Focus: Enjoying the post-A.P. Literature exam experience
1. Announcements!
2. Getting back in touch with our childhood sense of fun: Kindergarten games
3. Getting back in touch with trends on the internet: Sharing meaningful youtube experiences
HW:
1. Remember that the four tasks detailed on the purple half-sheet (book turn-in, legacy, survey, and letter) are due TOMORROW.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
This Test's Taken: AP Lit, May 14, 2013
Focus: Displaying our class talents
1. Announcements!
2. So you think you can _______? Enjoying a class talent show
3. If time allows, unveiling your postsecret skills
HW:
1. Brainstorm ideas for "kindergarten games" and be ready to explain the directions!
2. Remember to finish the final four tasks for this class (see purple half-sheet for details) by THURSDAY.
1. Announcements!
2. So you think you can _______? Enjoying a class talent show
3. If time allows, unveiling your postsecret skills
HW:
1. Brainstorm ideas for "kindergarten games" and be ready to explain the directions!
2. Remember to finish the final four tasks for this class (see purple half-sheet for details) by THURSDAY.
This Test's Taken: AP Lit, May 13, 2013
Focus: Celebrating the fact that you're done with the A.P. Literature Exam!
1. Announcements!
2. Reminders regarding your final AP Lit tasks (due Thursday):
a. Turn in all of your books
b. Fill out a class evaluation (via Google forms)
c. Write a letter
d. Prepare your legacy
e. Please make sure you check off your name as you finish each task.
e. Please make sure you check off your name as you finish each task.
3. It's picnic time!
HW:
1. Rehearse your talent for tomorrow's class talent show and bring all necessary props to class.
2. By Thursday, please complete the tasks listed above. They are described in detail on the purple half-sheet of paper you received last Friday.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
This Test's Taken: AP Lit, May 10, 2013
Focus: The Day After...
1. Announcements! And snacks!
2. How did it go?
3. Overview of your final week in AP Lit. Here are your final tasks:
4. Brainstorming film ideas and starting to fill out your class evaluation
5. Experiencing an in-depth lesson on the power of allusion
HW:
Watch THIS VIDEO and remember to treat your mom to something nice on Sunday.
1. Announcements! And snacks!
2. How did it go?
3. Overview of your final week in AP Lit. Here are your final tasks:
a. Turn in all of your books
b. Fill out a class evaluation
c. Write a letter
d. Prepare your legacy
4. Brainstorming film ideas and starting to fill out your class evaluation
5. Experiencing an in-depth lesson on the power of allusion
HW:
Watch THIS VIDEO and remember to treat your mom to something nice on Sunday.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 8, 2013
Focus: Building your confidence for the AP Literature Test
Please arrive at the test site tomorrow morning between 7:00 and 7: 15 am.
1. Announcements! And a quick walk down memory lane...
2. Circle story time with Ms. Leclaire
3. A tiny lesson on synecdoche (this is purely to make you feel better)
Definition: A figure of speech in which the part of something is used to refer to the whole of something, and that part is usually physically attached to the whole.
Examples:
Can you give me a hand?
Nice set of wheels!
Narrator from Invisible Man refers to policemen as "blue steel pistols and blue serge suits" (344)
Why do we care? Sometimes an author uses synecdoche to reveal an attitude towards a character or object. For example, by referring to the policemen as "blue steel pistols and blue serge suits," the narrator of Invisible Man dehumanizes them, associating them the impenetrability of "steel" and "serge," as well as identifying them with the constant threat of violence ("pistols"). The repetition of the color "blue" serves to distance the policemen from both black and white citizens, landing them in a cold, inhuman category.
3. Exploring the 2005 essay prompts together
4. Reading a few letters from students of AP past...
HW:
1. Review your bedside stack, go to bed early, eat breakfast in the morning, and leave early for the test. And remember: "Still waters run deep."
Please arrive at the test site tomorrow morning between 7:00 and 7: 15 am.
1. Announcements! And a quick walk down memory lane...
2. Circle story time with Ms. Leclaire
3. A tiny lesson on synecdoche (this is purely to make you feel better)
Definition: A figure of speech in which the part of something is used to refer to the whole of something, and that part is usually physically attached to the whole.
Examples:
Can you give me a hand?
Nice set of wheels!
Narrator from Invisible Man refers to policemen as "blue steel pistols and blue serge suits" (344)
Why do we care? Sometimes an author uses synecdoche to reveal an attitude towards a character or object. For example, by referring to the policemen as "blue steel pistols and blue serge suits," the narrator of Invisible Man dehumanizes them, associating them the impenetrability of "steel" and "serge," as well as identifying them with the constant threat of violence ("pistols"). The repetition of the color "blue" serves to distance the policemen from both black and white citizens, landing them in a cold, inhuman category.
3. Exploring the 2005 essay prompts together
4. Reading a few letters from students of AP past...
HW:
1. Review your bedside stack, go to bed early, eat breakfast in the morning, and leave early for the test. And remember: "Still waters run deep."
Monday, May 6, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 7, 2013
Focus: Building your confidence for the AP Literature Exam
1. Announcements!
2. Introduction to today's stations:
[Station 1: Victorian-style prose, multiple choice]
[Station 2: Victorian-style prose, syntax practice]
[Station 3: Victorian-style prose, essay prompt]
Station 4: Bedside stacks
Station 5: Feel good about yourself
Station 6: Contemporary prose, essay
Station 7: Contemporary prose, multiple choice
Station 8: Traditional poetry, multiple choice
Station 9: Contemporary poetry, multiple choice
Station 6: Contemporary prose, essay
Station 7: Contemporary prose, multiple choice
Station 8: Traditional poetry, multiple choice
Station 9: Contemporary poetry, multiple choice
You will select 2-3 stations and spend about 20-25 minutes at each station. The first 10 minutes will be spent in mandatory silence so that you may read in peace. The second 10-15 minutes can be spent in whatever way your group feels is most beneficial to your style of review (independent work, group discussion, etc.).
If you need all 5 review stations, don't worry; these stations and many more will still be available tomorrow.
HW:
1. Bedside stack.
2. AP Lit review book (target your least confident areas).
Friday, May 3, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 6, 2013
Focus: Building your confidence for the AP Literature Exam
1. Announcements!
2. Introduction to today's stations:
You will select 2-3 stations and spend about 20-25 minutes at each station. The first 10 minutes will be spent in mandatory silence so that you may read in peace. The second 10-15 minutes can be spent in whatever way your group feels is most beneficial to your style of review (independent work, group discussion, etc.).
If you need all 5 review stations, don't worry; these stations and many more will still be available tomorrow.
HW:
1. Bedside stack.
2. AP Lit review book (target your least confident areas).
1. Announcements!
2. Introduction to today's stations:
Station 1: Victorian-style prose, multiple choice
Station 2: Victorian-style prose, syntax practice
Station 3: Victorian-style prose, essay prompt
Station 4: Bedside stacks
Station 5: Feel good about yourself
You will select 2-3 stations and spend about 20-25 minutes at each station. The first 10 minutes will be spent in mandatory silence so that you may read in peace. The second 10-15 minutes can be spent in whatever way your group feels is most beneficial to your style of review (independent work, group discussion, etc.).
If you need all 5 review stations, don't worry; these stations and many more will still be available tomorrow.
HW:
1. Bedside stack.
2. AP Lit review book (target your least confident areas).
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 3, 2013
Focus: Preparing for the AP Lit Exam!
1. Announcements! Any revisions to turn in?
2. Finishing the last ten minutes of R&G and exploring related AP prompts
3. Returning and reviewing your timed writings
4. Dear Ms. Leclaire,
Here are my dream review stations for next week:
5. If time allows, working on bedside stacks
HW:
1. Performing the nightly ritual of your bedside stack.
2. Working through "problem areas" using your Barron's AP review book (bring it to class next week).
1. Announcements! Any revisions to turn in?
2. Finishing the last ten minutes of R&G and exploring related AP prompts
3. Returning and reviewing your timed writings
- Patting yourself on the back for THREE strengths you have as a timed writer, and giving yourself ONE goal for timed writing improvement.
- S-5 and Portrait groups of expertise
4. Dear Ms. Leclaire,
Here are my dream review stations for next week:
5. If time allows, working on bedside stacks
HW:
1. Performing the nightly ritual of your bedside stack.
2. Working through "problem areas" using your Barron's AP review book (bring it to class next week).
Thursday, May 2, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 2, 2013
Focus: Synthesizing larger ideas about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Viewing the film version of R & G Are Dead
What's the bigger story here, and how is it being told?
3. Speed dating while forming thesis statements and outlines for various open prompts that reference R & G
HW:
1. If you are revising your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by tomorrow.
2. If you have an AP Lit review book at home, please bring it to class tomorrow.
1. Announcements!
2. Viewing the film version of R & G Are Dead
What's the bigger story here, and how is it being told?
3. Speed dating while forming thesis statements and outlines for various open prompts that reference R & G
HW:
1. If you are revising your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by tomorrow.
2. If you have an AP Lit review book at home, please bring it to class tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, May 1, 2013
Focus: Starting to synthesize larger ideas about R&G Are Dead
1. Announcements! And snack!
2. Warm-up: Singling out the most important passage from your section
As you listen to others' lines, think about how to finish this statement: R&G Are Dead is about...
3. Watching part of an interview with Tom Stoppard to see what he thinks this play is about
4. Viewing a few key scenes from the film version of R & G Are Dead
HW:
1. Keeping up with your bedside stack (remember that it should be a nightly ritual--repetition is key).
2. Remember that if you plan to revise your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by FRIDAY. Remember to highlight all changes on your new draft, compose a brief paragraph explaining what you chose to revise and why, and staple everything to your original draft with my comments.
1. Announcements! And snack!
2. Warm-up: Singling out the most important passage from your section
As you listen to others' lines, think about how to finish this statement: R&G Are Dead is about...
