A Scandal in Bohemia (with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes)
The Empty House (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Red-Headed League (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Speckled Band (Jeremy Brett, again)
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Some Video Remakes of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Over the years, people have been fascinated with the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about Sherlock Holmes. Below are some classics
A Scandal in Bohemia (with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes)
The Empty House (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Red-Headed League (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Speckled Band (Jeremy Brett, again)
A Scandal in Bohemia (with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes)
The Empty House (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Red-Headed League (also with Jeremy Brett)
The Speckled Band (Jeremy Brett, again)
Final for Great Sherlock Holmes Stories
What Makes a Hero?
Is Holmes a hero?
What qualities do you admire in heroes?
In at least 3 paragraphs, discuss whether or not Holmes possesses these
qualities, using examples from the text.
Specific instances and quotes should support your comments. You may want to consider whether some of the
flaws Watson acknowledges keep Holmes from becoming truly heroic in their
eyes. Feel free to compare Holmes with
other literary characters.
Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 3 (January 30)
Greetings!
It was good to see
everyone today after last week's cancelled classes. With the poor
driving weather, I'm also glad to see that we were all safe. My commute
was almost 3 hours, so the class had to start on their Quick Writes on
their own.
Next on the agenda was a discussion of the Sherlock Holmes
stories that we have been reading. Of the six stories in the book,
we've read four of them. I divided the class into four groups and
assigned each group to go through one of the stories and look for
specific places in the text that describe Holmes. As groups, they
presented to the rest of the class some good analysis of their story and
some great descriptions of Holmes's character, personality, skill, and
motivation.
For next week, the students are to write a
Take Home Essay Final. I had forgotten to make copies of the handout
that explains the guidelines for this:
What Makes a Hero?
Is Holmes a hero?
What qualities do you admire in heroes?
In at least 3 paragraphs, discuss whether or not Holmes possesses these
qualities, using examples from the text.
Specific instances and quotes should support your comments. You may want to consider whether some of the
flaws Watson acknowledges keep Holmes from becoming truly heroic in their
eyes. Feel free to compare Holmes with
other literary characters.
Our Grammar focuses for a few
weeks are verbal phrases. the worksheets they were assigned last week
had them working with participial phrases, and we discussed gerund
phrases today. These phrases are verbals -- various forms of verbs that
are used not as action words but as adjectives (participles) and nouns
(gerunds)
The students handed in the rough drafts of their Problem/Solution Essays. I will hand them back next week.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read the final 2 Sherlock Holmes stories
-- Write an essay to answer the "Hero" question
-- Finish Worksheet 6-5
This week's blogs
Class Notes
Sherlock Holmes Take Home Final
Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Mrs. Prichard
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Writing 2 -- "Cold Day" Homework
Greetings!
My apologies for not sending out an e-mail before this with the homework for next week. Our family is hosting a fundraiser at our house for our son Ryan who is in Thailand with Youth with a Mission. The past two days have been full of cleaning, baking, and jewelry making.
Firstly, a reminder of the homework that was due for this Thursday which you should bring to class next week:
Assignments due Jan. 23
-- Problem/Solution Essay Pre-Write
-- Read the handout on Characterization in Sherlock Holmes stories
-- Read "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red-Headed League"
-- Answer 2 questions for "The Red-Headed League"
-- Grammar Worksheets 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
Assignments due Jan. 30
-- Problem/Solution Rough Draft
-- Read "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and "The Engineer's Thumb"
-- Using the Study Guide, answer 2 questions for "The Speckled Band" and 2 for "The Engineer's Thumb."
-- Grammar Worksheet 6-4 (attached and in the Dropbox folder)
Extra Credit options:
Assignments due Jan. 30
-- Problem/Solution Rough Draft
-- Read "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and "The Engineer's Thumb"
-- Using the Study Guide, answer 2 questions for "The Speckled Band" and 2 for "The Engineer's Thumb."
-- Grammar Worksheet 6-4 (attached and in the Dropbox folder)
Extra Credit options:
-- Make up your own Quick Write. Choose any topic and write for 7 minutes.
-- Make your own "Word of the Day" list of 3 unusual words along with their definitions.
