1. English 2307: Week One *Tuesday Introduction and Syllabus

2. LESSON PLAN Roll Call and Sign-In Sheet Teacher Introduction Taryn Gilbert Howard School: Received BA from University of Kansas and MA from Wichita State University and working on PhD at TTU My research interests center on American studies, with a focus on late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature and culture. Within the field, I am particularly interested in race, ethnicity, and gender studies. Free Write What is the definition of immigration? What is the definition of migration? How are the terms similar? How are they different? Do you know anyone who has immigrated or migrated? Explain. Syllabus Book List and Discussion The Jungle: 1906 Mrs. Spring Fragrance: 1912 Cane: 1923 The Great Gatsby: 1925 A Streetcar Named Desire: 1947 Course Blog- PUT ON PROJECTOR AND EXPLAIN FEATURES Assign Homework and PASS OUT HANDOUT!

3. English 2307: Week One *Thursday Reading and Writing About Literature and How the Other Half Lives

4. Important Classroom Information Syllabus Questions Email Explanation Course Blog Extra Credit Door Sign Up: Room 401 (Due by Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.) Writing Center Tutorial What is the UWC? Where is the UWC located? Visit the Writing Center for a tutorial up until the last day of class. For each time you visit, you will receive.5 point extra credit. You can receive up to 2 points extra credit. You will need to write up a short reflection each time you visit.

5. RWAL: Chapter One READING: WHAT DO YOU READ? What is your favorite kind of reading? What is your least favorite kind of reading? Why do we read literature? To Inform To Entertain To Expose a new idea To reinforce a concept WRITING: WHAT/WHEN DO YOU WRITE? Who is your audience? What is your purpose? How do we write about literature? What do we need to pay attention to? Pay attention to language Pay attention to the medium of literature. What is the medium of literature? Writing about literature requires you to be analytical and creative *Reading and Writing should be about reflecting and engaging with the world.

6. RWAL: Chapter Two THE ROLE OF GOOD READING: Value of rereading: Best readers and writers reread You shouldn’t be ashamed or “give up” if you don’t understand something the first time. What are some examples of “frustrating” writing? Critical Reading/Active Reading Use active reading when you are reading imaginative literature. Why? Active reading= thoughtful consideration, not fault-finding Look at pages 8-13 in RWAL “Hidden Meaning” Theory Debunked Authors don’t want text to be difficult to understand There aren’t true meanings in literature—literature should be interpreted in a variety of ways. However, there may be “popular” or “accepted” readings that scholars insist upon. Examples?

7. Asking Critical Questions of Literature You want to ask questions to yourself as you read, and you want to ask questions in class. You don’t need to find “answers” to all of your questions. Some of the questions that come up at the beginning of the semester will be answered or explore as the class continues. ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1. Questions about the Text: Genre, Structure, Language and Style. Look up definitions for many literary terms in the back of the book (Page 179-205) 2. Questions about the Author: Age, Gender, Religious Beliefs, Family Structure, Education, and Background. Remember: Don’t confuse biography and narrative, especially in works of fiction. Just because a characters says or does something doesn’t mean it’s a direct reflection of the author. 3. Questions of Cultural Context: What’s going on in history at the time the piece was written? Were there any wars or social disruption? How did people live? How was society organized in terms of power relations, work expectations, and educational possibilities? What was the typical family structure or dynamic? 4. Questions about the Reader: Who were the intended audiences? Were they actually the people who read the piece of literature? Was the work widely popular or not? How is the contemporary audience different than original audience?

8. How the Other Half Lives Written and Documented by Jacob Riis Published in 1890 in Scribner’s Magazine Riis was a Dutch Immigrant who struggled to find work and establish roots in America How the Other Half Lives was an early publication of photo journalism Photo journalism documented squalid living conditions in New York Slums in the 1880s. It served as the basis for future journalism exposing the slums to New York City’s upper and middle classes. The New York State Assembly Tenement House Committee report of 1894 surveyed 8,000 buildings with approximately 255,000 residents and found New York to be the most densely populated city in the world, at an average of 143 people per acre, with part of the Lower East Side having 800 residents per acre, denser than Bombay. (Acre= size of football field He ends How the Other Half Lives with a plan of how to fix the problem. He asserts that the plan is achievable and that the upper classes will not only profit financially from such ventures, but have a moral obligation to tend to them as well. Because of the recent invention of flash photography, Riis was able to photograph the unlit areas of tenements and expose wretched working and living conditions. The harsh white light from magnesium flash powder often caused a look of shock on the faces of those photographed and was accepted as an indication of candid and objective photography.

15. Reactions and Discussion CHAPTER ONE AND CHAPTER TWO HANDOUT. What were common themes within the chapters you read? What were some stark contrasts? What did you notice about the language? What was the most offensive in your reading? What rhetorical devices does Riis use to target his audience? Does he achieve his purpose? Why or why not? Give examples.