пятница, 21 декабря 2007 г.

Language Tool Recommended

I have just come across a nice website that can you really help you. When you import a site such as a newspaper into it and click on a word and it instantly translates it and also puts the word in a list to use for vocabulary study.
Check it out http://lingro.com

четверг, 29 ноября 2007 г.

Dec.6 -Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

1. Read Emily Dickinson's biography.
Words and expressions for the quiz: self-imposed social seclusion, pillars of the local community, to smuggle, deferential to, to defer to, to be aloof, descendents, inherently, adherent, crucial issue, austerity, a keen artist and accomplished musician, to have a sharp eye for art, quick -witted, to be (ill) at ease, to hold in high esteem, prolific writer.

2. Listen to Prof. Weinstein's lecture #32 "Emily Dickinson - In and Out of Nature".
- Why did Prof. Weinstein call her the first poet of "Babel"?
- What are peculiarities of the Dickinson style?
3. Read a selection of E.Dickinson's poems, learn one poem by heart and prepare it for reciting in class.

вторник, 27 ноября 2007 г.

Public Poll: Please Vote for the Best Recital (see the post below)

And the winner is... GEORGE BUNTILOV (8 votes). Our heartfelt congratulations!!!
Anna K. is the second best with 4 votes.
Julia M. has got 2 votes.
Rita K. received one vote.


I hope it was an enriching experience for you. Having struggled with voice recorders, cookies, uploading and downloading, you have definitely become more technically savvy . I also hope that you've learned something about reading and feeling poetry. I wish we hadn't had all those browser-related issues. I am sure more people would have participated in our poll. Anyway, thanks to those of you who took the challenge. You did very well!



Please kindly leave your comments on how we have scored!

понедельник, 26 ноября 2007 г.

Song of Ourselves (Where is the Rest of the Choir??!)

Julia M.(Group 3CCC), Anna K.(Group 2Tr.), Anna M. (Group 2Tr), Rita K.(Group2Tr.) and George B. (Group 3CCC) reading from "Song of Myself" by W.Whitman. Give it a listen!

ANNOUNCEMENT: We are going to have a public poll for the most impressive reading and recording.
The voting will be open on Wed. Nov.28 (from noon to midnight only). All the students are eligible for the poetry reading contest, so you'd better hurry!





UPDATE: Anna Sh. just sent the URL to her podcast.Please listen to her reading at http://anna-shib.podomatic.com/

You can also listen to our podcasts from my podcast page at http://jilimili.podomatic.com/ Stay tuned for more stuff!

четверг, 22 ноября 2007 г.

Nov.29 -"Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman

1. Read this long poem "Song of Myself" from "Leaves of Grass".

2. Listen to an hour-long program devoted to "Song of Myself" on New York Public Radio and be ready to discuss it in class:
or you can download this recording in .mp3 format from the WNYC web site http://www.wnyc.org/arts/articles/54050#music

3. Choose one section of the poem that you like and record yourself reading it. You might want to play some relevant background music or add other sound effects. By Monday (11/26), I expect you to send me your recording at filatowa@mail.ru. You can download an mp3-recorder from http://www.zshare.net/download/50895968771609/
You can also opt for recording yourself online at podomatic.com . NOTE: If you have a hard time converting your files (if you use your cell phone to record yourself) into .mp3 format, I suggest using an online media converter http://media-convert.com/ru/

суббота, 17 ноября 2007 г.

пятница, 9 ноября 2007 г.

Nov.15 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
1. Read Longfellow's biography at http://wikipedia.org/

2. Poems for reading (please practise reading outloud at home) and analysis: Hymn to the Night, the Secret of the Sea, A Psalm of Life.

3. S.V.Titova "Studies in American Literature" p.35, 53-59 (definitions of imagery, poetic lines, caesura, meters, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia)

понедельник, 5 ноября 2007 г.

What Blocks Your Blogs??!

Dear 3CCC Group Students,
I was wondering how your project work goes and why you fail to post a weekly entry on that. The deadline fast approaching, you are supposed to collect enough material for your web site, which looks as a daunting task at the moment, as you are lagging behind.

Here are the links to all the groups blogs:

Arina and Natasha V. have chosen the topic "Destroyed but not defeated", which will cover the theme and the levels of meaning in "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Miller Hemingway.

George and Alex are working on "Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". The value of written culture, book&fire symbolism".

Alyona and Polina are tackling the topic of Spiritual Quest in Salinger's "Franny" and Zooey".

Lera is writing about the "Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James.

