English 2, Section 80232: Critical Thinking and Writing About Literature
Instructor Dave Badtke
Fall 2010: 12:30-1:45 Tu&Th in Room 1860
(707)334-4882
Office Hours & Place: 11:00-12:20 Tu&Th in Room 717 & after 3:15 in Room 701 [email protected]
èOnline Reference: www.Badtke.com or www.QCounty.com (follow link to Solano College classes)
Assignments
Week 2, beginning 8/23/2010:
Tuesday:
• We’ll finish our discussion of “Samuel” by applying all the topics of Chapter
2, moving from plot to character to setting, tone, style and finally theme. In
particular we’ll focus on the nature of action and character, and I’ll introduce my
amazing character-analysis tool: The Dialectical-Synthesis Character Peeler, able
to strip a character down to his or her core faster than you can gut a fish with a
Santoku knife. I know you’re thinking to yourself that you’d expect to pay $19.95
for this stupendous device, the same device you’ve seen selling on TV for $39.95.
But for you, my students in English 2, you’ll get your Dialectical-Synthesis Peeler
absolutely free. And for a limited time, if you act now, I’ll throw in my incredible
Thesis-Generating Grinder for only zero dollars more.
• I may give you a short quiz on Oates’s story.
• We’ll begin our discussion of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.”
Homework due Thursday:
1. Reading Assignment: 1) Read Junot Díaz’s “How to Date a Browngirl,
Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” pages 122 to 126.
2. Journal Assignment: 1) In your journal apply what you’ve learned about plot
and character to the story. 2) Use these two tools to determine the theme of this
story.
Thursday:
• Expect a quiz on the nature of plot and character.
• We’ll continue our discussion of Oates and Díaz.
Homework due next Tuesday:
1. Reading Assignment: 1) Read Chapter 3, “The Art of the short Story: Reading,
Thinking, and Writing about Short Fiction,” pages 24 to 33. 2) Read Eudora
Welty’s “A Worn Path,” pages 554 to 561. 3) Read Chapter 26, pages 1653 to
1665, which deals with a student paper on Welty’s story.
2. Journal Assignment: 1) What is the nature of Phoenix Jackson’s journey? 2)
At the end of the story, does she end up at the same place she started? 3) As a
character is she round or flat, static or dynamic, or stock? 4) What role does
setting play in this story? 5) What POV does Welty use? Why do you think she
chose this? 6) What are some of the characteristics of Welty’s voice and style? 7)
Use plot and character analysis to examine the theme.
3. Quiz: Be prepared for a quiz on this material.
4. Extra: Memorize the poem in the syllabus by William Carlos Williams, “It is difficult
/ To get the news from poems.” Recite this to me during office hours and discuss for
extra credit.
“Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson.