AP English

YOUR LAST BLOG!!!

2009-04-17T19:30:00.003-05:00

At the end of Catcher in the Rye, Holden watches his sister, begins to cry, and says, "God, I wish you could have been there."

As I've probably said before in class, this is one of those moments in literature where I really do wish I had been there. Now it's your turn: I'd like you to tell me what pieces have really resonated with you this year.

Think about your readings from this year (including the summer works). Think over poems, short stories, novels, and plays. What moments from these works stick with you? What novel, scene, character, or quotation do you sometimes still think about? Why?

Due Friday, April 24th, midnight.

Blog, due Friday April 17th, midnight

2009-04-13T09:40:00.002-05:00

Time to start reviewing!

For this week, choose an important quotation from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

Type the quotation in full and be sure to give the page number.

Then comment on the quotation:
Why did you choose this quotation?
How does it relate to the themes of the novel?
Why is it important?

No repeat quotations! You will not receive credit for a quotation already chosen by someone else. In other words, post early, and read the other posts to make sure you are not repeating.

Blog 2 Required, Due April 10th.

2009-03-29T21:16:00.003-06:00

Find one critical essay on Beloved. Your response is not due until Friday, April 10th. (I know that we don't have school that day). Your in-class essay is on Monday, April 13th, and I think it will be very helpful to have read some criticism before that day.

You can use good ole LRC (password: elvis, then scroll down to Literature Resource Center) to find an article. Be careful not to use "overviews" or "reviews." They are not criticism. You may also use any book in our school library (such as Novels for Students). Please do not take articles from the internet. Use only the LRC or our library. Choose an article that you can understand and read well.

Do the following:

1. Cite the article properly (MLA format- use the OWL to help you.)
2. Summarize the article- what does it say about Beloved? This part is simply a summary, not your opinion. Write at least a full paragraph (6-10 sentences, at least).
3. React to the article- what parts do you agree/disagree with? What do you learn about the novel from this article? Again, about another full paragraph (6-10 sentences, at least).

If you accomplish the above three items correctly, you will receive 40 (!!!) points. That's double the usual blog grade! If you fail to do the above correctly, you will not receive full credit. If you post late, it is half credit until the end of Sunday.

4th Quarter, Blog 1 Required

2009-03-12T16:08:00.002-06:00

Find one critical essay on The Sound and the Fury.

If you have the Norton Critical Edition, there are numerous essays in the back under "Criticism." If you do not have the Norton Edition or choose not to use it, use good ole LRC (password: elvis, then scroll down to Literature Resource Center) to find an article. Be careful not to use "overviews" or "reviews." They are not criticism.

In the near future we might have access to JSTOR, an exceptional online database, and if that happens, I will post instructions for accessing it.

You may also use any book in our school library (such as Novels for Students). Please do not take articles from the internet. Use only the Norton, LRC, or our library. Choose an article that you can understand and read well.

Do the following:

1. Cite the article properly (MLA format- use the OWL to help you.)
2. Summarize the article- what does it say about TSATF? This part is simply a summary, not your opinion. Write at least a full paragraph (6-10 sentences, at least).
3. React to the article- what parts do you agree/disagree with? What do you learn about the novel from this article? Again, about another full paragraph (6-10 sentences, at least).

If you accomplish the above three items correctly, you will receive 40 (!!!) points. That's double the usual blog grade! If you fail to do the above correctly, you will not receive full credit. If you post late, it is half credit until the end of Sunday.

Doing a casual search just now on LRC, I found an article pondering whether the man in the red tie is gay, another analyzing Jason's "Mother complex," and many, many more!

Helpful!

2009-03-03T13:58:00.000-06:00

http://www.usask.ca/english/faulkner/main/index.html

go to Quentin's section, click on the colored box in the right hand frame.

Second Semester Blog #7- Required (the last one this nine weeks!)

