Class Notes (11/29-12/10)

In class, we have mostly been watching different film interpretations of Hamlet.

The BBC Hamlet uses security cameras to put a futuristic light on the story. The director not only make Hamlet afraid of his father's ghost, but also has the same actor (Jean-Luc Picard!!!) play both his father AND his Uncle.

The Branagh version of Hamlet makes Hamlet blond (which is just weird) and very, VERY dramatic. They also portray a semi-incestous relationship between Hamlet and the Queen.

In the Lawrence Olivier version of Hamlet, Hamlet is portrayed to be gay; however, there are several scenes in which Hamlet lovingly kisses his mother on the lips.

We also began reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Week 1? (11/15-11/26)

 AP Lit Multiple Choice Questions!

Strategies:

• Read SLOWLY, SLOWLY, SLOWLY! (very important.)
• Read the passage quickly, then go over the passage again, but much slower

Types:

• Rhetorical Function: explain the purpose of a sentence, group of sentences, whole paragraph, or line/stanza of poetry in relation to the rest of the piece; Ex: “Between lines 24 and 25 and between lines 32 and 33, there is a shift from…”
• Context: identify meaning of a word used in the context of a passage; Ex: “In line 10, ‘known to’ is best interpreted as…”
• Antecedent: often discusses elaborate syntax (complex grammar); asks which antecedent the quoted word is referring to; Ex: “All of the following appear to shed tears or be filled with tears EXCEPT the…”
• Style: choices author has made; (#1 place to find 2 correct answers…but only 1 is MORE correct!); make sure both descriptors fit!; Ex: “The grandmother and the child in the poem are portrayed primarily through descriptions of their…” ß Portrayed primarily= amount (countable) in entire passage
• Tone: identify tone of passage; if pairs of words, use style strategy; Ex: “The mood of the poem is best described as…”

Hamlet*

• Based on a Norse legend composed by Saxo Grammaticus in Latin around 1200 AD
• King Rorik of the Danes
• Amleth (Saxo’s Hamlet)
• Beautiful daughter (Geruth)
• Story first printed in Paris in 1514
• Shakespeare used earlier play (Norse Legend by Thomas Kyd)
• Ur-Hamlet
• Amleth marries Gertrude, while in Hamlet, his mom (queen/Gertrude) kills herself

Aristotle Tragedy: imitation of unified action TRAGIC ERROR!

Seneca: TRAGIC FLAW, less fate, more free will

• Hero’s hesitation
• Hero’s insanity
• Hero’s contemplation of suicide
• Multiple levels of intrigue
• Able, scheming villains
• Philosophic soliloquies
• Sensational onstage murder

*Ongoing discussion!

Outside Reading (Reflective Essay #2)

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell; published 2002
(borrowed from Ms. Holmes)
Essay: "The New German Cinema"
November 15, 2010
Pg 43-45

When reading one of Sarah Vowell's essays, one knows that they will be in for a treat. Vowell's all-knowing yet down-to-earth tone warms the heart of her readers as well as presents her version of the "truth." "The New German Cinema" is no different. This rhetorically strong piece has a quirky voice and keeps the reader thoroughly entertained, as well.

Vowell's best decision is to treat this essay like a story: she uses periods in her life as a beginning, middle, and end. This keeps the piece structured as well as relatable. One noteworthy fault of Vowell's is her obscure choice of words. I found myself at several times confused as to what she was discussing. Not knowing words such as "existentialism" forced me to do a bit of outside "outside reading." And I only understood the terms "oeuvre" and "accent aigu" because I speak French. Other than these few obscurities, I found I was able to comprehend the meaning of this piece fairly well. Vowell's stylistic voice shined through.

Vowell's tone is quite unexpected: both self-scrutinizing and grateful at the same time. Her first sentence introduces this thought, as she writes, "When I was growing up pretentious in Bozeman, Montana, I got all my ideas about going to the movies in New York City from the Woody Allen oeuvre." Towards the end of essay, she has her realization: "It was at that moment that I realized how small the New German Cinema community really was." Here, and in the following paragraph, Vowell decides that although she "outgrew existentialism and subtitles," she needed these experiences to discover fun in her mid-twenties (Pg. 45). I find that this reflective tone allows me to easily understand Vowell's viewpoint, even though I most definitely have never been interested in the German film industry. I can understand the core of this essay: Vowell needed to go through her "teen cineaste" days in order to mature and become the person she is today.

As an AP essay, I'm afraid that I cannot imagine this piece functioning well. Although I could see it as an essay prompt, this essay is much too informal for the tastes of the AP readers. The essay does contain stellar writing and background information, but its casual references are not with the style of the AP test.

Outside Reading (Editorial #2)

Post written November 14, 2010

Editorial written November 3, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/opinion/04thu4.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

In "Halloween's Afterlife," (no author named) the elusive writer recounts what happens, in his or her eyes, after Halloween has ended. Using a casual narrative voice and style, the writer not only presents an intriguing viewpoint into the shenanigans that occur in the days following Halloween, but also makes smaller, less noticeable political and social accusations.

The mysterious author's voice crafts a story that is both entertaining and convincing. Using definite phrases in the present tense, such as "But for another day or two this is still a block apparently preoccupied with irreverence toward death, which is much less frightening than death’s irreverence" make the reader believe the editorial in a sense of fact rather than opinion. The narrative style of the piece also leads to this belief, with the article structured as a story with a "beginning," "middle," and "end." Also, I appreciate how the author did not list his or her name with the article. I find that this just adds to the distant feel of the piece.

