No Place Like Home Syllabus 1/4 – 1/14

Syllabus: January 2011

Http://blog.lrei.org/jbelton

Tuesday 1/4

CLASS:            View film clip from New York Times (“Shockwaves Through My Soul”). Freewriting and discussion. Reactions to Sgt. Blaylock’s statement “I’m scared because I’m going home.” What in the video might help us understand the difficult journey of coming home and reintegrating into society? Mental health, PTSD and the military.

HOMEWORK:            Read and annotate Here Bullet (pp. 1, 6-13, 18, 26-27, 33-35). As you read, make note of recurring ideas, metaphors, images, and questions raised. What issues do the poems explore about the experience of war and of returning from war?

* If “Shockwaves Through My Soul” interested you, read the New York Times article “After Combat, Victims of an Inner War” on my blog for more about Sgt. Blaylock’s story or go to the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02suicide.html

Wednesday 1/5

CLASS:                        Discuss and write about poems in Here, Bullet.

HOMEWORK:            Read and annotate Here Bullet, pp 46-47, 55-56, 64-66. Begin Response # 2 (final draft due Friday 1/7): Choose any two poems that struck you most in what we have read of Brian Turner’s collection and that seem to speak to each other on some level (perhaps they deal with similar themes, problems, images, or questions).  Begin a draft of a 2 page typed response in which you explore answers to the following questions: What connections do you find between the two poems? For example, what particular images, questions, or themes emerge in both works? How do the poems build on one another? Ultimately, what do you think these two poems communicate or problematize about the experience of being at war or coming home from war (this war, or war in general)? Weave short pieces of evidence from the poems into your response. Make sure to analyze the evidence thoughtfully and to use correct parenthetical citations. When discussing two different works by the same author, as we are doing in this response, you must include the title of the poem and the line number in your parenthetical citations. For instance (“Sadiq” line 2).  Make sure to use slashes (/) to indicate line breaks if you are quoting more than one line of a poem. Bring in a first draft of your writing tomorrow.

Thursday 1/6

CLASS:             Share drafts of Response # 2 in pairs. Respond to partner’s draft with questions or ideas for further consideration, ways to push analysis further, ways to help develop or hone the writing. What writing advice can you offer your partner? What can you learn from your partner’s writing/analyses?

HOMEWORK:             Complete Response # 2, due Friday.

Friday 1/7

CLASS:                        Response 2 due. Introduction to The Odyssey; terms, characters, background on Homer. Begin reading The Odyssey, Book 1 together.

HOMEWORK:            Read and annotate The Odyssey, Book 1

Monday 1/10 – No Class

Tuesday 1/11 — Unit 2: Home and the Homefront

CLASS:            Discuss Book 1: Status of the homefront; who is left behind. Telemachus; beginning and purpose of his journey, call to action.

HOMEWORK:            Read and annotate The Odyssey: Book II, lines 1-163 & 300-477.

Wednesday 1/12

CLASS:                        Discuss The Odyssey, Book II. Life on the homefront. Odysseus’s “true son”; Penelope and the suitors. The image of home soldiers hold; the image of the soldier those at home hold.

HOMEWORK:            Read and annotate excerpts from The Warrior, A Mother’s Story of a Son at War and letters from women on the homefront during WWII (handouts)

Complete Response # 3: Write your own “letter poem” from the perspective of either Penelope or Telemachus, addressing Odysseus. You may choose to write from a more “modern day” voice, if you like. Take the time to imagine and embody the character, perspective, and voice from which you are writing. Use the examples of poetry and letters we have read thus far as inspiration. Feel free to imitate/parody Homer’s voice or use your own. (1-2 pages, typed).

Thursday 1/13

CLASS:                        Response # 3 due. Discuss excerpts from The Warrior, A Mother’s Story…; share our poems and discuss interpretations of Telemachus and Penelope.

HOMEWORK:             Read and annotate The Odyssey, Book 5-6 (pp. 152 – 178).

Friday 1/14

CLASS:                        Discuss Books 5 & 6: The first sight of the “hero,” Odysseus. Calypso; Odysseus as “he who gives and receives pain”; Odysseus at the Phaeacian Court.

HOMEWORK:             Read and annotate The Odyssey Book 7 (lines 94 – 160 & 266 – end) and Book 8 (lines 1-413 and 559-end)