2009-02-24T08:10:00.004-06:00

Comment on some aspect of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. You can ask questions, discuss meaningful quotations or symbols, comment on your experiences reading the novel, etc. Note: this is not a forum for your complaints.

I want to encourage you to respond to your classmates and help them understand this very complex novel. Build upon what others have already said.

You must post at least once before Friday, March 6th for credit. You may, of course, continue to post after that date as we continue to discuss this novel. Use this as your sounding board for ideas we didn't cover in class.

Second Semester Required- Week 6

2009-02-09T11:10:00.002-06:00

This week we are revising our WH essays.

Comment on any aspect of your revision process. Here are some ideas:

Describe what happened during the in class write (the first time around).
Describe what influenced your revisions.
What are the biggest differences between your in class essay and your revised essay?
How did you revise? How did you decide what changes needed to be made?
How did you decide how to change certain parts?
What part of the essay still could be better? What part do you feel fairly confident with?

On Friday, turn in both the original essay and the revised copy. Your dramatic monologue is also due on Friday. We will read these in class!

FYI

2009-02-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

From Mr. Moody:

IF YOU WISH TO TAKE (OR RE-TAKE) THE 11TH GRADE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM IN MAY, YOU MUST PERSONALLY SEE MR. MOODY BEFORE THURSDAY, 2/12/09.

Second Semester Required- Week 5

2009-02-02T11:23:00.002-06:00

We are halfway through the nine weeks!

Choose a quote from your play (A Doll House or IOBE), type it out, and comment on why it is significant. Make sure it is one that no one else has already posted.

Post early so someone else does not take your quote!

Do not just summarize where the quote came from, but instead discuss what it might mean, reveal, symbolize, emphasize, foreshadow, etc. In other words, analyze!

Schedule Revision

2009-01-28T07:47:00.002-06:00

Hurray for a snow day!

Here's our revised schedule:

Thursday: Test over WH and Romantic Poetry
Friday: MWDS due, Discuss end of Wuthering Heights, get back Dystopia essay/project
Monday: in-class essay on Wuthering Heights
Tuesday: reading day with your play (Bring either Oscan Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest or your Bedford (to read Ibsen's A Doll's House)).

Don't forget about the blog below. No need to copy/paste your conversation, just summarize one aspect of it. If you want to copy part of it for us to see, go for it. Your chats are saved under "chats" right under the "inbox" link in your mail.

Second Semester Week 4: Group Chat Summary

2009-01-26T07:22:00.003-06:00

For this week's blog posting, summarize one aspect aspect of your group chat from Tuesday. See the example student chat and summary paragraph below:

Step One: Group Chat on Tale of Two Cities:

Allison: but, the time was not come yet; and every time that wind blew over france shook the rags of the scarecrows in vein, for the birds fine of song and feather, took no worning. book 1, ch 5
Jenny: ok…what does that mean?
Caitlin: the scarecrows are the aristocracy
Lucy: once again the birds are dirty
Caitlin: i think
Jenny: wait a seec
Lucy: no,no,the wind is the scary mean people and the scarccrow are the porr people fighting the revolution
Allison: yeah lucy that’s what I was sayin
Lucy: and rthe poor are scarred away until the revolution comes
Jenny: I think that there were so many times the thwe revolution could have occurred that (wind in vien) that when it actually cam the rich had no idea it was coming

Step Two: Group Summary of Discussion

Although the barbaric human is often mentioned, we feel that the most important thematic issue within animal imagery is how the poor people are referred to as dogs and pigs. But social class differences are also illustrated symbolically by other images, such as the description of the ragged scarecrows (symbolizing the poor), while birds symbolize the upper class.

Note: if you were absent on Tuesday, and did not participate in the group chat, respond to one of the discussion questions passed out in class.

Second Semester Week 3- Required

2009-01-19T17:20:00.003-06:00

In an effort to stir Hindley against Heathcliff, Isabella says to Hindley, "Every one knows your sister would have been living now, had it not been for Mr. Heathcliff. After all, it is preferable to be hated than loved by him."

