THE GREAT AMERICAN PARADOX DAY 1

Transcription

1 THE GREAT AMERICAN PARADOX DAY 1

2 WARM-UP 11/7/16 Turn in Short Story Projects to the front Pick a lesson/theme/idea from one of the short stories you read and explain how it s relevant to your life right now.

3 SOCIETY VS. SELF Remember the purpose of the short stories was to see: The shift from Puritan to Transcendental Gothic and Transcendental elements in action Exploration of life ideas/themes/lessons by different authors The main frame being: The Great American Paradox Are people good or bad? Can they be trusted to stand on their own? Or should they stick with society?

4 RECOGNIZING THE GREAT AMERICAN PARADOX Pay attention to: Light & Shadow Nature Trembling/signs of emotion The characters/author will be trying to decide: Write this down! How do individuals fit into their society? Should they follow their own heart or what they ve been taught? Should self-reliant actions be judged or praised?

5 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE S CONFLICT Hawthorne = descended from the judge in The Crucible Born in Salem & came from Puritan heritage BUT also bros with Emerson and hung out with Transcendentalists He wrote about BOTH SIDES of the paradox Where did you see that in The Minister s Black Veil, Dr. Heideggar s Experiment, or The Artist of the Beautiful?

6 HAWTHORNE PASSAGES Take 5 minutes: Read the passage from Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter Use the skills you just practiced with the Short Stories Find a partner who read THE SAME passage as you Discuss each question, and write the response on your own paper Your overall goal is to decide: What is this passage saying about the Great American Paradox?

7 THE PRISON DOOR & THE ROSEBUSH (THESIS) This rosebush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history Finding it so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal [prison door], we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow. (Hawhtorne 42)

8 THE SHAME & THE SUNSHINE (DECLARATION) Never, never! whispered she. What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other! Hast thou forgotten it? Hush, Hester! said Arthur Dimmesdale, rising from the ground. No! I have not forgotten! So they lingered an instant longer. No golden light had ever been so precious as the gloom of this dark forest. Here, seen only by his eyes, the scarlet letter need not burn into the bosom of the fallen woman! Here, seen only by her eyes, Arthur Dimmesdale, false to God and man, might be, for one moment, true! (Hawthorne )

9 THE GRAVE & THE SHIELD (CONCLUSION) It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both on this simple slab of slate there appeared the semblance of an engraved escutcheon. It bore a device, a herald s wording of which might serve for a motto and brief description of our now concluded legend; so somber is it, and relieved only by one ever glowing point of light gloomier than shadow: On a field, sable, the letter A, gules. (Hawhtorne 240)

10 CONTINUE TO NOTICE Nature/The forest/the wilderness Feelings toward unknown, unsettled, natural places can shift Sometimes seen with uncertainty, reverence, or hopeful possibility Plot to Till Find something (job, calling, etc.) that is uniquely your own Then, act upon it. Work hard for it.

11 POETIC EXPRESSION DAY 2

12 WARM-UP 11/8/17 Word: pioneer Define: What does it mean? What do they do? What do you associate with pioneers?

13 TRANSCENDENTALIST WRITING As smart philosophical people, they wrote a lot! Essays ( Self-Reliance ) Novels (The Scarlet Letter) Short Stories (what you just read) Poetry Popular with the European Romantics. But, of course, as Americans they had to find unique ways to make the genre their own.

14 PARENTS OF POETRY Write this down! MOTHER OF AMERICAN POETRY Emily Dickinson Influenced by Puritan New England home and intellectual family Used poetry to make emotional connections FATHER OF AMERICAN POETRY Walt Whitman Influenced by work in publishing and newspapers Used poetry to explore issues of life and morality

15 10. I DIED FOR BEAUTY (1862) EMILY DICKINSON I DIED for beauty, but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room. He questioned softly why I failed? 5 For beauty, I replied. And I for truth, the two are one; We brethren are, he said. And so, as kinsmen met a night, We talked between the rooms, 10 Until the moss had reached our lips, And covered up our names. Tips for Reading Poetry: Read it aloud to hear the rhythm Follow punctuation, not line breaks Look up unfamiliar words Sometimes poets shift word order

16 I HEAR AMERICA SINGING (1860) WALT WHITMAN I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter s song, the ploughboy s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

17 PIONEERS! O PIONEERS! (1865) WALT WHITMAN What is a pioneer? Someone who is among the first to explore a new area (of land or knowledge) What was happening in America in the 1860s? Who might Whitman be writing to? Or what is he writing about? President Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War ( ), slavery and reconstruction But also the Pony Express (1860), the Transcontinental Railroad (1869), addition of territories and states (Nebraska 1867)

18 PIONEERS! O PIONEERS! (1865) WALT WHITMAN 1. Read your stanzas of the poem 2. Look up any unfamiliar words 3. Interpret: a. Who is Whitman talking to or about? b. What are they doing? c. What might this suggest about America at this time? 4. Be ready to share!