Julia has chosen the "Theatre of Absurd: E. Albee`s The Zoo Story".

Natasha A. deals with "The Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger.

Dasha, Marina and Kate are working on Zora Neale Hurston's literary legacy.

Sveta is working on Fenimore Cooper's images of noble Indians.

Please, be sure to read my post on academic plagiarism which a big no-no. When you take something (be it a text from an encyclopedia, or an innocent image) without giving a due credit to the author/source, you are stealing. So please always provide links to the web site from where you cut and paste information, and all the pictures should have a subtitle "Image Source: http://www.something.somewhere"

Your posts will be monitored and graded on a weekly basis.

воскресенье, 4 ноября 2007 г.

Mid-Term Test (Nov.8)

1. The test will be based on the material we have covered, i.e. early national literature, F.Franklin, Romanticism, W.Irving, N..Hawthorne, E.A.Poe.

2. Vocabulary Quiz will be based on E.A.Poe's stories "The Cask of Amontillado”,
“MS found in a bottle”, and “The Purloined letter”

to avenge smb
to take revenge on smb for smth
to punish with impunity
to pride oneself on one’s connoisseurship in wine
to drink to smth
to seize smth
to flash with light
to be bewildered
to ejaculate
to wall up the entrance
to wear off
to plaster smth
in vain

hereditary wealth
notoriously known
reveries of fancy
to quiver
a stern of the ship
the salvation of smth
dim, sullen, feeble glow
to believe in superstitions
a stupendous sea
to experience the feeling of awe
concealment
to scrutinize smth
an appalling size
to be doomed to smth
to hover upon
to plunge into
irrepressible reverence
to pace
to ponder upon one’s destiny
to get into whirlpool

to bestow the power
to be susceptible of smth
to waylay smb
to anticipate smth
to conceive
to be thunder-stricken
to grasp smth in agony
to open smth with a trembling hand
to cast a glance at smth
to rush from the house
to fill up the check
human ingenuity
the routine of one’s duty
a disposal of smth
to sacrifice smth
to distinguish smth from smth
to take for granted
a strong relish
to contemplate about smth
pagan legends
to embellish a description
miscellaneous letter
soiled and crumpled letter
to be in search of smth
to be in the view of everybody
inside out
to tear into two
to call for
replace smth by smth
to feel curiosity
to outwit

3. Read E.A.Poe's detective story "The Purloined Letter"

суббота, 3 ноября 2007 г.

Storytelling Contest Photos




Photo Credit: George Buntilov

Congratulations to our winners Vlad Prevezentsev and Arina Kozhukhar!!!

You can download other pictures from
http://www.zshare.net/download/46412623cfc26b/ and http://www.zshare.net/download/4648966a6f7cc9/

пятница, 26 октября 2007 г.

Halloween Storytelling Time (Nov.1)



Dear Students,


We'll start celebrating Halloween on Oct. 31 when we start discussing the life and legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. But since it will be a big class, I suggest having a Halloween party with all its paraphernalia (do bring costumes, decorations, candles, etc) on Thursday.


1. We'll have a storytelling contest with prizes. Please choose any horror story by E.A.Poe that you like (you can also choose one from my list) and be prepared to retell it in class in a Halloween manner.


THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM: A prisoner wakes up to find himself in a dark cell with a deep pit.


THE GOLD BUG: A golden insect leads to an incredible discovery.


THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF MR VALDEMAR: A patient is hypnotised minutes before he dies. Is he really dead?


THE FALL OFTHE HOUSE OF USHER


THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH: Prince Prospero has a party in his castle. But no one can escape the red death—not even a prince!


THE OBLONG BOX: A traveller boards a ship to New York . What does he carry in the oblong box?

THE BLACK CAT

2. Please read E.A.Poe's poem "The Raven" and prepare its reading outloud. Find some background music to go with it.


среда, 24 октября 2007 г.

Assignment for Oct.31

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

!!!We meet for 2 periods in Room 514 at 9 am on Wednesday !!!
1. Read “The cask of Amontillado”, "MS Found in the Bottle"
2. Poe’s Chronology: http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poechron.htm
3. Prof. Weinstein's lecture
4. “The influence and reputation of Edgar Allan Poe in Europe”

Voc. for the quiz from the article "The Influence and Reputation of Poe in Europe" by W.T. Brandy:


истинная правда
скудная информация
известные профессора
недоказанные обвинения
слепые поклонники (почитатели)
иметь что-либо под рукой
безупречный вкус
быть в долгу перед кем-либо
отмечать годовщину памяти
обвинить кого-либо в чем-либо
по вашей просьбе
авторские права
превосходить кого-либо
поверхностный взгляд
внести вклад куда-либо

вторник, 23 октября 2007 г.

