Master Calendar

American Literature

EE51

Spragins

Spring 2006

2nd Period: Even Days, Drop Down Day 3

Second Semester Topics:

photo by Marilyn Julius

Baltimore Presentations

Cliffdwellers (1913)
by George Bellows

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1892) by Stephen Crane

Blue and Green Music, 1919.
Georgia O'Keeffe

Modernism Independent Projects

Sargent, John Singer
Madame Gautreau c. 1884

The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dorothea Lange's
Migrant Mother Photos
from Farm Security Administration
Photos (1936-38)

Great Depression Creative Projects

From the Alley Theatre Production Feb. 2005

The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller

Jitney (1977) by August Wilson

One Act Playwriting Project

Month

Day

Cycle

Assignment

Mon.

Exam Make-up Day

Tues.

photos by Marilyn Julius

Writewell Report: Midyear Exam
Usage Pre-Test
Vocabulary Unit Two

Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

Choose your Baltimore Presentation and start work.

Wed.

photos by Marilyn Julius

Usage Pretest
Vocabulary Two

Work in class on Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

Complete Baltimore Presentations

Thurs.

Fri.

photos by Marilyn Julius

Vocabulary Two

Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

Prepare Presentations:
Intellectual Backgrounds to Modern Consciousness

Mon

Tues

Freiderich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

Prepare Presentations:
Intellectual Backgrounds to Modern Consciousness

Wed.

Parent Conference Day

Thurs

Karl Marx 1818-1883

Charles Darwin 1809-1882

Baltimore Presentations

Quiz: Backgrounds to Modernism: Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud and Marx

Fri

Mon.

Cliffdwellers (1913) George Bellows

The Hairdresser's Window (1907) John Sloane

Vocabulary 2 Quiz
Baltimore Presentations
Backgrounds to Modernism: Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud and Marx

Mid-19th Century Vision of the City: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman

Homework:

Write a 20 minute essay on how one of the big four modern thinkers would have responded to Walt Whitman's Mid-19th Century Vision of the City: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

Tues

Three AM (1909) John Sloan

20 Minute Essay on the Mid-19th Century Vision of the City: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman

vs.

Backgrounds to Modernism: Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud and Marx

Wed

Typical Toughs (1890) Jacob Riis

5 Cents a Spot (1890) Jacob Riis

A Black and Tan Dive (1890) Jacob Riis

42 Kids (1907) George Bellows

Stephen Crane: Maggie A Girl of the Streets (1892)

Essay on Maggie due next Thursday at 3:30 pm.
Realism and Naturalism: The Ashcan School in Painting (Powerpoint)
Realism vs. Naturalism (narrative perspective)
naturalism: the idea or belief that only natural (as opposed to supernatural or spiritual) laws and forces operate in the world (OED)
Introduction to Stephen Crane (Crane's journalism: "An Experiment in Misery")

Homework:

Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part one) Study Guide

Thurs

Fri

Stag at Sharkey's (1909) George Bellows

Henri, Robert
Salome 1909
Mead Art Museum

Baltimore Presentations

Discuss Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part one) Study Guide

Essay on Maggie due Thursday 3:30 pm.
Discuss: The Politics of Hard Determinism vs. Soft Determinism
Maggie Outline
Creative Writing ala Crane

Homework:

Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) Study Guide

Mon.

Tues.

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Essay on Maggie due Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Discuss Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) Study Guide

Homework:

Essay on Maggie due Tuesday 3:30 pm.

Wed.

Thurs.

The Figure 5 in Gold, 1928. Charles Demuth

Modernism Independent Projects:

From Realism to Naturalism to Modernism (Powerpoint)
Introduce Independent Projects on American Modernism
The Zeitgeist of Modernism
Bring the Spring American Literature Reader
Final Draft due Monday, March 6th at 3:30 pm

Homework:

Choose Independent Projects on American Modernism and carefully read the stories or poems.

Fri.

Professional Day

Mon.

Professional Day

Tues

Wed.

The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted: The Bridge, 1920-22. Joseph Stella

Modernism Independent Projects:

From Realism to Naturalism to Modernism (Powerpoint)
Introduce Independent Projects on American Modernism
The Zeitgeist of Modernism
Bring the Spring American Literature Reader

Check out Litfinder on the Gilman Library Website.
Final Draft due Monday, March 6th at 3:30 pm

Homework:

Research Independent Projects on American Modernism

Thurs.

Blue and Green Music, 1919. Georgia O'Keeffe

Independent Projects on American Modernism

Homework:

Research Independent Projects on American Modernism

Fri.

