Your informal reports (due every Wednesday throughout the term) will be posted to this page by the end of each week.   Basically, I'm asking both of you you to provide notes similar to those that Mike prepared last summer for the Contemporary World Literature course.  (See, for instance, the notes on A Lesson Before Dying.)   Here are a few guidelines to help you prepare effective informal reports.

As you read . . .
I'm encouraging you to keep journals on the novels we'll be reading, with a broad emphasis on three (overlapping) areas--(1) theme, (2) character development, and (3) prose style.   For each of these areas, I'd like you to (a) make note of key passages (i.e., sentences/paragraphs deserving of careful discussion), (b) offer your concise observations about these passages, and (c) raise questions for further discussion.  As you take your notes, keep in mind that your audience should be familiar with the basic plot of each novel; your purpose is to examine the "why" and the "how"--and to stimulate further thought about both the meaning of what occurs in the novel and the stylistic and organizational methods employed by the author to convey those meanings.  As the weeks go on, feel free to identify points of comparison and contrast with other works you've read (particularly with other works assigned this term)--but don't feel compelled to force connections that aren't there. 

After you've read . . .
Review, select, and organize your notes into three-to-five word-processed pages that will not only help other readers understand your reponse to the novel but also (and perhaps more importantly) stimulate them to think about the novel in fresh ways.   (Put another way, these informal reports may one day serve as lesson plans as you prepare to teach these works to high school students.)  Do not feel compelled to write a formal, tightly organized report.  You may present me with a series of disconnected paragraphs (try using bold headings to highlight your topics) or a few mini-essays on theme, character, and style--whatever approach works best for you.   In any case, I'm not expecting polished essays each week; rather, I'd like to see a somewhat organized record of your responses, thoughts, and questions as you read the novel. 

Each Wednesday evening, simply send me an e-mail with your three-to-five page report (either Word or WordPerfect should do) attached.  

Let's see what you come up with for Huck Finn (Mike) and Their Eyes Were Watching God (Aimee)--and then after I receive your first reports next week, I'll provide some feedback that should help with the reports that follow.  Also, when I get back next Wednesday, I'll begin adding some links to the Resources page of this site.  Hope this is enough to get you started.  If not, please holler.

Reports

on Chopin's The Awakening
on Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
on Ellison's Invisible Man
on Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
on Wharton's Ethan Frome
on Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel