Thursday, 2/19/2008

AP ENGLISH

Frankenstein Essay

• We talked about the essay, and I  answered all questions.  Ben was kind enough to allow us to read his first draft of the essay, and we talked about it in detail.  He then read us his revision, so we could hear how he included citations to support his points.
  

Organization

• We looked at the first page of our textbook and talked about what we've learned since the term began, and what we're continuing to learn.
• I handed out the Backbone Literature Unit chapter.  (Thanks, Miranda, for dividing it up!) and we talked about the big ideas and questions for this unit.
  

Mythology

• We looked at pages B2-B4, and we discussed how many of the gods, goddesses, heroes, and Bible stories were things we'd heard of before, and seen in other literature.  This discussion was wide-ranging, and we let it roam all over.  :-)
  

Literature Terms

• We played The Monkey Game for the last ten minutes, and I used lit terms--some familiar, and some new.  These are terms you need to know for this class, for the AP Exam, and for your college lit classes, so we'll work with them from now until the end of the year.
  

Homework

• The Frankenstein essay is due MONDAY.

CREATIVE WRITING

Homework Due

• Theme for English B
  

Writing Lesson

• Show, Don't Just Tell--we talked a bit about yesterday's class, and how we can show in our writing (vivid vocabulary; imagery).
  
• We looked at the E. B. White sentence on page 53, and we took notes, then discussed our answers--the lesson learned is that WORDS MATTER, that even ONE WORD CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
  
• Writing to Describe--I read the Isak Dinesen passage on page 58, and we circled words we thought were strong, and we underlined powerful imagery.  We discussed our ideas.  We did this to see how one writer SHOWS, instead of just tells.
  

Writing Assignment

• Perfect Moment (pages 68-9)--I read the quotes to set the tone for this assignment.  I read the three models as well.  The challenge in this assignment is to SHOW the moment, not just tell.
  

Writing Workshop

• We worked for twenty-five minutes to create a first draft.  Everyone typed a note to me about what he/she wanted me to look for, specifically, when I read the piece.  We printed them, then turned them in.
  

Organization

• We passed back papers and logged them into our folders.
  

Life at Thirty

• I read several more pieces, and we kept track of details and made guesses about who wrote each piece.
  

Homework

• None, unless you've been absent and need to do make-up work
  

TACW

Writing Assignment #1

• A Sentence as a Poem--I read three examples of sentences written as poems (P3).  
  
• We each took some time to write our own sentences as poems.  We talked about what made them poetry (P4).  We each read our poem, and we turned P4 in when we were finished.
  

Writing Assignment #2

• We wrote a Class Poem.  We were under strict instructions to try to do our best work, and write strong lines (no personal attacks; no inside jokes; no intentional goofiness).
  
• We read them all aloud, except Andrew's, so he'll read his Friday.

Homework

• None, unless you've been absent and need to do make-up work