Outside Reading: The Classics

Outside Reading 2: Classics

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

It follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious gypsy-like person, from childhood to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff rises in his adopted family and then is reduced to the status of a servant, running away when the young woman he loves decides to marry another. He returns later, rich and educated, and sets about gaining his revenge on the two families that he believed ruined his life.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Against the backdrop of the French Revolution, Dickens unfolds a masterpiece of drama, adventure, and courage featuring Charles Darnay, a man falsely accused of treason. He bears an uncanny resemblance to the dissolute, yet noble Sydney Carton. Brilliantly plotted, the novel culminates in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.

Another Country by James Baldwin

Set in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France, among other locales, Another Country is a novel of passions--sexual, racial, political, artistic--that is stunning for its emotional intensity and haunting sensuality, depicting men and women, blacks and whites, stripped of their masks of gender and race by love and hatred at the most elemental and sublime. In a small set of friends, Baldwin imbues the best and worst intentions of liberal America in the early 1970s.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is the story of a small, plain-faced, intelligent, and passionate English orphan. Jane is abused by her aunt and cousin and then attends a harsh charity school. Through it all she remains strong and determinedly refuses to allow a cruel world to crush her independence or her strength of will. A masterful story of a woman's quest for freedom and love.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Exploring the workings of consciousness as well as the grim realities of imperialism, Heart of Darkness tells of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, and his journey up the Congo River, his meeting with, and fascination by, Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious personage who dominates the unruly inhabitants of the region.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.

Dialectical Journal Assignment

Effective readers have a habit of taking notes as they read. This note-taking can several forms: annotation, post it notes, character lists, idea clusters, and many others. One of the most effective strategies is called a dialectical journal. The word “dialectical” has numerous meanings, but the one most pertinent is the “art of critical examination into the truth of an opinion.” As you read, you are forming an opinion about what you are reading (or at least you are SUPPOSED to be forming an opinion). That opinion, however, needs to be based on the text – not just a feeling. Therefore, all of your opinions need to begin with a text. To that end, you will need to create a dialectical journal as you read your outside reading novel.

The procedure is as follows--
1. Purchase a dedicated spiral notebook or staple together a packet of binder paper, and draw a line down the center of each page.
2. As you read, pay close attention to the text.
3. Whenever you encounter something of interest (this could be anything from an interesting turn of phrase to the development of character to a pattern, and especially to literary devices that add meaning), write down the word/phrase in the LEFT HAND COLUMN, making sure that you include a correct text note. If the phrase is especially long just write the first few words, use an ellipsis, then write the last few words.
4. In the RIGHT HAND COLUMN, WRITE YOUR OBSEVRATIONS ABOUT THE TEXT you noted in the left-hand column. This is where you need to interact in detail with the text. Make sure that your observations are THOROUGH, INSIGHTFUL, and FOCUSED CLEARLY ON THE TEXT. This should be analytical, not evaluative (in other words, don’t talk about how great the author is, but instead, talk about how the author effectively builds meaning). This should be written in an academic way, without using “I”. Each entry should be roughly 3-5 sentences, and should span the entirety of the book.

Feel free to use whatever response structure you’d like, but if you are struggling, think about the following:

1.        Briefly summarize what’s going on in the quote.

2.        Identify why it stood out.

3.        Analyze why it’s significant.

That is all there is to it. This dialectical journal will be graded out of 200 points.

For your novel you will need to complete a MINIMUM of 15 entries for a “C,” 22 entries for a “B,” and 30 entries for an “A.” Any fewer than 20 entries will result in a “0” for the journal grade. Make sure that you number all of your entries!

“Eliza’s beauty becomes murderous” (Shaw 49).

In this moment, Eliza has just successfully passed herself off as a high-society lady. The diction that Shaw employs here is quite significant, particularly the use of “murderous”. Liza has grappled with the implications of her transformation, and is at a boiling point when Pickering and Higgins ignore her in favor of discussing how relieved they are that this is over. By using the term “murderous”, Shaw indicates that a conflict is about to reach a head—Liza is going to boil over.

RUBRIC

A	·         Provides apt context for the quote ·         Contains intelligent, thoughtful analysis   ·         Reveals a thorough knowledge of various literary elements and discusses their consequential impact upon the text ·         Displays critical, organized thinking ·         Is neat and easy to read ·         Correct grammar and spelling
B	·         Provides context for the quote ·         Contains some intelligent analysis ·         Reveals a knowledge of literary elements, does not completely address their impact upon the text ·         Displays critical, organized thinking, but also has omissions or moments of considerable weakness ·         Few grammatical and spelling errors
C	·         Provides some context for the quote ·         Contains analysis that is mainly plot summary and does not address the prompt ·         Includes some listing of literary elements; virtually no discussion of meaning ·         Is lacking in critical thought and organization ·         Is relatively neat; is illegible at points ·         Several grammatical and spelling errors

Grade: _____________/200

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