Last Week of Class

Because Scotland, PA was not available last week, we did not watch the film as planned. Instead, we watched excerpts and discussed them in class. It is no longer necessary for those who missed class to view Scotland, PA.

This also means a change in plans for the final week of class. Everyone is still required to upload Essay 4 to turnitin.com before coming to class. Everyone is still required to attach the turnitin receipt to the hard copy and bring it to the final class session. At that point, you have two options:

1. You can leave after submitting the essay and have your grade based on that submission.

OR

2. At the final class, you can review the essay you brought with me and then submit a revised version to turnitin.com by Friday, May 15 at 5:00 PM sharp. If you miss that deadline, your grade will be based on the version you brought to class.

NOTE: The Friday deadline is ONLY for those who have a review conference with me at the final class session. If you do not want to have a review conference, your essay (hard copy with turnitin receipt) will ONLY be accepted at the last class session.

Grades will be calculated very soon so there are no exceptions to the above policy. To avoid calamity, submit to turnitin as soon as you can. I will accept hard copies placed under my office door any time before the deadline as well.

Finally, please be aware that if you are trying to see your final grade from turnitin.com, that site fails to deduct the lowest reading quiz score, so the grades there are all too high (sorry). Do not expect your final grade to match the score appearing on turnitin unless you missed or failed at least one reading quiz. If you passed all four of those quizzes, you must manually subtract 50 points to get your true score.

Scotland, PA

We will view the movie, Scotland, PA at the next class. If you won't be present, it's important that you view it on your own somehow before the last day of class when we discuss it. We will discuss and debate the following issues:

1. Does the movie capture the same ideas as Macbeth or depart from them?
2. Is Mac guilty of Duncan's murder? If so, to what degree? Did he have intent?  Could he claim insanity?
3. Is Pat guilty of being an accomplice to Duncan's murder? To Banko's murder?

On another note, please do not ask me to accept papers beyond their due date. Regardless of the reason, I will not accept it outside of the published timeframe. A safety measure is in place whereby you get the grade from the first draft. An emergency that took you out of commission for more than 3 weeks and made you miss both draft and final version is an emergency that warrants re-taking the class in a future semester. By the same token, observe the strict deadline for Essay 4 and do not expect an extension. There is also no substitute for missing the in-class debate. The answer to all these requests is no. If you are missing an assignment and are close to the border between two grades, at that point I will look at your whole portfolio of work to find a reason to push it to the higher grade.

The Tortilla Curtain

You are expected to complete the reading for The Tortilla Curtain by April 21 or 23 class date, or at least the first 280 pages.

There will be a 20-minute in-class writing at the beginning of class. Please appear on time to avoid being locked out. Less than half of our class was on time last week.

Answers will not receive credit unless they make numerous and sensible references to specific details from the text. Generalized answers or those supported by a reading of the back cover only will receive no credit.

Possible Topics for In-Class Writing and Discussion

Between Delaney and Candido, who is more close-minded regarding the community outside his own, and who is better at dealing with that close-mindedness?


Which stereotypes against Mexican immigrants do Candido and America confirm and which do they dispel?


What anti-immigration arguments are given by Jack Jardine or others, and how logical are they shown to be by events in the novel?

What are the politics of the Arroyo Blanco community? Is it fair to make an equation between those politics and U.S. politics? How do events in the novel show that it is a fair or unfair comparison?

Does the author seem to like or dislike Kyra? What scenes support your answer?

Are Delaney and Kyra truly living the American Dream? Why or why not? Is their "Dream" something that Candido and America really want? Why or why not?

Does Delaney transform? If so, in what way?

Candido constantly refers to his bad luck. Is he truly unlucky, or does he create his own bad luck, or is the system simply against him? Support with details from text.

In what sense is the portrayal of Candido and America exaggerated and inaccurate, especially when considering that the setting is Los Angeles?

Is T.C. Boyle depicting racism like a journalist, or is he "committing" racism himself? What scenes support your answer?

for Wednesday, April 8th only, my office hours will be from 3 o'clock until 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Macbeth

It is impossible to discuss a literary text without each person having their own copy. Therefore, the price of admission for next week's class is your own copy of Macbeth. Nobody gets in without showing their text. You should set about purchasing The Tortilla Curtain for the following month so that you won't be caught without a book when the time comes.

Over the next three weeks, I may give in class a passage chosen at random from the text that I ask you to "translate" and comment upon. You will need to know the text very well to do this. Since you're only reading two acts in a whole week, that should not be a problem.

