...Three works of literature, labeled immoral, unfit to read and even satanic, completely criticized for their use of vulgar language and “blasphemes” way of speaking their mind. What critics fail to see is the true creativity of the humor in Candide, the morality and kindness in Huckleberry Finn, and the passion of Don Juan. All three of these great works of literature have suffered the injustice of biased criticism and have been rejected from public schools, which wastes their educational potential. Candide has been place into the index of prohibited books, Huckleberry Finn has been banned almost every public school, and Don Juan has succumb to a similar fate. What people don’t understand is that these novels and works of poetry can show us more about how humans treat each other, how realistic some ridiculous things can be, and how we can understand ourselves. Candide is a novel written by the French writer Voltaire, it’s about a germen man by the name of Candide who goes on quite a journey meeting a variety of people, constantly running into political and religious figures with bad results. Meeting up with old friends and characters he believed dead, the novel consists of unrealistic situations in a comedic fashion but in the end, through all the hell he can say let’s just forget about it and move on in our life. This story can give you a real life perspective and show you that life shouldn’t be taken seriously, if a guy like Candide can go through what he did without a thought...
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...Banning a book is never acceptable; books are a product of their environment, and readers can learn much about a time period in history and the literary influences from books, even if the language/content is not acceptable in our contemporary time period. Despite some of the language used in Huckleberry Finn, it should not be banned. Instead, the language used should be frankly discussed as to why it was included in the book, and the implications it had on the past and has on the present. The nature of the book is satire, and this is important for readers to realize so that they do not narrowly assume that Twain himself was racist (even if he was), or that anyone who reads the book will be racist. Of course, in contemporary society, the language...
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...My literary critique on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is focused on the confusion of the message being given to the reader do to the conscious struggle between right and wrong, an example of that would be the decision of stealing from Ms. Watson and freeing Jim, or not stealing from Ms. Watson and leaving Jim as a slave. Huck did decided that even though stealing from Ms. Watson would surely send him to “Hell” he still went with his gut and freed Jim, But with that later in the story shortly after Ms. Watsons death Huck and Jim found out that in her will she had freed Jim anyways. The ending of that situation in this story is what I choose to critique because of the cloudy message that is being given to the reader. It does not support...
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...Mark Twain’s first successful piece of work was a book about a young boy named Tom Sawyer. Tom and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, went around, getting in trouble and going on exciting adventures. It was a popular children's book. So, when Mark Twain came out with his next book; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story of Huck running away from home and going on new adventures with a slave, everyone was surprised by its controversial topics and offensive racial slurs. Now, 130 years later, the book is the number one most banned book in America. The question of whether it should still be taught in school is being brought up again. The themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain are still relevant today, and therefore, the book should still be taught in school. Some of the themes in the book are argued to be inappropriate. A boy running away from home, the bad language, a white boy and a black man being friends, the scheming and scamming; these are all topics that some may think shouldn’t be taught in school. These are themes that need to be addressed because they are real life topics. They may have been hard to talk about in the past but now, they are good teaching devices. The controversial topics in the book...
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...Course Number and Title: American Literature 1 Number of Credits: 3 Instructor Name: Sos Bagramyan Email Address: sbagramyan@aua.am Telephone Number: 51 27 69 Office Location: Paramaz Avedisian Building, 132W Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 8am-9am Term/Year: Spring 2015 ENGL 120 – American Literature 1 This survey course introduces students to American literature from the beginning of European contact to the present, focusing on major authors and different literary genres. It examines the historical influences on the evolution of this body of literature and the construction of a distinct and complex American identity. Through close reading, class discussion and their own research and writing, students will explore how themes such as gender, race, class, spirituality, economics, and the environment play a role in the formation and evolution of the American experience Three hours of instructor-led class time per week. Required Materials: All readings are located in PDF format on our course’s Moodle page. Academic Integrity: All graded assignments must completed individually. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and any attempt to pass off another person's ideas and writings as your own will result in severe disciplinary measures, possibly expulsion from the university. This also applies to your Informal Responses, which should reflect your own understanding of the material and not simply repeat what I or your classmates have already said. Students are required...
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...LITERARY ANALYSIS PAPERS *The thesis statement is one of the (if not the) most important parts of your paper—think of it as the foundation of a house—if your foundation is weak and poorly constructed, what do you think happens to the house? *The thesis statement is the announcement of your analytical argument that you intend to make and prove in the duration of your paper. It is a road map for the paper—it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. *It should be placed somewhere in the Introduction of your paper—Many like to put it as the last sentence(s) of their Intro which is fine. *Successful thesis statements provoke thought and should read beautifully. *Your thesis statement should include two parts: WHAT and WHY. *WHAT: What claim are you making about the text? *WHY: Why should we care? Why is your claim important? Your thesis should answer the “so what?” question. *A thesis statement is usually, but can be more than, one sentence long. Examples of Literary Thesis Statements: * “Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.” *What’s wrong with this thesis statement? *An opinion about the book, not an argument. * “In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.” *Better? How so? What is still missing? *Doesn’t answer the “so what?” question—what is the point of the contrast? What does the contrast signify? * “Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that...