When the author writes, "the only remnant of Halloween will be the inflatable rat — 20 feet tall, paws raised, incisors exposed — sitting on its haunches in front of a building down the street, the site of a protest against nonunion labor" I wonder whether the author is trying to make a political point to their audience. Since the author later alludes to the rat, saying that the rat looks "less like an emblem of protest and more like the best decoration of all" and later that the rat "will be back to business," I am forced to believe that the author is trying to point out that this certain protest group will never stop trying to achieve their goals.

Oddly enough, I could picture this article as an AP essay. It exhibits a unique voice amongst its descriptive flow of language. If "Halloween's Afterlife" were to be an AP essay, however, I think that it would need to be a bit longer. The author might consider discussing more about the importance of the rat remaining in the day's after Halloween. Or they might elaborate on the sentence discussing the irreverence of and towards death. I'd also like the author to change the piece's last sentence, which, in my opinion, does not do the article justice.

Outside Reading (Book Review #2)

November 14, 2010
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/Rogue-Island/ba-p/3561
Article Published November 4, 2010

Howard Frank Mosher's review of Rogue Island, by Bruce DeSilva, gives an excellent summary of the book's best points. His review gives much praise to both the descriptive nature of the investigative journalism industry and the plot and character development of the story. Mosher's informal writing style, along with his thorough descriptions, leads to an all-together excellent review of Rogue Island.

Mosher's reader-friendly stylistic writing allows even the most simplistic reader an excellent understanding of the book as a whole. There are few sentences that do not fit the constant "flow" of this piece. Mosher first describes to the reader the main protagonist, Liam Mulligan, and some of his more recent struggles. The reader then learns of some of the more quirky minor characters, such as a "74-year-old numbers racketeer," that add to the novel's first-rate writing. Mosher then praises DeSilva's accurate depiction of investigative journalism. Mosher only writes in the first person during this one sentence, noting, "As a bonus, Rogue Island also contains some of the best writing about the embattled newspaper business I've ever read—unsurprisingly, the author is a former investigative journalist and Associated Press editor." When reading this sentence, I was definitely surprised by Mosher's sudden use of the first person; though I think that his decision to do so helps give the reader a better understanding of his opinions on the novel.

Rogue Island's main character, Liam Mulligan, reminds me of the main character in a few of Jodi Picoult's books, (such as Perfect Match) Nina Frost. Though Liam is a journalist and Nina is an assistant district attorney, they both must face the scummy underbelly of their society and seek the truth amongst it. Another similarity between the two lies in their inability to not make their jobs personal. Mosher writes in his review that Liam disobeys his editor when he discovers that an arsonist is burning down his childhood buildings. In Perfect Match, when Nina discovers that her 5-year old son has been sexually abused, she goes on a man-hunt that leads to the fusing of her personal and work lives.

Although this review does a stupendous job of complementing the novel's highlights, it point outs none of its faults. Mosher points out the less-than-great character traits of Liam Mulligan, though he never once makes any negative comments directed at DeSilva. This is the greatest fault of Mosher's article. His nearly flawless writing would initially make me believe that this review is suitable for an AP assignment; however, his failure to make a counterargument overrules such a notion. I most also note that I do not detect any critical perspective in its entirety: the closest perspective I can detect is formalism, although he does not outright mention any literary devices what-so-ever.

Class Notes Week 2 (11/8-11/12)

Oedipus Rex:

A majority of our week has been spent discussing different aspects of Oedipus Rex. Here, I will just point out some of the highlights.

• When discussing the validity of Psychoanalytic Criticism, our class unanimously decided that Green's outlook on Oediupus was highly improbable, and that Freud is absolutely crazy. My class highly doubted that Sophocles was trying to make such intense subconcious sexual references that Green refers to in his writing.
• My class also discussed the power of blindness. We noted that Teiresias is blind for a reason; that because he is blind, he is able to see the truth in people and situations easier than most. We also discussed what effects Oediupus's loss-of-sight has to do with his ability to see the truth. My class determined that although he claimed outwardly that he wanted to avoid all of the atrocities he had created, blinding himself allowed him to finally see the world clearly.
• One of the biggest arguments in my class was in regards to Free Will vs. Predestination. We debated the effects of the prophecy: whether it determined Oedipus's actions from the beginning (predestination) or whether Oedipus's strong desire and his decisions to go against the prophecy ultimately created the events he was trying to avoid (free-will).

The Secrets to AP Thesis Writing*:
1) Thoroughly read the prompt. Twice.
2) Identify goals in the question by circling or underlining.
3) Write a thesis that addresses all of these goals.
4) Review prompt and thesis. Make sure you have addressed all of the goals.
5)When addressing a theme, make sure it is a theme and not a subject that you are addressing.
6) Thesis
    Answer
    Prompt
7) Analyse effect AND meaning.
*Ideally, spend about five minutes for this entire process.

Example: (#3 from The Packet)
3. A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that prouduces this "healthy confusion." Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude" experienced by the readers of the work.

1) Have you read through this twice? What goals have you noticed?
One thing I noticed is that the writers of the prompt roughly defined for us what this "healthy confusion" really is (A healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude/uneasiness).
2) Let's identify the goals. I will italize them in this case.

3. A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that prouduces this "healthy confusion." Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude" experienced by the readers of the work.

So we know that we must first find a literary work in which the reader feels both content and uneasy. In other words, this theory of "healthy confusion"  is when a work is disturbing, yet we as readers are better off after reading the work. Our goal in this prompt is to think of a work in which this theory is displayed.

3) This is what my group came up with for our thesis:

In The Great Gatsby, the reader feels wiser and emotionally fulfilled through the excellent, yet disturbing quality of the writing and feels uneasy with the moral depths of the characters.

Class Notes Week 6 (10/25-10/29)

This week, we began our unit on DRAMA.

