river oaks [english]

Your final exam will cover the following: Realism -- Information from pages 376-384, including general info about Douglass The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- remember the Study Guide Research Methods -- Finding, Evaluating & Citing sources Ambrose Bierce -- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" & "The Devil's Dictionary" Modernism -- Information from lectures and introductory essays As usual, the exam will include a variety of question types (multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, short answer & identification) and, of course, a short essay.

To reinforce the lectures this week, and to cover information we won't have time to get to, I've assigned some readings in the big red book -- pages 494-500, 628-632, & 706-710 . Taken together, the essays cover everything you need to know for the "Modernism" portion of your final exam. Primarily, I want everyone to understand the "big picture," the development of literature in America as it enters the 20th century. As your book states, "[Modernism], swept along by disillusionment with traditions that seemed to have become spiritually empty, called for bold experimentation and a sweeping rejection of all traditional themes and styles" (495). The Modernist movement directed most everything that followed, propelled by Ezra Pound's edict to Make it new! For more information than you'd ever care to know on the subject of Modernism (including several links to even more information), look at this Wikipedia page. Finally, listen to/watch...

As promised, here is the link to Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary . No, it's not about the devil. First published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book , it's a satirical dictionary with alternate definitions for common words. Your assignment is to copy & paste five definitions into a word processor (or you can type it). Please use a different letter for each word. In other words, no two words should start with the same letter. Look through the list and pick words that pique your interest.

Hello, and welcome Freshmen. As promised, I've added links to the Ad Council , makers of many of the PSA's you've seen growing up, and also two Frontline episodes -- Merchants of Cool and The Persuaders . We'll be talking about marketing as we are reading The Gospel According to Larry , and I thought these sites might help give you a broader understanding of the industry.

By now, you've all experienced the frustration of searching the internet for sources. It's a large place, and using Google alone (with keywords only) is not sufficient for finding everything you'll need for your paper. As you learned at ULM, the best way to find articles on topics pertaining to literature is to go through a database that collects articles in that field. Usually, these databases are subscription based, and this is why access is often restricted. However, one free service that I've found useful is Find Articles . Like JSTOR or other databases, Find Articles collects articles from (mostly popular) periodicals. You can search their database using keywords and print out full text articles. Note that when you use an article found through Find Articles, or any other database, you must include that information in the citation for the source. We will have citation workshops in class on Wednesday and Thursday. Finally, one last resource I just learned abou...

I just want to remind you, once again, that you must take careful notes when conducting your research. Duke's library has a page on avoiding plagiarism that I'd like for you all to read. Here's another site from Louisiana Tech's online writing center . A general rule is to always print out a copy of whatever you are working with. In fact, you are required to turn in a copy of every source you use with every quote and paraphrase highlighted. Also, for every source you use in your paper, we'll create a notecard with a citation and summary. This information will be used to compile an Annotated Bibiliography , something you have to do in many classes in college. Basically, an annotated bibliography is a list of citations of your sources (as they will appear in the Works Cited page) with a summary of each source, focused only on the material you used from that source. I've linked an example for you.

I hope you all got something out of our trip to ULM's library . I encourage all of you to utilize the resources they have available to us. Especially useful is JSTOR -- a collection of full-text periodical articles. Although we do not have access from off-campus without an ID, you can access the database from the terminals in the library, view records and take notes. You can also access the library's catalog from off-campus, so if you plan to visit the library you can save time by writing down call numbers before you go. I would like to schedule a time to meet those of you who are interested at ULM. Let's set up a time. As noted, not all of the services ULM offers are open to the public. For that reason, I encourage all of you to get a library card from the Ouachita Parish Public Library . With your card, you will have remote access to Galenet and other resources. As promised, I've linked the Duke site mentioned in the clinic. Remember that the sites linked i...