Answers to GE Multiple Choice (#23-30)

23. B
24. E
25. C
26. A
27. C
28. C
29. D
30. B

Questions from 12/18

After reading pages 129-133, answer the following questions.  Add these answers to your notes from yesterday's homework.  (See below).

1. What is the extent of Oedipus' knowledge in this scene? (What does he know for sure? Sort of know? Definitely not know?

2. Is he actively trying to seek out the truth?


3. Could he be trying harder to learn the truth? Explain.

Homework Due 12/18

Homework

If possible, complete your questions on a big piece of paper that you can use as a "timeline" to track the change in Oedipus.  Leave room for two to three more conversations.  You do not need to be super-neat - more important to take complete and thorough notes for your future reference.

1. Read through page 129, when Creon exits.

2. Answer the following two questions for each of Oedipus' conversations so far (Teiresias and Creon).

a. How much knowledge does Oedipus have at this point? How can you tell?
b. What mood is he in? How can you tell?
c. What does that tell us about his character?

December 3 Read20 w/ Bonus Question

Key Details:  What two settings dominate the first stage?  The second stage?

Vocabulary:  Choose two words Stoehr uses to connect evidence and analysis.  Create your own sentences about GE using these words.

Connections and Inferences:  Stoehr says that the two “strands of action” reflect “the inner conflict of his character”?  How is that true in the first stage?  The second stage?

Point and Purpose:  What does Stoehr mean by “This is discovery and reversal…” Use evidence from the article as well as your own analysis. 

BONUS:  Does Chopin use setting to reflect Edna's changing character in The Awakening?  Use evidence to support your answer. 

The Right Word, Not the Biggest or Most Obscure Word

This book review from this week's NYTimes does a good job explaining the pitfalls of choosing words to impress rather than to inform.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/books/review/double-down-by-mark-halperin-and-john-heilemann.html?ref=books&_r=0

Read20 Questions for "Guilt in Great Expectations"

Read20:
Box 1: What is the topic sentence of the first paragraph about?
What theme does the topic sentence of the last paragraph
introduce?
Box 2: How does Dickens use the word “penitential”? Is this a
straightforward or ironic use of the word? Explain.
Box 3: Summarize each of the topic sentences. What trend or
pattern do you notice about how the topic sentences change
from the beginning to the end?
Box 4: What is the “main idea” in the article and in which
paragraph does it appear? Describe another paragraph and
explain why it does not contain the main idea.

Work for 10/10: "The Flea" by John Donne

The Prompt:  How does Donne use a conceit to develop his ideas about sex?

The poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175764

To begin,  answer these questions to acquaint yourself with your poem:

1.     What can you predict about the poem based on the title?

2.     For every pronoun, draw a line back and circle the antecedent.

3.     What does Donne describe the flea doing in the first stanza?  What does he compare the flea to?

4.     Why doesn’t Donne want his audience to kill the flea?  Use textual evidence.

5.     Interpret the twist at the end. 

Here is an example of the type of paragraph I expect, using your new poem, "The Flea":

Cowley compares himself to a picture. At first, the picture represents a younger version of himself. In the second stanza, he explains how her presence brings the picture to life, making it a "substance," and he becomes a "shadow" due to her absence. However, in the final stanza we learn that the love interest does not like "substance" in a romantic partner, so she will prefer the speaker, who has become "less than" the picture - "a picture's picture." Cowley uses the conceit of a picture to show how a lover's absence will drain life out of a person, but that women who prefer less lively men will find this attractive.

Inverted Syntax Read 20 Questions

Information and Essentials
What is inverted syntax? (Use your glossary).

What are two reasons a poet might use inverted syntax? (Read the whole article before answering).

Vocabulary
Show me you understand
"subject" and "predicate" by breaking a line of poetry down into the subject and the predicate.
BONUS: What is a subordinate conjunction? Why do you think it's called "subordinate"?


Connections and Inferences
What did the author do to figure out the subject of Donne's first line? How does this change our initial understanding?

