Lydgate

I find myself a newcomer to a future dystopia. Everybody else around seems to have been there a while and to know how everything works, but I have no idea. I learn quickly that the only jobs to be had are in malls and the only travel is by bus. But in this dystopia, all the malls are in gothic-looking university-type building complexes. I'm lucky because I land a job at H&M.

Here are the tables of contents for the Norton anthologies of British and American Literature. Be sure to print them out and bring them to our first class meeting of the new semester. (It wouldn't hurt to read through them first either.)

Download file

Download file

Download file

During the first week of class, you will sign up to create study guides for two of the following topics. You must sign up for two topics. You'll post the guides on the blogs on the dates indicated on the spring syllabus.

Instructions

The guides should contain the following:

• A 1 – 2 page summary of the major themes, issues, and questions associated with
the period, author, or genre
• A list of significant works that are likely to show up on the exam
• A bibliography of materials (print and online) you consulted in order to prepare
your guide (in MLA style)

The challenge in creating these guides will be boiling down a vast amount of material and ideas into a one-page guide that will be helpful to others as they study for the exam. I will be evaluating the guides on the following criteria:

• Accuracy: Is the information in the guide relevant and gleaned from trustworthy
sources?
• Efficiency: Does the guide strike a productive balance between thoroughness and
concision?
• Readability: Is the writing clear and digestible?
• Insight: How well does the guide sum up the themes, forms, questions, and ideas
that characterize a given period, genre, or author?

You may want to choose topics because you’re already familiar with them, or because you want or need to learn more. (One of each isn’t a bad idea.)

See below for a list of the literary periods, genres, and authors you'll be choosing from when you sign up to create your two guides. See the next entry for tables of contents for the Norton anthologies of British and American literature.

Hi everybody. I want to show you how you can post videos from YouTube--like this scene from Waking Life--to your blogs.

This scene is animated by Divya Srinivasan, a great animator/illustrator from Austin, Texas.

Just open the video in YouTube, cut the code from the "Embed" box next to it on the right, and paste it into your entry. It's that easy. (It's so easy that it might be easy to get carried away. Just be sure that if you post videos that they're relevant.)