This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 17, 2012

"...I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to the point of invisibility. And I defend because in spite of all I find that I love. In order to get some of it down I have to love.  I sell you no phony forgiveness, I'm a desperate man--but too much of your life will be lost, its meaning lost, unless you approach it as much through love as though hate...So I denounce and I defend and I hate and I love." (Elllison 580)

Focus: Wrapping up the semester

1. Announcements and a little freewriting

2. Finish poetry project presentations

3. Return timed writings and applaud glorious thesis statements:

By depicting Eveline as unable to decide her fate, Joyce reveals her in a state of fear of the unknown as well as in a trance of longing for her home and family.  (Tanner)

...James Joyce conveys that Eveline's inability to leave ultimately stems from her watchful nature and need for security.  (Emily K)

Joyce foreshadows her eventual refusal by his inclusion of childhood memories, her placement next to a window, and the use of questions throughout the story. (Margot)

Shakespeare, in his play Henry IV, Part 1, uses the relationship between the King of England and his son, Hal, to reflect on the true meaning of pride and honor, in which lies power.  (Margot)

In the play Henry IV, Part 1, Shakespeare suggests that comparison, impatience and lack of authenticity are the heart of conflict...by depicting a crumbling kingdom caused by a young prince's unstable relationship with his father... (Anna)

4. Vacationing briefly at "Dover Beach"

• Reread with four readers, focusing on the slightly different purpose of each stanza (question #22).

• If you were a body of water, what kind of body of water would you be right now?  (3 min)

• Flushing out the extended metaphor/analogy/conceit (questions 20, 23, and 26)

OR

4. Treating ourselves to a little prose M.C. practice (p.269, questions 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 14 and 15)

HW: Prepare for your final by perusing the different parts of your review book that you find most helpful (in particular, try out some prose and poetry multiple choice), looking back over your Tuesday writings and your class notes, and reading others' blogs on Invisible Man.  Our final is Wednesday from 8:56-Noon.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 14, 2012

MEET IN THE LIBRARY COMPUTER LAB TODAY.

Focus: Synthesizing themes in Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Five-minute brainstorms for any two of the sample essay topics below:


1971. The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose one work and show how the significance of its title is developed through the author's use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view.

1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions or moral values.

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2011, Form B. In The Writing of Fiction (1925), novelist Edith Wharton states the following:
At every stage in the progress of his tale the novelist must rely on what may be called the illuminating incident to reveal and emphasize the inner meaning of each situation. Illuminating incidents are the magic casements of fiction, its vistas on infinity.
Choose a novel or play that you have studied and write a well-organized essay in which you describe an “illuminating” episode or moment and explain how it functions as a “casement,” a window that opens onto the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

3. Time to compose your Invisible Man big question blog entry. Remember to include specific passages in your response.

HW: Finish your blog response if you did not finish in class. Also, please remember that the final exam will take BOTH finals periods (Wednesday, December 19: 8:56-Noon).

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 13, 2012

Focus: Analyzing the boomerang effect of Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Rereading the Prologue

• What new understanding do you have of the Prologue now that you've read the book in its entirety?

3. Socratic Seminar: The ending of Invisible Man

HW: Meet in the library computer lab tomorrow, and bring Invisible Man.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, 12/12/12

Focus: Approaching poetry through creative projects

1.  Announcements!

2. Turn in poetry papers

3. Present poetry projects

4. Paper/project reflections, if time allows (which is unlikely)

HW:

Finish Invisible Man for tomorrow's Socratic seminar.  Compose a reading ticket that will help you effectively contribute to our discussion because we are aiming for 100% participation!

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 11, 2012

Focus: Approaching poetry through creative projects

1.  Announcements!

2. GIVE OUT SCHEDULES (very sorry) and return essay revisions

3. Poetry project presentations

HW:

1. Finish poetry papers (due tomorrow).  Please remember to use MLA format, including headers.

2. Finish Invisible Man for Thursday's Socratic seminar.  Compose a reading ticket that will help you effectively contribute to our discussion because we are aiming for 100% participation!

