In the column on the right of the blog you'll find a place to post comments on your independent reading (the first book and background information). You should post at least four substantial comments between now and pumpkin time on Friday, January 7. Overall the comments should show a personal and analytical engagement with literature you have chosen and with the background reading. The comments should also show a willingness to interact with the other(s) reading the same material. I want lively posts that demonstrate care, attention, and insight.
You will also complete a quotation response journal with ten passages from the reading (one from the background and nine from the literature) and a response to each passage. For more on quotation response journals go here.
Reminder from the QRJ rubric: in order to get a "B" or higher you must make "thematic connection[s]" and "personal connection[s]"; you must ask "pertinent," "thought-provoking," and "insightful" questions; and you must include "[discussion of] literary devices": how the way the text is written contributes to its meaning).
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ur-Narrative: The Chronicles of Narnia & Christian narratives
Tom and Moriah,
Comment here about The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and its relationship to Christian stories.
Comment here about The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and its relationship to Christian stories.
Bronte Sisters Authors Study
Kara, Leila, Emily C,Comment here on Wuthering Heights and background information about the Bronte sisters.
Study of James Joyce's *Ulysses*
Sean and Emily P,Comment here about the first three chapters (the Telemachiad) of James Joyce's novel Ulysses.
William Faulkner Author Study
Alea, Grant, Chelsea,
Comment here about The Sound and the Fury and background information on William Faulkner.
Italo Calvino Author Study
Ellie, Adrian, and Tori,
Comment here about If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and your background reading on Italo Calvino.
Kafka and the Turn from Modernism into Postmodernism
Louisa, Evan, and Andrew,
Comment here on Franz Kafka's short fiction and your background reading. (What are you reading for background?)
Beginning with *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead": A Study of "Theater of the Absurd"
Ethan, Paige, and Jacklyn,you'll comment here about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and "Theater of the Absurd".
Beginning with *Dubliners*: A Study of Irish Literature
Caroline and Elizabeth,you'll comment here about James Joyce's Dubliners and your research into Irish literature.
John Steinbeck Author Study
Arica, Hilary, and Michelle,You'll comment here about East of Eden and background research about John Steinbeck.
Ur-Narrative: Transformations and Grimms Fairy Tales
Josiah, Edan, and Mac.
You'll comment here on Transformations by Anne Sexton and Grimms Fairy Tales.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Independent Reading Project
Independent Reading Project
By the end of the day on Friday (12/17) give me a letter or write me an email telling me (1) what option you have picked (the options are explained below), (2) what you plan to read to get some background on your option (if it's a website give me the URL; make sure it's a reliable source), (3) what novel or play you plan to read first, (4) who else will be reading the same things. Make sure you interest at least one* other person in either section of AP English in your choice. Revision: it's okay if you agree on the novel/play but not the "option". (I'll call this the Louisa B revision.) Post ideas about what option you plan to choose and what texts you would like to read. Revision: I have posted the ideas I've heard. It's become obvious to me that I need to make it more explicit that some preliminary research on your part is necessary. Wikipedia is a useful tool for preliminary research (though you should not rely on Wikipedia research in scholarly writing). Solicit support for your idea. Make a pitch. On Thursday (12/16) I'll give you a chance to talk to each other about your ideas.
*Note: any more than four people will make the project unwieldy.
Option 1: Bildungsroman. You might continue your study of the Bildungsroman genre (1) by consulting several sources -- starting with this one -- to learn more about Bildungsromans and (2) by reading a couple bildungsromans in addition to the one's you've already studied.
Option 2: Ur*-Narratives (Sacred Texts, Myths, Fairy Tales). You might continue your study of how writers, poets, and other artists use older, archetypal stories -- Bible stories, Greek myths, German fairy tales, etc. -- to create new stories, films, poems, paintings, etc. (We've already studied how Joyce, several painters, and several poets have made use of the Daedalus-Icarus myth.) You will (1) investigate an ur-narrative (a myth, a fairy tale, etc.) and (2) explore how several writers (and perhaps filmmakers, poets, and visual artists) have made use of the original story. (You might modify the assignment to look at how a couple different myths/tales are used.)
*"Ur" is Germanic in origin. In English it is sometimes used as a prefix meaning "original" or "prototypical".
Here are a few books that are based on myths, sacred texts, or folk tales:
* Here's a link to a list of books based on Greek mythology.
* William Butler Yeats wrote several plays based on Celtic mythology and tales.
* Anne Sexton wrote Transformations, a book of narrative poems based on German fairy tales.
* John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden include many Biblical allusions. Grapes of Wrath allusions include The Book of Job, the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis, and the story of the Hebrews and the Promised Land (Numbers, etc.) East of Eden is built around the Cain and Abel story in Genesis.
