American Literature Assignment #16

January 21, 2008

1. Reading: We will not begin the reading of our next novel this week—take a deep, fishy breath and slowly exhale. When your fluttering heart recovers, take out your poetry book, open to page 87, and commence reading, aloud if at all possible, with or without an audience. Read and annotate the following poems:

1. “Thanatopsis” page 87

2. “Hamatreya” page 100

3. “The Snowstorm” page 102

4. “Give All to Love” page 106

5. “Concord Hymn” page 118

6. “Telling the Bees” page 127

7. “The Slave Ships” page 137

8. “The Christian Slave” page 141

9. “Yorktown” page 142

10. “A Psalm of Life” age 144

11. “The Wreck of the Hesperus” page 145

12. “The Sound of the Sea” page 152

13. “The Children’s Hour” page 156

14. from “Evangeline” page 162

15. “Hiawatha’s Fasting” page 163

16. “Paul Revere’s Ride” page 171

17. “The Raven” page 185

18. “The Bells” page 191

19. “Annabel Lee” page 198

20. “Ballad of the Oysterman” page 201

21. “The Chambered Nautilus” page 202

22. “Salmon Brook” page 218

23. “My Life Has Been the Poem” page 220

24. “Any Fool Can Make a Rule” page 220

Keep a reading journal for the week. Record each poem, the poet, and the day and time when you read it. Summarize the contents of the poem and quote at least two lines that make you smile or think.

On a separate page, write a one page response to one of the poems or to the poetry of one of the poets. Completing this assignment with dispatch and detached indifference will not earn an A. Due Tuesday, January 29.

2. Vocabulary:

1. Accolade: An expression of approval; a special acknowledgment, such as a reward.

2. Acrimony: Bitter, sharp hostility, especially in speech.

3. Angst: A feeling of anxiety or apprehension.

4. Anomaly: Someone or something that deviates from the normal or common form, order or rule.

5. Antidote: An agent that counteracts something that is poisonous or otherwise harmful.

6. Avant-garde: A group that creates or promotes innovative or unconventional ideas in a given field, especially the arts.

7. Baroque: Extravagant, complex, or bizarre, especially in ornamentation.

8. Bona fide: Made or carried out in good faith; sincere; authentic, genuine.

9. Boondoggle: An unnecessary or wasteful activity.

10. Bourgeois: Relating to or typical of the middle class.

3. Writing: Your next essay will be an exploration of American Romanticism. The essay will begin by defining the movement and discussing its characteristic elements. It will discuss two of the authors or poets that we have read, giving relevant information about their lives, educations, and historical context. Your thesis will focus the paper on a single salient part of the topic: i.e. a religious view, a philosophical attitude, a political movement, etc. (2,000 words; due February 19).

In order to write an intelligent and informative paper, you will consult at least four outside sources of information, not including Wikipedia. You will follow MLA guidelines for documentation. Papers that are submitted without in-text parenthetical notes and works cited pages will receive a grade of F, regardless of brilliance.

Your outline, thesis statement, and introduction are due next Thursday, January 31. The Works Cited page and at least 10 note-cards are due on Tuesday, February 5. A completed rough draft is due on Thursday, February 14 (happy Valentines Day!).