Make Vocab Quiz 1

If you were not in class during our first vocab quiz today, you will need to make arrangements to make up the quiz by Friday. You may schedule before school, after school, or during a study hall (preferred) or during class (if only option).

The sea, the birds, the light

Kate Chopin is the perfect author to start AP Lit: she focuses on character development, she critiques gender, class, and racial inequalities, and she loves the same motifs throughout her writing. (Jeez -- that was sure a hint for your short story presentation.)

Reminder for all classes: If you are absent during participation, you will need to show me your notes for the assigned readings. You are expected to shows me these notes the day you return.

2: The ladies completed the first vocabulary quiz and then spent the remainder of the hour discussing chapters 1-5 (whole class) and chapters 6-10 (partners/groups). We ran out of time, alas, for the chapter 11 group to share, so that will wait until Thursday. To prep for our block day, read through Chapter 25. We will be doing individual sharing with this section -- so pay attention to the literary devices.

4: After our vocabulary quiz, we completed a full class discussion of chapters 1-5. (Great job focusing on class differences in this milieu.) Alas, time betrayed us and we did not finish our small group discussion of chapters 6-11. We will resume on chapter 8 on Thursday. In addition, read through chapter 22.

Claiming Chopin

After reviewing for tomorrow's vocabulary quiz, you were officially assigned the Chopin presentation, which will feature a short story and its connection to other Chopin writings. As a result of this assignment, you each claimed a short story for this assignment. Remember, that you have a copy of all the short stories in your school e-mail. Check there for links and summaries to help you decide whether you will read more stories to further your presentation.

*Presentations will occur after we finish reading and analyzing The Awakening. Most likely, these will begin Monday.

Second hour, we will finish our full class discussion on chapters 1-5 tomorrow. Then, you will have small group responsibilities for chapters 6-11.

Fourth hour, we will begin your full class discussion with Alex's "Woah" and "Wow" thoughts and then have small group work for chapters 6-11.

Meeting Chopin

After finishing up vocabulary today, we spent time with paper meetings and working out ideas for improvement next time. (Fourth hour, we will finish meetings on Monday.) At some point of the hour, we recapped the life of Kate Chopin, a controversial figure breaking gender roles in her writings. For homework, read the first 5 chapters and prepare discussion starters and points for next class. (If you were absent, guess what? The Awakening is online so you will be expected to contribute.) I also passed out the overall assignment for the reading. We will go over this in-depth on Monday, but you are more than welcome to get a head start on it.

And, since Haley and I were talking about my dresses fourth hour, here is the link to my friend Kristen's website : http://iheartfink.com/ Yep, there are pictures of me in her lookbook.

Lucetta & EJ

As I have had little sleep the last two nights, I will make this a bullet list:

• We added 4 new words to vocabulary, which means we will add the last 3 words of the unit tomorrow.
• We close read, discusses, and created thesis statements regarding the characterization of Lucetta and Elizabeth Jane and their relationship. If you want to learn more about these ladies - or at least the context that leads to this conversation - read The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. I love this novel -- it makes up for Jude the Obscure. Seriously, nicknaming your child Father Time is asking for trouble. Well, that was a small tangent.
• We discussed the AP grading evaluation of 1-9 and how your essays will be evaluated. During tomorrow's class, we will have one-on-one conferences to discuss anything involving writing, "The Birthmark," and AP Literature-related. 

For class tomorrow, read up on Kate Chopin's biography and have a working knowledge of her background. I had a clever awakening pun for this moment in the blog and, sadly, it just escaped my brain. Alas...

Characterization of Tom (not that one or that one -- the Buchanan one)

After our second day or vocabulary, we spent the day working on characterization, a popular prose prompt topic. With AP Literature, you do not have a straightforward characterization. You must tie this in with relationships to other characters, recognize subtle shifts, compare and contrast multiple characters, or connect the character's journey to the overall theme of the passage. Phew! To emphasize this complexity of characterization (really into alliteration with this post), we focused on Mr. Tom Buchanan and his slow recognition of rival romancer Gatsby. From his body language, words, and descriptions, we noted his character traits and how this created an uncomfortable, condescending, and competitive world with his fellow characters.

Second hour, you have homework -- highlight the character traits of Lucetta and Elizabeth in your text. We will work in partners or groups of 3, depending on the size of class that day, to discuss and present your analysis. Then, it will be time for "The Birthmark" and its discussion and essay review.

Fourth hour, don't fret -- you'll know what the above means during class on Thursday.

P.S. Scholar Quiz is our school's academic trivia team. Some of you have attended our practices, which occur every Friday after school in room 404. You are all welcome to attend our practices -- whether you look to be a full time player and earn a letter for competing or a part time player wanting to have fun and learn in a supportive team atmosphere. By the way, it is never too late to join the Scholar Quiz team. We are a splub competing with schools across St. Charles and St. Louis counties, we have finished second in district competition five times, and our goal this year is to win districts and make it to sectionals for the first time in our school's history. If you like trivia and have scheduling conflicts, we have trivia lunches every block Thursday in the library conference room. Bring your lunch, play trivia with us, and spend some quality time with the Scholar Quiz team in a relaxed environment.

"Easiest Day in AP Lit"

"Easiest" may be a hasty generalization of sorts, but today's class centered around preparation for our upcoming classes: namely, constructing your literary toolbox and your portfolio. These items will be necessary to furthering your literary vernacular for upcoming discussions, term quizzes, and analyses.

Agenda-wise, we started with our first four vocabulary words of the year! Oh, how the list shall fervently grow and grow without much of a moratorium in between. Then, second hour had a fire drill, and fourth hour had a close read regarding setting and theme on the valley of ash in The Gatsby. Lastly, you worked on the aforementioned toolbox and folder.

Plotting of the week:

Tuesday - Vocab Experts, Characterization close reads (with highlighters)
Thursday - Portfolio folder decor due, Birthmark discussion, AP Lit grading scale, essay return
Friday - Characterization with Madame Bovary & a dual analysis of a text and its modern day adaptation

Next week - Kate Chopin!