A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 29, 2014

Focus: What are our big "take-away's" from Oedipus Rex?

1. Warming up with a "wrap-up"

2. Finalizing your big question and setting up your blog (click HERE for a sample blog, and if I may, I recommend Mike's for specificity and Paul's for voice); please give me your blog URLs.

3. Developing your big question post for Oedipus Rex

a. Remember that you don't have to have all the answers; feel free to wander in and out of the realm of questions.

b. Your voice doesn't need to be formal; you can say "I" and "we" if you'd like.

c. Refer to the text specifically and frequently, examining precise moments and lines (you did this beautifully in Socratic yesterday)

4. Offering you East of Eden; please click HERE for the bookmark-shaped reading schedule


HW:
1. Start reading East of Eden, keeping in mind that most people need about 50 pages before they get really into this book (reading schedule linked HERE).

2. Finish your big question post on Oedipus before Tuesday.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 28, 2014

Focus: Why is Sophocles' interpretation of Oedipus Rex the one that still intrigues us?

1. Warm-up: Creating a literary 3 x 3 for Oedipus Rex

2. Enjoying a Socratic seminar on Oedipus Rex with a focus on the second half of the play



3. Wrapping up with observations, conclusions, and lingering questions

HW:
1. FOR TOMORROW: Please bring your laptop and Oedipus to finish creating your blog and to compose your first post (on Oedipus).

2. FOR TOMORROW: If you have purchased your own copy of East of Eden, please start bringing it to class tomorrow.

3. FOR INFINITY: Continue working on your college essay.  Come conference with me!

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 27, 2014

Focus: Growing ideas for the college essay and for your "big question" blog

1. Warming up: Exploring the "College Essay" page on my website; tackling how to start by reading together the openings paragraphs of a few sample college essays

2. Revisiting the opening of your writing (you can look at your writing from yesterday or at any other college essay you're currently working on)

3. Setting up your "big question" blog

Click HERE for a list of possible big questions.
Click HERE to explore last year's big question blogs.

HW:
1. Bring Oedipus and your reading ticket (detailed below) to class tomorrow.

2. Continue working on your college essay; due Friday, September 19.; feel free to conference with me on your drafts as often as you need to.

3. For tomorrow: Please reread the second half of Oedipus Rex and compose a reading ticket in which you do the following:

• Pick any three characters from the play (the chorus and the choragus count as a characters, too).

• Select one or two lines delivered by each of these characters in the second half of the play that reveal something significant.

• Explain what these lines reveal both about their speakers and about the play's larger patterns and themes. These analyses can be in the form of statements, questions, or both.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 26, 2014

Focus: How do start something as daunting as the college essay?

1. Returning your summer reading assignments

2. Discussing the college essay and experimenting with two Oedipus-related prompts

3. Exploring the "College Essay" page on my website; tackling how to start by reading together the openings paragraphs of a few sample college essays


HW:
1. Bring your laptop and Oedipus to class tomorrow.

2. Continue working on your college essay; due Friday, September 19.; feel free to conference with me on your drafts as often as you need to.

3. For Thursday: Please reread the second half of Oedipus Rex and compose a reading ticket in which you do the following:

• Pick any three characters from the play (the chorus and the choragus count as a characters, too).

• Select one or two lines delivered by each of these characters in the second half of the play that reveal something significant.

• Explain what these lines reveal both about their speakers and about the play's larger patterns and themes. These analyses can be in the form of statements, questions, or both.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 25, 2014

Focus: Why is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex considered the root of all literary tragedies?

1. Warming up with happy Monday journaling and a few thoughts from your sheets of 26 questions

2. Perusing each other's reading tickets, musical chairs style

3. Engaging in a lively and revealing Socratic seminar on Oedipus Rex

4. Wrapping up the discussion (final 10 minutes)

HW:
1. Bring Oedipus Rex back to class tomorrow so that you can work on composing your first and second posts in class. If you own a laptop, please bring it to class tomorrow and Wednesday. I promise this will all make sense tomorrow.

2. For WEDNESDAY, please bring in any college essay prompts that you will be tackling this year (or perhaps next year if you're a junior).  Click HERE for the 2014-15 Common Application prompts.

3. If you are purchasing your own copy of East of Eden, please bring that to class starting Friday.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 22, 2014

Focus: Workshopping your first timed writings and exploring the college essay

1. Warming up with small group discussions on "Werewolves in Their Youth"

2. Performing a sample Thursday workshop (with the help of two brave volunteers)

3. Discussing the college essay and experimenting with two prompts

HW: 
1. Please start bringing Oedipus Rex to class next week; for MONDAY, please reread the first half of it and form a reading ticket using any FIVE of the 20 Socratic questions given out in class (also linked HERE).