Example:

DUNCAN

There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSS, and ANGUS

Answer

In this scene, Duncan is responding to news of a traitor. He comments that there's no way to tell what a person is like by just looking at the face, and expresses disappointment at the breach of trust. This idea of treachery runs through the whole play. It's ironic that Macbeth walks in just at this moment, since Duncan trusts Macbeth and will have that trust betrayed soon as well.

During the week of Mar 23-27 we discussed Flannery O'Connor in the Tuesday class and various poems in the Thursday class.

Please see the previous post for important changes to the Essay 3 deadlines.

Essay 3 Due Dates are Changed

We are changing the due dates for Essay 3.

The First Draft of Essay 3 will be due two weeks later than stated in the syllabus. That's April 14 for the Tuesday class and April 16 for the Thursday class.

The Final Draft of Essay 3 will be due one week later than stated in the syllabus. That's April 28 for the Tuesday class and April 30 for the Thursday class.

All other due dates remain as in the syllabus. Final Draft of Essay 2 is still due Mar 31 for Tuesday class and April 2 for Thursday class. Exam 2 and Essay 4 keep the same due dates as in the syllabus.

Grade Check and upcoming Readings

For those who didn't submit the Essay 2 draft on time, we will try to review them at the end of the next class (after Spring Break). That may be the only opportunity, and I may or may not get to all of them as they are numerous.

The next full class meeting is the week of March 23 - April 27).

By the way, you can view your individual scores on www.turnitin.com, but you must ignore the total and percentage it gives you as far as your overall grade. That's because turnitin isn't smart enough to drop the lowest of the four scores. If you received credit for all four quizzes, you must subtract out your lowest score. If you missed or failed one or more quizzes, then your score is accurate, however.

IF YOUR TURNITIN ACCOUNT ISN'T PROPERLY SET UP BECAUSE YOU JOINED THE 1A SECTION RATHER THAN 1B, YOU WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ALL YOUR SCORES AND CANNOT ASSESS YOUR GRADE. IN THIS CASE, PLEASE LOG INTO YOUR TURNITIN ACCOUNT AND "ENROLL IN A CLASS" USING Class ID 9518792 and password spring. Until you do so, you cannot know your grade in this class.

There are 500 points graded so far (three quizzes, half the participation grade, Essay 1, and Jane Eyre exam), which leaves 500 to go. This means that if you have,

Fewer than 200 points = mathematically impossible to pass
200-230 points = highly unlikely to pass
231-260 points = currently passing, but at risk for not passing
over 261 points = currently passing
*** BUT REMEMBER, ONLY THE TOP THREE QUIZ SCORES COUNT***
CHECK YOUR TURNITIN ACCOUNT TO BE SURE YOU ARE LISTED AS IN ENGLISH 1B. "B" AS IN BEST. NOT "A" AS IN ABOMINABLE.

My promise to comment online on all Tuesday-class essays did not come to fulfillment. As a result, the deadline for Essay 1's final draft will be pushed seven days further for ONLY the Tuesday-night students who didn't conference with me already (that's a new deadline of March 17). Everybody else is expected to submit the final version of Essay 1 at the originally scheduled deadline.

Again, for those Tuesday-night students who didn't conference with me earlier, we will do so this coming week following the exam on Jane Eyre.

All other deadlines, including that for Essay #2's first draft, remain as before. Directions for Essay #2 are in the syllabus.

Please see a previous post (scroll down) for reminders about the Jane Eyre exam during this coming week.

This message is directed at the Tuesday evening class regarding my absence on March 3, 2015. If you are in the Thursday evening class, you should expect that class WILL be held as usual unless something to the contrary is posted here.

TUESDAY EVENING CLASS

Simply put, I'm sick.

For anyone who I haven't yet conferenced with, I will review your essay on turnitin.com over the next 48 hours and leave detailed commentary there. That will take the place of our in-class conference. To review this commentary, log into turnitin.com and access the essay that you submitted. It will contain notes at the end and throughout the text. Also, look for a microphone icon. Clicking it will let you listen to an audio commentary -- but if I don't stop coughing, there won't be an audio commentary.

For everyone, Essay 2 draft version will still be due in class next week. Read the syllabus to get the prompts for Essay 2. If you lost your syllabus, it's available on the right side of this page. Submit the Essay 2 draft the same way you did for Essay 1 (grading rubric, essay, turnitin receipt, staple). The final version of Essay 1 will consist of everything you turned in with the draft PLUS the final version with all revisions marked. There's no need to resubmit Essay 1 to turnitin a second time.

Bring a scantron 882-E and pencil to class next week for the Jane Eyre exam and see the post previous to this for remarks about the exam.

Again, no deadlines are being changed for either final Essay 1 or draft Essay 2.

