As mentioned in class, you guys have Beyonce-ishly slayed our poetry unit. We've had some good days, some great days, some tough days, some rough days, and some days in between, but through it all, I've been proud of you and your willingness to dig in and grapple with poetry of all shapes and sizes.
Our most recent poetry endeavors have included a few pre-20th century selections of carpe diem poems (or a perverse carpe diem for "Porphyria's Lover") and last week, a questionably reverse carpe diem poem in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and capping it off with Socratic seminar. Every day, we've gotten after critical AP Lit skills, and I've watched many of you really flourish in your abilities to take on any poem. We've Venn diagrammed and we've Flip-gridded in the meantime as well. We've also taken some time out for timed writings -- an oft requested assignment. We've discussed intro paragraph strategies and talked about our thesis statements as promises to our readers. We've also taken on 2016's infamous exam poem: Juggler, by Richard Wilbur. Below are our poems and handouts from these weeks: The Flea To His Coy Mistress Porphyria's Lover Venn Diagram task The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Prufrock seminar questions Prufrock Flipgrid assignment - code Prufrock The Black Walnut Tree timed writing Intro paragraphs mentor texts Juggler timed writing Shew! And finally, here we are -- switching it up and getting down with some creative writing for WV Young Writers competition. HERE is the task sheet for that. Your submission is due next week on 2.17. Remember/heads up -- you'll have a sub for three days next week while I'm away at a STEM conference. I'll miss you, but you'll have your journals and Kwame Alexander's Crossover, BCS's One Book, to keep you company. And trust me, Filthy McNasty is great company to keep for a few days. Proud of you. Keep on keepin' on.
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Ok, guys. Remember on Thursday, took a few moments to discover and define the structural poetic techniques: enjambed lines, end-stopped lines, and caesura. Your task was to find THREE examples of each "in the wild" -- that is in poetry I haven't cherry picked and assigned to you. The following links are reliable sites for professional published poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ https://www.poets.org/ http://writersalmanac.org/ So use 'em! Remember, also, that either song from Hamilton, William Blake's "The Tyger," or XIV by Derek Walcott are fair game for Poetry Response Journal 2.
For this mega huge update, the biggie is that since the new year has begun we've kicked off a mega huge poetry study. And... You guys are KILLING IT. I'm so excited about your progress -- the ways in which you are reading and being attentive to the text; the ways you are meaningfully marking up the text and looking beyond literary devices; the ways you are discussing poetry with your peers and taking intellectual risks in both your participation and your writing. I'm excited, and I'm proud. We've worked hard at getting on the right AP Lit track. To get up to date on what was happening in the new year, CLICK HERE to read this post on WVCTE's Best Practices Blog. I'd write it all here, it'd be pretty redundant. So for Play-Doh pics, follow the links. :) The week after, we followed up that good dose of purposeful play with some fairly heavy "father poems": "My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke, "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, and "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath. We capped off the week with some non-depressing poems by e.e. cummings, and then looked for inspiration for a creative writing assignment inspired by the wonderful Randi Ward's work in her Whipstitches. (Check back later for links about that assignment...) LAST week we furthered our studies, but switched it up to a bit more activity based learning. We scavenged for sound devices in Hamilton, laid some fresh beats for William Blake's "The Tyger," and searched for structural techniques "in the wild." I keep coming back to the progress you've made, and I realize I'm gushing. And I don't intend to stop. :)
Keep WORKING HARD. It's paying off. AP Lit Class of '17, "tis not too late to seek a newer world." So much yes, yes? It was a true pleasure meeting all of you this week. As mentioned in class, teaching a course like AP Lit is English teacher dreamland. This week you were enthusiastic and engaged and thoughtful and intellectual. What a treat. I have a feeling we're in for a great year! This week...
Not too shabby for the first week of school! Here's the need to know for now: On MONDAY, please bring your copies of MUDBOUND and Cold Mountain. Vocab homework is due next Friday, 9.2 Now, check out these sweet memes and I'll see ya' Monday! |
AuthorYour Lit teacher, Mrs. Hilliard Archives
May 2017
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