Portfolio Contents

You should (theoretically) have all of the following in your final portfolio. Please turn it in on the last day of class with your revision essay inside.

Reader Responses:
1 - "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver
2 - "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3 - "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates
4 - " A Goodman is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor
5 - "Stop all the clocks" by W. H. Auden
6 - "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
7 -The Glass Menagerie by Tennesse Williams
8 - A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Research Assignments:
1 - Literary Terms
2 - Graphic Novel
3 - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (this will NOT be in your portfolio since you are to e-mail it to me after our last class)

Analytical Essays:
1 - Short Story
2 - Poetry
3- Drama
4 - Revision & Research

Research Assignment 3 - Twelfth Night

Directions: Look up some informal or formal research on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. This can be Cliff Notes, Sparknotes, other websites or more reliable sources such as journal articles or books. Use this research to inform your understanding of the play. DO NOT SUMMARIZE. Write a 2 page, reader response style paper on the play. How did the research you conducted help you to understand the main idea or smaller themes in the play? What do you think a reader could take away from this play concerning gender roles? Love? Etc? Write about anything of your choice but it must be insightful and not simply a summary. You need to thoroughly explain all of your comments. I.E. Don't just say you liked something, but explain why you liked it or disliked it as well.

Include a citation for your source. E-mail this assignment to me by Saturday, May 1st at midnight.

Reader Response - A Raisin in the Sun

Directions: By now you should know what is expected of you in terms of Reader Responses. Write a response to A Raisin in the Sun about whatever ideas or issues you choose to. Remember that this response should be insightful and illuminate something about the text that is not obvious or part of a general summary. If you choose to use phrases such as "I like/dislike" or similar personal reaction responses, make sure you explain more of the significance in these examples. What do you think it all means? What might be the larger idea behind it? Refer back to the Auden Student Writing example if you need an example of a useful and insightful Reader Response. Write at least one page.

Reader Response: The Glass Menagerie

Directions: Compare and contrast this play with the traditional story of Cinderella we discussed in class. What do you gain by viewing this story as a Cinderella narrative? What do the differences show about the attitudes of individuals during this time? Have attitudes changed? Have the times changed?

Visual Rhetoric - Molly Bang

Directions: Using only scissors, glue, and multi-colored construction paper or the Paint program on a computer, represent a situation that evokes a strong emotion. For example, snake(s), shark(s), rat(s), spider(s) attacking a victim [fear, danger]; a parent and child [love, happiness]; people dancing [joy]; a child giving food to animal(s) [love, friendship, kindness]; a person trapped in a cage/dungeon/flaming forest [fear, danger]; a person triumphant upon conquering a bear/finny/mountain [joy, happiness].

Use Molly Bang's principles on building a picture that we discussed using her book, Picture This: How Pictures Work. Remember that you are only creating an image using shapes and different colors. Do not include fine details, lines, dots, etc. You will be briefly presenting your picture in class on the day due. If you do not have color ink to print your image out, make sure you email it to me well before class so I can bring it up on the overhead projector.

Reader Response - Browning's "My Last Duchess"

Robert Browning's narrator (which should not be mistaken as Browning himself) is a rather unpleasant fellow. As he discusses the dowry for his future bride to an emissary, they stop in front of a portrait of his late duchess and the narrator reminisces about her.

Directions: How does the speaker reveal his true character through his monologue on the last duchess? Use at least 2 quotes from the text to back up your views. Make sure you fully explain the significance of the quotes. Remember that if we as readers thought the quotes could stand on their own without explanation, then we would not need you to play the role of the critic and point them out.

Reader Response - Auden's "Stop all the clocks"

Directions: After reading both the poem by W. H. Auden entitled "Stop all the clocks" and the Student Writing example that follows, discuss the student's interpretation of the poem in light of your reading of the poem and what you agreed with (or what you at least saw was a valid argument). Pick at least one specific example from the student piece and quote it in your argument. Feel free to comment on any other positive aspects of the essay.

Lastly, pick two aspects of the response that you would improve. These could be mechanical, stylistic, or argumentative choices. State why you would change these things and how your view of the essay would change for the better if these suggestions were implimented. (i.e. You will be proofreading/editing the paper as you would for a peer edit session. Try to steer away from minor spelling or grammar errors.)

