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Essay Instructions: http://www.hippocampus.org
Section: World War 1 and the Roaring 20's.
Topic 1: New Culture (view the presentation and be sure to click the "explore" buttons.
Topic 2: America's Economy Roars (view presentation, click explore).

Explain how you see one or more of the following roaring 20s themes in "Winter Dreams," "Big, two-hearted river" and "That evening Sun".
Preoccupation with material desires (money, cars, mistrust or cloths. Disillusion with authority.
A sense of the loss of traditional values or ideals.

Essay Instructions: The Great Depression vs. The Great Recession

Compare these two historic events. Research these two topics, answer the question provided and provide a detailed analysis of what you have found. Use as many mediums as you can to convey your message. Use: stats, movies, radio shows, other pop culture mediums, print, advertising.

What was the culture like of the 1920s and of early 2000? What are some of the pop culture phenomenon that you can point out (think of movies, radio shows, print culture, and advertising)? Compare and contrast. What were some of the causes of both? Think about Fitzgerald?s? Winter Dreams and how his writing reflects this.
How did the wars (European and American) contribute to the culture prior to the 20s and to the great depression? Be specific about your causes.
What were the results of both? How did it affect the country?
What happened at the social level vs. the aristocratic level? Compare and contrast. Were there any long term or residual effects?
How did we (should we) fix the problem at hand based on the findings and information that we have can we fix our problem similarly to how the 30s generation dealt with it?

Essay Instructions: - use three (3) scholarly/academic sources in addition to whatever primary text(s) (ie. the story or dramatic work that you you discuss) (all sources must be used in the essay, not just listed in the works cited at the end)

- be 1000-1500 words long (about 5-7 pages double-spaced)

- be in MLA essay format

The Assignment:
The Tale as Told by Another Character:

Re-write a story from the point of view of a different character (you may use any of the fiction?short fiction, poetry, or drama?for this, but write it as a short story). Use scholarly sources to help you determine your vision of that character, and make your re-writing no more than 1000 words. Include a follow-up essay of about 500 words that explains why you made the choices you did, and brings in your critical sources to help support your choices.

List of Stories/Drama we read that you can choose from:

Short Stories:
What You Pawn I Will Redeem - Sherman Alexie
Janus - Ann Beattie
The Story of an Hour - Kate Chopin
"Repent Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman - Harlan Ellison
Winter Dreams - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Birthmark - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sweat - Zora Neale Hurston
The Gardener - Rudyard Kipling
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
The Cask of Amontillado - Edgar Allan Poe
Harrison Bergeron - Kurt Vonnegut

Drama:
The C Above C Above High C - Ishmael Reed
The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde

Essay Instructions: Reading Assignment Stories:


Zora Neale Hurston: "The Gilded Six-Bits" ; "Sweat" (Read and respond to both stories.)
F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Babylon Revisited" OR "Winter Dreams"
Ernest Hemingway: "Hills Like White Elephants" and one of the following stories: "In Another
Country" OR "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"

Commentaries (read and respond to one -only have to choose one of these):
Zora Neale Hurston: "What White Publishers Won't Print"
Alice Walker: "Zora Neale Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and a Partisan View"

Your response to each story should be at least 200 words (but will probably be longer) and should show that you have read the story carefully. You should mention the names of characters, details from the story that support your response, incidents in the story that affect your reading of it, etc.

Use the word "I".

Questions for Reading Responses:
Use these questions below to guide you as you complete your reading responses. Note that you must
respond to the question about the most important element of fiction (since these elements are essential to
the art of the short story) and to the question about your favorite quotation (or quotations), since these
quotations reveal the author's style (and will be useful for your final essay). I suggest that you choose only a few questions to answer in your response--but make the response a paragraph (or more)--don't number your responses. You will probably notice that some of the questions are similar and that some of the responses may overlap--that's fine. Your response should reflect your own thoughts and analysis of the story. Your response to each story should be at least 200 words (but will probably be longer) and should show that you have read the story carefully. You should mention the names of characters, details from the story that support your response, incidents in the story that affect your reading of it, etc. If you use a source, you must be sure to cite it.

*1. What is the most important element of fiction in this story (theme, setting, plot/conflict, character, point of view,
style)? Why did you choose this element? If you had trouble deciding, explain why. Please support your choice--
don't just say that you thought character was most important. You need to show that you understand something
about the elements of fiction--that you have read the material in the textbook and on the handout I provided.
2. What did you like about the story? What did you dislike? Why?
3. Who is your favorite character? Is he or she like you in any way? Would you make the same decisions (or react in
the same ways) in the same situations as this character? Why or why not? Which characters remind you of people
you know?
4. What did you learn about history, society, art, literature, philosophy, science (etc.) from this story? What research
might you do to help you understand the story better?
5. What did you learn about life from the story?
6. In what ways do you identify with the story?
7. How would you describe the writer's style or voice? (Style: "the characteristic way an author uses language to create literature" [1738]) Style includes "sentence length and complexity, word choice and placement, and punctuation" (1738). Style also includes use of irony, symbolism, figurative language, etc.
Here's an interesting checklist of literary style that you might find helpful: Checklist: Elements of Literary Style

*8. What are your favorite sentences, passages, words, etc. from the story? (You must include at least one quotation, since you will be using some of these when you write your final.) Explain your choice.

9. What would you tell a friend about this story?
10. Who would you recommend this story to and why?
11. What value does this story have for you?
12. What connections do you find between the life of the author and his or her work?
13. What questions did you have after you finished the story?
14. What words did you look up?
15. If there is a commentary, what did you learn about the author and story by reading it?