Westchester Community College: Valhalla Campus
Professor Melinda Roberts
Thursdays: 6:00-8:40 PM

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Snow Day Quandary: The Psychological Criticism and Essay #1

A church by my house, delicately decorated in snow (2/16/2010)

A decision needs to be made with regard to Essay #1. Please read the post and submit your comment(s). We won't have time next week to discuss this in class; I will make my decision based on the comments posted before we meet next week, so make sure you let your voice be heard by posting your comment(s). Thank you!!

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
ON OUR SNOW DAY QUANDARY**

PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM HOMEWORK: Homework due tonight is still due -- and will be collected next class on Thursday, March 4th. Please do NOT send in an e-mail. I'm presuming everyone has their homework ready -- if you didn't do your homework, you've got an extra week to complete it! :)

ESSAY #1: As we have missed tonight's class because of snow, and Spring Break is in two weeks, and Essay #2 is due March 25th (the week after Spring Break) I am in a quandary as to what to do about Essay #1. These are the options I have come up with:
  1. Eliminate Essay #1 altogether, and then Essay #2, #3 and #4 will all be required (and you will not have the option you do now to make Essay #3 or Essay #4 optional for extra credit).
  2. Presume that everyone did their homework due tonight (2/24/2010) and that everyone now has a working understanding of the Psychological Criticism, and reassign Essay #1 in next week's class to be due the following week (3/11/2010) (thereby keeping the option you currently have to make Essay #3 or Essay #4 optional for extra credit.) However, because we need to move forward with our syllabus, there will be no time in class to discuss the Psychological Criticism or A&P.
  3. I can't think of a third option . . . do you have a suggestion?
Please comment below as to what you think would be a fair and equitable resolution to our quandary. (Remember to put your first name and last initial on the post, or it will be rejected and not posted on the blog.) I look forward to your feedback!

BTW, we won't have time next week to discuss this in class; I will make my decision based on the comments posted before we meet next week, so make sure you let your voice be heard by posting your comment(s). Thank you!!

** Definitions of quandary on the Web:
  • predicament: a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one; "finds himself in a most awkward predicament ...
  • dilemma: state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
    wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

  • A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament; A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice
    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quandary

  • a condition of doubt or uncertainty as to what to do in a certain situation
    www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Clerks

Poetry Readings: The Casualties of War

Dead soldiers on the fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (where 51,112 died in three days of fighting)

A Civil War field hospital

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
DUE THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010,
@ 12:00 NOON

Familiarize yourself with the "Ten Costliest Battles of the Civil War": http://www.civilwarhome.com/Battles.htm

Read the following poems in our textbook:
** “The Man He Killed” (p. 434)
** “At the Cemetary, Walnut Grove Plantation, South Carolina, 1989” (p. 1223)
** “For the Confederate Dead” (p. 1226)

Write one first response to all three poems combined. (In other words, you do not have to write a separate first response for each poem.)
Consider the following writing prompts: What was your initial response to the poems (as a whole)? Which poem affected you most? Why?
Or free-write your own response.
Be sure to provide specific textual details and quotations from the poems to justify and/or explain your response. Remember, a first response is not a summary -- use 3-5 quotations from the story and tell me how the poems affected you.

First Response Guidelines:
*minimum 350 words; maximum 500 words (NOT including student/class information and title)
Upper left-hand corner, single spaced:
FIRST AND LAST NAME
March 4, 2010
Professor Melinda Roberts
Comp & Lit II: Spring 2010
Centered Title (all caps and bolded):
RESPONSE PAPER: POETRY READINGS: THE CASUALTIES OF WAR

Submission of Response Paper:
  • Submit via e-mail to: english102wcc@gmail.com
  • Cut and paste your response paper into the e-mail (response papers sent as an attachment to the e-mail will not be accepted).
  • Pur your first name, last name, and RESPONSE PAPER: POETRY READINGS: THE CASUALTIES OF WAR as the subject of the e-mail.
  • Response papers must be received on or before (no later than) Thursday, March 4, 2010, at 12:00 noon. You will receive a reply e-mail confirming receipt of your response paper. It is strongly suggested that you submit your response paper well in advance of the deadline to avoid any technical errors which may occur as a result of your computer or the internet.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers that do not meet the paper guidelines will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers are due by 12:00 noon on Thursday, March 4, 2010. Late papers will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at english102wcc@gmail.com, and allow 24 hours for a response (although I will most likely get back to you much sooner than that).

