1. Post a substantial, thoughtful, specific, and exploratory comment on the middle section (pages 84 to 168) of As I Lay Dying by the end of the weekend (pumpkin time Sunday 4/15). (Comments will be richer, I think, if you read what your peers have already written before posting your own comments.)
2. Finish reading and taking notes on As I Lay Dying.
3. Mr. Cook's class needs to finish AP English Literature packet #3.
4. Be prepared to write a term four independent reading and research proposal during the week after vacation. You'll need a thesis, a plan for supporting the thesis, and a description of a creative project.
*******
Other:
For those of you who signed up to take the AP English Language and Composition exam in addition to the AP English Literature and Composition exam. Click here for resources.
Here you'll find the AP English Language course description (including sample multiple choice and essay questions). I recommend taking a look at the readings and multiple choice questions.
Here you'll find more information about the exam including all of the recent essay questions, scoring guides, and sample essays.
*******
Other other:
All of you have written poems. Please send those poems to the Elicitor editors who are currently putting together this year's print issue.
Send your poems to ghselicitor@gmail.com.
If you want to check out the online version of the Elicitor. Click here (TheElicitor.blogspot.com).
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
As I Lay Dying Responses
Respond to sections of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying in the comment section of this post. The sections are:
Pgs. 1-84
Pgs. 85-168
Pgs. 168-end
The due dates for these blog responses may vary between the two classes.
For these responses, you should focus on motifs (repeating objects, ideas, concerns, language patterns, etc.) much as you did with King Lear, only this time you need to establish what the motifs are yourself, and you must also create your own understanding of how they interconnect with each other and how they support the overall meaning of the novel as you see it.
Don't be afraid to explore or think through a motif that isn't immediately accessible or doesn't appear to connect to anything (those cakes! They turned out real well, and they didn't cost Cora anything . . .)
Pgs. 1-84
Pgs. 85-168
Pgs. 168-end
The due dates for these blog responses may vary between the two classes.
For these responses, you should focus on motifs (repeating objects, ideas, concerns, language patterns, etc.) much as you did with King Lear, only this time you need to establish what the motifs are yourself, and you must also create your own understanding of how they interconnect with each other and how they support the overall meaning of the novel as you see it.
Don't be afraid to explore or think through a motif that isn't immediately accessible or doesn't appear to connect to anything (those cakes! They turned out real well, and they didn't cost Cora anything . . .)
Friday, February 17, 2012
Independent Reading & Research Term Three
Now you can turn more of your attention to your independent reading and research project.
You'll turn in evidence of the reading on or before March 23.You're expected to read between 500 and 1000 pages or so by the end of the term. (If you're reading difficult experimental fiction you'll likely read closer to 500 pages and if you're reading popular children's fiction you'll be expected to hit 1000.)
The goal of this reading is to prepare for the paper you will write during the fourth quarter. The notetaking and writing you do about the reading you are doing during third quarter will help you a lot when you write the paper.
There are three different ways you could show evidence of your reading and thinking.
Option 1: Keep a quotation response journal. You should have a quotation and response for every twenty to thirty (20-30) pages or so. Your responses should often relate to the central question and/or thesis in your proposal.
Option 2: Keep a double-entry notebook. Take notes -- quotations, paraphrases, other information -- on the left side of your notes & on the right side write down your thoughts about the information on the left side. What you write on the right side should often relate to the central question and/or thesis in your proposal. You should have a page of notes for every twenty to thirty (20-30) pages or so of your reading.
Option 3: Write short, informal, exploratory essay responses (300-500 words or so). You should write an essay for every fifty to sixty (50-60) pages or so of reading. These responses should discuss the reading in terms of your central question and/or provisional thesis.
You'll turn in evidence of the reading on or before March 23.You're expected to read between 500 and 1000 pages or so by the end of the term. (If you're reading difficult experimental fiction you'll likely read closer to 500 pages and if you're reading popular children's fiction you'll be expected to hit 1000.)
The goal of this reading is to prepare for the paper you will write during the fourth quarter. The notetaking and writing you do about the reading you are doing during third quarter will help you a lot when you write the paper.
There are three different ways you could show evidence of your reading and thinking.
Option 1: Keep a quotation response journal. You should have a quotation and response for every twenty to thirty (20-30) pages or so. Your responses should often relate to the central question and/or thesis in your proposal.
