Because of money issues (I've reached the limit of my hosting space on my account & can't afford to add any) I've removed the PDF files to these documents. I still have them all, so if you're interested, drop me an email saying specifically which file you're looking for, and I'll send you a copy. The one that gets the most attention, which is the Rose for Emily plan, I've left up here, though. :) Sorry for the hassle-- if I can figure out a way to get a grant for all this stuff, I'll post it all back again.

English 104-- "Intro to Composition and Rhetoric" at A&M, where these were used, the curriculum stresses introducing students to rhetorical strategies, including classical forms of argument and debate. These lesson plans reflect this, but could be used in any basic writing course.

• Introducing Logos, Ethos & Pathos, as well as Logical Fallacies
• How to Begin an Essay I use this handout in 104, but it would work well in a literature course too.

English 203-- "Intro to Literature" or "Composition Through Literature"-- this course is a composition course-- emphasizing research skills and learning proper quotation, citation, etc. But it does this using literary texts, so it's really fun to teach. The lesson plans below are some of my favorites.

• A Rose For Emily lesson plan-- this is a really engaging activity. After students have read Faulkner's short story, I bring in handouts of this sheet, as well as a version of it on transparency. I then have them do two things-- the first is to pick out the places where there has been some "yellow journalism" on my part-- or, things that we do not know based on the story. The second thing we do, after discussing the possibility that this story "could" happen this way, is have them pick sides (prosecution/defense) and "try" Emily for the murder of Homer Barron. When I have done this lesson, the entire class has been excited, and come up with interesting and innovative ways of looking at the story. They really dig into the "facts" of Faulkner's world.
  • Some suggestions on this lesson plan that have come over the years:
  • On the trial, I used the whole class as jurors and let them pick the ones who were "lawyers" or otherwise. You could explain something about how many people would be on a jury, but nowadays, if you think about the way trials are "tried" in the media, we are all informal jurors of sorts anyway. So if you try to only have a few, what you do run into is your dilemma-- what to do with the rest of the class. I think they'll either be bored, or feel left out if you just have some students in "official roles." BUT you could, if you want to stick with your structure, have the rest of the class be "journalists". Make them pick the type of magazine/newspaper they want to represent; and be sure you have "legitimate" press and "tabloid." Have one be CNN, then one be Fox News, and then have your "Enquirer" reporter, who could come up with something like "Bigfoot found in local mansion" etc. :) Then have one or two students represent "Joe/Jane Citizen" and decide, based on media & official stories, what they think-- have them be "polled" perhaps by an official "pollster." That sounds sort of cool, now that I think of it. Have them do a press conference, (asking questions of your DA & defense attorney) which they're all seeing modeled in the daily briefings from Iraq anyway, and which they saw with trials like OJ, and which they might have seen in Chicago, (the movie) too (in fact, once it's out on video/DVD, I would show them a clip from the press conference sequence). Tell them about the adversarial role of the press with "official" channels (such as the DA) and such. Maybe make them draw their roles out of a hat-- so that the dramatic students don't automatically get the juiciest parts, and if those dramatic kids get the role of "tabloid press" they could really make that interesting. This lesson really got the quieter ones who you never expect to come up with anything to participate-- so it would really be interesting to see how getting a certain role can draw someone out of their shell. :)
  • When I did the lesson, the entire class was active, excited and very involved. It's been a while since I did it, though, since I haven't taught a lit section in a couple of years. :) (I do tech writing right now, and it's not as fun). They debated much more than I had seen in the past with the story. The class was about 25 students, and I let them pick who the lawyers were, and decide on who would be witnesses-- letting them pick made them analyze the story better because they have to see what minor characters (the pharmacist, the mayor, the "city councilmen" who put lye around the house, neighbors, the communal "we" of the narrator, the art students, the "family" that is rumored to be somewhere) would know something, and what they would know. Basically, I let them split up into two "camps." I didn't really do a "formal" dramatization, which sounds a little like what you're thinking of. You could do that kind of thing if you gave them some time to prepare their "lines." I remember acting out The Crucible in high school (although the 'drama kids' did get all the juicy parts, and I felt left out-- even though I was a peripheral drama type).
• Literary Theory Definitions I notice that often, when we talk about literature as English majors, we forget that students may not have a background in even basic literary theory. This is a short list of definitions of some of the "schools" of literary theory. It is a good intro to the discourse-- and can direct students where else to turn.

General Plans-- these are things that can be used in any course that deals with language, or writing.

• Beautiful Words -- this is a great lesson plan for a day when students are not expected to be engaged in discussion (just before a holiday, or a big game day-- when they're too excited to be in class). I have them look at this handout, then, after we discuss why these words are, or are not, beautiful, I have them name their own beautiful or ugly words. This is not for the faint-hearted-- sometimes students come up with some really "ugly" words to write on the board.... you have to be brave. But, in discussing these words, we talk about WHY they are ugly. Usually, the ugly words have to do with politics, gender, or the human body. We get into a really intense debate about language, at a "word" level... and it's a great way of making students think about what words mean and why.
• Rubric this is my grading rubric. I use it in all classes, and modify some of it to reflect literature or grammar, depending. But most of it is pretty suited to either study. Students get a copy of the handout before they turn in any papers, so that they can know the standards that I am looking for in their papers. Then, with each paper they turn in, they get one of these filled out with their graded essay. I circle the relevant categories, and make comments. Students seem to like having something that they can see as reasons why they have the grade they do-- and it allows them to focus on places that they need work, and aim for something better.