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

(Effects of a shell on the body of a Confederate soldier)
(click on picture to enlarge it to see the gruesome details)

ONLINE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
DUE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010,
@ 10:00 PM EST
(Posts submitted after 10:00 PM EST receive zero points)
(Be sure to include your first name and last initial in the post, or the post will not be approved and will receive zero points)

Google "Interesting facts about the American Civil War." Find one interesting fact (that has not already been posted on this blog) and post it. Be sure to put the information into your own words (i.e., don't cut and paste from another website) to avoid plagiarism. If you don't see your post after 24 hours please resubmit it because (1) you submitted information that is already posted and/or (2) you did not put your first name and last initial on the post.

Ambrose "Bitter" Bierce (1842-1914?)

ONLINE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
DUE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010,
@ 10:00 PM EST
(Posts submitted after 10:00 PM EST receive zero points)
(Be sure to include your first name and last initial in the post, or the post will not be approved and will receive zero points)

Google "Ambrose Bierce." Find one interesting fact about him (that has not already been posted on this blog) and post it. Be sure to put the information into your own words (i.e., don't cut and paste from another website) to avoid plagiarism. Interesting parts of his life include:
** his childhood
** his service in the Union Army during the American Civil War
** his reputation in literary circles
** events surrounding his death

If you don't see your post after 24 hours please resubmit it because (1) you submitted information that is already posted and/or (2) you did not put your first name and last initial on the post.

Short Story Reading: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
DUE THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010,
@ 12:00 NOON

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama,
looking down into the swift water twenty feet below.
The man's hands were behind his back,
the wrists bound with a cord.
A rope closely encircled his neck.
It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head
and the slack fell to the level of his knees.
("An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,"
by Ambrose Bierce)

Post a Comment: Ambrose "Bitter" Bierce (1842-1914?): http://english102wcc02.blogspot.com/2010/02/ambrose-bitter-bierce.html

Post a Comment: The American Civil War (1861-1865):

Print out and read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (and bring printout with you to class on March 4th):
You may also follow along with an online audio version:

Write a First Response to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
Use the following writing prompts: What was your initial response to the first few paragraphs of the text? What was your first impression of Peyton Farquhar? Do you think he deserved his fate? What aspect of the work affected you most? Why?
Or free-write your own response.
Be sure to provide specific textual details and quotations from the story to justify and/or explain your response to An Occurrence of Owl Creek Bridge. Remember, a first response is not a summary -- use 3-5 quotations from the story and tell me how the story affected you

First Response Guidelines:
*minimum 350 words; maximum 500 words (NOT including student/class information and title)
Upper left-hand corner, single spaced:
FIRST AND LAST NAME
March 4, 2010
Professor Melinda Roberts
Comp & Lit II: Spring 2010
Centered Title (all caps and bolded):
RESPONSE PAPER: "AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE"

Submission of Response Paper:
  • Submit via e-mail to: english102wcc@gmail.com
  • Cut and paste your response paper into the e-mail (response papers sent as an attachment to the e-mail will not be accepted).
  • Pur your first name, last name, and RESPONSE PAPER: AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE as the subject of the e-mail.
  • Response papers must be received on or before (no later than) Thursday, March 4, 2010, at 12:00 noon. You will receive a reply e-mail confirming receipt of your response paper. It is strongly suggested that you submit your response paper well in advance of the deadline to avoid any technical errors which may occur as a result of your computer or the internet.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers that do not meet the paper guidelines will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers are due by 12:00 noon on Thursday, March 4, 2010. Late papers will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at english102wcc@gmail.com, and allow 24 hours for a response (although I will most likely get back to you much sooner than that).

