Who IS Langston Hughes?

Go back to the beginning of the school year. I asked you to write what you are not. And, in doing so, you told me and your classmates a little of who you are, what defines you, what makes you, you. 

Langston Hughes also had a professor ask him to answer those same questions. Read "Theme for English B" to see his response. 

Identify which section of the poem is part of the "page" that Hughes writes for his instructor, and which section represents the thoughts in his mind just before he begins to write. 
ANSWER (1st paragraph): What are the differences between that first stanza, representing the poet's thoughts to himself as he contemplates the assignment, and the subsequent stanzas, which express how he presents himself to an audience, in this case his instructor? List some of things that Hughes includes in his self-presentation and what you think he is telling us.

The poem is straightforward and speaks for itself, but reveals a more subtle and sly speaker the more you reread it and think about how Hughes has turned the instructor's question on its head. 
ANSWER (2nd paragraph): What does he mean when he says, "I hear you: / hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page"? Who is "talking" here? How can Hughes say to his instructor that they are a part of each other? Do we as readers have a part in this conversation?

Questions taken from:  EDsiteMENT! The Best Humanities on the Web

Whitman and Hughes--Closer Together Than Imagined?

Relook at the poems "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and "I Too, Sing America" by Langston Hughes. Are they similar? How so? How are their views of America different?

Using textual evidence, respond in a clear focused paragraph arguing whether you think they are more similar and why or more different and why.

Response to Barringer's Essay

Please put your first name and last initial at the beginning of the comment.
Ex. Michele D.

Find one quote to discuss and apply to Twain's On the Damned Human Race, Social Darwinism, and Pudd'nhead Wilson. Then, answer: How does Barringer's argument fit with Tom's "new" "negro blood"? How do you think this fits into the nature vs. nurture argument.

Once you have commented, respond to 2 other comments. Play the devil's advocate; ask a strong question, agree/disagree and tell why, etc.

New Historicist Discoveries for Pudd 'nhead Wilson

Using Steven Railton's research on the University of Virginia website for Pudd'nhead Wilson, as well as his research on Mark Twain, please read your primary text thoroughly and write a summary response.

Summary---summarize the document using 3 pieces of textual evidence to PROVE what you discovered and then follow the summary with a bulleted list of your main points.

Response---react in pairs to the piece connecting to our notes, our discussion on Social Darwinism, the novel so far, Twain's life, your wonderings, reactions, questions...THEN, do like you did for the summary; provide a bulleted list of your main points in the reactions.

Type this in Word first and then copy and paste into the comment.

When you are done, read and respond to at least 2 peers' comments. Ask them questions, discuss reactions, your wonderings, etc. This is due at the end of the hour.

Puritan Prudence?

Read over Puritan quotes from Anne Bradstreet. Pick one that peaks your interest. Then, on our CLASS BLOG, write a response incorporating your ideas, your connections to what we’ve read so far, facts from yesterday’s discussions, etc DECIDING if you think Puritans have Prudence.


If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we
 did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  

If what I do prove well, it won't advance. They'll say it's stolen, or else it was by chance.
If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.

Iron till it be thoroughly heated is incapable to be wrought; so God sees good to cast some men into the furnace of affliction, and then beats them on his anvil into what frame he pleases. 

Let Greeks be Greeks, and women what they are. 

Youth is the time of getting, middle age of improving, and old age of spending. 

There is no object that we see; no action that we do; no good that we enjoy; no evil that we feel, or fear, but we may make some spiritual advantage of all: and he that makes such improvement is wise, as well as pious. 

Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.

Ch. 4-7 Study Group Questions

Ch. 4-7 Overview:
As a critique of Social Darwinism, what specific quotes can you point to that might show/explain/reveal Twain’s satire, or criticism of this belief?


These chapters make two suggestions: first, that one’s friend can be crueler than one’s enemy (pp. 39) and that the powerful are able to escape chastisement (pp. 39). Do you agree? Why or why not?

Ch. 4
How did “nurture” instead of nature create Tom’s negative personality?

How did the time period add to the environmental influences on Tom?
What is it about teething, the terrible two’s, and the way white people “help” children in this time that forms their character forever?

Ch. 5
Look at p. 38, the chapter that starts with “Tom’s Eastern polish…” .

How does this paragraph reveal irony within the community and an elevated sense of self that Tom has.
How does the Widow Cooper’s reaction to the letter from the twins asking to take her room, reveal small town mentality? (both positive and negative)

Ch. 6
How are the twins successes of Social Darwinism? (look at p. 43)


Ch. 7
How do you think the calendar phrase about lies has anything to do with the young woman Pudd’nhead sees? Make a prediction based on word choices (p. 48-49).


Calendar
Lastly, go back through the calendar excerpts at the beg. of each chapter (1-7). And discuss its possible meaning…

Ch. 3 Study Group Questions

Find the historical perspectives of the time through Roxy’s speech, action, and wonderings about the 2 boys in Ch. 3.