Q2, week 5 skedj.

Monday.
In class: "Love" & "Spin."
Homework: "On the Rainy River," pp. 39-61 (23).

Day 2.
In class: Courage and cowardice.
Homework: "Enemies," through "The Dentist" pp. 62-88 (27).

Day 3.
In class: "What's the use of a [war] story if it's not even true?" (With debt and gratitude owed to Salman Rushdie.)
Homework: "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," pp. 89-116 (28).

Friday.
In class: In-class essay.
Homework: "Stockings" through "Style," pp. 117-136 (20).

Q2, week 4 skedj.

Monday.
In class: Begin The Things They Carried.
Homework: Finish "The Things They Carried," pp. 1-26 (26).

Tuesday.
In class: Repetition and tone.
Homework: In your notebook, list examples of paradox, oxymoron, and irony from title chapter.

Wednesday - Friday.
No school, Thanksgiving break.

First FLASH meeting.

The first FLASH meeting will be at 3:00 this Friday, Nov. 20 in the Alumnae Room. FLASH is the Upper School's annual literary journal. Editors, writers, poets, and self-proclaimed book nerds are encouraged to attend to plan activities and publications for the year. Email FLASH advisor Eric Hansen with questions.

Q2, week 3 skedj.

Monday.
In class: Rising action and climax.
Homework: Act 2, scenes 4 & 5; pp. 80-101 (22).

Day 2.
In class: The effects of Troy's shadow.
Homework: Thesis and 2-3 supporting quotations for Harmond & Troy: A Juxtaposition of "Big Men" essay.

Day 3.
In class: Wrapping up Fences.
Homework: Essay.

Friday.
In class: Writing day.
Homework: Essay. due before class Monday via Turn It In.

"Fences" to return to Broadway, Denzel to play Troy.

Last July, Radio Golf, the final play in August Wilson’s epic, 10-play cycle about the black experience in America, closed on Broadway. And now plans are in the works to bring back Fences, his portrait of a bitter and resentful former baseball player and ex-convict in 1957 Pittsburgh, which will be the second revival of a Wilson play on Broadway. Read the full New York Times article here: "Broadway Comeback is Planned for August Wilson's Fences."

Also, check out "Denzel Washington to return to Broadway" from the L.A. Times.

About "Homerun" Hank.

“Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster.” — Curt Simmons

Exhibiting an understated style that became his trademark, Hank Aaron became the all-time home run champion via one of the most consistent offensive careers in baseball history, with 3,771 hits. In addition to his 755 home runs, he also holds major league records for total bases, extra-base hits and RBI. Aaron was the 1957 National League MVP, won three Gold Gloves for his play in right field and was named to a record 24 All-Star squads. —From the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.

Authentic dialogue, with accents.

A question came up in class the other day about accents in theater. I mentioned something about striving for authenticity as opposed to parody or stereotype. That night I came across a New Yorker article on the broader subject of authentic speech in films and theater. Below is the first paragraph. Read the full article here: "Talk This Way".

Tim Monich taught Brad Pitt to talk like he was from somewhere deep in the mountains of Tennessee. He taught Matt Damon to speak as if he were South African, and Hilary Swank to speak like Amelia Earhart. In early September, having nearly finished teaching Gerard Butler, who is Scottish, to speak as if he were from New York, for “The Bounty,” Monich began teaching Shia LeBeouf to speak as if he grew up on Long Island, for Wall Street 2.” Much of Monich’s movie work involves getting Northerners to speak like Southerners, and much of his theatre work involves teaching Americans to deliver lines from Shakespeare or Shaw.

Supplements to "Fences."

• MPR: Interview with Penumbra Artistic Director Lou Bellamy.
• New York Times: "August Wilson, Theater's Poet of Black American, Dead at 60."
• NPR: "Intersections: August Wilson, Writing to the Blues."
• MPR: "August Wilson's African-American Century."
• Below, scenes from the 2008 Penumbra production of Fences. From left to right: Rose & Troy; Rose & Cory (foreground) and Troy & Gabriel (background); Troy.

Q2, week 2 skedj.

Monday.
In class: From the page to the stage--inhabiting the role.
Homework: Act 1, Scenes 2 & 3; pp. 21-40 (20).

Day 2.
In class: Wrestling with the Devil and Death (internal conflict) and rising tension (external conflict).
Homework: Act 1, Scene 4; pp. 41-58 (18).

Day 3.
In class: Troy's back story.
Homework: Beef up annotations, read The Great Migration.

Friday.
In class: At the plate with two strikes.
Homework: Act 2, Scenes 1-3; pp. 59-79 (21).

Q2, week 1 skedj.

Monday.
In class: An intelligent discussion re: movement.
Homework: What becomes of the characters?

Day 2.
In class: Wrapping up Radio Golf.
Homework: Just the intro (due Friday).

Day 3.
In class: Thesis statements.
Homework: Just the intro (due Friday).

Friday.
In class: Contextualizing Fences.
Homework: Fences Act 1, Scene 1; pp. 1-20 (20).