Stranger Journal 2

Read chapters 3 and 4

Journal:
Meursault:  Examine places where Meursault avoids what he should be doing.  Does he choose to avoid things or do things distract him?  What types of things does he avoid?   Do try to connect all of the points together, but what sort of ideas do your observations spark?

Others: Identify the minor characters.  Who are they?  What characteristics can you put to them?  What do you associate with them?

Choose 3 lines that you find interesting and analyze.  What patterns are emerging from the interesting quotations?

Stranger Journal 1

Read chapters 1 and 2 for Friday

Journal 1
Has three components that shouldn't take you longer than about a page.
Take note of Meursault, identifying the qualities that make up his routine. Track one pattern and discuss Camus' use.  Finally, choose three quotations that strike your interest and analyze them.

Final Eyes Journals

I hope you are enjoying your three day weekend.

Here is an overview for next week. 
Monday - study for the test on Tuesday.  The best way to study for this test is to practice finding the stylistic devices in passages.

Tuesday- Vocab Test (it will probably take the entire period)

Wednesday- Reading: through 17 for today - 40 pages get started early.  
Journal 8:  Jealousy and silence.  Both Janie and Tea Cake become jealous in these chapters, but they respond differently.  Why does the jealousy happen; how does each respond; and what are the consequences?  What is the effect of not hearing from Janie's point of view, but hearing from the people on the Muck?

Also, you'll have 30-45 minutes to discuss your commentary passage in class.  To join the discussion, your passage must be annotated - stylistic devices identified and notes concerning how Hurston uses the devices.  Identify any questions you have to pose to the group. 

Thursday: Writing instruction: Moving from outline to essay.  Commentary Outline due

Friday: The novel should be finished: final discussion of the novel  Journal 9: In preparation for the discussion, consider how Hurston portrays the racist characters and situations in the text, does she create any pity, how does she offer any justification, does she offer any critique.  Examine the actions and language closely in the following scenes:  Nanny's description of rape, Leafy's rape, Mrs. Turner, burial of dead, and the trial. 

Journal 10: Part A. Consider the references to the title in chapters 18 and 19 and that Janie states, “God would do less than He had in His heart" (178).  What do the references along with the flood suggest about the relationship the characters have with God?  

Part B. Examine the last paragraph of the novel closely.  What are the effects of Hurston's stylistic decisions?  Does she offer a satisfactory ending to the novel?  How does the ending compliment or conflict with what you've experienced so far?

Monday: Rough Draft Due

Wednesday: Final Draft Due

Journal 7

Read Chapters 10 -13

Journal
A.  Janie frequently recollects past events, memories, experiences or advice.  How does Hurston describe these moments and what roll do they play in the text?

B.  Have you noticed the motif of body parts?  If not, pay close attention in this reading.  What aspects of the body does Hurston describe?  How does she describe the body and for what effect?

Eyes Journal 5 and 6

Good class discussion today. 

Please read through chapter 9 tonight.

In lieu of our conversation about Joe's motivation today, consider how Hurston characterizes Joe in the last vignette in chapter 6.  What does Hurston suggest about Mrs. Tony Robbins?  How does Mrs. Tony Robbins compare to Janie?  What about Joe and Tony?  How should we perceive the men on the porch? What do the men seem to be concerned with?  Does Hurston accuse the men or excuse them or something else?

Also,  I won't be in class tomorrow, but Ms. Hutanu will.  She knows the text, so don't be afraid to ask questions.
Please be prepared to discuss the journal, and examine Hurston's personification of abstract nouns. 

Journal 6 for Thursday due Friday
Part A:  Using the passage and notes from class, identify two to four techniques with which to create a thesis. 
What - technique + how - how Hurston uses the technique = effect - what do we learn from this


 Create topic sentences that support the thesis by specifying your argument.

