Week 1 discussion
DQ1 NARRATIVE POINT
OF VIEW
Read the course lecture section for Week 1 on point of view.
Three of the stories this week are told in first-person point of view, whereas
The Story of an Hour is told in third-person point of view. Using examples from
The Story of an Hour and at least one of the other stories, explain the
differences between the points of view. In particular, discuss how the
different points of view orient the audience toward the characters and plots of
the stories. How does the narrative point of view affect the realism of the
stories? Who is the narrator’s audience? What is the narrator trying to
convince the audience to think or feel about the subject of the story?
DQ2 SETTING
Read the course lecture section for Week 1 on setting.
Choose two stories from this week’s reading, and explain the effect of setting
on the characters and plots. Identify the visual descriptions used in the
stories, and discuss how these descriptions help the reader picture the
environment of the stories. Discuss the relationships of the characters to the
settings; for example, how these characters fit this setting. What conclusions
do you think the authors expect you to draw as a result of the locations, times,
and cultures of the stories?
Week 2 discussion
DQ1 SOUND DEVICES IN
POETRY
Locate and discuss specific sound devices in one of the poems
assigned for this week’s reading. What effects do sound devices, such as
assonance, consonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia, have on you, the reader,
or listener?
DQ2 SYMBOLISM AND
IMAGERY IN POETRY
From the poems we have read for this week, choose one or
more with a symbol or image that you find striking and memorable. Identify what
you have chosen as a symbol or an image. Explain how the symbol or image
affects you as a reader.
Week 3 discussion
DQ1 FAMILIES IN THE
PLAY
As a character, Hamlet is almost overwhelming because of his
strange behavior, especially toward women, the fake or possibly real madness,
and his melancholy. Many spectators barely notice the other characters. Let’s
have a closer look at Polonius and his family. What do they represent in the
play from a social point of view? Why do their plans go so horribly wrong, when
they conform to all the rules and want to help? How does their social status
and conformism become evident in the way they speak, behave, or react? Use
specific examples and dialogue from the play to support your answers.
DQ2 WOMEN IN THE PLAY
Let’s consider Ophelia and Gertrude as the only female
characters in this play. What is Shakespeare telling his audience about the
status of women through these characters? What clues do we get about their
social positions as women? Use specific dialogue and examples from the play to
demonstrate your arguments.
Week 4 discussion
DQ1 CHOOSING A
CRITICAL APPROACH
Review the You Decide activity for this week. After you have
reviewed the activity, use the descriptions of the critical approaches from the
activity and the assigned textbook readings and write a thesis for Sarah
Smart’s paper based on one of the critical approaches discussed in the You
Decide activity. Afterward, select and present evidence from Sylvia Plath’s
poem Daddy (pages 870–872) that you think would support the thesis you wrote.
The evidence should be quotations from the poem and references to specific
images, symbols, and metaphors from the poem. Be sure to explain how the
evidence you chose supports your thesis.
DQ2 CHILDHOOD IN
LITERATURE
Discuss how The Lesson, Where Children Live, and Sestina
portray childhood. What does childhood seem to mean in each work? How does each
portray the experience of being a child? Do you think these portrayals of
childhood are realistic? Why or why not? Be sure to quote from each work, and
discuss specific images, symbols, or metaphors as you clarify your answers.
Week 5 discussion
DQ1 MARRIED LIFE IN
LITERATURE
Three selections from this week’s reading give us glimpses
into married life: To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet (pages
890–891), Talking in Bed by Philip Larkin (page 918), and Post-its (Notes on a
Marriage) by Paul Dooley & Winnie Holzman (pages 1,331–1,334). Discuss the
differences in their portrayals of married life. What kinds of joys are
portrayed in these selections? What kinds of problems do they portray?
DQ2 LOVE IN
LITERATURE
Consider the following literary works from this week’s
reading: The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D.H. Lawrence (pages 392–402), How Do I
Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (page 892), She Walks in Beauty by
George Gordon, Lord Byron (pages 893–894), and Oranges by Gary Soto (pages
943–944). In literary works, love is often portrayed either as ideal and nearly
supernatural, or as destructive. Which of the listed works portray love as
ideal? Which portray it as destructive? What do the works suggest about the
power of love to shape people’s lives?
