Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Wednesday, April 2 preparation for "Prufrock" essay



" I should have been a pair of ragged claws..."    from Apocalypse Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPG3VDMfMes

Due on Monday, April 7- vocabulary test from "Prufrock" 2 list
   Reminder: some folks never turned in their thematic graphic organizers on "Prufrock"     This is a graded assignment and that materially will be used to write your essay these next two days. Essays are due at the end of class on Friday.These are to be sent directly to me; I will print them out.  address: dolly.parker@rcsdk12.org.   Darren, Ashley and James, who are on a trip Thursday: I have arranged for you to be released from either an art class on Monday or Tuesday to complete the assignment in the library. You may, of course, finish this over the weekend; otherwise, it will due on the day you have either Mr. Latorre or Ms. Rudy.
   In class: we are reviewing the essay information. You will then write the introduction, which you will bring to the library tomorrow.
Tomorrow go right to the library, sign on and open a word document. Anyone on the internet will automatically receive a ZERO for the writing assignment.

ESSAY INFORMATION- class handout / copy below.


“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”  by T. S. Eliot essay      Thursday / Friday April 3 and 4
Location: computer lab in the library
Directions: go to the library directly on Thursday and Friday. You will be marked tardy, if you show up late
Log onto the computer and open a word document. Anyone who feels a need to open the internet will automatically receive a ZERO for the assignment.
Type in your MLA heading, as you do on handwritten assignments: your name, instructor’s name, English 111 and the 3 April 2014. The title of the essay should then be centered. Type in Thematic development in “Prufrock”
To write your essay, make sure you have your copy of the poem with your notes and your graphic organizer.
General information review that you might want to incorporate into the essay.
1. implied, rather than overtly stated themes.

2. fragments (think of a puzzle with pieces missing; consider the world after World War I).

3. omitting of expositions (background information about events, settings, characters that help the reader make sense of the novel, short story or, in this case, the poem).

4. omitting transitions (think of a dream, where anything and everything may be juxtaposed without any seeming logic.)

5. omitting a resolution (so how does the story play out? who knows? You figure it out for yourself.

6. lack of explanations ( why did this happen? Again, you figure it out; draw your own conclusions.)

7. sense of uncertainty, paralysis and ANGST.

ex·is·ten·tial·ism:  a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad
Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent world in regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.
Literary elements: character, point of view, setting, tone, theme, plot or conflict (crisis, climax and resolution)

Literary terms / figurative language devices: stream of consciousness, irony, foreshadowing, personification, metonymy and synecdoche (what the heck are those? The difference, to the extent that it exists at all, is whether the attribute that is substituting for the whole is part of the whole (synecdoche), or merely associated with it (metonymy), hyperbole, simile, metaphor, allusion, onomatopoeia, imagery, symbolism


Now look on the back for specifics for your essay.




Essay mechanics
MLA heading
Typed (of course)
Minimum of 500 words
Minimum of 5 paragraphs, including an introduction with a clear thesis statement.
When you have finished, please send along your completed essay as an attachment to Dolly.Parker@rcsdk12.org.

Your body paragraphs must include a thesis statement (that’s the particular supporting point that you introduced in your introduction), supporting textual evidence chosen from the poem. This need not be whole lines, but a cherry picking of relevant words and phrases throughout the poem. You then MUST have an analysis statement; that is you should ask yourself why or how what you said is significant.

Essay topic: Choose one of the following themes from T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock” and show how the poet develops the idea through the character of Prufrock as an example of modernist literature. (theme choices: loneliness, indecision, inadequacy, pessimism)
Organizational strategy.

Introduction:  Write a hook sentence o that establishes the poem within the time frame in which it was written.
                         Write a brief description of setting, character of Prufrock and the plot. (one or two well-written sentence will do)
                        Rephrase the essay topic for your thesis statement. (This is now what you will prove in your essay)

Paragraph one: you are focusing on only one theme.  Organize your points chronologically.  How is the theme initially established in the poem? How does it manifest itself in Prufrock? How does he process this? (think about figurative language devices!)  Now prove. What does this signify in terms of the character and his actions or non-actions?

Paragraph two: Continue with your theme, but approach it at another angle. How is the Prufrock manipulated, dominated or controlled by the theme?  Prove it now.  What does this say about his world? His life experiences?  You must find supporting text for whatever you say.

Paragraph three: As you are exploring this in chronological order, at this point focus on after Prufrock has, not only realized that he will never make the marriage proposal, but rethought different scenarios if he had. At this point is making several allusions. How do these connect to the theme? What does this say about Prufrock as a man? Proof, proof proof!  What is this important in seeing this character as representative of modernism. (check notes above)

Conclusion: (DO NOT SAY IN conclusion) (DO NOT REPEAT THE INTRODUCTION)  Why are the modernist qualities of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (mention 2 or 3) significant in terms of the social transitions that occurred post World War I? What are the factors that still resonate in society 100 years later?







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