Taking the Final: December 20, 2018

Welcome to the A.P. Lit final!

Section I: Multiple Choice (55 questions; 1 hour)

Please record your answers on the scantron.


Section II: Free Response (3 question; 2 hours)

Please clearly label your essays and use separate sheets of paper for each essay.
When you finish, stable the rubric to the corresponding essay:

• Question #1 (The Echo Sonnet): Blue rubric

• Question #2 (Johnny Got His Gun): Green rubric

• Question #3 (Beloved): Gold rubric

***Also, please turn in your copies of Beloved if you have not yet done so.***

This Is Not a Story To Pass On: December 17, 2018

Focus: How do the falling action and resolution of Beloved dress its wounds?

1. Warming up with three good things and our final round of musical chairs reading tickets

2. Rereading the last few pages of Beloved together

• Find phrases and lines that bring closure or resolution to a "wound" in Beloved that has affected one or more of the characters.

• What closure or resolution does it bring? How?

• What is still left open?

3. Socratic seminar: The ending of Beloved

4. Wrapping up with kudos, questions, and epiphanies

HW:
1. As Soon As Possible (no later than the final): Complete your Beloved big question blog.

2. For NEXT THURSDAY:
Remember that your final is on THURSDAY, December 20 from 11:30 am to about 3:00 pm. You will need a pencil, a blue or black pen, and notebook paper.

Ideas for preparation:

• Look carefully through all the timed writings you've done this semester.
• Use Quizlet to review terms.
• Revisit your Socratic tickets on Beloved, as well as your blogs, your classmates' blogs, and the Socratic scribing.
• Look back through the sample multiple choice we've done.
• Skim through your composition notebook.
• Get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast in the morning.

The Number 3: December 14, 2018

Focus: What's so special about the number 3?

1. Experiencing Day 3 of our poetry projects and offering advice to each other's groups

2. Exploring Question #3 for the final

3. Composing your 3rd Big Question Blog (okay--it's actually your fourth, but that didn't go with my motif)

Keep an eye out for the following line:
"So thirty women made up that company and walked slowly, slowly toward 124.
It was three in the afternoon on a Friday..."

4. Concluding with my final grade math

89.50% = A -
89.49 = B +

79.50% = B -
79/49 = C +

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Finish Beloved and prepare your final Socratic ticket of 2018!

2. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, but before your final for sure: Complete your Beloved big question blog.

3. For NEXT THURSDAY:
Remember that your final is on THURSDAY, December 20 from 11:30 am to about 3:00 pm. You will need a pencil, a blue or black pen, and notebook paper.

Ideas for preparation:

• Look carefully through all the timed writings you've done this semester.
• Use Quizlet to review terms.
• Revisit your Socratic tickets on Beloved, as well as your blogs, your classmates' blogs, and the Socratic scribing.
• Look back through the sample multiple choice we've done.
• Skim through your composition notebook.
• Get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast in the morning.

Experiencing Poetry, Day 2: December 13, 2018

Focus: What can we learn about poetry from each other's creative projects?

1. Warming up by enjoying poetry projects with follow-up questions and index card feedback

2. Distributing feedback cards and turning in essays

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: Finish Beloved and prepare your final Socratic ticket of 2018!

2. For MONDAY: Complete your Beloved big question blog.

3. For NEXT THURSDAY:
Remember that your final is on THURSDAY, December 20 from 11:30 am to about 3:00 pm. You will need a pencil, a blue or black pen, and notebook paper.

Ideas for preparation:

• Look carefully through all the timed writings you've done this semester.
• Use Quizlet to review terms.
• Revisit your Socratic tickets on Beloved, as well as your blogs, your classmates' blogs, and the Socratic scribing.
• Look back through the sample multiple choice we've done.
• Skim through your composition notebook.
• Get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast in the morning.

Experiencing Poetry, Day 1: December 12, 2018

Focus: What can we learn about poetry from each other's creative projects?

1. Warming up by enjoying poetry projects with follow-up questions and index card feedback

2. Watching a brief interview with Toni Morrison and collecting soundbites

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Projects and papers are due.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish Beloved and prepare your final Socratic ticket of 2018!

3. For MONDAY: Complete your Beloved big question blog.

4. For NEXT THURSDAY:
Remember that your final is on THURSDAY, December 20 from 11:30 am to about 3:00 pm. You will need a pencil, a blue or black pen, and notebook paper.

Ideas for preparation:

• Look carefully through all the timed writings you've done this semester.
• Use Quizlet to review terms.
• Revisit your Socratic tickets on Beloved, as well as your blogs, your classmates' blogs, and the Socratic scribing.
• Look back through the sample multiple choice we've done.
• Skim through your composition notebook.
• Get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast in the morning.

Review: December 11, 2018

Focus: How do we prepare for the A.P. Lit test?

1. Warming up with a round of Dear Ms. Leclaire and a round of Quizlet terms

2. Click here to troubleshoot your A.P. Lit issues with some A.P. Lit exam readers

3. Walking through the 2018 essay section together with a focus on the prose question

• Talking overall strategies for this section

• Examining the prompts and asking questions

• Reading Question #2 with a focus on the first inch and the last inch

• What words are associated with Zenobia in this passage?
• What patterns can you find among these words?
• What literary devices are most helpful in analyzing this passage?
• How would you structure this essay?

