Choose Your Own Short Story

READ

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Choose one story from the following short stories (sure you can read more than one, but for this unit having one under your belt will suffice).

Choose one from the following:
"Everything That Rises Must Converge"-Flannery O'Connor
"The Black Cat"-Poe
"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?"-Oates
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"-O'Connor

DO THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR BLOG
Create Socratic Questions (one question for each type) covering the story you've chosen. Write your questions and the answers on a blog post. Be sure to answer each question you ask using complete sentences.

Anytime you want me to check your progress comment below 

and I'll look at what you've been writing.

Romanticism: What is it? "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"

WATCH: Below you will find three videos that briefly describe the Romantics, you may watch one, two or all of the videos or you may go back to your notes from previous units, but be prepared to recap and discuss Romanticism, especially in relation to The Scarlet Letter and "The Devil and Tom Walker".

READ: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

And, of course, Disney has an excellent (if not wholly accurate) version (Part I,  Part II, Part III and IV)!

Washington Irving's tale of the Headless Horseman is a classic Halloween tale. Strangely, at the time Halloween was not the celebrated holiday that we see today. When you read this story think about what actually happens to Ichabod Crane.

ANSWER ON YOUR BLOG: How does this story capture the imagination of readers today?

LISTEN: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" Wallis Willis

ANSWER ON YOUR BLOG: How is this song about escaping the physical conditions of slavery? How is this song about religious hope and faith? How is this song reflective of its time period? How does it relate to today?

WORDS TO KNOW
Spiritual: Songs that developed among the slave population on the plantations – generally religious in nature, but often with double meaning relating to the desire for freedom from slavery.
Call and Response: The musical practice of a leader calling out a line of music (sung or played on an instrument) and others responding.

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Essential Questions for this Unit

"Rain, Train and Speed"-JMW Turner National Gallery

On your blog answer the essential questions:

1. How are the Romantics' beliefs of optimism and individualism reflected in their writing?
2. What is Romanticism, Gothic Romanticism and Southern Gothic Romanticism? How are they similar how are they different?
3. How is the Southern Gothic movement a response to literary movements that have preceded it as well as a manipulation of Romantic literary conventions?
4. How did the American culture prompt the dark sides of Romanticism (think Gothic and Southern Gothic)?
5. How do the writings of these time periods influence the writings of today? 

Feel free to add to your answers as you progress through the unit.

Anytime you want me to check your progress comment below and I'll look at what you've been writing.