"To An Athlete Dying Young"/Character Parallel

For this blog post, you will choose a character from our literature so far (no character from ETHAN FROME may be used) and discuss how that character best compares to the athlete in Housman's "To An Athlete Dying Young." You will blog about this in class (and not before that) and then we'll discuss what you have afterward. You should cite specifics to make your point and the post itself has to be at least 100 words.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS/THE SCARLET LETTER Parallel Activity

List at LEAST 10 parallels (characters, situations, events, etc.) that you see between the film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and THE SCARLET LETTER. Don't be lazy; be creative and really think this through. This post is due by 11:59 PM on October 7th.

THE SCARLET LETTER: What If...?

For this blog post, you will write an alternate ending to THE SCARLET LETTER. Make sure what you write is REALISTIC (I don't want to hear about how Dimmesdale and Hester hop in a car, both put on sunglasses, squeal their tires, and speed out of town, for example). Because we had quite a few REALLY short responses to the last blog assignment, I'm requiring that this post be AT LEAST 150 words and very detailed in terms of description. Don't be lazy...

This blog post is due before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd (2009). HORRIFIC participation loss if this doesn't happen.

"Rappaccini's Daughter" Response

Provide a detailed and thoughtful response to the following question. Your post is due before 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 15th. Late posts or failure to post will result in significant participation point loss:

Is Baglioni good or evil?


In order to respond, click on the "Comments" section of this blog post. Be sure that your GOOGLE account user name is your first name and first letter of your last name only.

Special Note*

The first blog post of the semester will be due before 6 a.m. this Tuesday. For that reason, you need to make sure that you have created a GOOGLE account by then. Failure to do so will result in loss of participation points that you cannot afford to lose. See the blog post below this one for information regarding how to create the account.

Welcome to Major American Authors

This blog page will serve as a headquarters for many of our class activities. In order to participate, you need to create a GOOGLE account if you have not already do so. Your last name should appear NOWHERE in the screen name you choose. For example, if your name is JANE DOE (which it's not, but follow me anyway), use the screen name JANE D. If there are multiple students with the name JANE D in class, then we'll figure out a solution to that problem at that point.

Here is a link to guide you through the "Creating a GOOGLE Account" process. Let me know immediately if you're having trouble making it:

http://webtrends.about.com/od/howtoguides/ht/google_howto.htm