TODAY IN CLASS
1.  The final bit of generic advice concerning the personal essay, this time from an admissions official at Cornell University.  Also, I provided a web site with some additional suggestions (scroll down a bit for the text and three numbered sections):
http://education.trak.in/2010/three-keys-for-writing-the-best-possible-college-admissions-essay/

Also, late in that article, there is a further link that will take you to many other articles to skim through, if you are really so inclined.

2. We started to think of both "Araby" and "A & P" in terms of a quest:  the overall object of a quest may seem to vary (the Holy Grail, finding [and killing] the dragon, whatever it is Indiana Jones is searching for now, to say nothing of a present for a girl, or THE GIRL herself).  But actually, in lterature at least, the real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge. And we talked about how that worked for both the unnamed "Araby" narrator and for Sammy in "A & P."

3.  However, the knowledge/self-insight for Sammy seems  a bit unclear, and in 2nd period we looked at the final sentence in close detail.  We need to pick that up better in 4th  next week.

4.  In 4th period, we set up the next story pretty thoroughly--so everyone else, please read the notes below concerning "A Devoted Son."

FOR MONDAY

Get going on your essay.  Sure, the first draft someone else will see is not due until Thursday, but that shouldn't be the first draft that you write.  Churn something out over the week-end if you can--so that you will have 2 - 3 days to be more critical and objective about your own work.

I assigned the final story for this unit:  Anita Desai's "A Devoted Son" (pp. 1272-1282).

• To be honest, we will not talk about it until Tuesday. But I want you to know of it over the week-end because a) it's fairly long, and b) if you didn't get your prospectus back and want to wait to work on your essay, you can have something to do now that will save you time next week.
• 2nd period (and anyone absent from 4th)--be sure to think about the title.  We've been on a run of stories featuring young male protagonists (Paul, Jerome, "Araby" narrator, Sammy, and now "the devoted son").  But also think about the ambiguity of titles:  "The Demon Lover" (multiple interpretations and/or ambiguities) . . . "The Rocking-Horse Winner" (sure, he piled up loads of cash, but he died).
• So how "devoted" is the son in the title?  What is the nature of devotion?  What are the cultural and generational expectations of parent/child (or child/parent) relationships?