We'll discuss later what will become of the O'Connor short stories, but we definitely won't discuss them next week.

See you next week.

Jane Eyre exam

The following announcements were made:

·                     Bring a Scantron 882-E and pencil to class next week for the exam.

·                     There is no make-up test or substitute exam. You have to be there for the test or lose those points. The door will not be locked on exam day, so if you're late just arrive as soon as you can.

·                     The exam will cover Jane Eyre only and will be only multiple choice: about 40 questions.

·                     Review notes from class, passages you may have marked in the book, and former blog questions and answers. The exam focuses principally on what was discussed in class. Memorization of minor details is unnecessary.

·                     Bring the revised version of Essay 1 as well as the Draft version of Essay 2, following all directions in the syllabus..

• If you fail to submit Essay 2 on time, you may not be able to schedule a conference.

Here are questions related to the last part of the novel, which can be used to focus part of your studies. This is not homework, merely suggestions for what to think about in relation to the exam.

1. What connections can you make between the incidents of the St John Rivers episode and events from earlier in the novel? That is, what characters, events, or situations get repeated/echoed in the last part of the book from earlier parts?
2. In the St. John Rivers section, where do we still see signs of Jane being a product of child abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect? Cite a passage that shows it.
3. What kinds of social commentary (complaints or suggestion about the way people or institutions are in her time) can be seen in the St. John Rivers chapters? Cite a passage.
4. How EXACTLY are Diana and Mary Rivers portrayed as contrasts to the other stepsisters we've seen? Cite passages and facts to make your answer precise (don't just say they're nice).
5. Do you see a call to embrace passion or a warning against it in the St. John chapters?
6. What does the plot of Rosamund Oliver add to the story as far as developing St. John's character and Bronte's overall vision and arguments?
7. Are there signs that St. John is not being honest when he says he desires no sexual life with Jane? Cite a passage that suggests so.

Essay 1 and Final Jane Eyre Discussion

As you prepare your Draft for Essay 1, remember these important requirements:


1) When you are finished, upload the completed version to www.turnitin.com. YOU MUST UPLOAD BEFORE COMING TO CLASS ON THE DUE DATE SO YOU CAN ATTACH A PRINTED RECEIPT for the essay to count as received on time .

2) Also bring a hard copy of the draft to class.

3) Print a copy of the Grading Rubric, which you can download by clicking the link on the right side of this page. STAPLE he Rubric to your final paper AND THE TURNITIN RECEIPT and bring the whole thing to the class on the due date.

No conference time will be set for papers that are not submitted in class with Grading Rubric and turnitin receipt on time.

At the upcoming class, you need to have finished reading Jane Eyre.

Finally, here possible prompts for next week's discussion:

1. What connections can you make between the incidents of the St John Rivers episode and events from earlier in the novel? That is, what characters, events, or situations get repeated/echoed in the last part of the book from earlier parts?
2. In the St. John Rivers section, where do we still see signs of Jane being a product of child abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect? Cite a passage that shows it.
3. What kinds of social commentary (complaints or suggestion about the way people or institutions are in her time) can be seen in the St. John Rivers chapters? Cite a passage.
4. How EXACTLY are Diana and Mary Rivers portrayed as contrasts to the other stepsisters we've seen? Cite passages and facts to make your answer precise (don't just say they're nice).
5. Do you see a call to embrace passion or a warning against it in the St. John chapters?
6. What does the plot of Rosamund Oliver add to the story as far as developing St. John's character and Bronte's overall vision and arguments?
7. Are there signs that St. John is not being honest when he says he desires no sexual life with Jane? Cite a passage that suggests so.

Jane Eyre III

Remember that the First Draft of Essay 1 must be turned as a hard copy on the due date, AND it must first be submitted to turnitin.com so that you can attach a printed turnitin receipt to the bottom of the essay you submit. Finally, a Grading Rubric sheet, downloadable from this webpage, must be printed and stapled to the top of the whole packet.

If you will miss class on the due date, arrange to submit it earlier. Leaving it under my office door is an option, as is delivering it to staff in the Humanities Division office on the third floor.

REMEMBER: If I do not have your paper in hand on the due date, you will be last priority for conferencing and may not receive a conference at all. For this reason, it is important to meet the deadline.

The questions below are not homework. They are to help you prepare for discussion next week. One or two of these questions will be the basis for the weekly in-class writing.