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Psychological Criticism

Because of the lack of time we had in class on 2/17 to practice the psychological criticism and to discuss and analyze "A&P," I have decided to postpose Essay #1. In other words, you DO NOT have to do Essay #1. Also, you DO NOT have to read the poems and "An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge," and you DO NOT have to prepare response papers. I have decided on a different homework approach. The revised homework assignment follows:

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
DUE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010,
@ 6:00 P.M.

STEP ONE: LEARN ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM: Your homework assignment will be to familiarize yourself with the Psychological Criticism by exploring the following links. Once you feel comfortable with the Psychological Criticism, check the bottom of this post for the writing assignment:

Psychological Literary Criticism Power Point Presentation (these are the slides I incorporated into tonight's lecture): http://www.mccd.edu/faculty/pirov/Engl1B/Psychological_files/frame.htm

Psychological Approach (Freudian) AND Mythological and Archetypal Approach to Literature (scroll down on this link) (great link; easy to understand): http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:8W6cGadguK0J:www.whrhs.org/faculty_web/rbumiller/documents/Literary_Criticism_and_Theory.doc+psychological+criticism+literature&cd=23&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

Psychological Criticism (brief overview; easy to understand): http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/psycho.crit.html

Psychological Criticism (very thorough; good chart and breakdown; easy to understand): http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:oU9DLB_ksHoJ:www.westga.edu/~pburgey/Literary%2520Criticism/Psychological%2520Criticism.doc+psychological+criticism+literature&cd=26&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”: A Psychological Reading (rather intense, but take what you can and leave the rest): http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/criticaldefine/psychessay.pdf

Psychological criticism: An approach to literature that draws upon psychoanalytic theories, especially those of Sigmund Freud or Jacques Lacan to understand more fully the text, the writer, and the reader. The basis of this approach is the idea of the existence of a human unconscious: those impulses, desires, and feelings about which a person is unaware but which influence emotions and behavior. Critics use psychological approaches to explore the motivations of characters and the symbolic meanings of events, while biographers speculate about a writer's own motivations. For model essays and exercises on psychological criticism, go to the VirtuaLit Interactive Fiction Tutorial. conscious or unconscious, in a literary work. Psychological approaches are also used to describe and analyze the reader's personal responses to a text. http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/LitGlosscode/litgloss_p.html

Psychological Criticism and “Jane Eyre” (rather intense, but some good stuff, even if you are not familiar with "Jane Eyre"): http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~rlbeebe/what_is_psychoanalytic_criticism.pdf


STEP TWO: WRITE ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM: Click on the following link, scroll down to the bottom of the web page, and "Ask yourself the following questions" and prepare answers for (1) Young Goodman Brown in "Young Goodman Brown," and (2) Sammy in "A&P"; http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:oU9DLB_ksHoJ:www.westga.edu/~pburgey/Literary%2520Criticism/Psychological%2520Criticism.doc+psychological+criticism+literature&cd=26&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safai

You may type or handwrite your answers, but be sure you answer all the questions. You will answer the questions once for Young Goodman Brown and once for Sammy.

If you have any questions regarding the assignment, send me an e-mail at english102wcc@gmail.com, and I will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Friday, February 12, 2010

ESSAY #1: FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE


ESSAY #1:
FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE

Because of the lack of time we had in class tonight to practice the psychological criticism and to discuss and analyze "A&P," I have decided to postpose Essay #1. In other words, you DO NOT have to do Essay #1. Also, you DO NOT have to read the poems and "An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge," and you DO NOT have to prepare response papers. I have decided on a different homework approach. Click on the following link for homework due 2/25/2010: http://english102wcc02.blogspot.com/2010/02/psychological-criticism.html

