Week 07: Moving on to Solzhenitsyn

Tuesday: Poetry Quiz

Today we will briefly look at “Warming Her Pearls” and then take a short poetry skill quiz.

HW: Read and annotate “The Love Poem” for Thursday.  Please also write three thesis statements related to author’s use of rhetorical device to create an effect like the ones we wrote in class today with “Warming Her Pearls”.  

HW: Be ready with your annotations of “Ivan” on Thursday. 

HW: WT#1 RD is due Thursday.  Please have both the task and the rational printed and ready to turn in when you arrive to class Thursday. 

HW: Continue progress on NoRedInk.com and Achieve3000.com activities. 

Thursday: What it is to be a Prisoner

Today we start by looking at the goals/learning outcomes of part three of the course.  These include:

  • Consider the changing historical, cultural and social contexts in which particular texts are written and received.
  • Demonstrate how form, structure and style can not only be seen to influence meaning but can also be influenced by context.
  • Understand the attitudes and values expressed by literary texts and their impact on readers.

Note how these learning outcomes are different than those of part four:

  • Explore literary works in detail.
  • Understand and make appropriate use of literary terms.

What does this mean?  Well, as we looked at CAD, a part four work, we were doing a deep dive into each poem to meet these three learning outcomes.  HOWEVER, as we look at “Ivan” we will have a different focus.  While we will first gain a basic understanding of plot, character, and technique, doing a deep dig in these areas is not our current purpose.  We will also be looking at the context of production and reception, as well as the current reception of the work, to meet the learning outcomes for part four.

After understanding this, we looked at the following article: Book review from 1963 and the original English publication of the text.

We first TAP- text type, audience, and purpose of the author.  Based on that discussion, I asked you to identify biased language within the article and make observations of the possible reason/motivation for the biased language in the text.

HW: In your assigned team (one or two) do the following:

  • Team one– research how RUSSIANS reacted to the text when it was published
  • Team two- research how ENGLISH SPEAKERS (not just Americans) reacted to the text when it was published

After we discussed this, we moved on to the basics of the text.  Groups spent about 30 minutes working together on the SG.

HW: For next class, you need to have the ability to answer question 1-25 in the study guide