Week 6 discussion
DQ1 USING CRITICAL
APPROACHES
Sarah from the Week 6 You Decide has written two potential
thesis statements to work from.
For thesis 1: In the story Battle Royal, Ralph Ellison shows
that a society in which one group of powerful men can legally humiliate another
group of men without punishment makes social equality impossible.
For thesis 2: The narrator of Ralph Ellison’s Battle Royal
learns that in the segregated South of the 1940s, African-Americans were in a
constant battle against racist oppression, but had no clear strategy for
winning the battle.
In this week’s discussion, choose one of the thesis
sentences and state which critical perspective better fits that thesis, then
explain what kind of research evidence Sarah should look for to support her
thesis and provide details from the story Battle Royal that best support that
thesis.
DQ2 RACE AND
ETHNICITY IN LITERATURE
In David Henry Hwang’s Trying to Find Chinatown, Ronnie says
to Benjamin “There’re worlds out there, worlds you haven’t even begun to
understand.” What does he mean by this? Using Trying to Find Chinatown and one
other literary reading from this week except Battle Royal, explain how Ronnie’s
statement is a theme in literature about race and ethnic relations.
Week 7 discussion
DQ1 DEATH IN WAR
Both Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (pages 101–111)
and Randall Jarrell’s Death of the Ball Turret Gunner (page 550) describe a
death as a result of war. Yet each is remarkably different in the tone used to
describe that death. What are the differences in tone between these two works?
How do these differences affect what readers are to learn about the significance
of death in war?
DQ2 GRIEF IN
LITERATURE
Both Ben Jonson’s On My First Daughter (pages 550–551) and
Seamus Heaney’s Mid-Term Break (page 697) are about reconciling oneself to the
death of a child. How does each speaker reconcile himself to this death? Or
does he reconcile? Does either speaker draw any significance from this death?
Compare the attitudes expressed in these two poems with the attitudes about the
inevitable death of oneself as portrayed in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is
Hard to Find (pages 484–493) and Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for
Death (pages 545–546). How is the grandmother’s behavior when confronted by her
own death in the O’Connor story different from the speaker’s attitude about her
own death in the Dickinson poem? Do any of these four works agree about the
significance of death to the living?
Week 8 discussion
Class, looking back over the Course Objectives for this
course, what are you looking forward to learning more about throughout your
education and career?
Week 1 Essay Paper
Explication of Fiction
Having completed the lecture and the readings for this week,
select a short story that resonates with you and has themes that you feel you
can discuss. Compose an essay that includes the following information, but not
necessarily in this order.
Give a brief (one paragraph) summary of your selected story.
Is the story’s protagonist a hero or an antihero?
How does the protagonist relate to society?
What themes or ideas is this story about?
What aspects of the story—its characters, narrator,
dialogue, and setting—demonstrate these themes?
What is the intended audience of your selection?
What do you think the author wants the audience to
understand about the themes you have identified?
Try to use only the course lecture, your textbook, and your
brain. You do not need to conduct research, but you should where research is
needed.
The format for this assignment is an essay. The document you
submit should not be just a set of answers to questions. It should have an
introduction, body, and conclusion. It should develop a line of reasoning based
on a thesis about the story stated at the end of the introduction.
The essay should be one to three pages in APA style (citing
your textbook material appropriately, according to the APA format).
Week 2 Essay Paper
Explication of Poetry
In well-stated paragraphs totaling two to three pages write
about one of the paired sets of poems listed below. Each pair contains one of
the assigned poems from this week’s reading and an additional poem from the
textbook.
Robert Frost Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (page 548)
and Virgina Scott Snow (pages 764–765)
Louis Simpson American Poetry (page 555) and Mark Strand
Eating Poetry (pages 593–594)
William Wordsworth Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud)
(page 595) and Amy Lowell Patterns (pages 921–923)
William Butler Yeats When You Are Old (page 713) and Dorothy
Parker Afternoon (pages 928–929)
Langston Hughes Theme for English B (pages 861–862) and Sherman Alexie On the
Amtrak from Boston to New York City
(pages 883–884)
Refer to our lectures and the assigned sections from the
textbook Poetry in the English Language and How to Read a Poem, then consider
the following questions.
