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.

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!

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...

• 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.

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.

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.

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:

• 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.

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.