Foghorns (1907) by Arthur Dove

Independent Projects on American Modernism

Homework:

Final Draft due Monday, March 6th at 3:30 pm

Mon.

Tues.

Zora Neale Hurston (1925)

Langston Hughes (1925)

Powerpoint Projects: Independent Projects on American Modernism

Internet Citation Machines:

Honor in Writing at Gilman

Homework:

Final Draft due Monday, March 6th at 3:30 pm

Wed.

Thurs.

William Johnson, Sweet Life, Harlem (1939)

Powerpoint Projects: Independent Projects on American Modernism

Reminder: Do not quote the critics you have read. (You are not doing a report on the criticism. Instead, use the critics ideas to help your own ideas gel. Put the ideas in your own words. Cite your source if you use a critic's idea.)

Internet Citation Machines:

Honor in Writing at Gilman

Homework:

Final Draft due Monday, March 6th at 3:30 pm

Fri

Mon.

The Great Gatsby (1925) Dust Jacket Illustration by Francis Cugat

Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald,newlyweds, 3 April 1920

20's Fashion Styles (See Flapper Fashions)

Final Draft of Modernism Project due at 3:30 pm

Remember that you MUST turn in a Works Cited Page with your essay. You MUST cite sources for ideas which are not your own using correct MLA form.

Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Video: Louis Armstrong from Jazz (Ken Burns)
The Jazz Age (Notes)
F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Brief Life (U. of S. Carolina);
Video: "Winter Dreams" (American Masters): Fitzgerald at Princeton; Romance Between Scott and Zelda (1917-19)

The Great Gatsby (1925) Romance or Tragedy?

You will not receive a specific question for your essay on The Great Gatsby. (Which is due on Friday, March 31st at 3:30 pm.) Instead, you will have to devise a thesis for yourself. Start this process by considering the genre of the work. Is Gatsby a Romance or a Tragedy?

Romance- A quest story in which a hero must perform great deeds, frequently against fantastic obstacles, to win the favor of an ultimately unreachable beloved. (Courtly Love)

Tragedy- A dramatic work about the fall of a person from exalted to low state due to fate or a flaw of character. (Aristotle's Definition of Tragedy)

Homework:

Read The Great Gatsby, Chapter One (1-26) Study Guide

For Further Reading (and listening):

Listen to "West End Blues" (Louis Armstrong)(1928); "The Charleston" (Paul Whiteman Orchestra) (1925) from Music; See also Jazz Age Lit/Culture; Jazz-Poetry: 20s-30s (Pittsburgh State)

Tues.

Wed.

The map (1917) shows the locations of Fitzgerald's imaginary West Egg and East Egg, as well as of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Estates on West Egg and East Egg

The Great Gatsby, Chapter One (1-26) Study Guide

Paragraph: What is it about Gatsby which so fascinates Nick? Why is he telling us Gatsby's story?

Paragraph: How does Fitzgerald characterize East Egg society as represented by the Daisy, Tom and Jordan?

Homework:

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Two (27-42) Study Guide

For further reading:

Original Title: "Trimalchio" from The Satyricon by Petronius (excerpt); parvenu (OED)
"A Flappers Appeal to Her Parents" by Ellen Welles Page in Outlook Magazine (1922)
The Lost Generation (Atlantic Monthly Dec. 1992)
Gatsby Links

Thurs.

Flappers in the Roaring Twenties:
Betty Boop

Twenty Minute Essay: Prompt One
Twenty Minute Essay: Prompt Two

Fri.

Zelda at age 18

The Flapper illustration by John Held from Life Magazine 1922

The Great Gatsby, Chapter One (1-26) Study Guide

Fitzgerald's Symbolism:

How does Daisy respond when she hears that Gatsby is living nearby?

Central Image: Daisy's Voice: The Nightingale and The Reality. What does the image of the nightingale have to do with Fitzgerald’s conception of Daisy (and the American Dream)? (Listen to Fitzgerald Reading Keats' “Ode to a Nightingale”(1819) (8-bit / RealAudio))

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Two (27-42) Study Guide

Paragraph: What do you make of the symbolism Fitzgerald uses in his depiction of the Valley of Ashes? How is the valley connected to the opulent life on East Egg and West Egg? How is Myrtle an appropriate match for Tom? How does this sad, drunken binge fit into Fitzgerald’s overall purpose in the novel?

Homework:

The Great Gatsby, Chapters Three and Four (43-85) Study Guide Three and Four

Visit The Charleston Jazz Age Music Links (Asheville School)

Sat.

Spring Break

Mon.

Spring Break

Tues

Wed.

Lylian Tashman (Getty Images)

Anita Loos

The Great Gatsby, Chapters Three and Four (43-85) Study Guide Three and Four

Paragraph: Party #3: Describe the Gatsby party machine in action. Why has Gatsby invited Nick to the party? What does he talk about with Jordan? (She won't tell Nick.) Why has Gatsby been throwing all these parties?!

Paragraph: Gatsby and Nick Drive to New York: Lunch With Meyer Wolfsheim. What picture of Gatsby's character is beginning to emerge for Nick and for you as we learn more and more about him?

Paragraph: How about Nick? What is happening in his life? Where is his relationship with Jordan, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby leading him?

Homework:

The Great Gatsby, Chapters Five and Six (86-118) Study Guide Five and Six

Thurs

Fri

"A Flapper's Appeal to Her Parents" (1922)

1927 Rolls Royce Phantom Roadster

The Great Gatsby, Chapters Five and Six (86-118) Study Guide Five and Six

Paragraph: What happens to Gatsby moments after he has achieved his dream? Why is he so bewildered?

Paragraph: What version of American History is Fitzgerald teaching us when we finally learn the true biography of Jay Gatsby?

Paragraph: After the party, Nick realizes that Daisy and Gatsby's relationship is finished, but Gatsby will never accept that fact. Where has Gatsby's dream gone wrong? Why, by the 1920's, has the American Dream gone awry?

Music mentioned in the text:

"The Sheik of Araby" (sound file)
"Ain't We Got Fun?" (sound file)
"Three O'Clock in the Morning" (sound file)

Homework:

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Seven (119-153) Study Guide Seven

Twenty Minute Essay: Prompt Three

Mon.

Tues.

Al Capone (Getty Images)

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Seven (119-153) Study Guide Seven

Paragraph: Unpack the meaning of the action's catastrophe. Consider the details: the heat, the reprise of details from earlier in the novel, Gatsby and Tom's confrontation, and the mistaken identities which lead to Myrtle's death. All the strands of the novel come together. Was the action fated to end in this way? How does the scene relate to Fitzgerald's overall intention?

Homework:

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Eight and Nine (154-189) Study Guide Eight and Nine

Wed.

.Thurs.

The Great Gatsby (1925) Dust Jacket Illustration by Francis Cugat

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Eight and Nine (154-189) Study Guide Eight and Nine

Paragraph: What ultimately separates Gatsby from Daisy? Is it class? Or is the barrier something else? To what extent could any real woman live up to the dreams Gatsby spins about Daisy and her wealthy lifestyle?

Paragraph: Make sense of Gatsby's murder as part of Fitzgerald's overall purpose in the novel?

Paragraph: Unpack the final image of the novel. What has Nick learned about the American Dream?

Homework:

Essay on The Great Gatsby

Fri.

Dorothea Lange's
Migrant Mother Photos from Farm Security Administration Photos (1936-38) (LOC)

Bing Crosby sings,
"Brother Can You Spare Me A Dime"

Breadline in NYC.1932
(Getty Images)

Homework: Essay on The Great Gatsby due at 3:30 pm.

Overview of the Great Depression and the New Deal
Film: from FDR (PBS)
Introduction to Great Depression Creative Projects:

Oral History Monologues
Living Newspaper Projects

Homework:

(Directions) Choose a Monologue from Hard Times by Studs Terkel (Audio Files) and prepare presentation for next class.

Mon.

Perform Monologues from Hard Times by Studs Terkel Directions (Audio Files)

Mel Spragins: Southern Maryland Tobacco Farming

Homework:

Creative Writing Assignment: Oral History Monologue

Tues.

Wed.

Farm Security Administration Photos (1936-38) Dorothea Lange (LOC)

Perform Monologues from Hard Times by Studs Terkel Directions (Audio Files)

Homework:

Creative Writing Assignment: Oral History Monologue

Thurs.

Fri.

Farmer and sons...dust storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma. 1936. Photographer: Arthur Rothstein
(LOC)

Present: Oral History Monologue:

Introduction to Living Newspaper Project

Clifford Odets and the Group Theatre

Homework:

Read Waiting for Lefty (1935) by Clifford Odets (Study Guide)

Mon.

Tues.