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...ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 632-635, September 2010 © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/jltr.1.5.632-635 An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Huck’s Growth Yanxia Sang Basic English Department, Dezhou University, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China Email: dz_syx@126.com Abstract—Huckleberry Finn is one of Mark Twain’s outstanding masterpieces. Superficially, it tells a story about a 13 or 14 year old boy’s adventures with Negro Jim on the Mississippi river. In fact, it reflects the growth process of Huck through adventures. His growth is embodied by his choice on independence, his change of attitude towards Jim, his moral growth, and the different social roles he plays. Huck’s growth is influenced by the inner and outer factors. On the one hand, friendship, nature and society make up the outer environment for Huck’s growth. They have great effect on the development of his growth. On the other hand, his own instinct and his sound heart finally decide the direction of his growth. Index Terms—growth, the influence of Jim, nature and society, instinct, sound heart I. INTRODUCTION Mark Twain is a giant in American literature. He is a great realist and satirist in late 19th century. His delicate familiarity with children’s psychology, his thorough understanding of Americans and American society, his great contribution to American English and his immense witty humor have won great respect and reputation...
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...Students learn the format of the AP test, essay rubric and essay structure. ▪ Students take a full-length AP test for comparison purposes in the spring. Reading: The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing: Answer the following question in one paragraph. Use quotes from the novel as evidence. Some readers believe that the elaborate decoration that Hester embroiders on the scarlet letter indicates her rejection of the community’s view of her act. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your position using evidence from the text. (test grade) Writing: Write a well-developed essay addressing the following prompt. Document all sources using MLA citation. Compare Hester to a modern day person who has been shunned. Provide at least two research sources for the other person. (project grade) Reading: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards Analyzing: SOAPSTONE and cannons of rhetoric Reading: Teacher Introduction Essay Writing: Students and teacher evaluate where each student’s writing is and where it needs to be by analyzing students’ introductory...
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...AHS RESEARCH MANUAL 2011 Student: __________________________ TERESA STERCHI KIM BROWN AHS LIBRARY CONTENTS PREPARATION OF THE RESEARCH PAPER........................................................1 SELECTING AND LIMITING THE TOPIC............................................................1 PREPARING A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY AND EVALUATING SOURCES…………….2 READING AND TAKING NOTES........................................................................3 DEVELOPING A WORKING OUTLINE/PLAN…………………………………………………….5 DOCUMENTING AND CITING SOURCES USING MLA STYLE……………..……………..7 WRITING THE PAPER…………………………………..…………………...........................18 MLA STYLE OF PARENTHETICAL/IN-TEXT CITATIONS………………………………….19 PLACING CITATIONS IN THE PAPER…………………………………………………………..21 FORMATTING AND TYPING THE REPORT USING THE MLA STYLE…………………26 TYPING THE WORKS CITED PAGE AND SAMPLE TITLE PAGE..........................29 PREPARATION Research is the process of gathering information from different sources on a particular topic. In daily life students may research buying a song on the Internet, buying a new MP3 player, an iPod, or any other product of interest. At school, students may have to research a historical topic, an author or literary work, or a contemporary issue and present their findings in a paper, PowerPoint presentation, or in a movie format. All of this is part of the process of asking questions, looking at the available information, and coming to a conclusion based...
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...AHS RESEARCH MANUAL 2011 Student: __________________________ TERESA STERCHI KIM BROWN AHS LIBRARY CONTENTS PREPARATION OF THE RESEARCH PAPER........................................................1 SELECTING AND LIMITING THE TOPIC............................................................1 PREPARING A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY AND EVALUATING SOURCES…………….2 READING AND TAKING NOTES........................................................................3 DEVELOPING A WORKING OUTLINE/PLAN…………………………………………………….5 DOCUMENTING AND CITING SOURCES USING MLA STYLE……………..……………..7 WRITING THE PAPER…………………………………..…………………...........................18 MLA STYLE OF PARENTHETICAL/IN-TEXT CITATIONS………………………………….19 PLACING CITATIONS IN THE PAPER…………………………………………………………..21 FORMATTING AND TYPING THE REPORT USING THE MLA STYLE…………………26 TYPING THE WORKS CITED PAGE AND SAMPLE TITLE PAGE..........................29 PREPARATION Research is the process of gathering information from different sources on a particular topic. In daily life students may research buying a song on the Internet, buying a new MP3 player, an iPod, or any other product of interest. At school, students may have to research a historical topic, an author or literary work, or a contemporary issue and present their findings in a paper, PowerPoint presentation, or in a movie format. All of this is part of the process of asking questions, looking at the available information, and coming to a conclusion based...
