Assignments 1:

For your chosen art works, type up the name of the artist and the work and ask us two critical questions about it: why, what if, do you think, compare, contrast, why does the artist, how does this connect……

• Post your two questions and then answer someone else’s. You may very well have to look at new art, Yay! Enjoy! Keep the ideas centered on modernism and America in the time we are now studying.
• Post your forum post by 2/15, 5pm, and pick one person to respond to by the same deadline. In your reply, answer the question posed by your peer.

As always, no late work, proofread your post for full points, and when you reply, type @Student name so we can trace who talks to whom. Points: 10 for post, 15 for answer.

Assignment 2:

This week you will look at how not only the industrialization of America changed society, but also how two incredibly destructive wars left their mark on the nation.

This week’s authors are:

American Literature 1914-1945 (click this on the TOC and the author names will appear)

• “Modernist Manifestos” (essay)

1. What are two issues that spurred the Modernist movement?
2. Why does Modernism sometimes need to appear strange (the poems are unusual and hard to penetrate; the stories aren’t normal plot line stories; the art is abstract and strange)

• H.D., intro and any one poem

1. Who was H.D.?
2. What poem did you pick, and how is it an example of American Modernism?

• Zora Neal Hurston, intro and “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”

1. Summarize this story and react to it. In a paragraph, tell me the story’s main action and message, and react to it: what do you think/feel/connect to?
2. Who was Hurston? How does who she was show through in the writing?
3. Do you see an aspect of some other feature of American Lit that we have previously studied? So, not only Modernism, but evidence of some style we studied last week or in weeks previous? If you have forgotten those, you can always look to the TOC and re-read. Explain specifically what other American style Hurston makes use of.

• E. Cummings, intro and any one poem

1. Who was e.e. cummings?
2. What poem did you pick, and how is it an example of American Modernism?

• Faulkner, intro and “Barn Burning”

1. Summarize this story and react to it. In a paragraph, tell me the story’s main action and message, and react to it: what do you think/feel/connect to?
2. Who was Faulkner? How does who he was show through in the writing?
3. Do you see an aspect of some other feature of American Lit that we have previously studied? So, not only Modernism, but evidence of some style we studied last week or in weeks previous? If you have forgotten those, you can always look to the TOC and re-read. Explain specifically what other American style Faulkner draws from.

• Choose from: Langston Hughes, John Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jean Toomer. Read the intro on the chosen author and one representative work

1. What did you pick?
2. Why is the author important to study?
3. How does the text capture the spirit of Modernism?
4. Quote one line from the text that you think is very indicative of Modernism. Punctuate your quote correctly and explain why you chose it. (Still need help with quoting/citing? Here is a PDF you could print and keep nearby your computer: http://www.apu.edu/live_data/files/288/basic_punctuation_rules.pdf (Links to an external site.)

• Go to Image Galleries in the TOC and click 1914-1945. Choose two works you think represent the ideas, themes, styles we’ve been reading.

1. You don’t have to prove anything on this as you will do the work on these images in your forum. Just remind me here which two pieces you picked, and the artists’ names.