No More Class Meetings Left!

No More Class Meetings Left!

Grades will be on Myecc next week.

LAST TWO CLASSES!!

April 18 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-300

April 20  Final Paper due--1141 in the red Area from 1130-330

Last Few Classes

April 13 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-330

April 18 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-330

April 20  Final Paper due--1141 in the red Area from 1130-330

Final Essay and NO CLASS WEDNESDAY APRIL 6TH

NO CLASS WEDNESDAY APRIL 6

ENG 215  FINAL PAPER

USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES (NOT INCLUDING THE TEXT!) AND QUOTE THE PRIMARY TEXTS AS WELL.

Refer to the class blog for outside source info: http://eng215spring2016.blogspot.com/

ONLY RELIABLE SOURCES!

HAND IN A HARD COPY AND EMAIL A COPY TO: engpapers215@gmail.com--SO IT IS EASIER FOR ME TO CHECK FOR PLAGAIRISM—ANY FORM OF PLAGAIRISM WILL RESULT IN A FAILURE FOR THE PAPER.

APRIL 13 and/or 18 BRING DRAFTS TO MY OFFICE 1141

APRIL 20 FINAL PAPER DUE (NO LATE PAPERS)

Paper #3-- must use 2 outside sources, works cited page and be 3 pages.

Pick ONE of the essay topics below for your paper.

A Lesson Before Dying

1)      Education is very important in this novel, both its attainment and the lack of it. Tante Lou continually refers to Grant as “the teacher.” The other men call him “Professor.” Yet Grant hates teaching, echoing the feelings of his own teacher, Matthew Antoine. Contrast the opinions of education presented in this novel. Why do some seek it and others consider it a burden? What role does it play in the characters’ lives and the life of the community?

2)      We talked about human rights, social justice and the relationship between injustice and self-esteem in the first class about this novel. Write an essay that discusses how the novel explores these themes.

3)      Reread the description of Vivian from Chapter 4 and the passage in Chapter 15 about Vivian’s marriage. What was the cause of conflict between Vivian and her family over her marriage? What causes the conflict between Vivian and Tante Lou over her relationship with Grant?

4)      Paul earns Grant’s respect through his treatment of Jefferson and his visitors. How is Paul different from the other jail keepers? How do his actions at the end of Jefferson’s life demonstrate Paul’s goodness? Why might he have chosen to attend the execution even though it was not part of his job/

5)      Symbolism is important in this story as it is in many stories. Pick two or three symbols from the novel and explain the role it plays and its significance. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

6)      Compare Rev. Ambrose and Grant’s approach to helping Jefferson. What did they disagree about? How did each man defend his beliefs? Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

 

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God

1)    After years of polite submission to her male counterparts, Janie gains her voice in Chapters 7 and 8. Prior to her defiance of Joe, Janie observes the way Daisy, Mrs. Bogle, and Mrs. Robbins are treated by the men. For this essay describe how each woman is treated in the novel.

2)    What happens to Janie after “she tore off [her] kerchief... and let down her plentiful hair” (Chapter 8)? How does her hair reflect her womanhood? How does she change when we see her take off the kerchief?

3)    Janie finds herself in two marriages with men that greatly differ from each other. These two men go by the names of Joe Starks and Vergile “Tea Cake” Woods. They both have very different impacts on Janie’s path to achieve her life goals. Compare and contrast the two characters.

4)    The hurricane makes the characters question who they are and what their place in the universe is. How would you explain this idea?

5)    How has Nanny’s experience as a slave stamped her worldview with a strong concern for financial security, respectability, and upward mobility? What is she most concerned about when it comes to Janie?

Notes 3/30

1) At the end of Chapter 12, Vivian offers to Grant an explanation of his not "running away." Is her explanation just? What does her explanation reveal about her and about her understanding of Grant and of his situation?

Vivian as a grounding or reality check for Grant.

2)Despite his agnostic (a questioning of the existence of God) beliefs, what ‘conversion’ process does he undergo as he visits Jefferson?

“From Grant's initial point of view, one of the "flawed" aspects of his history is the dependence of African-American society on Christianity. Grant's conflict between religion and secular humanism, reaching back to his adolescent rejection of the church, repeats a familiar situation in Gaines's work, but in this novel there is more understanding of the function of Christianity within social community and a warning concerning the social, if not spiritual, consequences of its repression” (http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html).

“The conflict between Grant and Rev. Ambrose is symbolized by the radio that Grant brings Jefferson. Characterized as a "sin box" by Rev. Ambrose, the radio is viewed as merely "company" by Grant. At first Jefferson plays the "sin box" loudly enough to distract his mind from what Rev. Ambrose and Miss Emma are trying to do for him, but finally the radio, while still playing the night before his execution, is muted. As Grant increasingly reconciles with Rev. Ambrose, and as Grant's new influence is felt by Jefferson, the radio continues to play but ceases to be a distraction” (http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html).

3)What does Rev. Ambrose mean when he tells Grant that he is the educated one and Grant is the “gump”?

What is the relationship of educated vs religious? Enlightened vs educated?

4) In Chapter 19 why does Grant become depressed? What does he think about during the Christmas program about the town?

5) How could Jefferson be a “Christ” like figure in this story?

What does it mean to be a “Christ” like figure?

A Christ figure, also known as a Christ-Image is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus. More loosely, the Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.

http://www.laguardia.edu/lesson/students.html

“Developing his metaphor of education, Gaines employs the idea of the "teacher who must learn." Grant Wiggins, the central consciousness in A Lesson Before Dying, is an elementary school teacher in the fictional Bayonne, Louisiana.”

More on A Lesson Before Dying

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910622/Auger_A_Lesson_About_Manhood.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910625/Brown_Writing_for_Life.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910640/Doyle_Erasure_and_Identity.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910629/Gaines_Writing_A_Lesson_Before_Dying.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910632/Hebert-Leiter_A_Breed_between.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910632/Hebert-Leiter_A_Breed_between.pdf

http://louisiana.libguides.com/content.php?pid=430457&sid=4249210

Extra Credit Chance

If you attend the above event and write a one page reaction--I will give you extra credit for the final paper.