What is the subject of each poem?
What relationship to historical context does each poem bear?
Where does each poem fit in the tradition of poetry?
What are the primary similes, metaphors, or symbols used in
creating each poem’s meaning?
What are the similarities between the subjects of each poem?
How does each poem differ in its consideration of the
subject?
What linguistic and rhetorical devices is the poet using,
and what are their effects?
This assignment asks you to understand the lecture material
fully. You do not have to answer the questions in the order given here, but you
do need to answer all the questions in your paper. The essay should conform to
essay standards, and should not be a set of unconnected answers to the
questions. The essay should have an introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion.
Use APA citations and references. Make sure that the essay follows APA formatting
with Times New Roman 12-point font, double spacing, a title page, and headers.
There is no requirement to conduct research for this essay. However, if you do
conduct research outside of your text and the essays mentioned above, all
sources used must be scrupulously cited in APA format.
Week 4 Course Project
The purpose of a proposal is to get your ideas started, and
to do so in a manner that can lead to an effective research paper. Your
research proposal will be presented as a sentence outline. As the name
suggests, the sentence outline presents complete thoughts in complete sentences
as opposed to phrases. In each section of the proposal, choose ideas with the
goal of planning your literature project. Use a complete sentence to provide
the response to each of the questions below. You can use first person. Use APA
documentation for the final section of the proposal to document any sources
referenced in your proposal. Remember to put at least two items at any given
level of the outline, as shown in this template and the sample proposal.
I. Introduction
A. Topic
1) What is
your research question? (Reprint the topic you have chosen from the list of
topics in the Course Project page.)
2) What is
your working thesis? (It answers your research question and defines the
direction of your argument.)
3) What is
your angle on the topic? (Your angle is the critical approachyou will use to
discuss the literary works.)
B. Literary
Works
1) Name the
first literary work your paper will discuss. Justify for your reader why this
work is suitable for the topic.
2) Name the
second literary work your paper will discuss. Justify for your reader why this
work is suitable for the topic.
3) [optional]
Name any additional literary work your paper will discuss. Justify for your
reader why this work is suitable for the topic.
C. Theme
1) What is
the primary literary theme in these works? (These are the themes named in the
Course Project instructions.)
2) Whatareany
secondary or related themes in these works? (Identify other ideas connected
with the primary literary theme.)
3) What are
some potential opinions and values your paper’s audience may have concerning
these themes? (Determine if the audience is likely to take a side or if they
may be skeptical or even neutral regarding the themes.)
II. Evidence
A. What
research have you gathered so far? (What have you found that supports your
purpose and angle?)
B. What
research do you need to gather? (What other kinds of information will you need
as support? Where will you look to find these sources?)
III. Conclusion
(What would you like the readers of your project to understand about the
literature you discuss?)
IV. [optional]
References if you cite any sources in this proposal (must be correctly
formatted according tothe APA Publication Manual).
Week 5 Course Project
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography for [Your Title Here]
To start your annotated bibliography, write an introductory
paragraph to gain the attention of your reader and set the context for your
research. Start by naming the works of literature you will be discussing and
their authors. Provide a brief description of the themes you will be discussing
in your paper. You may also want to provide a brief statement about the
critical perspective you will be using. Provide your working thesis statement
that answers your research question and provides the direction of your
argument. The annotated bibliography will include five annotated references and
is to include a summary paragraph that summarizes the source and the author’s
main points and relevance to your research and the credibility, reliability,
and timeliness of the source material.
Put your first alphabetical reference here in correct APA
format. Consult the textbook or Noodle Toolsfor tips on using APA style.Use a
hanging indent paragraph structure; pay attention to capitalization, spacing,
italics, and punctuation. Click here for more on Noodle Tools
http://library.devry.edu/pdfs/using-NoodleTools.pdf.
Start the summary by stating the main points of the article
here. Provide a high-level summary of the author’s main points and assess the
credibilityand reliability of the source.
