my goals for the upcoming marking period???

marking period goals!!!

     My goals for this upcoming marking period include all the regular ones- read the assigned material, turn in homework on time, get a good grade. However, more importantly, I want to make sure I actually learn. Too many times in math have I stayed up hours the night before a quiz, or hastily scribbled down answers on a work sheet, only to forget everything I’d studied by the time the test rolled around. I’m hoping that, by improving my organization skills, pacing myself, and working diligently, I will not only be able to read and write well, but also really comprehend and what I am reading and really understand the techniques I am using in my papers.

what am i thinking about reading and writing in college???

what i am thinking about reading and writing in college!!!

     As a senior, I am constantly being asked where I am planning to go to college and what I am planning to major in. While many around me can give an exact play-by-play of their futures, I remain indecisive. I am very unsure of my major or future college! Therefore, I cannot say with certainty what part reading and writing will play in it. However, though I am not sure of the exact details, I know that I will most likely major in math/science. While this broad major encompasses many studies, I do not think reading and writing will be the main component. However, I am expecting that there will be some of both in almost anything I choose to do.

areas of weakness as an ap lit student???

weak areas of an ap lit student!!!

     As far as weaknesses, I believe a major one is the fact that I have only taken one AP test before. Additionally, this test was AP Chemistry, so essentially no writing was involved. I will really need to work on reading and writing quickly under a time constraint if I hope to pass the AP! Also, I have noticed (from doing practice multiple choice questions) that my vocabulary seems to be quite limited. Although having to ask for the definition of (what seemed like) every other word was disconcerting, I have high hopes that I will be able to improve my vocabulary by the time of the AP, and be able to read more fluently and write more eloquently. Another thing I’ll need to work on this year is time management. With three other AP classes, sports, music, and the inevitable onset of that dreaded disease Senioritis, I foresee a large workload that will require lots of organization and focus.

areas of strength as an ap lit student???

strong areas of an ap lit student!!!

     My areas of strength as an AP Lit student come from my previous teachers- I’ve had the great luck of having excellent teachers in the past. Sophomore year, I had Ms. Dockus for American Lit, and last year, I had Mister Vickers for Brit Lit. They were both amazing teachers and I learned a lot! Because of this, I believe I have a good foundation and good basic grasp of the English language. I am also so excited to learn and so open to new ideas; hopefully this will make AP Lit a little easier as well!

what have i learned so far???

what i have learned so far!!!             

     When I first came into AP Lit, I thought that we’d start reading right away. I couldn’t wait to analyze our exciting reading list, and because most of us students have taken three English courses already, I figured we could surpass learning about sentence structure and literary technique and get reading. However, the first few days into school, I realized that there was so much more to learn about the fundamentals of the English language. Instead of simply finding and identifying terms like “metaphor” or “symbol”, we delved deeper and examined what impact it had on a reader. Instead of simply stating how we felt after we read a passage, we analyzed how the author made us feel this way. To do this, we learned not only about the different types of figurative language, but also about the syntactical techniques that an author uses to provide emphasis and create tone, voice, and style. Learning these things has shed a whole new light on how I read and interpret writing; I feel like I’m peeling off an outer layer from text and unearthing deeper meanings.

We also learned about essay structure. I already had a basic understanding of how to format an essay, but we learned about the thesis, claims, evidence, and warrants that were necessary to an argumentative essay. We also learned the “nuts and bolts of college writing”- this proved very helpful while writing my college applications!

In addition to learning more about the English language, we also learned about the English language AP test. The practice Multiple Choice questions we’ve done so far are very difficult! Here’s hoping they get easier as the year goes on, and I’m sure they will as we keep on learning!

class notes v (10.11-10.22)

TONE refers to the narrator/speaker's attitudes. It can and does shift with the moods and subjects of the writing. The tone is very tied into what is happening in the story. It is discussed in terms of emotion; it is not something one can point to on a page. It is created through the author's choices of technique (diction, figurative language, syntax, et cetera.)
VOICE does not belong to the author, it belongs to the speaker; it is the speaker's personality. It shifts infrequently, only when and if the narrator is dynamic. It is discussed in terms of character. It is also an effect created by the author's use of technique.
STYLE is the authorial persona and personality. It shifts infrequently, when the author's personality changes.

