A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: October 1, 2014

Focus: How can we form thought-provoking questions for a strong discussion?

PLC: Shortened Class

Henry, usually the happiest person in America, was not so happy last night.  He has a raging ear infection and a fever of 103, so as much as I miss you all, I need to stay home and just be his mama today.  Please carry on as though I were there.

1. Warming up: Snap back to reality (there goes gravity) with some good question asking

I'm getting the sense from Socratic that some of you may feel more comfortable answering questions than asking them.  To help you figure out how to form strong questions, I'm offering you a little handout that I wish I had used in my Socratic seminars when I was in college.

Please read over both sides, and try using it with today's and tonight's reading.  It will be your ticket for our Socratic on Friday.

2. Reading Chapter 44 aloud together (it would be great to have different people reading different characters) and developing one or two Socratic questions using the sheet

3. Offering you time to continue reading and question-posing on your own to prepare for our final two Socratic seminars

HW:
1. Finish reading through Chapter 49 for Friday.  Your reading ticket?  How about questions?  How many?  How about 10-15 good Socratic seminar questions like the ones we tried today?

2. Get your hands on your independent reading book; you will want to start reading it on Monday of next week.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 30, 2014

Focus: How can sound devices help us unlock poetry?

1. Warming up: Describing three different oceans using only your sense of sound

Relaxing ocean waves
Somewhat stormy ocean waves
Violent ocean waves


2. Offering you some of my favorite poetic sound devices

Euphony: Pleasing to the ear, harmonious

Cacophony: Harsh, discordant, unpleasant sounds

The hollow "O"

Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words (the snake slithered silently)

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds (think "Lose Yourself" lyrics by Eminem)


3. Enjoying several poems together using only our ears

What sounds are you noticing?

How do the sounds contribute to/create the larger meanings of the poems?


HW:
1. Follow the East of Eden reading assignment for tomorrow (Chapters 41, 42, and 43); reading ticket can be any of the options you've been using.

2. Acquire your independent reading novel if you have not done so yet.

3.  There will be a Tuesday writing one week from tomorrow in which you address East of Eden.

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

Focus: What dualities have been warring inside each character, and how have these battles changed over time?

1. Warming up with a partner: Choose two characters who have evolved (or devolved, or not changed much) over time. For each character, try the following:

• Find a description of this character as a young child, a description of this character as a teenager or young adult, and a description of this character as an older adult (if you're looking at Cal or Aron, just find three descriptions of them spread out across time since they're still teenagers).

• Read these three passages for each character closely, examining Steinbeck's diction.

• What has aspects of this character's personality have changed over time?  Why have these aspects changed / what prompted these changes?

• What has aspects of this character have remained unchanged?  Why haven't these parts of the character changed?

• Consider some of the timeless dualities at war in this character (good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, white vs. black, love vs. hate, fate vs, free will, sight vs. blindness, etc).  At this point in the novel, does one side seem to be dominating this character?

2. Discussing Chapters 34-40 in Socratic Seminar

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Follow the East of Eden reading assignment for Wednesday (Chapters 41, 42, and 43); reading ticket can be any of the options you've been using.

2. Acquire your independent reading novel if you have not done so yet.

3.  You will be disappointed to learn that there is no Tuesday writing tomorrow; there will be a Tuesday writing one week from tomorrow in which you address East of Eden.

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

Focus: How do good and evil die and come back to life in East of Eden?

1. Warming up with the first pages of Part 4

Think of some of the characters who have passed away so far in the novel (Cyrus, Una, Samuel, Charles, Dessie, Tom?).

• How does this chapter apply to their deaths and the way other characters responded to their deaths?  In other words, were their vices "attempted short cuts to love"?  Did they die unloved? Did they choose a course of thought or action? Did their deaths bring no pleasure to the world?  

• Now think of some of the living characters in the novel.  How does this chapter apply to their lives? How are they caught in contest of good and evil? Is one side winning? If evil is respawning, what different faces is it assuming?  If virtue is immortal, how is it living on as it always has?

2. Enjoying a Socratic Seminar on Chapters 31-33

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Read chapters 34-40 in East of Eden; select any of the reading ticket possibilities from the Socratic Seminar page on my website.

2. Acquire your independent reading book.

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

Focus: What can sestinas teach us about poetic form and meaning?

1. Warming up with "Here in Katmandu"

Moment (Which metaphors, words, phrases, images, etc. make you pause?)

Movement (What patterns start to emerge? Is there an extended metaphor? Where do you see progress, regression, shifts, repetition, circularity?)

Multiple Meanings (What complex ideas can infer about the speaker, situation, tone, themes?)

How does the structure of the poem fit its multiple meanings?


2. Trying out "Sestina" as a class; attacking the multiple choice as individuals

3. Working through some of the harder questions together

HW:
1. Please finalize your independent reading/essay proposal by Friday. Go ahead and acquire your book if you're pretty sure that I will approve it.

2. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule (31, 32, and 33); we will have a Socratic seminar on Friday.  For your reading ticket, please perform a close reading on the passage of your choice from chapters 31, 32, or 33 following the same method we used in class today.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 24, 2014

Focus: What interesting ideas lie in the little details of East of Eden?

1. Warming up with a close look at Doxology

Definition of "doxology": The utterance of praise to God; thanksgiving (from www.oed.com)

Reread Samuel's conversation with Adam about Doxology on pages 302 to 303.

• What details of Samuel's description of Doxology stand out? What might they reveal?

• Do you think Doxology's name is meant to be ironic or not? Explain your thinking.

• What does Samuel's conversation with Adam reveal about Samuel's way of thinking vs. Adam's?

• Why might Steinbeck include this conversation about Doxology right before Samuel gives Adam the "medicine"?

2. Close reading the setting in Chapter 25 together

3. Unraveling important passages from Chapters 27-30 in small groups

With your group, please try out the following...

a. Find one passage in each of the chapters for today (27-30) that seems rich enough for a close reading like the one we did together.

b. Read each one aloud and discuss significant imagery, diction, characterization, metaphors, symbols, and anything else that interests you.

c. Discuss the larger effect of the passage.  Why might Steinbeck have placed it here/how does it relate to what has just happened and what's about to happen?

d. What might Foster have to say about this passage?

HW:
1. Please finalize your independent reading/essay proposal by Friday.

2. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule (31, 32, and 33); we will have a Socratic seminar on Friday.  For your reading ticket, please perform a close reading on the passage of your choice from chapters 31, 32, or 33 following the same method we used in class today.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 23, 2014

Focus: What is the purpose of the independent literary essay, and how do I begin?

1. Warming up: Dancing with the Victorians and sporting with the Victorians

What inferences can you make about Victorian life based on this clip?

Just for fun...a modern remake of Emma.

a. If you have not studied a Victorian novel in an English class, I strongly recommend that you take this opportunity to read one.

• Click here for a list of Victorian novels.

b. If you have studied a Victorian novel in an English class (for example, you read Pride and Prejudice in A.P. Language), I recommend that you select one of the books referenced in Open Response Question #3.

• Click here for a list of every novel and play referenced in Open Response Question #3.

2. Offering you an overview of the independent literary essay

3. Taking time to listen to a few passages, browse books and fill out your proposals

4. If time allows, giving you a little East of Eden reading time

HW:

1. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule (Chapters 27 through 30 for Wednesday); select one of the reading ticket options from the Socratic webpage.

2. Complete your independent reading proposal by Friday.

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

Focus: What are the interesting gray areas in East of Eden so far?

1. Warming up: Thinking about what makes you lucky

2. Enjoying a flurry of reading tickets and deciding on which topics must be discussed today

3. Socratic Seminar: Discussing Chapters 16-26 in East of Eden

4. Wrapping up

HW:
1. If you have a laptop, bring it to class tomorrow.

2. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule (Chapters 27 through 30 for Wednesday); select one of the reading ticket options from the Socratic webpage.

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

Focus: What dualities are emerging in East of Eden so far, and what do they mean?

Please turn in your college essays at the start of class.

1. Warming up: Brainstorming a list of Steinbeck's dualities (opposites)

2. Creating Venn diagrams and continuums to examine these dualities more closely

3. Comparing notes and defending your claims; developing generalizations about Steinbeck's purpose

Ex: In Steinbeck's East of Eden, the characters who receive the least love as children are incapable of loving others as adults.

In East of Eden, Steinbeck demonstrates that the most passionate souls are also the least changeable.

4. Offering you a little time to read

HW:
1. Please read through Chapter 26 for Monday's Socratic; for your reading ticket, continue following one or more of the dualisms discussed in class today.  Please type the dualism, three passages from the weekend reading that relate to the dualism, and a quick brainstorming underneath each passage that explains how this passage deepens/challenges your understanding of the dualism.

2. There's no #2 since you turned in your college essay today!

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 18, 2014

Focus: How can we improve our timed writings?

1. Warming up: Unraveling the mysterious language of the A.P. rubric

2. Examining a few sample student essays on "To Paint a Water Lily" and the readers' comments

3. Workshopping the essays of a few dauntless volunteers

HW:
1. Please finish/bring your reading ticket on Part 1 vs. Part 2 to class tomorrow; also, if you haven't yet finished Part 2 (say, because A.P. Lit may not be the only thing going on in your life), try to finish by tomorrow.  If you can't, catch up over the weekend but remember that there will be a new reading assignment for Monday.