Start your assessment here: Next add your comment. The
comment should answer such questions as: How will you use the source? Does it
clarify or explain a concept related to your topic? Does it support or contrast
your thesis? Identify the section of your project where you could include your
source.Avoid obvious ideas, such as this article was interesting and will be
used in my paper or this source will help me prove my ideas. Instead, be
specific about where this source will be used and which ideas it will help to
prove. Do not copy and paste anything; instead, summarize ideas in your own
words.Explain specifically the type of support that the source will provide and
where it can be used in your project.
Put your second alphabetical reference here in correct APA
format. Consult the textbook or Noodle Toolsfor tips on using APA style. Use a
hanging indent paragraph structure; pay attention to capitalization, spacing,
italics, and punctuation. Click here for more on Noodle Tools
http://library.devry.edu/pdfs/using-NoodleTools.pdf.
Start the summary by stating the main points of the article
here. Provide a high-level summary of the author’s main points and assess the
credibility and reliability of the source.
Start your assessment here: Next add your comment. The
comment should answer such questions as: How will you use the source? Does it
clarify or explain a concept related to your topic? Does it support or contrast
your thesis? Identify the section of your project where you could include your
source.Avoid obvious ideas, such as this article was interesting and will be
used in my paper or this source will help me prove my ideas. Instead, be
specific about where this source will be used and which ideas it will help to
prove. Do not copy and paste anything; instead, summarize ideas in your own
words.Explain specifically the type of support that the source will provide and
where it can be used in your project.
Put your third alphabetical reference here in correct APA
format. Consult the textbook or Noodle Toolsfor tips on using APA style. Use a
hanging indent paragraph structure; pay attention to capitalization, spacing,
italics, and punctuation. Click here for more on Noodle Tools
http://library.devry.edu/pdfs/using-NoodleTools.pdf.
Start the summary by stating the main points of the article
here. Provide a high-level summary of the author’s main points and assess the
credibility and reliability of the source.
Start your assessment here: Next add your comment. The
comment should answer such questions as: How will you use the source? Does it
clarify or explain a concept related to your topic? Does it support or contrast
your thesis? Identify the section of your project where you could include your
source.Avoid obvious ideas, such as this article was interesting and will be
used in my paper or this source will help me prove my ideas. Instead, be
specific about where this source will be used and which ideas it will help to
prove. Do not copy and paste anything; instead, summarize ideas in your own
words.Explain specifically the type of support that the source will provide and
where it can be used in your project.
Put your fourth alphabetical reference here in correct APA
format. Consult the textbook or Noodle Toolsfor tips on using APA style. Use a
hanging indent paragraph structure; pay attention to capitalization, spacing,
italics, and punctuation. Click here for more on Noodle Tools
http://library.devry.edu/pdfs/using-NoodleTools.pdf.
Start the summary by stating the main points of the article
here. Provide a high-level summary of the author’s main points and assess the
credibility and reliability of the source.
Start your assessment here: Next add your comment. The
comment should answer such questions as: How will you use the source? Does it
clarify or explain a concept related to your topic? Does it support or contrast
your thesis? Identify the section of your project where you could include your
source.Avoid obvious ideas, such as this article was interesting and will be
used in my paper or this source will help me prove my ideas. Instead, be
specific about where this source will be used and which ideas it will help to
prove. Do not copy and paste anything; instead, summarize ideas in your own
words.Explain specifically the type of support that the source will provide and
where it can be used in your project.
Put your fifth alphabetical reference here in correct APA
format. Consult the textbook or Noodle Toolsfor tips on using APA style. Use a
hanging indent paragraph structure; pay attention to capitalization, spacing,
italics, and punctuation. Click here for more on Noodle Tools
http://library.devry.edu/pdfs/using-NoodleTools.pdf.
Start the summary by stating the main points of the article
here. Provide a high-level summary of the author’s main points and assess the
credibility and reliability of the source.
Start your assessment here: Next add your comment. The
comment should answer such questions as: How will you use the source? Does it
clarify or explain a concept related to your topic? Does it support or contrast
your thesis? Identify the section of your project where you could include your
source.Avoid obvious ideas, such as this article was interesting and will be
used in my paper or this source will help me prove my ideas. Instead, be
specific about where this source will be used and which ideas it will help to
prove. Do not copy and paste anything; instead, summarize ideas in your own
words.Explain specifically the type of support that the source will provide and
where it can be used in your project.
