Wednesday, August 27, 2008

2007-2008 AP Lit Students

Guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of each of you. AP scores were never my driving motivation. It was more important to me that we all had the opportunity to deeply engage with literature and learn to know ourselves. Your final film projects we incredible, and I thank you for your effort.

If you're the type of person who likes results and numbers, be comfortable in the fact that result-wise, we had our best year ever, with four people earning College Board credit. Although I don't know who you are (haven't seen the score sheets, for reasons explained below), wonderful job. I'm glad your hard work paid off. For the rest of you, I commend you for your hard work and devotion to the subject. Let this be a practice run for the real thing.

I wish all of you the best of luck in your future endeavors, and make sure to drop me a line to inform me of your educational success. I have decided to seek new opportunities outside of the Buffalo Public School district, but can be reached via email (mrmalley04@yahoo.com). Better yet, befriend me on Facebook.

Again, good luck in all that you do.

To anyone outside of class who has been checking in on what we're doing, I am retiring this site, as I'm no longer tangibly in room 305 (although spiritually I will always be there...or something like that). If you like the kind of stuff my kids did, stop back. I'll be posting links to my new classroom blogs in the coming months.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Flickr Flicks

Here are the URL's to the films from Flickr we watched in class today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunstan/2398525947/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fraying/2391084921/
http://flickr.com/photos/markstos/2506650215/in/pool-video
http://flickr.com/photos/x99elledge/2438574748/in/pool-video
http://flickr.com/photos/eyetwist/2400332130/in/pool-video
http://flickr.com/photos/theproletariatdesigner/2401349706/in/pool-video

The Process

I reworked the illustration from class today.

skitched-20080520-102434.jpg
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Initial Due Date - Film Project

It occurs to me that I need a catchy name for this film project. Hmm.

...

Anyway, you've told me that it would be fair to mandate that by Thursday, May 22nd you have your storyboard and rough draft of your voice over narration completed. On that Thursday we will have a share session, so please come prepared.

That is all.

_______________________
Image from Flickr Creative Commons pool. Created by PPDigital. Image link.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Other Nuggets of Wisdom

Here are some of the ideas you brought in today.

Nuggets of Meaning

As you mine your art and brains and experience for an inspiration for your film, I'd like you to consider another avenue. Most of the lines we developed so far are didactic, or instructional. I'd like to open up the floor a bit more. Consider these lines and snippets culled from the poems we studied during Poetry Professor.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Movie Project Brainstorming

Today in class we did a little research and generated ideas for possible central themes of our films. Here is the chart we developed (click to enlarge):



Homework: These were a tad safe, a smidge boring, and I have a feeling you can do better. Go home. Look through your DVD collections. Scan your playlists (or CD's, if you still have them). Search your art for statements about life. Bring one great quote or thematic nugget into class tomorrow. Don't forget.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Final Film Project - Life, etc.

Opening Writing Activity

Today, we watched this video from Baz Luhrman. Here are the lyrics to the song.

You're essentially finished with school. In a little less than five weeks, you will walk across the stage (literally) and onto the next stage (figuratively) of your life. So...what do you know about life? If you could claim one motto as your personal statement, what would it be? What have you learned about life or love or behavior or family or friendship or courage or hope or strength or loss or garbage day that you feel you need to share? Take 10 minutes, go off to somewhere quiet (don't leave the room) and write something along these lines.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Post Exam Reflection

Well, hello folks. Hope you enjoyed the rite of passage that is the Advanced Placement Literature exam. I hope the multiple choice didn't drain your brain into nothingness, and I hope that the free response was relevant to the works we read in class. We'll talk in more detail on Monday.

Meanwhile, today I'd like you to sit back and reflect on the experience of AP Literature. What work (poem, short story, novel) resonated most strongly with you? Why?

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Exam Review Checklist

Listen, you've worked hard all year. Now's the time to relax and get enough rest to clear your head for tomorrow. So tonight, do not cram. Do not stay up late. Pick one area you're still not too sure of, do a little brushing up, and go to bed. Early. Like before 11pm.

Here's what you might try to finish fine tuning. Choose one:

  • Review one or two of your major works at Sparknotes. Review your annotations.
  • Sign out a review book and complete a multiple choice test
  • Write a practice essay. Grab one of my extra credit essays out of the bin and complete it.
Test Taking Strategies
  • Multiple Choice
    • Some passages and poems are accessible. Some are more antiquated. Scan through the poems and passages. Quickly find the ones that you feel comfortable with. Answer those questions first. Then go back and attack the other passages.
    • 1 point, -1/4 point, 0 points - If you have no idea, but can absolutely eliminate one of the answers, then statistically you've got a pretty good chance by taking your best guess (over the course of the exam)
    • Read the questions (not the answers) quickly, read the passage, then read each question and the corresponding lines carefully.
      • chronological
  • Essays
    • Answer the entire question. Do not ignore statements like "explain how it relates to the meaning of the work as a whole"
    • Your introductions can be two sentences:
      • Make a brief, general statement about the topic
      • Then, answer the question, briefly, in the last sentence of the introduction.
        • "In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor serves as a mentor to Robert Walton by sharing his own story of overreaching."
    • Write, write, write. Use all of your time.
    • No rough draft. Outline.
    • Write legibly (Jason!)
    • Obviously, answer all three questions. Manage your time.
Remember, I'm buying donuts/bagels/fruit for tomorrow morning. Ms. Froebel has a list of your names, so you'll be able to exit breakfast. I'll be here at 7:30.


Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Official "I Have a Question" Post



Are you nonplussed by near rhyme? Bewildered by bildungsroman? At sea with Shakespeare? Disconcerted by diction? Confused by connotation? Flummoxed by figurative language?

SPRING BREAK EDITION!We're doing Poetry Professor and I absolutely can't wait to ask a question about Invisible Man edition.

Excited about Ellison? Confused by the nameless narrator? If you're lurking and have a question about the novel, jot that baby down and I'll get right to it. Basically it is Tuesday and I have come to the realization that I have nothing else to do. By the way, grades will be emailed to you by the end of the week. (BTW, if you're shy, anonymous questions are cool too!)

If so, leave a question. I'll address it either in this space or in class.


(P.S. The more specific the question, the more likely you'll get the help you seek.)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Exam Review Excercise Regimen

So folks, for the next few weeks we'll be working on exam prep. We'll be working our way through the practice exam provided by the College Board. Remember, bring the exam to class. Here's the exam practice regimen. Remember...30 minutes a day of cardioacademicalvascular activity will help you develop a healthy mind body connection. I have no idea what that means.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Invisible Man - The End



Today we'll be discussing the end of the novel using these quotations. Remember, the take home test is due Monday.

Monday, April 14, 2008

The Eviction

Today we're going to start discussing the eviction scene. In groups of two, complete the following.

  1. Analyze the author's use of language to reveal the attitude(s) of the narrator. Pay particular attention to literary devices and selective use of detail.
  2. Annotate the passage.
  3. Each group must develop at least two major ways this attitude is conveyed. On a separate sheet of paper, copy and complete the following chart:

skitched-20080414-082012.jpg
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Monday, April 7, 2008

Rebirth!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

New Help for Poetry Professor

Yola. We still have 12 Poetry Professor presentations left. I designed these worksheets for anyone who still has any uncertainty about the presentation. I'll be giving them out tomorrow.



The rest of the week's PP schedule is as follows:
(Monday - Augustine)
Wednesday - The Second Coming - Sara; Anthem for a Doomed Youth - Katrina
Thursday - "Journey" - Kayla; "Mother" - Jazmine
Friday - "Supermarket" - Ann Marie; "Lady" - Katie

Friday, April 4, 2008

Poetry Professor Wiki

Hey guys, I'm trying to create a resource for you folks. I've created a wiki for the class materials. I also uploaded the rubric. If you'd like, there's even a place over there where you can discuss the wiki. So, if you'd like, you can converse about the presentations. If you'd like. Anyway, here's that rubric. I'm pinning this post to the top of the blog for now.

A Few Notes:
1. No Poetry Professor presentations due Monday. We reconvene these sessions on Wednesday. I'll give you the adopted order on Monday.
2. If you were up to date on Invisible Man this week, then you'll be prepared for Monday/Tuesday's discussions. If you were not, get there please.
3. I have the extra credit available*. Pick a task. Write an essay. Do your best. Hand it in the essay stapled to the essay task. Get next day feedback (or that day if you come to me before school, 3rd, 10th or 11th period.

  • 2 points on your average for every essay** you hand in (unlimited)(available for the 3rd quarter (until 4/18) and 4th quarter (until exam time)
  • .5 points for every multiple choice section you complete***(currently unavailable)
____________________
* if an individual stops doing regular assignments I'll stop accepting E.C. from that individual
** as long as it's cleared you gave it the old college try
*** not currently available. Must get at least 60% correct. If you do not, I'll accept corrections for the .5 points.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Few Notes Before Renconvening

AP Students! Hope You've Enjoyed Your (Seemingly) Two Months Off!




A few notes:
1. I sent grade reports via email today. Email me if you did not receive your report (mrmalley04@yahoo.com). I do not have an email for Monique, Franceska, Sara, or Katrina.
2. If you find an error on your grade report, bring it tomorrow and I'll rectify that error.
3. Make sure you have your writing assignment for tomorrow. We will be using your commentaries to drive class discussion of the book. Be prepared or be chastised.
4. Some of you owe me $ for Invisisble Man. I need it as soon as possible. I found my list and my envelope.
5. Grade reports do not include poetry professor presentation grades. I had problems exporting on the last day of school. If I waited for the film to export, I would have been in school until yesterday (hyperbole). I shall rewatch and score them and resend reports by Wednesday night.
6. We do not have school on Wednesday, and I can't remember if Tuesday is a 11 or 12 dismissal, so I can't remember if we have class. So, I've amended the PP schedule for this week. Due to poem length, these are slightly out of order:

  • Thursday - Naiem B. ("Ulysses"), Savaun B. ("Miniver Cheevy")
  • Friday - Christy ("My Last Duchess"), Augustine ("The Magi")
7. I will be offering substantial extra credit work over the next few weeks. This extra credit will be past exam essay questions (maybe a bit o' multiple choice too). I'm going to offer a lot of assignments, but only give out a smidge of credit for each task completed. You will be able to really bump up your grade (and practice), but you'll have to work pretty hard and balance the rest of your assignments.
8. You must finish Invisible Man by April 145th. Two weeks. Two hundred plus pages.

See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Spring Break Reading Assignment

Read Invisible Man Chapters 1-15. I strongly suggest that you annotate your novel, although I will not check that you have. Instead, complete the following assignment. All reading and written work is due on Monday, March 31st. We are in the stretch run now. It's time to tap into that discipline, drive, and intelligence that have made you the successful, insightful, intelligent young adults who come to my room everyday.

Invisible Man is a great book, maybe even the greatest I have ever read. It's the story of a guy who is trying to find his place in the universe, even though it seems to be conspiring against him. Who among us can't relate to that?

Written Assignment:
Pull out three passages of no more than 35 lines and write commentary on each passage. You may want to consider the following questions when organizing your response:

  • How does the passage further the reader's understanding of the protagonist?
  • How does the passage introduce or further any theme which the author is developing?
  • Is setting a factor? Why?
  • Does the passage further this text as an existential novel?
  • How is the passage important in and of itself? As a part of the whole novel?
  • Also, consider Ellison's craft. Is the diction noteworthy? Imagery? Figurative Language? Other observations?

Existentialism Notes


Today in class we took these notes on existentialism to prepare for our study of Invisible Man.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner

After reading "The Death of the Ball Turrett Gunner," (page 1195) answer the following two questions:

1. Cite any instances of assonance or alliteration. Describe each instance of the particular sound technique on the overall sound as well as meaning.

2. I know that this is a short poem, but what other techniques has Jarrell used? If you were to explicate this poem in front of the class, what other techniques would you focus on?



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image URL: http://untoldvalor.com/images/ball_turret_ad_great_shot.jpg

Monday, March 3, 2008

Sound Techniques

When analyzing, you may also note the repetition of a particular type of sound. For instance, you may make observations on repeated harsh consonants, like -k, -p, -t, -d sounds. This isn't alliteration, per se, but still noteworthy.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Multiple Choice Answers

26. B
27. E
28. D
29. B
30. A
31. D
32. B
33. C
34. A
35. D
36. A
37. C

Synethesia - description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another (icy voice, loud perfume)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Poetry Professor Schedule

Okey dokey, here be that schedule (click to enlarge):



Remember:

  • all poetry annotations are due on the day the presentation is given. If you have an excused absence I can accept the annotations on the day you return to school.
  • your poetry journal is due on Friday, March 21st and Friday, April 11th. I will gloss over the journal on the 21st and grade it more closely on the final due date.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Poetry Professor Poetry Assignments

Hello folks. Follow the link to reach your assignment for the Poetry Professor project.

Here you go...

Friday, February 22, 2008

Here's that poem...

DULCE ET DECORUM EST1

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind.

Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13
To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.15

8 October 1917 - March, 1918

1 DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Poetry Professor Video

Well, it took me a few tries during school today, but I've just now finished with the Poetry Professor video from class today. I added subtitles to reinforce the structure of the setup and also to reemphasize the literary devices.




I also made note of several inaccuracies from the presentation. Most notably, Wilfred Owen was writing about Chlorine gas, not mustard gas. Consider this from the NYTimes:

In April 1915, hoping for a military breakthrough, Germany launched the war's first major chemical attack, releasing chlorine gas to blow toward French and Algerian troops in their trenches at Ypres, in Belgium. As Tucker gruesomely recounts, along four miles of the front line, tons of yellow-green gas rose to a height of 30 feet as the wind slowly edged it forward. The lethal cloud scorched the eyes and lungs of the terrified French and Algerian soldiers, who vomited and collapsed in agony. Hundreds died, coughing up blood and green froth. The soldiers' silver insignia and buckles immediately turned greenish black. Five months later, Britain launched its own retaliatory chlorine attack, and by 1916 both the Allies and the Central Powers were using artillery packed with chemicals — a total collapse of the Hague declaration.

Also, gas masks were introduced to the battlefield in 1916, so it can be presumed that the speaker was referring to a gas mask when he mentioned "clumsy helmets." Otherwise, the speaker would be as dead as the other guy. Lastly, Owen died at 25, not 19. He still died during the war.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Poetry Professor Handouts

We are now embarking on an excellent adventure. Over the next month YOU will take over teaching duties. You will put on the professorial vest and guide us through a poem.

Here are the handouts:

Assignment Sheet
Guideline Questions

Specific Assignment Sheet
Copy of Billy Collins' "Schoolsville"

Sample Poetry Journal Entry

"Schoolsville" - broken down by structure, annotated.










Finally, here is a copy of the "Schoolsville" explication paper I wrote last year.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Britney Spears - American Tragedy

Color me amused by the cover of the Rolling Stone that appeared on my doorstep (mailbox, to be more specific, but doorstep has such Middle American connotations) this past Thursday.  It'll be in the classroom next week, but if you can't wait, it is an expose of the "tragedy" of Britney Spears.  I think Aristotle might have a lot to say about Americans' fascination with Ms. Spears.  The article reads like a textbook tragedy.  Again, we are not at all unlike the Greeks, Romans, or Elizabethans.  In fact, we're probably worse, as most celebrities' tragic flaws seems to be their inability to deal with the pressure of celebrity.   Paradox and irony all rolled up into one.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Looking for Alaska

Today I showed you John Green's response to a handful of Depew citizens' call to ban Looking for Alaska. If you're home, here's that video:



If you're interested, here's his website and here's that Nerdfighter's site. After all, these guys are made of awesome. Here's an article about the Nerdfighter's cause.

If only Kate Chopin had access to Youtube!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

A-wiki-ning!

Today we're going to hold a discussion in a slightly different way. Proceed to this wikispace and await further direction.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Awakening Discussion

Open your novels to chapter nine. Find the the paragraph that starts "But there was no reason why every one should not dance." Read the rest of the chapter, noting in your book or on a separate sheet of paper the ways that Chopin builds tension/suspense in this important scene.

Great discussion today. I know we got off track later in the period throwing around questions of Leonce's fidelity and materialism. Madamemoiselle Reisz' piano scene kind of got away from us. Essentially, we hit the main points I wanted to discuss (Reisz vs. Ratignolle, that scene as the beginning of her awakening), even if it was in a kind of stream of discussion kind of way.

As a kind of post script to our discussion, I'd like to pose the following questions/thoughts to you:

  • Reisz and Ratignolle are very different characters. One is the mother woman, the other is an older, single, "disagreeable little woman" who is also "homely...with a small weazened face and body...no taste in dress...with a bunch of artificial violets pinned to the side of her hair." Yet it's obvious from Chopin's tone who we are meant to favor. What is Chopin hoping to accomplish by presenting us with an integral, profound character that is also socially awkward and, well, "homely"?
  • What role does music play in the novel? What does it represent in the larger sense?
  • As for the tension, Chopin builds it because it is welling up in Edna, only to be released by the tears. The setting builds tension ("moon was coming up, and its mystic shimmer was casting a million lights across the distant, restless water"), the description of Reisz before she plays adds tension ("perfectly still" and "not touching the keys"), as does the antithetical description of the effect of Ratignolle's playing and the images described that develop in Edna's mind's eye. All this tension builds until that first note when "a keen tremor" runs "down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column."

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Awakening Uber Quiz

Here's that Awakening Uber Quiz. Bianca, if you're reading this, why don't you take the quiz and have it sent back to me along with the 1/5-2 page response mentioned a few posts back.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Fadela Amara and Chopin

We're reading The Awakening, and obviously there are a lot of gender issues inherent in that text. But, how do those gender issues relate to us today? I mean, we have Brittney Spears all over the media. How does she relate to the questions Chopin deals with? This morning I was listening to NPR and heard a story about Fadela Amara, a French cabinet member who also happens to be Muslim. The story covered the changing dynamics of Islam in France, focusing mostly on the role of women. How can we relate that to The Awakening?

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Enjoying Your Vacation?

I hope you are enjoying your Regents week. Make sure you stay up on your reading, as we are having an Awakening uberquiz on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy these two interesting news stories that have popped up lately:

Where is Mary Shelley when you need her?US scientists close to creating artificial life

Not quite Oedipus, buuuuttt....
Unknowing twins marry each other

Also, it's tragic about Heath Ledger (not to mention Brad Renfro), but why the ubiquitous coverage? (Answer: Because we're not that different from the Greeks. We subconsciously, perversely, love tragedy because it makes us feel better about ourselves.)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Oedipus Alive! Reflection

Here is the reflection I'd like you to write in class on Thursday.  If you are for some reason not in class, and checking this blog, please complete and complete it for me by Friday.

Monday, January 14, 2008

The Awakening Reading Schedule

Hello folks. We've got Regents week next week and then a truncated week following that one (half day and superintendent's day). The Awakening is a short, relatively modern book and I'm going to expect you to knock off big chunks of it in your time off.

Here's the schedule:
By Monday, January 28th - Chapters 1-27
By Monday, February 4th - Chapters 28-the end

Now, in addition to reading the book, I want you to do the following for 1/28:

  • annotate your novel. I want to see questions. I want to see observations. I want to see elements noted and techniques underlined.
  • Write one 1.5-2 page informal response. This response should explore something you feel in the novel that you feel is important or noteworthy. Feel free to focus on a theme, symbol, character, relationship, etc. Feel free to use "I" and "I think." Feel free to be yourself and write in a casual tone. Have some fun with it.

Oedipus Alive! Films

Here they are. Enjoy, and feel free to use the comments section for any positive comments about your classmates' films (as I know screening day was a dud due to picture day. Doh!)

The Queen is Dead



Jocasta's Advice to Oedipus



Creon's Response




Oedipus...Oops. That's Dramatic Irony



Oedipus Vs. Tiresias
(Sesame Street Style)



Chorus Line(s)



Tiresias's Speech

Thursday, January 10, 2008

"The Storm" - Kate Chopin

Tonight I want you to read another Chopin short story, as this will also have thematic echoes of the story we read yesterday. For homework, I'd like you to read the story and find two quotes that you consider "5 Star Quotes." These are quotes that you think pop off the page for some reason or shed insight into an element of the short story.

If you're too lazy to cart around that textbook, here's a link to the story online.

Blog Discussion
In the comment section
, type one of your five star quotes. Explain why you think that quote is important. Don't feel limited to quotations that are barn burning discussion questions. Questions that shed insight into techniques the author uses are acceptable and encouraged.

One quote/comment, and at least one comment on what someone else has shared.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Story of an Hour - Kate Chopin

Tonight I'd like you to read Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. You are to write a 3/4 page response answering the following question:

What view of marriage does this story present? A woman's place in 1894? Provide examples. Use a piece of paper.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

That's a Wrap

Well, all good things must come to an end. Today is your last class day to work on this project. Any other finishing touches must happen outside of 2nd period. I am available before school, 3rd, 10th, and 11th periods. All films must be exported by Monday. We will screen your finished films next Wednesday.

Don't forget my $2!