For class: December 1st

DO NOT FORGET YOUR INDEPENDENT LITERATURE PROJECT!

1. Read and take notes over the following information. 

Remarkable in their centrality and enduring appeal, sacred writings offer a uniquely revealing window into global thought, culture, and history. A familiarity with the diverse body of world scriptures/sacred texts offers you: 

• a penetrating look at how people from different traditions have viewed the cosmos, the world, and human beings;
• a grasp of the core values and beliefs of the world’s highly influential faiths;
• a deep sense of the worldview, cultural themes, perceptions, and concerns driving the societies that produced the texts;
• direct knowledge and understanding of a towering body of world literature, reflecting richly varied traditions; and
• the words and insights of some of the wisest human beings in history on the self, the mind, ethics, morality, and meaningful living. 

At their core, sacred writings take you to the essence of the world’s faiths as they give meaning and inspiration to countless millions of people around the globe. In doing so, the texts provide a significant bridge to understanding other peoples and ways of life, and an opportunity to look at our own traditions and assumptions with fresh eyes and a greatly enlarged perspective (Grant Hardy). 

Reading Sacred Texts can fall under three categories: 

1. Religious

2. Historical

3. Literary 

In your notes, place some examples of the types of discussions or analysis that would occur under each of these categories;. 

2. If you are intrigued about the study of religions in public school, click on the following: 

 ACLU- Current laws regarding religion in public schools

3. Read pages: 67-73 AND the box on page 74. Take good notes, especially on the introductory information. 

In your notes, prepare the following information: 

How can you do this? Read the book and ask questions of the text:

• What recognizable human experiences are portrayed in this text?
• What interpretation of human experience is expressed?
• Does the passage fall into one or more standard literary genres?
• What is the artistic style of the passage? What use does the passage make of literary techniques like metaphor, simile, word play, and the like?

Due: Tuesday, November 24th

1. You will need to bring to class with you ONE academic, secondary source that you would be able to implement into your argument/claim that you developed during class today.

Please utilize JSTOR through the LMC. This will be an appropriate database for this caliber of literary argument. Research wisely.

And... for the most fabulous thing I have read in the last few days...

National Emergency? Belgium Responds with Cats

DO NOT FORGET YOUR INDEPENDENT BOOK PROJECT!

Due: Friday, November 20th

1. Pick 5 lines from both the Creation Hymn and the Burial Hymn and do three levels of interpretation for each line- plot, figurative, thematic.

2. Considering the literary terms, historical context, ten general statements, annotations, specific line interpretations, write 4 separate thesis statements that are arguable and show literary analysis of the text. 

Due: Wednesday/Thursday, November 18th/19th

Read the two hymns of the Rig Veda. Annotate for the ten statements from India reading, literary conventions, parallels, comparisons/differences with Mesopotamia reading.. Etc.. Plot, figurative, thematic levels.

MONDAY, November 16th

1. Reviewing the Ancient India notes and reading, you will need to come up with ten general statements that you feel address the meaning and purpose of the information..  Then you will need to gather direct evidence after you have made this statement. We did this earlier to a degree with the Ancient Greek notes/reading. 

This will look like this:

The literature from this time period was utilized by the people as a way to teach social, political, and historical guidelines.

- "India's great national epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, describe political struggles and also explain important social and religious concepts" (104).

- ". . . Kautila, wrote a 'how-to' handbook for emperors, called the Arthasastra" (105).

- "Around the first century B.C., the Laws of Manu set down a detailed code of conduct for Hindus" (107).

HOMEWORK: They will have a QUIZ on TUESDAY over the ANCIENT INDIA reading AND the conventions of the EPIC, ARCHETYPE and MYTH.

FRIDAY, November 13th

You will be getting together in small groups today. I WANT THEM PRODUCTIVE! Remember the 4 expectations of group work. Seriously. 

You will be gathering specific evidence. Notice you are developing on the idea that these components exist to now what is their impact and how they interact. Your notes will look like big headings and bulleted supporting conclusions with specific evidence. 

How do myths, archetypes, epics, and the oral tradition associate with one another? How do they diverge? Closely examine the characteristics of each major concept and look for common ground in their make-up. How do they differ? 

AND

How does HISTORICAL CONTEXT tie into these literary/cultural concepts? 

This is a thinking exercise. You have been presented with a lot of new information and technical components that help you understand these concepts. This exercise is designed for you to start looking at the big picture and how these concepts interact with one another.  Their Socratic Seminar from TUESDAY should help them. Do your best.

Homework for MONDAY: Read pages 102-111 and 120-121. Take VERY good notes. 

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY, November 11th/12th

Ciao, e tutti! 

As I told you during class, I will be posting everything here and collecting most of it via Google Classroom. I had to post everything before I left, so find the appropriate date to help guide you. One thing builds on the next, so do it in order and do not jump ahead. Pay attention to WHEN AND WHERE things are due!
Be good! I'll miss you!