Part B:
Also, write a pastiche of Hurston's style of the personification of death passage.  A pastiche is an artistic work that imitates another work or artist.  For your pastiche, you will be using the paragraph in chapter 7 that starts with, "So Janie began to think of Death [...]" (84).  Please make note of Hurston's stylistic choices (techniques, sentence structure, dialect...) as you read and then write a pastiche of the entire paragraph.  It needn't be perfect, but your reader should hear an echo of Hurston's style from your creative passage.  I find it easiest to go sentence by sentence for this.  To get started, consider the the sentence structure of the first sentence -will you keep the conjunction?  Change the character and choose an abstract noun to personify.  You will also need to give your character a dialect later in the paragraph.

 Example:

So Lydia started to consider Jealousy.  Jealousy, that small creature with the sharpened nails who danced in the shadows of each man's heart.  The deceptive one who spied on dark thoughts like an opera attender without monocles, and without a seat.  Why would Jealousy want to sit, and what secret thought wouldn't reach her?  She peers through the facades that everyone creates.  Peers directly and intimately never resting with her nails clicking, searching for the first crack to let her in. 

Abstract nouns you could consider using:

Revenge, giggles, time, escapism, lust, morale, pride, or any other that strikes your interest.


Have fun with the creative writing.

Journal 5

Read to page 67 when the women walk onto the porch (this is 1/2 of chapter 6). 

As you read takes some notes on the vignettes, a short scene: topic, characters, order, opening and closing...

For the journal write about what the vignettes suggest about the relationship between men and women, men and each other, humans and God - be careful with this one, consider what Hurston states, not what you believe, work, community and time.

These questions will be the starting place for our discussion tomorrow.

Good luck

Journal 3 Continued

Today we discussed what a commentary does.  Here is a little more detail and an example from a poetry commentary.  Keep trying.  Remember the journal itself isn't worth a lot of points.  You'll receive feedback on them, but the journal is to help us experiment and attempt to figure out how to write a commentary before we have to write the first paper.  The more you struggle through with the process now, the less you'll struggle later.

PS.  Make certain you go to bed at a decent hour.  Townzen

1. Topic sentence: "Patterns lead to exertions"

- identify a pattern and then identify the effect of that pattern.  Typically, the topic sentence will either embrace a broad stylistic topic like structure for the entire passage or the exertion will embrace how a couple of techniques work together within a paragraph or a portion of the passage(1 to 2 sentence)

 2.  Clarify the first point you will make.  This can be the first way that the author uses the technique or it can be the first technique you will discuss.

3. Quotation

-this may be one word or several words from different lines or an entire line or two

4. Clarify the pattern

- if you said there was a simile, reveal exactly what two things are being compared (this can be included in the sentence with your quote or at the start of your analysis but probably won't be more than 1 sentence)

5. Analysis (probably 2 to 5 sentences)

I. Pablo Neruda uses parallel structure in "XV" to convey a sense of security that exists in consistency and predictability. In a poem that deals with the inconsistency of relationships, this security and consistency offers the speaker a controlled point from which to describe the uncontrollable relationship around him.  
A. The parallel structure in stanza four characterizes the speaker as controlled and deliberate.
1."bright as a lamp, simple as a ring" (14).  
2. Repeating both the structure of the sentence as a simile and, in an even more controlled and deliberate way, he repeats the parts of speech perfectly with the phrase "as a", suggests a limit to the speaker's understanding of the woman.   The clear parameters the speaker creates to define the woman does not allow for any unknowns within the relationship.
B. The repetition of requesting stillness from her unites the text and suggests the speaker's desire for the certainty of inaction.
1. "I like for you to be still" at the start of three of the five stanzas.  
2. These repeated phrases that occur throughout the poem create a parallel structure that unites the whole of the text.  
3.  By using parallel structure, both with repeated sentence structures as well as lines that repeat through the poem, Neruda shows absolute control over his language.  Although the speaker addresses a woman who has made decisions outside of his control,  the strict language patterns and controlled structure makes our speaker appear to be in more control than he actually is.  Neruda influences our perception of the speaker, creating the perception that the speaker desperately needs control in the relationship, artificially creating structure to gain a feeling of security.