this link is helpful (http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/elements.asp?e=5), it's what the in-class handout was based of off.

class notes iv (10.04-10.08)

The AP EXAM!!!!!
here're the basics: ( (download me, i'm helpful!) )
you get sixty minutes to do 55 multiple choice questions,
120 minutes to write three essays.
the multiple choice consists of reading and analyzing texts. WARNING! though they won't say it, vocabulary is a huge part of the test! one must be rather well versed in english vocabulary before attempting.
^ this became painfully aware to me while we did practice AP questions in class; there were so many questions that contained words that were completely foreign to me-- this could be detrimental on the test!
*always read the passage before reading the questions! it is very helpful to have a running paraphrase going on in your head- take wordy passages and hash them out in your mind as you read; i've found this extremely helpful with retaining and comprehending information!
answer easy questions first, and trust your instincts.
the easy questions are like comprehension, i.e. what happened after this? what color was that? obvious, in-text answers. harder questions incorporate some interpretation; they are a little trickier. but the hardest ones determine a 4 from a 5; these questions are pretty much completely interpretation. if you gathered all the literature professors from around the world to answers these level 5 questions, their answers could differ greatly!
the essays!
make SURE you understand the prompt! you could write the most amazing and wonderful and awesome paper, but if you don't follow the prompt exactly, how can it be scored? remember: a question may not always ask "so what?", but it is usually implied. for instance, if they ask what literary techniques are being used, do list the techniques, but also explain- why are they there? what are they accomplishing?
there's time to make an outline! organization is important!
use proper english words and proper literary terms too! quizlet.com is a good place to practice!
COLLEGE BOARD WEBSITE ON THE AP ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM. lots of helpful tips and practice suggestions!

ALLUSIONS.
definition: an allusion is a reference to another work of literature, or an event in history. it helps reinforce an authors point, and, because a one-word allusion can have a whole story of connotations attached to it, it can pack a lot of meaning into a very small space.
the bible is a very common place that writers look to for allusions; it's filled with stories containing different characters and morals, and as it is one of the oldest accounts of literature, it's pretty well known.
just like foster said in How to Read Literature Like a Professor! i'm sure we'll be running into lots of biblical allusions throughout the year, so that summer studying we did will pay off!
MEANING AND IDEA.
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said 'What a good boy am I!
this poem is relevant!! it can be compared to the ideas and meaning within a poem- the separate plums (ideas) in a story meld together to make a pie, and you can't simply stick your thumb in and take out an idea, it has become one. however, one rotten idea/plum can ruin an otherwise delicious story/christmas dessert! this pie is the
total meaning, the overall experience that a poem gives, and the plums are the
prose meanings, the  meanings that can be taken from separate paragraphs.
an effective reader can determine prose meanings and total meanings- even when they don't agree with them. one wants to feel and experience what the poet did when he wrote; one wants to broaden their experiences through fully attempting to understand those of others!

outside reading ii

Outside Reading II-
an editorial
by David Sosa
The Spoils of Happiness
October 10, 2010.

What is happiness? This is an age-old question that has no correct answer, but David Sosa certainly offers an interesting view in his editorial The Spoils of Happiness. He begins making his point right off the bat- the title. He plays on the fact that “spoils” has two meanings; as a noun, “spoils” are the benefits reaped from a conquest, and as a verb, “to spoil” means to degrade the value of something. In his article, Sosa addresses the spoils of achieving happiness, but also argues that those can be spoiled by the rest of the world- “Happiness isn’t just up to you. It also requires the cooperation of the world beyond you.”

