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.