From the "Notes on Drama" worksheet:

• drama is both an auditory and a visual medium
• movement, dialogue, and monologue are the tools with which drama creates plot, character, theme..
• drama has multiple functions; dig through the layers of dialogue to get to the true meaning(s)!
• drama is usually performed to create an illusion of reality (verisimilitude: feeling that what you see on stage is actually happening)
• "Willing suspension of disbelief"
• there are limitations to drama, and sometimes actors and playwrights must make compromises in the fullness of a drama
• "Break the 4th wall"= making a play seem like a reality using deliberately staged or written ways
• A play is meant to be looked at all in one sitting; plays are made to get the audience's attention and keep it
• built around a series of "dramatic questions" that provoke new questions when others are resolved

Some types of drama (still from said sheet):

• Tragedy: ruin of the leading characters; destruction of some noble person through fate (Greeks); death or destruction of some noble person through a flaw in his/her character (Elizabethans); may not involve death but more dismal life (present); tragedy not of the strong and noble, but the weak (modern)
• Comedy: lighter drama; leading characters overcome initial difficulties in their lives; action/dialogue is usually humorous
• Melodrama: blend of serious action of tragedy w/the happy ending of comedy; usually structured with a series of escapades by the protagonist from various threatening circumstances; clearly defined "good" over "evil"
• Tragi-Comedy: serious action w/happy ending; complex, with carefully drawn characters and more thoughtful treatment of serious subj. matter (love, friendship, death...); more likely to have humour than melodrama
• Problem Play: drama of social criticism that discusses social, economic, or political problems
• Farce: when comedy involves ridiculous or hilarious complications w/o regard for human values
• Comedy of Manners: comedy which wittily portrays fashionable life
• Domestic/Bourgeois Drama: serious play that deals with "ordinary" people from everyday life; in the last 150 yrs replaced both classical tragedy and "heroic" drama
• Theater of the Absurd: *see other handout

Perrine Chapters on Drama
Chapter One (The Nature of Drama) :

• drama makes use of plot and characters, develops themes, arouses emotional responses, and may be either literary or commercial in its representation of reality
• written to be performed, not "read"
• presents action A) through actors b) on a stage c) before an audience
• impact is direct, immediate, and heightened by actors' skills
• Plays can use all of an audience's senses
• facial expressions, gesture, speech rhythm, and intonation can influence an audience's interpretation
• Playwrights cannot directly comment on the action or characters; cannot explain the inner workings of the characters' minds
• Soliloquy/Aside: characters are presented as speaking to themselves: "thinking out loud"; with this device, presumed to be telling the truth
• performance on a stage gathers the attention of the spectator (lighted stage, dark theater, no extra noises...)
• difficult to shift scenes rapidly
• setting limits a playwright's ability to make a play more complex
• The experience is communal!
• Central meanings can be grasped in one performance
• few long, narrative passages

Chapter Two (Realistic and Nonrealistic Drama):

• Realistic: drama that attempts, in content and in presentation, to preserve the illusion of actual, everyday life
• Nonrealistic: drama that in content, presentation, or both, departs markedly from fidelity to the outward appearances of life
• Elaborate and realistic stage sets are the exception, not the norm.
• Details such as costuming, stage sets, and makeup are usually at the hands of the producer and not the playwright
• some playwrights reproduce the vulgarities of language to imitate reality; the purpose is not to imitate actual human speech but to give accurate and powerful expression to human thought and emotion
• Dramatic conventions: any dramatic devices which, though they depart from reality, are implicitly accepted by author and audience as a means of representing reality
• Chorus: a group of actors speaking in unison, often in a chant, while going through the steps of an elaborate formalized dance
• The study of drama requires purposeful learning of its conventions, both realistic and nonrealistic.
• in most plays, the "world" it creates is considered self-contained; however, some authors continually remind the audience that this is a play and NOT the real world
• The adjective realistic, as applied to literature, must be regarded as a descriptive, not an evaluative, term

Other terms to know:

Romantic (Comedy): a type of comedy whose likable and sensible main characters are placed in difficulties from which they are rescued at the end of the play, either attaining their ends or having their good fortunes restored
Protagonist: central character in a story or play
Antagonist: any force in a story or play that is in conflict with the protagonist. An antagonist may be another person, an aspect of the physical or social environment, or a destructive element in the protagonist's own nature
Foil Characters: a minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character, and thus by contrast sets off or illuminates the major character; most often the contrast is complimentary to the major character
Suspense: that quality in a story or play that makes the reader eager to discover what happens next and how it will end
Theme: the central idea or unifying generalization implied or stated by a literary work
Didactic Writing: poetry, fiction, or drama having as a primary purpose to teach or preach
Dramatic Exposition: the presentation through dialogue of info about events tat occurred before the action of a play, or that occur offstage or between the stage actions' this may also refer to the presentation of info about individual characters' backgrounds or the general situation (political, historical, etc.) in which the action takes place.

