American Literature Assignment #11

November 27, 2007

1.  Reading:  This week we embark on a journey with Melville—read chapters 44-64.  Summarize each chapter in two or three sentences.  Make a list of at least ten similes and/or metaphors.  Be sure to include page numbers (due Tuesday, November 27).

       

 

2. Vocabulary:

1.  Vacuous:  Lacking intelligence; stupid.

2.  Vehement:  Forceful or intense in expression, emotion, or conviction; fervid.

3.  Vortex:  A spiral motion of fluid, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it towards its center.

4.  Winnow:  To separate the chaff from the grain by means of a current of air.  To examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift.

5.  Wrought:  Put together; created.  Shaped by hammering with tools.

6.  Xenophobe:  A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

7.  Yeoman:  An attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household.

8.  Ziggurat:  A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid with successively receding stories.

9.  Axiom:  A statement universally accepted as true; a statement that needs no proof because its truth is obvious.

10.  Insouciant:  Calm and unbothered; carefree; indifferent.

 

 

3.  Poetry:  Select a poem from our anthology (in sections one and two)—copy it, illuminate it, memorize it to recite to the class, and write a one page response to the poet (due Thursday, November 29).