Where We are at with Our Projects


Now that you've chosen the topic of your web project, I just want to give you an overview of what the end product is going to look like.
By December 6, both groups (Translation Group 2 and CCC Group 3) will have created their web sites.
Your web sites are supposed to have:
1. an introductory page of your site should introduce the theme of your project, your self-presentation (with digital photos and a recorded greeting), a mechanism for contacting you (email and links to your blogs) and a site map (table of contents);
2. your own interpretation of the topic and your own analysis of literary works;
3. relevant socio-cultural information and the author's biography (your interpretation + links);
4. presentation of Web sites relating to your topic (do provide a list of at least 10 useful sites with a few words of description);
5. literary works (as links);
6. images (be sure to provide an image source!).
You can have a look at the web sites that were created by my students last year http://american-literature-projects.blogspot.com/2007/05/group-web-sites-are-all-set.html
If you have any questions about the project, feel free to ask them here or after class on Thursdays (Room 320 at 2.10 pm).
CCC Group 3: Your task consists in keeping a group e-portfolio (your group blog) where you will be collecting ideas, materials, links and images for your future web site.
Please note that each team member is expected to post an entry about his/her contribution to the project (first impressions, reports on the charachters, links, images) on a weekly basis. Your posts will be considered as part of your grade.

четверг, 11 октября 2007 г.

Oct.18: Washington Irving-2

1. Please read The Devil and Tom Walker
The following vocabulary words might be included in the quiz:
articulate, avarice, balk, censure, consecrate, daunt, expedient, forbearance, impregnable, incantation, ostentatious, parsimony, piety, precarious, prevalent, propitious, prostration,
refuge, resolute, superfluous.

2. Revise the main features of Romanticism.
3. Assignment for students from Group 3 CCC: Please start your own blogs which you will use as an electronic portfolio for your future web site and practice posting.
Step 1. You will need to sign up for your group's Blogger.com account. Go to http://www.blogger.com/start and click the "Create Your Own Account" link. Make sure that your group has a personal email account before attempting to sign up. (Since the three of you will be using one and the same login and password, it's a good idea to open up a new mail.ru or gmail.com email account and share it for the duration of the project.) As part of the registration process, Blogger.com sends out a confirmation email containing a link necessary for activation of the new account. As your websites will be available for public viewing, it is perfectly acceptable for you to use pseudonyms or nicknames when signing up. Note: My display name is anna_filatova for obvious convenience reasons.
Step 2.You will be required to enter your blog title which will be the heading of your weblog (eg. mine is "American Literature at MSU"). If need be, you can always change it though. Also, you are to choose your blog's URL (its Internet address). My URL is http://american-literature-msu.blogspot.com
Step 3.Customize your blog, i.e. select a layout and color scheme for your group's weblogs. Blogspot.coml provides a generous selection of ready-to-go templates and colors that can be chosen with the click of a mouse. Simple customization is important, for it helps to create a sense of ownership and unique online identity from the very beginning. Edit your group's profile, i.e. upload your photos, put some info about yourselves and your interests.
Step 4.Practice posting and editing! Play around with it. Then learn how to make comments on other Blogspot.com sites and answer comments on your own sites. Go to my weblog and leave your group's comment about your successful creation of your weblog and its URL.
Step 5. Start working on collecting materials for the web site and post them on your blog.
Best of luck!

вторник, 18 сентября 2007 г.

Assignment for Oct.11 # 2

Dear students:

While I am away, I would like you to concentrate on the topics of American literature that you would like to research and to finally publish your research on your group web site. I wouldn't mind if you chose to work on any topic from Prof. Volkova's list or her suggested typology topics. You can also have a look at the list of my suggested topics.

