Questions for 3/31 Read20

Read Chapter 12 in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster

Key Details

What are two or three ways Foster says we might understand the cave?
According to Foster, what is the reader’s role in understanding symbols? 

Vocabulary

After reading this chapter, how would you define allegory?  symbol?

Connections and Inferences

Foster says that actions can also be symbolic.  What might be a symbolic action from Invisible Man?

 Point and Purpose

What are multiple was one could interpret the symbol you chose?  How does thinking about this aspect of the story symbolically impact our understanding of the story?  Be specific.

Homework - Due 3/26

AIM:  How does Invisible Man begin to change in NYC and why?

Read pages 190-195.  Record two specific ways in which IM is changing.  For each statement, include some "before" evidence and some "after" evidence.

Then, write a well-developed paragraph answering this prompt: "What about IM's attitude in the Prologue begins to make more sense now that you've heard about some of his experiences?"

ALSO...remember to read Chapters 10 and 11 and study both IM Vocab Lists for Friday.

Homework from Monday's Class (3/23)

Answer the AIM in a well-developed paragraph:

What is Ellison saying about the expectations for ambitious young black people in this time?

I apologize, but I left your claims on my computer at school.  If anyone has the claim from their group, please post it in the comments!  I liked where you were headed!

February Break Homework

When we return, we will be starting our Modern Poetry unit.  For homework, read these two essays.  For each essay, write a half-page response that answers the following questions:

What literary elements does the author use to analyze the poem?  Which of these seem new or unique to modern poetry?  Explain.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/248396

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/182292

Choose three sentences you admire from each essay.  Copy them down and underline the evidence and circle the analysis.  What types of language and sentence structures are these authors combining evidence and analysis?

Then, write your own essay on the poem "Facing It."  How does the poet use literary elements to describe his experience of visiting the monument?

Read20 Questions - 2/10/15

Key Details

1.     Let’s start with the obvious: what is a sonnet and how do you know you’re looking at one?

2.     According to Foster, what are some advantages and disadvantages of this form? (List at least four total).

Vocabulary

1.      Rossetti uses an allusion.  Define allusion and explain how Rossetti uses it.

2.     What’s some important poetry vocabulary used here?  Choose two words and note the definitions.

Connections and Inferences

1.      Read Foster’s analysis of Rossetti’s poem carefully.  What are three literary elements that are explicitly or implicitly used in his analysis?  Explain.  

Point and Purpose  

1.      What questions about poetry did you think of while reading this chapter? (List at least one).

HW Essay - Due Monday, Feb 9

Sometimes the ending of a novel or play changes our understanding of the entire story.  Write an analytical essay in which you explain how the final scene in Hamlet either extends or somehow challenges a major theme from the story so far.  Include a complex claim and use a variety or evidence and literary elements to develop your analysis.

Homework for Regents Week

1.  Watch the following movie and write a one-page response.  What did it make you think about that you hadn't considered before?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/video/hamlet-with-david-tennant/

2.  Study all the vocabulary from the beginning of the year.  You will have a cumulative vocabulary exam the first week of Marking Period 4.  All the Vocabulary Lists are available on the blog.  Check the 9/14/14 post.

3.  Go to the library, or use a library webpage, to find a critical essay about Hamlet.  Design a Read 20 for the class to do.  Bring in a copy of the article, and your questions.

After you read the article, decide on what main idea(s) you want students to understand.  Then, design two Key Detail questions, one Vocabulary question, one Connections and Inferences question, and one Point and Purpose question.  Below are the purposes of each category.

Key Detail - Focus the reader's attention on some important details that will help them start to piece together the main idea. 

Vocabulary - Ask the student to DO something with a word that will help them learn the word, and learn how to use it.  Do not merely ask them to define it.

Connections and Inferences - What connections does the reader have to make between different sections of the text?  What patterns are important to see?  Design some questions that will help the reader start to discern these connections or patterns.

Point and Purpose - Ask the reader to use the information they have gathered to explain at least one of the author's main purposes in writing the article.