American Literature .k12.nj.us



American Literature M. D'Antonio

Assignment sheet #2: Transcendentalism/New American Poetry

Each reading / writing assignment is due on the date listed below. Remember that there may be unannounced reading quizzes. Feel free to read ahead, but always review the assigned reading before class. You must bring your text to class with you. The questions that accompany each assignment will guide your reading and prepare you for class discussion.

|October 3 |Finish discussing "The Fall of the House of Usher" |

| |Review Puritanism, American Romanticism, and American Renaissance |

| |Intro to Transcendentalism |

|October 4 |No class - Rosh Hashanah |

|October 5 |Read “Transcendentalism”, “Emerson” biographical information, and Emerson's "Nature" (in packet) |

| |Choose one short passage that you feel captures an important and central theme; highlight it, and be prepared to share|

| |and discuss it. |

|October 7 |No vocabulary quiz |

| |Test on Romanticism, including The Scarlet Letter, poems, and short stories |

|October 10 |Essay for The Scarlet Letter is due via email. |

| |Read excerpts from Emerson's "Self-Reliance" (in packet) |

| |What is your concept of the Self? On a notecard, write down some concepts that define the term “Self” for you. |

|October 11 |Read excerpts from Emerson's "The Over-Soul"(in packet) |

| |On a notecard, briefly describe Emerson's concept of the over-soul. |

|October 12 |No class - SAT's |

|October 14 |Vocabulary quiz #4 [apocryphal - artful] |

| |Introduction to Thoreau and Walden |

| |Read “Thoreau” biographical information and "Economy" in Walden (45-59) |

| |Thoreau writes that “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (50). What does he mean by this? Do you agree |

| |or disagree with this statement? Why? |

|October 17 |Read "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" in Walden (125-143) |

| |Thoreau claims that he “did not wish to live what was not life” (135). What is “not life”? |

|October 18 |Read “Conclusion” in Walden (368-382) |

| |What did Thoreau learn from his “experiment” of living at Walden? |

| |Hand out journal assignment for Walden. |

|October 19 |Read “Civil Disobedience” in Walden (385-413) |

| |According to Thoreau, when is it not only acceptable to commit civil disobedience but essential? |

|October 21 |Vocabulary quiz #5 [artless - banal] |

| |Finish discussing the Transcendentalists |

|October 24 |Introduction to Whitman |

| |Read excerpts 1, 6, 21, 31, 48, 52 from “Song of Myself” in Major American Poets starting on p. 116 |

| |What Transcendental influences do you see in Whitman’s work? |

|October 25 |Read Whitman poems (in packet): “Oneself I Sing”, “I Hear American Singing”, “I Sit and Look Out”, and “A Noiseless |

| |Patient Spider”. |

| |What common themes do these poems share? |

|October 26 |Vocabulary quiz #6 [bastion – burgeon] |

| |Read Whitman poems (in packet): “O Captain! My Captain!” and “Beat, Beat Drums” |

|October 28 |No class - Rufus Gunther Day |

|October 31 |Thoreau journal is due via email |

| |Read Dickinson poems (in packet) |

| |While we are discussing the Dickinson poems in class, you need to read The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass outside|

| |of class and have it done for November 2nd. |

|November 1 |Review Dickinson poems (in packet) |

| |Read The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass |

|November 2 |Introduction to Realism |

| |Discuss Fredrick Douglass |

|November 4 |Vocabulary quiz #7 [cabal – castigate] |

| |Read excerpt from Uncle Tom’s Cabin (handout) |

| |Continue discussing Fredrick Douglass |

|November 7 |No class- Faculty in-service day |

|November 8 |In-class essay on Fredrick Douglass |

| |How does education define and change a man? |

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