I've made a new Dropbox folder for this semester's class. For those who are new to the class, all of the handouts (grammar worksheets, study guides, writing guidelines, syllabus, etc.) are on this site. I also attach any handouts with the weekly Class Notes. AND, most of them are in a format so that they can be read on the blog. It is not necessary to use all three of these sources.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Stay warm!
Mrs. Prichard
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 1 (January 16)
Greetings, once again!
I don't know about all of the students, but I feel that it's good to be back in school again. Our Quick Write for the day was weather-related because of the snow and high winds in the northwest portion of the state: Imagine you are stuck somewhere in a blizzard. What would you do? Write about it. For those who are new to the class, we do a these Quick Writes at the beginning of every class. They help to jump start our brains into a writing mode. Often, we usually do Words of the Day, a selection of foreign or unusual words and phrases so that we can expand our vocabularies. We didn't do any words this week because we had a lot to cover.
I handed out a lot of papers this week:
-- Spring Semester Syllabus
-- Characteristics of a Detective Story
-- Characterization in Sherlock Holmes
-- Study Questions for Sherlock Holmes
-- Problem/ Solution Essay
-- Grammar Worksheets
We discussed the general plan for the semester that included the writing assignments, the literature, and the grammar plan. I will attach those documents with this e-mail, with the exception of the grammar worksheets, and will put them on the Dropbox site. I am using a supplemental workbook published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston which is a fairly big document. I have the whole workbook on Dropbox, so if a student is missing an assignment, you can download the workbook and print the needed pages.
Resources for the class:
-- Weekly Class Notes
-- Weekly Blogs (same content as the Class Notes)
-- Dropbox document storage site
-- Engrade (an assignment and grading website)
(If you have any questions about these, let me know. Some students already have Engrade accounts through other classes. If that is the case, let me know the student number, and I can adjust the number for the account for this class.)
Our first essay for the semester is a Problem/ Solution Essay. An essay of this kind explores possible solutions to a specific problem.
We will be using three books this semester: Six Great Stories from Sherlock Holmes, Great Short, Short Stories, and 101 Great American Poems. We're starting with the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Problem/Solution Essay Pre-Write
-- Read the handout on Characterization in Sherlock Holmes stories
-- Read "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red-Headed League"
-- Answer 2 questions for "The Red-Headed League"
-- Grammar Worksheets 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
This week's blog posts:
Class Notes
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard
Characterization in Sherlock Holmes
Characterization
Even people who have never read the Sherlock Holmes
stories often know something
about his character. If nothing else, they will associate the
line, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” with him, although the literary Holmes
never actually put these words together – only his film counterparts say them. Although Conan Doyle named Holmes for one of
his favorite authors, Oliver Wendell Holmes, he imagined Dr. Joseph Bell’s
appearance for his hero: around six feet tall, with a thin “razor-like” face, a
large nose, like a hawk, and small, sharp eyes.
Interestingly, Conan Doyle said the pictures of Holmes usually depict
him as handsomer than he imagined him himself.
Holmes wears dressing gowns inside and a cape with a deerstalker hat
outside, and he usually appears with a pipe or a magnifying glass in his hand.
Entirely unemotional, Holmes remains aloof, coolly
rational, and arrogant. He is often
irritable and he possesses several idiosyncrasies that try the patience of even
his longsuffering best friend, Watson.
He clutters his rooms with paperwork from his cases and paraphernalia
from his numerous scientific experiments.
Watson complains that he keeps his cigars in the coalscuttle, his
tobacco in one of his slippers, and his unanswered letters transfixed to the
mantle with a jackknife. He can play the
violin well when he wishes to, but Holmes more often scrapes annoyingly and
tunelessly on the strings. He uses the
walls of his home for target practice.
Moody and plagued by boredom when no case demands his attention, he
injects a 7% solution of cocaine, a habit that his concerned friend finally
helps him break.
Holmes possesses exceptional gifts and an encyclopedic
knowledge of some areas, but remains willingly ignorant of many others,
declaring he would rather not clutter his mind with facts that cannot help him
solve his cases, even whether or not the earth travels around the sun. He is respectful and polite to women, but he
insists he would never let himself fall in love and marry, as Watson does. In some ways Holmes resembles a Romantic
hero, standing apart from society and even breaking its laws on occasion to
obtain the clues he desires. He will
even allow a proven criminal to go free, insisting that he is not, after all, a
policeman. Holmes also can give the
impression that his motives for solving his cases have less to do with combating
crime or doing good than with amusing himself or impressing others.
