What should we read for the last 5 weeks? Decide on your top two choices and sent me an email at [email protected] with your reasons! I will be basing the decision on total votes as well as good reasoning.

Frankenstein • This is not the green guy with bolts in his neck. This is a novel in the Romantic (doesn’t necessarily have to do with romance) Gothic tradition. • There are archetypal themes about man’s arrogance (hubris), the creation of man, and the universal concepts of revenge and connection in an isolated world.

It is a dark and emotional story… • Victor Frankenstein, after an idyllic childhood with his best friends, becomes obsessed with science and reanimating dead tissue. (this all ties in with the author, Mary Shelley, and her lost baby). While he is away at college, his dreams come true, but at a terrible price. • He becomes crazy and abandons his creation, a disfigured, ignorant giant of a man.

• The monster (whose name is not Frankenstein) survives, but demands revenge for this life that Victor created and left. • Terrible times, death, stalking and insanity prevail. • We will read, analyze, write (a packet/file) and have a final paper. There is reading at home and there is emphasis on the Jungian and Greek themes present.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold • This is a story from the Magical Realism genre. Magical Realism is a style that combines a story with fantastical elements. • This story is set in a small Columbian town. • In this story, right away, Santiago is killed brutally with pig knives in front of his house. • The story unfolds in a narrative style where the narrator (who is never identified) tries to piece together why no one saved Santiago. • The whole town knew of the butchers’ intentions, people intervened weakly, but ultimately, what is the community’s responsibility in the death of this young man?

Basically, • Santiago Nasar dies because the twin brothers of the beautiful Angela Vicario believe he deflowered her. • On her wedding night to the swashbuckling Bayardo San Roman, Angela was returned to her family because she was not a virgin. Oh, the shame! • She pointed the finger at Santiago, “HE DID IT!”, but no one could ever find any proof or even imagine how he could have done that. No one asked Santiago and he appeared to not understand what was going on. • The Vicario brothers roamed the town, telling everyone they were going to kill Santiago, but nobody told Santiago until too late and nobody effectively stopped the brothers from procuring their pig knives and savagely stabbing him to death. .

It is a short novel… • So we will read, analyze, look at Latin American culture and issues, including the concept of machismo and its role in the death, as well as reading some companion Magical Realism/Surrealism poetry. • There will be an ending paper/personal reflection.

Oedipus • Those crazy Greeks! • This is a play about poor Oedipus. He tries so hard to avoid his fate(to kill his father and marry his mother) but never realizes that fate is FATE! The Gods decree it and as lowly humans, our job is to accept it. • But what if your fate is so heinous you cannot do anything but rail against it?

We will… • Read, analyze, act, write a paper and look at the universal ideas that are present and still applicable today. • We will discuss the Oedipal complex that Freud postulated.

Poetry! • We will look at several genres of poetry, reading and analyzing it in class. • You will be required to memorize a poem of your own choosing. • You will be required to do a poetry presentation where you analyze a poem, create a power point of it, and present it to the class. • You will be required to participate in Poem in Your Pocket where you share poetry with people of your choosing, then share the poem and the reactions in class. • You will be required to complete a few poetry writes, analyzing poetry from different genres. • There is no writing of poetry involved, but you may use your own poems to memorize, analyze or use as Poem in Your Pocket.

So, your choices are • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez • Oedipus by Sophocles • Poetry by a selection of authors.

You need to… • Email me by Friday April 27th. No late entries will be considered. • You must have your choice as well as your REASONS why this would be the best choice for seniors to do before they exit high school English forever. • No more than a paragraph. • It will apply to both 1st and 6th periods. • Responses will be tallied, but also solid and well-written persuasion will work. Even though there may be more votes for poetry, if the only reason for doing it is less writing and someone writes an eloquent statement about the benefits of reading Frankenstein, I may have to agree with the Frankenstein vote. • Use those fabulous grammar/writing/analysis/philosophical skills to convince me!