2. If you plan to purchase East of Eden (which I do recommend), please do so by next Thursday.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 21, 2014

Focus: Assessing your timed writing prowess

1. Warm-up: A quick debriefing of yesterday's first Socratic

What went well?  What could be improved? Did anyone say anything that you remember today?

For a "wrap-up," try one (or more) of the following:

• What are some of the real "werewolves" / monsters in this story?
• What might Foster have to say about "Werewolves in Their Youth"?
• What might Perrine have to say? 

2. Composing your first Tuesday writing for A.P. Literature

HW: 
1. Please start bringing Oedipus Rex to class next week; for MONDAY, please reread the first half of it and form a reading ticket using any FIVE of the 20 Socratic questions given out in class (also linked HERE).

2. If you plan to purchase East of Eden (which I do recommend), please do so by next Thursday.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 20, 2014

Focus: What kinds of literary approaches are most helpful to us as readers?

If you have not done so yet, please turn in your signed class policies and your 26 questions at the beginning of class today. Thanks!

1. Considering why we read...and paying a little tribute to the late Robin Williams

• List the last five texts you've read (books, short stories, poems, articles, blogs, etc).
• Were they worth the time it took to read them?
• What was your purpose in reading them?

2. Reading and discussing Perrine's "Escape and Interpretation" (20 min)

3. Practicing Socratic seminar (25-30 min):

• Offering you an overview of what Socratic is and how it's assessed
• Prepping for Socratic with questions and nameplates

• What might Foster have to say about "Werewolves in Their Youth?"
• What about Perrine?
• Find a specific passage and form a question using one of the 20 formats distributed in class.

• Sampling Socratic with a 15 minute discussion of "Werewolves in Their Youth"
• (If time allows) debriefing what went well and what didn't

HW:
1. Bring notebook paper and a blue or black pen for tomorrow's first timed writing.
2. Reread "Werewolves" and the Perrine article to help yourself prepare for the timed writing; bring them both to class tomorrow.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: August 19, 2014

Focus: What does it mean to read like a professor?

1. Warm-up: Composing your 6-word memoir and sharing it...or not

2. Discussing How To Read Literature Like a Professor:

a. Commenting on each other's summer reading assignments, musical chairs style

b. Discussing your assigned chapters in small groups:

• Review, enjoy, and discuss each of your assigned chapters together, reading aloud pertinent passages and talking through your thoughts on Foster's main ideas. 

• For each chapter, please prepare the following to share with the class: 
• The best quotation (or two) of the chapter
• A summary of the chapter's main ideas
• Your opinion of this chapter
• An application to the fairy tale/children's story of your choice

c. Sharing your findings with the class and creating a "Pocket Foster" document as a class

3. Reading "Werewolves in Their Youth" in a large circle

HW:
1. Please complete your sheet of 26 questions and bring in your signed class policies by tomorrow (Wednesday).

2. Finish reading and annotating "Werewolves in Their Youth" for tomorrow's first Socratic seminar.

3. We will have our first timed writing on Thursday, and it will involve "'Werewolves" and Perrine.

Welcome back: August 18, 2014

Focus: What would we like to know about each other and about A.P. Literature?

1. Happy Monday journaling: Send a text to someone thanking them for something

Did you know...

• When your mind is in a happy state (as opposed to a negative or neutral state), you're significantly more efficient, competitive, and successful?

• "Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19 percent faster." (Achor The Happiness Advantage 15)

• "Optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56 percent." (15)

• Students in a happy mood before taking a match achievement test receive significantly better scores on average than students in a neutral state of mind. (15)

• You can rewire your brain to become happier by performing certain tasks on a regular basis?

2. Telling you a little about my journey

3. Introducing yourselves using the two-minute personality test

4. Enjoying a little flash fiction: Writing your 6-word memoir and sharing in small groups

5. Investigating the syllabus and calendar and asking me anything you'd like know

6. Distributing the sheets of 26 questions and "Werewolves in Their Youth"

HW:
1. Bring How To Read Literature Like a Professor and the summer assignment that correlates with it to class tomorrow (Tuesday). You will need these for discussion, and you will also be turning in this portion of the summer reading assignment tomorrow; don't worry about "Wild Geese" metacognitive just yet (unless it's already stapled to the rest of your summer assignment).

2. Please sign the class syllabus and fill in the sheet of 26 questions by Wednesday, August 20.

3. Read "Werewolves in Their Youth" by Wednesday; please prepare for Wednesday's Socratic seminar by annotating (I suggest trying out the Socratic stems handed out in class; they're also linked under the Socratic Seminar page on my website).

4. This Thursday you will have your first AP Lit timed writing; it will focus largely on "Werewolves in Their Youth."