Before you turn in the assignment, select the review tab
from the MS Word toolbar above and click on spelling & grammar. Check each
flagged error. Then rename this document using File>Save As and save the
file with your last name.first.Anno Bib.doc. Be sure when it’s graded to read
the comments so that you can incorporate improvements into your next
assignment.
Week 6 Course Project
First Draft
Your Title Goes Here
Start with the attention-grabbing statement. Name the
literary works and the authors you will discuss right away. Identify the topic.
This idea lets your readers know what your paper is about in general terms.
Identify the major theme(s) that your paper will explore. Express the purpose.
This idea allows readers to understand why you are talking about these literary
works in this way. Clarify the critical approach(s) that you will take in the
paper. End with your thesis statement. Be clear and concise about your idea and
why it will succeed in enlightening a potential reader on the literary works
you discuss.
The topic sentence for section I belongs right here. This
sentence mirrors the first reason or concept you are discussing and comes
directly from the thesis statement. Develop this section in one to two
paragraphs. When you include paraphrases, summaries, or quotations from your
sources, include citations.
The topic sentence for section II belongs right here. This
sentence mirrors the first reason or concept you are discussing and comes
directly from the thesis statement. Develop this section in one to two
paragraphs. See the lecture for Week 6 regarding information on what belongs in
this section. When you include paraphrases, summaries, or quotations from your
sources, include citations.
Continue to provide topics and support until you have
completed every part of your argument and deployed your evidence.
The final section of the paper is the conclusion. This is
not the area just to repeat earlier information. It should also not simply
summarize the literature. The conclusion should summarize the paper’s main
arguments and demonstrate that the thesis has been proved.
As the last page of this document, include your references.
Format each entry using alphabetical order of each author’s last name, or the
first word of the title (excluding a, an, and the) if no author exists. Be sure
to have each entry start flush left; then the second and each subsequent line
must be hanging indented. You also need to see the example below.
Before you turn in the paper, go to review above and click
on spelling and grammar. Not every error will be flagged, and some that are
flagged as errors are actually correct. So this spell checker is not foolproof.
Also, check your page count, which includes only the text pages, not the title
page or references page. If you have fewer than five full pages of text, it’s a
red flag that not enough information exists. If you go above the suggested page
count, that’s OK as long as you’re concise, not repeating yourself, and
including only relevant information. Then saveas your last
name.first.research.draft.1.doc. Put it in the Dropbox as an attachment so that
if done correctly, a paper icon appears next to the assignment. Be sure when
it’s graded to read the comments so that you can improve for your next draft.
References
Put your sources cited in-text above here in alphabetical
order, starting with the first line flush left and hanging indent of the second
and each subsequent line. Each in-text citation should have a corresponding
reference entry here. Below are examples of references from the course
anthology textbook. The first is an example of a reference for a chapter in the
literature text. The second is an example of a literature reference. The second
is an example of a chapter reference.
Roberts, E. V., & Zweig, R. (2015). Chapter 25: Critical
approaches important in
the study of
literature. In E. V. Roberts & R. Zweig (Eds.), Literature: An
Introduction to
Reading and Writing (6th, Comp. ed., pp. 1566-1588). Upper
Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Robinson, E. A. (2015). Richard Cory. In E. V. Roberts &
R. Zweig (Eds.),
Literature: An
Introduction to Reading and Writing (6th, Comp. ed., p.
590). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (Original work published 1897)
Week 7 Course Project
Final Paper
Start with the attention-grabbing statement. Name the
literary works and the authors you will discuss right away. Identify the
topic.This idea lets your readers know what your paper is about in general
terms. Identify the major theme(s) that your paper will explore. Express the
purpose.This idea allows readers to understand why you are talking about these
literary works in this way. Clarify the critical approach(s) that you will take
in the paper. End with your thesis statement. Be clear and concise about your
idea and why it will succeed in enlightening a potential reader on the literary
works you discuss.
The topic sentence for section I belongs right here. This
sentence mirrors the first reason or concept you are discussing and comes
directly from the thesis statement. Develop this section in one to two
paragraphs. When you include paraphrases, summaries, or quotations from your
sources, include citations.