1. Shine Your Shoes for the Fat Lady, or Spiritual Quest in J.D.Salinger’s Novels “Franny" and "Zooey”
2. J.D.Salinger’s concept of raising children (The Glass Family as his idea of New Age people)
3. Eastern Philosophy in Salinger’s Writings (stories “Teddy”, “Franny”, “Zooey”)
4. Zen Buddhism and the Beat Generation
5. Flapper Culture in “The Great Gatsby”.
6. Modern American Authors on the Art of Writing
7. Josef Brodsky’s Writings in English
8. American Dream in “The Great Gatsby”.
9. Post-War American Society in the novel “The Winter of our Discontent”.
10. The search for American Identity in J. Steinbeck’s novels.
11. F.S. Fitzgerald as a Chronicler of the Jazz Age (stories “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, “Winter Dreams”, “The Rich Boy”, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”).
12. Saul Bellow: a great fantasist (“Henderson the Rain King”).
13. Herzog by Saul Bellow: a novel of redemption
14. The Story of Failure and Success in “Humboldt’s Gift” by Saul Bellow
15. Searching for the Sense of Life: Walker Percy’s “ The Moviegoer”.
16. Fitting in the “middle America”: Rabbit’s trilogy (Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich) 17. William Burroughs and postmodernism in AmLit.
18. Nabokov’s “Pnin”: triumphs and its failures of Russian émigré experience in the United States.
19. Nabokov on the nature of time (Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle and Transparent Things) 20. Experience of a Prisoner of War in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five”.
21. Ezra Pound as an Architect of English and American Literary Modernism.
22. Robert Frost, a homespun Yankee sage
23. American Writers: Nobel Prize Laureates
24. The Beatnik Philosophy in the works of Allen Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac
25. Tennessee Williams’ plays (The Streetcar Named Desire & The Glass Menagerie)
26. What does McMurphy represent in Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest"
27. Female Images in Toni Morrison's Sula and Beloved.

Your site will focus on one or two of the authors and it has to include the following literary elements or techniques you are familiar with:analysis of the text;historical, biographical, cultural contextual information;online versions of literary works (as links).This project will give you the opportunity to consolidate and expand upon the work you’ve done this semester. You will have to conduct research in relation to your author/s: their literary works; some biographical information; socio-historical context; related criticism and specific references to the text you choose to include just as you’ve been doing in discussions in class. My advice is to take a topic you are really interested in. It can deal either with the authors we'll be discussing in class, or with works of literature which we won't be able to tackle this semester.

By Oct. 11, I expect you to find partners (a group may consist of 2-4 students) who you would like to work on the project with, to choose a topic of your collaborative project and to explain the reasons for choosing it by leaving a comment on my weblog and reporting who you have teamed up with.

Best of luck,
Anna Vladimirovna

Assignment for Oct.11


Washington Irving (1783-1859)


2. Read "Rip Van Winkle" , SAL pp.43-44 (basic stylistic devices)

суббота, 8 сентября 2007 г.

Assignment for Sept.13

Colonial Beginnings + Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
1. Read Ch. 1, 2 from "An Outline of AmLit" by Peter High

2. Listen to Lecture 2 to by Prof. Arnold Weinstein and be ready to

compare and contrast Franklin's philosophy with that of his counterpart, Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan philosopher.

3. Read selections from "Authobiography" (you were given the handouts).
4. Watch the video below and write down 3 quotes by B.Franklin that you liked best.

пятница, 7 сентября 2007 г.

Fall Semester Syllabus

Week 1 - Sep. 6
Introduction to the course.

Week 2 – Sep. 13
National Beginnings
Read: Benjamin Franklin HAL p.10-15

Week 3- Sep. 20
Washington Irwing “Rip Van Winkle”
Read: SAL p.9-10 W.Irving’s short biography (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wirwing.htm)

Week 4 – Sep.27 Washington Irwing, “The Devil and Tom Walker”
Read: “The Devil and Tom Walker” http://www.ffl.msu.ru/staff/stitova/amlit/tom%20walker.html

Week 5 – Oct.4 Nathaniel Hawthorne , “Dr.Heidegger’s Experiment” Read: HAL p.44, SAL p.10-11 “Dr.Heidegger’s Experiment” http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid.6/bookid.196/
A Short Biography of N. Hawthorne: http://www.ffl.msu.ru/staff/stitova/amlit/NathanielHawthorne.doc

Week 6- Oct.11
Edgar Allen Poe – “The cask of Amontillado”
Read: HAL p.119, HAL p.135-139 “The cask of Amontillado”
Poe’s Chronology: http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poechron.htm
Short biography: http://poesss.narod.ru/
“The influence and reputation of Edgar Allan Poe in Europe”


Week 7 – Oct. 18 Edgar Allen Poe – “The Purloined Letter”
Read: “The Purloined Letter”
SAL p.13-14
Poe's Method of Narration

Week 8 – Oct. 25
Midterm test

Week 9 – Nov.1
H.Longfellow – “Hymn to the Night” and “The Secret of the Sea”
Read: HAL p.77-81, SAL p.35, p.53-56.

