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"

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/

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.

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

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);

Image Source: http://www.bre.com/Portals/0/images/Support%20Page/question%20key%20brown.gif

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.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

1. A short biography of N. Hawthorne.

2. Reasons for Hawthorne's popularity, major themes in Hawthorne's fiction.

3. Principles of short story writing. Review of Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales by E.A.Poe

4. Allegory and symbols in "Dr. Heidegger's experiment". + "Studies in American Literature" (p.10-11)

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!