Option 2: Keep a double-entry notebook. Take notes -- quotations, paraphrases, other information -- on the left side of your notes & on the right side write down your thoughts about the information on the left side. What you write on the right side should often relate to the central question and/or thesis in your proposal. You should have a page of notes for every twenty to thirty (20-30) pages or so of your reading.
Option 3: Write short, informal, exploratory essay responses (300-500 words or so). You should write an essay for every fifty to sixty (50-60) pages or so of reading. These responses should discuss the reading in terms of your central question and/or provisional thesis.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
King Lear Motif Assignment
Reading King Lear
1. Take notes on the following motifs by marking
down the motif(s), speaker(s), act, scene, lines.
Example notes from 1.1:
Gloucester,
parenthood/sex/unfaithfulness, 1.1.8-24
Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, saying v. truth, 1.1.60+
Cordelia, Lear, “nothing” 1.1.96
Lear, appetite/savagery 1.1.131, 136
Kent,
loyalty, madness, flattery, wisdom, emptiness, hollowness,161-174
What
is the relationship between literal and figurative imagery, on the one hand,
and thematic development on the other?
Is
what is said understood? Is what is
said true? (flattery, lies, etc.)
Is
what is seen or (otherwise sensed:
touched, smelled) understood? Is it true?
(Eyes
are very important!)
What
is natural? What is unnatural (or monstrous)?
What
is sane? What is mad?
What
is wisdom? (What is reasonable?) What
is foolishness? (What is excessive?)
What
is loyalty and faithfulness? What is
betrayal and unfaithfulness?
What
is kindness? What is cruelty?
How
are these related to age and youth?
How
are these related to parents and
children?
How
are these related to rank and status?
How
are these related to property and wealth?
How
are these related to the line between animals
and humans?
How
are these related to storms and calms?
How
are these related to planets, stars, fates?
What
is the significance of nothingness, emptiness,
hollowness, loss, and nakedness in the play?
What
is the significance of eating,
appetites, consuming in the play?
What
is the significance of sex and lust
in the play?
What
is the significance of blood (both
as a signifier of family and of violence)?
All of the aforementioned motifs interact, weaving in and out of each other to form a matrix of association. So when Lear denies Cordelia her inheritance, he doesn't say "get away from me; you're no longer my daughter" (in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter). He evokes several motifs and images that are echoed in other parts of the play: "Thy truth, then, be thy dower" "For by the sacred radiance of the sun... by all the operation of the orbs" "paternal care" "property of blood" "gorge his appetite" "avoid my sight" (1.1.120-139).
Also be on the look out for inversions: the natural becoming unnatural, the truth that is false, the sight that is a lie, the fool that is wise, etc. & look out for parallels. ("Monster" is tagged on both Cordelia and Edgar in Act One.) Look out for motif-words with ambiguous multiple or shifting meanings (especially "nature" and "nothing"). Listen for playfulness and for echoes. Figurative associations often haunt the literal meanings. And repetitions often reveal the play's obsessions.
2. Choose a particular monologue or passage of dialogue to analyze. (1) In your analysis demonstrate an understanding of the passage’s meaning within its context. (2) Also, identify and discuss the significance of (at least two) motifs within the passage. What does the use of the motifs reveal, particularly about characters, conflicts, and themes? (3) Finally, discuss the relationship between how the motifs are presented in the passage and how the motifs are presented elsewhere in the play. Post your response below. At the beginning of your post include your name, name the motifs, and quote the passages (include act.scene.line). [Note: In the right margin of the blog you'll find links to searchable etexts of King Lear and to video recordings of performances. These resources may be of help.]
All of the aforementioned motifs interact, weaving in and out of each other to form a matrix of association. So when Lear denies Cordelia her inheritance, he doesn't say "get away from me; you're no longer my daughter" (in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter). He evokes several motifs and images that are echoed in other parts of the play: "Thy truth, then, be thy dower" "For by the sacred radiance of the sun... by all the operation of the orbs" "paternal care" "property of blood" "gorge his appetite" "avoid my sight" (1.1.120-139).