ESSAY TOPIC: Innocence and Experience
ESSAY CRITICISMS: Mythological (archetypes) and Psychological
ESSAY STRUCTURE: Compare and Contrast
ESSAY COMPONENTS: Goodman Brown in "Young Goodman Brown" and Sammy in "A&P"
ESSAY QUESTION: Both Young Goodman Brown and Sammy reach a moment of “truth” and forever turn their backs on what was “known” before their life-changing experiences. Consider the archetypal and psychological components of “Young Goodman Brown” and “A&P” to compare and contrast each character’s transformation from innocence to experience, and how and why each protagonist was changed.
Paper Guidelines
* Minimum 800 words; maximum 1,000 words.
* Minimum of three (3) primary sources, cited in MLA format; include the list at the end of your essay.
Left-hand corner of paper, single spaced:
FIRST AND LAST NAME
February 25, 2010
Professor Melinda Roberts
Comp & Lit II: Spring 2010
Centered Title (all caps and bolded):
"ESSAY #1: FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE"

Submission of Essay #1:
Essays will be submitted via e-mail to english102wcc@gmail.com.
Cut and paste your essay into the e-mail (essays sent as an attachment to the e-mail will not be accepted).
Put your first name, last name, and ESSAY #1: FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE as the subject of the e-mail.
Essays must be received on or before Thursday, February 25, 2010, at 12:00 noon. You will receive a reply e-mail confirming receipt of your essay. It is strongly suggested that you submit your essay well in advance of the deadline to avoid any technical errors which may occur as a result of your computer or the Internet.
  • IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers that do not meet the paper guidelines (for any reason) will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).
  • IMPORTANT REMINDER: Papers are due by 12:00 noon, on February 25, 2010. Late papers will not be accepted and will be given a score of zero (0).

"When I Was One and Twenty," by A.E. Housman

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Due Thursday, February 18, 2010 @ 6:00 P.M.

Read "When I Was One and Twenty," by A.E. Housman (page 148).

Write a first response to the poem. You may free-write a response, or use some or al of the following prompts:
* How did you relate to the narrator?
* How do you feel about the narrator's understanding of love?
Provide specific textual details and quotations from the poem to justify and/or explain your response to "When I Was One and Twenty."
Remember, a first response is not a summary -- use 2-3 quotations from the poem and discuss how it affected you.

First Response Guidelines:
* 8.5x11-inch paper
* 1-inch margins
* typed, double-spaced, Cambria 12 font
* minimum three-quarter (3/4) page; maximum one (1) page
Upper left-hand corner of the paper, single spaced:
FIRST AND LAST NAME
February 18, 2010
Professor Melinda Roberts
Comp & Lit II: Spring 2010
Centered Title (all caps and bolded):
RESPONSE PAPER: "WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY"

True Love
















ONLINE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Due Wednesday, February 17, 2009
To receive credit for your comment please post by 10:00 P.M. EST

Anais Nin said: Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.

Do you think it is possible to have a romantic love that endures to the end of time?

"At the Poetry Reading," by John Brehm




















HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Due Thursday, February 18, 2010 @ 6:00 PM


Read "At the Poetry Reading" (page 167)


Write a First Response to "At the Poetry Reading."

You may free-write a response, or use some or all of the following prompts:

*How did you relate to the narrator?

*How did you feel about the narrator's behavior?

*What aspect of the work affected you most? Why?

Provide specific textual details and quotations from the poem to justify and/or explain your response to "At the Poetry Reading."

Remember, a first response is not a summary -- use 2-3 quotations from the poem and discusshow the poem affected you.


First Response Guidelines:

*8.5x11-inch paper

*1-inch margins

*typed, double-spaced, Cambria 12 font

*minimum three-quarter (3/4) page; maximum one (1) page

Upper left-hand corner of the paper, single spaced:

FIRST AND LAST NAME

February 18, 2010

Professor Melinda Roberts

Comp & Lit II: Spring 2010

Centered Title (all caps and bolded):

RESPONSE PAPER: "AT THE POETRY READING"