Thinking about the novel as a whole (well, at least what we've read so far), which is the more powerful force: love or hate?

Or maybe something else?

Blog about your thoughts on this issue.

Second Semester Week 2- Required

2009-01-12T11:03:00.003-06:00

This week we begin Wuthering Heights!

Type out one quotation from the assigned readings for this week (include the page number). Tell us where the quotation came from and any other information we might need to know. Tell us why you picked the quotation and what you think it suggests. Analyze it, question it, comment on it, etc.

Second Semester Week 1- Required

2009-01-04T14:36:00.004-06:00

There are a few people who still need to comment on the Dec 13th Blog. Please do so ASAP.

Okay, welcome back! This semester is shorter than last semester, and we're reading MORE (if you can believe it). That means that it's time to get serious, time to put down the SparksNotes, time to start thinking for yourself, time to start figuring out how to improve, time to start coming for tutoring. Our first novel back will be Bronte's Wuthering Heights, a dark, dark novel of ghosts, death, and the tragedy of passionate love.

But for this week, comment on your choice novel. Any aspect of it. Give me a few sentences at least.

Due, as usual, by midnight on Friday.

Q and A: The College Admissions Process

2008-12-21T13:06:00.001-06:00

An article worth reading about the college admissions process.

We're out of school!

2008-12-15T12:11:00.002-06:00

But you DO have a blog this week- read the post below this one.

If you need an exam study guide, email me and I can forward it to you. I won't be able to tell you if you are exempt or not until tomorrow (Tuesday).

If we don't have school tomorrow, I will go ahead and post the research paper grade for you to see. If we do, I will give back the papers in class and post the grade in the afternoon.

Enjoy your two free hours!

Last Week!! (Required)

2008-12-13T19:25:00.003-06:00

Here's your last blog before the break. Enjoy the easy 20 points!

The topic is simple: tell me what you learned this semester in AP English.

Discuss what you struggled with, what you really enjoyed, what stuck with you the most, what you still need to work on, etc.

Enjoy your time off, and I'll see you when we get back!!!!!

I have to turn in grades on Friday, so you must post BEFORE Friday. Thursday night at the latest.

Week 15- No blog.

2008-11-17T10:01:00.001-06:00

Celebrate. Again.

Week 14- No Blog!

2008-11-12T12:21:00.002-06:00

No Blog this week. Think about your research paper. We meet in the library Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Week 13- NO BLOG!!!!!

2008-11-03T11:17:00.002-06:00

NO BLOG THIS WEEK!

(woohoo!)

Remember: Hamlet MWDS and in class essay this Friday (11/7). Your research proposal is due on Wednesday, November 12th.

General Hamlet Discussion

2008-10-28T06:40:00.003-06:00

You are not required to answer this post- but I'd like you to use it for your general Hamlet questions and comments. Discuss your assigned act, a soliloquy you don't quite understand, or whatever other question you might have.

For example:

Why has Hamlet captured audiences for so many years? What is it about this play that continues to inspire and enthrall people over 400 years after it was written?

Why doesn't Hamlet just kill Claudius???

Is the ghost a good ghost or a bad ghost?

Why is Fortinbras important?

Week 12 Required- Hamlet

2008-10-28T06:38:00.003-06:00

Without a doubt, appearance vs reality is a major topic in Hamlet.

Where do we see this topic? (Think specific scenes, quotations, characters) Look for moments when something "seems" or "is like" something else.

What conclusions can you draw about this topic?

What is Shakespeare suggesting, revealing, foreshadowing, etc?

Week 11 Required Post- Poetry

2008-10-06T10:39:00.003-05:00

The second nine weeks is mostly devoted to poetry, and the next work we're reading is Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is printed in the Bedford, but I highly encourage you to get a copy of your own for annotating. (And so you don't have to carry around the Bedford the whole time.) After Hamlet, at the end of the second nine weeks, we'll read Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, another play.

