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.

Questions for 11/18 Read20 (Catherine Earnshaw: Mother and Daughter)

1.       Key Details: According to Gold, why does Catherine die?  Explain in your own words, using evidence from the article.

2.       Vocabulary:  1.  Use context to construct a definition of “sublimated.”  (HINT:  What does “sub-” mean in other words?  2.  Choose a word you think you could use in your own writing.  Use it in a sentence analyzing the book.

3.       Inferences and Connections: According to Gold, how do younger Catherine’s two marriages achieve different things?

4.       Point and Purpose:  How does Freudian criticism help us to understand Wuthering Heights?  Use evidence from the article in your answer.

Helpful Website for Wuthering Heights

The creator of this website has put a lot of time into thinking about this novel!  You may find his work useful:

http://www.wuthering-heights.co.uk/index.php

2014-15 Vocabulary Lists

The Awakening Vocabulary List #1

The Awakening Vocabulary List #2

Poetry Vocabulary Lists #1 and #2

Wuthering Heights Vocabulary List #1

Wuthering Heights Vocabulary List #2

Wuthering Heights Vocabulary List #3

Hamlet Act One Vocabulary List

Hamlet Acts Two and Three Vocabulary List

Hamlet Acts Four and Five Vocabulary List

Modern Poetry Vocabulary List #1

Invisible Man List #1

Invisible Man List #2

Invisible Man List #3

2014-15 AP Literature Course Outline

Here's what we'll be covering this year in AP Literature:

Unit 1: Using Literary Elements in Analytical Writing

We'll read Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899) and learn a boatload of literary elements and devices (selection of detail, structure, narrative technique, dramatic irony, and so many more!)  You'll also learn the basics of writing literary analysis, which is the type of writing expected of you on the exam.

Unit 2:  Pre-19th-Century Poetry

We'll learn the tricks of the trade for poets working before 1800.  These poems are not as indecipherable as they appear, but you need to learn to think like these poets did, and understand what was important to them interms of both language and ideas.  To get some idea of what kind of poetry I'm talking about, look up John Donne.

Unit 3:  19th-Century Novels

We'll most likely read a novel by Charles Dickens.  Novelists in the 19th-century wrote long sentences, so we'll be practicing "sentence stamina" - sticking with a long sentence until you've unraveled its meaning.  Authors from this period often turn up in MC passages and in the prose essay on the exam, so it's important to be familiar with their stylistic habits.

Unit 4: Shakespeare

Shakespeare, because in 400 years no one has outdone him - according to common wisdom, he remains the greatest playwright of all time, perhaps the greatest writer.  We'll find out what all the fuss is about!  He also writes in a combination of prose and poetry, allowing us to hone our skills in both.

Unit 5:  Modern Poetry

More recent poetry usually uses more straight-forward vocabulary, but their innovative uses of structure, imagery and connotative meaning are integral to meaning, and require a different interpretative approach.  So, we'll spend some time with modern poetry in the early spring.  To get a sense of this type of poetry, look up Mary Oliver or Seamus Heaney.

Unit 6:  Contemporary Literature

In the 20th-century, many authors became bored with the typical "hero solves a problem" narrative approach.  We'll read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) to get just a taste of how 20th-century authors adapted the novel to respond to the world around them in new ways.

Throughout the entire course, we will be practicing strategies for answering multiple choice.

Read20 Questions from May 27, 2014

Key Details
Why does Eagleton say the process of finding meaning is "circular"?

How does the fact that every sign is necessarily reproducible affect meaning?

Vocabulary

Eagleton says "any such transcendental meaning is a fiction"? Define transcendental in this context.

Why do some scholars say speaking is more pure in meaning than writing? Explain Eagleton's response.

Connections and Inferences

What are two important consequences of post-structuralist theory? Explain them in your own words!

Summary

Does Mitchell's text seem to challenge or affirm the basic tenets of post-structuralism? Explain.

Questions for Cloud Atlas - from 5/15 Class

First, choose one of the genres Mitchell uses in the text.

1.  What markers of the genre does Mitchell include to make you know the type of story you are seeing?

2.  In what ways is he possibly poking fun at the genre?  What seems exaggerated and “camp”*?

3. Where does Mitchell breathe life into the genre and invite us to take it seriously?  What does he use the genre to show about people/life?

*deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect