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Welcome to ENG 4UI!

 

 

Scroll down for Long Day's literary essay assignment!!

 

Welcome to Grade 12 University English.  I look forward to getting to know you this semester.

 

 

The course is divided into six units of study.  Please organize your binder into six distinct sections accordingly.  Under the description of each unit,

you will find links to reference materials or assignments.  

 

In an effort to reduce paper use, I will use this wiki as my primary tool for out-of-classroom communication with you. While we will refer to overheads of assignments and reference materials in class, rather than hand them out for you to place in your binder and promptly forget about or lose, I will post them on the wiki.  You can access them at any time for reference.

 

MLA format:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

 

Unit One:  Prose

               developing a sense of the value of writing will be a focus as we complete close readings of a number of essays and short non-fiction pieces.  

               With a better understanding of the rhetorical strategies essayists use students will be better able to craft their own informal essays.

               These essays, as well as a major prose test, will be the major evaluations for this unit.  This unit will be worth 20% of your final grade:

               10% for the prose test and 10% for your major informal prose essay.

 

As practice for the informal essay and to work on creating TONE, please complete the following paragraph assignment: paragraph tone assignment.doc  This assignment will be due Friday, February 12th!  The paragraph will be graded according to the rubric here: Informal Essay Rubric.doc

 

               Education Debate Informal Essay Assignment:  informal essay.doc

 

               Horror/Consumer culture Essay:  informal essay horror.doc 

 

              Informal Narrative Essay Assignment:  4U informal essay asst Narrative.doc

 

 

 

Unit Two:  Long Day's Journey Into Night

 

               Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical work A Long Day's Journey Into Night provides students with an introduction to modern American drama.  Considered one of the most important American playwrights in the Twentieth Centrury, O'Neill offers a riveting view into what it means to be a family, and into the space between our visions of ourselves and our reality.  

 

 

Long Day's Journey into Night Research essay assignment.

 

Using a minimum of two literary secondary sources, you will write a 750 word literary analysis of Long Day's Journey Into Night.  For your essay, you may choose one of the following topics:

 

1. What does O'Neill suggest about forgiving and forgetting as a way to heal from past wounds? Why can't the characters forgive one another? In your response, you may focus on all four Tyrones or narrow your discussion to one or two. 

 

2. All four Tyrones avoid the truth. When they begin to reveal their genuine thoughts and feelings, they backpedal and repudiate their statements and sentiments. Why do they avoid truth? What impact does this avoidance have on the characters in the play.

 

3. On the surface, the Tyrones have achieved the American Dream -- the poor Irish immigrant turned actor can now afford a summer home and servants. What does O'Neill reveal in the underbelly of the American Dream? Place your reading of the novel in a social context -- how is O'Neill's portrayal of his family's tragedy a reflection of what he sees in America?

 

Step One:  GO THROUGH THE PLAY, and SEEK THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION. Take notes related to the question and develop a "working thesis." You will be given one class period for this purpose.  Please submit the process work -- notes and working thesis along with the essay.

 

Step Two: FIND SECONDARY SOURCES, READ THEM, & TAKE NOTES. These notes will also be submitted with the essay

 

You will find literary secondary sources by searching for them through BCI's virtual library. Go to the school's website, student resources, library, virtual library. The user id. is: wrdsbvl and the password is: learn

 

Go to secondary by subject, click on literary reference centre, and then search for O'Neill Long Day's Journey Into Night

 

Be sure to spell his name (including the apostrophe) correctly. Please don't tell me you couldn't find anything -- I know they're there. There are three particularly useful articles.

 

DON'T TRY TO FIND ARTICLES ON YOUR TOPIC! YOU WILL FIND ARTICLES ABOUT THE PLAY, READ THEM, TRY TO UNDERSTAND THEM, AND TAKE ELEMENTS THAT HELP YOU TO SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT!  If your essay is about symbolism, for example, the article on Kierkegaard might seem irrelevant, but browsing through the article briefly will show you that it does, in fact, contain information pertaining to your topic.

 

Step Three:  Develop a thesis. Remember to ask yourself:  is it Arguable, Provable and Worth Proving?  Write an outline for the essay that includes the thesis, plan of development, topic sentence for each paragraph, quotations from the play to support each argument (about two per argument is standard at this level), and at least one quotation from at least two secondary sources (two secondary source quotations in total).

