A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 31, 2014

Focus: What does Act 5 of King Henry IV suggest about honor?

1. Warming up with a close reading of Vernon's description of Prince Hal; comparing it to Prince Hal's Act 1 soliloquy

[2. Reading Falstaff's speech about honor and viewing the Orson Welles performance of it and his thoughts on Falstaff as a nostalgic representation of an earlier, more innocent England.]

3. Preparing for Act 5 and mental jousting by considering the following questions:

• Henry IV is an honorable king.
• Honor pertains only to the dead, not to the living.

• Henry IV is essentially an anti-war play.

Quickly read through the scene summaries for Act 5, and for each one, jot down how the scene supports or challenges one or more of the statements above.

As you view The Hollow Crown's version of Act 5, consider what symbolic/directorial choices the film makes in responding to the statements above. Jot these down in your composition notebook.

After viewing, you will be assigned "agree" and "disagreer" roles, and you will be verbally jousting each other regarding the three statements above.

(Note to self: Act 5 is 24 minutes long and begins at 1:36:05

A heads-up: We will have a Tuesday writing, but it will not be Question 3; instead, it will be a poetry prompt that (as you could probably guess), focuses on a Shakespearean speech.

HW:

1. The majority of your draft should be completed by Monday; feel to share part or all of it with me for feedback (or, even better, come in for a conference).

2. By Friday of next week, please compose your big question blog entry for Henry IV, Part 1.

3. If you have your own copy of Invisible Man, please bring it to CMAS; your Invisible Man reading assignments start Monday night. Click HERE for the Invisible Man reading schedule.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 30, 2014

Focus: How can we better understand Henry IV through both performance and close readings?

1. Warming up with a few of your observations from yesterday

2. Viewing and analyzing the rest of Acts 3 and 4 in The Hollow Crown

3. Closely reading a few of Hotspur's speeches in Act 4

Round 1: Moments

• Images (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches)
• Diction (especially verbs)
• Metaphorical language (what's being compared to what and why?)
• Sound devices (alliteration, assonance, euphony, cacophony)
• Puns (words with double meanings)

Round 2: Movements

• Shifts (try circling your buts and sectioning the speech)
• Patterns (what categories do the images and diction fall into?)
• Extended metaphors (what's being compared to what and why?)
• How does this speech compare/contrast to other speeches in the play?

Round 3: Multiple Meanings

• Looking at Rounds 1 and 2, what are you learning about characters (and their foils)?
• What's changing and why?  What's staying the same?
• What larger statement might this play be making about what it means to be a true king or prince?  Or what it means to be valiant?  Or what honor is?

HW:

1. Continue revising your thesis, working on your outline, and developing your introduction and first body paragraph.  Remember that all analyses should stem from quotations that describe your concrete motif.  

2. If you plan to purchase Invisible Man, please do so by next Tuesday.

3. College essay revisions due by next Friday, November 7.  Please follow my revision policy.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 29, 2014

Focus: How does viewing a performance of Henry IV help us understand the shifts of Acts 3 and 4?

PLC: Shortened Class

1. Warming up with a partner: Establishing the underlying purpose of each scene in Acts 3 and 4; consider what's shifting and why

2. Viewing The Hollow Crown's version of Act 4 with the following focus:

Try to find three directorial (symbolic) choices in The Hollow Crown that emphasize or challenge the underlying purposes you have established for Acts 3 and 4; consider use of colors, physical movements, facial expressions, setting, etc.

(Note to self: Act 3 starts at 56:20; Act 4 starts around 1:24. Also, 4.1 and 4.2 are reversed.)

HW:
1. Please check your e-mail and revise your thesis; work on outlines and introductory paragraphs.  See me or e-mail me if you'd like any feedback along the way.

2. If plan to purchase your own copy of Invisible Man, which I highly, highly recommend, please do so by Tuesday of next week.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 28, 2014

Focus: How can we better understand Act 3 of Henry IV through performance?

