No class today

I'll be grading research papers, and I encourage you to be doing all the things you need to do to finish up the semester, such as finishing your literature essays, clearing your schedules for doing your rewrites, and reviewing for the final exam. I'll be returning your research papers on Thursday and will accept rewrites the day of the final. Most, if not all, of you will definitely want to take advantage of rewriting a paper.

Literature essay

Choose one of the topics below for a 500-word essay, due Thursday, April 29, 2010.

• What life lessons does "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" suggest to the reader? Use specific examples from the story to make your points.
• Demonstrate how the duke's character is progressively revealed in "My Last Duchess" and evaluate how the speaker's voice is different from the poet's.

Your essay doesn't have to be a research paper, but referencing one or two critical works could well make your paper stronger.

Assignment for Thursday, April 22, 2010

Your quiz on Thursday will be over "My Last Duchess" and these vocabulary words:

avow
countenance
dowry
earnest
forsooth
mantle
munificence
officious
pretense

As always, for best results learn the vocabulary words before reading the assignment.

Overview of the end of the semester

Well, scholars, we've almost made it through the semester. Here's an overview of what we'll be doing in these final days.

• Thursday, April 22--Topics given for literary essays
• Thursday, April 27--Literary essays due; research papers returned
• Tuesday, May 4--Final exam, literary essays returned, rewrites due

Notice that because of the tight end-of-semester schedule, your final essay won't be a candidate for a rewrite. These deadlines are rather tight; please plan accordingly.

Reading assignment for Tuesday, April 20, 2010

OK, scholars, here's your assignment for Tuesday. Please remember, this story is for you to read before coming to class. It won't do you much good (either for your quiz grade or for your understanding) if you try to read it for the first time on the screen while we discuss it Tuesday morning.

"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"

Also, please have some idea of what the story is saying and what's really going on. "Jilting" has been around long enough that a simple Google search will give you more than enough critical writing on the story. Here's a good plan: read the story first, come up with your best interpretation, and then check your theory against some of what's been written online. Whatever you do, don't come to class with an "I have no idea" attitude.

Works cited exercise answers

My knowledge of how to format text on Blogger is limited, and I haven't figured out how to post the answers to last Tuesday's in-class exercises. Please see me if you'd like a printed copy.