The Pontelliers

After our vocab quiz, we spent quality time with The Pontelliers' introduction, the characterization apparent from each one's entrance - whether it be with a newspaper or an umbrella, a myopic man or a piece of sunburned property, respectively. As you may have realized, the minutia, the over-analysis of every paragraph adds to the interpretation of the text. Your observations and note should delve into every aspect and seek out the shifts throughout the novella, all in preparation for your classroom participation, something mandatory for full understanding and improvement in literary analysis.

We started our Chs. 2-5 discussion today, without much time, alas, so that shall finish tomorrow. For further class preparation, read through Chapter 11 and be ready to see what happens with our Edna.

Our Kate

After a scintillating review of vocab for the quiz tomorrow - don't worry, it is a short one since we have only 15 words total in the class - so far, we shared our thesis statements for that pair of Lucetta and Elizabeth, gave our fun facts on Kate Chopin, and received The Awakening with instructions to read chapters 1-5 and jot down all the "stuff" (i.e.characterization, motifs, lit elements, uh, anything really) and don't forget textual evidence and citations to prove your knowledge! Don't skimp out on your observations - you are part of this book club!

Our Young Elizabeth

After vocab experts concluded for Unit 1, which means review is next time, and the quiz is the next next time, we spent the hour with Lucetta and Elizabeth Jane, our two characters highlighted in our passage from The Mayor of Casterbridge. As noted in class, our sweet, naive Elizabeth actually has the wherewithal and intelligence to see through the third person hypothetical scenarios presented by her friend. For homework, you are constructing a thesis statement to the attached prompt, which will be evaluated on Monday by your peers.

The Characterization Begins

Characterization is a key element in the analysis of fiction, so key, in fact, that the majority of prose passages on the AP exam deal with characterization and its tells - dialogue, body language, exposition, setting, and all the intricate details that help us understand whether our protagonist/antagonist/foil happens to be dynamic/static/round/flat and how to identify the specific adjectives that detail his/her existence. For Tom, in our Gatsby passage, we spent a great deal of time on his characterization and how to respond to the corresponding prompt. You worked in groups to clarify character adjectives and select the 2 that best clarify his personality (remember, you are going for 2 adjectives that are no synonyms and show a shift or development in character), clarify the relationship with other characters, and determine the literary strategies that would give us this multi-faceted Tom. All of the aforementioned steps create that thesis statement, ones of glory from second and sixth hour, detailing the adjectives and playing with verb choice to create a mature, amazing theses!

Well, that was enough of a tangent. Here's the recap of what we did: Vocab Experts to continue our especially incredible vernaculars, played cards, worked with Tom's characterization, signed up for AP classroom.

Homework is to study up on Kate Chopin's biography so you have ethos and observations to share!

The First Prompt!

It's starting to feel like an AP Lit class! We're analyzing mythological figures in contrasting poems, we're close reading to characterize a figure in prose, we're writing a literary analysis prompt. Wait - a prompt! It's strange that I have not had the pleasure of evaluating a prompt in over 3 months since my school life is centered around your ideas, words, syntax, and essays. Anywho, today was the diagnostic prompt for AP Lit, which I'm sure will have some fascinating commentary regarding "The Birthmark." How could it not? Hawthorne is a blast, a treat, a lover of the symbol!

The plan for our block day is to finish our characterization of Tom (make sure you close read/highlight the remaining text), try our hand at dual characterization in a passage (ooh), and, maybe, maybe, maybe, prep for our first novella, the ever-fascinating tale of Edna Pontellier, better known as The Awakening. I guess that means I need to wear my AP Lit 2018 shoes soon - you should be able to figure out why.

Thanks for being a part of our AP Lit book club!

Poetry to Prose

Before I am sidetracked by today's agenda, don't forget about our diagnostic prompt on "The Birthmark" tomorrow! Bring your close read, paper, and pen/pencil. Prompt will be waiting for you with a bell to bell time limit.

Meanwhile in reminding you how to write an essay (look, a pretty thesis; look, a smattering of literary elements; look, evidence from the text), we finished up our "Helens," or as Amber puts it, the love triangle among Poe, Dolittle, and Helen of Troy, with sharing thesis statements (ah, the verb and adjective use was on point) and evidence regarding speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone.

With poetry in the rear view, prose takes center stage, especially the characterization element of fiction. Everything is fair game for garnering characterization - exposition, relationships with other characters, dialogue, body language, diction, and so forth. From the first moments of our Gatsby passage, you already see Tom's character forming. When analyzing a prose passage, you want your pen ready to mark all of those hints and conjoin them into a final, adjective-laced description.

Finish up close reading Tom's characterization passage for the block day.

Oh, Helen

Trying to blog during Scholar Quiz practice is a challenge! I wonder what Poe and Ms. Hilda would make of this scavenger hunt!

Today's class began with our first 4 vocab words of the season, the diagnostic prompt passage of "The Birthmark" for Tuesday, and our first class analysis of poetry, with a focus on Helen of Troy and her beauty, passion, and lauded spirit or her lifeless, annoying, destructive role in the Trojan War. On Monday, we will finish up this practice prompt - second hour reading their work and sixth hour commencing theirs.