In “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” when he finds what he
supposes is the dead body of
his client, he cries out in
rage and grief – at the black mark now on his reputation: “In order to have my
case well rounded and complete,” he exclaims to Watson, “ I have thrown away
the life of my client. It is the
greatest blow which has befallen me in my career.” Interestingly, when Joseph Bell learned of
his former student’s claim that he was the great detective’s inspiration, he
admitted to only a slight resemblance, writing back to Doyle, “You are yourself
Sherlock Holmes.” Conan Doyle
confessed, “…A man cannot spin a character out of his own inner consciousness
and make it really life-like unless he has some possibilities of that character
within him – which is a dangerous admission for one who has drawn so many
villains as I.”
In appearance at least, Conan Doyle seemed to share more
with Dr. John Watson, whom he named after a friend, Dr. James Elmwood Watson,
than he did with Holmes. Like Doyle,
Watson is a large, athletic man, wearing a bushy mustache. Like Doyle, Watson studied medicine at Edinburgh University
In “The Adventure of the Creeping Man” Watson notes, “He
was a man of habits, narrow and concentrated habits, and I had become one of
them. As an institution I was like the
violin, the shag tobacco, the old black pipe, the index books, and others
perhaps less excusable. When it was a
case of active work and a comrade was needed upon whose nerve he could place
some reliance, my role was obvious. But
apart from this I had uses. I was a
whetstone for his mind. I stimulated
him. He liked to think aloud in my
presence. …If I irritated him by a
certain methodical slowness in my mentality, that irritation served only to
make his own flame-like intuitions and impressions flash up the more vividly
and swiftly. Such was my humble role in
our alliance.” Watson clearly foils
Holmes; he is certainly less brilliant, less able, less confident. But he might be more human, as Doyle himself
suggested.
Characteristics of a Detective Story
Characteristics of a Detective Story
C. Hugh Holman’s A
Handbook to Literature defines a detective story as “a novel or
short story in which a crime, usually a murder – the
identity of the perpetrator unknown –
is solved by a detective through a logical assembling and
interpretation of palpable
evidence, known as clues.”
The first
detective stories were written by Edgar Allan Poe, and Conan Doyle acknowledged
their influence on his writing. A good
detective story generally follows six “unwritten rules.”
First, the crime
must be significant, worthy of the attention it receives. Most stories involve murder, though Conan Doyle
tied the majority of his crimes to greed and theft.
Second, the
detective must be in some way a memorable character. He or she must be very intelligent, of
course, unusually clever and observant, but also quirky, possessing perhaps
some odd idiosyncrasies that distinguish him or her. Kojak’s lollipop, Columbo’s crumpled
raincoat, James Bond’s unruffled cool and high-tech gadgets, all of these
things make the hero somehow distinct.
Third, along with
an exceptional detective, there must be an outstanding opponent, a criminal
clever enough to be a match for the hero.
Solving the crime can’t be too easy.
Fourth, because a
large part of the attraction of a detective story is the opportunity for the
reader to try to figure out the solution along with the detective, all suspects
of the crime must be introduced early in the story, and
Fifth, all clues
the detective discovers must be made available to the reader also.
Finally, at the
end of the story, the solution must seem obvious, logical, possible. The crime must not have resulted from
accident or supernatural intervention, and the detective must be able to
explain all aspects of the case in a reasonable way. A fine detective story should meet each one
of these standards.
Study Guide for Sherlock Holmes Stories
Study Guide for Sherlock Holmes Stories
Study Questions for “The Speckled
Band”
1. Describe the woman who has come
to consult Holmes and Watson early one morning. How is she dressed? What makes
Holmes think he should offer her coffee? What is odd about her hair?
2. Describe what Helen Stoner tells
Holmes about her stepfather. Why did he go to India? What forced him to leave?
3. What happened to Helen Stoner’s
mother and how did her stepfather change after her mother’s death?
4. Describe what Helen Stoner hears
just before her sister dies. What are her sister’s last words to her?
