AP English Literature and Composition Per. 4 (South Pasadena High School)

Due: 05/30/2019

Sat, 25 May 2019 13:27:14 PDT

NOTICE (READ ENTIRE POST):

There are several people with an NA designation in Aeries as a place-holder for missing work. In certain cases, we have had discussions regarding a waiver of that required assignment; in most cases, there is no such understanding. NAs will be converted to ZEROS if the assignment is not submitted by the end of class on 5/30. If you do submit the work (for some, not full credit), you must let me know via email (and be specific as to which assignment has been submitted). In addition, several people have a 0 as a score for certain assignments. Those scores will remain unless the work is made up and submitted for some credit by the end of class on 5/31 (I'm assuming that most people have already decided to simply let the 0 scores stand). IT IS UP TO YOU TO ATTEND TO ZEROS OR NAs. CHECK AERIES. ANY NEWLY SUBMITTED WORK MUST BE IN BY THE END OF CLASS ON 5/30.

Due: 05/09/2019

Tue, 14 May 2019 14:15:12 PDT

FINAL EXAM

The final exam will be an AP-level multiple-choice test*. It will be in the same format as those you have taken during the year. As always, the exam will assess your mastery of literary analysis and responsiveness to prompts. The same study tools as previously recommended for those preparing for the AP exam will be of value with respect to this test. (See postings on Homework Page.)

*There may be a short "composition" based upon Heart of Darkness.

Due: 05/07/2019

Mon, 06 May 2019 11:23:21 PDT

AP TEST-TAKERS: PLEASE READ (THIS IS A RE-POSTING OF THE 5/3 NOTE)

It will come as no surprise to you to learn that I am tempted to load this posting up with a large number of documents that I think should be studied as a means to help you prepare for the exam (such as the stuff included on the very first posting of the year and the postings pertaining to the one exam you had this year covering chapters and handouts) AND direct you to all manner of sample essays and multiple-choice exams with scoring rubrics and scorers' comments and scores/answers that have been distributed and discussed over the year AND invite you to review those essays upon which I have made comments, as well as those that were peer-reviewed. Certainly I encourage you to do any or all of these things. HOWEVER, knowing that, ahem, many of you will simply "not be able" to undertake such a thorough approach, this:

1) I am attaching one document that at least reminds you, on one page, of the key do's and don'ts for the exam as regards the Free-Response Essays. (This document will also be handed out in class.)

2) There is one multiple-choice practice exam we did that comes straight from the College Board-it was given in one of the AP Lit. exams*. We reviewed this exam and you have it and the correct answers. Review it. Make certain that you understand why the correct answers are, in fact, the correct answers.

*That is the exam where the first 14 questions are from the poem "Remembrance."

3) In order to have source material for the 3d Free-Response Question, review all novels, novellas and plays that we read this year (Frankenstein, Bartleby the Scrivener, The Metamorphosis, Hamlet, Fences, Ethan Frome, Heart of Darkness). Note: While not a source of first choice, it might not be a bad idea to revisit briefly some of the short stories we covered, e.g., "The Dead"; "Babylon Revisited"; "Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden." And finally, for those of you who feel comfortable with the poem, take another look at "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Due: 05/07/2019

Mon, 06 May 2019 13:56:44 PDT

NOTE TO ALL (ESPECIALLY AP TEST-TAKERS):

FOR THOSE WHO WERE NOT IN CLASS ON MONDAY, 5/6, THIS:

I DISTRIBUTED THE PEER-EDITED ESSAY YOU DID REGARDING THE POEM "THE CENTURY QUILT." IT HAS THE COMMENTS AND SCORING OF THE PEER EDITOR. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS ESSAY TO REVIEW AS PART OF YOUR PREPARATION FOR THE AP EXAM (OR FOR ANY REASON), PLEASE STOP BY THE ROOM AT ANY TIME, INCLUDING LUNCH, TO COLLECT IT.

