Answer the following prompts on a separate sheet of paper. Your responses should be between 5 and 8 sentences long (about half a page, handwritten or typed double-spaced). Write your name and the class date on the paper, and bring your answers to class.

Thurs, 1.31 – John Donne, “The Flea” & “Womens Constancy”:

• Summarize the speaker’s main argument in “Woman’s Constancy”.

Mon, 2.4 – Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Act 1:

• Summarize the entire first act in a short paragraph, in your own words. Allow one sentence (two at the most) for each scene.  

Thurs, 2.7 – Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Act 2:

• When Cesario and Orsino talk about love (scene four), what are Orsino’s views about the differences between the sexes? Do you agree?
  

Mon, 2.11 – Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night , Act 3:

• Consider how Viola’s gender expression makes her attractive to Orsino and/or Olivia. Refer to specific quotes from the text.
  
  

Thurs, 2.14 – Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Act 4:

• Offer an in-depth character analysis of Malvolio. What does he want? What motivates him? You might also think about Malvolio in relation to the other characters’ in the play. How are Malvolio’s desires similar or different from the other characters?

Thurs, 2.21 – Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night , Act 5:

• Using Hypothes.is, annotate one line from Act V on the PDF (scroll down to Act 5). In your annotation, identify one literary device, and explain how the device enhances a certain quality about the person or idea that is being described. Instead of picking out your own literary device, you might also respond to someone else’s annotation, and use that opportunity to offer your own thoughts or extend the conversation. Make sure that you are annotating under “Public” mode (check the top of the sidebar), or I cannot see your annotation.

Mon, 2.25 – Working Thesis and Quotes due:

• Create an outline for your close reading paper. In your outline, include your chosen prompt (from the Assignment Description), your working thesis and a list of points you want to make. Each point should include a central claim and evidence from the text, referencing page numbers or chapters.
  • A note on the “Working Thesis”—basically, a “working thesis” is a draft thesis that is still in development. It gives you enough focus and direction to proceed with your analysis, while leaving enough freedom to change your argument and make modifications as you go. Your argument will likely change as you write.

Thurs, 2.28 – Catherine Belsey. “A Modern Perspective on Twelfth Night”:

• In the essay “Twelfth Night: A Modern Perspective”, Catherine Belsey explores Viola’s characterization by examining Viola’s speech and what the other characters say about her. What is Belsey’s main argument? Summarize her overall argument in a few sentences.

Mon, 3.11 –Woolf, Virgina. Orlando, chapter 1:

• What is your first impression of Orlando’s character? Do you like him? Why or why not?

Thurs, 3.14 – Woolf, Virgina. Orlando, chapter 2:

• Come to class with one idea, question, or quote from the reading. Try to write down what sticks with you the most, either because you love it, hate it, or are confused by it. You might use this as an opportunity to probe a character, event or theme that you find compelling in the chapter. Or you might simply copy down a quote that interests or confuses you. Or, you might think up a question that would provoke discussion and even debate among your peers. Here are some sample questions:
  • Why does the narrator skip over so much time without explaining what happens during that time?
  • What does it mean for Orlando’s character growth in this chapter when it says he’s “done with men”? (70-71).

Mon, 3.18 – Woolf, Virgina. Orlando, chapter 3:

• Like last class, your assignment is to note something interesting about the chapter. This time, however, you will be framing your interest as a discussion question. Look to the questions from our class notes for some guidance here. Try to construct a question (based off your interest) that would provoke thought and debate among your classmates. We will be sharing these questions on Monday.

Mon, 3.25 – Woolf, Virgina. Orlando, chapter 4:

• Like the last couple of classes your assignment is to note a compelling moment in your reading of the chapter, and briefly explain your interest. This time, however, you will be doing it on the digital version of the chapter, using the Hypothes.is (digital annotation) tool. Post a question, comment, or idea for discussion based off your interest, or respond to one of your classmate’s posts. I encourage you to use this opportunity to engage in a dialogue with a classmate about the text. 

Thurs, 3.28 – Woolf, Virginia. Orlando, chapter 5:

• Reflect on the meaning of the space breaks (the use of blank space to separate two blocks of text) to indicate ruptures in time or narrative in the chapter. Consider specifically the large space break in the middle of the conversation between Orlando and Shel, following the line “For which reasons we leave a great blank here, which must be taken to indicate that the space is filled to repletion” (Woolf 186). Why does the narrator include the space break, and how might the space break engage with the themes of language or biography?

Mon, 4.1 – Woolf, Virginia. Orlando, chapter 6:

• Using Hypothes.is, annotate a compelling moment in your reading of chapter 6, and briefly explain your interest (like we did with chapter 4). You might post a question, comment, or idea for discussion, or respond to one of your classmate’s posts. I especially encourage you to use this opportunity to engage in a dialogue with a classmate about the text. 

Thurs, 4.4 – Micir, Melanie. “Queer Timing of Orlando: A Biography”, and Channing, Jill. – “Magical Realism and Gender Variability in Orlando”.

• Read both the articles “The Queer Timing of Orlando”, by Melanie Micir, and “Magical Realism and Gender Variability in Orlando” Jill Channing. From these two, choose ONE of them to summarize. Your summary should be about a paragraph long (5-8 sentences). Include the author’s main argument and what smaller subpoints and/or evidence she uses to back up her argument.

Mon, 4.8 – Research Paper Proposal Due:

• Write a proposal for your research paper. Include your choice of prompt (from the assignment description), a working thesis, and an overview of the evidence (events, characters, and/or scenes) that you might cover in the paper. Review your notes, personal annotations and homework for ideas on what to write. Bring your proposal to class.
  • A note on the “Working Thesis”—basically, a “working thesis” is a draft thesis that is still in development. It gives you enough focus and direction to proceed with your analysis, while leaving enough freedom to change your argument and make modifications as you go. Your argument will likely change as you write.

Thurs, 4.18 – Writing Day: Revision Plans:

• Your homework is to bring to class all the feedback about writing that you’ve received this semester. This includes comments from me on your papers, as well as comments from your peers during peer review. Pay special attention to your Close Reading and Annotation papers. Copy and paste all your comments and feedback into one document, and bring that document to class. A digital copy is fine, but if you cannot bring a computer/tablet, please bring the document in hard copy.

Mon, 5.6 – Close Reading & Organization: bring Reverse Outline one Body Paragraph

• Your homework is to bring to class two documents: first, a printed out body paragraph that you want to workshop in class (your selected body paragraph must not exceed two pages); second, a Reverse Outline, either printed or written out by hand. Instructions for composing your reverse outline are below:
  • Read your paper, start to finish.
  • For every paragraph, including the introduction, write one sentence or phrase that summarizes the content of that paragraph (for the intro paragraph, this sentence should be your thesis). For the body paragraphs, each sentence should not simply copy out your topic sentence. You need to find a new way to re-phrase the main point of the paragraph. This re-phrasing is an essential part of the exercise.
  • Write these sentences on separate sheet of paper. When you are finished, you should have a list of sentences, in order of the paragraphs in your paper.