We've been reading Oedipus Rex in class. *See sticky-note annotations

We also discussed Plagiarism in class.
"Don't plagiarize. It is BAD."
~Ms. Holmes
Yeah...there really isn't much else to say about that. :)

Week 5 Class Notes (10/11-10/22)

Tone:

• Refers to the speaker/narrator’s attitude
• Can and does shift (sometimes often) with mood/subject
• Discussed in terms of emotion
• Behavior, word choices, motivations, and syntax label different emotional states
• An effect created by an author’s choices of techniques (diction, figurative language, syntax, etc…)
• Style belongs to author

Voice:

• Voice belongs to story (changes by story, not author)
• Refers to the speaker/narrator’s personality
• Can shift (infrequently) when the narrator is “dynamic” (changes)
• Discussed in terms of character (traits, ethics, literary attributes)
• An effect created by an author’s choices of techniques (diction, fig. language, syntax, etc…)

Style:

• Refers to the authorial persona’s personality
• Can and does shift (infrequently) when the author’s persona (changes)

An interesting perspective from a teacher about the personality of the writer:

This website has some nice descriptions of these terms.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Chapter Twelve: (Rhythm and Meter)

• Rhythm: any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound
• Accented/Stressed: when one or more syllables are given more prominence in pronunciation than the rest
• Rhythmic effects depend on what a statement means and different intended meanings will produce different rhythms even in identical statements
• End-stopped line: when the end of a line corresponds with a natural speech pause
• Run-On Line: when the sense of the line moves without pause on into the next line
• Caesuras: pauses that occur within lines, either grammatical or rhetorical; resource for varying the rhythm of lines
• Free Verse: nonmetrical poetry in which the basic rhythmic unit is the line, and in which pauses, line breaks, and formal patterns develop organically from the requirements of the individual poem rather than from established poetic forms
• Prose Poem: usually a short composition having the intentions of poetry but written in prose rather than verse
• Meter: “identifying characteristic of rhythmic language that we can tap our feet to”; equal intervals
• Rhythm designates the flow of actual, pronounced sound, whereas meter refers to the patterns that sounds follow when a poet has arranged them into metrical verse.
• When measuring verse we use the foot, the line, and sometimes the stanza
• Foot: one basic unit of meter; normally of one accented syllable plus one or two unaccented syllables
• Monomer= one foot; Dimeter= two feet; Trimeter= three feet; Tetrameter= four feet; Pentameter= five feet; Hexameter= six feet
• Metrical Variations: calls attention to some of the sounds because they depart from what is regular
• Substitution: replacing the regular foot with another one
• Extra-Metrical syllables: added at the beginnings or endings of lines
• Truncation: the omission of an unaccented syllable at either end of a line
• Scansion: defining the metrical form (identify the prevailing foot, name the number of feet in a line, describe the stanzaic pattern
• Grammatical and Rhetorical Pauses: punctuated pauses longer than commas

Chapter Thirteen: (Sound and Meaning)

• Onomatopoeia: the use of words which sound like what they mean (hiss, snap, bang)
• Phonetic Intensives:  group of words whose sound connects with their meaning to some degree
• -fl (moving light); -gl (idea of light); sl- (smoothly wet); short –I (smallness)
• Euphonious: smooth and pleasant sounding
• Cacophonous: Rough and harsh sounding

Chapter Fourteen: (Pattern)

• Structure: the arrangement of ideas, images, thoughts, sentences
• Form: external pattern of a poem
• Stanzaic form: poet uses a series of stanzas; repeated units having the same number of lines
• Fixed Form: traditional pattern that applies to a whole poem
• Limerick: aabba form; freely allows the use of a substitute foot for the first foot; used for humorous and nonsense verse
• Sonnet: must be fourteen lines in length, almost always is iambic pentameter; most sonnets are either Italian or English
• Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: divided between eight lines (octave) using two or three rhymes using two rhymes arranged abbaabba and six lines (sestet) using any arrangement of either two or three rhymes cdcdcd and cdecde.
• English (Shakespearean) Sonnet: three quatrains and a concluding couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. Units are marked off by the thymes and the development of the thought
• Villanelle: complex pattern of repetition and rhyme; two rhyme sounds; 19 lines are divided into five three-line stanzas and a four-line concluding quatrain; varies stress patterns and the meaning of the repeated lines

Example of a villanelle:

• Traditional forms provide a challenge to the poet

Chapter Fifteen and Sixteen: (Evaluating Poetry 1 & 2)

• When evaluating a poem, ask these three questions:
• 1) What is its central purpose?
• 2) How fully has this purpose been accomplished?
• 3) How important is this purpose?
• Sentimentality: indulgence in emotion for its own sake, or expression of more emotion than an occasion warrants; aims to stimulate emotions
• Rhetorical Poetry: uses a language more glittering and high-flown than its substance warrants
• Didactic Poetry: has a primary purpose to teach or preach
• “Great poetry must, of course, be good poetry.”

Great poetry engages the whole person- senses, imagination, emotion, intellect…

Outside Reading (Reflective Essay #1)

October 10, 2010
By Zadie Smith

A Bus Stop, a Friendship, and a Check

     In her piece “Sweet Charity,” Zadie Smith calls her friendship with black, viola-playing, and nerdy Christine “funny.” The two both grew up trying to overcome the stereotypes of their age, and each did; however, their lives took different paths. In this piece, Zadie Smith primarily uses a variety of language techniques to express her appreciative, and later regretful, tone.
     Similar to my last editorial review on “My Missing Barber,” Smith uses short sentences to create a sense of action. She begins the fourth paragraph with three concise sentences: “We did our exams. We went to university. Christine fell pregnant.” Presenting this information factually helps to create the idea that these events were crucial to the essay’s plot. And, if the reader noticed in their initial reading, in the previous paragraph, Smith clearly foreshadows the presentation of her next paragraph, stating, “We would not get pregnant, we would pass our exams, we would attend university.” Also, in both examples, Smith uses the “power of three” to properly explain her facts.
     The appreciative, yet morose, tone used in “Sweet Charity” can be understood because of the events described in the essay. When Smith is explaining the actions of Christine early in the piece, (when Smith is being bullied on the bus because of her non-matching clothing) Smith commends Christine for helping her though she had nothing to give her in return. Smith exhibits this tone in the second paragraph, writing, “Christine did me a great charity: she sat down beside me and began a conversation, as if I were a normal human being.” Here, Smith extends gratitude towards the friendly actions of Christine, although she deems herself as undeserving. Later, however, (when Christine has asked Zadie for money and after she has not paid Zadie back) Smith’s tone changes completely. Smith takes on a voice of superiority, stating, “Not such a lot of money. No skin off my nose. Why did I make such a performance of it?” Soon enough, her tone turns sympathetic once again, writing in the second to last paragraph, “…money is not neutral; it changes everything, including the ability to neutrally judge what people will or will not do for it.”
     Personally, my response to this tone is similar to the tone of the essay: mixed. I believe that Zadie Smith was justified to be angry with Christine when she did not pay her back her money when they had agreed; however, I do not approve of her appearance of superiority. Christine was a good friend to her when she had no one else, she should have kept that in mind. Although I may not agree with her opinions, I am glad that she put these contrasting emotions into the piece. The conflict of these emotions adds greater depth to the piece. Though the piece does contain an excellent descriptive narration and interesting themes, I do not think it would be an appropriate AP essay.

