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.