Catcher - pages 29 - 70

Through your reading select and include here two quotations that you stood out to you. Type out the quotation and include the page number. Then explain why the line stood out to you and what is the significance to the plot, character, or setting, etc.

Then find two other student blogs and comment on what lines they chose.

Catcher - Introduction pages 9 - 29

Each day you will find new questions. Please answer them fully with details and quotations.

• Describe the following characters - Chief, Nurse Rachet, McMurphy - only include elements of their apprearance if there is a significance to their personality or motivation. Attempt to look into their character.

Example: Nurse Ratchet - enters the story with the narrator stating "she slides through the door with a gust of cold" (10). I believe the word cold represents her. She seems very matter of fact and has little concern for the patients.

• Why does Kesey use the character of Chief as the narrator?
• What is the purpose of the Log Book? What does it tell you about what goes on in the institution?

Read pages 29 - 70 for Thursday

Completing the Final Assignments

1. Finish reading the novel in the blocks listed in the three postings below. these are in reverse order.
2. Answer the questions in each of the three postings using thoughtful comments.
3. Complete your poster assignment which is due Monday after Spring Break.
4. The final will be a take-home essay on some aspect of the novel.

Frankenstein Chapters 22 - 24

Answer each of the questions below then include your line(s) and why it stood out to you.

1. How does Shelley show that Frankenstein and the creature are both obsessed with revenge? does either of them win? Explain.
2. How do you think Frankenstein failed or erred as a human being? What traits or attributes, do you think, led to the creature's fate?

Frankenstein Chapters 17 - 21

Answer each of the questions below then include your line(s) and why it stood out to you.

1. What keeps Frankenstein from completing the second creature?
2. Did you find the events in Chapter 21 probable or improbable? Explain.

Frankenstein Chapters 11 - 16

Answer each of the questions below then include your line(s) and why it stood out to you.

1. After reading Paradise Lost, why does the creature think he is like Adam in that book? why does he think he is like Satan? What are the specific reasons that the creature gives for hating his creator?
2. How have the creature's experiences shaped his opinion of himself? Does he have the potential for good as well as evil?
3. Thus far, do you find the creature more or less sympathetic than the character of Victor Frankenstein? Explain.

Questions to Answer from Chapters 7 - 10

Answer each of the following questions:

1. Do you think that Frankenstein went too far in his quest for knowledge? Did he have a good motive for his project? Did he have adequate knowledge to begin his project? Did he consider possible consequences of his actions?
2. How is Frankenstein affected by what happens after he abandons the creature? Why does he call himself the "true murderer" of William? Do you agree with Frankenstein that he bears some responsibility for the death?

Add the line(s) that stood out to you and your explanations.

Read chapters 11 - 13 for Friday.

Chapters 1 - 6 Disappointment?

In these chapters you are introduced to both Frankenstein and his monster along with other characters. There is little description of the Creature's appearance and no detail of how Frankenstein brought him to life. Why do you think Shelley did this? Does the lack of detail add to or take away from the story?

Answer the above question and add the line that stood out to you giving reasons why this line impressed you.

Read chapters 7 - 10 for tomorrow

3/19/07 Responding to the Letters

Each day you will be given a reading assignment. When you read, note a specific line or lines that stand out to you or impress you in some way. You will be asked to share these in your comment back to me and the class. Occasionally, I will ask you to comment to other students' postings. Below you will find an example of one type of response.

Teacher prompt to the reading:
Careful readers of the novel point out that there is a symbolic element that develops the idea of the two main characters, Frankenstein and his monster as doubles for each other, or two parts of a divided self.

Typical Student comment back:
As I read the letters which are the introduction to the creature and Frankenstein there were several lines that stood out to me. When Walton first saw Frankenstein he referred to him as "not a savage inhabitant" (23) and "a more interesting creature" (24). The word choice leads me to believe that Shelley set up the idea of the divided self even at this early point in the novel. By doing this she also introduced the theme of acceptance. Here Walton finds a stranger who has manners "so conciliating and gentle..." that Walton "begin[s] to love him as a brother" and who is filled "with sympathy and compassion" because of Frankenstein's grief (25). From what I know of the novel, Frankenstein rejects his monster, his creation. Perhaps had Frankenstein been like Walton he would have found acceptance for the monster and himself for creating it.

More assignment information:
Sometimes I will give you a prompt. Other times there will be no prompt; you will lead the discussion with a line that stood out to you.

Today 3/19/07 - comment to the prompt given above from your reading so far. Read Chapters 1 page 31 through Chapter 6 page 68 for tomorrow. Be prepared to discuss your reading and a line or two that stood out to you and why.

Frankenstein - Introduction and Assignment Information

Welcome to Online Lessons for AP Literature We are starting with an understanding of the origins of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.

• Your first reading assignment was to read the Author's Introduction and the Preface.

• You will be expected to follow the directions given in each of the assignment outlines through this online medium. You will also be expected to keep up with the reading. When you are completing your comment sections on this Blog, your answers are expected to be well-thought out, original and written using standard English conventions and adequate in length to represent the work of an Advanced Placement Literature student.

• Go to the next Blog - Prereading Activity

Prereading Activity

Moral responsibility in light of scientific invention

The novel starts with the Letters pages 15 to 29. This will be your reading assignment for tomorrow.

Before you read go to http://en.wikipedia.org and

• look up galvanism
• look up Rime of the Ancient Mariner Read the plot summary.
• In Rime... Coldridge uses a framing device of the Mariner telling his story
• In Frankenstein Shelley uses the same type of literary device in letters
• look up Frankenstein
• Read only the first paragraph of information. Beware the Spoiler Warning - Plot summary. If you are the type of person who wants to know the end of the story before reading, the summary is for you; otherwise, reading it will ruin the novel. I would see this better as a post reading activity before writing an essay or taking a test.
• Click on one of the following blue links in the paragraph:

Gothic novel

Romantic

Industrial Revolution

Prometheus

• After your research, comment on what you have learned and how you think Shelley incorporated the information on galvanism, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and one of the four elements listed above contributed to the novel.