• Comparing two sample student responses and perusing the grader's commentary

HW:
1. For TOMORROW AND THURSDAY: Projects and papers are due; use the Night-Before Checklist to edit your essay before submitting it.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish Beloved and prepare your final Socratic ticket of 2018!

3. For MONDAY: Complete your Beloved big question blog.

4. For NEXT THURSDAY:
Remember that your final is on Thursday, December 20 from 11:30 am to about 3:00 pm. You will need a pencil, a blue or black pen, and notebook paper.

Ideas for preparation:

• Look carefully through all the timed writings you've done this semester.
• Use Quizlet to review terms.
• Revisit your Socratic tickets on Beloved, as well as your blogs, your classmates' blogs, and the Socratic scribing.
• Look back through the sample multiple choice we've done.
• Skim through your composition notebook.
• Get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast in the morning.

Make It Work: December 10, 2018

Focus: How can we turn ideas and outlines into drafts and projects?

1. Warming up with three good things and shaking hands with Andy Goldsworthy

2. Offering one quick note to the project people about designing their own rubrics and reviewing the presentation guidelines

3. Working, working, working (and conferencing)

HW:
1. For WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: Projects and papers are due; use the Night-Before Checklist to edit your essay before submitting it.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish Beloved and prepare your final Socratic ticket of 2018!

3. For MONDAY: Complete your Beloved big question blog.

The Red Ribbon: December 7, 2018

Focus: Why does Stamp Paid carry a red ribbon?

1. Warming up by watching "Uprooted" (in response to your questions about Stamp Paid and the red ribbon)

• What does this video make you wonder?

• What does it help you understand about the Reconstruction Era (post-slavery America) that you didn't understand before?

• What does it help you understand about Beloved and/or Morrison's purpose in writing it? 

2. Enjoying a Socratic seminar on Beloved, Part 2

3. Wrapping up with epiphanies, questions, and kudos

HW:

1. MONDAY will be your final in-class work (or reading) day.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish Beloved and create your final reading ticket for our final Socratic (Monday people will be turning theirs in).

3. ONGOING: Work on your papers and projects.

PROJECT PEOPLE: Please print me a clean copy of your poem by Monday, Dec 10.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

The First Inch and the Last Inch: December 6, 2018

Focus: How can we collaborate to become stronger answer choosers?

1. Warming up with "Score My A.P. Test" to get a realistic sense of your multiple choice goals

2. Reading a sample prose section (with a focus on the first inch and the last inch)

3. Defending each answer in letter groups

HW:

1. For FRIDAY: Finish Part 2 in Beloved and create a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. ONGOING: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

PROJECT PEOPLE: Please print me a clean copy of your poem by Monday, Dec 10.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

You Gotta Work, Work, Work, Work: December 5, 2018

Focus: How do we begin our poetry papers and projects?

1. Warming up with a little poetry project inspiration from a few years back: Click HERE for the sample film; click HERE for a commercial that reminds me of a poetry project.

2. Touching base briefly with paper people:

• Enjoy two new freedoms: Background and structure

• Use the thesis workshop; e-mail me your thesis (any outlining/drafting) as soon as possible.

• Check out the sample essay.

3. Conferencing with project people

• Using the proposal as your starting place; submit this or conference with me this week.

• Considering the role the presentation will play in your project.

4. Getting to work, work, work, work

HW:

1. For FRIDAY: Finish Part 2 in Beloved and create a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. ONGOING: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

PROJECT PEOPLE: Please print me a clean copy of your poem by Monday, Dec 10.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Remembering, Disremembering, and Unaccounting For: December 4, 2018

Focus: How is Morrison experimenting with diction and structure, and why?

1. Warming up with wordplay, Toni Morrison style:

Memory

Rememory

Disremember

Unaccounted

re-

a prefix...used with the meaning “again” or “again and again” to indicate 
repetition, or with the meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate withdrawal or  backward motion

dis-

a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a     negative, or  reversing force 

un-

a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force 

(thank you, dictionary.com, for the above definitions)

What do these words have in common?

What is the difference between these words?

How do they fit Sethe's journey? Paul D's? Denver's? Beloved's?

2. Nailing down Beloved's elusive events into a nicely concrete timeline

Step 1: Take about 5-10 sticky notes and dedicate each one to a specific event. If you know what year the event happened or you have some kind of timestamp, include that on your sticky note.

Step 2: Manipulate them into you think you have them roughly in chronological order (in other words, the order in which they actually happened).

Step 3: Create a timeline with as many specific dates as possible. 

Step 4: It would have been significantly easier for Morrison to write the book in chronological order or to simply include a few flashbacks. How would you describe the order/structure of this book?  What might Morrison be up to here? How does the structure of the book relate to the prefix lesson we enjoyed at the beginning of class?

3. Indulging in Socratic on Beloved, Part 2: Chapter 1

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: Finish Part 2 in Beloved and create a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. ONGOING: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

This the Place I Am: December 3, 2018

Focus: How does Morrison use physical spaces to quilt together larger meanings?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Delineating Morrison's spaces

The shed

The stairs

The Ohio River

124

The keeping room

The kitchen

First, quickly draw your space. Based on Morrison's descriptions, what shape does this space take in your mind?