19 WHO/WHAT IS WHITMAN TALKING ABOUT? Go forward, leave the past behind The youth are the ones traveling west We need to move past the stories and comforts of the old world As they travel, they conquer nature BUT, it isn t an easy journey Country shares division and unity Have suffered from war and are more spread out than before BUT, share connection as people and as a country

20 MANIFEST DESTINY

21 WHAT CAUSES CHANGE? Why did the Puritan beliefs die down? Realization of community flaws after the Witch Trials Spread of new ideas through Public Education and Trade What might cause Transcendentalists to question their beliefs? What would challenge their ideas about human goodness? Through exploration, what might they learn about nature?

22 CIVIL WAR DAY 3

23 WARM-UP 11/9/17 Tomorrow you ll do the ACT Reading What questions do you have about the Reading section? How confident do you feel? What are you nervous about? Is there anything I can do to help before next week?

24 TO THE LIBRARY! We re going to check out a book now so we don t disrupt the ACT testing Ask for The Yellow Wallpaper for Ms. Kenyon s class PLEASE be quiet and move through as quickly as possible When back: Put away the books & get out your English notebook

25 END OF TRANSCENDENTALISM Write this down! Civil War = people can do terrible things to each other What does this show about human nature and experience? Expansion West = nature can be harsh and scary With a spread-out population, what does this mean for the unity of America?

26 A LITTLE BACKGROUND How do we understand it? Was it really so bad?

27 QUESTIONS OF AMERICAN CHARACTER Were the states truly united or just cooperating? Who had more power: state governments or federal government? Should slavery be extended into western territories? Was it fair for the North to judge the South when the North wasn t economically dependent on slave labor? Was it fair for the South to enslave thousands of people to propel their economy? Were all men truly created equal?

28 NO LONGER INTRINSICALLY GOOD The United States was absolutely traumatized by the Civil War Men watched brothers and neighbors die Women assisted in blood-stained hospitals Parents waited for children who never came home Yet again Americans questioned their identity as a country Were they truly united? What would they find in the unknown territories? How could they handle the harsh realities of life?

29 WHAT COMES NEXT?

30 REALISM ( ) Write this down! A Literary Technique "Faithful representation of reality (A Handbook to Literature 428) Realists focus on the here and now, the provable, the immediate action, and the consequences of said actions

31 REALISM Realism Naturalism Regionalism Realism, Naturalism and Regionalism are their own literary genres, but they share characteristics of realism.

32 CAUSES Rapid growth in U.S. Added area through territories and states Expanding population due to immigration Increasing rates of democracy and literacy Education and free-thinking Growth of industrialization and urbanization Rise in middle class affluence

33 MORE CHARACTERISTICS Write this down! Stories are usually plausible Feels like they could happen Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real Aim for objectivity Present life in honest way WHILE ALSO making a criticism about society

34 CHARACTERISTICS Write this down! Characters are more important than action or plot Face complex ethical choices Social Class: focus on the lives and ambitions of rising middle-class Dialogue is Natural Vernacular Language is how people talk in their everyday lives Why there are 6 dialects in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

35 BASICALLY Instead of exploring ideal thoughts and the goodness of life Realism writers began digging into the harsh realities of the world Characteristics of different regions Man vs. Wild in unknown territories The tedium and toil of everyday living

36 THE YELLOW WALLPAPER Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman Published: 1892 Location: Connecticut & Rhode Island Online version: nder/wallpaper.html

37 THE YELLOW WALLPAPER Reading & notes due Monday Nov 13 Look for while you read: Psychology What is going on with the narrator? Relationships between narrator & others The room details, especially the Wallpaper

38 REGIONALISM DAY 4

39 WARM-UP 11/10/17 What do you consider to be your home? Is it Papillion or Omaha? Is it somewhere else? Are you still looking for it?

40 REGIONALISM Write this down! Type of Realism As the U.S. spread out: Ideas about how regions were different while still connected together In literature: Desire to express what made a region unique Way to portray shared characteristics or values

41 WRITING TECHNIQUES Write this down! Use of dialect to establish credibility and authenticity Characters sound like they re from that place Use of highly detailed description Paints a true picture of the region, down to the smallest detail (Sometimes) use of frame story = story within a story Narrator hears some tale of the region Part of what we read is the storyteller passing on the tale

42 LET S BRAINSTORM Stereotypes aren t problematic because they re totally wrong, but because they re incomplete. They may have elements of truth. So let s think about: If you applied for a job in New York City, and they read your background on your resume, what might they assume about you? What do you think of when you think of the east coast? What about the south?

43 BASICALLY Characteristics MAY BE shared, but they don t have to be We re speaking generally, not absolute truths for every person Both positive and negative traits and assumptions in every region One isn t better or worse Think about what makes a certain place or type of experience unique