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...List” Addendum is at the end of this document Quarter #1 August 23 to October 22 Essential Questions: 1. How do writers and artists organize or construct text to convey meaning? 2. What does it mean to be a stranger in the village? Unit Goals 1. To understand the relationship between perspective and critical theory. 2. To apply critical theories to various texts studied and created. 3. To control and manipulate textual elements in writing to clearly and effectively convey a controlling idea or thesis. Student Published Portfolios: For each of the first three quarters, students are required to complete three to four published writing portfolio products. Quarter 4 is devoted to completion of the Laureate Research Project. . Pacing: This map is one suggestion for pacing. Springboard pacing guides precede each unit in the “About the Unit” sections and offers pacing on a 45-minute class period length. Prentice Hall Literature – Use selections from Prentice Hall throughout the quarter to reinforce the standards being taught as well as the embedded assessments within the SpringBoard curriculum. QUARTER #1 SpringBoard Curriculum Pacing Guide August 23 – October 22 Standards and Benchmarks | Unit Pacing Guide | SpringBoard Unit/Activities | Assessments | SpringBoard Unit 1Literature * The students will analyze and compare significant works of literature and id relationships among major genres * Analyze the literary devices unique to...
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...United States of America underwent large scale change and by the start of the twentieth century was one of the richest nations in the world. By 1950 the U.S.A. was the richest country in the world and a superpower. The state was not the only thing to change during this period. From the late-nineteenth century up to the 1920s average Americans experienced a dramatic expansion in wealth and prosperity. However, with the Wall Street Crash in 1929 the U.S.A. experienced an economic depression that destroyed millions of livelihoods. This eventful period of American history led many to question the American Dreams place in modern America. This research paper will examine the interpretation of the American Dream in literature between the Progressive Era at the start of the twentieth century and the 1950s economic and social boom. In order to do this the paper will examine the novels The Jungle, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman. These three novels all examine the American Dream in different decades. Written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair The Jungle is a novel that portrayed the life of immigrants and the working class in early-twentieth century America. The novel was published during the muckraking decade and its depiction of poverty, unpleasant living and working conditions and the corruption of those in power led it to be called “the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of wage slavery.” A socialist Sinclair believed that by the start of the twentieth...
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...Colorblindness and our loss of heritage Like many popular literary works in American history “The Color of Water” focuses on the issue of race in America. This is nothing new since a lot of the great works of American history like “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Color Purple” took on the somewhat of a unique experience that many Americans have regarding race. One of things that is a different about ‘The Color of Water” is that the character of Ruth espouses to her children the idea that we build a society that is color blind. Even the title of the work hints at this view since water has no color, thus the color of water is clear. Even though this idea of a colorless society sounds great it is utopian and just not possible. It is a much better idea that if we are going to tackle the issue of race in this country, that we do not pretend that we can’t see differences amongst various ethnicities. The real goal should be that we recognize these differences and celebrate them. To understand why Ruth would say to advocate something like a color blind society it is important to understand who Ruth is. The character of Ruth, even though she was a real person, could be looked upon as being a symbol for the American experience. The classic American dream is one in which hard working immigrants move to the US, the land of opportunity, and make it big through hard work and determination. The American experience is different from the American Dream in that it is the realistic events and...
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...Evaluating Credibility and Validity of Sources: We learned that it is important to evaluate the credibility of the source and make a judgement on its relevance to our topic/argument. Credibility can be validated based off on the background of the author, impartiality, style and tone of article and currency. For instance for an argument on animal rights as described in…, the argument can be presented in different ways depending on the specialization of the author. A phychologist, philosopher or economist might present the argument in different style. Also, the author’s personal interest to the subject might affect the an author’s opinion or treatment to the subject. For instance, an author who is vegetarian is likely to argue against using animals for food and may present argument in a way that’s less than impartial. The publication Alongwith the author’s background, it is also important to validate the author’s personal interest associated to the subject ; We also learned that a special interest or preference might affect an author’s opinion or treatment to subject. In the simplest terms, a declared vegetarian is likely to argue against using animals for food and may present those arguments in a way that’s less than impartial. The writing style and tone is another way to form credibility and validity of sources of information. You should determine whether the tone is professional or not. If it is indeed professional and the tone is for the targeted audience...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...
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