3. Watching part of an interview with Tom Stoppard to see what he thinks this play is about
4. Viewing a few key scenes from the film version of R & G Are Dead
HW:
1. Keeping up with your bedside stack (remember that it should be a nightly ritual--repetition is key).
2. Remember that if you plan to revise your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by FRIDAY. Remember to highlight all changes on your new draft, compose a brief paragraph explaining what you chose to revise and why, and staple everything to your original draft with my comments.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 30, 2013
Focus: Analyzing the ending of R&G Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: A little visual help from Ms. Leclaire on R & G Are Dead
3. As you watch the final performance, please take note of the following:
Given the Player's description of a tragedy in Act Two, is Stoppard's play a tragedy ("The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily")? (2.316)
Does Stoppard's play pay homage to Hamlet or does it ridicule it?
Pose one important question about the play's ending.
4. Acting Company #5: Final warm-up, performance, and discussion of R & G Are Dead
HW:
1. Keeping up with your bedside stack (remember that it should be a nightly ritual--repetition is key).
2. Remember that if you plan to revise your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by FRIDAY. Remember to highlight all changes on your new draft, compose a brief paragraph explaining what you chose to revise and why, and staple everything to your original draft with my comments.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: A little visual help from Ms. Leclaire on R & G Are Dead
3. As you watch the final performance, please take note of the following:
Given the Player's description of a tragedy in Act Two, is Stoppard's play a tragedy ("The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily")? (2.316)
Does Stoppard's play pay homage to Hamlet or does it ridicule it?
Pose one important question about the play's ending.
4. Acting Company #5: Final warm-up, performance, and discussion of R & G Are Dead
HW:
1. Keeping up with your bedside stack (remember that it should be a nightly ritual--repetition is key).
2. Remember that if you plan to revise your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by FRIDAY. Remember to highlight all changes on your new draft, compose a brief paragraph explaining what you chose to revise and why, and staple everything to your original draft with my comments.
Monday, April 29, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 29, 2013
Focus: Performance and discussion of the fourth section of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
1. Announcements! And filling in the map...
2. Overview of the bedside stack
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #4!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Guess who doesn't have to work on his/her culminating essay anymore? That's right: YOU!
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by FRIDAY.
3. Begin working on your bedside stack; form due WEDNESDAY.
Click HERE for a film version of R&G Are Dead.
Friday, April 26, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 26, 2013
Focus: Performance and discussion of the third section of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Class ends at 10:02 am today (spring assembly).
1. Announcements!
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #3!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1.Finish your culminating essays (due Monday). Click HERE for the "Night-Before Checklist."
Staple your question/booklist to the front of your essay.
Include an MLA heading.
Include a header (Your last name Page #) in the upper right corner of each page.
Cite each quotation properly.
Attach a properly formatted Works Cited page that includes all works referenced in your essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Class ends at 10:02 am today (spring assembly).
1. Announcements!
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #3!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1.Finish your culminating essays (due Monday). Click HERE for the "Night-Before Checklist."
Staple your question/booklist to the front of your essay.
Include an MLA heading.
Include a header (Your last name Page #) in the upper right corner of each page.
Cite each quotation properly.
Attach a properly formatted Works Cited page that includes all works referenced in your essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 25, 2013
Focus: Performance and discussion of the second section of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
1. Announcements!
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #2!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essays (due Monday).
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Click HERE for a film version of R&G Are Dead.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 24, 2013
Focus: Performance and discussion of the first section of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
1. Announcements!
YOU MUST ATTEND AN AP EXAM PRE-REGISTRATION MEETING TODAY. Please go to the Forum during 5th, 6th, or after school.
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #1!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essays (due Monday).
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Click HERE for a film version of R&G Are Dead.
1. Announcements!
YOU MUST ATTEND AN AP EXAM PRE-REGISTRATION MEETING TODAY. Please go to the Forum during 5th, 6th, or after school.
2. Today's R & G lesson brought to you by Acting Co #1!
a. Warm-up
b. Performance and passage marking
c. Question-developing and follow-up Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essays (due Monday).
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Click HERE for a film version of R&G Are Dead.
Monday, April 22, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 23, 2013
Focus: Preparing scenes from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Class ends at 12:49 today (23 minutes of pure brain power)
Culminating essays are now due Monday, April 29.
2. Continue preparing your scenes...
a. Perform an analytical reading of your scene. In other words, don't worry about how to perform it quite yet; instead, think of how to analyze it, interpreting...
- Elements of the Absurd
- Extended metaphors and motifs
- Characterization
- Larger themes
- Staging (entrances, exits, movement)
- Costumes & props
- Making SYMBOLIC choices
- How to pronounce words, when to take pauses, when to shout, when to whisper, etc.
HW:
1. Continue working on culminating essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Performance Schedule:
Friday, April 19, Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23: Preparation days
Wednesday, April 24: Acting Co #1
Thursday, April 25: Acting Co #2
Friday, April 26: Acting Co #3
Monday, April 29: Acting Co #4
Tuesday, April 30: Acting Co #5
Wednesday, May 1: Tuesday Writing on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 22, 2013
Focus: Preparing scenes from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Announcements!
Culminating essays are now due Monday, April 29 (this will be the final extension).
2. A reminder: Make sure you have performed an analytical reading of your scene and discussed it thoroughly with your group. This part should take at least 20 minutes.
3. Continue preparing your scenes...
a. Perform an analytical reading of your scene. In other words, don't worry about how to perform it quite yet; instead, think of how to analyze it, interpreting...
- Elements of the Absurd
- Extended metaphors and motifs
- Characterization
- Larger themes
- Staging (entrances, exits, movement)
- Costumes & props
- Making SYMBOLIC choices
- How to pronounce words, when to take pauses, when to shout, when to whisper, etc.
HW:
1. Continue working on culminating essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Performance Schedule:
Friday, April 19, Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23: Preparation days
Wednesday, April 24: Acting Co #1
Thursday, April 25: Acting Co #2
Friday, April 26: Acting Co #3
Monday, April 29: Acting Co #4
Tuesday, April 30: Acting Co #5
Wednesday, May 1: Tuesday Writing on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Friday, April 19, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 19, 2013
Focus: Getting comfortable in the Theatre of the Absurd by preparing scenes from R & G Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Look back over pages 11 to 17 (the part we read yesterday), and please brainstorm responses to the following questions in your composition notebook:
Acting Co #1: Top of page 17 to "Exeunt" at bottom of page 37
Acting Co #2: "I want to go home" at bottom of page 37 to bottom of page 59
Acting Co #3: Top of page 60 to top of page 85
Acting Co #4: Top of page 85 to "Don't cry" on page 104
Acting Co #5: "Don't cry" on page 104 to end of play
a. Figure out what important events have led up to your scene (focusing especially on what happens right before your scene takes place).
Here is a good site for a detailed summary of the play: Shmoop
b. Perform an analytical reading of your scene. In other words, don't worry about how to perform it quite yet; instead, think of how to analyze it, interpreting...
HW:
1. Continue working on culminating essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Performance Schedule:
Friday, April 19, Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23: Preparation days
Wednesday, April 24: Acting Co #1
Thursday, April 25: Acting Co #2
Friday, April 26: Acting Co #3
Monday, April 29: Acting Co #4
Tuesday, April 30: Acting Co #5
Wednesday, May 1: Tuesday Writing on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Look back over pages 11 to 17 (the part we read yesterday), and please brainstorm responses to the following questions in your composition notebook:
- Why do you think Stoppard selected these two characters for his play?
- How does he re-create them? In other words, though they are "dreadfully uniform" in Hamlet, they start to take on distinct personalities in Stoppard's play. How are they each characterized?
- What elements of the Theatre of the Absurd have you noticed so far?
Acting Co #1: Top of page 17 to "Exeunt" at bottom of page 37
Acting Co #2: "I want to go home" at bottom of page 37 to bottom of page 59
Acting Co #3: Top of page 60 to top of page 85
Acting Co #4: Top of page 85 to "Don't cry" on page 104
Acting Co #5: "Don't cry" on page 104 to end of play
a. Figure out what important events have led up to your scene (focusing especially on what happens right before your scene takes place).
Here is a good site for a detailed summary of the play: Shmoop
b. Perform an analytical reading of your scene. In other words, don't worry about how to perform it quite yet; instead, think of how to analyze it, interpreting...
- Elements of the Absurd
- Extended metaphors and motifs
- Characterization
- Larger themes
- Staging (entrances, exits, movement)
- Costumes & props
- Making SYMBOLIC choices
- How to pronounce words, when to take pauses, when to shout, when to whisper, etc.
HW:
1. Continue working on culminating essay.
2. If you are revising your critical essay or poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Performance Schedule:
Friday, April 19, Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23: Preparation days
Wednesday, April 24: Acting Co #1
Thursday, April 25: Acting Co #2
Friday, April 26: Acting Co #3
Monday, April 29: Acting Co #4
Tuesday, April 30: Acting Co #5
Wednesday, May 1: Tuesday Writing on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 18, 2013
Focus: Entering the absurd world of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: The flip of a coin
a. Take a coin and flip it in the air 20 times. Record how many times it comes up heads, and how many times it comes up tails. Interpret/explain the results.
b. Now, imagine that you take a quarter (a normal quarter) and flip it in the air twenty times. If it were to come up heads each time, would you be surprised? Why or why not? In your opinion, is the world generally an orderly or a disorderly place?
c. Look back to the definition of existentialism I offered you yesterday and to the definition of Theatre of the Absurd I will offer you today. How would an existentialist and/or an absurdist explain the imaginary phenomenon above?
Click HERE for a lecture on the Theatre of the Absurd.
3. Reintroducing yourselves to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern via two clips
- How does the title alone suggest the existentialist undertones of this play?
- Why might Tom Stoppard have picked these two characters for his play?
4. Acting out the beginning of Act One
As we read, keep a log in your composition book of this play's use of extended metaphors:
- Where do you see elements of the Theatre of the Absurd?
- Which objects clearly serve as metaphors?
- What larger ideas to they stand for and how?
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay.
2. If you plan on revising either your critical essay or your poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 17, 2013
Focus: Reviewing Hamlet and warming up for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
1. Announcements!
2. Reviewing Hamlet (and warming up your acting skills): 60 second to perform each act
2. Reviewing Hamlet (and warming up your acting skills): 60 second to perform each act
3. Watching the official 60-second Hamlet: Reduced Shakespeare Company
4. Floating in a cloud of existentialist thoughts and considering their connections to Hamlet
5. If time allows, reintroducing yourselves to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern via two clips
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay.
