IOP Sign Up for Their Eyes Were Watching God (9 max)

IOP Sign Up for The Stranger (9 max)

IOP Sign Up for a Dystopian Novel (9 max)

IOP sign up for Poetry - Pablo Neruda or Shu Ting (9 max)

The Stranger: March 15

1. Finish The Stranger

2. Journal #8: Personal response to The Stranger + what literary value do you ascribe to the novel (what makes a book a great work of literature and does this book achieve that)

3. Post the thesis statement you have revised and are confident with in a new post

4. Work on your outline! Due Wednesday

5. Study vocabulary! Due Wednesday

6 Copy The Stranger blog post on to turnitin.com

The Stranger: March 11

1. Look at the following thesis statements. They represent good starts but they still need a lot of work. Identify and record what one of the issues is and then rewrite the thesis statement as a comment on the post. You may choose to analyze and improve one of the already improved versions from others' comments. Remember what a good thesis statement is and does: what*how*so what, no ambiguity, accurate to novel, arguable, reveals some new understanding, etc.

2. On your own blog post your topic and 15 quotes that connect to your topic (these quotes can connect thematically or by technique). Once collected and analyzed, write a thesis statement.

3. Bring your thesis statement to class. (I may give you writing time during the week so it would also be wise to print out the quotes you collected and bring those.)

Camus expresses suffering through the ability to lose what is valued.

Camus uses the repetition of contrast between black and white to show conflict between what is socially acceptable and what is personally desired.

Camus uses similes and metaphors with a negative connotation to illustrate Meursault's desire to make everything seem concrete instead of dealing with emotions.

Through the motif of Marie's white clothing, Camus explores the idea of abstract concepts stem from physical experiences.

Camus uses actions to describe and characterize characters instead of using direct description to illustrate the importance of actions in comparison to the person someone plays themself up to be, in reference to the judgement of character and morals.

In Albert Camus' The Stranger, the use of sparse intellectual language demonstrates Mersault's clear intentions and emotions.

Camus uses the repetition of indulgences to escape from societies expectations.

The Stranger: March 10

Read chapters 3 and 4

Journal #6 Post 5 significant literary questions on The Stranger. The more authentic these are (i.e. questions you really have been pondering) the more insightful the answers will have to be. These questions should not be directed toward a right or wrong answer; rather, it should lead to personal interpretation of the text. You can revise a few of the questions you wrote for chapter six to include concepts from the entire book.

Comment on at least five of your peers' blogs with an answer to one or two of their questions. Make your answers genuine and relevant. These answers should sound like a thesis statement. Remember the goal is to help you write a strong and insightful paper, so treat this assignment as preparation to do so.

Go back and edit your last post by copying and pasting the comments you left on other blogs onto your post.

The Stranger: March 4

Read chapters 4 and 5

Journal #3: Personal Philosophy

You will demonstrate your understanding of the importance of one's world view by scrutinizing your thoughts on how the world works and indentifying guiding principles for your own philosophy.

establishes and introduces your philosophy

i. Give it a name

ii. It should connect to your principles

iii. Be creative

iv. Make it meaningful

Identify seven to ten guiding principles

i. These should be clear and thoughtful – no clichés

ii. These can be in bullet form and should be short and concise.

Explain from where your principle developed

iv. Clear explanation of why you find the principle important

The Stranger: March 3

Read Chapter 3

The title, L'Etranger, is often translated as The Stranger, The Foreigner, and The Outsider. E'tranger can also mean "foreign", "overseas", "unknown", "extraneous", "outsider", "stranger", "alien", "unconnected", and "irrelevant".

Journal #2: Part one: According to your work today in class, which translator would you argue has the most literary value and why? What elements of the text are you valuing by the decision you made?

Part two: According to the above meanings for the work "e'tranger", what title would you assign the English translation of the text and why. Go as far as to cite specific examples from the book that support your decision.

The Stranger: March 1

*Remember to push beyond your initial assumptions and impressions while reading The Stranger.

1. Read Chapter 2 (it is short so slow your reading down and notice the subtleties and alternate conclusions to your initial reactions)

2. Journal #1: If needed, redo last nights journal by explaining your plan for tabbing. Identify specific themes or motifs or whatever your are going to focus on. Push your tabbing so that it will yield insights rather than summary or obvious conclusions.

3. Rough draft of pastiche due tomorrow.