Week 10 – Nov.8
Transcendentalism

Week 11-Nov.15
Walt Whitman – “There was a Child” and “I hear America Singing”
Read: HAL p.82-86, SAL p.36
Whitman’s biography by E.Folsom and K.Price

Week 12 – Nov. 22
Walt Whitman – “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun”
Read: HAL 85-86, 87. SAL p.55-59

Week 13- Nov.29
Emily Dickinson – “Success”, “I taste a liquor never brewed”, “Much Madness is divinest sense” Read: HAL p.90-92, SAL p.37-38
“Emily Dickinson’s Life” by Paul Crumbley

Week 14 – Dec. 6 Cumulative Vocabulary test

Week 15 – Dec.13 Web Projects Presentation

Week 16 – Dec. 20 Presentation of the collaborative project proposal

Fall 2007 Course Information

American Literature, 1800-1915

Instructor: Anna Vladimirovna Filatova
E-mail:
filatowa@mail.ru

1. Course Description: This course explores a diverse body of nineteen-century literature, including fiction, poetry, and essays, and will help you to understand the texts through close reading and through analysis of the historical, cultural, and artistic value of the text.

2. Course Objectives:
This course has been designated to supplement a lecture course by Prof. E.I.Volkova to deeply and critically read complex literary texts and to delve into basic literary theory.

Your objectives for this course are to
1. Demonstrate familiarity with the social and political forces shaping American culture during the time period;
2. Use textual evidence to support your claims in oral and informal written discussion of assigned texts, without dismissing or oversimplifying views which differ from yours;
3. Organize and develop your initial reactions to assigned texts, through informal writing, peer critiques, and discussion;
4. Work on a collaborative web project that appropriately uses primary and secondary sources (including basic literary theory); Use online tools and resources;
5. Contribute actively to a positive learning environment.

To that end, you will:
read all assigned texts and reflect on them before class,
complete quizzes and exercises to ensure that you are keeping up with the readings and to evaluate your progress,
participate regularly in classroom and web-based discussions, and
do creative writing tasks.



At the end of this course, you should be able to demonstrate
1. Competence in the critical reading of complex literary texts;
2. Intellectual engagement with your peers (in person and online);
3. Awarness of the historical, cultural, and formal issues that influence your developing responses to texts on the syllabus;
4. Ability to plan, draft, revise, and polish high-quality research in the form of a web site.

3.Course Requirements:
The class format will be a seminar, with lots of discussion. You will be asked to develop the capacity to present and defend your own original thoughts about the assigned readings.
That being the case, it goes without saying that students are expected to keep up with the readings, to reflect on them before coming to class, and to contribute actively to creating an active, positive learning environment. We will make an ample use of the Web and we will end up creating our own web sites where you are expected to demonstrate critical thinking, your skills in creative writing, and your abilities to work in a team

4. Attendance.
Students are expected to attend every class. Because a large percentage of your course grade depends on your familiarity with the assigned readings, falling behind or procrastinating can lead to big trouble.
Students who miss a class period for any reason are still responsible for the material covered that day. An excused absence does not automatically grant an extension for any work collected or assigned that day. Please be prepared to take all the quizzes and tests, write an essay and have a one-on-one discussion with the instructor.

5. Class Participation
Students are expected to contribute actively to a positive classroom environment, both in person and online. Students who dislike public speaking may wish to invest more effort in their online writing, and vice-versa. Common sense and common courtesy dictate that absences, late arrivals and early departures, use of telephones or headphones, lack of preparation, and inattentiveness will impact your grade.

6. Required Books (please download them now for future use):
1. Titova.S. Studies in American Literature. MSU. 1999.
2.
Reuben P. Halleck. History of American Literature.
3.
William Lawton. Introduction to the Study of American Literature.Yonkers-on-Hudson, N.Y.; World Book Co. 1914.
4.
Peter High. An Outline of American Literature. Longman. 1986
5. Monolingual English Dictionaries: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary or Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

In addition to the texts listed above, readings also include handouts and online texts. When we are scheduled to discuss an online text, bring a complete printout to class with you.

7. Grading
To succeed in the course, you will need to read assignments carefully (that is, more than once), and be prepared ro discuss the readings in-depth when you come to class. You will also be required to work on a web project and learn vocabulary.

Grading will be based on the following:
Attendance, Participation, and Quizzes 30%
Web Project 30%
Vocabulary Test 20%
Exam 20%