If you were absent yesterday, please see yesterday's blog for important information regarding the literary essay you're drafting this week on your independent reading book.

1. Warming up with five minutes to dress and prep

2. Performing, enjoying, and discussing our Act 3 performance

3. If time allows, viewing The Hollow Crown's version of Act 3 and entertaining its symbolic choices

HW:
1. If you didn't e-mail me your thesis last night, please do so as soon as possible.

2. Compose your literary essay outline.  You may share it with me if you wish, but it's not required.

3.  If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 27, 2014

Focus: How can we better understand Henry IV by preparing a performance?

1. Warming up with happy, happy Monday

2. Offering you some thoughts on how to start writing an essay on your independent reading book

Click HERE for an overview of your first literary essay.
Click HERE for an example.
Click HERE for a thesis worksheet to get you started.

3. Returning to your acting companies and preparing your performance and mini lesson for Act 3

a. Please follow the same steps for preparing your Act 3 performance as you did for your Act 1 performance (see handout for details).

b. A new challenge: Give us something specific to focus on as we watch your scene (a guiding question, repetition of a specific word, use of symbolic prop, etc).  When you finish your performance, give us one follow-up question that you relates to what you asked us to focus on.  In other words, you're providing us an analytical frame for your performance.

Example:
  
Focus: As you watch Hal's speech from Act 1, note his physical movements as he delivers his soliloquy.

Follow-up: How did his movements parallel the significant shifts in his speech?

HW:

1. Be ready to deliver your moving Act 3 performances tomorrow.

2. Compose your literary essay thesis tonight and e-mail it to me; see the timeline in the overview linked above for further essay dates.

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 24, 2014

Focus: What larger picture do the little pixels form among the Henriad speeches?

1. Warming up: Regathering with your group for five minutes to finish up your speech explications from yesterday; if you finished yesterday, talk through it together to figure out what you'd like to emphasize as you share your findings with other groups

2. Jigsawing it out!  Four groups of six shall become six groups of four

a. Share and care, kids.  Share and care.  Reveal your brilliant epiphanies and feel free to ask questions, too.  Go in the order of the speeches.

b. Discuss the larger patterns that emerge when you see these speeches right next to each other.  What's repeated? What changes and how?  What stays the same and why?

c. How does the first speech, in which Henry takes the throne, compare to the final speech, in which Hal ascends the throne?


3. Returning to your acting companies and starting to prepare your performance and mini lesson for Act 3

a. Please follow the same steps for preparing your Act 3 performance as you did for your Act 1 performance (see handout for details).

b. A new challenge: Give us something specific to focus on as we watch your scene (a guiding question, repetition of a specific word, use of symbolic prop, etc).  When you finish your performance, give us one follow-up question that you relates to what you asked us to focus on.  In other words, you're providing us an analytical frame for your performance.

Example:
  
Focus: As you watch Hal's speech from Act 1, note his physical movements as he delivers his soliloquy.

Follow-up: How did his movements parallel the significant shifts in his speech?

HW:

1. You have less than one week remaining to finish reading your independent reading novel. Remember that you're looking for one concrete motif to follow throughout the novel.  You will be writing the essay next week.

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Shakespearenness: October 23, 3014

Focus: How do you explicate a speech/poem, and how will it help us understand Henry IV?

1. Warming up with small group discussions on yesterday's Act 2 questions

2. Learning how to explicate a speech with a few helpful tools (you'll need my website for this)

3. Explicating speeches from the Henry plays to gain a richer understanding of patterns

HW:
1. Please finish whatever speech explication steps you did not finish in class today; you need to be ready to share your work first thing tomorrow.

2. You have less than one week remaining to finish reading your independent reading novel. Remember that you're looking for one concrete motif to follow throughout the novel.  

3. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 22, 2014

Focus: What larger ideas do Shakespeare's little scenes represent?