Next, label your space. Using Morrison's language, identify key aspects of your space (objects, colors, movements, people, body parts, sounds, smells, etc).

Lastly, analyze your space. Who's empowered in this space? Who's disempowered? What has shifted in this space, and what has stayed the same? So far, what is the significance of your space to the novel as a whole?

If you have time, analyze the syntax of this line: Near the end of Chapter 12, when Denver worries that Beloved has left her, Beloved reappears and says, "This the place I am."

3. Reading the second half of Part I

HW:
For TOMORROW: 

• Socratic seminar on Part II, Chapter I.

• Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Sixty Million and More: November 30, 2018

Focus: What does Beloved's violence represent on a metaphorical level?

1. Warming up with three good things and our old friend, Foster:

"If we only understand Beloved on the surface level, Sethe's act of killing her daughter becomes so repugnant that sympathy for her is nearly impossible. If we lived next to her, for instance, one of us would have to move. But her action carries symbolic significance; we understand it not only as the literal action of a single, momentarily deranged woman but as an action that speaks for the experience of a face at a certain horrific moment in history, as a gesture explained by whip scars on her back that take the form of a tree, as the product of the sort of terrible choice that only characters in our great mythic stories--a Jocasta, a Dido, a Medea--are driven to make. Sethe isn't a mere woman next door but a mythic creature, one of the great tragic heroines."  (Foster 91)

Take a look at the shifts in point of view in Chapters 16, 17 and 18.

• How would you describe the point of view(s) in each chapter?

• Why do you think Morrison structures it this way?  What's the purpose of each chapter?

• Other ways of thinking about the above question: Why not just tell the story from Sethe's point of view? How is the story being filtered?

• How does the point of view affect the way you perceive Sethe? Does your perception shift throughout these chapters? Do you agree with Foster that Sethe comes across as a great tragic heroine?

2. Engaging in a Socratic seminar on Beloved, Chapters 16-18

3. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies and kudos

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Read the first half of Chapter 1 in Part II. We will read the second half of that chapter together in class to catch up. Monday Socratic ticket people may turn in their tickets TUESDAY.

2. For next TUESDAY: 

• Socratic seminar on Part II, Chapter I.

• Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Multiple Choosing: November 29, 2018

Focus: How can we translate our poetry skills into multiple choice?

1. Warming up with enjambment, T.S. Eliot-style and a few reflections on "The Myth of the Happy Slave"

2. Explaining how multiple choice grading works in this class and trying out "The Writer"

• Performing an MMM reading on the poem as a class: 
• Moments (which images, sounds, metaphors, words, etc. make you take a moment to pause?)
• Movements (Where does the poem shift? Is there physical movement in the poem? What larger patterns emerge?)
• Multiple meanings (What do you make of the author's complex tone and themes?)

• Choosing the answers in silent partnerships

1 question right: 50% 

2 questions right: 60% 

3 questions right: 65% 

4 questions right: 70% 

5 questions right: 80% 

6 questions right: 85%

7 questions right: 89%

8 questions right: 91%

9 questions right: 95%

10 questions right: 98%

11 questions right: 100%

3. Talking through your choices


HW:
1. For Friday: 

• Finish Part 1 and complete a reading ticket. 
• Finish your poem metacognitive if you have not yet done so.

2. For MONDAY: Read the first half of Chapter 1 in Part II. We will read the second half of that chapter together in class to catch up. Monday Socratic ticket people may turn in their tickets TUESDAY.

3. For next TUESDAY: 

• Socratic seminar on Part II, Chapter I.

• Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

The Myth of the Happy Slave: November 28, 2018

Focus: Why is Beloved an important narrative for us to read?

1. Warming up with the myth of the happy slave

(You can make a copy of the Google slides and type in the note section under each slide, or you can jot down ideas in your composition notebook.)

• What stands out to you in each image?

• What specific myth of slavery does each image propagate, and for what purpose?

• For each slide, find one line from Beloved that challenges / undoes the myth.

• So far, what do you see as Morrison's intent in writing this story?

2. Read through the end of Part 1 for Friday (warning: violence)

HW:
1. For Friday: 

• Finish Part 1 and complete a reading ticket. 
• Finish your poem metacognitive if you have not yet done so.

2. For next TUESDAY: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website).

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

I Hope You Like Enjambing, Too: November 27, 2018

Focus: How do we apply our poetry reading skills to multiple choice questions?

1. Warming up with a mini lesson on enjambment with our good friends Langston Hughes and e.e.cummings

2. Performing a metacognitive on your paper/project poem

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: 

• Please finish your metacognitive.

• Read Chapters 13, 14, and 15 (no reading ticket required). You will have 20 minutes of reading time tomorrow.

2. For Friday: Finish Part 1 and complete a reading ticket.

3. For next TUESDAY: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website).

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

The Clearing: November 26, 2018

Focus: For what purposes might Toni Morrison use magical realism?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Offering you the film version of the Clearing scene with Baby Suggs

a. Close reading: What specific elements in this scene interest you?

b. Zooming out a little: What are the qualities and purposes of this space? Why does Morrison name it "the Clearing"? Who used to govern this space? Who governs it now? What does this shift mean?

c. Considering broader themes: In the larger sense of the novel so far, what purposes might this scene serve? What do you think Morrison wants us to understand better or differently (about slavery? memory? pain? freedom? ownership?)?

