Unit 1

Instructions

Participation in the discussion thread is worth 20 points per unit. The assignment consists of two things—posting your first response to the prompts, and participating in the conversation by responding to at least two of your peers’ postings.

NOTE: Do not simply copy and paste from your reading journal into the discussion. You can use some of the ideas from your journal to frame your discussion post/responses, but the discussion posts must be substantially different from the reading journal.

Discussion Prompt Initial Response

The full ten points will be given to a discussion response posting that

· Responds to every aspect of the discussion prompt with originality (do not just repeat what other students say – what is different that you can add to the conversation?)

· Displays a familiarity with the texts and topics being discussed, using specific details or examples from the text(s)

· Exceeds 250 words

At the discretion of the instructor, points will be taken off any response that does not fulfill all of these goals. Late points will be deducted according to the standard late submission policy.

Response to Peers

The full ten points will be given if you provide at least two response postings that

· Interact with a classmate’s post with originality and thoroughness

· Add something new to the conversation

· Exceed 50 word each

At the discretion of the instructor, points will be taken off any response that does not fulfill all of these goals. Late points will be deducted according to the standard late submission policy.

You are very much encouraged to post more than twice to the postings of your peers; the two longest postings are just the ones that will be evaluated.

Unit 1 Discussion Prompt

Choose one of the following to answer:

1. Choose two stories from this week’s readings. In what ways is setting important? How does it affect the actions of the characters? Could the setting be a kind of character?

The two series I have chosen for this weeks discussion are “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.

The narrator starts her diary by wondering about the greatness of the house and grounds her better half has taken for their mid year excursion. She portrays it in sentimental terms as a distinguished domain or even a spooky house and thinks about how they had the option to manage the cost of it, and why the house had been vacant for such a long time. Her inclination that there is something queer about the circumstance drives her into a conversation of her sickness, she is suffering from nervous misery and of her marriage. She gripes that her significant other John, who is likewise her PCP, puts down both her disease and her considerations and worries all in all. She differentiates his viable, rationalistic way with her own inventive, touchy ways. Her treatment necessitates that she do practically nothing dynamic, and she is particularly prohibited from working and composing. She feels that action, opportunity, and intriguing work would help her condition and uncovers that she has started her mysterious diary to mitigate her mind. In an endeavor to do as such, the storyteller starts depicting the house. Her portrayal is for the most part certain, yet upsetting components like the rings and things in the room dividers, and the bars on the windows, keep appearing. She is especially upset by the yellow backdrop in the room, with its abnormal, shapeless example, and depicts it as revolting. Soon, be that as it may, her considerations are hindered by John’s methodology, and she is compelled to quit composing.

“To build a fire” is basically a short story. It is a story of a man who decides to travel to terrain of extreme cold. He feels the power of nature. The man is basically a miner. He travels to an abandoned region to find gold. He wants to search gold and for that he tries very hard.

He ignores the advise of other miner who suggests him not to travel because there is a prediction of bad weather. He ignores advice and keeps on travelling. He falls into ice and now feels a necessity to build a fire so that he can dry and warm himself.

This story explains the fact we should not consider the nature’s strength with lesser intensity. We can not fight with nature. Nature is so powerful. We can only try to get adjusted according to the nature. We should listen the advice of experienced people.

Neglecting the advice of an experienced person may put us in extreme trouble. We should focus on learning various aspects of life. We should act according to our strengths and weaknesses.