But for week 11, I'd like you to post about your experiences with poetry. For example:

Is there a particular poet you enjoy?
Have you ever had to memorize a poem? Was it a worthwhile experience? Can you still recite it?
What is your earliest memory of poetry?
What have been some of your struggles with poetry?
What is it about poetry that you enjoy?
Why do some people (possibly including you) think that poetry is so tough?
Why is poetry important?
What makes a poem a poem?

You don't have to answer all of the above questions; I've just given them to you as examples in case you can't think of something to write.

This post is due by midnight, Friday, October 24th.

Week 10 Required Post- Choice Novel

2008-10-06T10:34:00.004-05:00

No post required for Week 9! (I'm sure you'll somehow find a way to survive....)

For Week 10, the week after Fall Break, I want you to post ALL of the following:

Your general reactions to your choice novel upon finishing
Your questions about your choice novel that still remain
Something in the novel you found interesting
A quote you loved and why
A possible theme

Feel free to use some of your reactions (the four typed pages due this coming Friday, October 17th). As usual, this post is due by midnight on Friday, October 17th.

Week 8 Required Post- END OF THE NOVEL!

2008-09-28T20:54:00.002-05:00

Congratulations!! You have finished the novel!!!!!!!!!!!!! (The longest novel of the year, actually!) I am so proud of you, and I've really enjoyed our class discussions so far.

For Week 8, write down your thoughts about Ellison's Invisible Man through the end of the novel! Please write at least four or five sentences about:

your reactions
your questions
your thoughts
words, phrases, or sentences that stood out to you
your engagement with the novel: dissect it, unravel it, work your way around in it
what you think will happen next or at some point in the future

Note: I want you to be honest about your thoughts, but this is not your opportunity to whine or complain. Let's keep these posts thoughtful, intelligent, critical, and insightful.

Do not make your post simply a list of questions you expect someone else to answer.
Nor do I want a summary of what happened.

(I apologize for not being at school Friday and Monday- hopefully you used this time and will be ready for a great discussion on the novel on Tuesday!!)

Week 7 Required- IM Chapters 13-18

2008-09-23T06:29:00.001-05:00

For Week 7, write down your thoughts about Ellison's Invisible Man through the end of chapter eighteen (this reading assignment was due on Monday). Please write at least four or five sentences about:

your reactions
your questions
your thoughts
words, phrases, or sentences that stood out to you
your engagement with the novel: dissect it, unravel it, work your way around in it
what you think will happen next or at some point in the future

Please keep your comments limited to what happens from chapter seven to the end of chapter twelve so as not to spoil anything for anyone.

Note: I want you to be honest about your thoughts, but this is not your opportunity to whine or complain. Let's keep these posts thoughtful, intelligent, critical, and insightful.

Do not make your post simply a list of questions you expect someone else to answer.
Nor do I want a summary of what happened.

Finish the novel for Monday!! We'll work on a MWDS in class next week.

Week 6 Required, Invisible Man Chapters 7-12

2008-09-15T08:57:00.001-05:00

For Week 6, write down your thoughts about Ellison's Invisible Man through the end of chapter twelve (this reading assignment and vocab words are due on Wednesday). Please write at least four or five sentences about:

your reactions
your questions
your thoughts
words, phrases, or sentences that stood out to you
your engagement with the novel: dissect it, unravel it, work your way around in it
what you think will happen next or at some point in the future

Week 5 Required Post- Invisible Man Reactions

2008-09-06T17:59:00.002-05:00

For Week 5, write down your thoughts about Ellison's Invisible Man through the end of chapter six (this reading assignment and vocab words are due on Thursday). Please write at least four or five sentences about:

your reactions
your questions
your thoughts
words, phrases, or sentences that stood out to you
your engagement with the novel: dissect it, unravel it, work your way around in it
what you think will happen next or at some point in the future

Please keep your comments limited to what happens from the prologue to the end of chapter six so as not to spoil anything for anyone.