1. Warming up with The Hollow Crown's version of Hal's speech and discussing revealing imagery, diction, sound devices, and metaphors (and, by the way, whom does he name as his foil?)

(Note to self: Prince Hal's soliloquy starts around 11:02)

How do Prince Hal's physical movements reflect shifts in his soliloquy?

2. Viewing Act 2 with a focus on the following:

(Note to self: Act 2 starts at 21:19, and 2.1 is skipped)

Why does Shakespeare offer us a personal conversation between Hotspur and his wife in 2.3?  What new view of Hotspur does it give us? What qualities do we see in him?

As you watch Prince Hal in the Tavern of Eastcheap, what do you notice about how people react to him?  What qualities does he have that might make him a good king one day?

Why might Shakespeare have included the role playing scene between Prince Hal and Falstaff?  What larger ideas might this scene evoke?

What words and phrases do you hear Falstaff repeat?  Why might this be?

What do you think Falstaff represents?  When Falstaff says, "Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world" (2.4.496), what do you think he means?

What directorial choices are you noticing that add to your understanding of the play?  (Symbolic objects, colors, costumes, casting, movements, etc.)

3. Wrapping up with thoughts and questions

HW:

1. You have less than one week remaining to finish reading your independent reading novel. Remember that you're looking for one concrete motif to follow throughout the novel.  

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Shakespeare: October 21, 2014

Focus: How can deepen our understanding of Henry IV by reading it like poetry?

1. Offering you a little helpful background on the genealogy behind Henry IV

2. Finishing the Scene 3 performance and discussion

3. Enjoying a quick mini lesson: Foils

A quick quiz on foils...

Harry Potter's foil is....because....  What does Harry's foil reveal about Harry?

Batman's foil is...because...  What does Batman's foil reveal about Batman?

On Breaking Bad, Walter's foil is... because...  What does Walter's foil reveal about Walter?

On Friends, Monica Geller's foil is... because...  What does Monica's foil reveal about Monica?

On Game of Thrones, Lord Renly Baratheon's foil is... because... What does his foil reveal about him?

In The Hunger Games, Peta's foil is... because... What does Peta's foil reveal about Peta?

In Scrubs, JD's foil is... because... What does JD's foil reveal about JD?

In East of Eden, Samuel Hamilton's foil is...because... What does Samuel's foil reveal about Samuel?

In Henry IV, Prince Hal's foil is...because... What does Hal's foil reveal about Hal?

In Henry IV, King Henry IV's foil is... because... What does Henry IV's foil reveal about Henry IV?

4. Performing close readings of three central Act 1 speeches (one from each act) with Moments, Movements, and Multiple Meanings

Round 1: Moments

What images, diction, sound devices, and possible symbols/metaphors grab your attention (aka make you take a moment)?

Round 2: Movement

What larger patterns are you noticing among sound devices and images? Categories?

Is there an extended metaphor lurking in there? What represents what and why?

Any shifts happening?  From what to what?

Anything evolving, devolving, or otherwise changing?

Round 3: Multiple meanings

What larger understanding of characters, foils, conflicts, situations, and/or themes does this speech offer?

HW:

1. You have less than one week remaining to finish reading your independent reading novel. Remember that you're looking for one concrete motif to follow throughout the novel.  

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

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

Focus: What can we discover about Henry IV through performance?

1. Warming up with happy Monday thoughts

2. Taking ten minutes to prepare for your presentations; each group needs to give me one rubric with all of your names on it (be sure to include absent members)

3. Delivering your Act 1 performances; discussing your symbolic choices

Here's what happens in Scene 1 (or 2 or 3)
1.
2.
3.

What do we learn about characters and conflicts in this scene?

4. If time allows, exploring the fascinating genealogy of Henry IV's family

HW:
1. You have one week left to finish your independent reading book.

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

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

PSAT: Shortened Class

Focus: What can learn about Henry IV through performance?

1. Warming up for your performances with any questions you may have

2. Practicing, practicing, practicing

HW:
1. Prepare for your performances on Monday.