Also be on the look out for inversions: the natural becoming unnatural, the truth that is false, the sight that is a lie, the fool that is wise, etc. & look out for parallels. ("Monster" is tagged on both Cordelia and Edgar in Act One.) Look out for motif-words with ambiguous multiple or shifting meanings (especially "nature" and "nothing"). Listen for playfulness and for echoes. Figurative associations often haunt the literal meanings. And repetitions often reveal the play's obsessions.
2. Choose a particular monologue or passage of dialogue to analyze. (1) In your analysis demonstrate an understanding of the passage’s meaning within its context. (2) Also, identify and discuss the significance of (at least two) motifs within the passage. What does the use of the motifs reveal, particularly about characters, conflicts, and themes? (3) Finally, discuss the relationship between how the motifs are presented in the passage and how the motifs are presented elsewhere in the play. Post your response below. At the beginning of your post include your name, name the motifs, and quote the passages (include act.scene.line). [Note: In the right margin of the blog you'll find links to searchable etexts of King Lear and to video recordings of performances. These resources may be of help.]
Comments on act one are due by pumpkin time on Sunday, February 5.
Comments on act two are due by pumpkin time on Sunday, February 12.
Comments on act three are due (for Mr. Cook's class) before A-block on Monday 27Feb.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sharing Your Independent Reading and Research
Write two blog posts below. In one post discuss the main text you have been reading independently and in
another post discuss the supplemental text. It should be absolutely clear what texts
you are referring to.
This post should intelligently and insightfully (but not necessarily formally) discuss the texts and the ideas you have about the texts. Be bold. Be specific. Be thoughtful and convincing.
The purpose of this assignment is for you to share what you have been reading and thinking about with your peers.
This post should intelligently and insightfully (but not necessarily formally) discuss the texts and the ideas you have about the texts. Be bold. Be specific. Be thoughtful and convincing.
The purpose of this assignment is for you to share what you have been reading and thinking about with your peers.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Midyear Exam Literary Terms
Midyear Exam Literary Vocabulary
Sonnets &
Poetry (21)
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter, Meter, Iamb, Rhyme Scheme, Volta, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Stanza, Octet, Sestet, Quatrain, Couplet, Enjambment, End rhyme, Full rhyme, Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme, Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets, Blank Verse
Other Types of Poems (5)
free verse, villanelle, sestina, terza rima, ballads
Other Poetic Techniques (3)
anaphora, epistrophe, inversion
Figurative Language (16)
figurative language, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, pun, double entendre, rhetorical question (=erotema), oxymoron, paradox, synesthesia, denotation, connotation
Irony (4)
irony, verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Narration (5)
narration, first person narration, third person limited narration, third person omniscient narration, stream of consciousness
Writing Style (9)
style, voice, diction, syntax, tone, mood, dialect, colloquialism, vernacular
Character (13)
characterization, direct characterization, indirect characterization, dynamic character, static character, round character, flat character, foil, protagonist, antagonist, tragic hero, antihero
Plot & Events (10)
Plot, exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, denouement (resolution), flashback, foreshadowing, internal conflict, external conflict,
Other Literary Terms from First Semester (4)
motif, symbol, epigraph, epiphany
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter, Meter, Iamb, Rhyme Scheme, Volta, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Stanza, Octet, Sestet, Quatrain, Couplet, Enjambment, End rhyme, Full rhyme, Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme, Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets, Blank Verse
Other Types of Poems (5)
free verse, villanelle, sestina, terza rima, ballads
Other Poetic Techniques (3)
anaphora, epistrophe, inversion
Figurative Language (16)
figurative language, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, pun, double entendre, rhetorical question (=erotema), oxymoron, paradox, synesthesia, denotation, connotation
Irony (4)
irony, verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Narration (5)
narration, first person narration, third person limited narration, third person omniscient narration, stream of consciousness
Writing Style (9)
style, voice, diction, syntax, tone, mood, dialect, colloquialism, vernacular
Character (13)
characterization, direct characterization, indirect characterization, dynamic character, static character, round character, flat character, foil, protagonist, antagonist, tragic hero, antihero
Plot & Events (10)
Plot, exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, denouement (resolution), flashback, foreshadowing, internal conflict, external conflict,
Other Literary Terms from First Semester (4)
motif, symbol, epigraph, epiphany
In the comment box post accurate, complete definitions; clear, relevant examples; and citation of reliable sources before the beginning of school on Monday, January 9.
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