Note: I want you to be honest about your thoughts, but this is not your opportunity to whine or complain. Let's keep these posts thoughtful, intelligent, critical, and insightful.

Do not make your post simply a list of questions you expect someone else to answer.
Nor do I want a summary of what happened.

Week 4 Required Post- Allusions

2008-08-29T14:28:00.003-05:00

The novel we're starting this week contains many allusions- some of which may be familiar to you while others may not be. In class on Friday, bring information about your assigned allusion to share with the class. You are NOT turning in anything typed about your allusion- you are just verbally presenting on it. However, I'd like you to put post on the blog the factual information about your allusion for everyone to see and keep (and include a source. Where did you get your information? Please use MLA, as always, for citing your source.) More than one person has each allusion, so please try not to repeat each other.

Note: Wikipedia does not count as a source. "Answers.com," "Geocities," "Book Rags" or similar pages are also not sources. You should know by now how to do proper research, and you should know what counts as a credible website and what is simply non-academic, or even junk.

In your post, describe your allusion- who is he/she or what is it? biographical info? historical info? This information should take the form of a good paragraph (8-10 sentences at least) or paragraphs, not bulleted points. I'll post the assigned allusions this weekend on this blog.

Week 3 Required Post- Short Stories

2008-08-24T18:28:00.002-05:00

For Week 3, I'd simply like you to respond to one of the short stories assigned this week. You may want to wait until the end of the week to post so that you've read all of the assigned readings. Your response should take the form of a lengthy paragraph or paragraphs- somewhere between 8-10 sentences at least. Basically, I want to see your thinking on one of the short stories.

Keep in mind that your response should be a thoughtful contribution to our discussion of the stories- not a summary or review. Think about the following:

What are some of the themes for these stories?

What jumped out at you the most in one, or in more than one, of these stories? What was your initial reaction?

What questions still remain following your reading of the stories? What did you notice that we did not talk about in class?

Here's your chance to say something you didn't get to say in class or didn't think about until it was too late. Please do not summarize the story or restate what we already said in class.

Week 2 Required Post- Crime and Punishment

2008-08-17T19:33:00.004-05:00

"The real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind" - the great Joseph Conrad

For week 2, respond to one or more of the following questions:

Are there different levels of crime? Are some crimes worse than others? How do you rank what's worse?

For example, is it worse to break a promise to a friend or to cheat on a test? Is it worse to NOT help someone in need or to damage someone's property? Is there such thing as a just crime? a just war? How can we make these types of decisions? (I'm not asking you to answer THESE questions in particular, but to think about and discuss them in a general sense.) Feel free to use Crime and Punishment to support your opinions!

How do we know what's wrong or right? Where do we get our value systems? Does everyone have the same one? How do you know your value system is the right one to follow?

Week 1 Required Post- Who are you?

2008-07-31T17:56:00.003-05:00

Emily Dickinson wrote, "I'm nobody, who are you?"

So, who are you?? Help me get to know you by commenting on this entry and posting the following:

1. Your name and class period
2. An odd fact about you that not many people know (something other than what you said in class!)
3. A favorite book and a description of why it's your favorite

Your comment is due by midnight on Friday, August 15th.

Slaughterhouse 5

2008-05-16T09:50:00.003-05:00

Comment and post your questions/comments/thoughts about Slaughterhouse 5 for your classmates to read and respond to this summer.

The Things They Carried

2008-05-16T09:50:00.001-05:00

Comment and post your questions/comments/thoughts about The Things They Carried for your classmates to read and respond to this summer.

The Namesake

2008-05-16T09:49:00.001-05:00

Comment and post your questions/comments/thoughts about The Namesake for your classmates to read and respond to this summer.

Crime and Punishment

2008-05-16T09:48:00.002-05:00

Comment and post your questions/comments/thoughts about Crime and Punishment for your classmates to read and respond to this summer.