Monday, September 23, 2013

Monday, September 23, 2013


AP English Peeps
Monday
September 78rd, 2013

When You Come In
1.      Please sign in.

Some Things to Consider:  Essays
1.      About half or your essays are read and commented on; the rest I’m in the process of reading.
2.     On the whole, the essays were not successful.
3.     I gave a collection grade for doing them.  But you will be using my comments and further TSIS reading to revise these for a grade.
4.     Here are problems:
a.     “you” or implied “you”
b.    “I”
c.     slang and/or non-academic phrasing
d.    lack of transitions between paragraphs
e.     loss of focus on the argument being made
f.      lack of singular/plural agreement
                                      i.     The reader = he or she; him or her
                                    ii.     Readers = they; them
g.     lack of quote frames

Something Else to Consider:  Academic Behavior and Conversation
1.      When I put you in pairs or trios, it’s for a reason.  What do you think that reason is?
2.     It’s disappointing when what I hear is not only non-academic, but also non-topical.  This is a class that necessitates your best efforts.  A pair-share or a trio is not a throw-away activity—at least it shouldn’t be.  But it loses all value if we forget to hold ourselves to high standards of academic discussion.  If you’re with a partner, it’s because I think you might benefit from having one.  But it only works if everyone involved pours all their brainpower and focus into it.  Otherwise, it’s a total waste of our time and energy.
3.     Let one person speak at a time.  With only eleven people in here, we should never speak over someone.
4.     …doing “homework” in the two minutes before the tardy bell rings?  Or as I’m starting class?  …not academic.


Peer Conference:  Impossible Thank-You Poem
1.      DONE        Share the poem your assigned conferencer.
2.     Make at least ten comments on the google doc.
3.     Fill out the rubric for the draft AS IT IS NOW—yes, scores may be low, but this is a peer conference, not a final grade, so be thoughtful and honest, please.
4.     Give the rubric to the writer, please.

If you finish, and you’re waiting on us, you can do any of this:
1.      Review your peer conference comments, and start revising to final draft.
2.     Study for the vocab quiz Wednesday (demagoguery word list).
3.     Play free rice.

Final Draft due Friday, with clean rubric

Poetry:  the Metaphor (analogy; simile)
1.      Read “Figuring Out Metaphors” by John R. Searle. (p. 6)
2.     In your RJ, construct a clear, academic paragraph answering ONE of the last three questions he poses at the end of his essay.
3.     Title your journal, “Question #2” (or whatever question you’re answering), and date it:  9/23/2013.
4.     Use the Magnificent Metaphors we talked about Friday (on google drive for you now) as your evidence, if you so choose.

If you finish, and you’re waiting on us, you can do any of this:
·      Review your peer conference comments, and start revising to final draft.
·      Study for the vocab quiz Wednesday (demagoguery word list).
·      Play free rice.

“Elegy for Jane” by Theodore Roethke (p. 10)
1.      Listen to the poem aloud.
2.     Read the definition of “elegy” (p. 10).
3.     Conduct a clarifying academic conversation with your partner.
a.     Read the poem aloud again.
b.    Annotate.
c.     Look up and define words and references you don’t know.

4.     Once you’re clear, split up, and in your journal, each of you do the following:
5.     Answer RJ questions #1-4.


Welcome to Creative Writing!
Ø  Happy Monday, September 23th, 2013

When You Come In
1.     Please initial next to your name on the clipboard.

Hey, if you see your name here, you need to open your computer, then open WE#3.
Read my comments, please.
WE#3 Read
  1. Kaylene 
  2. Shawn 
  3. Kennedy
  4. Spencer 
  5. Mikayla 
  6. Colton 
  7. Blake 
  8. Micaela 

Review
Writing Lesson #1:      Avoid clichés.
Writing Lesson #2       Use precise words--not general, relative, or vague ones.
Writing Lesson #3:      Diction matters.  Use Vocabulary Variety.
Writing Lesson #4:      Revision (Around the Block—1st to 2nd; final revision upcoming)
Writing Lesson #5:      Build your vocabulary—freerice!
Writing Lesson #6:      Connotation versus Denotation
Writing Lesson #7:      Revising and Editing Poetry

Free Write #4
·      Write for ten minutes without stopping.
·      Use page 10, if you so choose.
·      Label it Free Write #4, and date it:  9/23/2013.
·      Start @ 12:23; end at 12:33-ish
Autobio Poem Revision
·      Get out your Autobio Poem, and re-read it.
·      Copy and paste your best line into the spreadsheet in our class folder on google drive.




Autobiographical Poem Revision to Second,
Almost-Final Draft

1.         Think about everything I’m saying as it relates to YOUR POEM and the changes you might make to it to make I stronger.
2.        Look at the following snippets, and consider the following in your own poem:
·      Am I using vivid detail (appealing to one of the senses)?
·      Am I being creative in my responses—not just throwing down the first thing that comes to mind?

