Assignments for Tuesday, March 1, and Thursday, March 3

For Tuesday, read and annotate to p. 14 in Conrad's Heart of Darkness (stop when you get to the paragraph that ends with "hidden out of sight"). While reading, pay attention to each mention of the following words (and variations on them):  heart, dark, civilized, primitive, black, white, and native.

Keep in mind that the first three-to-four pages of the research paper and the outline of the research paper are due on Thursday, March 3.  You will have time to work on them in class on Tuesday, and you will not have to read Heart of Darkness for Thursday.

Assignment for Friday, Feb. 26

Prepare for the in-class essays on Civilization and Its Discontents. You will write an argumentative essay and a rhetorical analysis essay. For the argumentative essay, you should think about your perspective on the potential topics suggested in class today. For the rhetorical analysis essay, look at the passages suggested in class and think about the effects of Freud's rhetorical strategies in those passages and how those rhetorical strategies achieve a particular purpose in those passages. (You do not have to read to the middle of p, 14 in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.) 

Summarizing and Paraphrasing and Homework

Sorry I can't be in class today, but I hope everyone had a restful break (I did) and is refreshed for this long stretch of school we have ahead of us. Summarizing and paraphrasing are two essential skills you will need for writing the research paper. Today, you will practice them with Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents. First, some definitions.

A summary is a text that has significantly reduced in length another text, using your own words while preserving its essential content and meaning. You use a summary when you need to convey the content and meaning of a text to an audience that isn't familiar with it.  A paraphrase is a text that you have rewritten in languate appropriate for an audience that might not understand the discourse of the original text because of its jargon or technicalities. It is usually, but not always, slightly shorter than the orignal text. Typically, you paraphrase a passage or sentence that is difficult for your itnended audience to understand.

When you summarize or paraphrase, you must cite the original source, including any page numbers. If you don't, then you will have plagiarized the original text.

So, here's what you're doing today: First, summarize a chapter of Civilization and Its Discontents. Be sure to identify the chapter you are summarizing. Second, paraphrase a passage from Civilization and Its Discontents. Be sure to indicate the page number(s) of the passage you are paraphrasing. Email these to me (fmontas@mph.net) or write them by hand and leave them with the coverage teacher.

When you finish these, if you have time, prepare two potential essay topics for the essays on Civilization and Its Discontents. You will write the essays in class on Friday.

You homework for Wednesday is to write one paragraph (any paragraph) of your research paper and begin reading Heart of Darkness. (Read the first four pages or so. Stop when you get to "He paused.") In Wednesday's class, we will talk about the research paper, prepare for Friday's essays, and introduce Heart of Darkness.

Assignment over the Break

You don't really have one, but if you're looking for something to do, keep in mind that on Wednesday, February 24, you will write the argumentative and rhetorical analysis essays in response to Civilization and Its Discontents. Also, on Monday, February 29, the first two-to-three pages of the research paper will be due.

Assignment for Thursday, Feb. 11

Read chs. 6 and 7 in Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents. In the blue edition, this reading goes from pp. 75-96; in the black and white edition, it goes from pp. 103-129.

Also, click here to see some FAQ's about Steven Pinker's book The Better Angels of Our Nature, with answers by Pinker. He covers a wide range of topics and answers them in some detail.

Assignment for Tuesday, Feb.9

In Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, read chs. 4 and 5. In the blue edition, this reading goes from pp. 53-74; in the black and white edition, it goes from pp. 77-101. You will have an in-class writing exercise with this reading (you'll have to write a well-developed paragraph), but you will be able to use your book.

Assignment for Friday, Feb. 5

In Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, read ch. 3. In the blue edition, this reading goes from pp. 37-53; in the black and white book, it goes from pp. 57-75.

Assignment for Wednesday, Feb. 3

Read Ch. 2 of Civilization and Its Discontents. In the blue edition, this reading goes from pp. 22-36; in the black and white edition, from pp. 39-56. Also, in class you will have to write about the following prompt: What is the relationship between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2? How does Chapter 1 set up Chapter 2? How does Chapter 2 build on Chapter 1?

Assignment for Monday, Feb. 1

In Civilization and Its Discontents, read and annotate pp. 10-21 in the blue edition or pp. 23-37 in the black and white edition. Come to class with at least two written questions about the reading.

For Wednesday, Jan. 27

Since you had homework over the weekend, but it was the end of the semester, you do not have an assignment due on Wednesday. During Wednesday's class, we will introduce Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents. If there is anything of interest that you have come across recently, you may share it with the class on Wednesday.

Assignment for Monday, Jan. 25

Prepare for the synthesis essay on Press's Beautiful Souls, Poitras's Citizenfour, and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Refresh your memory about the figures discussed in Beautiful Souls, and go over the material (posted below on Dec. 11) about Edward Snowden and Citizenfour. Also, read the sample synthesis prompt and essays distributed in class. Be sure to read the scoring commentary to take special note of the highest scoring essay and avoid the weaknesses of the lower scoring essays.

Assignments for Tuesday, Jan. 19, and Thursday, Jan. 21

For Tuesday, finish reading and annotating Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (to p. 308). You may read the Appendix on the principles of newspeak, but it is not required. In class, we will discuss the end of the novel, and look at two previously adminstered AP synthesis essays.

On Thursday, you will write a synthesis essay about Beautiful Souls, CitizenFour, and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Here are the links to the videos on North Korea that we viewed in class:
North Korea - A Day in the Life
10 Days in North Korea

Assignment for Tuesday, Jan. 12

Read and annotate to p. 204 in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.