2. If you plan on revising either your critical essay or your poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
4. Floating in a cloud of existentialist thoughts and considering their connections to Hamlet
5. If time allows, reintroducing yourselves to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern via two clips
- Why might Tom Stoppard have picked these two characters for his play?
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay.
2. If you plan on revising either your critical essay or your poetry essay, please do so by the end of April.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 16, 2013
Focus: Strengthening your prose timed writing skills by assessing others' writings
1. Announcements!
2. Thanks for being nice.
3. Norming your grading of prose timed writing: Looking at the 2008 prompt and a few sample essays
Mark the strengths and weaknesses of each essay in terms of...
Content: What is the author trying to accomplish, and what techniques is he/she using to accomplish it? Also, does the essay answer the prompt?
Organization: Do the body paragraphs have clear, distinct, yet related points? Are they logically organized? Is there a commanding thesis statement, and are there topic sentences and transitions to help the reader follow the essay's argument?
Style: Does the essay employ strong diction and syntax? Is there a sense of maturity and command?
4. Musical chairs editing of your timed writings from Friday!
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay (one week left...)
2. If you own your own copy of Hamlet, please bring it to class tomorrow.
1. Announcements!
2. Thanks for being nice.
3. Norming your grading of prose timed writing: Looking at the 2008 prompt and a few sample essays
Mark the strengths and weaknesses of each essay in terms of...
Content: What is the author trying to accomplish, and what techniques is he/she using to accomplish it? Also, does the essay answer the prompt?
Organization: Do the body paragraphs have clear, distinct, yet related points? Are they logically organized? Is there a commanding thesis statement, and are there topic sentences and transitions to help the reader follow the essay's argument?
Style: Does the essay employ strong diction and syntax? Is there a sense of maturity and command?
4. Musical chairs editing of your timed writings from Friday!
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay (one week left...)
2. If you own your own copy of Hamlet, please bring it to class tomorrow.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 11, 2013
Focus: Achieving harmony between the creative and analytical parts of your poetic mind
1. Announcements!
2. A few comforting facts about multiple choice...
3. Let's try out your creative side...ever written a sestina? Try it!
4. Now let's try out somebody else's sestina. Don't panic.
HW:
1. Post your big question blog for either Slaughterhouse-Five or Portrait of the Artist.
2. Continue working on your culminating essay; bring a laptop on Monday if possible.
1. Announcements!
2. A few comforting facts about multiple choice...
- If you get 50% of the multiple choice questions right and you get two 4's and a 5 on your essays, you would earn a 3 on the test.
- If you get 50% of the multiple choice questions right and you get two 6's and a 7 on your essays, you would earn a ____.
- If you get 60% of the multiple choice questions right and you get a 5 and two 6's on your essays, you would earn a ____.
- If you get 60% of the multiple choice questions right and you get all 7's on your essays, you would earn a ____.
3. Let's try out your creative side...ever written a sestina? Try it!
- Start with a little metacognitive writing: Think of a comforting moment in your childhood. Write about it.
- Pick out the six most essential words from that piece of writing.
- Try writing two stanzas of a sestina; don't be too hard on yourself--it's tough!
4. Now let's try out somebody else's sestina. Don't panic.
HW:
1. Post your big question blog for either Slaughterhouse-Five or Portrait of the Artist.
2. Continue working on your culminating essay; bring a laptop on Monday if possible.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 10, 2013
Focus: Building your strength and confidence with traditional poetry
1. Announcements! And snack?
2. Muscle building: Untangling tricky, good old-fashioned syntax! Also, can I get a vocab decipherer?
Hymn: A religious song or poem, typically of praise to God or a god
Adversity: Difficulties, misfortune
3. Applying your newly worked muscles to the ultimate task: Multiple choice questions
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay. Remember that we will be drafting on Monday, so please bring a laptop if you can.
2. If you are revising your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by the end of the month so I have time to regrade them. Remember to highlight your changes and type a brief explanation of what you revised and how it made your essay stronger.
1. Announcements! And snack?
2. Muscle building: Untangling tricky, good old-fashioned syntax! Also, can I get a vocab decipherer?
Hymn: A religious song or poem, typically of praise to God or a god
Adversity: Difficulties, misfortune
3. Applying your newly worked muscles to the ultimate task: Multiple choice questions
HW:
1. Continue working on your culminating essay. Remember that we will be drafting on Monday, so please bring a laptop if you can.
2. If you are revising your critical review or your poetry essay, please do so by the end of the month so I have time to regrade them. Remember to highlight your changes and type a brief explanation of what you revised and how it made your essay stronger.
Monday, April 8, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 8, 2013
Focus: Deconstructing and reconstructing the prose prompt
1. Announcements! And one big announcement from me... :)
2. Warm-up: Take at look at some prose prompts from recent years
Don't look at the first question! We'll come back to it in a moment.
What are the essential elements of each question?
What what would focus on if you were posing a questions for Question 1?
3. Forming your own prose questions with your book clubs
HW:
1. Please finalize your prose prompt; make sure all of your names are at the top and that your passage is included. SHARE THIS WITH ME TONIGHT (regardless of weather and basketball).
2. By the end of the week, post your big question blog on Slaughterhouse-5 and Portrait of the Artist.
3. Continue working on your culminating question, brainstorming, and essay. Next Monday will be a day for drafting and editing.
1. Announcements! And one big announcement from me... :)
2. Warm-up: Take at look at some prose prompts from recent years
Don't look at the first question! We'll come back to it in a moment.
What are the essential elements of each question?
What what would focus on if you were posing a questions for Question 1?
3. Forming your own prose questions with your book clubs
HW:
1. Please finalize your prose prompt; make sure all of your names are at the top and that your passage is included. SHARE THIS WITH ME TONIGHT (regardless of weather and basketball).
2. By the end of the week, post your big question blog on Slaughterhouse-5 and Portrait of the Artist.
3. Continue working on your culminating question, brainstorming, and essay. Next Monday will be a day for drafting and editing.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 5, 2013
Focus: Discussing the climax and falling action (and possibly resolution) of S-5 and Portrait
1. Announcements!
2. Offering you a list of open questions since the dawn of the A.P. Literature test to help you decipher the open prompt (Question #3) and form your culminating questions
3. Taking ten minutes to wrap up "Dialogue Between Soul and Body" (before you forget it)
4. Book club time!
A few things to consider, perhaps:
a. What was your novel's inciting incident (the incident at the beginning that got everything going)?
b. What do the main characters think they want?
c. What do they really want?
d. How do the characters change (evolve or devolve) throughout the book? What do the realize, and what helps them come to these realizations?
e. How do the opening pages reveal all of the book's central tensions?
f. How do the final pages "resolve" these tensions?
HW:
1. If you are finishing your book club book for Monday, please keep your syllabus relatively brief (15 minutes) so that you will have plenty of time to form your Tuesday writing question.
2. Please make sure that at least one person in your group has a laptop, but the more, the merrier.
1. Announcements!
2. Offering you a list of open questions since the dawn of the A.P. Literature test to help you decipher the open prompt (Question #3) and form your culminating questions
3. Taking ten minutes to wrap up "Dialogue Between Soul and Body" (before you forget it)
4. Book club time!
A few things to consider, perhaps:
a. What was your novel's inciting incident (the incident at the beginning that got everything going)?
b. What do the main characters think they want?
c. What do they really want?
d. How do the characters change (evolve or devolve) throughout the book? What do the realize, and what helps them come to these realizations?
e. How do the opening pages reveal all of the book's central tensions?
f. How do the final pages "resolve" these tensions?
HW:
1. If you are finishing your book club book for Monday, please keep your syllabus relatively brief (15 minutes) so that you will have plenty of time to form your Tuesday writing question.
2. Please make sure that at least one person in your group has a laptop, but the more, the merrier.
This Seat's Taken: A.P. Lit, April 4, 2013
Focus: Turning yourself into a poetry multiple choice ninja
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Back to that water lily...using the prompt to help you figure out the larger meaning
3. Performing a think-aloud with "A Dialogue Between Soul and Body"; responding to multiple choice questions with some of level of confidence
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading for tomorrow (this will be your last official syllabus).
2. Continue working on your culminating essay; if you conferenced with me before you composed your question and booklist, I will give you written feedback tomorrow. Feel free to stop back for a second conference if you need one.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Back to that water lily...using the prompt to help you figure out the larger meaning
3. Performing a think-aloud with "A Dialogue Between Soul and Body"; responding to multiple choice questions with some of level of confidence
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading for tomorrow (this will be your last official syllabus).
2. Continue working on your culminating essay; if you conferenced with me before you composed your question and booklist, I will give you written feedback tomorrow. Feel free to stop back for a second conference if you need one.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 3, 2013
Focus: Investigating the rising action and climax of S-5 and Portrait of the Artist...
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: A little help for my James Joyce fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0j34fmTzbk&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
3. Book clubs! Remember that your final meetings are today, Friday, and Monday, but Monday you will be spending most of your time creating your Tuesday writing question.
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading
2. Continue brainstorming and drafting your culminating essay.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: A little help for my James Joyce fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0j34fmTzbk&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
3. Book clubs! Remember that your final meetings are today, Friday, and Monday, but Monday you will be spending most of your time creating your Tuesday writing question.
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading
2. Continue brainstorming and drafting your culminating essay.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 2, 2013
Focus: Breaking out of "one-trick pony" mode with your poetry analysis
1. Announcements! PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY (too loud, too loud)
2. Don't be a one-trick pony! Expanding your poetry analysis horizons with Emily Manning and with "To Paint a Water Lily"
a. One-on-one time with Ted Hughes
b. The exponential thinking circle
c. Reading with your ears: Sound devices
d. Playing around with enjambment, verb tense, punctuation, and syntax
e. Finally, your comfort zone: Imagery and diction
3. The 2006 Form B Prompt:
Read the following poem carefully. Then write an essay discussing how the poet uses
literary techniques to reveal the speaker’s attitudes toward nature and the artist’s task.
Form a thesis and outline in response to the above prompt. Remember that you should have 2-4 body paragraphs, each with distinct yet related ideas (you're not actually going to write the body paragraphs; you're simply planning them).
