quotes and citations. This is what you write on your card.
Similarities - physical difficulties
Bradford: A young man “condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations”
Equiano: Stinky, “The stench of the hold, while we were on the coast, was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any time.”
Differences - forced vs. choice
Bradford: “So they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed.”
Equiano: “That if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would’ve freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with the meanest slave in my own country.”
5. Write your answer on the test. You don’t have to use all your quotes.
The passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative share many similarities, but for the most part, are quite different. One similarity that they share is the physical discomfort of making a long ocean voyage over the Atlantic. On Bradford’s journey, a young seaman spends time abusing the settlers by “condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations.” Similarly, Equiano describes the unpleasantness of the ship’s hold: “The stench of the hold, while we were on the coast, was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any time.” Physically, both the settlers and the slaves faced a difficult passage to the New World. However, one major difference between the two experiences is that the settlers made the voyage by choice, whereas the slaves were forced. Bradford writes that the settlers “committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed,” demonstrating that the settlers had the freedom to choose what to do next. On the other hand, when Equiano finds out he is to be a slave in America, writes, “if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would’ve freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with the meanest slave in my own country.” In Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation, and in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative, settlers and slaves share the difficulty of a perilous ocean voyage, but they do not share the ability to choose their own destinies.
Sample question
Compare and contrast the passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative.
1. Turn the question into an answer.
The passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative share many similarities, but for the most part, are quite different.
2. Set up your argument to support this answer.
Similarities
Differences
3. Go into more depth.
Similarities – physical difficulties
Differences—forced vs. choice
4. Find quotes and citations. This is what you write on your card.
Similarities - physical difficulties
Bradford: A young man “condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations”
Equiano: Stinky, “The stench of the hold, while we were on the coast, was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any time.”
Differences - forced vs. choice
Bradford: “So they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed.”
Equiano: “That if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would’ve freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with the meanest slave in my own country.”
5. Write your answer on the test. You don’t have to use all your quotes.
The passage of settlers in Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation and of slaves in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative share many similarities, but for the most part, are quite different. One similarity that they share is the physical discomfort of making a long ocean voyage over the Atlantic. On Bradford’s journey, a young seaman spends time abusing the settlers by “condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations.” Similarly, Equiano describes the unpleasantness of the ship’s hold: “The stench of the hold, while we were on the coast, was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any time.” Physically, both the settlers and the slaves faced a difficult passage to the New World. However, one major difference between the two experiences is that the settlers made the voyage by choice, whereas the slaves were forced. Bradford writes that the settlers “committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed,” demonstrating that the settlers had the freedom to choose what to do next. On the other hand, when Equiano finds out he is to be a slave in America, writes, “if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would’ve freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with the meanest slave in my own country.” In Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation, and in Equiano’s An Interesting Narrative, settlers and slaves share the difficulty of a perilous ocean voyage, but they do not share the ability to choose their own destinies.
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