2. College essays are due tomorrow.  A few key details:

• Make sure you have included the prompt (and word limit if there is one) at the top of your essay.

• Please double space.

• If you are absent tomorrow, please Google share your essay with by 3:00 pm and bring a hard copy on Monday.

A.P. Literature and Aweseomness: September 17, 2014

Focus: What makes a college essay effective? 

1. Warming up: Differentiating between showing (storytelling) and telling (reflecting)

An example of showing/storytelling
An example of telling/reflecting

2. Looking at three darn good college essays and figuring out what makes them work

Madison's essay: Favorite lines? What's she like? How do you know?

Katherine's essay: Where is she storytelling? Where is she reflecting? Try color coding.

Maria's essay: What extended metaphor did she create? What makes it work?


3. Working on your own college essays and trying out a few tricks

• Start with something concrete--use your storytelling voice instead of your reflective, summarizing voice.

• Use imagery, and use more than one sense; recreate your universe for the reader.

• Find a balance between storytelling and reflecting (i.e. the voiceover) that works for you.

• Have someone who doesn't know you particularly well read your essay and try to describe you based on the essay alone.  

4. If time allows, exploring the ending of Part 2 in small groups

HW:
1. College essays due this Friday.  If you are absent on Friday, please Google share your essay with me by 3 pm Friday and bring a hard copy the following Monday.

2. No new reading assignment for Friday since your essay is due; but Chapters 23 through 26 are due Monday.  Bring East of Eden to class on Friday for an activity that brings together everything you've read so far.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 16, 2014

Focus: How can we use sound to contribute to our understanding of poetry?

1. Warming up: Celebrating some of your excellent close readings of imagery

The images of the stone, sea, and sky converge to create the notion that his Kingdom of Stone is eternal. The images of stone serve to characterize this kingdom as stoic and study. It is a place without glitz or pettiness; there is no color, gold, or culture. Essentially this place is as bare as a simple gray stone; however, stone has power...The island of stone lies within an ominous sea with "groaning icebergs" like sentries to a cold, hard place. The sea isolates and connects; the Kingdom of Stone is set apart by a gray Atlantic, yet, it facilitates travel and knowledge of the world of which they cannot be a part.
(Gabby)

2. Working through a mini lesson on two sound devices

Alliteration (the silent snake slithered stealthily)

Exact rhyme (also called perfect rhyme) vs. Slant rhyme (also called imperfect rhyme)

Sounds are way of establishing patterns among words.  A few questions to ask yourself when you notice a sound pattern:

• Why are these particular words being brought together? 

• What larger pattern/effect do they contribute to?

• Is the sound euphonious (lovely and pleasant sounding), or cacophonous (ugly and harsh sounding), and how does this contribute to tone?

If you're looking at slant rhyme in particular, try also asking yourself what it means that these words fail to rhyme perfectly.  In other words, what is keeping them connected yet slightly disconnected?

3. Trying Tuesday Writing #3: "To Paint a Water Lily"

HW:
1. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule: Read through the end of Part 2. For your reading ticket, please type half a page (double spaced) in response to the following question: Consider how the novel is structured so far.  What important difference do you notice between Part 1 and Part 2?  In other words, what has shifted, how has it shifted, and why is this important?  Any predictions for Part 3?

2. College essays due this Friday.  Please bring your draft to class tomorrow for a 20-30 minute workshop (hard copy or Google doc--whatever you prefer).

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 15, 2014

Focus: How are things evolving (or devolving) in East of Eden so far?

1. Warming up with happy Monday journaling: One immediate thing to look forward to, one far off thing to look forward to

2. Giving your reading tickets the attention they deserve

2. Socratic Seminar: Chapters 10-15 of East of Eden

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Tomorrow we will have Tuesday writing.  Please have your extended metaphor poetry packets in class with you.

2. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule: Read through the end of Part 2. For your reading ticket, please type half a page (double spaced) in response to the following question: Consider how the novel is structured so far.  What important difference do you notice between Part 1 and Part 2?  In other words, what has shifted, how has it shifted, and why is this important?  Any predictions for Part 3?

3. College essays due this Friday.  Please bring your draft to class on Wednesday for a 20-30 minute workshop.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 12, 2014

Pep Assembly: Shortened, sleepy class

Focus: How do we ready ourselves for a fantastic Socratic on East of Eden?

