Week 26

De-Mystifying Poetry

"Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted." ~Percy Shelley-1821

We move into our second week unraveling the ambiguity within a canon of poetry that has endured for centuries. I am impressed with our in-class discussions; they are complex, insightful, and sophisticated. Be prepared for class-- that means annotate the poems and reflect in your journals...this will allow you to participate in class.

Here are a few more key questions to consider when analyzing and explicating the poems:

• Who is the speaker?
• What is the poem about?
• Why is the first stanza longer than the second?
• Does the poem have a rhyme scheme? If so, what is it and what is its significance?
• Do you notice any sound devices? Alliteration? Assonance? Consonance? What is the significance of the devices you identify?
• How do the devices create meaning?

Continue reviewing your AP Literary terms and tone words.

Here are your assignments/Agenda for Week 26:

Week 26 MS Word

Week 26 pdf

If you have questions about these assignments, please leave a comment or email me directly. Remember, I will check the blog until 9:59 pm. You know I need my Seinfeld fix.

Week 25

De-Mystifying Poetry

"All my poems are suggested by real life and therin have a firm foundation...No one can imitate when you write of the particular, because no others have experienced exactly the same thing." -- Goethe

We begin our quest to unravel the mystery behind great poetry that spans from 1500 to 1947. Essentially, poetry is ambiguous (as life is), it is subject to multiple interpretations. Consider a poem as being analagous to a piece of art. When interpreting art we bring to it our own experiences; well, this is the same with poetry. Yet, sometimes I come across lines that are beautiful, yet I have no idea what they mean; looking at art, I sometimes feel the same way. We will never really know what a poem really means because the poet is not here to tell us; so we need trust the poet -- do not say "I think he is trying to say" -- the writer will tell you if you listen.

Here are a few more key questions to consider when analyzing and explicating the poems:

• Who is the speaker?
• What is the poem about?
• Why is the first stanza longer than the second?
• Does the poem have a rhyme scheme? If so, what is it and what is its significance?
• Do you notice any sound devices? Alliteration? Assonance? Consonance? What is the significance of the devices you identify?
• How do the devices create meaning?

Continue reviewing your AP Literary terms and tone words.

Have a great week and remember, be empathetic to each other and work diligently...I always notice!! Smile, too!

PROJECT DATES:

FEB 25: final essay due along with draft and outline.
Ongoing: work in Poetry Journals
MAY 8: AP EXAMINATION

Here are your assignments/Agenda for Week 25:

Week 25 MS Word

Week 25 pdf

If you have questions about these assignments, please leave a comment or email me directly. Remember, I will check the blog until 9:59 pm. You know I need my Seinfeld fix.

Week 24

Final Thoughts

How do we become who we are? Who or what molds us into the people we become? At the start of the year I said there are things that shape our identity: religion, family, friends, environment, ethnicity, education just to name a few. Each person is different, yet individuality is condemned in Orwell’s 1984. For most of the novel Winston Smith did not conform to the ideals of the party; so he was considered an outsider, a heretic, an enemy. If we are all the same, then there can be no development socially, intellectually, spiritually and ideologically. Winston Smith fought to the bitter end to keep his identity, to hold onto a past that was real for him. Now “the long-hoped-for-bullet was entering his brain.” So what is Orwell telling us?

Have a great week and remember, be empathetic to each other and work diligently...I always notice!! Smile, too!

PROJECT DATES:

FEB 20: outlines and first typed draft due for peer review.
FEB 22: final essay due along with draft and outline.
MAY 8: AP EXAMINATION

Here are your assignments/Agenda for Week 24:

Week 24 MS Word

Week 24 pdf

If you have questions about these assignments, please leave a comment or email me directly. Remember, I will check the blog until 9:59 pm. You know I need my Seinfeld fix.

Week 23

1984

Have a great week and remember, be empathetic to each other and work diligently...I always notice!! Smile, too!

PROJECT DATES:

FEB 14: last day to show me annotations and journal.
FEB 20: outlines and first typed draft due for peer review.

Here are your assignments/Agenda for Week 23:

Week 23 MS Word

Week 23 pdf

If you have questions about these assignments, please leave a comment or email me directly. Remember, I will check the blog until 9:59 pm. You know I need my Seinfeld fix.

Room 101 - Short Film

Enjoy the short film... Cast your vote for best supporting actor in a small, small, small film (DIEGO).

Week 22

Power in 1984

There is a truism in American politics which holds that although you can fool some of the people some of the time, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Yet, in 1984, the Party seems to have mastered the techniques of keeping the people fooled nearly all the time. How has the Party managed to gain complete power? Could such methods work in America? or in other countries around the the world?

This week please keep pace with the readings and the in-class discussions. Your insight to those discussions and the timed writings will determine your success...do not be parasitic in the classroom...you owe it to your peers to contribute...take a RISK!

Have a great week and remember, be empathetic to each other and work diligently...I always notice!! Smile, too!

READING SCHEDULE FOR 1984 and OTHER DATES:

Finish BOOK 3 due Wed., Feb 6.
Essense quotations due on Friday - typed.

Here are your assignments/Agenda for Week 22:

Week 22 MS Word

Week 22 pdf

If you have questions about these assignments, please leave a comment or email me directly. Remember, I will check the blog until 9:59 pm. You know I need my Seinfeld fix.