Week Four Class Notes10/4-10/8

Chapter Eight: Allusion

• Allusion: a reference to something in history or previous literature
• Ex: The title of the poem “Out, Out--” alludes to a passage in Macbeth where Shakespeare expresses feelings of cruelty and meaninglessness towards life.
• Allusions “reinforce the emotion or the ideas of one’s own work with the emotion or ideas of another work or occasion” (853).
• Poets are always in danger of not being fully understood; all readers may not understand all of the allusions used in a piece
• Readers should try to increase their literary and cultural repertoire in order to fully understand more allusions

This site gives some examples of allusions. It will help you as a reader better pick out allusions in text! http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/allusion/page

Chapter Nine: Meaning and Idea

• “The meaning of a poem is the experience it expresses- nothing less” (865).
• Total Meaning: the experience a poem communicates from its prose meaning
• Prose Meaning: the key element of a prose paraphrase that makes it mean what it means
• Prose meaning can be anything: “…a story, a description, a statement of emotion, a presentation of human character, or some combination of these” (865).
• The value of a poem is not based on the validity of the idea, but rather on the experience of the poem itself
• When reading poetry, be receptive to all kinds of experiences; it will better your reading experience
• “Loveliest of Trees” presents the idea that life is worth taking the time to appreciate.
• “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” illustrates the conflict of the narrator; though the narrator wants to observe the beauty around him, he feels that he has larger responsibilities that must be taken care of first.

This link is to an excellent “essay” written by Professor of English Huck Gutman (University of Vermont). It gives examples and guidelines on how to find the meanings in poems.
http://www.uvm.edu/~sgutman/Reading_poems_I.html

This is an online course series from Yale University’s English Department. It highlights critical approaches and ways to study literature. I though it looked interesting!
http://oyc.yale.edu/english/introduction-to-theory-of-literature/content/class-sessions

AP Literature MC Questions:

• 50-55 Questions (based on reading comprehension and interpretive ability)
• 4 separate passages (2 prose, 2 poetry) with 10-15 questions each
• 60 minutes to complete this part of the test
• Strategy: “quickly decide which passage will be easiest for you to read and answer questions about and start there”
• Annotate and underline like your life depends on it, but keep them concise, short, and neat
• You are not looking for symbols, figures of speech…etc unless a question specifically asks for it
• DO notice: titles, main ideas, patterns of organization, significant action
• Keep a running paraphrase; if necessary, slow down and reread a bit
• The power of elimination is great and good.
• If any part of an answer is wrong, the whole answer is wrong
• Eliminate answers that are too broad, are too narrow, are true but don’t answer the question, are restatements of the question, or the opposite of the real answer
• Lastly, TRUST YOUR GUT.
• Read. Think. Discuss.
• Review Terms.
• Practice makes perfect!

Free Response Questions

• Essay questions count as 55% of composite scores; three questions
• One analyzes a piece of poetry, one that requires you to analyze a piece of prose, and one that require you to choose a work and analyze it in the context of the question asked (What is the meaning of the poem and what are the ways that the author supports it?)
• Begin with the easiest essay
• Read (the prompt)
• Analyze (your goals)
• Plan (a response)
• Write (your essay)
• Analyze (its effectiveness) *see “Tap Ice”
• Revise (content, structure, and usage)

 Closed Readings

• Skim once, and then go back and do a thorough reading (limit second reading to 5 min.)
• Let the prompt guide your annotations
• Pay attention to: title, narrative stance, significant (diction, imagery, details, language, syntax), and patterns of organization
• Do not summarize!
• You can discuss opposition as well as support

 The Open Prompt

• Critical Theory: make a statement about how a given element of literature sometimes functions and it asks how it is true of a piece you have already read
• Content: “theme” focused; ask how the theme is developed

 *See “General Tips” portion of handout
How to prepare?

• Review Book Notes
• Reread two works (Hamlet and Invisible Man?)
• Practice!!!