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 10, 2012

Focus: Taking a creative approach to poetry interpretation

1. Announcements! Any weekend news?

2. Presenting our first five poetry projects

3. Return all essay revisions

4. If time allows, return to "Dover Beach."

HW: 
1. Poetry papers are due this Wednesday (at the latest).
2. Finish reading Invisible Man for this Thursday's last Socratic Seminar; our goal is 100% participation, so do what you need to do for your reading ticket (10 one-liners, a passage comparison, or something creative).
3. Dress nicely tonight if you are being inducted to National Honor Society.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 7, 2012

Focus: Student-led discussion of Invisible Man

1. Announcements and project sign-up!

2. Warm-up: A little sketching while we listen to Chapter 21

3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 21-23 in Invisible Man

HW: 
1. Poetry projects and essays.
2. Finish Invisible Man by Thursday for our final Socratic seminar.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 6, 2012

Focus: Decreasing your stress load by catching up with AP Lit

1. Announcements

2. How to calculate your "real" grade in AP Lit. (5 min)

3.  Work time!  Suggestions: Invisible Man reading, poetry papers, literary essay revisions, review book for the midterm

HW: 
1. Please complete the Invisible Man reading assignment for tomorrow with 10 one-liners.
2. Literary essay revisions (please see policies posted last week)
3. Early poetry essays

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 5, 2012

PLC: Shortened Class (Meet in the computer lab)

Focus: Establishing and working towards goals/expectations for your poetry projects and papers

1. Announcements!

2. For project people, overview of the rubric and strategies for developing one.

3. For paper people, review of the paper's format and time for Q & A

HW:
1. Work on poetry projects and papers
2. Invisible Man reading for Friday + 10 one-liners
3. Literary essay revisions

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 4, 2012

Focus: Whipping your mind into shape for the AP Lit exam

1. Announcements!  Please take an AP Lit book and write your name inside.

2. Describe the AP test to me.  Then read pages 3-5 and start yourself a "Review Sheet" in your composition notebook, jotting down anything that may be of use to you.

3. Previewing the poetry multiple choice:

• Look briefly at the questions BUT NOT THE ANSWERS.  What types of questions are there?

• We will read "Dover Beach" in think-aloud form.  

• On your own, complete the sample multiple choice questions on "Dover Beach" (273-275).  You may write lightly in pencil, but please erase your markings when you're finished.

• After you have finished, please write on your review sheet any terms or vocabulary words that you don't know. 

4. Discuss answers and strategies as a large group. Jot down useful strategies on your review sheet.

HW: 
1. Work on your Invisible Man reading assignment for Friday.  Simple reading ticket: 10 one-liners.  Remember that this Thursday will be a work day.

2. Meet in the library computer lab tomorrow to work on project rubrics and poetry essay drafts.

3. Essay revisions due this Friday, December 7.  Please refer to revision policies (posted on the blog from a few days ago).

4. Poetry papers due this Friday if you want to be able to revise; otherwise, they're due Dec. 12.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, December 3, 2012

Focus: Examining dichotomous objects in Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: How can we make sense of the objects in Invisible Man?

Reread the paragraph that starts on page 438 with "I wandered down the subway stairs..."

Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper; label one side, "Inside of history," and the other, "outside of history."  Then, organize the objects below from Invisible Man into one of those two categories.  Be prepared to defend your responses.

The briefcase               Dr. Bledsoe's leg shackle       Optic white paint         Sambo doll        
Douglass' portrait        Brother Tarp's leg shackle            The evicted couple's belongings          gold coins                     naked white women              the Founder's statue            Trueblood's cabin        the Golden Day           the white lines on the highway         the sealed envelopes        yams       snow      Mary's coin bank        the picture of the blind boxer (Ch. 16)

Quickwrite: What does it mean to be "inside history" or "outside history"?  Where does the narrator see himself and why?  What other categories could you come up with for these objects?

3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 19 and 20

HW: 
1. Start on your Invisible Man reading assignment for Friday.  Simple reading ticket: 10 one-liners.  Remember that this Thursday will be a work day.

2. Meet in the library computer lab on Wednesday to work on project rubrics and poetry essay drafts.

3. Essay revisions due this Friday, December 7.  Please refer to revision policies (posted on the blog from a few days ago).

4. Poetry papers due this Friday if you want to be able to revise; otherwise, they're due Dec. 12.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 30, 2012

Focus: Student-led discussion of Invisible Man, Chapters 15-18

1. DURING ANNOUNCEMENTS, PLEASE WRITE ON THE BACK OF YOUR READING TICKET WHAT BURNING QUESTIONS ABOUT INVISIBLE MAN YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ANSWERED BY THE CLASS TODAY...WHICH SCENES ARE TRULY CONFUSING?  THESE CAN BE FROM ANY CHAPTER.