Point and Purpose
Choose one other example from the text. Explain how the poet uses inverted syntax and to what effect.

Unit 1 Vocabulary

Unit 1: Chopin’s Choices

Academic Vocabulary

affirm

convey

depict

develop

employ

evoke

illuminate

illustrate

imply

typify

Content Vocabulary

omniscient

subjective

archetype

epitome

paragon

foil

synesthesia

litotes

denouement

Possible Prompts for Essay Exam, Monday 10/7

2006: Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

1973: An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant “closure” has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In a well-organized essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2002: Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous characters plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Essay Topic Choices

Compare two of the heroines from this course. Compare and contrast their attitudes toward liberation.


Compare two of the marriages from books in this course. What is similar and different about the comment being made about marriage?


Several of our books have been called "feminist." Choose one and explain the extent to which it may be considered a universal story, and in what ways the story is particular to a woman's experience.


In what ways is Pride and Prejudice a typical romance, and in what ways does it distinguish itself from a typical romance?

Study Guides

Here is the information the class gathered today.  Please use these to review our four books before the test.

Hamlet
The Awakening
Heart of Darkness
A Doll's House

Heart Of Darkness Study Guide

Assignment:  Create a study guide for Heart of Darkness.  You need five points to complete the assignment, but you may gather more information for bonus credit.  You are free to search for the information, but you can also draw from your own knowledge of the book.

Description and Analysis of Characters - 1 point per character
Important Symbols and Their Significance - 1 point per symbol
Themes or Motifs Explained - 1 point each
Analysis of the Structure or Narrative Style and Its Significance - 2 points!

Here are some recommended resources to help you complete your study guide:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart/
http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/HeartOfDarknessTG.pdf

For this one, you will need to log in to Lincoln Library resources:

http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayItemById.do?origin=toc&PubID=kno&QueryType=reference&ItemID=EALKN067+pqllit_ref_lib#Characters

If you have a Brooklyn Public Library card, log in and go to "Databases and Articles."  Look around - you will find many, many resources!

Homework for Tuesday, 2/5

Read through Chapter XXVIII.

Answer these two questions:

1.  What do you learn from Chapter XXII about the social aspects of the book's setting?  Explain.
2.  To what extent does Edna conform to the stereotypes Mr. Pontellier and the Doctor hold?  To what extent are they wrong about her?  Explain.

Why We Need Narrators More Than Ever

We've been talking about narrative voice a lot this week.  Here, a college professor nicely describes the appeal of a good narrator:

Once Upon A Time

A Good List of Literary Terms, Devices and Techniques

Per DR's request!  We'll practice these next semester.

AP Literary Terms

Halftime Survey

Please take this survey by Monday, January 21.  I will use your responses to tailor next semester's curriculum.

Halftime Survey

Rhyme Schemes

Here is a good guide to rhyme schemes:

Language Is A Virus

I will post more as I find them!

Claim Hall of Fame

A claim and a thesis are synonyms.  Whichever word you use, this is the main argument of your essay.

A successful claim:

1.  CLEARLY answers the prompt.
2.  Provides a SPECIFIC answer to the prompt. (Example:  "Hamlet is characterized as a character" is vague.  Instead, try: "Hamlet is characterized as a sensitive and melancholy man.")
3.  When possible, make your claim COMPLEX.  This does not necessarily mean brilliant.  It means that it explains more than one aspect of your subject.  (Example:  "Hamlet is a depressive character" is not a complex claim.  "Hamlet is more caring than others in Denmark, but because he cares he is also often driven to hate others for their cruelty" is better.)

I will use the space below to post our best claims.

The setting at the beach was languorous and seductive and it illuminated Edna's true loneliness and longing for love.

Edna's naivete and the romantic setting leaves her vulnerable to Robert's situation.

Ibsen uses literary elements such as dialogue, diction, stage direction, and imagery to display Nora’s dramatic and manipulative actions as well as Torvald’s fight for dominance in their relationship.