Outside Reading (Editorial #1)

October 10, 2010
By Verlyn Klinkenborg

My Missing Barber: A New Norm

     Throughout the piece “My Missing Barber,” Verlyn Klinkenborg reminisces upon the days when he could go to his personal barber. Using precise personal examples and explanatory rhetoric, Klinkenborg gives the audience reason to believe that some of the most insignificant traditions in life are some of the most important ones, too.
     Klinkenborg uses the passage of time in this editorial essay; adopting a certain flow with his language that allows the reader to understand how the events he describes have happened. He creates this mood with such phrases as “one day,” “the years passed,” and “not long ago” at the beginning of each of the plot-related paragraphs. These expressions help give the reader this sense of time that helps put the editorial into perspective. In the last paragraph especially, but throughout the entirety of the piece, Klinkenborg also uses repetition of the phrases such as “you have” and “you want” to personalize this piece for the reader. With this phasing technique, he forces the reader to put themselves in his situation; which we all have been in, one way or another. Not necessarily with the change of a barber, but possibly the routine coffee run or friendly banter with a next-door neighbor.
     The editorial itself uses some of the most basic rhetoric techniques to make this essay the fantastic piece that it is. In the second paragraph, Klinkenborg uses stylistic syntax to convey a sense of forceful action. He creates short sentences (which he does four times in this one paragraph) such as “It was a partnership” to help support the reminiscent tone of this essay.
     Overall, this essay has many strengths in terms of both plot and language. In regard to the plot, Klinkenborg elaborates and uses his own emotions and reactions to the essay’s events to help make his point; that it is difficult to make a simple change in life. Along with his stellar explanations of the plot, Klinkenborg also structures this piece with specific language techniques such as repetition, along with modern cultural examples that bring the reader into the piece and allow the reader to compare the piece to their own lives. There are very few weaknesses in this essay. If anything, Klinkenborg could have asked some rhetorical questions, but really, it isn’t necessary to do so in this lovely simplistic essay. I could easily see this as an AP essay because of its strong narrative voice and its story-like structure.

Week Three Class Notes 9/27-10/1

Note: Many of the underlined titles have hyperlinks embedded in them.
Syntax:
~ the rules of modern language
~ how we structure our sentences; a category of technique
~ changing syntax= changing meaning
~ Pace: speed of the passage (does it move slowly or quickly?)
~ Tone: emotional feeling or attitude
~ Empasis/Attention: where is the attention directed?
~ S.V.O. (subject/verb/object):
  Ex: I am a teacup. (teacup completes the predicate)
Some helpful flashcards!

Sentence Types:
Simple- contains a subject and a verb
Ex: She went to the bank.
Compound- two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction(see below) connecting the two
Ex: Allison went to the bank,but she left her check at home.
Complex- independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses; contains a subordinator(see below) or relative pronoun (that, who, which)
Ex: After Allison returned,she picked up her check from her kitchen table.


Conjunctions:
~ Coordinating- Ex: And, But, For, Yet, For, Nor, So (FANBOYS)
   connects sentences
   Independent Clause,conjunction Independent Clause
~ Subordinating- Ex: After, although, as, if, because, before, than, that, since, although, until, when, while
Clarity:
~Make sure you are saying what you mean!
~Keep a sense of action in your writing!
~Let your writing have a natural rhythm and read easily.
~A clause consists of a noun acting as a subject and conjugated verb attached to the subject
~Phrases are similar to clauses, except their verbs are NOT conjugated
~AVOID PASSIVE VOICE (when a subject receives an action)
~Avoid Nominalizations (When an action is expressed as a noun)
The Plain Style:
~Find a “voice” and stick with it!
~Use plain style carefully; there are some situations where it is not appropriate
~Stay away from “The Official Style”; it is usually without direction or purpose
~Agency: trying to avoid who said what or who holds responsibility (often leads to mistakes)
Concision:
~Don’t pad your writing; excessive wordiness is bad!
~ “keys are to build around strong verbs, prefer the active voice to the passive voice, be suspicious of adverbs, and toss out empty words and phrases”
~ “Less is more”
~ Eliminate and replace “empty words” (Ex: Good! Nice!)
~ getting rid of weak adverbs sometimes leads the writer to choose stronger verbs!

Rhetoric:
~ encourages thinking about one’s audience
~ “different words…have different connotations”
~ use diction that is appropriate with your audience
~ parallelism brings style and grace to a piece
~ avoid using parallelism incorrectly
~ avoid repeating information too much
~ repeating words is sometimes necessary to avoid awkward phrasing
~ KEEP TENSES THE SAME
~ historical present: when discussing a text, refer to the author and/or its characters in the present
~ Alliteration: “repeating two or more stressed syllables with the same letter or sound”
~ if appropriate, use the “rule of three”
~ use humor sparingly
~ 1^st person is usually appropriate in academic writing, but 2^nd person rarely is
~ Direct questions are usually good to incorporate into writing, exclamations usually are not
~ use natural rhythm to create emphasis
~ Rhetoric can help a writer persuade their audience

Outside Reading (Book Review #1)

Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray
Review by Andrew Holgate
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/Skippy-Dies/ba-p/3370

Skippy Dies: An Irish Tale

     In his review of the Irish novel Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, Andrew Holgate uses a consistently empathetic tone towards the characters and the novel as a whole. Altogether, Holgate uses distinct examples and clear diction when analyzing Skippy Dies.
     Holgate uses excellent rhetoric, such as addressing his subject (the novel in question) and purpose, as well as keeping in mind his audience (readers of all skill levels) and the persona of the novel’s characters. In keeping with the novel’s emotions, Holgate delivers his opinions with a comedic, yet serious, tone. As early as his second sentence, using both an “Ethos” and a “Pathos” argumentative stance, Holgate writes, “At its heart, though, what this capacious, dark but often very funny book really wants to be is a state-of-the-nation novel, its subject the precarious moral health of Murray's homeland.” As Holgate continues, he addresses his “purpose”; that although Murray may have been able to “trim” his 650 page creative work, his “precocious talent” keeps the reader from “much complaint.”
     Though Murray’s work is also without “much complaint,” there are definite weaknesses in his work. For instance, he references the work of Roddy Doyle; specifically, “The Commitments.” Although some experienced and well-versed readers may understand the depth of the similarities, a majority of his “audience” would not understand such a suggestion. Holgate also fails to mention how Murray’s life experiences have affected his novel. This added perspective could have given the reader a better cultural understanding of the text. (To see a short biography, click here).
     On the other hand, Holgate does make some valid literary points. He has very clear descriptions of the novel’s characters, using such phrases and words as “chronically underachieving,”  “sex-obsessed,” and “porn-soaked,” just to name a few. Though he reveals a key fact, that Skippy does, in fact, perish; it does not detract from his representation of the novel’s key events. Holgate also uses structural balance to get his point across. He begins with a clever intro paragraph that draws the reader in with witty language. Next, Holgate summarizes and describes some of the characteristics of the main characters and key events. In the following paragraph, Holgate goes in-depth about other minor, yet still important, characters that add to the storyline. His closing lines turn serious, saying that this “disturbing book” about the “unexamined history of modern Ireland” plays both dark and comedic tones “successfully alongside each other.”
     Though this review does show some potential as an AP style piece, it lacks the necessary plot depth to make connections to other works and to note the figurative language included in the novel. Essentially, Holgate has created a well-structured, descriptive piece that gives the reader a preview of an excellent novel.

