Monday, March 16, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

We are reading The Glass Menagerie this week. Remember you will not need to turn in notes, but you are expected to turn in a reader response journal for this play. Thursday, March 19th is you outside novel test day. Please make sure you are prepared. We are going to continue to work on understanding poetry this week. We are going to discuss theme in detail and also discuss closed form some more.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday, February 23, 2009

We are going to review how to write effective essays about prose.

We will read and review Amsco’s Literature and Composition pgs. 178 – 186. We will be writing in response to the prompt (pg. 186, step 4).

Monday, February 23, 2009

Friday/Monday

You answered some multiple choice questions and we will continue this process. We will also discuss some of the literature assignments from previous weeks.

ó Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle”
ó William Cullen Bryant, “Thanatopsis”
ó Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”, “Ligeia”
ó Ralph Waldo Emerson ,“Self Reliance”
ó Nathaniel Hawthorne preface to The Scarlet Letter
ó Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”
o Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
ó Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “My Lost Youth”
ó Walt Whitman O’ Captain, My Captain,” “Spontaneous Me,” and “A Voice from Death”
ó Emily Dickinson, Selected poems # 441 #449 #510 #657 #1545

Thursday, February 19, 2009

New File <-

I uploaded a document to "the orange box" called Titles for Free Response. THis is a list of works that have been suggested for use when answering free response questions on the AP exam in the past. It wouldn't hurt you to check it out.

Thursday, February19, 2009



Syntax - the arrangement of words in sentences, clauses, and phrases, and the study of the formation of sentences and the relationship of their component parts. In a language such as English, the main device for showing the relationship among words is word order; e.g., in “The girl loves the boy,” the subject is in initial position, and the object follows the verb. Transposing them changes the meaning. In many other languages, case markers indicate the grammatical relationships. In Latin, for example, “The girl loves the boy” may be puella puerum amat with “the girl” in initial position, or puerum puella amat with “the boy” in initial position, or amat puella puerum, amat puerum puella, or puella amat puerum. The meaning remains constant because the -um ending on the form for “boy” indicates the object of the verb, regardless of its position in the sentence.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Today you will complete a multiple choice practice section. After completion you will review and discuss the answers. If time allows there will be time for you to work on your week 5 assigned readings.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Today we will continue our discussion of style. We will be reading excerpts from J.D. Salinger's A Catcher in the Rye and Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and discussing the differences in style between these two authors. We will then be completing a worksheet based on a parody of "The Three Little Bears."

Read pg. 1 (1st paragraph) and pg. 92


Catcher in the Rye



Read pg. 13

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - eBook


Monday, February 16, 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009

Today we will do some peer editing of our Porphyria papers. We will begin with mine and then you will read at least two others.

We are going to read about style, tone, and language in your Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing text. (pages 388 - 394)

Act 80 Day

Have a nice three day weekend. See you Monday for Syntax and Style.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Master the AP: English Literature and Composition pgs. 73-85.

Let's get analytical

"Prophyria's Lover" continues . . . Tell me how the author conveys his meaning in this poem through his choices in language, imagery, and the use of irony. Create a specific thesis statement that entails all of these elements.

We will be reviewing some example essays and, yes, analyzing more literature.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

We will plan our first (pseudo) timed essay on "Prophyria's Lover" by Robert Browning.
I will review the writing rubric - all documents are posted for download at left (writing rubric, rubric descriptors, AP Essay planning guide). We will complete the AP Essay planning together and then write in response to this prompt. If time allows we will view a short video on tone and style.

RRJ and notes for week 4 due Monday 2/16

Friday, February 6, 2009

Friday, February 6, 2009

We will plan our first (pseudo) timed essay on "Prophyria's Lover" by Robert Browning.
I will review the writing rubric - all documents are posted for download at left (writing rubric, rubric descriptors, AP Essay planning guide). We will complete the AP Essay planning together and then write in response to this prompt. If time allows we will view a short video on tone and style. We will review the readings for week 4. It's going to be week 4 already!!!

Ok - so due to the low number of people in class today I opted to wait on the previous assignment until Monday. We conferenced individually about Reader Response Journals and everyone was given the opportunity to revise their week 3 RRJ (it is due for Monday 2/9/09). Everyone had the opportunity to get abhead start of the week 4 readings - we discussed "Thanatopsis" by Bryant. Thanatopsis means a meditation on death. Break it down - annotate, annotate, annotate!!!! You need to begin to read CRITICALLY!!! That is the goal of this class.