2. Independent reading (this is a great time to catch up/finish).

3. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: October 14, 2014

Focus: What can we learn about characters and themes through performance?

1. Warming up with The Hollow Crown trailer

As you watch, try to find objects and colors with symbolic significance, and consider what they might symbolize.

2. Reading the overview of your acting company performances and giving you time to prepare

3. Wrapping up with goal-setting for tomorrow

HW:
1. Please remind your parents that I will only be at conferences on Wednesday night.

2. As a group, decide what you need to finish preparing before tomorrow; performances will take place Monday, and class tomorrow is only about 28 minutes long.

3. Independent reading (books must be finished by October 27).

4. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: October 13, 2014

žFocus: What can we learn about Henry IV through performing a single scene?

1. Warming up: Happy Monday journaling on one aspect of you as a son/daughter that your parents value

ž2. Performing two read-throughs of Act 2, scene 2 (sitting in a circle)

The first read through:

Who are these guys? How do you know?

What is going on here?

Do these guys know each other well?

žWho is the boss of this group?

Who would like to be the boss?  How do you know?  Is there more than one boss?

In between read throughs:

žwhoreson caterpillar = miserable parasite

žgorbellied = great bellied

žcolt = trick

žuncolted = unhorsed

žpeach = to inform on žsomeone

Where does this scene take place?

What time of day is it?

Who is the most important person in the scene?

žWho thinks he’s the most important?The second read through

The second read through:

žMake notes on new information you discover the second time around.

What does the performance emphasize in terms of character interpretation, conflicts, situation, etc?

žWhat new understanding of this scene and the play as a whole does the performance help you achieve?

3. Assigning and starting to prepare Act 1 scenes with your acting companies

žHW: 

1. Please read the summaries of the scenes in Act 1 by tomorrow; you will have tomorrow and a shortened class on Wednesday to prepare your performances, which will take place on Monday.

2.  If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

3. Independent reading (the first week is now up, and you have about two more weeks to finish your book).

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

Focus: What background information do we need before entering the world of Henry IV?

ž1. Warming up with the illustrated character chart: Making inferences

žWhat can you infer about the characters based on their caricatures and descriptions?  Feel free to ask questions, too.

žWhat is the central political conflict of the play?

žWhat might be some of the play’s social conflicts?

žWhat psychological conflicts might the play entail?

2. žDividing the class into the Courtiers, the Rebels, and the Pub Crawlers; performing “The 15 Minute Henry”

žRead over the entire script together at least once.

žParaphrase your lines to ensure that every person in your group understands them.

žDecide how you will deliver these lines; consider tone, dramatic pauses, volume, body posture, gestures, etc.

žSelect costumes that fit your character group, literally or symbolically.

žPractice a few times.

3. žDesignating King Henry’s court, the Boar’s Head Tavern, and the rebel camp

ž

4. Returning to the illustrated character chart and drawing larger conclusions

HW:

1. Independent reading (books must be finished by Oct 27)

2. If you choose to revise your college essay, you must do so by November 7.  Attach your new draft to the original one with my comments; highlight all changes on your new draft and type of brief explanation of what you changed and why.

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

Focus: How do we find the balance between summary, specific examples, and analysis when responding to Open Response #3?

1. Warming up: Giving you some important information about parent-teacher conferences (click HERE for a copy of the letter distributed in class)

2. Looking over the rubric together

3. Exploring the strengths and weakness of a few of your essays

4. Editing each other's essays

Round 1: Thesis and topic sentences

Round 2: Supporting examples

Round 3: Summary vs. analysis

Round 4: Style

HW: 
1. Please give the parent-teacher conference letter to your parents/guardians.

2. Independent reading (books must be finished by October 27)

3. If you have a school copy of East of Eden, please turn it in today or tomorrow (unless you're still finishing your big question blog).

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

Focus: How can we synthesize ideas about East of Eden through our timed writing?

