Eng 10C – Jan 19-29

Tuesday 1/19 – FINAL PERSONAL PORTRAIT PIECE DUE TODAY.    Turn in WJ#1-2 and first draft with your portfolio.
Class: Sharing of personal portraits.  Handout A.O. Scott quotation and assignment.

HW: WJ #4 – Close reading/response to A.O. Scott.  See Great American Novel handout for details.

Wednesday 1/20 – Class: Discuss A.O. Scott quotation, focusing on language, theme, and image.  How do we define the “great American novel”?   Talk about the lists we created about middle and high school texts. What makes these texts American? Share Harold Bloom’s list of American canonical works. What do you recognize on this list? What don’t you recognize?  What have you read? What would you like to read?

HW: WJ #5 – Close reading/response to Toni Morrison.  See Great American Novel handout for details.

Thursday 1/21- Class: Discuss WJ #5.  How does Morrison add further complexity to the conversation about American literature?  What might she mean by “empire building” and “national defense” in relation to talking about literature?
Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald (one of the authors on Bloom’s list).  Watch Ken Burns documentary on New York and the 1920s.
HW: Read and annotate “Cosmopolis 1919-1931” from New York by Ken Burns and “My Lost City” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Friday 1/22 – NO CLASS

Monday 1/25 – Discuss “My Lost City,”  New York City and the American Dream. Begin reading The Great Gatsby out loud in class.
HW: Read and annotate Chapter 1, The Great Gatsby.

Tuesday 1/26 – Discuss Chapter 1. Hand out map.
HW: Read and annotate Chapter 2, The Great Gatsby.

Wednesday 1/27 – Discuss Chapter 2.
HW: Read and annotate Chapter 3, The Great Gatsby.

Thursday 1/28 – Discuss Chapter 3.
HW: Read and annotate Chapter 4, The Great Gatsby.

Friday 1/29 – NO CLASS