Cancellation of Today's Class, and Midterm Moved to Monday

Dear Students,

I must cancel class today, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, due to illness.

This means that we will take the Midterm on Monday, November 2nd. I hope to have office hours and feel healthier tomorrow (hope), but please contact me if you have any questions.

We will begin our Drama Unit, then, on Wednesday.

Stay healthy,

Christopher

Study Guide for Wednesday, 10/28, Midterm Exam

Terms:

Annotate

Figures of Speech

Allusion

Archetype

Metaphor

Simile

Hyperbole

Symbol

Theme

Allegory

Flat character

Round Character

Unreliable Narrator

First Person

Third Person

Omniscient

Central Consciousness

Characterization

Diction

Plot

Discriminated occasion

Flashback

Conflict

Rising Action

Falling Action

Setting

Climax

Suspense

Hero / Heroine

Antagonist

Protagonist

Sections on Test:

1) Identification of Literary Terms – 15 questions (3pts each): standard definitions as written in text, or discussed in class.

2) Reading Comprehension and Identification of Excerpts – There are six excerpts from the stories read, and you are to match five excerpts, each to its correct story. That means, mathematically, there will be one excerpt not used (3 pts each).

3) Under Reading Comprehension and Identification of Excerpts section you will also be twice given an excerpted passage in which you are to answer five questions on each passage. The questions range from standard ID of author to identifying literary elements used in story (3 pts/question).

4) Short Answers. You will be asked to write two brief essays (about one handwritten page each)/(30 pts each). You are given the prompts ahead of time, so you must read the directions clearly and have prepared properly and honestly*.

*Anyone who provides quotations for more than TWO stories on their note sheets (which will be attached to exam for essay credit) will fail the exam with a zero (0). This means that you can only have quotations for one of stories from Short Answer One, and quotations for one of story for Short Answer Two.

Short Answer One (30 pts): Choose one of the following and make a thematic reading, using textual evidence to support your analysis. You may use a notes sheet that only includes quotations (with page numbers) from chosen story; you will attach this note sheet when you hand in Midterm.

1. Identify a main theme of Ambrose Bierces’ “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” and briefly explain how the plot, setting and, therefore, culture play a role in understanding the theme.

OR

2. Identify the main conflict in Sherman Alexie’s “Flight Patterns,” and clarify what thematic statement may Alexie be making. In your answer, focus on how Alexie uses stereotype and characterization in developing in the conflict.

Short Answer Two (30 pts): Choose one of the following and make a thematic reading, using textual evidence to support your analysis. As with the first short answer, you may use the same notes sheet that only includes quotations (with page numbers) from chosen story. Therefore, you will have one notes sheet with quotations for two short answer essays.

3. What is a first person narrator? What is a third person narrator? Briefly explain one way that first-person narration can affect the meaning taken. To do so, use one of the stories read for class as an example to develop your idea.

OR

4. How does the author use language? Choose one of the authors we have read and argue their literary excellence by their use of language (they are, after all, writers!). Identify in your argument thesis what exactly it is about their language that is so extraordinary. (diction, dialogue, figures of speech, use of allegory, syntactical rhythm, . . . ?)

The Cask of Amontillado: Student Visual Presentation Example

Hunter S. Thompson...

Save the Date / You’re Invited / Spread the Word ...
F&V Chair, Bruce Sheridan vs. FW Faculty Don DeGrazia

The Fiction Writing and Film & Video Departments present DRUGS!
Cinema Slapdown, Round 19: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Screening at 7 pm, Debate follows at 9:15 pm
Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor
Free and Open to All

http://www.colum.edu/Academics/Film_and_Video/Events.php

Is Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a brilliant rendering of one of the greatest pieces of 60’s reportage or a pitiful regurgitation of a self-indulgent piece of 60’s “look at me!” journalism? Is it proof of Gilliam’s visual genius or an even more compelling proof of his inability to articulate a thought? Is this Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo’s drug-fueled dream of Nirvana or our popcorn-fueled nightmare Movie Hell? Join us when we take the high road for a Cinema Slapdown screening and debate of this cult hit. Featuring celebrated author and Fiction Writing Department faculty member Don (“This blows me away!”) DeGrazia versus Film & Video Department Chair Bruce (“No, it just blows”) Sheridan. Referee’d by Ron Falzone, Film & Video faculty and host of Talk Cinema

Reading for 10/7: "An Occurence..."

10/7: p. 307-313 Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek”

- What is interesting about the ordering of events?

- What do you notice about the difference in language in the first section (I.) from the other sections?

- What narrative/point of view techniques does Bierce use to create conflict/tension in story?

- How effective is the ending, and what points to plausibility of the ending?

- How do you feel about the main character, and what are some reasons for your attention?

- What, in your mind, does Bierce make you think about through Farquhar's unraveling demise?