Final Prompt

Dear 20503 Students,

The end of the semester is quickly approaching, and as I'm so very focused on constructing your final exam (and the review) your final prompt escaped me. Please accept my many apologies.

For your final post, please take a moment to reflect on our readings for this semester and choose your favorite. In your blog, tell us why it remains so high in your estimation. What did you like about it? Would you read it again? Would you recommend it to a friend?

Since I was remiss in posting, your blog for today is not due until 5 PM TOMORROW (Thursday). I hope this helps. Happy blogging, and wonderful job this semester!

Gilman and Wharton Prompt

Gilman and Wharton both address the roles of women in American society. In your post, respond to the portrayal of women, the relationships between men and women, or the institution of marriage.

Please remember your post is due Tuesday at 10 AM.

Freeman and Chesnutt Prompt

Your prompt for the Freeman and Chesnutt stories is completely open. I encourage you to post about your own thoughts and feelings while (and after reading). Of course, you'll want to make sure that your post adheres to the guidelines set out in the "Blogging Assignment" handout, but the topic of your post is completely up to you! Happy Blogging!

Chopin Prompt

Chopin explores, among other things, relationships between men and women. She is our first writer to address issues of gender and sexuality explicitly. What are your reactions to her portrayal and discussion of courting, marriage, intimacy, and motherhood?

Remember to use the text as support in your posting. Your post is due by 10 AM.

Twain and Harte Prompt

Twain and Harte are both known for their Regional writing, which is a genre that attempts to paint a portrait of different parts of the country. Many writers of this time attempted to depict "small town" America, focusing on insulated communities that make up the nation.

What are your initial reactions to Twain and Harte? How does the focus on smaller, regional communities change the comments each author makes on the nation? What new things can we learn from a regional perspectives?

Remember to use your the text as evidence in your post. Your posting is due by 10 AM tomorrow.

Davis Prompt

"It's easy to be good when you're not hungry," writes Rebecca Harding Davis in her tale of the desperate poverty of immigrant mill workers at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Davis, a writer known for her use of Realism, critiques the "real life" of American workers.

We've seen our other writers critique humanity. Stowe, Jacobs, and Douglass criticize the institution of slavery, and Poe explores the fragility of the human mind (just to name a few). How is Davis's critique of the average, working American more/less powerful? Davis, like others, is arguing for change-- but what change is she promoting? How do you think this text was received among its contemporaries? Remember to use the text in support of your answers to these questions.

Melville Prompt

Please post on your general reactions to Melville's Benito Cereno, using the text to support your ideas. Also, since I am so woefully late in posting your prompt, you'll have until 5:00 PM tomorrow (Monday) to post on your blog. Happy blogging.

Douglass Prompt

Frederick Douglass, before and after the publication of his narrative, was a popular speaker for the abolition of slavery. He spoke in both America and England, gathering support for the cause and creating a great following. His narrative, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself," was (and sometimes still is) used as a representative example of the experience of slavery. In other words, his narrative painted the most salient portrait of slavery in the minds of many American readers.

In your blog, please discuss the major experiences of slavery according to Douglass. What are, according to Douglass, typical experience? Typical characters? Typical sentiments?

You are welcome, also, to include any cross-over you notice between out other texts this week or today's video.

Jacobs Prompt

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is written in the third-person, providing readers with a somewhat "removed" depiction of slavery. Harriet Jacobs, on the other hand, wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in the first person; Jacobs's narrative is thus more personal and more immediate.

In your blog post, please discuss how the narator's point of view (first person vs. third person) influences how you read each text.

Stowe Prompt

According to literary legend, when Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 he greeted her by saying, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War." He was, of course, referring to Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was a 19th century bestseller.

Some have argued that the novel was so politically and socially influential due to its rhetorical use of sympathy. In other words, the novel was a hit because it moved its readers; the story and characters pulled on readers' heartstrings. They became emotionally connected to the people in the story, recognized similar situations in their own lives, and were this moved to change the status quo of a slavery-based nation.

Do you agree? Can you see evidence that Stowe is purposefully using emotion to move her readers to change? The institution of slavery is terrible in its own right, but can we see signs that Stowe encouraging her readers (mostly white, at this time) to identify with the plight of slavery? Please discuss the above ideas in your post, using the text to support your stance.

Poe Prompt

Gothic fiction is a type of literature that combines terror and romance; it's been called a "pleasing sort of terror." It has strong roots in European literary traditions-- there are usually lots of spooky castles and fog and moats and creepy passage ways in Gothic fiction.

Poe is credited for "Americanizing" the Gothic. America cannot boast the tall castles of Europe, so Poe makes seemingly normal things scary. Animals, places, relationships, and people are all turned into terrifying elements.

In your post, please isolate ONE aspect (a character, a place, an animal, or a relationship) from Poe's short stories and examine, through his language, how exactly he turns the "normal" into "abnormal."

Please remember that your post is due Monday by 10 AM.

Hawthorne Prompt

We read three of Hawthorne's short stories-- "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and "The Birth-Mark"-- all of which promote, in some way, the idea that things are not always as they seem. People are not always as "good" as they appear, family members hide evil thoughts, and our neighbors harbor secret desires. In short, Hawthorne plays with the idea of secrets.