2. Reading ticket / burning question musical chairs

3. Socratic seminar: Invisible Man, Chapters 15-18

HW: Read Chapters 19 and 20 with a simple reading ticket of 10 one-liners; work on poetry project/paper (feel free to email me outlines, thesis statements, and/or drafts); essay revisions.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 29, 2012

Focus: Writing Workshop of "Eveline" Timed Writings

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Section-by-section think-alouds of "Eveline" in small groups

3. Overview of the rubric for this essay; peer editing


HW: Complete your Invisible Man reading assignment for tomorrow's Socratic seminar; for your reading ticket, find one passage that serves as a variation of an earlier scene and type the following:

• The original scene
• The variation
• A one-paragraph analysis of how the second scene is a variation of the first and Ellison's possible purpose in offering this variation.  Feel free to ask questions, too.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 28, 2012

Focus: Close reading prose

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Applause-worthy close readings (performed by you). Click here to see them.

3. Return essays and discuss revisions:

• Focus on one portion only (a single paragraph, or even a single close reading).
• Staple it to your original essay with my comments.
• Due Friday, Dec. 7.

4. Practicing prose analysis: Ellison's catalogs and returning to a multiple choice passage from ages hence

HW: Complete your Invisible Man reading assignment by Friday; for your reading ticket, find one passage that serves as a variation of an earlier scene and type the following:

• The original scene
• The variation
• A one-paragraph analysis of how the second scene is a variation of the first and Ellison's possible purpose in offering this variation.  Feel free to ask questions, too.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 27, 2012

Focus: Developing your close readings of prose and your timed writing skills

1. Announcements!  Turn in project proposals (and outlines, if you wish)

2. Tuesday writing (you will have the entire period)

HW: Complete your Invisible Man reading assignment by Friday; for your reading ticket, find one passage that serves as a variation of an earlier scene and type the following:

• The original scene
• The variation
• A one-paragraph analysis of how the second scene is a variation of the first and Ellison's possible purpose in offering this variation.  Feel free to ask questions, too.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 26, 2012

Focus: Student-led discussion of Invisible Man, Chapters 11-14

1.  Announcements!  Also, any news from you?

2. Warm-up: Variations of Booker T. Washington (click HERE for the slides)

3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 11-14

HW: Please finish your proposal and turn it in tomorrow (typed preferred but not mandatory); start on your Invisible Man reading assignment for Friday (Chapters 15-18).  We will have a prose-passage timed writing tomorrow. For Friday's reading ticket, find one passage that serves as a variation of an earlier scene and type the following:

• The original scene
• The variation
• A one-paragraph analysis of how the second scene is a variation of the first and Ellison's possible purpose in offering this variation.  Feel free to ask questions, too.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 16, 2012

Focus: Discussion of Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Variations on a theme

• Take one part of the Battle Royal and find a scene in a later chapter that echoes it/offers a variation of it.
• Read the two scenes closely, finding as many specific parallels as possible. Write them down in your composition notebook.
• How do the two scenes serve a similar purpose?
• How and why do they differ?  In other words, how is one a variation of the other?
• Why might Ellison offer us this echoed version of the Battle Royal in this particular moment?

3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 8-10 of Invisible Man

HW: Read Chapters....of Invisible Man to prepare for our next Socratic seminar on Monday, Nov 26; outline your poetry paper or compose the proposal for your poetry project (proposals due Tue).

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 15, 2012

Focus: Laying the groundwork for your poetry papers and projects

1. Announcements!

2. Viewing projects and papers in small groups (10 min):

• What do you immediately notice in each example?
• Upon closer examination, what subtleties do you notice in each example?
• What seems to be the larger purpose of each example?
• How is that purpose achieved in each example?

3. Off to the computer lab to develop outlines and rubrics!

HW: Start/continue outlining your poetry projects and papers; finish the reading assignment for Friday (if you haven't yet), which is Chapters 8, 9, and 10 in Invisible Man; for your reading tickets, you can continue with your 10 one-liners, you can rewrite a scene from a different point of view (as we did in class yesterday), or you can create a visual representation of your analysis of these chapters.

Poetry PROJECT Due Dates:
1. Proposal due Tuesday, Nov 27.
2. Rubric due Monday, Dec 3.
3. Projects due Monday, Dec. 10.

