AP English Lit – 4th Quarter 2007-08    

 

Date

Assignments

05/16/08

In class:

  • Emily Dickinson, pp. 1097—1107
    1. View Loaded Gun, a strange biography of an enigmatic poet
    2. Life imitates art and vice versa
    3. “Because I Could not Stop for Death”—handout
    4. Critique of “Because I Could not Stop for Death”—handout
    5. A selection of Dickinson’s poems

Homework:

  • Copy your assigned Dickinson poem, annotate your copy, paraphrase your annotations, and prepare to read the poem aloud and present the results on Monday, 05/19

05/12—15/08

In class:

  • Some students attend AP exams
  • Read and discuss brief selections from Sudden Fiction
  • Sayings and Suggestions, pp. 776—88

1.       Read the introduction to understand the difference between denotation and connotation

2.     Read "Cargoes" and "London" to clarify denotative and connotative meaning and to see how they work together to increase the reader's understanding of the poems

3.     Read the remaining poems and answer the questions

    1. Discuss and defend your answers aloud (but not too loud)

05/05—09/08

In class:

  • Students attend AP exams

05/01—02/08

In class:

  • Review Literary terms handouts
  • Review for AP exam

04/28—29/08

In class:

  • Turn in “Poems for Further reading” homework
  • Review Literary terms handouts

04/21—25/08

In class:    (STAR testing week schedule)

  • Poetry Reports
    1. Read, in character, the poem of your choice from “Poems for Further reading”
    2. Read your paraphrase of the poem
    3. Class discussion of your paraphrase and alternative interpretations
    4. Turn in your copy of the poem and your paraphrase

Homework:

  • From “Poems for Further reading,” pp. 1137—1268, select two examples each of lyric, narrative, dramatic, and didactic poetry and explain why each poem you chose is an appropriate example of the form indicated. Identify your choices by title, author, and page number. Due Monday, 04/28
  • From my Web page, download and copy the four Literary Terms handouts and bring them to class on Monday, 04/28

04/17—18/08

In class:

  • Continue critique of student essay, pp. 745—47
  • Read and discuss poems for tone, pp. 719—31

Homework:

  • Complete the “Writing Assignment,” p. 716
    1. Select a poem from “Poems for Further reading,” pp. 1137—1268 and read it aloud several times.
    2. Copy the poem and annotate it
    3. Paraphrase the poem using your annotations
    4. Be prepared to read and discuss the poem and your paraphrase in class on Monday, 04/21

04/14—15/08

In class:

  • Tone, pp. 717: the poet,s attitude toward the subject
  • Read “My Papa’s Waltz,” p. 718 and then read the commentary that follows
  • Read the student essay, pp. 745—47 and discuss its strengths and weaknesses in development and argument

04/10—11/08

In class:

  • For each section below, Read each poem aloud at least twice and answer the questions that follow.

 

  1. Lyric Poetry, pp. 706—07: A brief poem that reveals the thoughts or feelings of a single speaker often—but not always—written in the first person.
  2. Narrative Poetry, pp. 708—11: A poem that tells a story
  3. Dramatic Poetry, pp. 711—14: A poem that presents the voice of an imaginary character—not the poet—performing a dramatic monologue that addresses someone who is silent or absent

04/07—08/08

In class:

  • What is Poetry and how do you read it for meaning?
    1. Read the poem aloud once without stopping—pay attention to the sounds of the poem
    2. Read it again several times for connotative and denotative meaning—annotate in the margins (unless it is in a school book)
    3. Paraphrase what you learn from your annotations about subject, emotion, and theme
    4. Repeat 1—3 until you understand enough to read the poem with appropriate feeling.
  • “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” p. 703

1.       What is the setting?

2.     What is the emotion?

3.     What happens—and what doesn’t happen?

04/04/08

In class:

  • Othello Strawberry Handkerchief Essay
  • Introduction to Poetry, p. 697

04/01-02/08

In class:

  • The Bluest Eye
    1. The ideal vs. the real or actual
    2. The primer sets unattainable goals
    3. Yet another example of existential writing?
    4. A progression from innocence to experience, from ignorance to understanding
  • The following quotations introduce topics that direct us toward a major theme. Identify each topic and explain how it points to a major theme.
    1. “We could think of nothing but our own magic.”
    2. “It never occurred to either of us that the earth itself might have been unyielding.”
    3. “Our innocence and faith were no more productive than his lust and despair.”
    4. “Since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”

Homework:

  • Study for Othello in-class essay, Friday, 04/04

03/31/08

In class:

  • Othello Strawberry Handkerchief Essay
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
    1. Structure of the novel
    2. Structure and purpose of the Dick and Jane primer
    3. Structure related to theme

Homework:

  1. Study for Othello in-class essay, Friday, 04/04