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.

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

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.