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading
2. Continue working on your culminating essay by brainstorming ideas for any texts you might use
1. Announcements! PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY (too loud, too loud)
2. Don't be a one-trick pony! Expanding your poetry analysis horizons with Emily Manning and with "To Paint a Water Lily"
a. One-on-one time with Ted Hughes
b. The exponential thinking circle
c. Reading with your ears: Sound devices
d. Playing around with enjambment, verb tense, punctuation, and syntax
e. Finally, your comfort zone: Imagery and diction
3. The 2006 Form B Prompt:
Read the following poem carefully. Then write an essay discussing how the poet uses
literary techniques to reveal the speaker’s attitudes toward nature and the artist’s task.
Form a thesis and outline in response to the above prompt. Remember that you should have 2-4 body paragraphs, each with distinct yet related ideas (you're not actually going to write the body paragraphs; you're simply planning them).
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading
2. Continue working on your culminating essay by brainstorming ideas for any texts you might use
Monday, April 1, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, April 1, 2013
Focus: Delving into the rising conflicts of Slaughterhouse-Five and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
1. Announcements! Anybody going to college?
2. A quick overview of this week
3. Sharing two great Vonnegut videos for my S-5 book clubbers (and everybody else, too)\
How To Write a Short Story
War in Reverse: A Tribute to Kurt Vonnegut
4. Book clubs: Day 3!
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading for Wednesday.
2. Continue working on your culminating question by brainstorming ideas for each work you plan on discussing; start to outline the topics of your body paragraphs (most culminating essays have at least five body paragraphs).
3. Remember your conferences.
1. Announcements! Anybody going to college?
2. A quick overview of this week
3. Sharing two great Vonnegut videos for my S-5 book clubbers (and everybody else, too)\
How To Write a Short Story
War in Reverse: A Tribute to Kurt Vonnegut
4. Book clubs: Day 3!
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading for Wednesday.
2. Continue working on your culminating question by brainstorming ideas for each work you plan on discussing; start to outline the topics of your body paragraphs (most culminating essays have at least five body paragraphs).
3. Remember your conferences.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 22, 2013
Focus: Finding your footing in the unique worlds of Joyce and Vonnegut
1. Announcements!
2. Sharing your book club triumphs so far...
3. Enjoying book clubs: Day 2!
4. Please turn in your syllabus and scribing to Ms. Makovsky at the end of class.
HW:
1. Please e-mail/Google share a draft of your culminating essay question and booklist by Thursday of spring break.
2. Prepare for your next book club meeting after break.
3. Have a lovely, lovely spring break!
1. Announcements!
2. Sharing your book club triumphs so far...
3. Enjoying book clubs: Day 2!
4. Please turn in your syllabus and scribing to Ms. Makovsky at the end of class.
HW:
1. Please e-mail/Google share a draft of your culminating essay question and booklist by Thursday of spring break.
2. Prepare for your next book club meeting after break.
3. Have a lovely, lovely spring break!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 20, 2013
Focus: Entering the unique worlds of Portrait and Slaughterhouse
1. Announcements and snack!
2. Offering ideas on developing your culminating questions and booklists (I'll share my own trials, failures, triumphs, and tricks)
3. Quickly overviewing of the rest of this week and giving back your timed writings; please bring them with you to class tomorrow
4. Enjoying Book Clubs: Day 1!
HW:
1. Bring your timed writings with you to class tomorrow.
2. Prepare for your next book club meeting this Friday.
3. Start drafting your culminating essay question and booklist.
1. Announcements and snack!
2. Offering ideas on developing your culminating questions and booklists (I'll share my own trials, failures, triumphs, and tricks)
3. Quickly overviewing of the rest of this week and giving back your timed writings; please bring them with you to class tomorrow
4. Enjoying Book Clubs: Day 1!
HW:
1. Bring your timed writings with you to class tomorrow.
2. Prepare for your next book club meeting this Friday.
3. Start drafting your culminating essay question and booklist.
Monday, March 18, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 18, 2013
Focus: Reacquainting yourself with the sonnet and improving your timed writing skills
1. Announcements!
2. A few helpful sonnet hints from your old friend, Foster ("If It's Square, It's a Sonnet")
The "miracle" of the sonnet:
"The miracle of the sonnet, you see, is that it is fourteen lines long and written almost always in iambic pentameter...most lines are going to have ten syllables and the others will be very close to ten." (Foster 23)
Two units of meaning:
"A sonnet, in fact, we might think of as having two units of meaning, closely related, to be sure, but with a shift of some sort taking place between them. Those two content units correspond closely to the two parts into which the form typically breaks...most of them have two parts,one of eight lines and one of six lines...A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, tends to divide up by four: the first four lines (or quatrain), the next four, a third four, and the last four, which turn out to be only two (a couplet)." (Foster 24)
Remember the sentence:
"So the first question: how many sentences? Note that I'm not asking for lines, of which there are of course fourteen, but for sentences...Lines and stanzas are the necessities in poetry, but if the poem is any good, its basic unit of meaning is the sentence, just as in all other writing." (Foster 25-26)
3. Tuesday writing: Poetry
HW:
1. First book club meeting is tomorrow!
2. Start drafting your QUESTION AND BOOKLIST ONLY for your culminating essay; please e-mail it to me by Thursday of spring break.
1. Announcements!
2. A few helpful sonnet hints from your old friend, Foster ("If It's Square, It's a Sonnet")
The "miracle" of the sonnet:
"The miracle of the sonnet, you see, is that it is fourteen lines long and written almost always in iambic pentameter...most lines are going to have ten syllables and the others will be very close to ten." (Foster 23)
Two units of meaning:
"A sonnet, in fact, we might think of as having two units of meaning, closely related, to be sure, but with a shift of some sort taking place between them. Those two content units correspond closely to the two parts into which the form typically breaks...most of them have two parts,one of eight lines and one of six lines...A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, tends to divide up by four: the first four lines (or quatrain), the next four, a third four, and the last four, which turn out to be only two (a couplet)." (Foster 24)
Remember the sentence:
"So the first question: how many sentences? Note that I'm not asking for lines, of which there are of course fourteen, but for sentences...Lines and stanzas are the necessities in poetry, but if the poem is any good, its basic unit of meaning is the sentence, just as in all other writing." (Foster 25-26)
3. Tuesday writing: Poetry
HW:
1. First book club meeting is tomorrow!
2. Start drafting your QUESTION AND BOOKLIST ONLY for your culminating essay; please e-mail it to me by Thursday of spring break.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 18, 2013
Focus: Refining your big question into the start of something beautiful...the culminating essay
1. Announcements! Also, if you have not signed up for a conference, you currently have a zero in the gradebook because this assignment has been posted for a week. Remember that you cannot receive an A in the class if you have a zero in the gradebook, but if you fix it today, I will give you a 1 out of 2 instead of a 0.
2. Finishing poetry project presentations (Jesse and Kara)
3. Perusing culminating essays to gather ideas
4. Venturing to the C-22 computer lab to begin drafting our questions
HW:
1. Unless you want a permanent zero in the gradebook and to take yourself out of contention for an A in the class, sign up for a conference. This will be your last reminder.
2. Continue working on your formal question and book list for your culminating essay; DRAFT DUE FRIDAY VIA E-MAIL OR GOOGLE DOCS.
3. Book club reading and syllabus (first meeting is this Wednesday).
4. You will have a timed writing tomorrow; I would recommend rereading "If It's Square, It's a Sonnet" tonight in How To Read Literature Like a Professor to prepare yourself.
1. Announcements! Also, if you have not signed up for a conference, you currently have a zero in the gradebook because this assignment has been posted for a week. Remember that you cannot receive an A in the class if you have a zero in the gradebook, but if you fix it today, I will give you a 1 out of 2 instead of a 0.
2. Finishing poetry project presentations (Jesse and Kara)
3. Perusing culminating essays to gather ideas
4. Venturing to the C-22 computer lab to begin drafting our questions
HW:
1. Unless you want a permanent zero in the gradebook and to take yourself out of contention for an A in the class, sign up for a conference. This will be your last reminder.
2. Continue working on your formal question and book list for your culminating essay; DRAFT DUE FRIDAY VIA E-MAIL OR GOOGLE DOCS.
3. Book club reading and syllabus (first meeting is this Wednesday).
4. You will have a timed writing tomorrow; I would recommend rereading "If It's Square, It's a Sonnet" tonight in How To Read Literature Like a Professor to prepare yourself.
Friday, March 15, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 15, 2013
Focus: Enjoying new poetry via your peers' project presentations; putting the "Poe" back in "Poetry"
1. Announcements!
Ariel and Bailey--very sorry, but can we reschedule your conferences? An English 10 parent requested a meeting with me this Monday during 2nd hour.
2. Poetry project presentations
Jacob
Kyle, Ben, Zac, and Tanner
Bailey
Jesse
Kara
HW:
1. SIGN UP FOR A CONFERENCE ASAP BY CLICKING HERE.
2. Assigned book club reading, preparation, and syllabus.
3. Make sure your Big Question Blogs are up-to-date; we will be going over the culminating essay on Monday and starting to form our culminating questions.
1. Announcements!
Ariel and Bailey--very sorry, but can we reschedule your conferences? An English 10 parent requested a meeting with me this Monday during 2nd hour.
2. Poetry project presentations
Jacob
Kyle, Ben, Zac, and Tanner
Bailey
Jesse
Kara
HW:
1. SIGN UP FOR A CONFERENCE ASAP BY CLICKING HERE.
2. Assigned book club reading, preparation, and syllabus.
3. Make sure your Big Question Blogs are up-to-date; we will be going over the culminating essay on Monday and starting to form our culminating questions.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 12, 2013
Focus: Approaching poetry with a creative yet discerning eye
1. Reminder: Please sign up for a conference (see link on "I'm holding your essays hostage" blog)
2. Poetry project presentations and feedback
3. A poetry game: "Ruin the poem"
Your overall goal: To inflict the largest damage with the smallest stroke. (The Practice of Poetry)
Diction: Ruin each of the following lines from famous poems by changing one word and one word only. Take a stab at different parts of speech; for example, try changing a noun in the first line, a verb in the second, an adjective in the third, punctuation in the fourth, etc. With one word, your job is to change the entire sentiment of the line (not just to make it silly).