1. Warming up with an inspiring presentation on Part 4

2. Returning your previous timed writing

3. Using East of Eden to work through Open Response #3

HW:
1. Reading your independent novel (make sure you have set a specific schedule, recorded it in your student calendar, and followed it thus far).

2. If you need to add any finishing touches to your East of Eden blog, please do so tonight.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: October 7, 2014

Focus: What moments, movements, and meanings are we taking away from East of Eden?

1. Warming up by revising the very first chapter of the novel: How does it tell you every single thing you need to know about the rest of the book?

2. Forming three "paintings" for each of the novel's four parts

a. With your group, find one pattern in your part--something that's important to your part of the novel and evolves, or devolves, or otherwise shifts a bit.

b. Find three different passages that illustrate how this pattern develops throughout your part.

c. For each passage, make a "painting/sculpture/still life" using the members of your group to represent each quotation.  Try to make some symbolic choices in your pose, and hold the pose while someone in your group reads the passage.

d. Be prepared to explain your pattern, passages, and artistic choices.


3. Using your big question blog to isolate important moments, movements (patterns), and meanings in East of Eden

HW:
1. Prepare for tomorrow's timed writing by completing your big question blog for East of Eden.

2. Follow the independent reading schedule you have (hopefully) set for yourself.

A.P. Literature and Awesomeness: October 6, 2014

Focus: What does Steinbeck reveal to us in his final chapters?

1. Happy Monday journaling

2. Warming up with fire...kind of literally

Take a look at Lee's commentary on fire (598).  Put it into your own words and consider whether or not you agree with him.

Revisit the three scenes in recent reading in which a character sets something on fire:

• Sheriff Quinn's burning of explicit photos (558)
• Cal's burning of the money (565-6)
• Abra's burning of Aron's letters (578, 583)

In each scene, what does the fire release?  What does it destroy?

Why is destruction by fire (vs. a different method of destruction) appropriate to these particular objects?

What do these objects have in common?

3. Enjoying our final Socratic seminar on East of Eden

4. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Set a specific reading schedule for your independent reading book and record the page/chapter numbers directly into your student calendar. You need to finish by Monday, October 27.

2. Bring your laptops an East of Eden to class tomorrow.

3. Your Tuesday writing on East of Eden will actually take place on Wednesday; you will have some class time on Tuesday to finish your big question blog on East of Eden.

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

Focus: What larger ideas are manifested through Cal and Aron?

Please make me give back your stuff!!!

1. Warming up with two quick activities:

Reading a quick recap of the original Cain and Abel and freewriting on to what extent this story is coming true, word for word in East of Eden with Cal and Aron.  How does the idea of timshel come into play in the recent reading (or does it)?

Enjoying a little musical chairs with your reading tickets (question, response, follow-up question)

2. Discussing Chapters 44 through 49 of East of Eden via Socratic seminar

3. Wrapping up

HW:
1. Complete your final East of Eden reading assignment!  Your reading ticket is to start working on your big question blog.

2. You need your independent reading book by Tuesday at the latest.

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

Focus: How can we synthesize what we know about poetry so far to help us in the multiple choice section of the A.P. test?

1. Warming up: Small group color coding of "A Whippoorwill in the Woods"

• Round 1: What imagery and diction grabs your attention?

• Round 2: What extended metaphor is emerging?  What two things are being compared, and what do they specifically have in common? Which images contribute to the extended metaphor and how?

• Round 3: Are there any shifts/movements in the poem? How so?

• Round 4: What sound devices do you notice throughout the poem?

• Round 5: What kinds of patterns are you starting to notice among the sound devices?

• Round 6: Try to draw together some of the imagery, the extended metaphor and the sound devices to develop a statement about the poem's larger meanings.

2. Trying out the multiple choice questions individually

3. Debriefing the answers as a class

HW:
1. Follow the East of Eden reading schedule for tomorrow (the Socratic questions are the reading ticket).

2. Acquire your independent reading novel.