3. Discussing Chapters 9-12 in Beloved in a silent Socratic



4. Wrapping up with each group's best questions, epiphanies, and kudos

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Decide which poem you'd like to explore for your paper or project, and bring your laptop if you wish to type your metacognitive.

2. For WEDNESDAY: Read Chapters 13, 14, and 15 in Beloved (no ticket required)

3. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 16, 17, and 18 and prepare a Socratic ticket (I accidentally left these off the bookmark!).

Life Marks All Who Pass Through It: November 16, 2018

Focus: Who/what is Beloved?

1. Warming up with two quick rounds of Socratic ticket musical chairs

2. Considering the following: How is Beloved marked?

• What does our friend, Thomas Foster (from How To Read Literature...) have to say about marks?

• "...character markings stand as indicators of the damage life inflicts...[characters] bear signs illustrating the way life marks all who pass through it." (195)

• Find two or three good passages illustrating how Beloved is marked.  What might these marks signify? 

• How are the other characters marked?

3. Discussing Chapters 2 through 7 of Beloved, Socratic style

4. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies, and kudos

HW:
1. For MONDAY AFTER BREAK: Read through Chapter 12 and prepare your Socratic ticket.

3. For TUESDAY AFTER BREAK: Solidify your project/paper poem and bring it to class for your metacognitive.

Redacting: November 15, 2018

Focus: How can we use poetry to better understand prose (and vice versa)?

1. Warming up by thinking about your poetry project / paper

2. Browsing for your poem

3. Exploring the myth of the happy slave

• What stands out to you in each image?

• What specific myth of slavery does each image propagate, and for what purpose?

• For each slide, find one line from Beloved that undoes the myth.

4. Discovering the method and purpose of the redaction poem (and looking at two of your examples)

https://tychogirl.wordpress.com/tag/poetry/page/24/

• Using the redaction poem to understand a slave narrative

• Trying out a redaction poem on a page from Chapters 1-4 of Beloved

3. Sharing and discussing your redaction poems in a gallery walk

• What do the redaction poems help you understand better or differently?

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Read through Chapter 7 and prepare your ticket for tomorrow's first Beloved Socratic; if you will be absent tomorrow, please submit your ticket when you return from break.

To clarify: You should prepare a Socratic ticket each Monday and Friday (just as with East of Eden). However, it only needs to printed and submitted once a week.

2. For MONDAY AFTER BREAK: Read through Chapter 12 and prepare your Socratic ticket.

3. For TUESDAY AFTER BREAK: Solidify your project/paper poem and bring it to class for your metacognitive.

Getting into Character: November 14, 2018

Focus: How can we better understand the characters in Beloved?

1. Warming up by getting to know a character better by responding to some creative writing prompts

2. Reading through Chapter 6

3. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies, and kudos

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Read through Chapter 6 (no reading ticket needed until Friday).

2. For FRIDAY: Read through Chapter 8 and create your Beloved reading ticket (see reading ticket possibilities above and on handout given in class).

Who/What Is Beloved? November 13, 2018

Focus: How do we interpret the baby ghost in Beloved?

1. Warming up by generating questions about characters, plot, setting, and structure

2. Discussing your questions in a clockwork discussion

3. Offering you an overview of  Socratic tickets; if you're not quite sure where to start, try focusing your first ticket on the character who intrigues you the most

• For Beloved, I will collect your reading tickets every other time (one half of the class on Friday, one half on Monday).

4. Wrapping up by reading Chapter 2

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Read through at least Chapter 3, and bring your Beloved book to class tomorrow for some reading time. 

2. For THURSDAY: Read through Chapter 6; we will prepare a sample reading ticket in class.

3. For FRIDAY: Read through Chapter 8 and add to or create a new Beloved reading ticket (see reading ticket possibilities above and on handout given in class).

Haunted: November 12, 2018

Focus: How do we enter the disturbingly haunted world of Beloved?

1. Warming up with high velocity freewriting on where we're journeying to in Beloved

(Click here for the music.)

2. Facing some difficult images and reading some important lines to prepare for Beloved

3. Entering 124 together

HW:
1. Please finish Chapters 1 and 2 for class tomorrow; click HERE for the reading schedule and HERE for the overview of Socratic tickets (they're also linked to the website). You only need to read tonight; you will compose your first ticket in class on Friday.

2. Make sure your blog post for A Midsummer Night's Dream is posted.

What's (Un)Ressolved in A Midsummer Night's Dream? November 9, 2018

Focus: What's resolved by the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and what is left unresolved?

1. Warming up with the Dead Poets Society performance of Puck's final speech (1:35:20) and playing musical chairs with yesterday's metacognitions

2. Enjoying some lively mental jousting

3. Composing your big question blogs on A Midsummer Night's Dream, viewing the film version (1:27:11), and completing a quick reflection ticket

HW:
For MONDAY: 

• Please finish your big question blog on A Midsummer Night's Dream if you did not finish in class.

• If you own your own copy of Beloved, start bringing it to class on Monday.

An Old-Fashioned Workshop: November 8, 2018

Focus: How can workshop help us improve our timed writing skills?

1. Warming up with a circle-the-wagon reading and your timed writing queries

2. Getting acquainted with a "classic essay workshop" on a sample timed writing

3. Trying out a classic essay workshop on one or two of your timed writings

4. Wrapping up with your timed writing take-aways

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: Start composing your big question post on A Midsummer Night's Dream; bring your laptop to class.

