English 9B2 – Close Reading
Syllabus for October 1- 5
For Mon, Oct 1
Read E.B. White’s essay, “Once More to the Lake.” It is short, so please read it
twice—once for the pleasure of the story’s effect on your mind and heart, and
once for the pleasure of exploring how E.B. White achieves that effect. Write out
answers to the study questions provided with the story (I will collect these) and
come to class prepared to share your responses in class discussion.

Your responses may be in the form of notes or short paragraphs directly
on the Study Question Sheet, on a separate handwritten sheet, or on the
computer (I’ve posted a copy of the study questions to our class
conference). If you do them on the computer, post a copy to your e-folder
before class. But make sure you have a copy of your responses with you in
class for use in class discussion.
For Tue, Oct 2
Begin reading Mark Helprin’s short story, “A Vermont Tale.” You will have two
homework assignments (for Tue and for Wed) to read this story, and we will also
spend part of Tuesday’s class reading it. So even though it is longer than White’s
essay, I encourage you to read this story twice, too—or at least to go back over it
carefully after you have read it and mark passages that help you respond to the
study questions (see Wednesday’s homework).
For Wed, Oct 3
Complete your close reading of Mark Helprin’s story, “A Vermont Tale.” Write out
answers to the study questions provided with the story.

Your responses may be in the form of notes or short paragraphs directly
on the Study Question Sheet, on a separate handwritten sheet, or on the
computer (I’ve posted a copy of the study questions to our class
conference). If you do them on the computer, post a copy to your e-folder
before class. But make sure you have a copy of your responses with you in
class for use in class discussion.
The Study Questions Are Your Own Work
The study questions help me to help you sharpen your skills at responding to the
text—reading imaginatively and articulating your responses to the story precisely
and thoughtfully. It’s important therefore that the responses to these study
questions are your own work. Certainly, sharing ideas and playing off one
another’s responses are part of the pleasure of reading, and we will do that in
class. But responding to the study questions is part of your own close reading
and should reflect your own conversation with the story.
over…
For Fri, Oct 5
(1) Go back over “A Vermont Tale” one more time. Choose one brief passage—
either because the language delights you or because something about it still
puzzles or intrigues you. Write it out, and then write a paragraph of comment on
it:

What do you notice about the tone of voice, the rhythm of the prose,
specific words or images?

If there are words or images in your passage that echo or connect with
words or images in other passages, comment on the connections or
patterns and what they suggest to you.

How does this passage contribute to your understanding of the story or of
one (or more) of the characters?
(2) Go back over both “A Vermont Tale” and “Once More to the Lake” and choose
three words from each story that you would like to investigate further. Write
them down and bring this list of words to class. You do not have to do anything
else with them for now, but take some time to choose words that genuinely
intrigue you— because I am going to ask you to spend some time and do some
work getting to know them thoroughly!