Poetry PAPER Due Dates:
1. You are not required to turn in a proposal or a rubric since these have already been laid out for you.  However, you are more than welcome to come in for a conference or to e-mail me for feedback at any stage of the writing process.
2. If you would like the chance to revise your essay, you must turn it in Friday, Dec. 7.
3. If you do not want the chance to revise your essay, you may turn it in as late as Wednesday, Dec.12.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 14, 2012

Focus: Laying the groundwork for your poetry papers and projects

1. Announcements!

2. Viewing projects and papers in small groups:

• What do you immediately notice in each example?
• Upon closer examination, what subtleties do you notice in each example?
• What seems to be the larger purpose of each example?
• How is that purpose achieved in each example?

3. Starting to brainstorm and outline your papers and projects.

HW: Start/continue outlining your poetry projects and papers; start on the reading assignment for Friday (if you haven't yet), which is Chapters 8, 9, and 10 in Invisible Man; for your reading tickets, you can continue with your 10 one-liners, you can rewrite a scene from a different point of view (as we did in class yesterday), or you can create a visual representation of your analysis of these chapters.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 13, 2012

Focus: The significance of point of view in prose passages

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Switching points of view on pages 151 and 152 of Invisible Man

• Rows 1 and 2: Third person omniscient
• Rows 3 and 4: Third person limited
• Row 5: From the vet's 1st person point of view
• Row 6: From Crenshaw's 1st person point of view

How does your shift in point of view alter the intent and effect of the passage?

3. Perusing the point of view overview (handout) and applying it to the warm-up.

4. Prose multiple choice practice (handout)

HW: Meet in the library computer lab THURSDAY (not tomorrow); read Chapters 8, 9 and 10 in Invisible Man with 10 one-liners, or a rewrite of one two pages from a different point of view.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 12, 2012

Focus: Student-led discussion of Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: The Battle Royal

• Skim back through the "battle royal" scene (pages 17-33).
• For each page, jot down one short line or phrase whose imagery and diction capture something important about what's happening on that page.
• Read closely how these lines come together...are there shifts?  Motifs?  Dichotomies?
• How do these pages transform the narrator? What do you think is Ellison's larger purpose in this passage? 

3. Socratic seminar: Invisible Man, Chapters 6 and 7

HW: Start reading Chapters 8 through 10 for this Friday; meet in the library computer lab on Wednesday. 

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 9, 2012

Focus: Understanding the narrator of Invisible Man in his college days

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Reading ticket musical chairs

3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 1-5; assign our first scribe.

4. Counterclockwise wrap-up

HW: Read Chapters 6 and 7 in Invisible Man for Monday's Socratic seminar with 10 one-liners as your reading ticket (or something more poetic and creative if you choose).

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 8, 2012

Focus: Understanding 19th and 20th century stereotypes of the black man and their role in Invisible Man

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Close reading of early 20th century images

• What stereotypes do these images construct?
• How do these images achieve their purpose?
• Why might these images have been so popular after the Civil War?  Do they still permeate our civilization (or culture?) today?

3. Watching a clip from Ethnic Notions: Understanding "the Sambo" and "the brute"

4. Explanation of Friday's reading ticket

5. 20 minute workshop of your Tuesday writing

HW: Finish reading through Chapter 5 of Invisible Man; complete reading ticket (see yesterday's blog for explanation of reading ticket).

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 7, 2012

Focus: How do we enter the brightly lit world of an invisible man?

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: What does it mean to be invisible?  Opening questions for Invisible Man.

3. Socratic seminar: The Prologue of Invisible Man

HW: By Friday, finish reading Chapters 1-5.  Here is your reading ticket for Friday's Socratic seminar: Read the lyrics to Louis Armstrong's "Black and Blue" (copied below).  Pick one line from the song that intrigues you, and find around ten lines from the Prologue through Chapter 5 in Invisible Man that connect somehow to this line.  Draw the line from "Black and Blue" and the 10 lines from Invisible Man together by either forming them into a poem, writing a metacognitive on them, or any other way you can think of to synthesize them meaningfully.  Please type all writing.


“Black and Blue” by Louis Armstrong

Cold empty bead, springs hard as lead
Feels like ole Ned...wished I was dead
What did I do...to be so black and blue

Even the mouse...ran from my house
They laugh at you...and all that you do
What did I do...to be so black and blue

I'm white...inside...but, that don't help my case
That's life...can't hide...what is in my face
How would it end...ain't got a friend
My only sin...is in my skin
What did I do...to be so black and blue

(instrumental break)
How would it end...I ain't got a friend
My only sin...is in my skin
What did I do...to be so black and blue

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 6, 2012

Focus: Improving your timed writing skills and synthesizing your ideas about Henry IV

1. Announcements!

2. Warm-up: Take out your cell phones and respond to the following two polls:

• At its deepest level, Henry IV is about...
• The most important moment in Henry IV is...

