Scholars,
Strong session on Friday in both classes. Well done. (A-block: the bell cut us off in the middle of dealing with #14 and the (poorly chosen) word "rejoicing" in option D (the correct answer). In F-block Tori pointed out that reflecting back on #14 after answering #15 (A) was helpful in determining that although D is clearly not a satisfying answer for 14 it is the best of the available options.)
Monday I'll collect your work on the three sets and address questions about Set 3: "Soul & Body". If you haven't done Set 3 make sure you do it.
Also get started on the "Preparation for Question Three" forms. (Dig up the ones you completed during first semester and write up ones for any of the books we've read during the second semester that you might want to use on the exam: As I Lay Dying, Slaughterhouse-Five, Going After Cacciato, King Lear, novels & plays "of literary merit" that you have read as part of your independent reading and research project. (Ask me if you're not sure a book you've read is appropriate for question 3.) Make sure you turn in at least four "preparation for question three" sheets before the exam.
Monday, after addressing any lingering questions about the various multiple choice sets, we'll turn our attention to reviewing the three essays (poem analysis [Q1], prose analysis [Q2], and writing about a novel or play [Q3]). I'll return your King Lear Q3 essays to facilitate that review. (You bring any timed essays or timed essay information in your binder.) I'll also give you a sheet of timed essay writing tips. (Multiple choice tips are currently on the blackboard).
Last bit of news, some time this weekend I'll post links to previous blog discussions about As I Lay Dying and Slaughterhouse-Five. Bring thoughts and questions about the books to class next week. This weekend I'll also create a place where you can post your comments about the novel you're reading. (By the Monday after the exam -- May 9 -- I'll expect that everyone has posted at least 300 words about the novel. If you think the comments will help you prepare for the exam do it this weekend or next week. If not wait until next weekend -- after the exam.)
I'm going for a walk. Hope you're able to enjoy the day too.
all the best,
Mr. James Cook
GHS
post script:
For those of you taking the AP Language Exam too we'll meet again on Wednesday (4May11) after school. Please complete the multiple choice questions in the packet I have given you. If you have lost the packet you can find it here starting on page 14. We'll review the multiple choice questions and review the three essays (rhetoric analysis, argument, and synthesis). You can find samples of essays (called "Free-Responses" by the College Board) here.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
"What's Going On" Is Not Just a Song by Marvin Gaye
With trips to Europe and colleges, with illnesses and field trips and distractions of all kinds, you might be wondering "What's going on in AP English?"
Here's your answer...
1. Your education essay is due tonight (Friday) by pumpkin time. Put your essay in the comment box here.
2. Work on the AP multiple choice packet. Finish sets 1 and 2 by Monday, April 25. (Those of you who left for Europe earlier this week got a slightly different packet.) Take the work seriously. Do what you think will be most beneficial. If you want to time yourself and treat it like a test do that. If it will help you most to look up unknown vocabulary and unknown terms do that. If you want to collaborate with a peer do that. (I will check that you have completed the work.)
3. Create a thesis and a plan for your independent reading and research paper. I spoke with nearly all of you this week and look forward to discussing your theses and plans after vacation. (I will want to take a look at your thesis and plan.)
4. After vacation we're going to read one work book together. A-block has decided to read As I Lay Dying and F-block was split evenly 8 v 8 between As I Lay Dying and Slaughterhouse-Five. Take your pick. Some of you wanted to get a head start so I gave you books on Friday. If you weren't in class on Friday but want to get a head start check out the Sawyer Free Library: here for As I Lay Dying and here for Slaughterhouse-Five. After vacation you'll have 10 days to read before the exam which will mean 26 pages/day for As I Lay Dying or 22 pages/day for Slaughterhouse-Five.
Here's your answer...
1. Your education essay is due tonight (Friday) by pumpkin time. Put your essay in the comment box here.
2. Work on the AP multiple choice packet. Finish sets 1 and 2 by Monday, April 25. (Those of you who left for Europe earlier this week got a slightly different packet.) Take the work seriously. Do what you think will be most beneficial. If you want to time yourself and treat it like a test do that. If it will help you most to look up unknown vocabulary and unknown terms do that. If you want to collaborate with a peer do that. (I will check that you have completed the work.)
3. Create a thesis and a plan for your independent reading and research paper. I spoke with nearly all of you this week and look forward to discussing your theses and plans after vacation. (I will want to take a look at your thesis and plan.)
