Composition 2, ENG 1121-E110, S2016

Poetry:

1. popular poets:

Frost, Wilcox, Dickinson, Bradstreet, Poe, Longfellow, Dunbar, McKay, Hughes

2. poetry terms:

alliteration, metaphor-tenor and vehicle, symbols, connotation, irony, denotation, speaker, simile, repetition, assonance, enjambment, image

Novel:

1. Novel history and terms:

Ian Watt (emphasis on middle class -3), Ferdinand Tonnies: Gameinschaft and Geselleschaft, Bildungsroman, Early Novel (4 characteristics), 4 factors that led to the emergence of the novel. Narration: semi-omniscient, first person, second person, third person

2. Good quotations from Brown Girl, Brownstones

-Glass breaking scene: page 74-77

-Please say something in that…page 284-89. And Margaret’s house.

-Deportation scene–page 178-182

-“G’long? You was always too much woman for me…page 301-304

-Meeting Father Peace in Harlem–page 170

-First learn of land; plan by Silla to sell land; deceit to sell; Deighton purchases gifts with money from land

-Kitchen scenes?

-Crazy abandoned store that Selina runs into

-Williamsburg War Plant–Brooklyn Navy Yard

-Prospect Park

-There are two dance scenes! Wedding and Dance Night-RF

-BHA (3)

-House (Suggie, Mary)

-Miss Thompson

-Bangle throwing

3. Essay themes, questions, topics.

-War

-Race

-Independence, bildungsroman

-Homesickness

-The Blues

-American Dream

-Immigration and migration

Hi Class,

Just a reminder: Tuesday, May 17th: Essay 3 is Due!

Do you need to write clear, precise, and powerful sentences for an essay? Then use a signal verb that “signals” to readers what you want them to believe.

Here is a list of common signal verbs. Try some out on Essay 3.

Acknowledges
Adds
Admits
Addresses
Argues
Asserts
Believes
Claims
Comments
Compares
Confirms

Contends
Declares
Denies
Disputes
Emphasizes
Endorses
Grants
Illustrates
Implies
Insists
Notes

Observes
Points out
Reasons
Refutes
Rejects
Reports
Responds
Suggests
Thinks
Writes

Introduce authors and works correctly:

One of the most powerful questions that Sabine Bröck asks in her interview “Talk as a Form of Action: An Interview with Paule Marshall,” occurs right up front when she asks “did you read any novels by black women writers of that time?” (59).

It is hard to disagree with Trudier Harris’s claim that “Silla’s very life is a state of the blues,” in “No Outlet for The Blues: Silla Boyce’s Plight in Brown Girl, Brownstones” (58).

Hi Class,

Here’s what I had on the board today:

The analysis paragraph is much like any other research paragraph. It should begin with a Topic Sentence. Then the writer introduces claims and counterclaims. Finally, the writer interprets and evaluates the evidence on each side.

EXAMPLE:

The motivation and urgency that Silla feels to go it alone and buy a house is complicated by her need for her family’s support. Two instances of this support come in the form of her two daughters. Even though Silla says late in the novel that “people got to make their own way” (224), she relies upon many friends and especially Ina and Selina. Further, Trudier Harris, in “No Outlet for the Blues,” agrees that “[a]lthough the change does come, Silla has difficulty trying to recapture that old self” (66). Indeed, Sill does not want an old self. Instead, she wants a house. But the irony is that she does not want a house, she wants a home; she wants a stable family environment that she makes impossible. While it is possible to say that Silla wants revenge for the family that she never had, it makes more sense to claim that she wants what she never had, what she can’t have, but what she so desperately desires.

Email any questions.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Great class on the ending of BG, BS. But also sad to leave Selina.

For Thursday, write Journal 6: 250 summary of the Brock/Marshall interview; typed.

Here is some further information on Paule Marshall:

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paule-Marshall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paule_Marshall

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Have a great Spring Break everybody!

Three small things to do:

1. Reread pages 280 to the end, and note the major plot points.
2. Read the Afterword by M. Washington.
3. Read the Brock interview and the Harris article and decide which you want to use for Essay 3.

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Here is the Wikipedia article on BG, BS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Girl%2C_Brownstones

Here is the “Small Island” song:

For Tuesday, read up to page 264–beginning of Chapter 8 in Book 4.

If you have ideas for extra credit, let me know.

Prof. Scanlan

Hi,

Journal 5: after reading to 147 (Beginning of Ch7) write 250 words on one of these themes as it relates to Book 3: music, War, the body/touch, homesickness, revenge.

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Please read to page 113–the beginning of chapter 5 in Book 3.

In your notebook write down one event or revelation that surprised you. And don’t forget to think about homesickness.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Read to page 61 and come to class with two questions gleaned from our reading. No question is too small or too large. Write the question in your notebook.

Journal 5 will be delayed until next Tuesday.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi  Class,

I hope that some of the context that I provide today was helpful: four characteristics of the early novel, four factors that aided the emergence of the novel, and Ian Watt’s emphasis on the middle class who had the right education, expendable money, and leisure time.

Homework: Read to page 33 in BGBS; then look up one reference to Bajan culture and bring it to class. The reference can be from the novel or from current New York news.

Prof. Scanlan