How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster

Transcription

1 IB English A: Literature HL 1 (11 th Grade) Mrs. Ritter (Room 571) Summer 2016 Assignment Due on the first day of class in August Assignments: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster 1. Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster. Use the book mark on the next page as an annotation guide. Write a quick summary of the chapter on the last page of each chapter. Your annotated book will be collected and worth points for the class. I highly recommend you purchase your own copy of the book. If you choose to borrow the book, make sure you keep a dialectical journal as you read. 2. Then, read The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield which is printed on pgs in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, and do the exercise on pgs Do not look ahead; simply write a response to the two questions (about a page in length for each, typed, double spaced). Then, read pgs and write another page reflecting on your interpretation of the story in comparison to Foster s (the author) and his students. Bring your annotated book and the work on The Garden Party to class the first day of school. It will be used to open the course of study. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (This text will be used in conjunction with the final for Semester 1. It is very important that you read the entire book and thoroughly complete the assignment.) 1. Print out the attached reading assignment and complete it by hand as you read or record all answers in complete sentences on notebook paper. If you complete it on separate paper, make sure you include all proper headings. 2. Annotate your book using the following color marking system (if you cannot write in your book, use the same color marking system in a dialectical journal). Make sure you write thoughtful responses in the margins next to the highlighted parts. For example, do not simply highlight something in yellow and then write imagery next to it. You should also be writing the effect of the device next to it: a. Blue-characterization b. Pink-symbols c. Green-themes d. Yellow-style (diction, syntax, imagery, detail) If you have any questions feel free to me at michelle.ritter@leusd.k12.ca.us. Happy reading! See you in August!

2 Cut this out in the form of a bookmark and let it help you complete your summer reading: How To Read Literature Like a Professor By Thomas C. Foster doppelganger quest communion vampires succubus sonnet octave sestet aha factor intertextuality flight water baptism irony tragedy Greeks and tragedy archetype deconstruction symbols allegory Shakespeare seasons allusion myth weather (rain in particular) blindness baptism geography how many stories there are disease/illness deformity Christ figure politics lit

3 IB READING ASSIGNMENT: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Here is a short preview of the novel: Southern Baptist missionary Nathan Price brings his wife Orleanna and his four young daughters to the Belgian Congo in 1959, just before its turbulent passage into independence as the state of Zaire. The Prices' stay in the tiny village of Kilanga occasions escalating conflicts of cultures and values. The differences between the social, religious, and political habits of the United States and Africa are a source of both wonder and strife. Orleanna and most of her daughters develop bonds with the people of Kilanga whose dimensions are much deeper than they first realize. At the same time, the family finds itself increasingly at odds with each other. All the women are engaged in a passage to personal identity and independence from Nathan: Orleanna, the dutiful minister's wife; materialistic teenager Rachel; fervent, idealistic Leah, who emulates her father until it is impossible to continue; her brilliant twin sister Adah, who walks with a limp and perceives the world in palindromes; and adventurous five-year-old Ruth May. While all the women are changed by Africa, Nathan becomes more and more zealous in his refusal to change. The novel draws Nathan as a man whose identity has been definitively shaped by a World War II trauma that launches him on a downward psychological spiral from which there is no exit. The novel is broken into seven books, all but the seventh bearing the titles and epigraphs from books of the Hebrew Bible. Within the sections, the story is told as a round robin, with the Price women contributing alternating first-person narrative. The daughters' stories begin in 1959 in Africa and record events as they happen, gradually working their way forward to the 1990s. Their mother, in contrast, tells her story retrospectively, writing from Sanderling Island, Georgia, long after her return from Africa. Nathan is the only family member who never narrates. Introduction: This IB reading assignment is designed to encourage you to read closely and to enjoy the lush prose that Barbara Kingsolver uses to relate the saga of the Price family in her historical novel The Poisonwood Bible. While Reading the novel: Use the Reading Focus box to help you focus on key ideas as you read and annotate each section.