2. For MONDAY: If you own your own copy of Toni Morrison's Beloved, start bringing it to class on Monday.

Metatheater: November 7, 2018

Focus: What larger themes emerge through the tradesmen's performance of Pyramus and Thisbe?

1. Warming up with a scoreboard check:

• What conflicts were set up in the early acts?

• In the later acts, who won each one?

• How was each one won?

• What patterns can you find among the nature of the conflicts, who won them, and how they were won?

2. Performing the end of Act 5 with a focus on metatheater: How does the tradesmen's performance reflect the motifs, dichotomies, tone and/or themes of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

3. Considering the significance of Puck's final speech

HW:
1. FOR TODAY: Please make sure your essay is printed with the checklist initialed and stapled to the top. It must be turned in by 4:00.

2. For FRIDAY: Compose your big question post on A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

3. For MONDAY: If you own your own copy of Toni Morrison's Beloved, start bringing it to class on Monday.

The Head that Wears the Crown: November 6, 2018

Focus: How can timed writing help improve our ability to analyze poetry?

1. Warming up with the Night-Before Checklist and fielding any final questions about your sonnet essay

2. Performing a Q1 (poetry) timed writing

HW:
1. FOR TOMORROW: Please make sure your essay is printed with the checklist initialed and stapled to the top. It must be turned in by 4:00.

2. For FRIDAY: Compose your big question post on A Midsummer Night's Dream. We will be using your blogs for a warm-up activity, so please make sure that this gets done on time.

3. For MONDAY: If you own your own copy of Toni Morrison's Beloved, start bringing it to class on Monday.

The Play Within the Play: November 5, 2018

Focus: What larger themes emerge through the tradesmen's performance of Pyramus and Thisbe?

1. Warming up with three good things and a scoreboard check:

• What conflicts were set up in Acts 1 and 2?

• In Acts 3 and 4, who won each one?

• How was each one won?

• What patterns can you find among the nature of the conflicts, who won them, and how they were won?

2. Close reading the opening passages in Act 5 for dreams, reality, and metatheatre

3. Performing Act 5 with a focus on metatheater: How does the tradesmen's performance reflect the motifs, dichotomies, tone and/or themes of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

4. Considering the significance of Puck's final speech

HW:
1. TOMORROW: Timed writing on a 16th century poem (Q1).

2. For WEDNESDAY, NOV 7: Final draft is due. It must be printed with the Night-Before Checklist stapled to the top.

Sonnet Essay Workshop: November 2, 2018

Focus: How can the process of peer workshopping help us improve our sonnet essays?

1. Warming up: Fill out the top of your Peer Workshop sheet by considering what aspect of your sonnet essay you'd like the most help with.

• Click HERE if you need an online version of the Peer Workshop sheet.

2. Exchanging essays (follow the three-step directions on your sheet)

• Note: I strongly suggest exchanging your essay with someone who is analyzing your same sonnet.

3. Silent workshopping (again, follow the sheet)

4. Wrapping up a five-minute out-loud conference with your partner

HW:
For NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOV 7: Final draft is due. It must be printed with the Night-Before Checklist stapled to the top.

Mehad a Dream: November 1, 2018

Focus: What is Bottom?

1. Warming up a sneak peak of tomorrow

2. Combining Acting Companies to read Act 4 with a focus on the character of Bottom

• Is Bottom a Shakespearean clown? 

• Is he comedic or tragic? Or something else?

• Does he understand anything that other characters fail to?

• Does he fail to understand anything that other characters do?

• What important truths does he reveal?

3. Viewing the film version of Acts 3 and 4 with a focus on directorial intent

HW:
For FRIDAY: Finish drafting your sonnet essay. If you want your peer editor to handwrite comments, then print it out.

Drafting Your Sonnet Essay: October 31, 2018

Focus: How can improve our poetry analysis skills through the process of drafting the sonnet essay?

1. Warming up by drafting your sonnet essay

2. Learning to analyze sonnets by drafting your sonnet essay

3. Wrapping up by drafting your sonnet essay

Remember: You can compose an entire timed essay in 40 minutes on a poem you've never seen before. How much of this draft can you get done during today's class?

HW:
1. For TONIGHT: Look both ways when crossing the street, and don't eat any unwrapped candy.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish drafting your sonnet essay. If you want your peer editor to handwrite comments, then print it out.

The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth: October 30, 2018

Focus: What causes the women to turn on each other?

1. Warming up by hurling Shakespearean insults at each other

• What patterns do you notice among the insults?
• Consider sound, images, diction, syntax, and subject matter.

2. Reading the rest of Act 3 with a focus on dichotomies and motifs

• Following up by considering the authorial intent behind your dichotomy or motif:

• Shakespeare uses .... to suggest / reveal / criticize / celebrate...

3. Viewing the film version of Acts 2 and 3 with a focus on directorial choices:

• What happens to their clothes / appearance, and why? What does it suggest?

HW:
1. For YESTERDAY: Please e-mail me your sonnet essay thesis along with any brainstorming you may have done (and check your e-mail for my feedback).

2. For WEDNESDAY: You will have the entire class to work on your sonnet essays. Bring your laptop and all sonnet materials to class.

