Mrs. Foster's American Literature Class

American Literature Journal List

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

“A Few Don’ts” by Ezra Pound

“The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” by Ezra Pound

“In the Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound

“Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Page 760 #4-6 and Page 761 #9

“The Turtle” by John Steinbeck

“Old Age Sticks” E.E. Cummins

“anyone live in a pretty how town” by E. E. Cummings

“The Unknown Citizen” by W. H. Auden

“The Far and the Near” by Thomas Wolfe

“Of Modern Poetry” by Wallace Stevens

“Anecdote of the Jar” by Wallace Stevens

“Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish

“Poetry” by Marianne Moore

“In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway

“The Corn Planting” by Sherwood Anderson

“Ambush” by Tim O’Brien

“Chicago” by Carl Sandburg

“Grass” by Carl Sandburg

“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Journal Entries List thus far

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Today we did an experiment with out own writings.  How did an Imagist write poetry?  Remember, you should know the basic three rules of Imagist writings as expressed by Ezra Pound.

Next, we took a look at Ezra Pound’s “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” and “In a Station of the Metro.”  Be sure that you have journaled for both of these works.

Today we began by studying “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot.  Why do you think this poem is so difficult to understand?

Can you answer where the character is going?  What is he describing?

Who is the “you and I” that the narrator addresses?

How does stream of consciousness play a role in this poem?

What is the passage from Dante’s “Inferno” expressing at the beginning of the poem?

Answer the questions above.  Make sure that you especially know how and why this work fits into the category of dramatic monologue, an example of stream of consciousness, and modernist poetry.

Below is a video of the audio clip of T.S. Eliot reciting “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Today we continued to explore the historical background of the Modern Era of American literature.  The history is crucial to understanding and having an appreciation for the literature of that time period.  We viewed a power point for this information, but I will post this at a later date when we have finished going through it.

Make sure that you have finished the readings for “The Love Poem of J. Alfred Prufrock” by Jonathan Swift.  Tomorrow we will explore this piece and see if we can gain a little unerstanding!

Make sure that you are keeping up with the journaling!

Welcome to a new year! I hope that this semester is as exciting as the last!

Yes, we already dove head first in the material!  Make sure that you stay on top of your journaling this semester.

Remember that as we go along in this course, try to apply some of the readings to your own life.  Literature is amazing because it teaches life lessons! We can learn so much through the written word, and I can only hope that you will learn to have a love and appreciation for it.

Today we considered the impact of literature during the time of the Great War, the Great Depression, and the roaring twenties.  How did various inventions change the way of life for the American people?  How might war have changed literature?  We are entering the Modern Era of American literature.  Why is it called the Modern Era?

For tonight’s homework, read pages 716-720.  This is a fairly hard piece, but reread it if necessary.  Consider what the work is about.  What is the deeper meaning behind the text.  Why would Eliot write such a poem?  Make sure that you journal on this piece.