"Whose woods these are I think I know"
"I heard a Fly Buzz--when I died--"
"The proper study of mankind is Man."
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"
"Let us go then, you and I"
"so much depends / upon / a red wheel barrow"
Syntax: Ruin each line by changing the order of words and/or their punctuation only. Try your best not add, change, or delete any words. Again, remember that the idea is to change the meaning/sentiment of the line by altering its syntax; the line should make sense after you've changed, but it should make a different kind of sense than it originally did.
"I have eaten / the plums / that were in / the icebox"
"Do not go gentle into that good night"
"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear"
"What happens to a dream deferred?"
"i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)"
"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
HW:
1. Book club reading/preparation/syllabus.
2. Sign up for a conference.
3. If you're presenting Friday, work on your projects.
1. Reminder: Please sign up for a conference (see link on "I'm holding your essays hostage" blog)
2. Poetry project presentations and feedback
3. A poetry game: "Ruin the poem"
Your overall goal: To inflict the largest damage with the smallest stroke. (The Practice of Poetry)
Diction: Ruin each of the following lines from famous poems by changing one word and one word only. Take a stab at different parts of speech; for example, try changing a noun in the first line, a verb in the second, an adjective in the third, punctuation in the fourth, etc. With one word, your job is to change the entire sentiment of the line (not just to make it silly).
"Whose woods these are I think I know"
"I heard a Fly Buzz--when I died--"
"The proper study of mankind is Man."
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"
"Let us go then, you and I"
"so much depends / upon / a red wheel barrow"
Syntax: Ruin each line by changing the order of words and/or their punctuation only. Try your best not add, change, or delete any words. Again, remember that the idea is to change the meaning/sentiment of the line by altering its syntax; the line should make sense after you've changed, but it should make a different kind of sense than it originally did.
"I have eaten / the plums / that were in / the icebox"
"Do not go gentle into that good night"
"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear"
"What happens to a dream deferred?"
"i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)"
"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
HW:
1. Book club reading/preparation/syllabus.
2. Sign up for a conference.
3. If you're presenting Friday, work on your projects.
Monday, March 11, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 11, 2013
Focus: Enjoying our poetry project presentations and setting up specific book club dates
1. Announcements! Please turn in your poetry essays.
2. Poetry project presentations and feedback
3. Time to sit down with your book clubs and set up the reading and syllabus schedule; if time allows, set up book club expectations as well
HW: Continue working on your projects; start on your book club reading; sleep in and eat some pancakes. Sign up by Friday for a conference (see link on previous blog).
1. Announcements! Please turn in your poetry essays.
2. Poetry project presentations and feedback
3. Time to sit down with your book clubs and set up the reading and syllabus schedule; if time allows, set up book club expectations as well
Your book club dates:
Wednesday, March 20
Friday, March 22
Monday, April 1
Wednesday, April 3
Friday, April 5
Monday, April 8: BOOKS MUST BE FINISHED BY THIS DAY
HW: Continue working on your projects; start on your book club reading; sleep in and eat some pancakes. Sign up by Friday for a conference (see link on previous blog).
Thursday, March 7, 2013
I'M HOLDING YOUR ESSAYS HOSTAGE...MWA HA HA HA!
It's true, and if you want to see them alive again, you're going to have to hold a conference with me. Yes--I am FORCING YOU TO CONFERENCE WITH ME. This may be an abuse of power, but I've decided I'm okay with it.
At our one-on-one conference, we will discuss your Critical Review as well as your Big Question Blog. You will also receive a Literary Essay grade for your Big Question Blog at the time of your conference, so make sure it is up-to-date and ready to receive the attention it desperately deserves.
You may also bring anything else you wish to discuss, such as a Tuesday writing gone awry.
Please sign up for a conference by clicking HERE.
If you have no off hours that coincide with mine, fear not; simply e-mail me with your available times, and we will work something out (even if it means sitting with me at Whole Foods).
P.S. If you're curious about your Critical Review grade and just can't wait for your conference, you may view your grade on IC.
At our one-on-one conference, we will discuss your Critical Review as well as your Big Question Blog. You will also receive a Literary Essay grade for your Big Question Blog at the time of your conference, so make sure it is up-to-date and ready to receive the attention it desperately deserves.
You may also bring anything else you wish to discuss, such as a Tuesday writing gone awry.
Please sign up for a conference by clicking HERE.
If you have no off hours that coincide with mine, fear not; simply e-mail me with your available times, and we will work something out (even if it means sitting with me at Whole Foods).
P.S. If you're curious about your Critical Review grade and just can't wait for your conference, you may view your grade on IC.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 7, 2013
Focus: Knocking down writer's block and getting into our poetry papers and projects
1. Announcements and signing up for project presentations!
2. Warm-up: A few reminders
If you are doing the PAPER....
If you are doing the PROJECT...
1. Announcements and signing up for project presentations!
2. Warm-up: A few reminders
If you are doing the PAPER....
- Please follow the paper guidelines and sample essays posted above the Google calendar.
- Follow MLA guidelines (heading, page number and last name on every page, double spacing, in-text citations, original title, etc.).
- Try using Writing Reviser for sentence variety and word choice. It's still linked to our website.
- Attach a hard copy of your poem to your paper.
- Include a Works Cited page.
If you are doing the PROJECT...
- Begin your presentation with a polished reading of your poem.
- Turn in a hard copy of your poem today so that I can make copies.
- Finish your rubric by the day of your presentation and turn it in to me at the beginning of class.
- If your project can be shared with me via Google/e-mail/a copy of the DVD for me to keep, please do so.
- Remember that the process of creating this project can be part of the presentation as well.
- Make sure that part of your project is devoted to the poetic devices your poet uses to achieve a larger effect; this can be an implicit or explicit part of your presentation.
3. Time for working on papers and projects; if you are a project person, start by creating your rubric. See the template on the website.
HW:
1. Please turn in your paper on Monday and be prepared to present your project on your assigned date. Remember that even if you are absent on Monday, your paper still needs to get to me on Monday in order to be considered on time.
2. Bring your book club book so that we can solidify reading assignments and expectations on Monday.
2. Bring your book club book so that we can solidify reading assignments and expectations on Monday.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 6, 2013
Focus: Meshing the warm world of slam poetry with cold world of multiple choice poetry
1. Announcements!
2. Your take-aways from Kyle...what is the task of a poet?
3. Taking on "The Eolian Harp" with our old strategies and one new one ... it's a toughie! (and yes, we're going to make it a contest with rewards from the Leclaire menu just to keep it interesting)
HW:
1. Bring in any materials for your poetry project or paper (including your own laptop). Tomorrow will be a work day.
2. Also, PROJECT PEOPLE: BRING IN A HARD COPY OF YOUR POEM TOMORROW so that I can turn it in to the copy room.
1. Announcements!
2. Your take-aways from Kyle...what is the task of a poet?
3. Taking on "The Eolian Harp" with our old strategies and one new one ... it's a toughie! (and yes, we're going to make it a contest with rewards from the Leclaire menu just to keep it interesting)
HW:
1. Bring in any materials for your poetry project or paper (including your own laptop). Tomorrow will be a work day.
2. Also, PROJECT PEOPLE: BRING IN A HARD COPY OF YOUR POEM TOMORROW so that I can turn it in to the copy room.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 4, 2013
Focus: Art or war? Forming your book clubs
1. Announcements! Please turn in your poetry project proposals.
Also, an important announcement about parent-teacher conferences and a request for your parents' e-mails
3. Quickly recapping Rivers and Tides: What is an artist? A few ideas for your projects and papers.
4. Overviewing Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Slaughterhouse-Five, taking the time to peruse each, and starting to establish your groups
The book club basics:
HW:
1. Please fill out the Google form linked HERE.
2. Continue working on your poetry projects and papers, which are due in exactly one week.
3. Resolve your Joyce vs. Vonnegut dilemma by Wednesday.
1. Announcements! Please turn in your poetry project proposals.
Also, an important announcement about parent-teacher conferences and a request for your parents' e-mails
3. Quickly recapping Rivers and Tides: What is an artist? A few ideas for your projects and papers.
4. Overviewing Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Slaughterhouse-Five, taking the time to peruse each, and starting to establish your groups
The book club basics:
- Select your groups based on which book you actually want to read, not what your friends are doing.
- Group size must be between 3 and 5 (no fewer than 3, no greater than 5).
- You will meet with your group 5 or 6 times; section the reading as you see fit.
- You must finish your book by April 8 at the latest.
- Your group will turn in a structured syllabus for each meeting (however, remember that you can still be as creative as you please). I will bring in examples.
- NO DRAMA NO DRAMA NO DRAMA NO DRAMA.
HW:
1. Please fill out the Google form linked HERE.
2. Continue working on your poetry projects and papers, which are due in exactly one week.
3. Resolve your Joyce vs. Vonnegut dilemma by Wednesday.
Friday, March 1, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, March 1, 2013
Happy March, everybody! If you have not yet taken the Beloved timed writing, please do so during class today.
Focus: What does it mean to be an artist?
1. Announcements! Impressions of Andy Goldsworthy so far?
2. Warm-up: Recapping the poetry project and the poetry paper
3. Relaxing into the art of Andy Goldsworthy with Rivers and Tides
HW:
1. Poetry project proposals due this Monday. Poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Work on your projects and papers...there's only a little over a week left. Wow! Bring your materials to class next Thursday for paper/project work time.
3. IF YOU WERE ABSENT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, please watch Rivers and Tides on your own. Here is a link to the free, full-length film: Rivers and Tides
Focus: What does it mean to be an artist?
1. Announcements! Impressions of Andy Goldsworthy so far?
2. Warm-up: Recapping the poetry project and the poetry paper
3. Relaxing into the art of Andy Goldsworthy with Rivers and Tides
As you watch, consider the following question: What does it mean to be an artist?
HW:
1. Poetry project proposals due this Monday. Poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Work on your projects and papers...there's only a little over a week left. Wow! Bring your materials to class next Thursday for paper/project work time.