Each part of this response should be roughly a paragraph in length.

Flannery O'Connor - "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

Directions: Address/answer questions 3 and 4 on page 458 of your textbook.

What does the grandmother's use of the words pickaninny and nigger reveal about her? How are readers expected to reconcile this language with her very proper appearance and her preoccupation with manners? How does her use of those words affect your reaction to her?

Explain the irony in this statement: "In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady" (par. 12).

Research Assignment 2 - Graphic Novel

Directions: Read a graphic novel (choose from below) and an article/book chapter that relates to the work you select. Next, write a 2 page reader response (typed, double spaced) where you discuss how the article has enhanced your understanding of the work. You will want to include some of your own analysis of the work and comment on the role of the visuals in connection with the text. Make sure to quote and reference specific passages from both the primary and secondary source. I need to see evidence that you have read and thought about both pieces (primary and secondary source).


You may opt to purchase the graphic novel or to borrow it from a library but make sure you don’t wait until the last moment; not all of these titles will be available just anywhere. Before you finalize your choice, I recommend reading book reviews to make sure you are interested in the work and begin conducting your research for your required source. If you can’t locate an appropriate article to use for your research requirement, then you should choose another graphic novel. Don’t wait until the last minute to do your research. If you realize too late that you can’t find a source, it is still your responsibility to fulfill this requirement.
You do not have to select a secondary source about your particular title, but it must at least be related to the theme of the novel or be a general article on comics/graphic novels (i.e. it must enhance your interpretation and understanding of the work).

Graphic Novel Choices:

• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• Blankets by Craig Thompson
• Epileptic by David B.
• Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
• La Perdida by Jessica Abel
• Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Part I) by Marjane Satrapi
• Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
• Stitches by David Small
• V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

Joyce Carol Oates - "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Directions: Which reading/interpretation do you find holds the most weight and why: Arnold Friend as domestic violence partner, as symbol for the Devil, as Christ-like Bob Dylan figure? Use textual evidence to support your reading.

Research Assignment 1 - Literary Terms

Directions: Look up each of the following terms and come up with a definition for each—as it applies to literature. You can reword the definition in your own language (i.e. paraphrase) and/or use a whole or partial quote to describe it (but make sure you use appropriate parenthetical citations). At the end of your vocabulary list with definitions, create a short Annotated Bibliography for each source used (minimum of 2 internet or print sources). See the next page for instructions on how to create an Annotated Bibliography. NOTE: For this assignment, you will only need to discuss the reliability/credibility of the source for each annotation.

• Alliteration
• Allusion
• Climax
• Connotation
• Didactic
• Ethos
• Foreshadowing
• Hyperbole
• Imagery
• Intertextuality
• Irony
• Juxtaposition
• Metaphor
• Mood
• Motif
• Style
• Theme

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Directions: Follow the general directions for a Reader Response (refer to the first assignment posting). Read Gabriella Garcia Marquez’s short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and consider the role of perspective—each character’s, the narrator, and your own—in the interpretation of this story. What have you noticed and thought about regarding this role? So, is the old man an angel or not, or does it even matter?

Reader Response One - Cathedral by Raymond Carver

General directions: Write a 1-2 page response to the literary work using the writing prompt below. Handwritten is fine but use discretion on size of handwriting and length of response by judging the quality of the response and not the quantity. Make sure this is an in-depth analysis of what you read. DO NOT SUMMARIZE. Rather, briefly explain what happens in the story if the plot is necessary for you include, and then explain the significance of you bringing it up again. Include direct quotes to support your ideas.

Think about: Mood, themes, language, literary techniques (allusions, symbolism, irony, etc.), arguments in disguise. Another good tip is to always use the formula: claim --> evidence --> explanation/reasoning.

Directions: Respond to question 8 on page 537: "In paragraph 96, the blind man observes that the men who began work on a cathedral never lived to see it completed. In this way, he says, 'they're no different from the rest of us.' What does the cathedral symbolize to the blind man? What does it come to symbolize to the narrator?"