4. After vacation we're going to read one work book together. A-block has decided to read As I Lay Dying and F-block was split evenly 8 v 8 between As I Lay Dying and Slaughterhouse-Five. Take your pick. Some of you wanted to get a head start so I gave you books on Friday. If you weren't in class on Friday but want to get a head start check out the Sawyer Free Library: here for As I Lay Dying and here for Slaughterhouse-Five. After vacation you'll have 10 days to read before the exam which will mean 26 pages/day for As I Lay Dying or 22 pages/day for Slaughterhouse-Five.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Question 3 Resources
Much Ado about Education: An Argument or Personal Essay in the Comment Box
We spent a good chunk of time discussing practical and philosophical issues surrounding education. We considered both institutional and personal points of view. We considered structures, purposes, and experiences. We considered the status quo and alternatives. Now have your say.
Education Essay (with directions in R.A.F.T. form)
Role: Be yourself, a senior at Gloucester High School who has experienced, observed, and thought about education.
Audience: Your AP peers, your AP teacher, and others on the World Wide Web. (You'll be posting your essay in the comment box below by pumpkin time Friday, April 15.)
Format: You have a choice, whichever option you pick I'm imagining something in the 500 to 1000 word zone.
* You could write an argumentative essay using support and reasoning from your experiences, observations and studies to support your position on some aspect of education. (See topics below.) (Some of you may recognize the description of an argument essay from the SAT.)
* Or, you could write a personal essay, using narrative and reflection, to embody and suggest insights into education.
Topic: You could write about anything within the broad realm of education, but here are some of the topics many have you have already done some rich thinking about.
* How does the structure of the school day -- number of classes, length of classes -- and of the school itself affect teaching and learning?
* Are students motivated by a desire to learn, explore, and practice in order to respond and create? Are students motivated by a desire to achieve measurable success in school in order to please parents and gain access to colleges and jobs in the future? In what way does one dove-tail with the other? In what way are the two motivations opposed?
* How is the industrial model -- on which the century-old modern high school is based -- suited or not suited to the sort of learning you value and/or think is necessary?
* What are some of the alternative models for education? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What educational models and experiences -- inside and outside learning institutions -- work for you, for others?
* How might your experiences of (institutional or non-institutional) education -- here at GHS or elsewhere -- differ from others' experiences?
Whatever you write about don't forget to organize your thoughts into a focused argument or a sustained narrative with reflection.
I look forward to reading your responses.
Education Essay (with directions in R.A.F.T. form)
Role: Be yourself, a senior at Gloucester High School who has experienced, observed, and thought about education.
Audience: Your AP peers, your AP teacher, and others on the World Wide Web. (You'll be posting your essay in the comment box below by pumpkin time Friday, April 15.)
Format: You have a choice, whichever option you pick I'm imagining something in the 500 to 1000 word zone.
* You could write an argumentative essay using support and reasoning from your experiences, observations and studies to support your position on some aspect of education. (See topics below.) (Some of you may recognize the description of an argument essay from the SAT.)
* Or, you could write a personal essay, using narrative and reflection, to embody and suggest insights into education.
Topic: You could write about anything within the broad realm of education, but here are some of the topics many have you have already done some rich thinking about.
* How does the structure of the school day -- number of classes, length of classes -- and of the school itself affect teaching and learning?
* Are students motivated by a desire to learn, explore, and practice in order to respond and create? Are students motivated by a desire to achieve measurable success in school in order to please parents and gain access to colleges and jobs in the future? In what way does one dove-tail with the other? In what way are the two motivations opposed?
* How is the industrial model -- on which the century-old modern high school is based -- suited or not suited to the sort of learning you value and/or think is necessary?
* What are some of the alternative models for education? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What educational models and experiences -- inside and outside learning institutions -- work for you, for others?
* How might your experiences of (institutional or non-institutional) education -- here at GHS or elsewhere -- differ from others' experiences?
Whatever you write about don't forget to organize your thoughts into a focused argument or a sustained narrative with reflection.
I look forward to reading your responses.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
King Lear Quotation Activity for Acts 4 and 5
Each student chose four quotations from acts four and five in class on Monday, April 4.
Complete the following and bring it to class on Wednesday, April 6.
(I've sharpened the directions a bit.)
For each of the four quotations...
1. Identify speaker, act, scene, lines (e.g. if you chose the first line of the play: Kent, 1.1.1) You might use this website to help you find the lines.
2. Describe the context: who is present? what is the situation? What might any of this have to do with the quotation?
3. What's happening with language and meaning in the quotation? Consider images (both literal and figurative) and themes. Also, consider other features of language, like diction and syntax, in relation to meaning. Consider the possibility of irony. Discuss the significance of all of this in relation to the quotation's meaning.
4. Make connections between the quotation and your other quotations. (And/or make other connections.) Connections might have to do with speaker, events, imagery, themes.
*5*. I've added this: why do you think someone has decided that the quotation is significant and/or memorable enough to be included in a list of quotations from King Lear?
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