Updated: Wyatt assignment, plus additional info

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/suicide.htm

Obviously the ending of The Awakening has troubled readers, and various critics have sought to interpret exactly what happens (does she commit suicide?; could the drowning perhaps be accidental?) as well as to justify it as a satisfying artistic and thematic choice.

Read Neal Wyatt's short piece all the way through, and select ONE of the critics he mentions.  Write one paragraph (two if you're really on a roll) that asserts which critical view most closely matches your own thoughts on the ending of this novel, and why.  If at all possible, try to add further justification/rationale for the critical stance you've selected.  (That is, don't just continue to state that you agree, but ADD to the support for that critic's position by providing further evidence from the novel.)

Submit to http://www.turnitin.com/ only.  No hard copy.

Due by class-time tomorrow.

AFTER-SCHOOL UPDATE
Though I am sorry we have not yet gotten to the reason for bringing both texts to class (Chopin plus the big lit book), please bring them both tomorrow.  There will be some in-class activities related to material in both books.

NEXT WEEK
The final exam, given over two days, covers the following works:  Metamorphosis, Heart of Darkness, A Doll's House, and The Awakening.  (No short stories; no Hamlet)

Tuesday:  In-Class Closed-Book Essay on "The Metamorphosis"
The question will be an AP or AP-style "Question 3" that requires you to use Kafka's "Metamorphosis" as the focus to responding to a broad critical question.  (That is, on the actual AP exam, a student would have had the choice of what work to use, either selecting from a list provided or choosing another work that fits the parameters of the question.)

During the 90-minute Finals Period:

• A short series of objective questions over A Doll's House and The Awakening  (30-40; 15 min.)
• A passage analysis from one of the works using a hand-out, not your own text
• A closed-book "Question 3" for which you may choose one of the works OTHER THAN "Metamorphosis"

There will be 75 minutes to split between these two questions, which is barely less than the 80 minutes assumed on the AP exam.  (Even then it is "recommended"--that is, you have two hours for three essays, and whereas 40 minutes each is an even split, people routinely spend, for example, 35 minutes on one and 45 on another.)

You will be expected to be on-time, and to have a pencil for the Scantron section and pens and paper out and ready for the written sections.  When the bell rings, we will begin.