3. IF YOU WERE ABSENT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, please watch Rivers and Tides on your own. Here is a link to the free, full-length film: Rivers and Tides
Thursday, February 28, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 28, 2013
Focus: Getting into a poetic state of mind with Rivers and Tides
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Shaking hands with the place...exploring a few soundbytes from Andy Goldsworthy and establishing purpose
3. Viewing Rivers and Tides
HW:
1. Complete your poetry project proposal by Monday. Poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Use this rare, novel-free time to work on your projects and papers. The deadline is only two weeks away! Yikes!
3. On the horizon: You will soon be asked to decide between reading Slaughterhouse-Five and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Shaking hands with the place...exploring a few soundbytes from Andy Goldsworthy and establishing purpose
3. Viewing Rivers and Tides
HW:
1. Complete your poetry project proposal by Monday. Poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Use this rare, novel-free time to work on your projects and papers. The deadline is only two weeks away! Yikes!
3. On the horizon: You will soon be asked to decide between reading Slaughterhouse-Five and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 27, 2013
Focus: Revising your timed writings
1. Announcements! Please turn in your Beloved books.
2. Warm-up: Connect the dots
Green = Something you like
Yellow = Something you're slightly iffy about
Red = Something that you need to change
3. Musical chairs editing of yesterday's timed writings:
a. Content (thesis, specific examples, close readings, analysis of the work as a whole)
b. Logical, compelling organization (thesis, topic sentences, transitions, order of body paragraphs)
c. Style (diction, syntax, overall "command")
HW:
1. Poetry project proposal is due Monday (link is above website calendar); poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Projects and papers are due the Monday of TCAP week, which is not so far away....this is one of those very, very few times in AP Lit when you're not reading a novel, so take advantage and get started!
1. Announcements! Please turn in your Beloved books.
2. Warm-up: Connect the dots
Green = Something you like
Yellow = Something you're slightly iffy about
Red = Something that you need to change
3. Musical chairs editing of yesterday's timed writings:
a. Content (thesis, specific examples, close readings, analysis of the work as a whole)
b. Logical, compelling organization (thesis, topic sentences, transitions, order of body paragraphs)
c. Style (diction, syntax, overall "command")
HW:
1. Poetry project proposal is due Monday (link is above website calendar); poetry paper outlines are optional.
2. Projects and papers are due the Monday of TCAP week, which is not so far away....this is one of those very, very few times in AP Lit when you're not reading a novel, so take advantage and get started!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 26, 2013
Focus: Synthesizing larger, complex meanings in Beloved
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Try finishing some or all the following statements...
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Try finishing some or all the following statements...
- Beloved (the character) is ___________________, but she/it is also __________________.
- 124 is ______________________, but it is also ______________________.
- In Beloved, the past is ____________________, but it is also ____________________.
- Sethe thinks she wants ___________________, but what she really wants is _________________.
- The final pages of Beloved suggest ____________________, but they also __________________.
3. Tuesday Writing #4: Beloved
HW:
1. Make sure your big question blog on Beloved is finished. Turn in your Beloved books tomorrow.
2. Check on your grades. Except for the Critical Review, they are up to date. Overall grades in progress will be posted this Friday, so make sure any missing work has been turned in.
3. If you are doing the poetry project, your proposal is due next Monday. If you are working on the poetry paper, you may turn in an outline for feedback, but it is not required.
Monday, February 25, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 25, 2013
Focus: Analyzing the climax, resolution, and structure of Beloved
1. Announcements! Return timed writings (2 sets) and collect metacognitive writings
2. Warm-up: Revisiting the first and final page of Beloved
a. How do the first pages set up all of the novel's central tensions/problems?
b. How do the final pages respond to/resolve these tensions/problems?
3. Final Socratic seminar: The ending of Beloved
HW: Compose your big question entry for Beloved.
1. Announcements! Return timed writings (2 sets) and collect metacognitive writings
2. Warm-up: Revisiting the first and final page of Beloved
a. How do the first pages set up all of the novel's central tensions/problems?
b. How do the final pages respond to/resolve these tensions/problems?
3. Final Socratic seminar: The ending of Beloved
HW: Compose your big question entry for Beloved.
Friday, February 22, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 22, 2013
Focus: Interpreting the stream-of-consciousness voices of Beloved
1. Announcements! And a challenging literature crossword for your enjoyment...
2. Warm-up: Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 are told from the stream-of-consciousness perspectives of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved.
If you have a spade, you will be Sethe in this exercise. You will be using Chapter 2.
If you have a club, you will be Denver. You will be using Chapter 3.
If you have a heart, you will be Beloved. You will be using Chapter 4.
If you have a diamond, you will be Beloved. You will be using Chapter 5.
a. Sit in groups of 3 or 4 with each of you representing a different chapter. Sit with your backs to each other.
b. Through a blend of prose and poetry, you will bring synthesize the voices of these characters by writing a line from your chapter that you find significant and passing it to another "character" in your group.
c. That "character" will then find a meaningful response or question from his/her assigned chapter, write it down, and pass it to whichever "character" he or she wants to.
d. Continue passing the sheet of paper until it's mostly full, and be prepared to read it aloud.
As you listen to other groups share their poems, what do you notice about the voices of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved, and what do you notice about the complex dynamics of their relationships?
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Part 2, Chapters 1-5
HW:
1. Finish reading Beloved to prepare for our final Socratic seminar on Monday. Please complete your timeline as well.
2. If you have not yet turned in your metacognitive, please do so on Monday. Be sure to include a hard copy of your poem as well.
1. Announcements! And a challenging literature crossword for your enjoyment...
2. Warm-up: Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 are told from the stream-of-consciousness perspectives of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved.
If you have a spade, you will be Sethe in this exercise. You will be using Chapter 2.
If you have a club, you will be Denver. You will be using Chapter 3.
If you have a heart, you will be Beloved. You will be using Chapter 4.
If you have a diamond, you will be Beloved. You will be using Chapter 5.
a. Sit in groups of 3 or 4 with each of you representing a different chapter. Sit with your backs to each other.
b. Through a blend of prose and poetry, you will bring synthesize the voices of these characters by writing a line from your chapter that you find significant and passing it to another "character" in your group.
c. That "character" will then find a meaningful response or question from his/her assigned chapter, write it down, and pass it to whichever "character" he or she wants to.
d. Continue passing the sheet of paper until it's mostly full, and be prepared to read it aloud.
As you listen to other groups share their poems, what do you notice about the voices of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved, and what do you notice about the complex dynamics of their relationships?
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Part 2, Chapters 1-5
HW:
1. Finish reading Beloved to prepare for our final Socratic seminar on Monday. Please complete your timeline as well.
2. If you have not yet turned in your metacognitive, please do so on Monday. Be sure to include a hard copy of your poem as well.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 21, 2013
Focus: Taking the first, metacognitive step towards understanding your poem
1. Announcements! Take a look at the sample poetry collections I brought in for you.
2. Warm-up: Reacquaint yourself with the overview and examples of metacognitive writings
A few reminders:
3. Time to metacognate!
HW:
1. Prepare for tomorrow's Socratic seminar on Beloved and continue working on your timeline.
2. If you don't have the collection for your poem, make sure to get your hands on it ASAP. See me if you need help.
1. Announcements! Take a look at the sample poetry collections I brought in for you.
2. Warm-up: Reacquaint yourself with the overview and examples of metacognitive writings
A few reminders:
- You should be referencing (directly quoting) the poem constantly.
- The writing should be a journey, meaning you want to end in a better place than you started. In the second half your writing, try moving from questions to possible conclusions.
- This will count as one of your Tuesday writings.
3. Time to metacognate!
HW:
1. Prepare for tomorrow's Socratic seminar on Beloved and continue working on your timeline.
2. If you don't have the collection for your poem, make sure to get your hands on it ASAP. See me if you need help.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 20, 2013
Focus: Putting together Beloved's fragmented pieces of narrative
1. Announcements! And a throwback literary crossword for your enjoyment...
2. Wrapping up yesterday's poetry activity
Select ONE of yesterday's poems and brainstorm how reading the other James Wright poems has shed a little light on the poem you have selected. In other words, how does the poem open up a little when you read it as part of a collection? A few sentences will suffice.
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 16-through Part 2, 1st half of Chapter 1
HW:
1. Finalize your poem for your project/paper; make sure you have an easily accessible copy of it for tomorrow's metacognitive writing. We will meet in the library computer lab tomorrow.
2. Start preparing for Friday's Socratic on Beloved, which will cover the 2nd half of Chapter 1 through Chapter 5 in Part 2. Continue working on your timeline, which will be due when you finish Part 2.
1. Announcements! And a throwback literary crossword for your enjoyment...
2. Wrapping up yesterday's poetry activity
Select ONE of yesterday's poems and brainstorm how reading the other James Wright poems has shed a little light on the poem you have selected. In other words, how does the poem open up a little when you read it as part of a collection? A few sentences will suffice.
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 16-through Part 2, 1st half of Chapter 1
HW:
1. Finalize your poem for your project/paper; make sure you have an easily accessible copy of it for tomorrow's metacognitive writing. We will meet in the library computer lab tomorrow.
2. Start preparing for Friday's Socratic on Beloved, which will cover the 2nd half of Chapter 1 through Chapter 5 in Part 2. Continue working on your timeline, which will be due when you finish Part 2.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 19, 2013
Ever wonder who's really grading all of your essays?
 |
| Here he is grading the good essays... |
 |
| And here he is grading the not-so-good essays... |
He says he apologizes for the slow turn-around time, but he is still trying to learn the alphabet. English is tricky!
Focus: Indulging in a collection of poetry
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: A little poetic inspiration from Mr. Keating
3. Using the MMMM approach to understand a James Wright poetry collection
Please mark up each poem as you read it. Small groups will discuss each poem "save the last line" style.
"Autumn Begins..." : Moments
"A Blessing": Moments and Movement
"Redwings": Moments, Movement, and Multiple Meanings
"Lying in a Hammock...": Moments, Movement, and Multiple Meanings
Moment: Which moments in each stanza make you pause and why? After marking them based on intuition, unravel which devices are subtly at work, commanding your attention.
Movement: Where does there seem to be movement/shifts? Lack of movement? Repetition?
Multiple Meanings: Try to find a pattern among the moments and movements you have discussed. Right now, your thoughts may largely be taking on the form of questions.
Large group discussion: How do reading these poems together offer a new meaning to any/all of the poems? In other words, how do these poems collectively tell a story?