For week of Feb 16-20

1. What connections can you make between the incidents of the Thornfield episode and events from earlier in the novel? That is, what characters, events, or situations get repeated/echoed in chapters 21-27 from chapters 1-10?
2. In Chapters 21-27, where does Jane's behavior still make her seem like a victim child abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect? Cite a passage that shows it. IMPORTANT: last time this question went around, many responded by citing examples of people abusing her. I am asking how HER behavior is typical of someone who is a victim: her reactions, opinions, thoughts, etc.
3. What kinds of social commentary (complaints or suggestion about the way people or institutions are in her time) can be seen in Chapters 21-27? Cite a passage.
4. Do chapters 21-27 promote rebellion and passion or constraint, caution, and assimilation. Give reasons for thinking so.
5. What does the scene of Jane's return to Gateshead add to the story in terms of Jane's character or Bronte's overall arguments?
6. With respect to Chapters 21-27, choose one particular moment in the text and show how it could be used to support either extreme argument: 1) that Rochester is a perfect, "right" match for Jane; 2) that Rochester is a dangerous/unhealthy/inappropriate object for Jane's attentions.
7. Jane never expresses any outrage toward Rochester for his actions, yet that doesn't mean she has none. Cite lines that indicate that Jane doesn't want to marry Rochester or has feelings of discomfort regarding him EVEN BEFORE she finds out the truth about Bertha Mason. 

Office Hour Change for Feb 11, 2015 only

Today (February 11, 2015) only, my office hours will be held from 3:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.

Jane Eyre II

IMPORTANT:The class ID for turnitin.com is listed incorrectly in the syllabus. The correct class ID is 9518792. The password is spring. Please create your turnitin account right away using this information.


Notes for the week of February 9-13

The questions below are not a homework assignment. They are for you to review so that you can be ready for discussion at the next class.

1. Now that she's a young adult, where does Jane's behavior still make her seem like a victim child abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect? Cite a passage that shows it. IMPORTANT: this question isn't looking for examples of people abusing her. I am asking how HER behavior is typical of someone who is a victim: her reactions, opinions, thoughts, etc.
2. The "social commentary" of the Lowood episode was mostly centered on critiquing Brocklehurst and his institution. What kinds of social commentary (complaints or suggestion about the way people or institutions are in her time) can be seen in the Thornfield chapters? Cite a passage.
3. Do chapters 11-18 promote rebellion and passion or constraint, caution, and assimilation. Give reasons for thinking so.
4. Several female characters can be seen as mirror-images of Jane or visions of "Jane as she could have been / might become." Pick one female character from chapters 11-18 and explain how and why she's presented as a duplicate or version of Jane.
5. Reactions to Rochester are extremely varied. Choose one particular moment in the text and show how it could be used to support either extreme argument: 1) that Rochester is a perfect, "right" match for Jane; 2) that Rochester is a dangerous/unhealthy/inappropriate object for Jane's attentions.

Welcome to English 1B

You'll need to visit this website regularly. Each week, I will post discussion prompts to help you prepare for the short, in-class writing that you will need to do in the upcoming class.  These in-class writings are an important part of your overall grade.

This blog also lets you download important documents like the syllabus, assignments, and class handouts, and it has links to readings and other assignments. Always check the blog if you miss class.

The instructor is on leave for the first two weeks of the semester. A substitute instructor will meet the class during this time to issue assignments and discuss material. Please follow the substitute instructor's directions. As well, begin to read Jane Eyre so that we can discuss it in the third week. Notes for what to focus on are below:

Notes for the week of Feb 3-5
The questions below are not a homework assignment. They are for you to review so that you can be ready for discussion at the next class. In addition, there will be a short writing assignment in class at the start of each session in which I will select one or more of these questions for you to write about.

1. How does Jane's behavior at Lowood reveal her to be a victim of what we would nowadays call child abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect suffered either at the school or during her time with the Reed family?
2. Mr Brocklehurst is Bronte's savage satirizing of the Catholic Church. What exactly is she making fun of through Brocklehurst? What specifically in his words or actions is being attacked? In particular, why is Brocklehurst so intent on cutting the students' hair?
3. How effective or ineffective does Miss Temple rate as a substitute mother for this motherless girl, Jane? How does she compare to Bessie?
4. On the whole, do the first eleven chapters advocate more strongly for rebellion and questioning authority, or for submission and going along with the system?
5. What aspects of the first eleven chapters could be brought up in discussing this novel as being obsessed with the loss of a mother or the effects of not having one?

Reading these chapters will give you a sense of whether this is the right class for you at this time, keeping in mind that the reading pace will increase quite a bit.

Those hoping to add the class should appear at the first class meeting to see if there is room. They will be added if space permits. There is no point in contacting Dr. Jung, as the substitute instructor will be charged with this business.
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