Option 3: Author Study. You might continue your investigation of one of the authors we have studied so far this year: Calvino, Ellison, Rhys, Bronte, Joyce. Or you might want to study another major author. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the author's life and cultural context and (2) her/his literary output beyond what you have already read.
Option 4: Literary Movement. You might continue your investigation of a literary movement that we have touched upon this year: Romanticism, Gothicism, Victorianism, Modernism. Or you might want to study another literary movement. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the -ism and (2) representative literary works from the movement.
Option 5: Literature of a Culture. You might continue your investigation of the literature produced by a particular culture. The works we have read so far this year have come out of several cultural contexts: Italian, African-American, Anglo-Caribbean, English, Irish. Or you might to want to study the literature of another culture. You will (1) investigate the literature produced by the particular culture and (2) read representative literary works from the culture.
Option 6: Critical Lens. You might study literature using a particular critical lens: gender studies, critical race theory, queer theory, Marxist literary criticism, psychoanalytic (Freudian) literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, ecocriticism, deconstruction, etc. (Click here for Wikipedia's "literary theory" page for more ideas.) You will (1) investigate the critical theory and (2) read literary works "through the lens" of the critical theory.
Option 7: Something else that you concoct and propose. This something else should have a research component and a literary component.
By the end of the day on Friday (12/17) give me a letter or write me an email telling me (1) what option you have picked (the options are explained below), (2) what you plan to read to get some background on your option (if it's a website give me the URL; make sure it's a reliable source), (3) what novel or play you plan to read first, (4) who else will be reading the same things. Make sure you interest at least one* other person in either section of AP English in your choice. Revision: it's okay if you agree on the novel/play but not the "option". (I'll call this the Louisa B revision.) Post ideas about what option you plan to choose and what texts you would like to read. Revision: I have posted the ideas I've heard. It's become obvious to me that I need to make it more explicit that some preliminary research on your part is necessary. Wikipedia is a useful tool for preliminary research (though you should not rely on Wikipedia research in scholarly writing). Solicit support for your idea. Make a pitch. On Thursday (12/16) I'll give you a chance to talk to each other about your ideas.
*Note: any more than four people will make the project unwieldy.
Option 1: Bildungsroman. You might continue your study of the Bildungsroman genre (1) by consulting several sources -- starting with this one -- to learn more about Bildungsromans and (2) by reading a couple bildungsromans in addition to the one's you've already studied.
Option 2: Ur*-Narratives (Sacred Texts, Myths, Fairy Tales). You might continue your study of how writers, poets, and other artists use older, archetypal stories -- Bible stories, Greek myths, German fairy tales, etc. -- to create new stories, films, poems, paintings, etc. (We've already studied how Joyce, several painters, and several poets have made use of the Daedalus-Icarus myth.) You will (1) investigate an ur-narrative (a myth, a fairy tale, etc.) and (2) explore how several writers (and perhaps filmmakers, poets, and visual artists) have made use of the original story. (You might modify the assignment to look at how a couple different myths/tales are used.)
*"Ur" is Germanic in origin. In English it is sometimes used as a prefix meaning "original" or "prototypical".
Here are a few books that are based on myths, sacred texts, or folk tales:
* Here's a link to a list of books based on Greek mythology.
* William Butler Yeats wrote several plays based on Celtic mythology and tales.
* Anne Sexton wrote Transformations, a book of narrative poems based on German fairy tales.
* John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden include many Biblical allusions. Grapes of Wrath allusions include The Book of Job, the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis, and the story of the Hebrews and the Promised Land (Numbers, etc.) East of Eden is built around the Cain and Abel story in Genesis.
Option 3: Author Study. You might continue your investigation of one of the authors we have studied so far this year: Calvino, Ellison, Rhys, Bronte, Joyce. Or you might want to study another major author. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the author's life and cultural context and (2) her/his literary output beyond what you have already read.
Option 4: Literary Movement. You might continue your investigation of a literary movement that we have touched upon this year: Romanticism, Gothicism, Victorianism, Modernism. Or you might want to study another literary movement. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the -ism and (2) representative literary works from the movement.
Option 5: Literature of a Culture. You might continue your investigation of the literature produced by a particular culture. The works we have read so far this year have come out of several cultural contexts: Italian, African-American, Anglo-Caribbean, English, Irish. Or you might to want to study the literature of another culture. You will (1) investigate the literature produced by the particular culture and (2) read representative literary works from the culture.