HW:
1.Prepare for tomorrow's Socratic seminar, which will cover the first half of Ch 1 in Part 2. For your reading ticket, which you're not going to turn in until the end of Part 2, I'd like you to put together a timeline in which you figure out the exact chronology of events as they actually happened (NOT the order in which Morrison presents them).
2. You need to have "finalized" your poem for your project/paper by Thursday; remember that you need a poem that's part of a collection by the author. We will meet in the library computer lab this Thursday for our metacognitive writing on the poem.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 14, 2013
Focus: Workshopping your Tuesday writings on "The Century Quilt"
1. Announcements (and a little poetry check)
2. Circle discussion of "The Century Quilt"--what unlocked this poem for you?
3. Perusal of the official rubric and sample essays
4. A different (and slightly braver) style of editing: Putting your essay out there for the large group
HW:
1. Start deciding on what collection of poetry you'd like to read for your project/paper. You will need to finalize your choice by Thursday, Feb 21, which is when we will be composing the metacognitive.
2. Prepare for our next Socratic seminar on February 20, which will cover the first half of Ch 1 in Part 2. For your reading ticket, which you're not going to turn in until the end of Part 2, I'd like you to put together a timeline in which you figure out the exact chronology of events as they actually happened (NOT the order in which Morrison presents them).
1. Announcements (and a little poetry check)
2. Circle discussion of "The Century Quilt"--what unlocked this poem for you?
3. Perusal of the official rubric and sample essays
4. A different (and slightly braver) style of editing: Putting your essay out there for the large group
Content (specific strengths and weaknesses)
Organization (try to outline as your listening)
Style (commanding choices and moments of writing immaturity)
HW:
1. Start deciding on what collection of poetry you'd like to read for your project/paper. You will need to finalize your choice by Thursday, Feb 21, which is when we will be composing the metacognitive.
2. Prepare for our next Socratic seminar on February 20, which will cover the first half of Ch 1 in Part 2. For your reading ticket, which you're not going to turn in until the end of Part 2, I'd like you to put together a timeline in which you figure out the exact chronology of events as they actually happened (NOT the order in which Morrison presents them).
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 13, 2013
Focus: Interpreting relationship dynamics in Beloved
1. Announcements and snack!
2. An extra twist for your next poetry paper/project: Examining a collection of poetry by a single poet
3. Warm-up: A mini lesson on magical realism
4. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 13-15
HW:
1. Prepare for next Tuesday's Socratic seminar
2. Start thinking about a collection of poetry to read for your poetry paper/project.
1. Announcements and snack!
2. An extra twist for your next poetry paper/project: Examining a collection of poetry by a single poet
3. Warm-up: A mini lesson on magical realism
4. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 13-15
HW:
1. Prepare for next Tuesday's Socratic seminar
2. Start thinking about a collection of poetry to read for your poetry paper/project.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 12, 2013
Focus: Strengthening your skills as an interpreter of poetry and a timed writer
1. Announcements!
2. Surprise: A collaborative timed writing
HW:
Prepare for tomorrow's Socratic seminar on Beloved, chapters 13-15. For your reading ticket, select one paragraph and perform a close reading of it, examining not only imagery and diction but also syntax, sound devices, tone, metaphorical language, and any other elements you find useful.
1. Announcements!
2. Surprise: A collaborative timed writing
Try to incorporate the three elements mentioned in the prompt (structure, imagery, and tone) as well as at least ONE sound device (euphony, cacophony, alliteration, rhyme, etc.). Feel free to use any packets of poetry terms you have lying around.
HW:
Prepare for tomorrow's Socratic seminar on Beloved, chapters 13-15. For your reading ticket, select one paragraph and perform a close reading of it, examining not only imagery and diction but also syntax, sound devices, tone, metaphorical language, and any other elements you find useful.
Monday, February 11, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 11, 2013
Focus: Investigating Beloved's assault on/seduction of/rape of Paul D
1. Announcements!
2. Watching an interview with Toni Morrison: What does she reveal that sheds light on your reading on Beloved?
3. Investigating how the opening and closing lines of the first twelve chapters prepare us for the "red heart" scene
4. Socratic seminar: Chapters 9-12 of Beloved
HW:
1. Work on your critical review. Just kidding! You're already done!
2. Begin reading for Wednesday's Socratic seminar, which will cover chapters 13-15.
1. Announcements!
2. Watching an interview with Toni Morrison: What does she reveal that sheds light on your reading on Beloved?
3. Investigating how the opening and closing lines of the first twelve chapters prepare us for the "red heart" scene
4. Socratic seminar: Chapters 9-12 of Beloved
HW:
1. Work on your critical review. Just kidding! You're already done!
2. Begin reading for Wednesday's Socratic seminar, which will cover chapters 13-15.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 8, 2013
Focus: Approaching Beloved like a poet
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Tell a secret
Sample secret: Before I met you, I once burned with love for someone else. I kind of still do.
Sample poem
3. Poetically reshaping and reinterpreting Morrison's words and phrases
4. Time to start reading chapters 9-12, hopefully
HW:
Read chapters 9-12 for Monday's Socratic; for your reading ticket, I'd like you to imitate what we did in class today by gather phrases and words and reshaping/reinterpreting them by using them to compose a poem, a prose paragraph, a dramatic script, or a letter.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Tell a secret
Sample secret: Before I met you, I once burned with love for someone else. I kind of still do.
Sample poem
3. Poetically reshaping and reinterpreting Morrison's words and phrases
4. Time to start reading chapters 9-12, hopefully
HW:
Read chapters 9-12 for Monday's Socratic; for your reading ticket, I'd like you to imitate what we did in class today by gather phrases and words and reshaping/reinterpreting them by using them to compose a poem, a prose paragraph, a dramatic script, or a letter.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 7, 2013
Focus: For what purpose does Morrison "mark" her characters in Beloved?
1. Announcements!
2. Warming up with your old friend, How To Read Literature Like a Professor
"Marked for Greatness"
"Sameness doesn't present us with metaphorical possibilities, whereas difference--form the average, the typical, the expected--is always rich with possibility" (Foster 194).
"These character markings stand as indicators of the damage life inflicts...illustrating the way life marks all who pass through it" (Foster 195).
"...more often than not physical markings by their very nature call attention to themselves and signify some psychological or thematic point the writer wants to make. After all, it's easier to introduce characters without imperfections" (Foster 200).
"Nice To Eat You: Acts of Vampires"
"...[Vampirism] is about things other than literal vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, a refusal to respect the autonomy of other people" (Foster 16)
"In those works that continue to haunt us, however, the figure of the cannibal, the vampire, the succubus, the spook announces itself again and again where someone grows in strength by weakening someone else" (Foster 21).
Vampires often reveal..."the consuming spirit," "psychosocial imbalance," and "the way society...battens on and consumes its victims" (Foster 20).
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, chapters 6-8
HW:
1. Your critical review essays are due tomorrow. Please refer to yesterday's blog for editing help.
2. Please bring your Beloved books to class tomorrow.
1. Announcements!
2. Warming up with your old friend, How To Read Literature Like a Professor
"Marked for Greatness"
"Sameness doesn't present us with metaphorical possibilities, whereas difference--form the average, the typical, the expected--is always rich with possibility" (Foster 194).
"These character markings stand as indicators of the damage life inflicts...illustrating the way life marks all who pass through it" (Foster 195).
"...more often than not physical markings by their very nature call attention to themselves and signify some psychological or thematic point the writer wants to make. After all, it's easier to introduce characters without imperfections" (Foster 200).
"Nice To Eat You: Acts of Vampires"
"...[Vampirism] is about things other than literal vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, a refusal to respect the autonomy of other people" (Foster 16)
"In those works that continue to haunt us, however, the figure of the cannibal, the vampire, the succubus, the spook announces itself again and again where someone grows in strength by weakening someone else" (Foster 21).
Vampires often reveal..."the consuming spirit," "psychosocial imbalance," and "the way society...battens on and consumes its victims" (Foster 20).
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, chapters 6-8
HW:
1. Your critical review essays are due tomorrow. Please refer to yesterday's blog for editing help.
2. Please bring your Beloved books to class tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 6, 2013
Focus: Strengthening your writing style and voice through the critical review
1. Announcements!
2. Quick warm-up: How little choices can have a big impact...
"It's my pleasure" vs. "You're welcome"
Morrison sweeps up her readers in a state of tortured yet meaningful confusion.
vs.
Morrison neglects her readers in a state of tortured and insubstantial confusion.
3. Editing the critical review
Please click on the "Writing Reviser" link using FIREFOX, and I will walk you through how to use this tool to edit for active voice, diction, and syntax.
Proofreading checklist:
1. Announcements!
2. Quick warm-up: How little choices can have a big impact...
"It's my pleasure" vs. "You're welcome"
Morrison sweeps up her readers in a state of tortured yet meaningful confusion.
vs.
Morrison neglects her readers in a state of tortured and insubstantial confusion.
3. Editing the critical review
- Do the opening paragraph and the plot summary clearly and powerfully convey the tone and purpose of the review? If not, suggest places where the writer can clarify and strengthen the tone.
- Do the opening paragraph and plot summary clearly establish the novel's genre, year of publication, structure, and other basic information?
- Do the body paragraphs evaluate the author's craft as effective or ineffective?
- Do the body paragraphs focus on specific elements of the author's craft, such as characterization, setting, symbols, motifs, and themes?
- Remember that the focus here is on how the author effectively or ineffectively creates compelling characters, significant setting, etc.; this differs from straightforward literary analysis.
- Do the body paragraphs justify the writer's claims by bringing in specific examples/quotations?
- Does the closing paragraph drive home the writer's evaluation of this novel?
- Some possibilities for the conclusion: Possible audiences for this book, your projected future for this book, a comparison/contrast to other books by this author...
Please click on the "Writing Reviser" link using FIREFOX, and I will walk you through how to use this tool to edit for active voice, diction, and syntax.
Proofreading checklist:
MLA
heading and title
12 point
font, double spacing, margins, etc.
