A.P. Lit Is Getting Ready for the Big Test! December 15, 2014

Focus: What area few last-minute things we can do to prepare for the midterm?

Please turn in your poetry essays.

1. Warming up with our final poetry projects

2. Sampling our review stations

Review Station 1: Poetry multiple choice

Review Station 2: Prose multiple choice

Review Station 3: Free responses

Review Station 4: Invisible Man blogs


3. Cooling down with a tiebreaker

HW:
1. Remember that our final exam takes place tomorrow (Tuesday, December 16). The exam will begin promptly at 10:30 and will continue until about 2:00 pm.  I will bring bagels and cream cheese, but if you'd like something else to eat, please bring it with you.

2. Final grades will be posted by the end of the day on Thursday.

A.P. Literature Is Enjoying Some Poetry: December 12, 2014

Focus: How can others' projects deepen our understanding of poetry?

1. Warming up with a little trivia (and some good acapella music)

2. Enjoying each others' poetry projects

3. Cooling down with Billy Collins' poetry project

HW:
1. Paper people...anyone turning one in today?  Anybody?

2. Finish that Invisible Man blog before your final on Tuesday.

3. Literary essay revisions?

A.P. Literature Is Enjoying Poetry: December 11, 2014

Focus: What can we learn about poetry from each other's creative projects?

1. Warming up with reflections and advice:

• What went well?
• What didn't go well?
• Advice to paper people?

2. Establishing the grand order of poetry project presentations

Thursday
Alex
Brooke
Jackson
Joe
Katie
James
Chase

Friday
Lauren
Annie
Rachael
Gabby
Drew

Monday
Emma

3. Enjoying each other's poetry projects

HW:
1. Paper people...anyone turning one in before Monday?  Anybody?

2. Finish that Invisible Man blog before your final on Tuesday.

3. Literary essay revisions?

A.P. Literature Is Reviewing: December 10, 2014

Focus: What do we want to know about the AP Literature exam?

1. Warming up with some "big picture" blogging on Invisible Man

2. Engaging in a little Q&A about the AP exam

• In section one, how many multiple choice questions are there?

• How much time do we have to answer them?

• How many passages can we expect to read in the multiple choice section?

• Are the passages mostly poems or mostly prose?

• Are the passages mostly modern or mostly traditional?

• Should we try to answer every single question?

• What percentage of our AP score is the multiple choice section worth?

• About how much money is spent on creating the average multiple choice question?

• How many essays do we write in the second section of the test?

• How much time do we have to write these essays?

• Do I have to write the essays in order?

• For the open prompt, do I have to pick a book from the list?

• Who grades the AP tests?

3. Taking a look at the essays (called "free responses") from the past three years and discussing strategies

Order?
Timing?
Structure?

HW:
1. Poetry project presentations begin tomorrow.
2. Keep turning those poetry essays!
3. Revisions?

A.P. Lit Can See the Invisible Man! December 9, 2014

Focus: What larger conclusions can we draw about Invisible Man?

Project people: Please make sure I have your poem by the end of today.

1. Warming up with our favorite intoxicated white lady: Sybil

What descriptions of Sybil surprise you?

What does Sybil have in common with...

• The other white ladies?
• The Sambo bank?
• The Sambo doll?
• The college scholarship in the narrator's briefcase?
• Birth of a Nation (first American motion picture--KKK as hero saving white woman from raped by black man)?
• Tatlock and Brockway?
• Optic white paint?
• Mr. Norton?
• Mary?
• Ras the Destroyer?
• The symbol of the boomerang?

2. Revisiting the Prologue and the beginning of Chapter 1 and attempting a redaction with a focus on how the narrator has changed (what self-knowledge has he gained?)

3. Drawing larger conclusions about Invisible Man using your brilliant big question blogs

Try using our MMM approach to your blog if you're feeling overwhelmed:

• Moments: What symbols, minor characters, and specific events do you find most intriguing?
• Movements: What larger patterns are you noticing?
• Multiple meanings: What does Ellison want us to make of these patterns? How does this relate to your big question blog?

HW:
1. Just those poetry essays and projects...yep.

2. If you're trying to decide whether or not to revise your literary essay, here's a thought:

6 = 90%
7 = 93%
8 = 95%
9 = You should be teaching this class.

Also, the difference between, say, a 6 and an 8 on the actual A.P. test is quite significant.

A.P. Lit Is at the End of a Journey: December 8, 2014

Focus: To what extent does the ending of Invisible Man boomerang us back to the beginning?

Project people: Please turn in a copy of your poem.

1. Warming up: Looking through Chapters 24, 25, and the Epilogue, please do the following for EACH chapter:

• Identify a central image.
• Find what you think is the most significant line.
• Ask a specific question.

2. Discussing the end of Invisible Man in a Socratic seminar

3. Wrapping up (10 minutes)

HW:
1. Bring your laptops to class tomorrow; we will have some time to compose your big question blog response to Invisible Man.  

2. Remember the big deadlines:

Projects are due Thursday, December 11.

Essays have a rolling deadline; the earlier you turn it in, the earlier it will be graded.  The final deadline for these is the last day of class, December 15.

3. If you have any missing work, or you'd like to revise your independent literary essay, please do so by Monday, Dec 15 (the last day of class).  

4. Our final exam will take place on December 16, 10:30 am to 2:00.  If you have a conflict that cannot be resolved, please see me immediately.

A.P. Lit Is Immersed in Poetry: December 5, 2014

Focus: What do you need to make some progress with your poetry paper or project?

1. Warming up: Offering you a little help from our old friend, Billy Collins

2. Working on projects and papers

PROJECT PEOPLE: Please print a hard copy of your poem for me by Monday.  I will make a packet of all of your poems for the class.  Include your name and the poet's name on your printout.

Also, remember that your project does need to include a polished, dramatic reading of your poem.

PAPER PEOPLE: Please include an MLA heading on your paper and page numbers. Staple your poem to your essay. 

There should be a thesis somewhere in your essay, but it doesn't need to be at the end of the first paragraph.

In the explication/analysis portion of your essay, please organize your paragraphs by argument; then, use poetic devices (allusion, metaphor, imagery, alliteration, repetition, slant rhyme, etc.) to support your arguments.

HW:
1. Please finish Invisible Man for our final, all-out Socratic Seminar on Monday, December 8.  Reading ticket of your choice (just make it good and come ready to talk).

2. If you are writing a poetry essay, bring your laptop to class tomorrow.  If you're doing a project, bring any materials that you might want to work with.

Projects are due Thursday, December 11.

Essays have a rolling deadline; the earlier you turn it in, the earlier it will be graded.  The final deadline for these is the last day of class, December 15.

3. If you have any missing work, or you'd like to revise your independent literary essay, please do so by Monday, Dec 15 (the last day of class).  

4. Our final exam will take place on December 16, 10:30 am to 2:00.  If you have a conflict that cannot be resolved, please see me immediately.

A.P. Literature Is Workshopping: December 4, 2014

Focus: How can improve our prose timed writing skills?

1. Warming up a few rounds of Save the Last Line for Chapters 21-23 of Invisible Man

Round One: Most significant image from Chapter 21

Round Two: Most important sentence from Chapter 22

Round Three: Most pressing question from Chapter 23


2. Exploring the official 2003 rubric for "The Other Paris" and a few samples (PPP vs. DDD)

3. Circling the wagon to hear one of your essays and to offer feedback

HW:
1. Please finish Invisible Man for our final, all-out Socratic Seminar on Monday, December 8.  Reading ticket of your choice (just make it good and come ready to talk).

2. If you are writing a poetry essay, bring your laptop to class tomorrow.  If you're doing a project, bring any materials that you might want to work with.

Projects are due Thursday, December 11.

Essays have a rolling deadline; the earlier you turn it in, the earlier it will be graded.  The final deadline for these is the last day of class, December 15.

3. If you have any missing work, or you'd like to revise your independent literary essay, please do so by Monday, Dec 15 (the last day of class).  

4. Our final exam will take place on December 16, 10:30 am to 2:00.  If you have a conflict that cannot be resolved, please see me immediately.

A.P. Lit Is Moving in and out of History: December 3, 2014

Focus: What does it mean to be inside or outside of history? Where is the narrator?

PLC: Shortened Class Today

1. Warming up with organizing objects inside and outside of history

2. Performing a quick close reading of Clifton and his dancing Sambo doll (drawing optional), only this time, please put your symbolic observations in the form of questions

Ex: Why is the thread that Clifton uses to make the Sambo doll dance both black and invisible? (446)

3. Enjoying a few rounds of "Save the Last Line" in groups of four

Round One: Most significant image from Chapter 21

Round Two: Most important sentence from Chapter 22

Round Three: Most pressing question from Chapter 23

HW:
1. Please finish Invisible Man for our final, all-out Socratic Seminar on Monday, December 8.  Reading ticket of your choice (just make it good and come ready to talk).

2. If you are writing a poetry essay, bring your laptop to class on Friday.  If you're doing a project, bring any materials that you might want to work with.

Projects are due Thursday, December 11.

Essays have a rolling deadline; the earlier you turn it in, the earlier it will be graded.  The final deadline for these is the last day of class, December 15.

3. If you have any missing work, or you'd like to revise your independent literary essay, please do so by Monday, Dec 15 (the last day of class).  

A.P. Lit Is Writing about Prose: December 2, 2014

Focus: How can we improve our timed writing skills?

Project people: Please turn in your proposals

1. Warming up: Offering you a special glimpse of how my mind works when I calculate your overall grades in progress

2. Trying out a few tips for Free Response Question #2

Tip #1: Pay very, very careful attention to the first inch and the last inch of the passage and how the author establishes tone.

Tip #2: Consider the passage's point of view and why the author has chosen it.

• First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.

• Second-person point of view, in which the author uses you and your, is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.

• Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose one of the following:
• third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader; this is a godlike point of view.
• third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.  

• Please remember that we say "narrator" when we're talking about prose (as opposed to "speaker" when we're analyzing poetry).

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-point-of-view-in-literature.html

Tip #3: Read the passage as closely as you would read a poem, seeking significant imagery, diction, symbols, metaphors, etc.  

3. Performing a timed writing on Free Response Question #2

HW: 
1. Please read through Chapter 23 for tomorrow and through the end of the novel for our final Socratic seminar on Friday.  Reading ticket possibilities:

• 10 good questions/inferences
• A mini metacognitive on an important little paragraph
• Charting out patterns established in Chapter 1
• Drawing a significant scene and identifying/explaining briefly at least five symbolic elements in that scene

2. If you haven't started working on your poetry paper or project, now is a good time to do so!  Remember that we will have a work day on Friday and our final Socratic on Invisible Man on Monday.

A.P. Lit Is Breaking the Bank: December 1, 2014

Focus: Does the narrator succeed in destroying the Sambo bank?

1. Warming up with happy Monday thoughts!

2. Helping the narrator break open the Sambo bank

Revisit pages 319-321, and draw this scene, identifying as many symbolic elements as you can.  Strive to make connections back to the elements we've been charting since Chapter 1.

Revisit pages 327-330.  As he tries to throw the broken bank away, look closely at his interactions with other black people.

• What stereotypes are revealed here?  How does this fit a larger pattern?
• What does it mean that he can't get rid of these pieces?

3. Enjoying a rousing Socratic Seminar on Invisible Man, Chapters 17-20

4. Wrapping up

HW: 
1. Please read through Chapter 23 for Wednesday and through the end of the novel for our final Socratic seminar on Friday.  Reading ticket possibilities:

• 10 good questions/inferences
• A mini metacognitive on an important little paragraph
• Charting out patterns established in Chapter 1
• Drawing a significant scene and identifying/explaining briefly at least five symbolic elements in that scene

2. Project people: Complete your proposals for tomorrow.  Stop by if you'd like to talk it out with me.