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We are off to a smashing start this week, AP Lit! In our two days of class, we've gotten after a new set of mentor texts to examine how professional writers approach analysis. Yesterday, we read (and confusedly yet joyfully watched) the David Pumpkins article, and today, an essay on Goodnight Moon. So far, you've come up with a pretty solid list of writers' moves.
For homework tonight, you are to read Dear Any Solider: Vonnegut During Wartime. As discussed in class, there's no need for YouTube clips -- you've already got the context! Here's your official task:
*Please preface your comment by whichever you are offering, e.g. "In the Vonnegut essay, I noticed..." or "I noticed all three mentor texts..." Oh, and I'm just gonna leave this here:
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You guys did SUCH A GREAT JOB studying syntax, looking for the so-what, and then applying this concept to your own writing.
The most mature and sophisticated AP Lit students can do that. They can look for structure, craft, and meaning, and then take these ideas and apply them to their worn writing. You're well on your way! Here's a quick rundown of the week's events and handouts: Poe Passage Syntax Creative Writing Activity "After I Was Thrown Into the River and Before I Drowned" by Dave Eggers Timed Writing PowerPoint Timed Writing Quarter Exam We've been getting somewhere this week. We've continued to build classroom culture, "speed-dated" one another about our Slaughterhouse Five findings, and laid on the floor to have giant replicas of our bodies drawn to complete a character analysis map. I'm gonna call that a pretty solid week in AP Lit. :) Here are the basics: For speed dating, one side of the table moved on down the row, and you were tasked with discussing the most important ideas from your Thought Plots. You guys had in depth conversations that made my English teacher heart way happy. Here are a couple of pics:  6th period killin' it!  Look at these two...so intense and thoughtful! Next you were tasked with delving deeper into a character from Slaughterhouse Five. It was madness and mad fun, and you came up with some pretty solid character analysis. It was great seeing you guys work together, have a little fun, and dig into the text. And of course here are a few pics of our mapping: Next week: Socratic seminar, syntax fix up lesson, and Quarter Exam review.
Let's do it! No time for pithy remarks! Only a quick posting of this week's learnin'.
We will be addressing the question: What's worth talking about? Otherwise: HOCO 2016! What a week... :)  There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre." KV
But we do need to be intelligent and well-informed about violence and war. Your task: Create context for Slaughterhouse Five by researching the Dresden bombing. Directions:
**The catch? No repeats! Let's gather up as much information as we can to help create the backdrop for this truly wacky and meaningful novel. Hello all! It was a quick week, with my being out at a STEM conference hanging out in streams and such. We kicked our week off with Short Story Focus Project presentations before totally switching gears to narrative writing, mentor texts, and the ever important and timely college application essays. Here's the need to know info from the week. First off, we defined Mentor Texts. Check out the pics below...  I studied (hard!) the craft and construction of the "Katniss Post-Apolocolyptic Cowl" and then I made it my own.  'Cos that's what people do! I used my teaching mentor as an example, too.  Compliments to a couple of other mentors of mine, too -- Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O'Dell for the wealth of information and inspiration on teaching with mentor texts. These last two images belong to them. In class, we defined mentor texts as writing we study, learn from, and aspire to. After that, you got your first cluster of mentor texts, a series of New York Times "best off" college application essays. Click here to access these texts. We spent time in class reading and analyzing these essays and identifying the writers' moves. Here is a list of what you came up with:  Finally, HERE is the personal statement essay you worked on in class with Mr. Staley. It's due MONDAY, and I'm very much looking forward to reading them!
Hope it's been a good one. Looking forward to seeing all of you! And now for a few pics of the excellent and creative work you accomplished during our How to Get Away With Literary Analysis project share outs! It was time well spent, and you guys seriously impressed me with your analysis and your creative presentations. Great job all around!   AP Litters:
Today we began our short story read-a-thon. So far, we've tackled "A&P" by John Updike and "Stepdaughters" by Max Apple. Click & read if you didn't finish one of these stories. More tomorrow! (And remember, sometimes a story is just a story without a deep, symbolic, underlying meaning. You've got to learn to navigate all of 'em.)  Last week was a bit of a challenging week, an uphill climb travelling to a destination that is still unknown. Just when you'd made it through a fun yet maddening "Ordeal" a few more ambiguous and challenging texts were thrown your way. But you fought hard and made your way out on the other side of seminar. I'm afraid a few of you are feeling stuck in the weeds wondering if everything we read will be ambiguous, shrouded in mystery, or "confusing." The short answer is, of course not. But the longer answer, which I hope the work we do and the progress you make will answer is: the literature we read will be challenging and complex and it will place demands on the reader that will require more than one reading, plenty of conversation, and a mindset of embracing the confusion. Other stuff from the week? Um, Hillary Jordan Skype! It was amazing, she was amazing, and so were you. You asked thoughtful questions, and class was buzzing with excitement. Teacher heaven, I'm telling you... We also took a day to write a short essay in what we're calling the Reader's Bio. In an effort to get to know you better and paint a fuller picture of who you are as an individual and student, we talked about our Happy Things and then what else I need to understand about you as a reader, writer, or individual. All that said, you're doing great and you're working hard! Stay the course, my friends. More on the latter later, but here is the break down for last week.  Monday: "Hills Like White Elephants" & SIFT Tuesday: "Hills" seminar Wednesday: "The Story of an Hour" + SIFT assessment Thursday: Reader's Bio/Hillary Jordan Skype! Friday: Five S/Reader's Bio |
AuthorYour Lit teacher, Mrs. Hilliard Archives
May 2017
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