Crosswalk.com - Great Bible Site
www.bulfinch.org—great mythology site
www.greekmythology.com
The weekly AP Literature workshop combines three different elements to help you become better writers and English scholars. These are
1. Mythological and Biblical allusions
3. Book or movie reviews/critiques
ALL your submissions should be typed and handed in to me on hard copy.
You may substitute any Book/movie review for an allusion or literary device. Literary devices and allusions, however, may not be changed.
Our schedule will be as follows...
Week 1: Greek Mythology Creation of the World
Week 2: Literary Device
Week 3: Book or Movie Review
Week 4: Pandora’s Box
Week 5: Literary Device
Week 6: Book or Movie Review
Week 7: The Garden of Eden [Genesis Chapters 1-3]
Week 8: Literary Device
Week 9: Book or Movie Review
Week 10: Noah and the Flood
Week 11: Literary Device
Week 12: Book or Movie Review
Week 13: Atlas and his burden or Midas and the Golden Touch
Week 14: Literary Device
Week 15: Book/Movie Review
Rescue of the Child
Moses & The Burning Bush [Exodus 1-3]
The Passover & Passage Through the Red Sea [Exodus 12-14]
Echo and Narcissus
Arachne and Athena
Cupid and Psyche
The Book of Job
The Book of Ruth
Demeter and Persephone
Orpheus and Eurydice
Pygmalion and Galatea
Samson and Delilah [Judges 15, 16]
David and Goliath [I Samuel 17]
Jonah and the Whale [Jonah I and 2]
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah [Genesis 18-19]
This workshop is designed to examine how Biblical histories, parables, events and figures have influenced the development of Western and world literature. Just as Greek and Roman histories, mythologies, and philosophies have had a transforming effect upon the themes, conflicts, characters, symbols, images, and language employed in Western literature, so too has the Bible. This workshop will reflect on the great works of literature in conjunction with Biblical material in order to recognize and analyze how archetypical characters, themes, and symbols have borrowed from, been influenced and/or inspired by the Old and New Testaments.
This is not a historical survey of the Bible, nor is it an examination of the theological validity of the Bible as a sacred text. However, because the Bible is recognized as a sacred text for people of many faiths, every attempt to present Biblical material with respect and tolerance for differences will be maintained as a priority for all class instruction, interaction, and assignments.
Allusion-[noun]
an implied or indirect reference to another literary work or event in history in
literature. [Webster's Collegiate]
Two basic sources from which writers, especially poets, draw allusions and
metaphors are the Bible and the ancient classical writings [mainly Greek and
Roman]. Knowledge of the characters and stories contained in the Bible and in
the body of myths and legends will add appreciably to the enjoyment of good
literature of all kinds. From the very beginning of the literary canon, writers
have borrowed characters, plots, and themes from these sources.
In order to complete this assignment, you will need to obtain a translation of the Holy Bible that you are comfortable with and Edith Hamilton's Mythology. You should also check out the following online sources for your allusions:
|
|
Crosswalk.com - Great Bible Site |
|
|
www.bulfinch.org—great mythology site |
|
|
www.greekmythology.com |
|
|
|
Every discipline employs a special vocabulary;
literary criticism is no exception. Literary criticism is based in part on the
assumption that writing is a purposeful activity and that excellent literature
– work of literary merit -- is not merely a happy accident. During the rest of
the year I will be encouraging you to familiarize yourself with some of the
terminology that is used in literary criticism. To that end, you will be
creating a glossary of literary devices that you encounter in your reading.
Below I have included a list of a few of the many devices you will encounter
while reading; you are in no way constrained to this list, it’s just there for
your information – to give you a small sampling of the wonderful world of
literary devices. There are hundreds of devices that writers employ; you will no
doubt find a few that I have not heard of before.
Over the course of the semester you’ll be asked to complete a number of
literary device entries. You will receive up to 5 points per device: 1
point for the definition; 1 point for the example; 3 points for the function
(Concept, Context and Connection). Your examples may come from books we read in
class, novels you read for your outside reading, or novels of literary merit
that you have read on your own. Please note that all entries must be typed
in order to be graded and handed to me directly.
1. Term: Definition of the literary device selected
2. Example: Quotation, followed by source, including title, page/line number
3. Function: Author’s purpose in employing this language resource at this point in the work. How does this particular device enhance what the writer is conveying? You may comment on theme, character, setting, or whatever else is important in explaining how this device functions in this particular instance.
Symbol: In the simplest sense, a symbol is anything that stands for or
represents something else beyond it—often an idea conventionally associated
with it. The term symbolism refers to the use of symbols, or to a set of related
symbols.
Example: “Like him she was left-handed or she played chess with her
left hand . . . He leaned forward and moved his bishop and mated her in four
moves” (All the Pretty Horses, p. 133).