Headers
on each page (Walker 2)
Quotation
citations (Morrison 28)
Italicized
titles
Properly
spelled author and character names
Formal
punctuation
Omitted words
Works Cited
HW:
1. Final draft of critical review is due Friday.
2. Next Beloved Socratic seminar is tomorrow; reading ticket is on imagery.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 5, 2013
Focus: Empowering your responses to Question #3 on the A.P. exam
1. Announcements!
2. Making a concise, student-friendly rubric: In a word, a 9 is..., an 8 is..., a 7 is.... (etc)
3. "Thursday" workshop for your Tuesday writing on The Stranger:
a. Perusing the real 2004 rubric
b. Playing everybody's favorite game....which is the 5, and which is the 7? Examining two sample essays
c. Musical chairs editing for content, organization, and style
HW:
1. Bring an electronic or hard copy of your critical review essay to class tomorrow for editing. We will be meeting in the library computer lab tomorrow.
2. Keep reading Beloved (next Socratic is on Thursday). Your reading ticket needs to be centered on specific imagery, but the format is entirely up to you. Feel free to be creative!
1. Announcements!
2. Making a concise, student-friendly rubric: In a word, a 9 is..., an 8 is..., a 7 is.... (etc)
3. "Thursday" workshop for your Tuesday writing on The Stranger:
a. Perusing the real 2004 rubric
b. Playing everybody's favorite game....which is the 5, and which is the 7? Examining two sample essays
c. Musical chairs editing for content, organization, and style
HW:
1. Bring an electronic or hard copy of your critical review essay to class tomorrow for editing. We will be meeting in the library computer lab tomorrow.
2. Keep reading Beloved (next Socratic is on Thursday). Your reading ticket needs to be centered on specific imagery, but the format is entirely up to you. Feel free to be creative!
Friday, February 1, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 4, 2013
Focus: Analyzing the characters of Beloved
1. Announcements! Anybody else going to college? Cake for the winners!
2. Quick character focus groups:
What does this character think he/she/it wants?
What is pulling this character apart? In other words, what internal conflicts does this character face?
What does this character really want?
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 3-5
A reminder of Socratic seminar expectations:
1. You must have your book, and you should be referencing it frequently.
2. If you are sitting out, you need to be using your time productively for AP Lit (reading, scribing, keeping a conversation chart, etc).
3. You should be participating in the vast majority of seminars; at most, you should only be missing one or two per novel.
4. You should be engaged in the conversation by looking at the person speaking, perusing your book for important passages, and/or jotting down notes.
HW:
1. Continue working on your critical review essay; we will edit on Wednesday (final drafts due Friday).
2. Start reading Chapters 6, 7, and 8 for Thursday's Socratic; for your reading ticket, please focus on significant imagery in these chapters. The format of the reading ticket is up to you.
1. Announcements! Anybody else going to college? Cake for the winners!
2. Quick character focus groups:
What does this character think he/she/it wants?
What is pulling this character apart? In other words, what internal conflicts does this character face?
What does this character really want?
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 3-5
A reminder of Socratic seminar expectations:
1. You must have your book, and you should be referencing it frequently.
2. If you are sitting out, you need to be using your time productively for AP Lit (reading, scribing, keeping a conversation chart, etc).
3. You should be participating in the vast majority of seminars; at most, you should only be missing one or two per novel.
4. You should be engaged in the conversation by looking at the person speaking, perusing your book for important passages, and/or jotting down notes.
HW:
1. Continue working on your critical review essay; we will edit on Wednesday (final drafts due Friday).
2. Start reading Chapters 6, 7, and 8 for Thursday's Socratic; for your reading ticket, please focus on significant imagery in these chapters. The format of the reading ticket is up to you.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, February 1, 2013
Focus: What do the opening scenes of Beloved reveal to us? What do they conceal?
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Finding patterns in each other's Beloved metacognitives by creating handmade Wordles
3. Socratic Seminar: Beloved, Chapters 1 and 2
HW:
1. Complete a draft of your critical review essay by Wednesday.
2. Read Beloved, Chapters 3, 4, and 5 for Monday's Socratic seminar; for your reading ticket, please focus on ONE character (you may include the house as a character). Type three passages that reveal something about that character, and then type three questions you have about this character. Leave plenty of space in between each passage and question.
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: Finding patterns in each other's Beloved metacognitives by creating handmade Wordles
3. Socratic Seminar: Beloved, Chapters 1 and 2
HW:
1. Complete a draft of your critical review essay by Wednesday.
2. Read Beloved, Chapters 3, 4, and 5 for Monday's Socratic seminar; for your reading ticket, please focus on ONE character (you may include the house as a character). Type three passages that reveal something about that character, and then type three questions you have about this character. Leave plenty of space in between each passage and question.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, January 31, 2013
Focus: Experiencing the background of Beloved
1. Announcements!
2. Reacting to the haunting images and words about slavery
3. Venturing into the first chapter together...with plenty of questions
HW:
1. Finish reading Chapters 1 and 2 of Beloved for tomorrow's Socratic seminar; your reading ticket should be a metacognitive writing on one page from the first two chapters (typing is preferred).
2. Put together a draft (at least a partial one) of your critical review by next Wednesday for editing.
1. Announcements!
2. Reacting to the haunting images and words about slavery
3. Venturing into the first chapter together...with plenty of questions
HW:
1. Finish reading Chapters 1 and 2 of Beloved for tomorrow's Socratic seminar; your reading ticket should be a metacognitive writing on one page from the first two chapters (typing is preferred).
2. Put together a draft (at least a partial one) of your critical review by next Wednesday for editing.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, January 30, 2013
Focus: Getting "the big picture" of AP Literature
PLC: Shortened Class
1. Announcements and snack!
2. Distributing Beloved books and perusing the reading/seminar schedule:
Friday, Feb 1: Chapters 1 and 2
Monday, Feb 4: Chapters 3, 4, and 5
Thursday, Feb 7: Chapters 6, 7, and 8
Monday, Feb 11: Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12
Wednesday, Feb 13: Chapters 13, 14, and 15
Wednesday, Feb 20: Through Part 2, first half of Chapter 1
Friday, Feb 22: Through Part 2, Chapter 5
Monday, Feb 25: Through the ending
3. Listening to a few words from the wise: A short lecture from an actual A.P. reader
4. Enjoying a visit from the counselor to discuss the AP test with you!
HW:
1. Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Beloved for this Friday's Socratic. Do NOT read the Forward.
2. For your reading ticket, please select one page from the first two chapters of Beloved and perform a metacognitive writing on it. Typing is strongly preferred.
3. Continue outlining/drafting your critical review essay; CHANGE: we will no meet in the C-22 lab NEXT WEDNESDAY to edit.
PLC: Shortened Class
1. Announcements and snack!
2. Distributing Beloved books and perusing the reading/seminar schedule:
Friday, Feb 1: Chapters 1 and 2
Monday, Feb 4: Chapters 3, 4, and 5
Thursday, Feb 7: Chapters 6, 7, and 8
Monday, Feb 11: Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12
Wednesday, Feb 13: Chapters 13, 14, and 15
Wednesday, Feb 20: Through Part 2, first half of Chapter 1
Friday, Feb 22: Through Part 2, Chapter 5
Monday, Feb 25: Through the ending
3. Listening to a few words from the wise: A short lecture from an actual A.P. reader
4. Enjoying a visit from the counselor to discuss the AP test with you!
HW:
1. Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Beloved for this Friday's Socratic. Do NOT read the Forward.
2. For your reading ticket, please select one page from the first two chapters of Beloved and perform a metacognitive writing on it. Typing is strongly preferred.
3. Continue outlining/drafting your critical review essay; CHANGE: we will no meet in the C-22 lab NEXT WEDNESDAY to edit.
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, January 29, 2013
Focus: Strengthening your timed writing skills and analyzing The Stranger
1. Announcements!
2. Thinking about novels from the writer's perspective (I'm letting you in on the secret):
3. Tuesday writing: The Stranger
HW: Start working on the draft of your essay; bring in at least an outline on Friday (as well as any actual paragraphs you have drafted), and we will meet in the C-22 lab to draft and edit.
1. Announcements!
2. Thinking about novels from the writer's perspective (I'm letting you in on the secret):
What tensions are set up in the opening scene?
What is the inciting incident that gets everything started?
What does the main character think he or she wants?
What does the main character really want (even if he doesn't know it yet)?
What is the most significant turning point/climax in this character's journey?
How does this moment change the character?
What tensions are resolved, left unresolved, or altered in the closing scene?
3. Tuesday writing: The Stranger
HW: Start working on the draft of your essay; bring in at least an outline on Friday (as well as any actual paragraphs you have drafted), and we will meet in the C-22 lab to draft and edit.
Friday, January 25, 2013
This Seat's Taken: AP Lit, January 28, 2013
Focus: Interpreting the task of Sisyphus in our world and Camus'
1. Announcements!
2. Indulging in a little Sisyphus-inspired writing...
Task 1: Imagine yourself as Sisyphus, straining to push the boulder up the mountain only to watch it roll back down again...for eternity. Compose a brief piece of fiction (traditional prose, stream-of-consciousness narrative, poem, etc.) describing the uphill journey, the pause at the top, the trip back down, and the beginning of the next journey.
Task 2: Compose a brief piece of fiction as yourself. Try to think of something in your life that seems sisyphean...a day at school? A particular class? An extracurricular activity? A conversation with your parents or a sibling or a teacher or a friend?
3. Reading Camus' "Preface" and "The Myth of Sisyphus" with an impromptu Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Finish your big question blog on The Stranger if you have not done so already.
2. Finish up your critical review book in the next few days.
1. Announcements!
2. Indulging in a little Sisyphus-inspired writing...
Task 1: Imagine yourself as Sisyphus, straining to push the boulder up the mountain only to watch it roll back down again...for eternity. Compose a brief piece of fiction (traditional prose, stream-of-consciousness narrative, poem, etc.) describing the uphill journey, the pause at the top, the trip back down, and the beginning of the next journey.
Task 2: Compose a brief piece of fiction as yourself. Try to think of something in your life that seems sisyphean...a day at school? A particular class? An extracurricular activity? A conversation with your parents or a sibling or a teacher or a friend?
3. Reading Camus' "Preface" and "The Myth of Sisyphus" with an impromptu Socratic seminar
HW:
1. Finish your big question blog on The Stranger if you have not done so already.
2. Finish up your critical review book in the next few days.
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