Week 2 Class Notes 9/20-9/24

Chapter Five:

• Figures of speech (any way of saying something other than the ordinary way) offer another way of adding extra dimensions to language
• Simile and Metaphor are both used as a means of comparing things that are essentially unlike.
• Simile is expressed by the use of a word or phrase (like, as, than, similar to, resembles, seems)
• Metaphor is a comparison not expressed but created when a figurative terms is substituted for or identified with the literal term
• Literal and Figurative terms can either be both named, both implied, or one of each
• Personification consists in giving the attributes of a human being to an animal, an object, or a concept
• Apostrophe consists in addressing someone absent or dead or something nonhuman as if the person or thing were present and alive and could reply to what is being said
• Synecdoche (the use of the part for the whole); metonymy (the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant)
• Figurative language gives people imaginative pleasure
• Figures of speech are a way of bringing additional imagery into verse…
• Figures of speech are a way of adding emotional intensity to otherwise merely informative statements and of conveying attitudes along with information
• Figures of speech are an effective means of concentration, a way of saying much in brief compass
• It is as important, when analyzing and discussing a poem, to decide what it is that figures accomplish as it is to identify them

Chapter Six

• A symbol is something that means MORE than what it is
• “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost: two roads…regret? Possible life choices?
• Image, metaphor, and symbol are very similar to each other
• Symbols vary in the degree of identification and definition
• Do not underestimate or overestimate the extent of a symbol; if you must do one, underestimate!
• Accurate interpretation of the symbol requires delicacy, tact, and good sense
• Allegory is a narrative or description that has a second meaning beneath the surface
• Allegory is not as popular now as it was in Medieval and Ren. Writing

Chapter Seven

• A Paradox is an apparent contradiction that is somehow true; shocks the reader into attention
• Overstatement (Hyperbole) is an exaggeration in the service of truth
• Understatement is saying less than one means
• Irony: a discrepancy or incongruity
• Verbal Irony: saying the opposite of what one means
• Sarcasm: simply bitter or cutting speech, intended to wound the feelings
• Satire: formal, applied to written lit., ridicule of human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform
• Dramatic Irony: the discrepancy between what the speaker says and what the poem means; demands a more complex response from the reader
• Situational Irony: when a discrepancy occurs between the actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate OR between what one anticipates and what actually comes to pass

9/21/10

Class discussion of “Barbie Doll” and “Folding Clothes”

Barbie Doll:

• Feminism
• Marriage is bad (stuck).
• Married to society’s expectations?
• Consummation= marriage.
• “her good nature wore out like a fan belt” moving parts cause friction and it breaks!
• Advised to play coy
• “The girlchild was born as usual”…how society has affected her?

Alternate Analysis: http://www.helium.com/items/1378411-barbie-doll-marge-piercy

Folding Clothes:

• Woman folds clothes, goes through her husband’s pockets, sees money, paper clips, forgotten things (memories)
• See’s her ex-lover’s shirt. Wonders what she would do if her lover were to leave her.
• She has no other purpose in life. Bad or good? Author doesn’t really say.
• Should woman be happy in this position?
• “All those wrinkles/ to be smoothed, or else/ ignored; they’re in style.” Wrinkles of age? Or bad memories/ challenges in life?
•  “I think of folding you/ into my life” She considers him a part of herself.  
• Does this poem foreshadow a future break-up or betrayal?

A blog that contains the poem, a biography on Elisavietta Ritchie, and an analysis of the poem: http://sortinglaundry2007.blogspot.com/

9/23/10

The Rhetorical Situation

• Art of communication; context for an act of communication
• The word “Rhetoric” is from Ancient Greeks
• Situation in which the communication takes place
• Communicating something will always try to analyze the rhetorical situation before beginning to compose a message
• Analysis will lead to a plan that will lead to more effective communication

ELEMENTS
Subject:

• What is your topic? Main ideas? Broaden or narrow topic?
• Details, examples, explanation to develop these main ideas?
• Background information for message

Purpose:

• What do you want to get out of this? Why are you engaged in this communication?
• To Entertain: create pleasure with emotions and imagery (Ex: Video Games)
• To Reflect: personal response (Ex: Memoir)
• To Inform: convey information (Ex: Textbooks)
• To Persuade: change audience’s ideas or behavior (Ex: Political Speeches)
•  Often mixed together

Audience:

• Who, exactly, do you imagine will receive this info?
• Age group? Limits on vocab/reading ability?
• Social, political, or religious biases?
• Education background? Specific or broad?
• Expectations? Looking to you or experience for interaction?

Speaker (Persona):

• What kind of a person do you want to seem like as you send this message?
• Speaking as yourself or fictional persona?
• Which personal characteristics would connect best with audience?
• Attitude towards subject?
• Which personal characteristics will help accomplish your goal?

