EDUCATIONAL
MATERIALS
West Chester University
West Chester University
Home Course Syllabi and Announcements Notebook for Topics in Literature: Imaginary Worlds (Spring 2008) Notebook for Topics in Literature: Rites of Passage (Spring 2006) Notebook for Effective Writing I (Spring 2006) Go Exploring Notebook for Topics in Literature: Imaginary Worlds (Fall 2005) Notebook for Effective Writing I (Fall 2005) Go Exploring
LIT 165 Syllabus
LIT 165 Announcements and Assignments
WRT 120 Syllabus
WRT 120 Announcements and Assignments
A Reading of THE TEMPEST
Goals of the Course
Fundamental Questions about Literature
Valuing Literature
Critical Thinking and Reading Literature
Critical Approaches to Literature
Literature as ART
Ambiguity
Approaching the Art of Fiction
Defining the Short Story
Evaluating Short Fiction
Craft of Fiction: PLOT
Craft of Fiction: CHARACTER
Small Group Exercise
ARABY by James Joyce
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? by Joyce Carol Oates
Our RITES OF PASSAGE Theme
A note about GIRL
POE and the art of STORY OF A HOUR
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
YOUNG MAN ON SIXTH AVENUE
Notes on Innovative Fiction
Assignment Sheet for Paper #1
Fiction and Ambiguity - Your Questions
Writing Workshop - Short Fiction
Poetry Journal Project Assignment Sheet
LITERARY SYNTHESIS PROJECT
Defining Poetry
Reading Poetry
The Craft of Poetry
Drama and Tragedy
Study Questions: DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Paper #4 Assignment Sheet
Critical Thinking and Commentary
Casebook: Evaluating Sources Worksheet
Selecting Information
Evaluating Arguments
CASEBOOK PROJECT Assignment Sheet
Approaching Persuasive Writing
Topic Development - Profile Essay
Generating Ideas for the Profile Essay
Paper #2 Assignment Sheet
Profile Exercise
Analyzing THE FIVE BEDROOM, SIX FIGURE ROOTLESS LIFE
Objective Writing: Selected Readings
Writing Workshop: Paper #1
Expressive Writing in the NYTimes
Writing Effective Introductions and Conclusions
Paper #1: IDENTITY
Expressive Writing
Open Letter Exercise and Examples
EMERSON on Individuality vs. Conformity
Literature related to IDENTITY
Understanding the 'Rhetorical Situation'
Weblog for WRT 120
Writing Assistance on the Web
Blackboard at WCU
WCU Homepage
WCU's Francis Harvey Green Library
One Last Look at Imaginary Worlds
Franz Kafka's BEFORE THE LAW
Analyzing WAITING FOR GODOT
Approaching WAITING FOR GODOT
Paper #3: Assignment Sheet
Paper #4: Independent Project
The Problem of Stability in BRAVE NEW WORLD
UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA Links
Analyzing Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD
Defining Utopia
Embarking on Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD
A Reading of Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST
From today's news (11/3/05)
Assignment Sheet for Paper #2
Goodbye to Dante's Imaginary World
Stepping Through Dante's Inferno: Cantos 10-34
Stepping Through Dante's Inferno: Cantos 1-10
INFERNO: Questions/Analysis: Cantos 32-34
INFERNO: Questions/Analysis: Cantos 18-31
INFERNO: Questions for Analysis: Cantos 12-17
INFERNO: Structure
INFERNO: Questions for Analysis: Cantos 1-5
INFERNO: Analyzing Canto 1
Relating to Dante's Inferno
Approaching Dante's DIVINE COMEDY
A Little Help with Dante's INFERNO
Assignment Sheet for Paper #1
Notes on LEAF BY NIGGLE
Responses to LEAF BY NIGGLE
ON FAIRY STORIES: An Essay by Tolkien
Notes on Axolotl
Reading Ovid's Tales
From Myth to Literature: Approaching Ovid's Tales
Notes on THE EYE OF THE GIANT
Functions of the Genesis Tales
Analyzing Mythic Tales
Defining Mythology
Filtering the Introduction to FANTASTIC WORLDS
Commentary on LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI by Keats
Commentary on DARKNESS by Byron
Handout: Imagination Poems Set
What is Imagination?