1)               Title
·       Raise your hand if you have the word “Me” in your title.
·       Look at the following titles that do NOT have “Me” in them.  What makes them strong?
·       A Whole Different Window
·       Casting Into Carissa’s Life                  
·       Just Like the President
·       More Than a Blonde Cheerleader
·       The Name I Got, the Name I’ll Keep

2)              Line Breaks
We have talked about line breaks a lot, but I’m wondering how carefully you’ve considered how and why you are breaking your lines.  When you have four details on a line, it’s hard for the reader to absorb all that.  Look carefully at your breaks.  Is the word at the end of each line a powerful one?

Unfortunate older brother
                  Who is always blamed for everything
                                    Every time

*   *   *   *
Who gives hugs to the people I love
and nothing to the people I don’t particularly like

3)              Concrete Detail—SPECIFICS!
(SHOW who you are; be specific and descriptive; the reader can hear a PERSON there!)
Who needs a faster internet connection
         Some ice cold Mt. Dew
                           And mostly, crispy, stuffed, Hot Pockets

Who feels great after a long run by myself

Who would like to see a Christmas wedding, tinkling lights in the dark cold night.


Lover of the rain
The sweet country air in the Fall
Sweet-and-sour filled Twizzlers
                  And stargazing on those beautiful summer nights

4)              Order—what’s first?  Second?  Third?  It matters!
Who fears staying home alone at night,
Drowning in a lake when it’s dark,
And making wrong decisions throughout my life.

                                                                                        

5)              Strong Diction
·       Lover of large rooms illuminated with dim candlelight.
·       Who fears being an outlier
·       A prisoner of Washington, Iowa
·       A speck of dust in Washington
·       He is the denizen of a glass box (instead of “resident of”)


6)              Sibling of….
Sometimes a best friend,
Sometimes a complete enemy
But always a sister of Anne, John, and Michael

Sibling of a future engineer (Alfonso)
Brother of a librarian (Angel)
Brother to an annoying younger sister (Aylin)


The mature, older (even if younger) sister to a college freshman,
7)              Alliteration
·       Who fears seeing spiders scamper across my floor….              (s)
·       Queen of quirky                                                                                             (q)
·       With two smaller siblings                                                                          (s)
·       Who needs to sleep as much as a sloth                                              (s)
·       Fat from wrestling                                                                                       (f)


General Reminders
·       Are all the important words in your title capitalized?
·       Are your lines broken where you INTENTIONALLY broke them, for greatest effect?
·       Have you included specifics:  examples, colors, textures, sounds, details?


Independent Work Time = 12:40-1:20 (plus five minutes prior to lunch)

Revising Your Autobio Poem
1.     When you go to “File” then “See Revision History”, do you see A LOT of color?  You have to make TEN REVISIONS, AT A MINIMUM.
2.     You must edit, but an edit is not a revision, so don’t count that in your ten.
3.     When you finish your revision, share it with me, please.


Now do the following:  (Yes, it’s more diction.)

1)         Read the background on the Save the Word project here:
2)         Now go to the Save the Words—Archive!  Give it a minute to load.
3)         Spend fifteen minutes browsing the words.  When you mouse over them, they    will pop up.  Click on them to read their definitions.
4)         When you find one you want to preserve, copy and paste it into the spreadsheet           in our class folder:  “Save the Word Nominations”





CPR
·     Monday, September 23,2013

When You Come In
1.      Please sign in.
2.     Put the following on my table, please, but make sure your name is on it:  worksheet questions over “European Renaissance and Reformation, 1300-1600.
3.     Free Rice due today = 20,000 grains

Review from Friday

Big Picture Reminder: 
Ø  Keep listening and looking for resonances, echoes, patterns.  Think about archetypes!  J

What is Culture?
Ø  "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." (Tysor)
Ø   the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group:
o   the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively
§   a refined understanding or appreciation of this

Big Picture:  Consider the pendulum….
Ø  Historical Overview—Please get out your Literary Eras sheet.
1.      THE CLASSICAL PERIOD                                   (1200 BCE - 455 CE)
2.     THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD                                    (455 CE-1485 CE)
3.     THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION        (c. 1485-1660 CE)

Plan for Renaissance and Reformation Unit
1.      Understand the big picture of The Renaissance and Reformation.
2.     Differentiate one era from another.
3.     See similarities between eras, where applicable.
4.     Continue culture discussion.
5.     Read English Renaissance poetry, mainly sonnets.
6.    Examine and apply techniques for how to explicate poetry.

Horrible History
·      We’re going to watch it twice. 
·      On the second round, try to get five main points.

View Prezi on Renaissance art:
·      Watch it once now with me.
·      Watch it again on your own, and take organized notes.

Vocabulary
·      Practice time!
·      Put the words on your desk, definition side up!
·      Let’s see what you know!
·      Quiz Wednesday

Foundational Reading:  Professor Foster—“If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet”
1.      Please read and annotate this short chapter.
2.     Look up references and words you don’t know—I expect somewhere between five and ten look-ups.
Work Time = 9:00-9:25
Homework

1.      Find a GOOD website that teaches you how to take a variety of notes during college lecture.
2.     Post the link on our google doc in our class folder by classtime tomorrow.

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