5. Describe Dr. Roylott as he
appears in Holmes’ room. Describe Dr.
Roylott’s behavior also. What does he do to try to frighten Holmes? What does
he want Holmes to do?
6. Holmes obtains a copy of Helen
Stoner’s mother’s will, and it provides a motive for Dr. Roylott’s not wishing
his stepdaughter ever to marry. Explain.
7. Holmes and Watson see Dr. Roylott
return home from their window at the Crown Inn. What do they witness that is
another example of his terrible temper?
8. Give details about exactly what
happens after Holmes and Watson hear the whistle.
9. Describe what they find when they
enter Dr. Roylott’s room after the dreadful shriek. What is the speckled band? How did the doctor
die?
10. Earlier in the story Holmes warned
Miss Stoner that if Dr. Roylott suspected he was nearby, his journey would be
in vain. What did he mean by that? How do you think the doctor might have
altered his plan if he had known Holmes was nearby
Study Questions for “The
Red-Headed League”
1. Watson finds Holmes with a
visitor, Mr. Jabez Wilson. Give details about his appearance.
2. Holmes lists the “obvious facts”
that he deduces from Mr. Wilson’s appearance. What are they and how did Homes
know?
3. What is the only requirement
needed to apply for a vacancy in the Red-Headed League? What are the benefits?
4. Mr. Wilson is a pawnbroker, one
who lends money at interest to people who give him items of personal property
in exchange. What is unusual about his assistant, Vincent Spaulding? Why does
he spend a lot of time in the cellar?
5. Describe the work Mr. Wilson must
do for the League. What exactly is it? When must he do it? What is supposedly
the purpose? What happens if he leaves the office during working hours?
6. 9. Holmes begins to question Mr.
Wilson about his assistant. List here some of the things that he learns.
7. What detail suggests that Holmes
already knows who this man is?
7.
8. Why does Holmes pretend to be
lost and ask the way of Mr. Wilson’s assistant? What other odd thing does he do
in front of Mr. Wilson’s place of business?
9. Who are Mr. Jones and Mr.
Merryweather? (Note: Scotland Yard is the home of the London police force.) Who
is John Clay?
10. Describe the two people who enter
the room from the hole in the floor.
Study Questions for “The
Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”
1. Paddington Station is a train
station in London. Two men from Paddington appear Dr. Watson’s consulting room,
a guard and Mr. Victor Hatherley. What brings them there in?
2. Describe Colonel Stark, the man
who comes to see Mr. Hatherley about the job.
3. What is the one condition of
employment that Colonel Stark insists on over and over?
4. What is the job he offers Mr.
Hatherley? At what time of the day will he perform this job?
5. According to Colonel Stark, what
has he been doing with his hydraulic press, and why does he wish to keep his
actions a secret? Is there anything suspicious about his explanation?
6. What is wrong with the machine?
7. Explain how Colonel Stark tries
to kill the engineer. How does he escape? Explain how he loses his thumb.
7.
8. Explain what Holmes guesses about
the fresh, glossy horse that helps him locate the house.
9. What was the real use of the
machine? What has happened to the house? How did it happen?
10. How did the unconscious engineer
end up near the train station? What evidence tells Holmes and Watson who helped
him?
Problem/Solution Essay
Problem/Solution Essay
Definition
In a problem-solution essay, you analyze a problem and
propose a method for solving it. The problem you choose to analyze should be
one that offers some challenges but is still possible to resolve. A
problem-solution essay should
have the following characteristics:
• a
problem that needs to be solved
• a
thesis statement that identifies the problem and points toward the solution
•
identification of several possible solutions
•
specific facts, details, examples, and reasons indicating why one solution is
best
• an
analytical tone
Thesis Development
Your thesis may vary depending on what your topic is, who
your audience is, and how much information you have. Your thesis will state clearly what you
perceive as the problem and your suggested solution to the problem.
Organization
The simplest way to organize a problem-solution essay is
to begin by identifying the problem in the first paragraph, leading up to your
thesis statement. Present the solution
that you think works best, explaining why it is the most promising one.
The simplest way to organize a problem-solution essay is
to begin by identifying the problem in the first paragraph, leading up to your
thesis statement. Present the solution that you think works best, explaining
why it is the most promising one.