3. Tuesday writing: Henry IV (open response question)

4. Turn in your Henry IV books.

HW: Read the Prologue (don't worry about the introduction) to Invisible Man by tomorrow with ten one-liners as your Socratic seminar reading ticket.  Make sure you have completed your big question blog for Henry IV.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 5, 2012

Focus: Easing (not so gently) from the world of Henry IV to the world of Invisible Man

Announcements!

1. Warm-up: Recap our directorial decisions from Friday

2. The final performances: Act 5, scenes 2-5

3. Opening questions for Invisible Man

HW: Finish your big question blog for Henry IV, Part 1 (Tuesday writing tomorrow) and bring your book to turn in; read the Prologue of Invisible Man by Wednesday and Chapters 1-5 by Friday.  Please note that reading assignments are loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg and designed to be spread out through the week.  If you save it until Thursday night, you will feel like this: :(

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 2, 2012

Focus: Understanding the grand finale of Henry IV, Part 1 through performance

During announcements, please write down the Invisible Man reading assignments, and take a book if you need one.

1. Warm-up: A reflection on yesterday and a clip of an award-winning Falstaff at the one and only Globe

• How does this portrayal of Falstaff support or alter your perception of him?

A few clips you may want to watch at home to inspire you as you compose your big question blog:

• The trailer for The Hollow Crown (the BBC production of the Henriad)
• Clip of King Henry and Prince Hal

2. Rehearsals of Act 5 and symbolic choices in small groups (15 min)

3. Rehearsals of Act 5, scenes 3 and 4 and symbolic choices as a large class (8 min)

4. The last big performance!

HW: Complete your big question blog entry by Tuesday; start reading Invisible Man.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, November 1, 2012

Focus: Analyzing Act 5 of Henry IV, Part 1

Announcements!

Warm-up: The legacy of Falstaff

• Why is he so popular?  
• Is he the most honest character in the play? 
• Let's take a walk down memory lane and revisit a few of his speeches.
• Click here for another blogger's view of Falstaff

Socratic seminar: Henry IV, Part 1,Act 5

HW: By Monday, complete your big question blog entry for Henry IV, Part 1.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 31, 2012

Focus: Preparing for the final battles of Henry IV, Act 5

Warm-up: Updates! How did the metacognitive go?

Start rehearsing for Friday's Act 5 performances!

Overview of acting company assignments:

• Courtiers: 5.1.  I suggest that you cut repetitive material about the rebel cause but spend time discussing why it is repeated.  
• Rebels: 5.2
• All Groups: 5.3 and 5.4.  The battle: All groups fight; you will need to assign speaking parts and one or two directors; it is very important that actors with speaking parts rehearse well.
• Pub Crawlers: 5.5.  Most of the tavern crew stayed at home (they're not so into the battles), so please take a walk on the other side of the tracks and play courtiers.

HW: Finish reading Act 5 with 10 one-liners and a typed close reading of one speech from Act 5 (this is your reading ticket for tomorrow's Socratic seminar).  Consider purchasing Invisible Man ASAP.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 30, 2012

Focus: Testing out your poem with a metacognitive writing

Please meet in the library computer lab today.

1. Announcements

2. Please carefully read the two sample metacognitive poetry writings linked below to remind yourself of the purpose, tone and structure of a metacognitive writing:

Sample metacognitive #1
Sample metacognitive #2

Remember that while you may (and should!) wander around in your analysis and tirelessly question the poem, you should also try to work towards a deeper understanding by the time you finish your writing.  In other words, you should wind up in a different place from where you began.  Make sure that you are constantly, constantly referencing specific words and phrases from the poem.

3. Type a metacognitive writing of your poem directly underneath the poem itself (which you should have copied and pasted into a Google Doc).  Make sure you have an MLA heading at the top of your document. This should take you at least the entire period, and if you need more time, feel free to finish this tonight.  If, during this process, you realize that you need to switch poems, please do so tonight and perform a metacognitive writing on your new poem.

Note: You will be receiving a Tuesday writing grade for this metacognitive writing.

4. Print your writing and turn it in to Mrs. Makovsky.

HW: Finish your metacognitive writing if you did not do so in class today.  By Thursday please read Act 5, write down 10 one-liners in your composition notebook, and type a close reading of a single speech from Act 5 (read it as you read a poem). 

