Read 211 Assignments
Texts Required For This Class:
1. Langan, John. Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills, Sixth Edition (ISDN 1-59194-423 -2)
2. Nist, Sherrie. Improving Vocabulary Skills (ISDN 9-78159194-1911)3. Webster New World Dictionary
4. Jimenez, Francisco. Reaching Out
5. Kidd Monk, Sue. The Secret Life of Bees
6. One package of form 882-E scantrons and Number 2 pencil
There will be many computer lab assignments. The lab dates will be discussed the first day of class.
Weekly homework is required from the Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills textbook. Read the chapter assigned for each week. There are practice assignments in each chapter.
Answer the first five practices in each chapter. Do this assignment on a separate
piece of paper. This will be collected at the beginning of class. There will be weekly
quizzes.
Assignments from the Improving Vocabulary Skills book will be done in class.
Week 1 - Orientation
Week 2 - Chap 1 Vocab in Action and Vocab chap 1 (in class)
Week 3 - Chap 2 Main Idea and Vocab chap 2 (in class)
Week 4 - Chap 3 Support Details and Vocab chap 3 (in class)
Week 5 - Chap 4 Imp Main Idea and Vocab chap 4 (in class)
Week 6 - Chap 5 Relation 1 and Vocab chap 5 (in class)
Week 7- Chap 6 Relation 11 and Vocab chap 6 (in class)
Week 8 - Chap 7 Inferences and Vocab chap 7 (in class)
Chap 9 - Chap 8 Purpose/Tone and Vocab chap 8 (in class)
Week 10 - Chap 9 Argument and Vocab chap 9 (in class)
Week 11 - Chap 10 Critical Reading and Vocab chap 10 (in class)
Week 12- Finals week
Written assignments will be done in the ATC computer lab.
Analyzing Poems Assignments (required)
1. The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20
Discuss the meaning of the poem. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. (two typed pages are required and a cover page)
1. In the first stanza, what is the speaker's position?
2. In the second stanza, what path did he decide to take?
3. What is he describing in the third stanza?
4. Discuss the fourth stanza. What does "sigh" mean?
What does "difference" mean?
5. Think of a time in your life when you made a difficult decision or when a certain decision marked a definite turning point in your life. Describe the circumstances that preceded the decision and your reasons for your particular choice.
2. We Wear the Mask
By Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins an lies,It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but of the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask.
Discuss the meaning of the poem. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. (two typed pages are required and a cover page)
1. Explain the meanings of the word in bold type. First try to guess the meanings by looking at how the words are used in the poem. Then look each word up in the dictionary.
This debt we pay to human guile
And mouth with myriad subtleties
2. What do you think Dunbar means by the phrase "long the mile" in the following two lines:
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile
3.What are the characteristics and feelings of the persons behind the mask?
4. Are there ever times when you feel you hide your true self behind a mask? When and why do you do that?
5. Write a summary of the poem.
3. A Dream Deferred
By Langston Hughes
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar ever--
Like a syrupy sweet
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Discuss the meaning of the poem. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. (two typed pages are required and a cover page)
1. What is the meaning of the word deferred?
2. Discuss the similes used in the poem?
3. If compared to a luscious bunch of grapes rather than a raisin, how does the meaning change?
4. Why does the poet save explode to the end? What does he mean "Or does it explode"?
5. What is the meaning the poet is trying to convey?
Novel Assignment (required - due date on your green sheet)
The novel assignment consists of four typed pages. One cover page and three typed double spaced pages describing the novel.
Cover Page - (one typed page) consists of the following:
Class Reading 211 Professor Alice Marciel
Name__________ Date________
Book Title_______ Author________
Publisher ________ Date of Publication _______
Novel assignment - (three typed pages) answer the following questions:
1. What is the setting (where, when) of the novel? Give two or three examples of how the setting affects the mood, characters, or events of the story.
2. What is the author's purpose in writing the novel? Identify one major theme. Did the author want to express an opinion or attitude, describe an event, etc.? Give examples and reasons to support your opinion.
3. Describe one event of the story.
4. Describe the personality of one important character. Give two or three examples of what the character does or says to reveal this personality.
5. Discuss briefly your reactions to the book.
6. Write a concise summary of the story.
7. Find 10 new words in the novel. For each word copy the sentence the word was used in, underline the word, and write the meaning.
For example: A good deal of his blustering spirit seemed to have evaporated with the removal of fine panoply.
Panoply: Any complete or magnificent covering or array.
Written assignment: The topic is - An Event That Changed My Life. Three double spaced typed pages and one cover page are required.
Biography Writing Assignment (optional lab assignment)
Answer the following questions in detail. Three typed double spaced pages are required and a cover page.
1. What is your family history?2. What is your passion?
3. In what town do you live?
4. What is your current occupation and place of employment?
5. What is your major and to where are you planning on transferring?
6. Why are you taking this course?