1. Warming up by reading East of Eden

2. Reading East of Eden

3. Taking a break to read East of Eden

4. Wrapping up by reading East of Eden

HW:
1. Read East of Eden (please read through Chapter 15 for Monday's Socratic; you only need one reading ticket for Chapters 10-15).

2. College essays are due September 19.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 11, 2014

Focus: How can we unlock the extended metaphors in poetry?

1. Warming up: Sharing with you my 9/11 experience

2. Returning to our favorite shut up poet: Emily Dickinson

Can I get two or three volunteers to walk us through your thought process and annotations for "They Shut Me Up in Prose?"

3. Trying to uncover the elusive extended metaphor in "To Paint a Water Lily" with a color coding exercise

• Round 1: What object serves as the central symbol? (The title often gives it away.)

• Round 2: What might it symbolize? (What connotations do you have with this object?)

• Round 3: What action/verb goes along with this object?  (What connotations do you have with this action?)

• Round 4: Which images contribute to the extended metaphor and how?

• Round 5: Does the metaphor's meaning shift throughout the poem? How so?

• Round 6: Try out a thesis that goes something like this: ______ uses the extended metaphor of painting a water lily in order to _____________________ but also to __________________.

4. Outlining how you would rephrase your thesis and support it if you were actually writing this essay

HW:

1. Continue following the East of Eden reading schedule, but you do not need a reading ticket tomorrow.  In fact, remember that most (if not all) of your class time tomorrow will devoted to East of Eden reading time.

2. College essay due September 19. 

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 10, 2014

PLC: Shortened Class

Focus: What makes Cathy a monster, and what's her purpose in East of Eden so far?

1. Warming up by getting in a circle and taking out your last two reading tickets (it's not much of a warm-up, but we barely have enough time for Socratic as is)

2. Socratic seminar: Discussing Chapters 8 and 9 from East of Eden

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. College essays due September 19. 

2. Read chapters 10 through 13 for Friday. This is a huge reading assignment (and it's Homecoming Week), so I'm happy to forgo Socratic on Friday, give you some class time to read, and hopefully have an awe-inspiring Socratic seminar on Monday.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 9, 2014

Focus: How can we unlock the extended metaphors in poetry?

1. Warming up with "Riptide"

What's an extended metaphor?

• What object serves as the central symbol? (The title often gives it away.)

• What might it symbolize? (What connotations do you have with this object?)

• What action/verb goes along with this object?  (What connotations do you have with this action?)

• Which images contribute to the extended metaphor and how?

• Does the metaphor's meaning shift throughout the poem? How so?

• Try out a thesis that goes something like this: Vance Joy uses the extended metaphor of the riptide in order to....

2. Trying to take off Emily Dickinson's clothes with Billy Collins

3. If time allows, uncovering the slightly less yielding extended metaphor in "They Shut Me up in Prose"

HW:
1. College essay due September 19. Hey--isn't that 10 days from now?  Yes, yes it is.

2. Follow the reading schedule, which has you reading the awesome 8th and 9th chapters of East of Eden; please refer to the same reading ticket possibilities that you used for today's reading ticket.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 8, 2014

Focus: According to Steinbeck, how do our families shape us? To what extent do outside circumstance shape us?

1. Warming up with a little creative writing: An imitation of Steinbeck's geneology

Take a look at the amazing geneology (family history) Steinbeck delineates in Chapter 5.

• Pick any 4-5 paragraphs (they don't need to be consecutive) and perform an imitation of these paragraphs with your own family history.  

• One suggestion: Some family members, whether or not you actually knew them, form sharper, more intriguing images in your mind than others.  Which grandmothers, stepfathers, crazy uncles adopted parents, cousins, older brothers/sisters, etc. can you can describe in some detail?  Which ones have a story or two you could tell?

• One more suggestion: Try to use the opening line of each paragraph, or at least the opening word or two, adjusting it to fit your family member.

• For example, Steinbeck writes, "Tom, the third son, was most like his father. He was born in fury and he lived in lightning" (39).

• I might write, "Diana, the third daughter, was least like her sisters.  She was born in small town simplicity but lived in worldly cleverness."

2. Small group tacklings of the tough questions that Steinbeck has frustratingly raised without clear answers

Turning to Foster for help...

Marked for greatness (scars and wooden legs)?

Baptism (Adam's swim through the river, rainy weather)?

Illness (consumption?  Galloping pneumonia)?

Geography?

The Bible?

• Quickly review what Foster has to say about the topics above.

• Form at least three good, Socratic-style questions regarding your topic.  Please bring in specific passages (and page numbers) as often as possible.

• Switch!  Discuss the questions sitting in front of you and be prepared to share some of your ponderings with the class.