LIKEWISE, IF YOU WOULD LIKE A HARD COPY OF THE ONE-PAGE AP TIPS GUIDE ATTACHED TO THE AP NOTICE POSTED 5/3, STOP BY THE ROOM FOR ONE.

And this: Those absent from class on 5/6 missed a brief discussion of "Heart of Darkness" and its frequent appearance on the AP exam as a text that could be used for Question #3-the Open Free-Response Essay*. We talked about the fact that the novella fell into the literary era of Early Modernism (a reflection of more experimental, untraditional writing-breaking from the orderliness of Victorian culture and acknowledging the need to represent the more chaotic reality of the world, e.g., The First World War, exploding scientific advancements). A recognized stylistic component of this new writing was stream-of-consciousness (a literary style in which a character's thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or conventional dialogue). In addition, we covered a common element of modernism: existentialism (a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will-often addressing conflicting aspects of individualism, e.g., freedom, alienation, will, angst).

*Below find 4 typical AP Open Free-Response Essays (Question #3), each of which is deemed by the AP College Board as answerable by reference to Heart of Darkness:

1-In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. In Heart of Darkness, acts of cruelty are important to the theme. Write a well-developed essay analyzing how cruelty functions in the work as a whole and what the cruelty reveals about the perpetrator and/or victim.

Do not merely summarize the plot.

2-Many works of literature feature characters who have been given a literal or figurative gift. The gift may be an object, or it may be a quality such as uncommon beauty, significant social position, great mental or imaginative faculties, or extraordinary physical powers. Yet this gift is often also a burden or a handicap. Select a character from Heart Of Darknesswho has been given a gift that is both an advantage and a problem. Then write a well-developed essay analyzing the complex nature of the gift and how the gift contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Do not merely summarize the plot.

3-Many works of literature not readily identified with the mystery or detective story genre nonetheless involve the investigation of a mystery. In these works, the solution to the mystery may be less important than the knowledge gained in the process of its investigation. In Heart of Darkness, one or more of the characters confront a mystery. Write an essay in which you identify the mystery and explain how the investigation illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.

Do not merely summarize the plot.

4-Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime.

In Heart of Darkness, a character deceives others. In a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Do not merely summarize the plot.

Due: 05/06/2019

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 08:54:49 PDT

NOTE NEW DATE

Read Heart of Darkness* (Joseph Conrad) by this date.

If you are unable to purchase the novella or check it out of the library, see the link to the book below.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/219/219-h/219-h.htm

Due: 05/03/2019

Wed, 01 May 2019 13:30:04 PDT

AP TEST-TAKERS: PLEASE READ

*That is the exam where the first 14 questions are from the poem "Remembrance."

Due: 05/02/2019

Tue, 28 May 2019 09:17:45 PDT

NOTE NEW DATE/SOCRATIC SEMINAR

READ ENTIRE POST-GROUP TOPICS ARE PRESENTED

-Be prepared for the seminar. Make certain that you have read the short story, the article about writing literary analysis and the article with guidelines for participation. Facilitators should also have read the guidelines for leading/facilitating a seminar. (See posting for 4/9 for materials.)

Group 1:

According to Welty, “Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden,” included in her first collection,

A Curtain of Green and Other Stories (1941), grew from an oral exchange:

“Keela” (…) came about in a special way. In my job I would go to different county fairs and put up booths for the WPA. Once some of the people in the midway – I used to go outand drink coffee with them and so on – were talking about the sideshow act of something like “Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden.” (…) it involved a little black person who had been carried off. Well, of course, my story is not about that; it’s about the moral response to it made by three different people. It troubled me so and I tried to write my story in response to that situation.

Please discuss the following:

Does Welty succeed in displaying a moral response by the three people she has in mind? If so, how, and are the responses different (morally speaking)?

Group 2:

In her essay “Reality in Chekhov’s Stories” (1989), Welty says that “It was not in Chekhov to deny any character in his stories the dignity and purity of singularity. He would have found it not only alien to his art but morally unjust to slur over a man–even a horse thief– as only an example of his class or sex or calling in life” (64).