Our Course Theme: Imaginary Worlds
LIT 165 Assignments: Fall 2005
LIT 165 Announcements: Fall 2005
Imaginary Worlds: Course Syllabus
Paper #4: Independent Thinking/Reading/Writing
Casebook Preparation Checklist
Casebook Assignment Schedule
Evaluating Sources for the Casebook
Casebook Project Assignment Sheet
Notes on Rational Argument
Argument
Assignment Sheet: Objective Writing
Reviewing Elements of the Profile Essay
Writing the Profile Essay
Readings: Objective Writing
Assignment Sheet: Expressive Writing
Rubric for Evaluation of Writing
About SKIN DEEP
Emerson on Individuality vs. Conformity
Mind-map: Identity
Understanding the 'Rhetorical Situation'
Assignments Page
Announcements Page
WRT 120 Course Syllabus for Fall 2005
Weblog for WRT 120
Writing Assistance on the Web
Blackboard at WCU
WCU Homepage
WCU's Francis Harvey Green Library
“ The Story of an Hour” (p. 15)
“A Sorrowful Woman” (p. 38)
“A & P” (p. 553)
“Eveline” (432)
“Love in L.A.” (256)
“Araby” (handout)
PRINTER FRIENDLY
Directions: Choose several of these questions to respond to together in class today. The questions prompt you to apply concepts we’ve discussed so far (ambiguity, plot, character). Wherever it’s possible to use specific illustrations from the stories to support your conclusions, try to do so. Your work will be collected at the end of class today. [If you missed this assignment in class and are making it up for homework, choose any three questions and write out your response.]
AMBIGUITY
- The concept of “freedom” is already very abstract and ambiguous; it seems to mean something slightly different in light of each of the stories we’ve read so far. Freedom is even hard to classify: is it an idea, an emotion, a state of being? What is freedom? Think about the different ways this word could be defined in light of several stories you’ve read so far.
- Zero in on the character of Jake in “Love in L.A.” What are at least two or three different ways you could interpret his character? Begin by brainstorming a list of adjectives which you think describe him. See if any of these adjectives contradict one another. Are some positive and some negative? Can you use these impressions to help you develop alternative ways of thinking about Jake?
- “Maturity” is another ambiguous concept. Maybe you’ve already noticed that each of these stories have characters who are in the process of growing up. Is there a common thread that unites their various experiences, or does each story seem to interpret this process slightly differently? How would you rate each character on the “maturity scale,” with a “1” being least mature and a “5” being most mature?
PLOT
- How would you describe the conflict in each of the stories you’ve read so far? How are these conflicts resolved by the story’s end?
- We said that plot helps us determine why things are happening, that a carefully constructed plot helps us see the causes behind the actions characters take. Towards the end of “Love in L.A.” Jake lies to Mariana, even though he likes her; he gives her a fake name and fake insurance information. Why?
- The writer James Joyce defined “epiphany” as the moment in the story when the reality or the essence of something or someone is sharply, sometimes painfully, revealed. (The events of the story are designed to bring about this epiphany.) This moment is a kind of insight, but it may be the reader and not the character who gains this insight. What moments of epiphany are there in several of the stories you’ve read so far?
CHARACTER
- A short story often highlights one main character, the protagonist. One decision we make as we try to “relate to” or “identify with” these protagonists is whether or not they seem believable to us. Consider the believability of each of the protagonists you’ve encountered in the stories so far by considering whether it’s realistic that:
- Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” feels liberated by the death of her husband?
- The wife in “A Sorrowful Woman” is so depressed for seemingly no reason?
- Sammy quits his job for three girls who don’t notice him?
- Eveline stays with her family in Dublin rather than sail away with Frank?
- Mariana falls for Jake and gives him her phone number? Is it realistic that Jake lies to her?
- That the boy in “Araby” feels so extremely foolish at the end of the story?
- The main character of a short story can be described as “dynamic” or “static.” How would you describe each of the main characters in the stories you’ve read so far, and why?