World Literature Honors Project

Successful completion of the honors course is dependent upon successful
completion of this project. You are to read the text How to Read Literature
Like a Professor by Thomas Foster in conjunction with the novels we read,
analyzing each novel according to how the concepts contained in Foster’s
book can be applied to the novels we read as a class.

Each essay should be two to three pages long typed, have an interesting
title, and be free of most conventions errors. Most importantly, each essay
must explain how the concepts covered in How to Read… can be applied
to the book we’re reading or how the concepts helped you as a reader
understand and interpret the text. You need to cite from both the novel
we are reading and How to Read… at least twice in each essay. The
essays are due “near” the due dates listed – there will be some
flexibility there, but the essays need to be handed in reasonably close
to the date to earn credit. The essays are worth 100 points each, and the
reading itself is worth 50 points. To get credit for the reading, sign off on
the box for “I Did the Reading” for each collection of chapters on this
sheet and hand it in as your cover sheet with each essay.

We will discuss these concepts each time we have an honors seminar,
and it is expected that you will help enrich the learning of all the other
students in our course by bringing these concepts up in class discussions
and seminars as well.

Here are the novels we will read, in order, and the chapters that
you should read from Foster’s book in conjunction with the novel.
You will notice not every chapter in Foster’s book is listed, but I
encourage you read them all anyway. Some chapters I have paired up
with more than one book? Does that mean you have to reread it again?
No – but you should review it, because it may factor well into your essay
and enhance your understanding of the novel.

Books we’ll read and the corresponding How to Read… chapters:

Life of Pi 18, 10 and Interlude, 12, 19, 5
The Power of One 8, 19, 2, 11, 13, 5, 25, 12
The Alchemist 1, 6, 7, 18, 12, 15, 5
Siddhartha 10, 5, 21
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 2, 21, 22, 23, 24, 5
Christmas Break: 26 and 27

Here are the due dates for the essays. The number of the essay listed on the chart
above denotes which books and chapters to focus your essays on:

Essay 1 due 9/12

Essay 2 due 10/24***Changed from original due date.

Essay 3 due 11/14

Essay 4 due 12/5

Essay 5 due 12/19

Essay 6 due 1/6/13 (final deadline for this essay)

The final (well, almost) component of sophomore honors is attending
extra seminars. These will be held in my room, at 7:30, on the dates listed.
These seminars are worth 50 points. If you do not attend, for whatever
reason, you will not receive credit for the seminar. If you are late, the
maximum number of points you can earn is 40. Come prepared for each
seminar having done most of the reading for both the class novel and the
corresponding chapters from How to Read…, as this will be the focus
of our seminars.They are not lectures, but rather opportunities for you to
share ideas and observations, as well as ask questions, both of me and
each other. Feel free to bring your essays to help with the discussions.
Also bring whatever book we are reading as well as How to Read…

Seminar dates:

8/23 (you’re there right now!)

9/12

10/24***Changed from original date.

11/14

12/5

12/19

1/6/13

Note: There may be some follow-up questions for you on the class blog after each
seminar, but these will be announced when appropriate, and will be worth 25 points
per entry (okay, so that was the last component).

Thanks, that’s it, and I look forward to learning alongside you this semester.

-Mr. Baird