Welcome to World Literature. This course is used to fulfill your English 12 requirement as well as prepare you for your time in the work force and/or at a college or university. I am very excited to teach this course and help you become more refined writers, readers, and thinkers. My hope for this course is that I will help you see the multiple contexts that exist in literature as well as how to use them to understand yourself and the world around you.
There are some over-arching themes and motifs that are continually noticed throughout the span of this course and they are shaped by a few essential questions:
1. What are your basic perceptions of the world and your place in it, and from where do those perceptions originate?
2. Who are you and what shapes your identity?
3. How can one better understand the characters and plots of literature in both individual and global contexts?
4. What practices of society are questioned in the literature that we read and do you find it necessary to do the same?
I am very excited to begin this year with you. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach me at ikain@oswego.org. I am also available to meet with you or your parent; simply email me and we will set up a time to meet.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Hello all,
We are coming to the end. The school year is almost over and we have only eight more Mondays to endure. However, this also means that our culminating reading piece and assignment is also upon us. William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is the shortest of his tragedies; however, if one perceives it to lack in substance due to its abbreviated length, then one would surely be mistaken. I like to consider "Macbeth" to be like dynamite: it's little but it packs a big punch. The subject of the play, it's characterization, narrative development, and thematic structure all lend themselves to complex student analysis. It is for this reason that we will be doing the years culminating writing assignment in conjunction with this play.
There will surely be more about what we call the senior thesis paper to come down the line. But for now, it is enough to say that the this paper will be a large portion of your fourth marking period grade, as well as the written portion of your cumulative final exam. It may be needless to say this, but, this is a very importan paper. Therefore, because this very important paper is written regarding "Macbeth," it stands to reason that your understanding of, and your diligent attention toward the play is also very important.
While I am an English teacher, and focused my Graduate work on Shakespearean works, I recognize that reading the language of Shakespeare's time to be daunting to many students. For this reason I have decided to meet you, the student, where you are at. If you click on the image in the right margin of this website you will be directed to Sparknote's No Fear Shakespeare page. This page will give you access to a free, online, side-by-side version of this play. That means that the original Shakespearean text will be on the left hand side, and a more modern translation will be on the right hand side. So, if you are confused by a passage that we read in class, need to read some of the play for homework, or simply wish to understand this play better, then this site will be very helpful to use.
I can honestly say that this is one of the most important works that I have read in my life. It raises some very practical questions about goodness, justice, the qualities of the hero, and many others. I look forward to reading this with you.
We are coming to the end. The school year is almost over and we have only eight more Mondays to endure. However, this also means that our culminating reading piece and assignment is also upon us. William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is the shortest of his tragedies; however, if one perceives it to lack in substance due to its abbreviated length, then one would surely be mistaken. I like to consider "Macbeth" to be like dynamite: it's little but it packs a big punch. The subject of the play, it's characterization, narrative development, and thematic structure all lend themselves to complex student analysis. It is for this reason that we will be doing the years culminating writing assignment in conjunction with this play.
There will surely be more about what we call the senior thesis paper to come down the line. But for now, it is enough to say that the this paper will be a large portion of your fourth marking period grade, as well as the written portion of your cumulative final exam. It may be needless to say this, but, this is a very importan paper. Therefore, because this very important paper is written regarding "Macbeth," it stands to reason that your understanding of, and your diligent attention toward the play is also very important.
While I am an English teacher, and focused my Graduate work on Shakespearean works, I recognize that reading the language of Shakespeare's time to be daunting to many students. For this reason I have decided to meet you, the student, where you are at. If you click on the image in the right margin of this website you will be directed to Sparknote's No Fear Shakespeare page. This page will give you access to a free, online, side-by-side version of this play. That means that the original Shakespearean text will be on the left hand side, and a more modern translation will be on the right hand side. So, if you are confused by a passage that we read in class, need to read some of the play for homework, or simply wish to understand this play better, then this site will be very helpful to use.
I can honestly say that this is one of the most important works that I have read in my life. It raises some very practical questions about goodness, justice, the qualities of the hero, and many others. I look forward to reading this with you.
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