English 11H Mrs. V. Pechstein Email: vpechstein@emufsd.us Welcome the English 11 Honors. This is a course that is designed to meet your needs as advanced learners. The course work will be rigorous, and you are expected to meet the high expectations that are set for you. Requirements: 1. Read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and complete the discussion questions. All work must be typed, saved, and ready for submission to turnitin.com during the first week of school. 2. Read a work of your choosing (fiction or non-fiction) that is a minimum of 275 pages. The only caveat is that it may not have a film counterpart. If you are unsure, google it or consult www.imdb.com While reading this work, you must complete a dialectical journal or reading log. The method you use must be typed, saved and ready for submission to turnitin.com during the first week of school. You may use the template attached. You should have a minimum of 10 entries. Use the template provided
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle By David Wroblewski Directions: Type your responses and save the file for upload on turnitin.com. Refer to specific examples from the novel to support your analysis. All responses must be in complete sentences/paragraph form. Discussion Questions 1. How would Edgar's story have been different if he had been born with a voice? How would Edgar himself have been different? Since Edgar can communicate perfectly well in sign most of the time, why should having a voice make any difference at all? 2. At one point in this story, Trudy tells Edgar that what makes the Sawtelle dogs valuable is something that cannot be put into words, at least by her. By the end of the story, Edgar feels he understands what she meant, though he is equally at a loss to name this quality. What do you think Trudy meant? 3. How does Almondine's way of seeing the world differ from the human characters in this story? Does Essay's perception (which we can only infer) differ from Almondine's? Assuming that both dogs are examples of what John Sawtelle dubbed canis posterus, "the next dogs", what specifically can they do that other dogs cannot? 4. In what ways have dog training techniques changed in the last few decades? Do Edgar's own methods change over the course of the story? If so, why? Do different methods of dog training represent a trade-off of some kind, or are certain methods simply better? Would it be more or less difficult to train a breed of dogs that had been selected for many generations for their intellect? 5. Haunting is a prominent motif in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. How many ghosts, both literal and figurative, are in this story? In what ways are the ghosts alike? Who is haunted, and by whom? 6. One of the abiding mysteries in Edgar's life concerns how his parents met. In fact, Edgar is an inveterate snoop about it. Yet when Trudy finally offers to tell him, he decides he'd rather not know. What does that reveal about Edgar's character or his state of mind? Do you think he might have made a different decision earlier in the story? 7. At first glance, Henry Lamb seems an unlikely caretaker for a pair of Sawtelle dogs, yet Edgar feels that Tinder and Baboo will be safe with him. What is it about Henry that makes him fit? Would it have been better if Edgar had placed the dogs with someone more experienced? Why doesn't Edgar simply insist that all the dogs return home with him? 8. Claude is a mysterious presence in this story. What does he want and when did he start wanting it? What is his modus operandi? Would his methods work in the real world, or is such behavior merely a convenient trope of fiction? Two of the final chapters are told from Claude's point of view. Do they help explain his character or motivation? 9. In one of Edgar's favorite passages from The Jungle Book, Bagheera tells Mowgli that he was once a caged animal, until "one night I felt that I was Bagheera the Panther and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw and came away." There is a dialectic in Edgar's story that is similarly concerned with the ideas of wildness and domestication. How does this manifest itself? What is the "wildest" element in the story? What is the most "domestic"?
10. Mark Doty has called The Story of Edgar Sawtelle "an American Hamlet." Certainly, there are moments that evoke that older drama, but many other significant story elements do not. Edgar's encounter with Ida Paine is one example out of many. Are other Shakespearean plays evoked in this story? Consider Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and The Tempest. In what sense is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle like all Elizabethan stage drama? Is it important to know (or not know) that the story is, at some level, a retelling of an older tale? Do you think Elizabethan audiences were aware that Hamlet was itself a retelling of an older story? 11. Until it surfaces later in the story, some readers forget entirely about the poison that makes its appearance in the Prologue; others never lose track of it. Which kind of reader were you? What is the nature of the poison? When the man and the old herbalist argue in the Prologue, who did you think was right? 12. In the final moments of the story, Essay must make a choice. What do you think she decides, and why? Do you think all the dogs will abide by her decision? (Questions issued by publisher.) http://www.davidwroblewski.com/discussion.html
Dialectical Journals The term Dialectic means the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer. Think of your dialectical journal as a series of conversations with the texts we read during this course. The process is meant to help you develop a better understanding of the texts we read. Use your journal to incorporate your personal responses to the texts, your ideas about the themes we cover and our class discussions. You will find that it is a useful way to process what you re reading, prepare yourself for group discussion, and gather textual evidence for your Literary Analysis assignments. Procedure: o As you read, choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of a T-chart (ALWAYS include page numbers). o In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each passage) o If you choose, you can label your responses using the following codes: (Q) Question ask about something in the passage that is unclear (limit to only two) - be sure to respond to/reflect upon your question if/when you find an answer. (C) Connect make a connection to your life, the world, or another text (CL) Clarify answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction (R) Reflect think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense not just to the characters in the story. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just the way things work? (E) Evaluate - make a judgment about the character(s), their actions, or what the author is trying to say o Provide at least ten (10) entries. Each entry must be at least 2 sentences long. o Your responses should be typed. Sample Dialectical Journal entry: The Things They Carried, by Tim O Brien Passages from the text Pg#s Comments & Questions -they carried like freight trains; they carried it on their backs and shoulders-and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry. Pg 2 (R) O brien chooses to end the first section of the novel with this sentence. He provides excellent visual details of what each solider in Vietnam would carry for day-to-day fighting. He makes you feel the physical weight of what soldiers have to carry for simple survival. When you combine the emotional weight of loved ones at home, the fear of death, and the responsibility for the men you fight with, with this physical weight, you start to understand what soldiers in Vietnam dealt with every day. This quote sums up the confusion that the men felt about the reasons they were fighting the war, and how they clung to the only certainty - things they had to carry - in a confusing world where normal rules were suspended.
Choosing Passages from the Text: Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For example, you might record: o Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices o Passages that remind you of your own life or something you ve seen before o Structural shifts or turns in the plot o A passage that makes you realize something you hadn t seen before o Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs. o Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary o Events you find surprising or confusing o Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting Responding to the Text: You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember is that your observations should be specific and detailed. You can write as much as you want for each entry. Use loose leaf paper for your journals. Students also have the option of typing their responses. Basic Responses o Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text o Give your personal reactions to the passage o Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s) o Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences o Write about what it makes you think or feel o Agree or disagree with a character or the author Sample Sentence Starters: I really don t understand this because I really dislike/like this idea because I think the author is trying to say that This passage reminds me of a time in my life when If I were (name of character) at this point I would This part doesn t make sense because This character reminds me of (name of person) because Higher Level Responses o Analyze the text for use of literary devices (tone, structure, style, imagery) o Make connections between different characters or events in the text o Make connections to a different text (or film, song, etc ) o Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s) o Consider an event or description from the perspective of a different character o Analyze a passage and its relationship to the story as a whole Adapted from: https://www2.k12albemarle.org/.../summer%20reading_dialectical-journal-handout%2..
Name Dialectical Journal Date Course Title of work: Author: Pages: Summary of work: Passages from the text Pg#s Comments & Reflections