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 29, 2012

Focus: Structure and meaning in traditional vs. modern poetry

1. Announcements

Traditional Poetry
2. Warm-up: With your small group, review the salient points in Chapter 4 of How To Read Literature like a Professor: "If It's Square, It's a Sonnet."  

• How is structure specifically important to the sonnet?  
• How does structure relate to and reveal meaning? 

3. As a class, develop a list of about 5 "rules" of sonnets. In other words, what patterns or rules do all sonnets tend to follow in terms of structure?  Please pick one student to post these on the class blog underneath the comment section of today's agenda.  You may use the class computer or your smartphone.
4. Read aloud "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun," and as a group, mark up and discuss this poem by applying your 5 rules of traditional structure to this poem.  Decipher how the poem's structure reveals its meaning.

Modern Poetry
5. If time allows, read aloud the modern e.e. cummings' poem, "since feeling is first."
6.  Annotate the poem by unearthing its structure and its attitude toward structure:

• How does the structure deviate from that of the sonnet?
• More importantly, why does its structure deviate from that of the sonnet?  What are the poem's larger meanings, and how does form specifically contribute to them?

HW: Finalize your choice of poem by tomorrow.  Copy and paste it into a Google doc and be ready to perform a metacognitive writing on it tomorrow (remember to meet in the library computer lab tomorrow).  Also, by Thursday please read Act 5, write down 10 one-liners in your composition notebook, and type a close reading of a single speech from Act 5 (read it as you read a poem).  

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 26, 2012

Focus: Analyzing Act 4 of Henry IV and its larger significance to the play as a whole

1. During announcements: Look back through Act 4 and your word trace; create at least two strong Socratic seminar questions and write them in your composition notebook.

2. Warm-up: Musical chairs exploration of your Act 4 word traces.

3. Socratic seminar: Henry IV, Act 4


Homework:
1. Reread Chapter 4 of How To Read Literature like a Professor and bring this book to class on Monday.

2. Finalize your poem choice by Tuesday; copy and paste your poem into a Google Doc (make sure it maintains the poet's formatting).

3. By Thursday, read Act 5 of Henry IV (it's kind of long); write down 10 one-liners in your composition notebook and perform a close reading of one significant speech.  Read it as you would a poem, analyzing diction, imagery, syntax, tone, and sound devices. Your close reading should be typed and at least half a page in length.

4. By Friday, purchase Invisible Man if you are planning on having your own copy.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 25, 2012

Focus: What is the poetry project and paper, and how do I begin?

1. Announcements: Please complete the poetry warm-up during announcements

2. Finish yesterday's Act 3 performances with a focus on characters, relationships, politics, and symbolic choices

3. Overview of the poetry project and the poetry paper, then off we go to the computer lab to find that one special poem!

HW: Bring your Act 4 word trace to class tomorrow; be prepared for a Socratic seminar on Act 4.  You need to finalize your poem selection by next Tuesday.

Please click here if you'd like to see one of Ms. Leclaire's favorite poems.

This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, October 24, 2012

Focus: Analyzing Act 3 through performance

1. Warm-up: 10 minute rehearsal with your group

2. Act 3 performances by the Rebels, the Court, and the Pub-Crawlers

Focus questions for the performances:

• What do we learn about characters through their dialogues in each scene? How do they treat each other?  Which characters are changing and how?  Why must they change?
• Which relationships are changing and how?  Why must they change?
• What are we learning about the political background of the play in each scene?
• What is the symbolic choice each acting company made, and how is it significant both to this scene and to the play as a whole?

HW: Meet in the library computer lab tomorrow; bring your poetic mind.  Bring your Act 4 word trace to class on Friday for a Socratic seminar.

This Seat's Taken: A.P. Lit Blog, Oct.23, 2012

Welcome to the blog! Please check here when you miss class.

Focus: Understanding poetry by writing it; analyzing Henry IV through performance

1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Creating your own "Disillusionment of Ten O-Clock"; playing with diction, imagery, and syntax
3. Preparing your Act 3 performances for Henry IV; remember that your performance is your way of analyzing the scene and helping us understand key changes in characters, character dynamics, motifs, settings, and themes.

HW: Prepare for your Act 3 performances tomorrow; college essay revisions; bring your Act 4 word traces back to class on Friday for a Socratic seminar on Act 4 (Thursday will be dedicated to an overview of your next big project/literary essay).