Function: This chess game between John Grady and Alejandra’s godmother
symbolizes the competition that they are in for Alejandra herself. This game of
chess, which takes place between these two characters as John is trying to
ascertain what his chances are of his relationship with Alejandra receiving
approval from the family, represents the greater chess game between these two
competing characters. Although John Grady wins the first couple of games and
seems to be well on his way to achieving his goal, in the end it is the
godmother who triumphs. This directly mirrors John Grady’s and the
godmother’s lives: although John Grady wins Alejandra’s affections
initially, in the end he loses her. When he takes “her queen” he is
literally winning the chess match by taking the queen, but he is also on a
symbolic level attempting to take the godmother’s true “queen,” Alejandra,
who the godmother is determined to keep from suffering the same misfortunes she
endured. The lack of dialogue between the characters during the match further
reinforces the quiet competition they are engaging in; one that is not violent
but is indeed fierce. The intellectual nature of he chess match also enhances
the choice that Alejandra ultimately makes near the end of the novel: leaving
John and opting instead for the security (and wealth) of her family. This choice
reflects the cool and calculating logic of a chess match rather than the passion
of the heart.
Please note that the author first provides context for the discussion (context),
discusses the term itself (concept), and then carefully discusses how the
literary device specifically functions both in the passage and within the
context of the novel as a whole (connection). The author is also careful to use
the term in the active voice within the function discussion.
Allusion:
Allusions are brief
references to a person, event, or place, real or ficticious, or to a work of
art. Casual reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event.
An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. (http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/allusion.html)
Example: “Then at dawn we came down to a temperate
valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating
the darkness,
And three
trees on the low sky...”
“The Journey of the Magi” T.S. Eliot
We've all read them, but writing them is certainly different. Based on something you have read or watched (TV Show, Movie, Opera, etc.), write a personal, yet analytical review in first person. The idea here is to open up your writing a bit, so have fun.
You can check the sites below for some information regarding writing movie reviews AND you should also look at some book and movie reviews to see first hand how they're done.
Movie
Review
Down
with love
I left the theater wondering if I had ever tried to be a “down with love girl”. However, what is truly amusing is not that I could ask myself such a ridiculous question, but rather, as my friends put it, “that the movie makes me wonder at all.”
“Down with Love”, directed by Peyton Reed and starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, has been called everything from “sticky and indigestible” by the Rolling Stone magazine, to “an irritation” by the Chicago Tribune, right down to “a poor knockoff of a 60´s classic” by the Seattle Post. However, I dare to argue otherwise, because despite the excessive use of Technicolor in the setting and the occasional moments in which actors over exceed their dramatizations, I think it presents an analysis that is worth rescuing.
The movie tells the story of a liberated (or so she says) women who comes to New York from the country after the success of her book titled “Down with love”. Renee Zellweger does an astounding job in her portrayal of Barbara Novak; she is able to bring to life a woman the world considers far to exasperating for her own good, and lure us all into a sense of sympathy we would have found impossible under normal circumstances.
Barbara Novak is primarily portrayed as a secure, modern women who is over romance and love; a women who proposes to substitute sex with chocolate and relationships with casual affairs. However, as the movie progresses we see a new side to her, we see who she really is: a confused dreamer who is trying to hide her romantic losses behind the “down with love” farce. The character of Barbara Novak serves two main purposes in the movie. Foremost, she is set to be a ridiculous woman who allows herself to be defined by her ability to triumph over men and someone who is exceedingly feminist; thus allowing the presence of satire that the movie wishes to portray: a mockery of extreme feminists who believe they have to give up love and romance in order to call themselves liberated females. On the other hand, this character allows the director to play with characterization, as he portrays a type of narration in which we learn about the character as the movie continues. In the end, the viewer is surprised with Novak’s sudden confession and the realization of who she truly is and what her goals have been throughout the movie. In this way, the director presents a twist, and leaves us all wondering if Barbara Novak is really the women we believed her to be.
Upon Novak’s visit to New York, she meets the “man of the town”; hit journalist/gigolo Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor). Catch, as the city girls call him, is the very reason why women like Barbara Novak turn from love and romance; he is unfaithful and untrue, and looks upon women as sources of pleasure and beauty. Ewan McGregor is perfect for the part, he is handsome, intelligent, an enchanter of women and someone who walks with an air of security and superiority; in the end his acting makes us despise him and fall in love with him as well. The character of Catch exposes the other end of the picture; he is opposite to Barbara and clashes with her in numerous occasions.
Block and Novak start dating each other under very peculiar terms: both of them have a hidden agenda and believe they are tricking the other, when they are really being fooled by their very trick. In the end, their “casual affair” –as they like to call it – brings about the second twist to the movie: it does not only prove that opposites attract, but also that one cannot run from love, in fact, that there are times when love can conquer all and others when it simply cannot.
The best thing about this movie however, is that depth can be found amidst such a superficial environment. It is interesting to note how the character of Barbara Novak exemplifies both the process the female revolution underwent in it’s search for freedom, as well as the process each of us suffer when we try to change ourselves or the world around us. We are extremists by nature; women believed they needed to give up love and men in order to be free, and in the end they have realized that being free is having it all and having a different attitude towards it. Like Barbara Novak who must reach the far extreme in order to visualize the middle ground, in this same way we begin by confessing everything in an effort to be honest, or abstain from talking in an effort to be prudent and so on.
Thus, this movie goes far beyond the Technicolor setting and the actor’s performance; it does an exceptional work in the characterization of the main characters, and what is more important, is able to sketch a human trait that is recurring throughout history.
Two reactions may arise when the theater doors open and the audience comes out. Some may leave cursing the moment they decided to spend money on such a ridiculous and absurd movie; others may leave smiling, thinking about how superficial portrayals can depict human nature, and some of us may even leave wondering if they have ever tried to be a “down with love girl.”