Final Exam Questions

1. Naturalism in writing, and how "The Second Choice" is a naturalistic work.

2. The Lost Generation: who are theym why are they called that, what common characteristics do they share?

3. Hemingway’s principles of short story writing: traditions and innovations. Be prepared to show examples of it from the stories we read.

4. Peculiarities of E. Hemingway’s style.

5. W. Faulkner as a fine stylist (high rhetoric, folk language, long sentences, paradoxes, etc.).

6. Themes and plot structure in “Dry September”.

7. The peculiarities of narration in T. Dreiser’s “The Second Choice”.

8. Symbols and their role in “The Great Gatsby”.

9. Themes in “The Great Gatsby”.

10. Plot structure and themes in "Of Mice and Men".

• Be ready to talk about the following characters:

Shirley in The Second Choice,
Barton in The Second Choice,
Miss Minnie Cooper in Dry September,
the barber in Dry September,
Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby,
Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby,
Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby,
Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises,
Robert Cohn in The Sun Also Rises,
Lady Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises,
George from Of Mice and Men,
Lennie from Of Mice and Men.

• Be ready to explain the distinguishing characteristics of realism, naturalism, and regionalism.
• Be ready to compare and contrast the writing styles of the authors.
• Be ready to explain the following terms: Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, Flappers.

End-of-Semester Web Sites Presentation

Greetings - we finally made it to the end!Somehow September has turned into May and another academic year has been put to rest. I realize that the spring semester was very challenging, as you were supposed to do a lot of reading, thinking and blogging, which was new and time-consuming. But I want to believe that you got something out of it.

I would like to thank you for being actively involved in my experiment. You've surpassed all my expectations and you've given me a lot of food for thought and many new ideas. Thanks to your feedback, many things will be done differently next year.

By the way, Red Squirrel has left a comment to the post below that would make you take pride in your achievements.

I wish you good luck with your exams!
Keep in touch.
Yours,
Anna Vladimirovna

Group Web Sites are All Set

Class,

By Thursday, please check out your groupmates' web sites:
Tennessee Williams Project: http://tennessee.web-box.ru/
Faulkner & Hemingway Project: http://nobelprizer.webstolica.ru/
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Project (please note that it's a new version!!!):
http://www.kesey-clinic.webstolica.ru/
The Great Gatsby Project:
http://msu-american-dream.narod.ru/
Please use the following evaluation criteria:
1. content - 35 % (your text, related sites, description of the sites);
2. organization - 10 % (effective overall organisation of the material (easy to find and navigate));
3.language - 30 % (grammar, syntax, vocabulary, style);
4. design (visual aspects) - 10 % (text characteristics, attractive background, pictures/images);
5. links - 10 % (about 20 links);
6. authorship - 5 % (contact information).

REMINDER: Please return all HAL and SAL books!

Image Source:http://inframe.by.ru/PICTURES/Stimulation-of-creativity.jpg

Just a Reminder

Students,
Please be sure to bring all the books you borrowed from me at the beginning of the academic year ("Highlights of American Literature" & "Studies in American Literature"). Thank you!

Robert Frost (May 10)

1. Robert Frost Information

2. Poems:
"The Road Not Taken"
"Acquainted with the Night"
"Fire and Ice"
"Mending Wall"
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
"The Sound Of The Trees"

3. Enjoy this video:

Image Source: www.ketzle.com/frost/frost2.gif

Language Learning and Web 2.0.

Students,

Our last class will be on May 17. At 13.45 we'll meet in Room 315 for the final talk and course evaluation. Then, at 15.20 we'll move to the conference room 107-108 where your group presentations (which is 25% of your grade) will take place. Everybody's attendance is a must.

Your final web sites are due Mon., May 14.

If you are interested in what we have been doing this semester (watch the video below from TeacherTube),


I would encourage you to join the social network created by Eduardo Peirano which is called College 2.0 where faculty and students share their experience of using Web 2.o. services. So, you are very welcome to share your impressions!