Tips on Writing
–
Make sure you
clearly explain the problem. The “hows”
and “whys” of the issue should be accurately clarified.
–
Include
information about the cause of the problem, especially as it relates to the
solution you intend to put forth.
–
Alternate
solutions can be mentioned; if they are failed ideas, it will further
strengthen your argument.
–
Essay Guidelines
–
Due dates: Pre-Write due January 23; Rough Draft due January
30; Final Draft due February 13
–
Essay
length: 500 – 700 words (between 2 and 4
pages)
–
Rough drafts can
be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.
–
Final draft
format:
–
Typed (if this is
not possible, please let me know)
–
1 inch margins
–
Name and date on
the upper right hand corner
–
Number the pages
on the lower right hand corner
–
Title centered
above the text of the essay
Spring Semester Syllabus
Spring Semester Syllabus
|
Week/Date
|
Literature
|
Assign. Due
|
Writing
|
Grammar
|
|
Week 1
(1/16)
|
Introduction to Sherlock
Holmes
|
|
|
Discuss: Phrases
|
|
Week 2
(1/23)
|
Holmes: “A Scandal in
|
|
Problem/ Solution Pre-Write
& College Essay
|
Discuss: Phrases
Due: Worksheets 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
|
|
Week 3
(1/30)
|
Holmes: “The Adventure of
the Speckled Band” & “The Engineer’s Thumb”
|
Short Writing Assignment
|
Problem/ Solution Rough
Draft
|
Discuss: Phrases
Due: Worksheet 6-4
|
|
Week 4
(2/6)
|
Holmes: “The Final Problem” & “The Adventure of
the Empty House"
|
|
|
Discuss: Phrases
Due: Worksheet 6-5
|
|
Week 5
(2/13)
|
Pushkin (p. 162); Tosltoy
(p. 169); Chekhov (p. 26)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Problem Solution Final Draft
|
Discuss: Phrases
Due: Worksheet 6-6
|
|
Week 6
(2/20)
|
Dickens (p. 45); Wilde (p.
189); Kipling (p.101); Munro (p. 140)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Cause/Effect
Pre-Write & College
Essay
|
Discuss: Phrases
Due: Worksheet 6-7
|
|
Week 7
(2/27)
|
Hawthorne (p. 73); Bierce
(p. 10); Poe (p. 156)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Cause/Effect
Rough Draft
|
Discuss: Clauses
Due: Worksheet 7-1
|
|
Week 8
(3/6)
|
Harte (p. 64); Twain (p.
175)
Jewett (p. 87); Crane (p.
34)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 10-1
|
|
Week 9
(3/13)
|
Chopin (p. 30);
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Cause/Effect
Final Draft
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 10-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week 10 (3/27)
|
Pirandello (p. 149); de Maupassant (p. 134); Henry (extra
handout)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Evaluation Pre-Write
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 11-1
|
|
Week 11
(4/3)
|
Larsen (p. 110); Anderson
(p. 1); Hardy (p. 56)
|
2 Short Story Worksheets
|
Evaluation Rough Draft
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 11-3
|
|
Week 12
(4/10)
|
Bradstreet (p. 1); Wheatley
(p. 1); Holmes (p. 21); Emerson (p. 4, 5); Longfellow (p. 6 – 10); Whitman
(p. 22 – 26); Dickinson (p. 29 – 32)
|
Poetry worksheet for 3 of
the poems.
|
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 11-4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week 13
(4/24)
|
Wilcox (p. 33); Thayer (p.
34); Dunbar (p. 41 – 43) Frost (p. 44 – 50); Sandburg (p.53 – 54); Williams
(p. 60 – 61); Hughes (p. 75 – 78)
|
Poetry worksheet for 3 of
the poems/
Presentation of poetry
recitations.
|
Evaluation Final Draft
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 11-6
|
|
Week 14
(5/1)
|
Poetry Presentation
|
Poetry worksheet for 3 of
the poems.
Presentation of poetry
recitations.
|
Re-Write
|
Discuss: Sentences
Due: Worksheet 11-7
|
|
Week 15
(5/8)
|
Poetry Presentation, Final
Exam
|
|||
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