4 Book One: Genesis pp Reading Focus for Book One: Characterization In this section, you learn about the personality of each member of the Price family. As you read, annotate passages that help you understand each character. You will also be introduced to important secondary characters. Identify these characters as you read. There will be a writing assignment about secondary characters. You are strongly encouraged to circle each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. Characterization of the Price Family: You learn specific information about each narrator (mother and four daughters) by what she thinks, what she says, what she does, and what the others say about her. You learn about Nathan by what his wife and daughters reveal about his actions and speech, but you never learn what he is thinking. The following information will add to your understanding of Book One: Allusion: A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. Genesis is an allusion to the first book in the Bible. As you read this section look for beginnings. The okapi is related to the giraffe but has a shorter neck. It is a peculiar-looking animal and is so retiring in nature that it has not been studied to any extent. Malapropism: Rachel uses malapropisms. They are humorous misuses of words. The expression came from the blundering Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard s Sheridan s play The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop created humor for the audience by using words that were not quite correct. Some of Rachel s malapropisms from this section are I took for granite and... gave up the goat. Hemiplegia: a condition affecting one side of a child s body. It is caused by damage to some part of the brain, which may happen before, during, or soon after birth. The most obvious result of hemiplegia is weakness or stiffness and lack of control in the affected side of the body. The child may have little use of one hand, may limp or have poor balance. Some children suffer speech difficulties; others have perceptual problems and learning difficulties. Adah was diagnosed with this condition. Palindrome: is a word, a series of words, or a number that is the same spelled forward or backward. Adah likes to extend her thinking beyond the ordinary. She admits that she is physically disadvantaged but mentally gifted. She wants to stretch herself but keep it a secret by using code language to express herself. Others think it is nonsense, but she and the readers know it is not. Orleanna Price Sanderling Island, Georgia Note: These first few pages are very poetic and differ from the rest of the narrative. They are part of the frame of the novel. A frame is a technique that provides a setting for the main narrative of the novel. The Poisonwood Bible s first and last chapters form a frame. Their importance to the novel will become clear at the very end.

5 What questions do you have after reading the frame (pp. 5 10)? Reader Response: After reading Genesis, identify the characters that follow, then answer the questions. Secondary Characters: Identify each of the following characters. You are strongly encouraged to circle each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. -Axelroot: -Mama Tataba -Methuselah -Brother Fowles -Mama Mwanza -Mama Nguza -Anatole Response Questions: Please answer in complete sentences. 1. How does Kingsolver differentiate among the Price sisters, in terms of their voices (diction/syntax)? 2. What does each sister reveal about herself, the other three sisters, their mother and father, and their lives in Africa? 3. What is the effect of our learning about events and people through the sisters' eyes?

6 Book Two: Revelation Reading Focus for Book Two - The Effect and Impact of Setting: As you read, notice how each member of the Price family and the family dynamics are influenced by the Congo. As you read, annotate passages that show the impact of setting on character development. FOR YOUR INFORMATION: rev e la tion (rµv -l³ sh n) n. 1.a. The act of revealing or disclosing. b. Something revealed, especially a dramatic disclosure of something not previously known or realized. 2. Theology. A manifestation of divine will or truth. Reader Response: After reading Revelation, identify the characters that follow and then answer the questions. New Secondary Characters: Identify each of the following new characters or historical allusions. You are strongly encouraged to circle each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. -Dwight Eisenhower - Jeune Mou-Pro -Patrice Lumumba -Underdowns -Tata Kuvudundu -Nelson -King Leopold -Pascal -Tata Ndu ( Undo ) Developing Secondary Characters: Find a quotation that reveals something about the personality of each of the following continuing characters. Cite page numbers. Axelroot page Mama Tataba page

7 Mama Mwanza page Methuselah page Anatole page Brother Fowles page Response Questions: You need to answer in complete sentences. 1. How is each member of the Price family influenced by the Congo? 2. What do we learn about cultural, social, religious, and other differences between Africa and America? 3. To what degree do Orleanna and each of her daughters come to an understanding of differences between America and Africa?

8 Book Three: The Judges Reading Focus for Book Three - Growth, Change, Awareness of Others: As you read notice growth, development, and change in the Price family (be sure to include Nathan). As you read, annotate sections of the novel that indicate character development. Book Three includes: Orleanna Price Sanderling Island, Georgia The Things We Didn t Know Kilanga, June 30, 1960 Reader Response: After reading The Judges, identify the characters that follow, then answer the questions. Secondary Characters: Identify each of the following new characters. You are strongly encouraged to circle each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. -Celine -Nsgongonya Developing Secondary Characters: How does each of the following character s role and/or personality develop in this section of the novel? -Mama Mwanza -Nelson -Anatole - Mr. Bird -Tata Ndu -Axelroo

9 Response Questions: You need to answer in complete sentences. 1. Why do you suppose that Reverend Nathan Price is not given a voice of his own? 2. Do we learn enough information from Nathan s wife and daughters to formulate an adequate explanation for his beliefs and behavior? Support your opinion. 3.Write a diary entry that captures Nathan s voice as he might reflect on some of the events in this section. 4. What differences and similarities are there among Nathan Price's relationship with his family, Tata Ndu's relationship with his people, and the relationship of the Belgian and American authorities with the Congo?