'Clients' Ben Shawn from Farm Security Administration
Photos (1936-38) (LOC)

Waiting for Lefty, photo from current Seattle production

Bud Fields and his family ...Alabama. 1935 or 1936. Photographer: Walker Evans (LOC)

Introduction to Living Newspaper Project

Clifford Odets and the Group Theatre

Discuss Waiting for Lefty (1935) by Clifford Odets (Study Guide)

Homework:

Read: Power (1938) by Arthur Arendt, a Living Newspaper from The Federal Theatre Project or Read: Triple A Plowed Under (1936), a Living Newspaper Project

For further listening:

The War of the Worlds A Gullible Nation?: A Closer Look at a Night of Panic. The complete broadcast of Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio program accompanied by an exploration of the cultural conditions that led to the ensuing panic.

Wed.

Thurs.

Hopper, Edward
EarlySundayMorning
1930 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

TVA, Pickwick Dam, from Picturing the New Deal

Film: The Electric Valley (1983) on the TVA (Notes)

Discuss: Power (1938) by Arthur Arendt, a Living Newspaper from The Federal Theatre Project

Homework:

Living Newspaper Project In-Class Workshop

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 (American Museum of the Moving Image)

Fri.

Good Friday

Mon.

Professional Day

Tues.

Marc Blitzstein in The Cradle Will Roc (1936)

Living Newspaper Project In-Class Workshop

Homework:

Living Newspaper Project In-Class Workshop

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 (American Museum of the Moving Image)

Wed.

Scene from Triple A Plowed Under,
Federal Theatre Project, 1936

Living Newspaper Project In-Class Workshop

Homework:

Living Newspaper Project In-Class Workshop

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 (American Museum of the Moving Image)

Thurs.

Fri.

Power by Arthur Arendt,
Federal Theatre Project, 1937

Living Newspaper Presentations

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 (American Museum of the Moving Image)

Homework:

Complete Living Newspaper Presentations

Mon.

Tues.

Arthur Miller (1915-2005)

From the Alley Theatre Production Feb. 2005

Living Newspaper Presentations

Introduction to The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller:

The Onset of the Cold War (1945-54) (notes) (Excerpt from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980)
The Witch Panic in Salem (1692)

The "Well Made Play" Engine: The Day the Thunderstorm Breaks

Homework:

Read "The Visible and Invisible Worlds of Salem", pp. 22-46 from After the Fact, vol. I

Answer these questions:

How did the witch panic begin?
What kinds of evidence did the court magistrates use against the accused in the witch trials?
How did the panic end?

Wed.

Thurs.

Living Newspaper Presentations

"The Visible and Invisible Worlds of Salem", pp. 22-46 from After the Fact, vol. I
Read Act I, scene 1 of The Crucible

Homework:

Read the rest of Act One of The Crucible, pp. 3-43 (Study Guide)

Be prepared for a Reading Comprehension Quiz

Fri.

Mon.

Birmingham Rep 2004

1. Review the action of the Act One of The Crucible.
2. An Essay on The Crucible: Connect John Proctor's personal crisis to the public crisis in Salem Village.

Homework:

Read Act Two of The Crucible, pp. 47-76 (Study Guide)

Tues.

Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor

Video: Nicholas Hytner's The Crucible, Act Two

For further reading;

Arthur Miller, "Are You Now Or Were You Ever?" from The Guardian/The Observer, Saturday, June 17, 2000
Victor Navasky, Naming Names (W)
Victor Navasky's "Elia Kazan and The Case for Silence" (W)
"Long, Bitter Debate From the '50's: Views of Kazan and His Critics", by Richard Bernstein (W)

Wed.

Birmingham Rep 2004

Reading Comprehension Quiz on Act Two of The Crucible

Homework:

Read Act Three of The Crucible, pp. 77-111 (Study Guide)

Be prepared for a Reading Comprehension Quiz

For further reading:

Arthur Miller Obituary February 10, 2005 (Washington Post)

Thurs.

Fri.

Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder in Nicholas Hytner's film of The Crucible (1996)

Reading Comprehension Quiz on Act Three of The Crucible, pp. 77-111

Homework:

Read Act Four of The Crucible, pp. 112-133 (Study Guide)

Be prepared for a Reading Comprehension Quiz

Mon.

Tues.

Birmingham Rep 2004

Act Four of The Crucible, pp. 112-133

Homework:

Rough Draft on "The Crucible"

Discuss Arthur Miller's artistic intention in writing "The Crucible".

Think about this: In drama, the internal conflicts of the heart are projected on to the external landscape of the play's action. How does John Proctor's act of conscience not only save his name but dispel the panic of the witch hunt?