Please discuss the following:

Do you find that Welty revealed each character to possess that dignity and purity of singularity to which she refers in her assessment of Chekhov?

Group 3:

At some point, Lee Roy is the watcher rather than the watched.

Please discuss the following:

What is that point in the story and what might it say about relative capacities?

Note: When considering "capacities," think in terms of the nature and character of both Steve and Little Lee Roy (and possibly Max in a more limited way) as regards their way of seeing the world around them, taking responsibility for matters which come under their influence, and making peace with wrongs they have suffered or perpetrated. While there are clues regarding these "capacities" throughout the story, look closely at the latter portion of the tale for some key revelations.

Group 4:

In an interview, asked if the ending signals a lack of communication, Welty answers: “Everybody is thinking about how he feels, Steve and Max and Little Lee Roy, to whom it happened. I just wanted to show how he felt by starting to tell the children. I think it was the children who are the ones that really knew the reality of it, that it was almost too terrible. They knew what it really was, what had happened to him, and they just don’t want to hear any more of it–it’s just too terrible. It was kind of a sign-off for the story, too. The whole thing was just too awful to contemplate."

Please discuss the following:

What is your take on the ending? Do you find it ambiguous? Is there a parallel between the storyteller at the end (Lee Roy) dealing with a reluctant audience and the difficulty Welty had getting this story published in 1940 (when two literary magazines rejected the story before a third one accepted it)?

Due: 05/01/2019

Wed, 01 May 2019 23:27:42 PDT

ANNOUNCEMENT/GROUP 3-SOCRATIC SEMINAR

FOR THOSE OF YOU ASSIGNED TO GROUP 3 FOR THE SOCRATIC SEMINAR, PLEASE SEE A "NOTE" THAT HAS BEEN ADDED TO YOUR QUESTION FOR POSSIBLE CLARIFICATION. IT IS LISTED ON THE ASSIGNMENT POSTED FOR 5/2.

Due: 04/22/2019

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 09:13:59 PDT

ANNOUNCEMENT/PLEASE READ ENTIRE POST

THREE MATTERS OF INTEREST:

1-I have re-curved the last multiple-choice exam (the one where some did fine and many did not so fine). In case you are wondering, I raised, not lowered, everyone's scores. It made a difference in the progress report grades for several students. This is a one-time deal.

2-Several students have missing assignments. They are reflected by either a 0 (which really does hurt your overall grade) or an N/A (which simply holds the place without you being penalized). Normally, for the last progress report, I simply enter a 0 for all missing assignments (so as to give you a realistic idea of where you stand approaching the semester grade); however, seeing how hectic this year seems to have become in terms of extra-curricular activities (and taking into account that amazing day on which so many of you were coincidentally simply unable to attend class-hope you all found a quick cure for what must have been a fast-moving...well, something), I have left many spots as NA for now. Please know that you must make up all NAs or 0s quickly if you hope to get any points for those assignments toward your semester grade. Absent the make-up work, all NAs will be converted to a 0 and all 0s will remain in place. If you make up an assignment, you must let me know via email so that I will be alerted to look for it.

3-PLEASE SEE IMMEDIATELY THE ASSIGNMENT POSTED FOR 4/30-SOCRATIC SEMINAR. GROUP TOPICS ARE PRESENTED. NOTE: YOU WILL HAVE CLASS TIME ON 4/26 TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT.

Due: 04/18/2019

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 13:48:07 PDT

Note re Make-up Work

Those of you who missed class on Monday, 4/15 and/or Wednesday, 4/17, must make up a timed-writing and a peer-editing re that timed-writing. The prompt and the text will be in the library, as will the lined paper on which you are to write your essay by hand. After you have submitted to the librarian the essay and prompt, we will work out the peer-editing part of the assignment. The essay must be written and submitted by Wednesday, 4/24, by the start of class.

**Return the prompt handout with your name at the top.

**Return the Essay with ONLY YOUR STUDENT ID AT THE TOP.