Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hi Class,

I’ve posted the details for Essay 2: Poetry Comparison under the “Assignments” menu tab.

Also, I have posted a student example of a poetry comparison essay right below the assignment details.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan

Here is a brief clip from a PBS special on Walt Whitman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOo4kqkhYag

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Reading Poetry Handout:

How-to-read-poetry-fall2013

Hi Class,

For Thursday, we will finish discussing Harriet Jacobs “Incidents” (768-91). Please have questions or comments prepared; I would like everybody to have something to say.

Then we will shift gears and discuss Walt Whitman. Please read the introduction: 1236-38. Then read three poems:

1. “Beat! Beat! Drums!,” 1296

2. “The Wound Dresser,” 1298-1300

3. “Reconciliation,” 1300

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

For Tuesday, November 19, please read Harriet Jacobs (763-91), and answer these questions in your notebook:

1.What was the Fugitive Slave Law?

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850

2. What is the purpose and the style of Jacob’s “Letter from a Fugitive Slave”?

3. What do you find surprising about Jacob’s “Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl”?

4. Why do you think that Jacobs wrote anonymously or under different names?

I’ve updated the schedule for the rest of the semester.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Here is the extra credit assignment (20 points):

Watch this 9 minute TED talk on metaphors by James Geary. Then write a one-page metaphor review of Emerson’s Transparent Eyeball. Go beyond what the footnote says; what do you think he means by this term? See page 657.

Regular Homework: Read Margaret Fuller: 737-43.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Extra Credit: 10 points (same as a journal). 1 page, typed, double-spaced with a works cited. Answer one of the following questions that we put on the board. Remember you are a Martian who has come to Earth to try to figure out this America questions during the years 1790-1800.

Homework: Read 427-465. In your notebook, define American Revolution and Antebellum America. Dates and who, what, where, when.

Here is the PBS timeline I showed in class:

http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_timeline.html

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

As we prepare to turn in the midterm essay, I thought that it might be helpful to provide you with a student example. This example, however, is not on the topic of colonial autobiography. What it does show is format, a good thesis, fine transitions, and excellent examples of incorporating quotations.

Student Example-Literary Analysis

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Remember, we don’t have class on Tuesday, Oct. 15th.

For Thursday:

1. Finish reading from Ben Franklin’s autobiography and the short piece by Mark Twain; pages 312–333

2. Read Richard Frethorne’s letter which can be found on the Readings menu tab

3. Journal #5: 300 words comparing Franklin to another diary writer. Think about using one of the key terms such as ego or hope or home.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi  Class,

I’ve updated the Assignments menu tab to reflect Journal #4 and the upcoming Midterm Essay. Don’t worry, we have plenty of time to prepare, write, and revise this essay.

Here is a clip from the film The Freedom Writers in which a student does what millions of people do when they write in a diary or journal, they explore their identity in terms of a timeline of either despair, hope, or something in between:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f8liieRepk

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan