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)