Well, you've gotten this far, which is the first step.
As you proceed with your reading, I'd like you to leave some comments. Scroll down the page until you come to the book you're reading. Click on "Comments" at the end. Leave your comment. I'll look in occasionally, but what this should be is a place for you to meet and share ideas with your classmates.
I expect everyone to post at least once for each book. That's the minimum. That will get you 37/50 (or less if your entries are extremely brief). The more entries you make, the more involved you are, the higher your score will be. The people who get 50/50 are doing it for the fun of the exchanges, not for the grade.
Entries will not be accepted after 12 midnight on August 30th (the night before the first day of school).
That's the easy part, the fun part. Now for the more difficult assignment (that's why they call it honors): a Formal Academic Essay (aka the "Five-Paragraph Essay"). Think 3-5 pages. This will be due by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 2. [This may be different from what you got on the handout. It's the end of the day on the first Friday of class.]
Suggested topics:
Compare Josie Hogan to Eustacia Vye. At first glance they couldn't be more different. (And don't forget, "contrast" is always implicit in "compare".) On the other hand, they are both willful women trying to make their ways in a basically misogynistic world. What obstacles do they face? What strategies and tactics do they employ? What lessons can young women learn today from their successes and failures?
Jim 'n' Clym -- the problem with mothers. This one narrows the field considerably. As is often the case when crafting an essay, one can eliminate large portions of the texts involved. Clym's mother, although only a supporting character, is the pivot point on which a lot of the plot turns. Jim's mother doesn't appear in the play at all, yet she certainly wields a huge influence on Jim's psyche.
The bad boyfriend: Aaron & Wildeve. Consider the impact that Wildeve and Aaron have on Eustacia and Nico, respectively, as the women try to navigate their ways through their particular troubles.
The impetuous heroine: Nico & Eustacia. Both of these ladies are young and inexperienced, and reluctant to ask for help. What tactics or strategies do they employ. What factors contribute to, or hinder, their successes.
Your choice. Stipulations are that you must include two works, and one of them must be The Return of the Native. Be sure to choose a topic that can be dealt with in 3-5 pages.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Goldengrove
Margaret, are you grieving. . . begins Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem which gives this novel its name. (You'll find the entire poem in the book. If you love it, try this one. Or this. Or this.)
This book I read when it came out, thinking that maybe once it got to paperback it would make a good summer reading selection. I gave the first couple of pages to my spring semester honors class, and they all said "We love it." It's all about loss, grief, desire, self-discovery, family dynamics, and lots more.
Here are a couple of optional supplemental readings:
4. And you could do worse than to watch a couple of the movies that are prominently featured in this book: Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman classic Casablanca.
Oh -- and here's what Nico looks like after she gets her haircut.
This book I read when it came out, thinking that maybe once it got to paperback it would make a good summer reading selection. I gave the first couple of pages to my spring semester honors class, and they all said "We love it." It's all about loss, grief, desire, self-discovery, family dynamics, and lots more.
Here are a couple of optional supplemental readings:
- An article about the author, entitled "In Praise of Prose". (It mostly mentions her other works, but you should find it insightful.)
- An article about Shakespeare's Hamlet, focusing on the melancholy prince as grief-stricken over the death of his father. (I have a lot of issues with the play, but it is still Hamlet, after all, and we'll be covering it some fashion early in the semester.)
- Hamlet itself. (If you're done early with your summer reading -- I know how dedicated you Honors kids are [wryly ironic smiley face goes here] -- and want to get a headstart.)
Oh -- and here's what Nico looks like after she gets her haircut.
What Else Will You Be Reading this Summer?
I always look forward to the end of the school year because it means that I'll have time to do a little reading. Books that I have piled up so far include:
- The Last Stand, by Nathaniel Philbrick. When I was a kid, George Armstrong Custer was a tragic hero, massacred by the savage Indians. The around 1970 he became an imperialist, racist killer. Now, he's somewhere in the middle -- an egotistical product of his time.
- Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks. Set in Martha's Vineyard in the 1640's, this novel features a 15 year-old narrator who is chafing under the religion and sexual restrictions of her time.
- Baseball in the Garden of Eden, by John Thorn. I'm a big baseball fan -- Red Sox in particular -- and this is about the very early days. Did you know that Hartford once had a major league team, the Dark Blues? Their star pitcher, Candy Cummings, invented the curveball. That was back in 1876 (the year that Custer was killed at the Little Big Horn).
A Moon for the Misbegotten
When it comes to standing ovations, I'm old-fashioned. I think they should be reserved for truly outstanding performances. Nothing bugs me more than people who sit in their seat a while, then decide "Yea, I guess it's worth a standing ovation." If you're not absolutely propelled out of your seat by a performance, then sit down.When I saw A Moon for the Misbegotten a few years ago at the Hartford Stage Company, I leapt to my feet at the final curtain.
Here's why -- the love story, between Jim Tyrone and Josie Hogan, is beautiful, complex, and tormented. Now you take Romeo and Juliet: he was hot for her, she was hot for him; not much of a story, really. I can't tell you now about the nature of the characters or the relationship -- you'll have to discover that for yourself.