The topic sentence for section II belongs right here. This
sentence mirrors the first reason or concept you are discussing and comes
directly from the thesis statement. Develop this section in one to two
paragraphs. See the lecture for Week 6 regarding information that belongs in
this section. When you include paraphrases, summaries, or quotations from your
sources, include citations.
Continue to provide topics and support until you have
completed every part of your argument and deployed your evidence.
The final section of the paper is the conclusion. This is
not the area just to repeat earlier information. It should also not simply
summarize the literature. The conclusion should summarize the paper’s main
arguments and demonstrate that the thesis has been proved.
As the last page of this document, include your references.
Format each entry using alphabetical order of each author’s last name, or the
first word of the title (excluding a, an, and the) if no author exists. Be sure
to have each entry start flush left; then the second and each subsequent line
must be hanging indented. You also need to see the example below.
Before you turn in the paper, go to review above and click
on spelling and grammar. Not every error will be flagged, and some that are
flagged as errors are actually correct. So this spell checker is not foolproof.
Also, check your page count, which includes only the text pages, not the title
page or references page. If you have fewer than five full pages of text, it’s a
red flag that not enough information exists. If you go above the suggested page
count, that’s OK as long as you’re concise, not repeating yourself, and
including only relevant information. Then saveas . . your last
name.first.research.draft.1.doc. Put it in the Dropbox as an attachment so that
if done correctly, a paper icon appears next to the assignment. Be sure when
it’s graded to read the comments so that you can understand the grade your
paper received.
References
Put your sources cited in-text above here in alphabetical
order, starting with the first line flush left and hanging indent of the second
and each subsequent line. Each in-text citation should have a corresponding
reference entry here. Below are examples of references from the course
anthology textbook. The first is an example of a reference for a chapter in the
literature text. The second is an example of a literature reference. The second
is an example of a chapter reference.
Roberts, E. V., & Zweig, R. (2015). Chapter 25: Critical
approaches important in
the study of
literature. In E. V. Roberts & R. Zweig (Eds.), Literature: An
Introduction to
Reading and Writing (6th, Comp. ed., pp. 1566-1588). Upper
Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Robinson, E. A. (2015). Richard Cory. In E. V. Roberts &
R. Zweig (Eds.),
Literature: An
Introduction to Reading and Writing (6th, Comp. ed., p.
590). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (Original work published 1897)
Week 8 final exam
Question 1 5 pts
(TCO 3) The character against whom the protagonist’s
struggle is directed is called what?
Conflict
Antagonist
Structure
Organic
unity
Question 2 5 pts
(TCO 3) Free verse is defined as
poetry
with no regular meter or rhyme scheme.
poetry
in heightened language.
poetry
with a regular meter and rhyme scheme.
poetry
written for specific occasions.
Question 3 5 pts
(TCO 1) Which of the following is not a major genre of
literature?
Technical
and scientific articles
Drama
Poetry
Prose
fiction
Question 4 5 pts
(TCO 2) Situations in a play in which characters have only
partial, misguided, or incorrect understanding of what is happening are called
contextual
symbols.
themes.
complications.
dramatic
ironies.
Question 5 5 pts
(TCO 1) When one thing is described with the properties of
another thing that it is not, this is a
theme.
metaphor.
symbol.
figure
of speech.
Question 6 5 pts
(TCOs 3 and 5) In Freytag’s Pyramid of dramatic structure,
exposition
refers to
the
part of a drama that introduces a play’s background, characters, and
situations.
the
point of view that the play expresses.
the end
of the play’s central conflict.
the
circumstances that force a play’s protagonist to recognize what needs to be
done to resolve the conflict.
Question 7 5 pts
(TCO 5) Which of the following is not a feature of blank
verse as used in Hamlet?
Iambic,
using two syllables vocalized in the pattern unstressed, stressed
Ends up
to be 10 syllable lines
Rhymed
verse
Each
unstressed-stressed syllabic pair makes a foot pentameter (5 feet to a line)
Question 8 5 pts
(TCO 6) A literary critic using the structuralist
critical approach would look for which of the following
features of a literary work?
The
ways that
