Homework for April 11

Read all of the poems, but answer only these four question sets for homework.

p. 330
I Never Saw a Moor

p. 331
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

p. 332
Apparently with No Surprise
There's a Certain Slant of Light

Eudora Welty Notes

Eudora Welty
1909-2001

Early Life
Born April 13, 1909
Idyllic childhood in Jackson, Mississippi
Two brothers, loving parents
Schoolteacher and insurance executive
Lived in Jackson for most of her life

Schools
Mississippi State College for Women
University of Wisconsin
Advertising at the Columbia University business school



Return
Father’s untimely death, 1931
Returned home
Worked at a local radio station
Covered the Jackson social scene for the newspaper

The Great Depression
1933-36, a publicity agent for the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Rural Mississippi
Took memorable photographs of the Great Depression



Writing
Published fiction in 1936
On staff of the New York Times Book Review
Traveled to Europe on a Guggenheim Fellowship
Extended writing residences at Oxford and Cambridge

Notable Works
Delta Wedding 1946
The Ponder Heart 1954
The Optimist's Daughter 1972

Essay Questions

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.”

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)

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.

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.

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?