10 Book Four: Bel and The Serpent Reading Focus for Book Four - Response to Loss: Although a main character s death is the greatest loss in this section, there are other things lost as well, especially for Nathan. We can learn a great deal about the Price family members by focusing on what is lost and how each responds to loss. Annotate examples of loss as you read this section. You may also wish to annotate events in the plot that appear to be foreshadowing. Macrocosm and Microcosm: Macrocosm is the large world or the universe, as opposed to microcosm, the small world, humans and their struggles, showing in a small model what goes on universally or in the larger sphere. This climactic chapter brings together the macrocosm of the large world, the international scene, with the microcosm of the small world, the Price family, as death shatters the dreams of each. The Price family death is only hinted at as fifteen years later the mother recalls the events of that day. When she hears a 1975 news broadcast that the Church Committee is investigating the overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, Orleanna recalls the day that her life changed forever. This leads her to the realization that she and the Congo are forever linked by the tragedies that befell them on that day. To fully appreciate how carefully Barbara Kingsolver has structured her novel, you need to focus on the macrocosm/microcosm parallels developed in this section. New Secondary Characters Chart: Identify each of the following new characters or historical allusions. -Joseph Mobutu -Church Committee (Senator Church) Developing Secondary Characters: How does each of the following character s fictional or historical role and/or personality develop in this section of the novel? -Mama Mwanza -Nelson -Anatole

11 -President Eisenhower -Tata Ndu -Patrice Lumumba Response Questions: Answer question #1 in paragraphs. Create a chart for question #2. 1. This section of the novel is very moving. Discuss your emotional response to this part of the novel and how Kingsolver s writing skills help elicit your response. 2. Create a chart that explores loss as it relates to each member of the Price family. Go beyond the literal, how many ways can you explore the theme of loss?

12 Book Five: Exodus Reading Focus for Book Five - The Effects of Time: As you read this section, focus on details that reveal how the Price family changed (or remained the same) with the passage of time. Annotate sections of the novel that relate to the effect of time on character. Significant Settings Chart: Identify each setting and explain its significance to theme, characterization, or plot. -Bulungu -Johannesburg -Emory University, Atlanta -Mission Notre Dame De Douleur -Kilanga -Biloki Station -Emory Hospital, Atlanta -Kinshasa, Zaire -The Equatorial

13 -Kinvula District, Zaire -Palace at Abomey (How is this setting symbolic?) Secondary Characters Chart: Identify new characters and explain what is learned about familiar ones. You are strongly encouraged to circle each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. -Anatole -Mama Bonanda -Axelroot -Dr. Remile -Soeur Liselin -Daniel, the First Attaché -Mubuto -Pascal, Patrice, Martin-Lothaire

14 -Aunt Elisabet and Christine -Remy Fairley -Underdowns -Mama Mwanza and Tata Ndu -Nathan Response Questions: You must answer in complete sentences. 1. Kingsolver presents the double theme of captivity and freedom. What kinds of captivity and freedom does she explore? Use the entire novel up to this point. Consider Methuselah, and Anatole, as well as the Congolese people and the Price family. 2. How is Nathan s final story ironic? Did you feel he deserved his fate? Why or why not?

15 Book Six: Song of the Three Children Reading Focus for Book Six - Values and Philosophies: As you read this section of the novel each character reveals beliefs and values/philosophy of life. You may wish to annotate these ideas. Reader Response: After reading Song of the Three Children, answer the following questions. You may create a chart to answer this prompt. 1. In Book Six, Adah proclaims, "This is the story I believe in..." What is that story? 2. Describe the philosophies of life of Adah, Leah, and Rachel. Find a quotation that relates to each character s philosophy. Cite the page numbers for quotations.

16 Book Seven: The Eyes in the Trees Reading Focus for the Framing Chapters: Before you read this section, re-read the first chapter of the novel. These two chapters create a frame for the novel. A frame is a narrative structure that provides information about the main narrative in a novel. Highlight and annotate parallel syntax and diction in your text. This annotation is mandatory!! Reader Response: When you have finished Book Seven The Eyes In The Trees, do the reader response questions that follow. 1) Please list any questions you have about the ending of the novel. 2) Explore your overall response to reading the novel.