End of Semester Blogging

Please post on your blog as usual this week, despite the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The reading for Mon. is Their Eyes Were Watching God, so that should be your subject. You may, however, forego commenting on one another's blogs this week due to the break. I'll grade you based on your post alone.

Mon. 11/26--Please post and comment as usual.

Mon. 12/3--Please post and comment as usual (your subject should be the ending of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Mon. 12/10--Please post as usual; Since there's no assigned reading, I have a question for you to answer in your posts "Why is studying the Harlem Renaissance still worthwhile in the 21st century?" Please read and comment on one another's blogs as usual since this is your last entry.

Hughes Poems for Weds. 11/14

For Weds., please read the following poems:

Cross
Disillusion
Minstrel Man
Lullaby
Lenox Ave Midnight
Mulatto
Song for a Dark Girl
Let America be America Again
Genius Child
Harlem [2] (p. 426)

Hughes Poems

We'll be starting the Hughes poems on Weds. Please read the following poems in The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes:

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
"Aunt Sue's Stories"
"Negro"
"The South"
"Laughers"
"Danse Africaine"
"Mother to Son"
"Jazzonia"
"Shadows"
"Migration"
"Dream Variations"
"A Song to a Negro Washwoman"
"Johannesburg Mines"
"Song"
"I,Too"
"God To Hungry Child"
"The Weary Blues"
"America"

These will start us off, and we'll probably add a few more a bit later. I'll hand out the Hughes essay to you next week.

Exam Grading

When evaluating an exam, I am always looking for a strong grasp of both the themes of the course and of individual texts. I really want to see your interpretation of the texts; I am looking for analysis (vs. summary) and for detailed evidence to back up your assertions.

A: Demonstrates an excellent understanding of the texts discussed; includes in-depth, detailed analysis of these texts; offers a clear and well-argued answer to the exam question; includes an introduction and conclusion that make connections (comparisons and contrasts) across texts, and are not mere restatements of my question.

B: Demonstrates a good grasp of the texts and the issues discussed in class; gives a clear answer to the exam question. Uses examples from individual texts to back up own ideas.

C: Displays a basic understanding of the texts but lacks detail or depth. May be more summary than analysis. May lack a clear, definitive answer to the exam question.

D-F: Essay lacks a clear understanding of the texts and the issues of the course. May distort elements of the texts, suggesting inattention or incomplete reading. Weak or incoherent response to the exam question.

Upcoming Midterm

As I mentioned in class, the midterm exam on Monday is open book, but no notes. You may bring your readings (if you jotted the occasional note to yourself in your books, don't worry about it).

The exam will be an essay exam, and will ask you to use several authors to answer a question.

Here are a few tips about how to approach the midterm exam.

When reviewing the texts:

T hink about connections across texts; identify overlapping themes, significant contrasts.

Try to identify the most important passages in each text, ones that are good examples of the author’s style or convey an important idea in the work. These would be good passages to quote from and analyze.

Consider themes and characters from the perspective of the author—what is the author’s message, and what choices does he or she make to communicate this message to the audience?

When writing your essay:

Don’t summarize plots; instead focus on answering the question by presenting your own ideas about the text using passages and/or specific examples to illustrate your answer.

Quote but quote selectively. Don’t include long passages if you aren’t really offering your own analysis of those passages. And never quote as a way of recapping plot.

Don’t rephrase my question in your intro; instead use your introduction to give a sense of how you plan on answering the question.

As a rule of thumb, you should plan on writing at least a couple of bluebook pages per text (and more would probably be better). If you end up with only 4-5 pages, this is a sign that you haven’t answered the question as well as you could and that you need to say more.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions before Monday.

Blogs for the week of Oct. 8

Since we have Columbus day off and the reading is light for the week, you can skip the blog post that would be due Sunday evening. Instead, we'll post later in the week in response to Ethnic Notions, the film that we'll be watching Weds. Enjoy the break.

P.S. If you already did a post early, as I see a few of you did on Weds., don't worry--I'll count that for next week.

Um, excuse me, is this English 216?...

If you're a student in my English 216: The Harlem Renaissance course, you've come to the right place. Welcome! This is our "portal blog" for the class, which will link up each of your student blogs in the blog roll off to the right there. Please go to http://www.blogger.com/ to create your own blogger account and blog, and then e-mail me your URL as soon as possible. Be sure to post a brief welcome post so that your blog is visible to others.

Happy blogging!