Week-End Post, and BRING GRAY LIT BOOK TO CLASS!

FRIDAY IN CLASS
Essay preparation:
We spent considerable time going over the dictionary definition of an "outsider" from the assignment sheet, and thinking about the element that the basic definition leaves out.  Next, we worked on creating complete theme statements (universal claims, stated as a sentence) concerning outsiders, first individually, and then as a group.  I don't expect you to stick with the theme statement that you or anyone at your table developed; what you create for your paper has to relate to (and set the backdrop for) the thesis  for that paper.  In other words, your essay should include a broadly stated theme that will then connect directly with how you will show that theme at work in your particular book, through the character you designate.  Your essay will then be the thing that provides convincing and illuminating evidence that your character does, in fact, prove the validity of the thematic claim.

REMINDER
Also--as you write and revise, remember the four designated Department Demons:
1) any mistake in handling the MLA 2009 requirements of the first page of your essay
2) using anything but the 3rd person for academic essays:  No 1st person (I and related forms); no 2nd person (YOU and related forms)
3) though you are urged to take care with all words that are easily confused, three common but basic pronoun errors are singled out as "demons":  your/you're; their/there/they're; its/it's
4) naked/stranded/orphaned quotations

Remember, these "demons"--by English department agreement--result in an automatic 5% deduction per demon when they occur on formal out-of-class essays.

FOR MONDAY
So, obviously, be working on your "outsider" essay for your choice novel.  Include a Works Cited page for your work and edition.  See the Purdue OWL for instructions, though this should be a fairly straightforward case.  Be sure you follow the April 2009 update.  

AND A CHANGE
I have decided to make time for an optional peer-response on Tuesday (15 minutes max).  You may participate ONLY if you have a complete typed draft to offer.  Therefor I am also changing the turnitin.com deadline from early Tuesday morning to late Tuesday night--the usual 11:59 p.m.

Finally, remember to bring the Prentice-Hall textbook (AKA "the big gray lit book") with you to class on Monday.