Using evidence and impressions from at least one of the stories, explore Hawthorne's treatment of this intriguing concept of secrets and secret lives. How might the idea that everyone is hiding something have startled or otherwise affected 19th century readers? How does it affect us now? What message do you think Hawthorne is trying to convey in his discussions of a "secret self" that lives just beneath the surface?

Please remember that your posting should have a controlling idea (a main point, sometimes also known as a thesis) and analyze elements of the story to promote and further this controlling idea. Your posting is due Thursday by 10 AM.

Apess and Emerson Prompt

Since we're just beginning to blog, I'm going to leave your first prompt intentionally open-ended. I figure this first blogging opportunity is a good place to try out the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd levels of thinking/analysis that we talked about on Monday, so please let your initial impressions guide your posting. Be sure, however, to include examples/support from the text and take the the time to show us HOW those examples further your ideas.

If you're having trouble coming up with topics or ideas, here are some things to consider:

*What similarities do you see between Apess and Emerson's writing? Can you see any cross-over in their topics? What about their style? Emerson's text was a speech, but Apess's wasn't (though it tends to read like it could be spoken). What meaning can we make of these similarities?

*Both texts discuss the individual rights of citizens, though they seem to have different ideas of who gets to count as a "citizen." How does reading these texts together change our interpretations?

*Finally, Emerson is well known as a major American writer, but Apess is rarely read and even less frequently taught. Why do you think this is?

Please remember to refer to your "Blogging Assignment" hand out for assignment details and grading criteria. Posting is due by 10 AM on Wednesday.

Blog Links Posted

Hi All. If you scroll down on this page, you'll see that I've posted links to all your blogs-- which are excellent! Please take the time to click on your own link, just to make sure everything is in working order. If there are any issues with the technology, just let me know.

Also, remember that you should read and comment on your classmates' blogs (at least 5); length requirements (50 words each) and additional details are listed on your "Blog Assignment" handout. Please do this by 5 PM, Friday.

Finally, if you take the time to poke around our class blog, you'll notice that I've labeled the postings. I do this to help me (and you) keep track of what we've said, where, and some times why. Here's a quick list of the labels and what they mean so that you can keep track as well:

• "Prompts" are questions/topics that you will be required to answer or discuss on your blog. Prompts are usually announced and discussed in class, but a more detailed version/any changes will appear here.
  
• "Posts" are my own responses to some of the prompts or topics. I won't post on every topic, but I'll participate in many of the discussions emerging on the blogs.
  
• "F.Y.I." will be anything interesting (course-related) that might interest you.

We hope this helps. Happy blogging!

Welcome and First Assignment

Your first assignment for this class is to create your own blog using Blogger and to write your first post. Here are the instructions:

[1] Set up your blog: To do so, go to www.blogger.com and follow the on-screen directions for setting up a free blog. Please take some time to personalize your blog. This is a way for your classmates and me to get to know you, so feel free to include a photo, links to other sites you enjoy, etc. Please make sure that your name (first/preferred name and last initial) is clear on your blog. I know that some/many of you already have a blog where you write posts; however, for the purposes of this class, you will need a separate blog that is focused on reflecting on your work in this course. Feel free to provide links to your other blog(s) if you would like to share them with us and with your classmates. Keep in mind, though, that we will post your blog address on the course website, so your class members will have access to your blog. You can restrict general public access to your blog, however, under “Settings” by marking “no” for the question “Add your blog to our listings?”

[2] Write your first entry: Write a letter of introduction about yourself. Start with the basics—where you are from, what year you are at TCU, what major, etc. Then, please include a few more specific things about you and your participation in the course.

*First, help us to get you know you. What brought you to TCU? If you were made Chancellor of TCU, what are the first things you would change? What do you feel makes a good teacher? Good students? If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be? What are three things we should know about you? What are three things you'd like to know about us?

* Next, think about your interest in this course. Why did you choose to take this course? If your answer is simply that it’s required, then what would you like to get out of it?

* Now please consider your academic and personal experiences as they relate to this course. What types of reading do you do, inside and outside the classroom? What types of texts do you enjoy? What types of writing do you primarily do (think beyond traditional school papers to other kinds of writing and technologies, like email, texting, etc.)? How do you feel about your writing? Why?

* Finally, throughout the semester, we’ll discuss the personal, political, and historical arguments/messages inherent in texts—messages that are some times not readily apparent, intended by the author, or easily understood by a contemporary audience. As a first step to uncovering, analyzing, and understanding these messages, take a few minutes to talk about what kind of message you think your blog is sending. Consider choices you made about colors, images, the way you introduce yourself, etc. What do these choices say about you as the blog author? About your participation in the course?

At the end of your letter to your blog audience, please write a final statement letting me know that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course. Remember that all of your blog entries should be in paragraph form.

[3] Follow up: Add a comment to this post that includes your name, section, and blog address (http://____.blogspot.com), so that I can add it to the list on our course page. Also let me know if you have any questions regarding the syllabus or anything discussed in our first meeting of the course.