Option 6: Critical Lens. You might study literature using a particular critical lens: gender studies, critical race theory, queer theory, Marxist literary criticism, psychoanalytic (Freudian) literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, ecocriticism, deconstruction, etc. (Click here for Wikipedia's "literary theory" page for more ideas.) You will (1) investigate the critical theory and (2) read literary works "through the lens" of the critical theory.
Option 7: Something else that you concoct and propose. This something else should have a research component and a literary component.
Not-for-College Memoir Essay
Not-for-College Memoir Essay
Write a non-for-college memoir essay 500 to 1000 words by the end of the school day Wednesday, December 22. The memoir essay is characterized by a living, intimate voice, vivid storytelling, and thoughtful reflection. It should be as Phillip Lopate writes, "a vivid, self-reflective tale," a "compressed" bildungsroman. I'll ask you to bring in a draft Thursday, December 16.
Your essay should demonstrate several of the characteristics that Lopate sets forth in his essay "Are We Living through a Resurgence of the Essay?". In response to the question, what makes a first-rate essay Lopate writes:
* I [look] for a certain density of thought. A living voice. A text that would surprise me and take me through a mental adventure.
* I've been drawn to the analytical, the wry, the self-aware. . . . [I]t's a performance of extreme sophistication, the argument rising or falling on the basis of verbal nuance, persona pirouette, exposure of unconscious contradiction in oneself and others.
* [In the first-rate memoir-essay the reader gets] all the juice of a Bildungsroman is compressed into a vivid, self-reflective tale, minus the padding.
*There is nothing quite like the beauty of a worldly, meditative and amply mature sensibility going about its bee-like business of constructing meaning.
* [T]hese pieces champion an uneasy complexity and contradiction, just as they refuse glib accommodations.
* [T]he essayists . . . echo [an] opposition to easy answers, and help increase our capacity to face the unreconciled.
Look at "Memoir Essays a.k.a. Not-for-College Essays" for examples.
Write a non-for-college memoir essay 500 to 1000 words by the end of the school day Wednesday, December 22. The memoir essay is characterized by a living, intimate voice, vivid storytelling, and thoughtful reflection. It should be as Phillip Lopate writes, "a vivid, self-reflective tale," a "compressed" bildungsroman. I'll ask you to bring in a draft Thursday, December 16.
Your essay should demonstrate several of the characteristics that Lopate sets forth in his essay "Are We Living through a Resurgence of the Essay?". In response to the question, what makes a first-rate essay Lopate writes:
* I [look] for a certain density of thought. A living voice. A text that would surprise me and take me through a mental adventure.
* I've been drawn to the analytical, the wry, the self-aware. . . . [I]t's a performance of extreme sophistication, the argument rising or falling on the basis of verbal nuance, persona pirouette, exposure of unconscious contradiction in oneself and others.
* [In the first-rate memoir-essay the reader gets]
*
* [T]hese pieces champion an uneasy complexity and contradiction, just as they refuse glib accommodations.
* [T]he essayists . . . echo [an] opposition to easy answers, and help increase our capacity to face the unreconciled.
Look at "Memoir Essays a.k.a. Not-for-College Essays" for examples.
"The Dreamer Did Not Exist"
"The Dreamer Did Not Exist" by William Gessner
On Thursday and Friday we will create double-entry class notes (with observations, quotations, details on the left, ideas, reactions, questions, comments on the right) in response to David Gessner's "The Dreamer Did Not Exist".
On Monday Mr. Telles will guest lecturer about Ernest Becker, whose book Denial of Death is referenced in Gessner's memoir essay. Understanding Becker better will help us understand what Gessner suggests in his essay.
Before class time on Tuesday you will attempt to synthesize your understanding of Gessner's essay into a personal response. Your personal response should accomplish a few things: it should show that you understand how Gessner's essay works; it should demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of what Gessner's essay suggests about the human condition; and (here's the new part) it should respond to what Gessner suggests by supporting, challenging, or modifying his view. Post your response in the comment box below.
On Thursday and Friday we will create double-entry class notes (with observations, quotations, details on the left, ideas, reactions, questions, comments on the right) in response to David Gessner's "The Dreamer Did Not Exist".
On Monday Mr. Telles will guest lecturer about Ernest Becker, whose book Denial of Death is referenced in Gessner's memoir essay. Understanding Becker better will help us understand what Gessner suggests in his essay.
Before class time on Tuesday you will attempt to synthesize your understanding of Gessner's essay into a personal response. Your personal response should accomplish a few things: it should show that you understand how Gessner's essay works; it should demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of what Gessner's essay suggests about the human condition; and (here's the new part) it should respond to what Gessner suggests by supporting, challenging, or modifying his view. Post your response in the comment box below.
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