 

Step Four: shorten the quotations -- Using the "How to Quote" handout, shorten your quotations. You have a lot of material to get through in a relatively short space in this essay. Quotations should be pared down to the absolute essentials -- keep them short so you have more room to explain their significance. Your words and ideas need to dominate your paper. 

 

Step Five:  Rough Copy -- due Monday, April 12th. 

 

Step Six:  Works Cited (be sure to include the play as well as your secondary sources.  Follow proper MLA format, please.

 

 

http://web.ebscohost.com/lrc/results?vid=5&hid=102&sid=9ded2e2c-0bf3-4825-b51f-81b4495dc6f3%40sessionmgr114&bquery=(o'neill+AND+long+AND+day's+AND+journey+AND+into+AND+night)&bdata=JmRiPWxraCZ0eXBlPTAmc2l0ZT1scmMtcGx1cw%3d%3d#2

 

 

 

 

 

Unit Three:  Independent Study

               As part of the course, you will complete and submit a polished research essay.  Starting early in the term, you will choose a novel (subject to

                my approval) and begin reading independently.  The project will be marked in stages, with the final product a literary research essay using

               at least two academic secondary sources and following MLA format.  This project is worth 15% of your final mark:  

               10% for the essay and 5% for process.  

 

               The assignment sheet for your ISU can be found here: ISU assignment sheet.doc 

               The questions for ISU process to help lead you toward a topic and thesis are here:  ISU process

 

               Please make note of the following due dates:

 

  • novel selection due: Tuesday, February 23rd.
  • secondary sources list due: Tuesday, March 2nd.
  • reading comprehension test:  Tuesday, March 23rd.
  • thesis process questions: Tuesday, March 30th
  •  Student-teacher conferences:   Monday, May 3rd
  • Annotated bibliography:  Monday, April 12th 
  • ISU outline:  Tuesday, May 11th.
  • Peer Edit:  Wednesday, May 26th.
  • Final Essay Due Date:  Tuesday, June 1st.

 

 

               If you are absent for any foreseeable reason on any of the due dates, please make arrangements with me BEFORE your absence.

 

 

Unit Four:  Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

A renowned novel by prominent Canadian writer Robertson Davies, Fifth Business allows us to delve into history, psychology, mythology and many other inspiring fields of study.  Students will complete daily reading at home, followed by comprehension quizzes in class.  Your summative assignment in this unit, an in-class essay, is worth 10% of your final grade. Here is the reading schedule for this novelFifth Business Reading Schedule Fall 2009.doc

 

 

Unit Five:  Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet is widely considered one of Shakespeare's most important plays.  Through this play, we will investigate what it means to be human, and how one can be good and make moral decisions in a world that can be corrupt and reward immorality. 

 

Course Evaluation:

                                                       Prose test -- 10%

                                                       Prose Informal Essay -- 10%

                                                       Drama Summatives -- 10%

                                                       Independent Study -- 15%

                                                       Novel Summative -- 10%

                                                       Classwork -- 15%

                                                       Exam -- 30%

 

Student Responsibilities:

Attendance and Punctuality:  As senior students, the responsibility for being in class every day and on time falls into your hands. You must catch up on missed work, assignments and due dates if you are absent.  Refer to the "missed class binder" at the front of the room.  All handouts and due dates will be available in that binder.  Exchange phone numbers and email addresses with a responsible student in the class.  Contact that person to find out what you missed and to catch up before you return to class whenever possible. 

 

Deadlines:  all students are responsible for carefully managing their own time.  Due dates are posted in the classroom on the homework board and on this wiki.  If you know in advance that submitting an assignment on time will cause you great stress, let me know and we can arrange an extension.  You must let me know at least one week before the assignment deadline.  The only assignment for which an extension is not possible is the final due date of the ISU.  If you do not make alternate arrangements and do not submit an essay on time, your assignment will be subject to the department's late policy of a 5% deduction per day (including Saturday and Sunday) to a maximum of 20%.  You may submit assignments after the due date until they are marked and returned to the class, after which your missed assignment will be assigned a grade of 0 (zero). 

 

Plagiarism:  Be sure to recognize the work of others in your own research and writing.  Cite all sources appropriately and be sure to seek assistance if you are unsure about what to cite.  A project that has been copied from another source will receive a grade of zero and will be referred to the office.

 

Staying in touch... Please meet with me if you need assistance with your work or have questions about our studies or assignments.  I am available before school every morning, during lunch, and after school, and am likely to be in the classroom (3203) or in the English office.  You are the best advocate for your own learning.  Be sure to seek extra help whenever it's needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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