Dear class,
Thanks for a stimulating discussion pf “Everyday Use.” I encourage you to keep practicing your literary analysis skills on the blogs + comments!
- HW
Please note the following. Again, the HW includes a suggested breakdown of how to spend your prep time.
Read “Rip Van Winkle,” taking notes and using reading questions as a guide (1.5 hrs); blog, or comment on the blog (45 mins-1 hr); look over class notes, in preparation for your closed book quiz on the Elements of Fiction (30 mins).
2. READING QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS FOR “RIP VAN WINKLE”
The following are questions intended to guide your reading. Read them before you start the story and use them to take notes.
Group 2 is posting by 5 pm on Sunday evening; the rest of the class has until 10 am the following morning to post their comment.
[NOTE: Commenters, please remember that you only are responsible for 1 comment per week – you can post either for Monday or Wednesday.]
Group 2: please remember to a) submit your entry as a new Post (“Posts”—>”Add New”) and b) pick the Category corresponding to your prompt (clue, connect, create) before you post.
A. Whereas “Everyday Use” was written in first person narration, “Rip Van Winkle” is written in third person narration. Look for moments when the third person narration gives you knowledge that would be unavailable in a first-person narrative.
Blog prompt: Clue. How does the difference between 3rd- and 1st-person narration make “RVW” a different kind of reading experience from “Everyday Use”? Refer directly to at least one quote from either story, explaining how that quote offers a clue to understanding the difference between the stories.
B. Look for key phrases that Irving uses to describe the wilderness. What effect do these descriptions have on your experience of the story?
Blog prompt: connect. Pick a narrative you know that’s set in the wilderness – a fairy tale, novel, story, or even film. How does RVW’s wilderness experience resemble, or contrast with, that narrative? Refer directly to at least one quote from the story.
C. During class, we spent some time talking about the personality of Diedrich Knickerbocker. What is his attitude towards the events that he is recounting?
Blog prompt: create. Write a diary entry from Knickerbocker’s perspective, in which he considers whether the village that Rip Van Winkle returns to is better, or worse, than the one he left. (As you create this dialogue, have the characters refer directly to at least one quote from the story.) Then, in a few brief sentences, explain how/why your dialogue is directly grounded in the story.
3. BLOG GROUPS
Please verify the group to which you are assigned, and keep a note for your records. To see when your group is scheduled to do the Blog Post, consult the Reading Schedule.
Blog Group 1: Jonabell, Xiara, Minorka, Chandrica/Chris, Natalie
Blog Group 2: Randy, Luis, Tiffany Carmona, Katherine, Haris
Blog Group 3: Michael Acosta, Esmeralda, David, Brandon, Claudiu, Jonathan
Blog Group 4: Kimberly, Michael Mendoza, Thanvir, Margarita
Blog Group 5: Tiffany Taveras, Antonio, Jordan, Fahim, Melissa
Blog Group 6: Rafael, Christopher, Elidania, Aaron, Tenzin