3. For FRIDAY: Complete your sonnet essay rough draft for our peer workshop day.

4. For NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOV 7: Final draft is due. It must be printed with the Night-Before Checklist stapled to the top.

Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be: October 29, 2018

Focus: What conflicts and motifs start to shift as the action rises in Midsummer?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Celebrating successes from your East of Eden timed writings and offering you individual feedback for moving forward (remember our motto: I am a genius with much to learn)

3. Offering you a discovery about the moon


4. Finishing our Act 3 performances, reading the rest of Act 3 and viewing the film version of Acts 2 and 3 with a focus on dichotomies


HW:
1. For TODAY: Please e-mail me your sonnet essay thesis along with any brainstorming you may have done.

2. For WEDNESDAY: We will have our next timed writing; it will be a Question #1 (Poetry) Prompt

3. For FRIDAY: Complete your sonnet essay rough draft for our peer workshop day.

4. For NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOV 7: Final draft is due. It must be printed with the Night-Before Checklist stapled to the top.

Sonnet Recitals: October 26, 2018

Focus: How does memorizing (and listening to) a sonnet change your understanding of it?

PLEASE PUT AWAY CELL PHONES AND KEEP THEM OUT OF SIGHT IN CLASS.

1. Warming up with your small group sonnet recitals and self-reflections

2. Offering you a quick recap of the sonnet essay's structure and a sample essay from last year

3. Finishing our Acting Company performances of Acts 2 and 3

HW:
1. For MONDAY: E-mail me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.

• Click HERE for the overview of the sonnet essay.
• Click HERE for the sample sonnet essay.

2. For FRIDAY: Complete rough draft of sonnet essay due by class.

Acts 2 and 3 in Performance: October 25, 2018

Focus: What can understand better or differently about MSND through performance?

1. Warming up with walk, stop, clap, name

2. Rehearing with our Acting Companies (15 minutes)

3. Performing Acts 2 and 3 with focus questions and close readings

Acting Company #1: 2.1.195-276

Acting Company #2: 2.2.1-89

Acting Company #3: 2.2.90-163

Acting Company #4: 3.1.1-100

Acting Company #5: 3.1.101-208

Acting Company #6: 3.2.1-111

Acting Company #7: 3.2.112-180

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: Memorize your entire sonnet to recite to your group.

2. For MONDAY: E-mail me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.

• Click HERE for the overview of the sonnet essay.
• Click HERE for the sample sonnet essay.

3. For FRIDAY, NOV 2: Rough draft of sonnet essay due by class

Calling All Acting Companies: October 24, 2018

Focus: How does performance contribute to our understanding of Shakespeare?

1. Warming up with a quick revisitation of inversion/anastrophe

2. Getting into Acting Companies and reading through Act 2 and 3 scenes

Acting Company #1: 2.1.195-276

Acting Company #2: 2.2.1-89

Acting Company #3: 2.2.90-163

Acting Company #4: 3.1.1-100

Acting Company #5: 3.1.101-208

Acting Company #6: 3.2.1-111

Acting Company #7: 3.2.112-180

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: 

• Memorize the final two lines of your sonnet.

• Bring any props/costumes you will need for your performance. We will use the first half of class to rehearse and the second half of class to start performing your scenes.

2. For FRIDAY: Memorize your entire sonnet to recite to your group.

3. For MONDAY: E-mail me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.

• Click HERE for the overview of the sonnet essay.
• Click HERE for the sample sonnet essay.

Ill Met By Moonlight: October 23, 2018

Focus: How do Shakespeare's motifs contribute to the play's characterization and conflicts?

1. Warming up with a mini lesson on inversion

2. Reading the first part of 2.1 together with a focus on yesterday's motifs and dichotomies

3. Getting into Acting Companies and reading through Act 2 and 3 scenes

Acting Company #1: 2.1.195-276

Acting Company #2: 2.2.1-89

Acting Company #3: 2.2.90-163

Acting Company #4: 3.1.1-100

Acting Company #5: 3.1.101-208

Acting Company #6: 3.2.1-111

Acting Company #7: 3.2.112-180

HW:
1. For WEDNESDAY: Memorize the NEXT 4 lines of your sonnet.

2. For FRIDAY: Memorize your entire sonnet to recite to your group.

3. For MONDAY: E-mail me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.

• Click HERE for the overview of the sonnet essay.
• Click HERE for the sample sonnet essay.

The Moon, Like to a Silver Bow / New-bent in Heaven: October 22, 2018

Focus: How do Shakespeare's motifs contribute to the play's characterization and conflicts?

1. Warming up with three good things and a refresher on the sonnet essay

• Memorize your sonnet (as best you can) by this Friday, Oct 26.

• E-mail me your thesis and any outlining you've completed by Monday, Oct 29.

• Complete your rough draft by class next Friday, Nov 2.

• Final draft is due Wednesday, Nov 7.

2. Revisiting Act 1 with a focus on the moon

https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/plays.php

• How does each person characterize the moon? 
• What does this character's language regarding the moon reveal about the character?

3. Viewing the film version of Act 1 with a focus on dichotomies and motifs

HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Memorize the first 4 lines of your sonnet.

2. For FRIDAY: Memorize your entire sonnet to recite to your group.

3. For MONDAY: E-mail me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.

• Click HERE for the overview of the sonnet essay.
• Click HERE for the sample sonnet essay.

