One email address bounced: Jolie Baldwin. Jolie, contact book group members and see if you can get it from one of them. Not sure what the problem is, but I used the email address on file with the college.

The schedule says that Essay Two (even though it's not so much an essay in the technical sense) is due Wednesday, June 9. However, since I won't have time to read them until the weekend, the due date is now Friday, June 11. I hope those two extra days serve you well.

Here are two notions of analysis it's good to keep in mind: “Analysis is the method we commonly use in thinking about complex matters and in attempting to account for our responses” (57) and "Critical thinking [like analysis] is a matter of separating the whole into parts, in order to see relationships” (Literature for Analysis 179). The question is, how do we do this? One way is listed here, the DROP method:

Details: Look for exact details in the text—identical or nearly identical words or details and list them.

Repetitions: Locate and list repetition of the same kind of detail or word (for example, war, struggle, conflict and strife are similar words). Similarities in style or structure can also be important, such as the author using four lines per stanza or beginning each paragraph with a question. Noting repetitions reveals emphasis.

Oppositions: Locate and list details or words or forms that suggest binary oppositions or things that contrast with one another. Look for the same sorts of things you looked at/for with the use of repetition.

Patterns of Significance: Choose what you think to be significant patterns of repetitions and/or binary oppositions and rank them in order of importance.

Having completed these steps, write a paragraph that explains your choice of one repetition or opposition (X), explain/describe what it does within the poem, and then explain what you take it to mean, why it is perhaps among the most significant elements of the poem or just worth examination. Do the above for each of the six assigned poems and respond to at least three journals from your classmates and to one response to your journal.

Check the schedule for a few changes to the last two weeks of class. Nothing major, but important nonetheless.

I goofed again, initially posting Dickinson as the reading assignment for Monday. It's Whitman. Thanks to Seth for pointing out my blunder.

The big plan for Walt Whitman is to spend most of class reading the poem aloud. This doesn't mean don't read it before then because if you don't practice with the reading, you'll stumble all over yourself as you read the passages that come your way. For your journal, having read "Song of Myself," find three passages that you think to be quintessentially American (I'll let you decide what that means; this is your 'X') or Transcendental (we've only briefly discussed this, so you'll have to look it up yourself, try Wikipedia) in their perspective. What is it that these passages do and mean? Write about why you think this to be the case. Be sure to provide some of the poem. While Whitman is writing about himself in some respects, he is viewing himself as the embodiment of everything American. Keep this in mind as you write and while you respond to at least three journals and to one response to your journal. Just like him, you too are the America and Americans he is writing about.

EVERYONE is going to be reading all or part of the poem out loud in class, so you should give it at least a few practice readings before we meet. Keep in mind how Poe says the poem should be read, for what effect.

Many Poe scholars suggest that, or at the least imply, that essays such as "The Philosophy of Composition" are done with tongue in check and are not to be taken too seriously. Nonetheless, the essay provides some insight into understanding "The Raven" and Poe's other writings. For this journal, discuss "The Raven" in the context of at least three notions found and expounded upon in the essay. What in "The Philosophy of Composition" sheds light on "The Raven"? (the answer to this is 'X'). Discuss the poem in light of what this essay has to say about composing in general and composing poetry in particular. For each point, provide the passage from the essay and a passage from the poem, write about what each means and why each matters. Respond to at least three journals by your peers and to one response to your journal.

One thing "Life in the Iron Mills" does as a piece of literature is contradict or debunk various notions of the American myth. We see, in contrast to Franklin, that hard work need not lead to success. We see pretty much the same thing in contrast to Smith's Generall Historie that America is not a land of plenty where wealth comes from a minimal effort. Look back to earlier readings that promulgate a more positive spin on the American Dream, the myth of America, the "citty upon a hill," and compare/contrast those myths with what emerges from Davis' tale. Provide three examples from Davis, each tied to something from an earlier writer. Those will be the 'X' of the day. Once you've described each 'X' and illustrated it with a passage from both writers, explain what it does and what it means. having posted your journal, respond to three others, along with a response to a response to your journal.

Herman Melville has been described as someone who generally disdained the people he needed to buy his work so he could make a living as a writer: "To earn a living from the sale of his books, he needed to win the very readers whose professed values and beliefs he attacked." In some respects this is much like Thoreau. Assuming such is the case with "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street," compose a journal entry that touches on the values you see Melville attacking, examining why this might be of concern to readers today. The value he attacks is "X." The "what does X do?" would be answered by looking at how Melville attacks it in his story, so you'll need to provide a passage to develop that point. Then explain "what X means in terms of the passage and how it attacks a particular value. Be sure to take the story's sub-title into consideration as you conduct your reading and examination of the tale, even if you'd prefer not to.Respond to at least three journals by your classmates and to one response to your journal.

Sorry for the mix-up in the reading assignment. This is the correct reading for Wednesday.

Each of the assigned writings is described as being "hortatory" by the editors of our text. Take this to mean "exhort," as in encouraging a certain course of thought or action by the reader. Tie the exhortations of these women to the notions put forward by men such as Emerson, Thoreau and Douglass. For each woman, tie one of her exhortations to something similar, or wholly opposite, propounded by one of the male writers. Provide a passage from each to illustrate the relationship. Be sure to respond to three journals and one response to your journal.

With Harriet Jacobs's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," we get an example of the female slave narrative, which differs in a number of ways from the male slave narrative. Give the material at these two links, one found in the glossary of our class site, the other provided by WSU professor Donna Campbell, a going over. For your journal, choose three elements of the male and female slave narrative that are either different or similar. The differing (or similar) element will be the 'X' of the journal. For instance, what might it mean that the female slave faces sexual exploitation/pressure while the male faces physical exploitation/pressure? Provide a passage from both Douglass and Jacobs to to illustrate each point, tell us what the difference/similarity in this instance does (to the reader, the character(s), the story, whatever) then tell us what you take the passages and differences/similarities to mean. Respond to three journals and to one response to your journal. See you Monday!

The reading on "Race, Slavery, and the Invention of the 'South'" tells us that the various issues raised in these readings, including Douglass', "remain alive today--for example racism, inequality between the sexes, non violence as a means for effecting change" (1825). In reading Douglass, look for three issues he touches on that are still of concern and use them as an 'X' to be discussed. Provide passages to illustrate the issues, describe what the issue/passage is doing and what it all means, at least as near as you can tell. Having posted a journal to this effect, respond to three other journals and a response to one of the comments to your journal.

It's a good idea to have a look at the glossary for slave narrative information.