3. Large group sharing of some of your most informative questions and responses

HW:
1. College essay due September 19.

2. Follow the reading schedule, which has you reading the awesome 8th and 9th chapters of East of Eden; please refer to the same reading ticket possibilities that you used for today's reading ticket.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 5, 2014

Focus: What dualities (tensions between opposing forces) does Steinbeck set up in the first chapters of East of Eden?

1. Warming up: Sharing aloud your favorite descriptions of...

1. Setting
2. Samuel Hamilton
3. Liza Hamilton
4. Adam Trask
5. Cyrus Trask
6. Alice Trask
7. Charles Trask

As you listen, what dualities are you starting to notice?

2. Socratic seminar: East of Eden, Introduction and Chapters 1-3

Click HERE for the story of Cain and Abel.

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Follow the reading schedule for East of Eden (Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7).

2. For Monday's reading ticket, please try out one of the Reading Ticket Possibilities linked HERE (also found on the Socratic Seminar page of my website) to think through Chapters 4-7. 

2. College essays are due September 19.  That's in exactly two weeks, in case you're counting.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 4, 2014

Focus: How do we move from identifying imagery to establishing patterns?

1. Warm-up: Offering you my timed writing tip of the day:

Look for the SHIFT.  
This is less eloquently known as circling your buts (and your howevers, yets, insteads, and other words that indicate shift).  Most poems and prose pieces have at least one shift; some are obvious, and some are more subtle.  Keep an eye out for changes in character, imagery, and tone and ask yourself what the author is trying to do and how he/she is trying to do it.

2. Trying to find the shift in this quick poem by Billy Collins:
Questions to consider:

• Where is the shift?
• What is the shift (from what to what)?
• Why is the shift important to the poem as a whole?

Child Development

As sure as prehistoric fish grew legs
and sauntered off the beaches into forests
working up some irregular verbs for their
first conversation, so three-year-old children
enter the phase of name-calling.

Every day a new one arrives and is added
to the repertoire. You Dumb Goopyhead,
You Big Sewerface, You Poop-on-the-Floor
(a kind of Navaho ring to that one)
they yell from knee level, their little mugs
flushed with challenge.
Nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out
in a pub, but then the toddlers are not trying
to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.

They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.

The mature save their hothead invective
for things: an errant hammer, tire chains,
or receding trains missed by seconds,
though they know in their adult hearts,
even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed
for his appalling behavior,
that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids,
their wives are Dopey Dopeheads
and that they themselves are Mr. Sillypants. 

Billy Collins

3. Looking back over Tuesday's poem together in small groups

If you were section this poem into stanzas, how would you do it?  Draw lines to indicate places where you would insert breaks.

• Where is the most important shift?
• What is the shift (from what to what)?
• Why is the shift important to the poem as a whole

In each section you have created, consider the following:

• Which images stood out to you in this section?
• What connotations did these images offer?
• What patterns do you notice among images in each section? Throughout the poem as a whole?

3. Workshopping each other's Tuesday writings

HW:
1. Please bring East of Eden to class tomorrow; complete your first reading assignment by tomorrow (follow the reading schedule). For your reading ticket, consider one or more of the questions you brainstormed on today.  Please type half a page to a full page on how Steinbeck would respond to one of those questions based on the first three chapters of the novel.

2. Continue working on college essay, due Sep 19 (come conference with me!).

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 3, 2014

Focus: What's at the heart of East of Eden?

1. Warming up with a snack!  It's snack day!

2. Exploring the first little note together

3. Freewriting on and discussing a few thought-provoking questions to get you ready for East of Eden

4. Relaxing into the first pages

HW:
1. Please bring East of Eden to class on Friday; complete your first reading assignment by Friday (follow the reading schedule). For your reading ticket, consider one or more of the questions you brainstormed on today.  Please type half a page to a full page on how Steinbeck would respond to one of those questions based on the first three chapters of the novel.

2. Continue working on college essay, due Sep 19 (come conference with me!).

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: September 2, 2014

Focus: What does a close reading look like in this class?

1. Warming up with a physically close reading of the first page of The Lowland

2. Trying out a focused Tuesday writing (30 minutes)

a. Annotate the poem by marking significant images and jotting down in the margins what they might reveal.
b. Brainstorm.
c. Compose a thesis that responds to the prompt.
d. Write ONE strong body paragraph that uses imagery to respond to the prompt.

HW:
1. Please bring East of Eden to class tomorrow; complete your first reading assignment by Friday (follow the reading schedule).

2. Continue working on college essay, due Sep 19 (come conference with me!).

3. Your big question post on Oedipus should be done by today.