NOTICE: Those of you that need to make up quizzes, you need to do so before Thursday. Contact me. I have to leave school early for a doctor's appointment on Thursday (after teaching all classes), but I will be there for the rest of the week.
Tuesday/Wednesday:
Bring your World Literature books to class. I will give you time to practice your poetry readings. Then you will perform them for the class. Remember that this is a test grade. If a member is absent, you were instructed to find an "understudy."
Discussion of performances.
Thursday/Friday:
We will begin the exam review. If everything goes right, you will also get back all quizzes and your portfolios. This is why all quizzes
Sorry that this did not appear by Sunday. My internet service sent a new router and modem and they did not work. I worked on it myself for two hours and then was on the phone for another two hours. We are supposed to get someone out to our house on Tuesday. So anyway, it's Monday morning--and here goes:
Monday/Tuesday:
Do not forget to bring your Bedford Anthology of World Literature textbooks.
I will collect the questions that you answered to "Shooting an Elephant." They had better be your own answers this time. Many of the answers that I received for "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" were nearly alike. By the way, stream-of-consciousness is a prose technique--not poetic. Eliot writes in free verse. The poem could also be considered dramatic monologue. Know these things.
We will talk about Orwell's essay and relate it to a work we read earlier in the year, Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart." You will also receive a copy of Thomas Hardy's poem, "The Subalterns." We will talk about that in the context of Orwell's essay.
Next, you will get a copy of "Ulysses," by Tennyson. We will read that poem and talk about it in the context of colonialism.
For second period, I will make copies of two poems that your class did not go over on Friday. One is "To His Coy Mistress." The other is a more contemporary response to that called "Coy Mistress."
Also, for classes that did not receive the longer and revised form for their portfolios, you will receive those and answer the questions as directed. It will be graded as a separate grade.
Next, we will read aloud the poem, "Ode with a Lament" by Pablo Neruda (pp. 677-678). We will discuss it briefly.
Although I love the movie, "The Motorcycle Diaries," I have decided instead to show another wonderful movie called "Il Postino," or The Postman. It is about a poor, uneducated Italian postman who gets to meet Pablo Neruda who is living in exile in Italy. Neruda and the postman become friends and Neruda introduces him to poetry. Meanwhile, the postman falls in love with a beautiful girl from the village. Normally, she would probably be out of reach for him, but as the postman learns about poetry--including how to write it--they start to fall in love. Many of Neruda's poems are about love. Others are about politics. Most of the poems in our textbooks seem to be about politics.
Homework: Read about the background of Pablo Neruda on pp. 672-676. Then read Neruda's poem "Alberto Rojas Jimenez Comes Flying" (pp. 680-682) and "Ode to the Sun to the People's Army" (pp. 683-684). Answer the following questions. Do not discuss them with your classmates or anyone else. This should be your work alone. It should also be legible. If you write by hand, use a pen--blue or black ink. Write out the questions too.
1. What is an ode? If you do not know, then look in the glossary.
2. What is a lament?
3. For "Ode with a Lament," answer the question in the footnote on page 677. "Although 'roses' and 'doves' are often linked with love, Neruda indicates that he is exploring new territory when teh speaker says, 'Your soul is a bottle of dry salt / And your skin is a bell full of grapes.' Are those compliments?" Then explain your answer.
4. How does Neruda evoke an image from a Salvador Dali painting?
For "Alberto Rojas Jiminez Comes Flying":
5. Who was Jiminez? What caused his untimely death?
6. How close were these two men? What images evoke that closeness?
From "Ode of the Sun to the People's Army":
7. Neruda wrote this poem during the time of what war?
8. Look up the word, "propaganda." In what ways is the poem a propaganda piece--that is, aside from the fact that the editors say that it is a poem best read aloud? What words or lines suggest propaganda?
9. Does this enhance your understanding of the poem or detract from it? Explain.
Wednesday/Thursday:
Again, have your Bedford Anthologies with you. Turn in your homework with your name, date, and class period. I will not take anything written in pencil or with illegible handwriting.
