Diverse Voices in Southern Lit

Site for students in my Diverse Voices in Southern Literature course.

Tuesday, May 2

Here are a few tips about how to approach the final exam.

When reviewing the texts since the midterm:

Think about connections across texts; identify overlapping themes, significant contrasts

Try to identify the most important passages in each text, ones that are good examples of the author’s style or convey an important idea in the work. These would be good passages to quote from and analyze.

Consider themes and characters from the perspective of the author—what is the author’s message, and what choices does he or she make to communicate this message to the audience?

Think about the key themes and ideas introduced earlier in the semester. How do our readings from the second half of the course develop those themes? Do you see new themes emerge in these later readings?

When writing your essay:

Don’t summarize plots; instead focus on answering the question by presenting your own ideas about the text using passages and/or specific examples to illustrate your answer.

Quote but quote selectively. Don’t include long passages if you aren’t really offering your own analysis of those passages. And never quote as a way of recapping plot.

Don’t rephrase my question in your intro; instead use your introduction to give a sense of how you plan on answering the question

As a rule of thumb, you should plan on writing at least a couple of bluebook pages per text (and more would probably be better). If you end up with only 4-5 pages, this is a sign that you haven’t answered the question as well as you could and that you need to say more.

Good luck and let me know if you have questions about the material (not exam format) as you prepare.

Saturday, April 29

Friday Announcements

In case you missed class on Friday, here are the announcements I made:

Your blog post next week will count for 2 percent of the blog grade (vs. the usual 1 percent). You need not comment this week, just be sure to post by the usual deadline (and make it a good one!)

I will calculate class participation grades after class ends 5/3, and get them up on Blackboard ASAP. You will receive a grade for your contributions, preparedness, in class writing and group work, less 1 point per absence over 4 absences.

The format of the final will resemble that of the midterm. While I expect your essays to reflect a knowledge of the main ideas of the course, you are only responsible for the readings since the midterm. The exam will be open book, but no notes.

Saturday, April 22

Allison novel, final exam times

Here's the reading schedule for Bastard Out of Carolina:

Weds. 4/26 pp. 1-91 (chap. 1-6)
Fri. 4/28 pp. 92-152 (chap. 7-10)
Mon. 5/1 pp. 153-231 (chap. 11-16)
Weds. 5/3 pp. 232-end (chap. 17-end)

Also, note the times for the final exam if you haven't already:

Sect 04 Tues, 5/9 8 am-10:30 am
Sect 05 Tues, 5/9 10:45 am-1:15 pm

Wednesday, April 12

Dickey Readings

As mentioned in class today, we'll go back to "Revelation" after the Easter break, so refresh your memory about that text for next Weds., 4/19.

For our classes on Fri. 4/21 and Mon. 4/24, we'll be reading a selection of poems by James Dickey, which I handed out as a packet today. Here are the "pre-reading" questions to help generate some insight into Dickey's poetry:

1) Try to identify the tone of each poem. Which poems are intense, urgent? Which ones are more contemplative?

2) Which ideas and images get repeated throughout the selection of poems?

3) For each poem, underline some phrases that strike you as unique and arrest your attention. How does the poet's choice of words convey an emotional or intellectual effect?

4) Characterize the relationship between human beings, animals, and nature in these poems.

Sunday, March 12

Important reminders

Remember that you will need to submit the prospectus for your project by 3/22. As indicated in the assignment, this must be be typed and should include a paragraph describing your approach to the topic, what you have uncovered so far, and some of the main ideas you'll address. It also must include a preliminary bibliography. One more thing that you need to do, as we discussed in our last class (section 4, we didn't get to this because we were so rushed by the delay), is include a paragraph describing the PROCESS of your library research. Which databases did you use, which search terms did you use, and what articles/books did you find? Keep track of this as you do your research and detail this in your prospectus.

Please note that the prospectus step is mandatory and that you will lose points from your final grade if it is not submitted on time. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or need guidance. I'm happy to offer feedback.

Also, to help you keep up with the evaluation of your blogs, I have posted the blog grades up to this point in your gradebook on BlackBoard. As your syllabus indicates, you are graded on both completing the entire assignment, including both posts and comments, and also on the quality of your work. If you posted without commenting, or commented without posting, I gave you partial credit, up to 50%. Obviously, a pattern of completing only half the assignment will become problematic if you continue it throughout the semester. Another problem for some people is a pattern of only posting sporadically.

Luckily, there are 8 more weeks for blogging; while there's no way to make up for weeks that you didn't complete the work, you can still claim the credit for upcoming weeks.

Monday, February 27

Upcoming blog posts

Remember that you do need to post a blog entry for this week by the usual time. However, you do not need to post during the winter break. The next deadline after that will be 3/15, at the usual time.

Thursday, February 23

More on Blogs

Just finished reviewing your blogs, and wanted to comment on a few that stood out as good examples of what works in the posts. Remember, while I don't expect you to write a novel or anything, I am looking for a certain level of depth and engagement with the text. A good example of this is Kevin's post for this week (BigKev, 04) on "Go, Down Moses." Tina (04) also offers in-depth analysis this week, as well as graphics and links. Lisa (05) makes a good connection between Porter and Faulkner and reiterates an excellent point raised by Tenesha (05) in a recent class (regarding whether or not an author can depict another race or gender accurately and fairly). Finally, Rae (Down to Earth, too 04) also makes a fascinating critique of Faulkner's depictions of women, which reflects a unique take on the text. All of these examples build on class discussion but offer new ideas that take our conversation in different directions.