ARGUMENT

• One way to accomplish the goal/purpose of persuasion
• Persuasion= purpose
• Seeks to influence an audience’s ideas, feelings ,behavior
• Argument: series of ideas that, when “added up,” leads to an audience accepting our thesis (or theme/ main point) as true
• Persuasion is the purpose for communication
• Argument is a technique we can use to accomplish the purpose of communication

Types of Arguments:
Ethos: “Ethics”; Arguments of ethics appeal to our morality- our sense of right and wrong
Logos: “Logic”; Arguments are constructed according to certain rules and appeal to our intellect- our ability to reason
Pathos: “Emotion”; Arguments of emotion appeal to our feelings- pity, jealousy, love…etc

Parts:
Thesis: the one main point- always an opinion, not a fact- that we are seeking to prove is correct
Purdue advice on a thesis: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/618/01/
Claim: “breadcrumb”; an assertion- an idea that is not a simple fact; a series of claims should be used to support your thesis- great topic sentence
Warrant: an explanation of your reasoning that shows what your evidence means and how it supports your claim
Evidence: facts that show that your claims are reasonable
Conclusion: statement that asks our audience to accept our chain of reasoning
Premise: a combination of information, condensed into a statement, that leads/adds up to the conclusion

Some deeper information on the Logic and Literary Argument from U of M: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~esrabkin/LogicLitArg.htm

Fallacy: bad logic; false reasoning
Necessary: “needed”- necessary elements of an argument are things that can’t be ignored
Sufficient: “enough”- when the condition of sufficiency is met, you have done enough to make your case
Affirm
Deny
Qualify

Common Types:
Proposal
Cause and Effect
Argument of Evaluation
Argument of Fact
 Argument of Definition

Class Notes 9/13-9/17

Material Discussed in Class:
Poetry: language that is condensed to create an artistic effect
time to read aloud v. speak aloud
A text is not poetry if it takes longer to read than to explain.
A simple formula for poetry:
Condensed language + Artistic Effect = POETRY

• Connotation (cultural meaning) and Denotation (dictionary meaning):

<---------------------------------------------0----------------------------------------------->
   gaunt                 skinny                 "thin"                 slender              svelte
Pejorative: critical                                              Honorific: valued

• Concreteness v. Abstraction

A poem's language can give validation or be absurd to the reader. It also has the power to bring in or alienate the reading audience.
<---------------------------------------More Abstract
Transportation, Vehicle, Car, Toyota, Camry
-------------------------------------> More Concrete

• Precision

Content Words  v. Empty Words (Nice! Good!)
Empty words such as 'nice' and 'good' can have layers of multiple meanings.

• Elevation v. Colloquialism

Language fades and reappears
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Slang                             Colloquial                      Elevated                    Epic       (Outsiders)                   Language                      Language             Diction

• Dialect, Jargon, Regionalism 

Jargon: language of a trade/profession
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=5440465&fbid=437691330818&id=643845818&ref=nf
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Travel/images/us-outline-map.jpg  and some of my own magic...

• Tone

The way a writer employs language to display emotions.
Texts Discussed in Class and for Homework:                                     Kitchenette Building:                                                                               

• Themes: dreams, traditional ideas about women, importance of family, power of society
• Powerful Diction and imagery in second stanza (Onion fumes, garbage ripening...etc)
• Gwendolyn Brooks Bio: http://www.poemhunter.com/gwendolyn-brooks/biography/

Hidden Meanings:

• Themes of impotence, castration, autoeroticism, (a.k.a. masterbation!) molestation, pedophilia
• women dominate; they dish out the actions
• men are passive and frustrated recipients
• more female than male leads in classic fairy tales
• In this poem, however, the few named males dominate the poem
• women are vampires (as Foster pointed out); influenced by society
• "Two boys got rich like Cinderella" - not true at all! The boys went through lots of challenges, and didn't even achieve anything. Cinderella married a Prince (easy!) and go everything she wanted
• T.S. Eliot Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot

Chapter One

• poetry is universal and ancient
• Poems help illustrate experience rather than information
• Readers can participate in poetry and gain awareness to new issues
• "The Eagle"- blends literary and analytical perspectives of eagle into a condensed text
• poetry broadens and deepens our experiences
• Two limiting approaches to poetry: Always look for a moral lesson; Always find poetry beautiful
• "Winter" - Poem has no moral and is not meant to be beautiful
• "Dulce et Decorum Est"- focuses on philosophical truth and real life experiences
• "Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of literature" (723).
• One must communicate with poetry
• Poetry draws "more fully and more consistently" on language

Chapter Two

• Read a poem more than once
• Keep and use a dictionary
• Read so you can hear the words in your mind
• Pay attention to what the poem is trying to say
• Read poems aloud sometimes
• Paraphrase: to restate a poem in different, simpler language
• Questions to ask: Who is the speaker? What is the occasion? What is the central purpose of the poem? By what means is that purpose achieved?
• Keep an open mind when reading a poem

Chapter Three

• Denotation v. Connotation (see definitions earlier)
• poets seek most meaningful words
• poets love when words have multiple meanings
• "Naming of Parts" - plays on the meanings of "Spring"

Chapter Four

• Imagery: representation through language of sense experience
• Mental picture (visual imagery)
• A Sound (auditory imagery)
• A Smell (olfactory imagery)
• A Taste (gustatory imagery)
• A Touch (tactile imagery)
• An internal feeling (organic imagery)
• Movement or tension in muscles/joints (kinesthetic imagery)
• "The Widow's Lament" - uses visual imagery throughout the poem (flames, cherry branches...)