1.      Simply, you are going to be answering the following prompts, but notice, they are evaluative. By answering the prompt you are developing an argumentative CLAIM (remember, a claim/thesis is an answer to an intellectual question)

2.      Once you answer the prompt, you are going to develop this argument with support (think of the extended paragraph structure). Your argument will need specific textual support, warrants, and transitions. Write until your argument is complete.

3.      Make sure that you are citing your text correctly. The scenario for this text is that it is a work from an anthology with no author. You will need to consult the OWL to do the in text citations correctly.

4.      Focus upon BOTH your writing structure AND your thought process.

You will answer two prompts and submit them via Google Classroom.

Prompt #1:

What characteristic of the EPIC HERO do you believe best embodies the character of Gilgamesh and why do you feel he is developed in this manner? 

Prompt #2:

Do you feel that the character Gilgamesh is more a general archetype or a specific literary character? Why? 

HOMEWORK for FRIDAY:

1.       Take notes on the class website over the following content:

  

The Myth 

* Myth is a constant among all human being in all times. The pattern stories, even details contained in myth are found everywhere and among every one. This is because myth is a shared heritage of ancestral memories, related consciously from generation to generation.

1. Myth may even be part of the structure of our unconscious mind, possibly encoded in our genes. eg. "the Oedipus complex" and "the Electra complex"

2. Myth is a telling of events that happened before written history, and of a sense of what is to come. 3. Myth is the thread that holds past, present, and future together.

4. Myth is a unique use of language that describes the realities beyond our five senses.  It fills the gaps between the images of the unconscious and the language of conscious logic.

5. Myth is the glue that holds societies together; it is the basis of identity for communities, tribes, and nations.  (Hero worship and gender, social, national identity)

6. Myth is an essential ingredient in all codes of moral conduct.   The rules for living have always derived their legitimacy from their origins in myth and religion.

7. Myth is a pattern of beliefs that give meaning to life. Myth enables individuals and societies to adapt to their respective environments with identity and value. (Joseph Campbell--the power of myth)

Myths tell us about (1) our relationships with each other, (2) our relations with the gods or god (the cosmos), and (3) our relationship to the natural world and all species that inhabit it.

AS10 HOMEWORK FOR FRIDAY-

1. Read over and add the above information about myths in your notes.

2. In your notes, provide examples of how The Epic of Gilgamesh functions as a myth (meaning… where do you see evidence of these characteristics in the section of Gilgamesh we read).

Class today: November 9th

1. Finish the archetype posters. Hang on the wall.
2. Small groups- work on EPIC conventions together. Find specific examples in Gilgamesh.
Put into notes.
3. Socratic seminar on Gilgamesh- Epic conventions AND archetypes on TUESDAY.
4. Use your time to write 5 upper level ANALYSIS questions addressing these conventions.

Due: November 9th

1. In your notes, start going through Gilgamesh with the conventions of the epic... start with the general conventions and on.. You will be putting in specific examples of how these conventions are seen... Specific evidence. Textual evidence. This can be bullet pointed.. But thorough.

Class today: November 6th

1. Sign up for independent fiction book.. and then make sure you check for approval of your book. Remember that some books are in the LSN curriculum, so therefore, not eligible.

Lord of the Flies 
Macbeth
Hamlet
Brave New World
The Canterbury Tales
The Great Gatsby
A Farewell to Arms 
The Crucible
Frankenstein
Fahrenheit 451
Into the Wild
Beowulf
Antigone
Oedipus Rex
The Taming of the Shrew
Night
The Odyssey
Animal Farm
Huckleberry Finn 
Of Mice and Men 
Pride and Prejudice 
A Midsummer Night's Dream 
The Death of a Salesman
A Raisin in the Sun
Metamorphosis

Class today: November 2nd

Trick-or-treating lead to an ear infection in one of my five-year olds.

How did Gilgamesh go? There is a lot to dig into!
You need to partner up with a productive partner. Make sure you have your book and your notes.
You are starting to delve into the text in thorough manner. The questions I have listed below will help you start this process.

The expectations:
1. I am not just wanting you to "answer the question".
2. I am expecting you to take the question and make it into a topic/heading for your notes.
3. From this, you are to make lists of evidence and points/conclusions from the prompt. You need to be putting in textual examples in your notes, not just brief/vague references.

Questions to consider:
1. What have you learned about the history of the time period? How is it reflected in the reading? (historical context)
2.  What are the concerns of the people of the era?
3. What literary aspects do you recognize? (bring in previous literary analysis skills)
4. What about archetypes? Are you seeing any represented? How? What do they reveal about the meaning of the text?
5. What plot elements are important?

For next class period, you need to click on the "Epic Notes" link (on the right).
Get the notes on the Epic in your notes.