In small groups, you will be assigned different poems. Each person in the group will practice reading a part of the poem. You will be graded for how well you know your part and how well you present yourself before the class. You will also be graded on your understanding of the poem. You may look up information, but do not rely on a Google search. Instead, use the school's database to find what you might need. Or use a dictionary. You will present them in class on Friday.
We will watch a little more of "Il Postino," which should give you more of a context for understanding Neruda's poems.
Homework: Work on the presentation of your poem.
Friday: Present the poems.
By the way, anyone who has not yet taken the last quiz must do so either during the first part of lunch on Monday or after school on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I want to give quizzes back before final exams.
Homework: Read about Federico Garcia Lorca (pp. 568-572). Then read "Lament for Ignacio Sanches Mejias" (pp. 579-581) and "The Spilled Blood" (pp. 581-583). I will prepare questions for you to answer over the weekend.
Remember that we have an unusual schedule this week. On Monday through Thursday, classes will meet for one three-hour period. This is what I have planned:
Monday-Thursday:
You will get a writing prompt related to recent reading assignments. This will be timed. When the writing prompt is stopped, you will receive your portfolios--along with a "table of contents" for the writing assignments that should be in there.
We will probably watch portions of various movies. Bring popcorn or snacks. You will also get a copy of "Shooting an Elephant." Read and answer questions at the end.
Homework: Go to your Literature & Composition books (the white ones). Read "Art and the Artist"--pp. 1031-1032. Then read a a out T. S. Eliot and his poem, "The Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock" (pp. 1033-1037).
Students with last names beginning with the letters A - H will answer the odd number questions under "Questions for Discussion." Students with last names beginning with the letters I-Z will answer the even numbered questions on the same pages. Students will write in complete sentences. The work will be checked for completion on Friday. This work is to be your own work, without assistance from on-line, study-guides, friends, or family.
Friday:
Check work. Students will turn it in at the end of the period.
Re
The reading quiz for Acts 4 & 5 is moved to Friday. I want to make sure that we have sufficiently reviewed the material. Also, some students have not seen the entire film production (the limited amount I am allowing in class) and seeing the film helps to reinforce the points that I have discussed. The quiz will also be on Slaughterhouse Five. If you do not have my notes, please download them on the shared file, under "students," then "Losen," and finally the Slaughterhouse Five folder. The school's printers have been misbehaving and it has become almost impossible to print out all the notes.
Next week, during those long classes, there will be a writing prompt, along with a self-assessment about what you have learned so far this year. I am still working on the details.
Good luck on the remainder of your AP
Those of you that need to make up the first reading quiz on Hamlet and Slaughterhouse Five may do so during lunch on Monday or Tuesday unless other arrangements have been made.
Monday/Tuesday:
Hand-out on Slaughterhouse Five. Discussion will follow. We need to finish Act V of "Hamlet." The quiz on Wednesday/Thursday will be on Acts IV & V of "Hamlet" as well as on the second half of Slaughterhouse Five. In both cases, expect to recognize quotations.
Wednesday/Thursday:
Reading quiz--limit--20 minutes. Finish "Hamlet" (movie) if we have not done so.
Friday: Wrap-up of week's work and review. I am saving the writing prompt and the portfolio for the week of SOLs. In that way, you will have completed all APs and should be more relaxed. I will try to designate some time in the computer lab (if possible). I kno
Monday/Tuesday:
Quiz on Slaughterhouse Five and Hamlet (Acts I-III).
Depending upon the conduct of the class, we will act out parts in Act IV. We will go about half-way through.
Homework: Continue reading Slaughterhouse Five. You are to have finished the novel by next Monday/Tuesday, when you can expect yet another reading quiz--either that, or a writing prompt.
Wednesday/Thursday:
Review Hamlet. Finish Act IV. Watch part of Branagh's "Hamlet."
Homework: Continue reading Slaughterhouse Five. Again, you are to have completed the novel by next Monday/Tuesday.
Friday:
Review Hamlet. You will get to watch more of Branagh's movie.
Homework: Finish reading Slaughterhouse Five.
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