Ch. 1-3 Book V
5) Why was Jim afraid to visit Ántonia after the years had gone by? Think back to the Introduction that described his adult life. What "illusions" do you think he has "parted with" in his own life?
6) What impressed him when he finally visited Ántonia? What did he mean that she "had not lost the fire of life"?
7) How is the apple orchard symbolic of Ántonia's life?
8) Why does Jim consider Ántonia a "rich mine of life, like the founders of early races" (261, Ch. 1)
9) What is the significance of the plans Jim makes with Ántonia's husband and boys? What does he mean that this visit gave him a "sense of coming home to myself" and he learned "what a little circle man's experience is" (273 Ch.III)?

Appendices
1) The letter was written by the real woman whom Willa Cather based the novel on. What insight does Anna Pavelka's letter shed on the fictional Ántonia and the novel as a whole?

2. What are Jim's impressions of the plains upon his arrival and throughout these first chapters? How does the landscape compare or contrast with his former home in Virginia? What is the significance of his view of the plains?

3. Read carefully the descriptions of Jim's grandparents house. What does it tell us about their status and situation? Why are the kitchen and dining room in the basement? How do you imagine the Shimerda's sod house compares with the Burden's?

4. Consider the various descriptions of the immigrants (The Russians, the Shimerdas, and others) in these chapters. How are the different immigrant groups viewed by the Burdens and Jake (European Americans)? How are the immigrants viewed by other immigrants (commonalities or conflicts)?

5. What are the character differences between Antonia's mother and father?
What kind of life can you infer the Shimerda's lived in Bohemia?

6. What interests you most about the novel to this point?

Bring a hard copy (1-1/2 to 2 pages, typed and double-spaced) rough draft of the first half of your paper to class. Begin by writing an introduction and include your revised thesis at the end of the introduction.

Choose the best evidence from the readings to support the ideas in your thesis. Find several different examples to support each element of the thesis. Then write 3-4 fully developed paragraphs in the order which best addresses the ideas in your thesis.

Paragraphs should include the following elements:
1) A topic sentence that introduces the main point you will make in the paragraph.
2) An Introduction of the source (author and title of article the first time you refer to that source) and background information about the evidence that the reader needs to know to understand the evidence
3) Then, present the specific evidence or a brief quotation.
4) Finally, analyze how the evidence supports your thesis.

As you write, consider your audience to be someone who has not read the articles and who needs full explanations of ideas. Remember the reader cannot read your mind so you need to present ideas in a logical fashion and fill in the gaps for the reader.

Be sure to save your writing on a flash drive or send it to yourself by e-mail because we will be working on the writings in class.

Finally, bring both the Pocket Style Manual and the course packet to class so you can refer to them as you are revising.

Bring a hard copy (typed and double-spaced) rough draft of the first half of your paper to class. Begin by writing an introduction and include your revised thesis at the end of the introduction.

Choose the best evidence from the readings to support the ideas in your thesis. Find several different examples for each element of the thesis. Then write 3-4 fully developed paragraphs in the order which best addresses the ideas in your thesis.

Paragraphs should include the following elements:
1) A topic sentence that introduces the main point you will make in the paragraph.
2) An Introduction of the source (author and title of article the first time you refer to that source) and background information about the evidence that the reader needs to know to understand the evidence
3) Then, present the specific evidence or a brief quotation.
4) Finally, analyze how the evidence supports your thesis.

As you write, consider your audience to be someone who has not read the articles and who needs full explanations of ideas. Remember the reader cannot read your mind so you need to present ideas in a logical fashion and fill in the gaps for the reader.

Be sure to save your writing on a flash drive or send it to yourself by e-mail because we will be working on the writings in class.

It may not be clear on the assignment schedule, but the readings in A Pocket Style Manual include doing the online grammar exercises.

First, go to the website . Then click on "Student" under "Register" on the right hand side and enter the requested information. Registration insures that you can access your scores and exercises in the future.

Important Note When Registering: Be sure to enter my e-mail address: blakedj@umn.edu, so that the program allows me to access your exercises and scores.

Next click on Grammar exercises, then Clarity and then the exercise number. As stated on the Assignment Schedule, do the exercise sets for sections 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 in the Clarity chapter. For example, there will be a set of 10 questions in each exercise labeled, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3...; 2-1, 2-2, 2-3...; 7-1, 7-2, 7-3... etc. Be sure to save each set of exercises before you proceed to a new section.

To move to a new question, click on the orange arrow next to the exercise number (1 out 10, 2 out of 10, etc.) Finally, be sure to read the explanations for why you got the answer wrong or right so you understand the rationale behind the grammar rule.

I will extend the deadline to Friday to complete the exercises but please read and bring the book to class tomorrow.

1. Colonization through 1840
2 1840-1869
3. 1870-1929
4. 1965-1997

For class tomorrow... Remember to read the section in A Portable Style Manual before you begin to write your one-page summary of the article. After you finish writing the summary, be sure to save it to a portable storage device or send it to yourself by e-mail. We will be revising the summaries in class.

Also, remember to bring a hard copy of the summary and both books to class.

You might also want to "Add a Block" in Moodle for the blog. On the right side column of Moodle click on "Add a Block" and in the drop-down menu click on "add a blog," Then type in this blog address: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blakedj/myblog/. Of course, you can always click on the link I showed you in class, in the middle column of Moodle at the top..

Remember also to read and think about the meaning of the poem, The New Colossus. We will be discussing the poem briefly in class and then writing about it.

Consider the following questions as you read and reread the poem:
1) What sentiments about the U.S. as a nation and about immigrants of the late 19th century does the poem represent.
2) Do you think the same sentiment about immigrants exists today by government officials and agencies? U.S. citizens? Why or why not?
3) What is the significance that this poem was inscribed on a plague in the Statue of Liberty?