 

Sosa believes that happiness is more than a state of mind. He makes this concept easier to understand by drawing an effective parallel to popular culture- the matrix. In this movie, experiences are simulated inside the brain; one feels as though he is having all these wonderful adventures, but in reality, his body is suspended in a floating tank. Is this true happiness? Sosa argues it’s not, stating, “There’s an important difference between having a friend and having the experience of having a friend. There’s an important difference between writing a great novel and having the experience of writing a great novel. On the machine, we would not parent children, share our love with a partner, laugh with friends (or even smile at a stranger), dance, dunk, run a marathon, quit smoking, or lose 10 pounds in time for summer.” The parallel structure in the first two sentences help drive the point home, and by adding little experiences that we readers can connect with (dance, dunk, lose 10 pounds in time for summer), it makes this rather confusing topic become much more understandable.

 

In this paper, it was necessary that Sosa address the opposition- if one is suspended in a tank with simulated thoughts, how would one even know that what he was doing was not real? Sosa states that this would be a “horror”- “we’d be ignorant, too- duped, to boot!” However, this does not address the commonly held belief that ignorance is bliss; a weakness of this paper is that, while making a strong case for his point, he really doesn't combat the opposition effectively.

 

Sosa uses punctuation to add emphasis to a sentence: “...What normally makes the experience so special is that it’s an experience of watching your child, playing soccer, for the first time.” This sentence would be grammatically correct if all commas were eliminated, but they effectively stress the important parts of the sentence. They make a reader pause and ponder- your child, playing soccer, for the first time. It is these things, the realities, that make one happy, not the feelings they evoke.

 

By using identifiable examples and references, and addressing the reader directly, Sosa establishes an easygoing and relatable persona. This is very effective while trying to explain a topic as confusing as this one. However, for an AP exam, it may not be suitable. The fact that Sosa addresses the reader as “you” is seen as informal, and would be out of place in an AP essay.

outside reading i

Outside Reading I-
a reflective essay
by Zadie Smith
Sweet Charity
October 10, 2010.

Sweet Charity by Zadie Smith is a short narrative about Zadie and her friend, Christine. It recounts the gifts of charity between two people, not only gifts of money but also gifts of compassion and friendship.

 

 The piece starts off with a recount of Zadie and Christine’s meeting. Without knowing any previous information about the characters, a reader can make inferences about their personalities based on the symbolism Smith provides- clothing. Christine is well-dressed and discreet, wearing a neat and sensible skirt suit, reflecting her proper and virtuous attitude. Zadie is wearing miss-matched shoes and a tartan beret, echoing her eccentric, laid-back, and self-described “insufferable” persona.

 

Christine’s acts of charity to Zadie are those of compassion, confidence, and motivation, while Zadie is the wealthy one. When Christine (a struggling single-mother) asks Zadie for a loan, she complies but soon grows impatient with the lack of repayment and response. But as Zadie puts it, “there should be a word for ‘the fatal underestimation of another’s honesty,’” because all of Christine’s supposed avoidances were nothing more than misunderstandings.

 

The final line is “Then Christine did me one more charity: she forgave me.” By using the colon and placing “she forgave me” at the end of the sentence, it builds suspense and emphasizes the importance of compassion and friendship- maybe it’s even more important than monetary charity.

 

Smith reflects the importance of friendship using literary techniques. She mentions personal (and in some instances, embarrassing) stories about herself that make the reader feel connected. She recounts “One day, my skirt, for which I was too fat, freed itself from its safety pin and fell round my ankles, revealing my brother’s boxers,” and she describes the actions of her summer saying that she was “smoking weed [and] practicing a signature inspired by Elizabeth I.” These are stories that one may not usually offer freely, so they help establish Smith as a relatable person rather than just an elusive narrator. The writing style is very abstract, which helps create feelings of association. It may be easy to get lost while reading this, and though confusing at first, the abstraction makes it seem like Smith is writing to an old friend who already knows her. For instance, Smith goes from a paragraph that talks about money, to one that begins with “Can’t have been an easy e-mail to write. We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and she knew how it looked.” What e-mail? Knew how what looked? It is as if Smith assumes one knows the answers to these questions, assumes one knows her.

 

This mood is extremely effective; the personal connection it establishes is reflective of the actual literary content (the importance of friendship.) However, for an AP Exam, this tone may not be acceptable. As it is a narrative, it is in the first person, and uses informal dialogue (“’I’m arsking you aquestion.’”). While this creates a wonderful personal tone and image, it is not considered formal.