From Tragedy to Comedy: October 17, 2018

Focus: How does Shakespeare turn tragedy into comedy?

1. Warming up with a living picture of 1.1

2. Getting acquainted with the tragic tale of Pyramus and Thisbe

• Why the play within a play? In other words, what parallels can you find between this myth and A Midsummer Night's Dream?

3. Reading 1.2 with human subtitles

• What do you notice about these characters as a group?
• What do you notice about Bottom in particular?
• How do the mechanicals' linguistic patterns differ from those of the lovers?

4. Deciphering vocabulary in context (if time allows)

HW:
1. If you are absent today, please read Act 1, Scene 2 carefully on your own.

2. Keep reading your sonnet aloud and work on memorizing it by October 24. Click HERE for some tips on memorizing sonnets.

3. Please turn in your school copies of East of Eden.

Setting the Stage: October 16, 2018

Focus: How does Shakespeare set the stage in the first scene of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

1. Warming up Shakespearean note passing and verb conjugation

2. Mapping out the play's people, places, and problems:

• Who are the three main groups of characters? What can you infer about each?
• Where are the two main settings? What can you infer about each?
• What central conflicts might be driving this play? 
• Can you find any other patterns?

3. Performing an Actor's Circle reading of Act 1, Scene 1

• What does each character want?
• What obstacle is preventing each character from getting what he/she wants?

4. Developing a living picture of Act 1, Scene 1

• Choosing actors, costumes, props, background, music, and postures/staging

HW:
1. If you are absent tomorrow, please read Act 1, Scene 2 carefully on your own.

2. Keep reading your sonnet aloud and work on memorizing it by October 24.

3. Please turn in your school copies of East of Eden.

Poetry, Aloud: October 15, 2018

Focus: What can Mr. Jovan Mays teach us about poetry in performance?

PLEASE MEET IN THE THEATRE AND SIT TOGETHER.

HW:
Start reading your sonnet out loud a few times a day; aim to memorize it by October 24.

Tossing the ShakesBEAR: October 12, 2018

Focus: How can speaking poetry aloud unlock meaning?

1. Warming up by finding the beat in two nursery rhymes; trying the same game with a passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream

2. Passing the Shakesbear and tossing around a few lines from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Before:

• Who has a line with a word they don't know the meaning of?
• Who has a word they don't know how to pronounce?

After each round:

• How many lines can you remember?

After both rounds are done:

• Scan the meter of the lines.

• Which ones are iambic? What do they have in common, or how does the iambic rhythm fit what's being said in those lines?

• Which ones break from iambic meter? Which words stand out? What do those lines/words have in common, or why might Shakespeare break from iambic meter there?

3. Getting together in your sonnet groups, reading your sonnets aloud, and adding to your metacognitives (or just marking on your sonnets)

• Scan for rhythm and meter (iambic? trochaic? neither? how many feet in each line?), noting which sonnets adhere to traditional meter, which completely abandon it, and everything in between.

• Listen for euphony, cacophony, alliteration and assonance (think Eminem).

ABOVE ALL, CONSIDER HOW SOUND REFLECTS/CREATES MEANING IN YOUR SONNET.


HW:
1. For MONDAY: Meet in the theater and sit together.

2. Start reading your sonnet out loud a few times a day; aim to memorize it by October 24.

East of Eden Timed Writing: October 11, 2018

Focus: What can we discover about East of Eden through high-velocity writing?

1. Warming up with a glimpse of the actual essay section on the A.P. test and a celebration of a few awesome blogs

2. Discovering new meanings of East of Eden through a timed writing (Question 3)

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: If you haven't posted your East of Eden blog yet, please finish it tonight.

2. Start reading your sonnet out loud a few times a day; aim to memorize it by October 24.

3. For MONDAY: Meet in the theater and sit together as a class.

Sound and Sense: October 9, 2018

Focus: How can sound devices help us unlock poetry?

1. Warming up: Describing two different scenes using only your sense of sound

2. Offering you some of my favorite poetic sound devices

Euphony: Pleasing to the ear, harmonious

Cacophony: Harsh, discordant, unpleasant sounds

Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words (the snake slithered silently)

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds (or, as Eminem refers to it, "Word Bending")


3. Enjoying several poems together using only our ears

• What sounds are you noticing?

• How do the sounds contribute to/create the larger meanings of the poems?

4. Composing your big question blog responses to East of Eden

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Finish your East of Eden blog response. We will have our Tuesday writing on the novel this Thursday.

2. For FRIDAY: If you have your own copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, bring it to class.

3. Start reading your sonnet out loud a few times a day; aim to memorize it by October 24.

Descending into the Fire and Rising up from the Ashes: October 8, 2018

Focus: What does Steinbeck reveal to us in his final chapters?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Warming up a bit more with Steinbeck's fires (pun intended!):

Take a look at Lee's commentary on fire (598).  Put it into your own words and consider whether or not you agree with him.

Revisit the three scenes in recent reading in which a character sets something on fire:

• Sheriff Quinn's burning of explicit photos (558)
• Cal's burning of the money (565-6)
• Abra's burning of Aron's letters (578, 583)

In each scene, what does the fire release?  What does it destroy?

What do these objects have in common?

Why is destruction by fire (vs. a different method of destruction) appropriate to these particular objects?

How/what do these fiery scenes contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?

3. Enjoying our final Socratic seminar on East of Eden

4. Wrapping up: Lingering questions, big epiphanies, generous kudos

HW:
1. Enjoy a few days without a reading assignment. You've earned it. 

2. For TOMORROW: Bring your laptops an East of Eden; you will compose your big question blogs in class. 

3. For THURSDAY: You will have your Tuesday writing on East of Eden.

4. Start reading your sonnet out loud a few times a day; aim to memorize it by October 24.

Choices: October 5, 2018

Focus: What can we learn through Steinbeck's choices?

1. Warming up with a close reading the end of Chapter 49 together:

• Which authorial choices stand out to you?
• Why might Steinbeck have made these choices?

2. Giving you a spoiler alert for Chapter 50 and offering you the choice to skip it

3. Reading the ending of East of Eden OR freewriting on the following quotation about the human soul:

“But I have a new love for that glittering instrument,
the human soul.
It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe.
It is always attacked and never destroyed -
because 'Thou mayest.”

― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Finish East of Eden and your final reading ticket (if you can) for our final Socratic on Monday. Remember that you can skip Chapter 50 if it's too much for you right now. If you're in need of a little focus for the final reading ticket, try this:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

2. For TUESDAY: Bring your computer to class to compose your Big Question Blog on East of Eden.

3. THURSDAY we will have our Tuesday writing on East of Eden.

Listening To Your Sonnet With a Stethoscope: October 2, 2018

Focus: How can a poem's rhythm contribute to its meaning?

Please make sure your metacognitive is turned in / shared with me.

1. Warming up with a five-minute terms (Weeks 1-6) review on www.quizlet.com

2. Listening to the heartbeats of three songs:

In each song, how does the rhythm reflect meaning?

Song #1: "Stressed Out" (twenty one pilots)
Song #2: "Critical Mistakes" (888)
Song #3: "Modern Man" (Arcade Fire)

3. Introducing you to scansion with Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" and "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun"

• What different types of poetic rhythm should we be listening for when there's no music?
• How does the rhythm in each poem reflect the poem's larger meaning?

4. Listening for the rhythm in your sonnets (small groups)

HW:
1. For this week: Please finish your sonnet metacognitive if you have not yet done so. If it's handwritten, turn it in; if it's typed, Google share it with me.

2. For WEDNESDAY: Just make sure you're up through Chapter 43 (the reading for yesterday) in East of Eden; we will have today's Socratic on Wednesday.

3. FOR FRIDAY: Finish East of Eden! Complete your final reading ticket by doing the following:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

Attacked and Never Destroyed: October 1, 2018

Focus: How do we take good care of each other this week?

1. Warming up with "The Happiness Advantage", three good things, an unloading of emotional baggage

2.Offering you suggestions on how to revise this week so that it works for you

3. Heading outside to read

HW:
1. For this week: Please finish your sonnet metacognitive if you have not yet done so. If it's handwritten, turn it in; if it's typed, Google share it with me.

2. For WEDNESDAY: Just make sure you're up through Chapter 43 (the reading for today) in East of Eden; we will have today's Socratic on Wednesday.

3. FOR FRIDAY: Finish East of Eden! Complete your final reading ticket by doing the following:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

Graphing Character Shifts: September 28, 2018

Focus: How are Cal and Aron (d)evolving?

1. Warming up by graphing the Cal's and Aron's (d)evolvement

For each character, try the following:

• Find a description of this character as a young child, a description of this character as an older child, and a description of this character as a teenager. 

• Read these three passages for each character closely, examining Steinbeck's diction.

• What has aspects of this character's personality have changed over time?  Why have these aspects changed / what prompted these changes?

• What has aspects of this character have remained unchanged?  Why haven't these parts of the character changed?

• Consider some of the timeless dualities at war in both characters (good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, white vs. black, love vs. hate, fate vs, free will, sight vs. blindness, empathetic vs. selfish, etc).  

• Put one side of the duality at the top of the Y axis, and the other duality at the bottom of Y axis.

• Use the X axis for the time from the characters were born until now. 

• Graph both character's development/deterioration/fluctuations on the same piece of graph paper. Be sure to annotate your graph with key words and phrases from the passages you examined.

2. Enjoying a Socratic on East of Eden, Chapters 31-43

3. Wrapping up (out loud)

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Read Chapters 44 through 49; create a reading ticket for Monday's Socratic. We have just two discussions left!!! In your final reading tickets, start putting all the pieces together. What larger patterns have emerged, and what do they mean?

2. For TUESDAY: Finish your sonnet metacognitive if you did not finish in class or were absent.

Puzzling Through the Sonnet: September 27, 2018

Focus: How does your mind puzzle through a sonnet?

1. Warming up everyone's favorite game: Name that sonnet!

2. Getting metacognitive with your selected sonnet

• Click HERE for an overview of the method and purpose of the metacognitive.

• Click HERE for a sample metacognitive.

• If you handwrote, please turn in your metacognitive at the end of class.

• If you typed, please make sure your metacognitive is inside your shared A.P. folder.

HW:
1.  For FRIDAY: Read through Chapter 43 and prepare a ticket for Socratic seminar.

2. For TUESDAY: Please finish your metacognitive if you did not finish in class.