The play is set in Connecticut, of course. And the playwright, Eugene O'Neill is a Connecticut native. And he's a heavyweight. As should become apparent as you read this.
Be sure to leave your name when you leave your response.
What Else Will You Be Doing this Summer?
I'll be working on my yard and garden, which I enjoy doing. I'll be watching the Red Sox out on my screen porch, and at Fenway one more time, and I may get out to Beehive Field in New Britain for a little minor league baseball.
Highlights are July 20th for the music -- Eric Bibb, and August 4th for the poetry -- Mark Doty. I'll have to miss Mark Doty, unfortunately, as I'll be away for a week at the Cape.
What will you all be up to?
The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy
Imagine yourself being a lively, vibrant young person stuck with a bunch of hicks in an insular location where nothing ever happens. (It may not be that big a stretch.) What can you do to amuse yourself? What would you do to get out?
The Return of the Native is a traditional 19th century novel by one of the great English novelists, Thomas Hardy. You’ll find that it’s kind of slow-paced for our tastes. But stick with it. The characters are interesting, and the situations they find themselves in are compelling. Hardy liked to subject his characters to the vagaries of fate, and that is certainly in evidence in The Return of the Native.
Warning: this book starts off slow. Real slow. It's a loving description of Egdon Heath, the setting for this novel. (The chapter gives you some idea of what it feels like for Eustacia to have to live there.)
Try to get through it. The heath is an important character in the novel. But, rest assured, the whole book is not like this. Once we start getting into characters, and especially plot, you'll like it. However, if -- and only if -- you would find yourself giving up on Hardy, (or starting to consider alternative paths), you have my permission to skip ahead. Try a paragraph or two, or to the end of the chapter if need be. But then start in again. Stick with it. You'll be glad you did.
Looking into my crystal ball, I foresee that this will be the least popular of the summer reading books. Well, tough. I believe that a lot of AP teachers create their summer reading lists for their colleagues rather than their students ("See what my students are reading!"). I don't do that. This is the most traditional of the summer reading books. It's a good novel, historically important, and something you should be capable of at least bulling your way through, if not enjoying.
For what it's worth, I read it first when I was a senior in high school, and I loved it. (Holden Caulfield even likes Eustacia, and he hates everything!)
Thomas Hardy
Imagine yourself being a lively, vibrant young person stuck with a bunch of hicks in an insular location where nothing ever happens. (It may not be that big a stretch.) What can you do to amuse yourself? What would you do to get out?
The Return of the Native is a traditional 19th century novel by one of the great English novelists, Thomas Hardy. You’ll find that it’s kind of slow-paced for our tastes. But stick with it. The characters are interesting, and the situations they find themselves in are compelling. Hardy liked to subject his characters to the vagaries of fate, and that is certainly in evidence in The Return of the Native.
Warning: this book starts off slow. Real slow. It's a loving description of Egdon Heath, the setting for this novel. (The chapter gives you some idea of what it feels like for Eustacia to have to live there.)
Try to get through it. The heath is an important character in the novel. But, rest assured, the whole book is not like this. Once we start getting into characters, and especially plot, you'll like it. However, if -- and only if -- you would find yourself giving up on Hardy, (or starting to consider alternative paths), you have my permission to skip ahead. Try a paragraph or two, or to the end of the chapter if need be. But then start in again. Stick with it. You'll be glad you did.
Looking into my crystal ball, I foresee that this will be the least popular of the summer reading books. Well, tough. I believe that a lot of AP teachers create their summer reading lists for their colleagues rather than their students ("See what my students are reading!"). I don't do that. This is the most traditional of the summer reading books. It's a good novel, historically important, and something you should be capable of at least bulling your way through, if not enjoying.
For what it's worth, I read it first when I was a senior in high school, and I loved it. (Holden Caulfield even likes Eustacia, and he hates everything!)
Arresting Quotations
One of the cool things about college is that you get to write in our books. You're even supposed to. (That is if all your books won't be electronic.) It's a carry-over from college, but when I read, I like to underline passages that I like --and make notes in the margin ("marginalia"). It can be a little conversation with the author, or to other readers.
In the comments for this section, I invite you to share any quotations that strike your fancy. I'll go first.
If you want to, add a little explanation of why it appeals to you.
[By the way -- and I may be one of the few people in America to whom this matters -- but "quote" is a verb. "Quotation" is the noun form. You find a passage that you'd like to quote from -- then put the quotation into the yearbook.]
In the comments for this section, I invite you to share any quotations that strike your fancy. I'll go first.
Not only was Aaron so cool that he could afford to drive the world's most uncool vehicle, but he'd made it seem so cool that other kids had started asking their moms for their hand-me-down, high-mileage vans.
If you want to, add a little explanation of why it appeals to you.
[By the way -- and I may be one of the few people in America to whom this matters -- but "quote" is a verb. "Quotation" is the noun form. You find a passage that you'd like to quote from -- then put the quotation into the yearbook.]
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