AP Literature 2010 - 2011: November 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Claim Your Poet....

for you research paper by posting in the comment stream by Dec. 1st.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tom Phillips: Explicating A Humument (Final Step)

The same basic premise applies for explicating a visual image as it does a poem, especially in your thesis. You are actually doing both in this essay. You are trying to explain how the artist creates meaning. Since there are words in the image, you must also analyze them. Use the same techniques you would for poetry.

On page_ _ _ of Tom Phillips' A Humument, Phillips [active verb] that_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ by [technique and effect]_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

Guidelines for Posting:

Due Monday, December 1st, 2008. 3:00 p.m.
You should have at least 3 pages worth of writing, Times New Roman, 12pt. font, double-spaced (with extra space between paragraphs) before you post.
The Title of your essay should be the page number of A Humument hyperlinked. Kevin Ta.. gave a mini-lesson on how to do this below.

Tom Phillips: Writing About an Image OPTIC (Step 2)

OPTIC. I find Walter Pauk’s theory quite useful when writing about an image.[1] The AP Art History Course also uses this Acronym as a successful approach to writing about visual art. I have adapted it here with further commentary and explanation in light of your specific goals.

The point of the first two steps is pure description. What does your eye notice first? Then what? Think space, color, dimension, etc...Notice what you notice. You are doing this so that explicating will be easier and better. Pick and image that you can describe with words.

Overview: Conduct an Overview of the visual or graphic. I recommend an extensive brainstorming process here.

Parts: Key in on the Parts of the visual by noting any elements or details that seem important. The old cliché goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”, which translates to about three pages. I think this is a good rule of thumb, but by no means a fixed rule. Describe what you see. Where do your eyes go to first? Then what? Follow the natural progress of where your eyes go. Give as much detail as possible.

Title: Explain the Title (if one is present) and its relation to the piece of art. Even an “untitled piece” may tell you about the artist’s aesthetic.

Interrelationships: Use the title, or your theory, and the parts of the visual as your clues to detect and specify the Interrelationships in the graphic. In other words, this is where you develop your thesis about the image and connect ideas.

Conclusion: Draw a Conclusion about the piece as a whole.

If you go through this process, you will have plenty of writing to cull from to start explicating the piece.

NO POST NEEDED HERE.

But here are two model papers from last year: Meg6 and Kevin Ta5

[1] Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 271.

Tom Phillips: Explicating A Humument (Step 1)

You will be explicating a page from Tom Phillips' A Humument. Click the link and visit this fascinating website--you could spend days in the world he creates. There are links on the site that introduce the work and give Tom Phillips' biography. There are essays on the work and plenty of stuff to read up on. All of it will be great background knowledge. None of it will end up in your essay.

When you've found the page IN THE GALLERY you are going to explicate, post the page number in this comment section of this post to claim it. SORRY, NO REPEATS AND IT IS ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BASIS.
Also, I would like you to hyperlink your title to the image you pick. Below is a mini-lesson on how to do this.

Kevin Ta 5 said...
Alright, here’s my quick mini lesson on how to hyperlink in comment boxes. Say you want to make a link like this. All you have to do is type the following into the comment box:

<"a href=http://www.google.com">"this"<"/a">

and get rid of the quotation marks. When you publish it, it will look like:

this

Replace the URL (making sure you have the http:// part) and the “this” and it’s as simple as that.

Remember that the Preview button is your friend. Hope that helps.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Frank O'Hara's "Having a Coke With You"

“Having a Coke with You” by Frank O'Hara

(click above link for poem)

Here are the only things that you should and / or need to know to explicate this poem; consider them your “footnotes”:

Polish Rider by Rembrandt

Futurism (not really important for the explication of the poem, but in case you wanted to know what it was.)

Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp

Marino Marini, who made the sculpture Horseman

If you do the explication correctly, you will notice that all outside information is extraneous and will not help you explain HOW THE POET CREATES "MEANING."

Please post your essay in the comment stream by 8:45 a.m. Monday, November 24th, 2008.

Please leave an extra space between the paragraphs when you post.

Here are some materials that may help:

APE Rubric (with grade translation)

Poetry Explication Assignment 2.0

Finally, a not-so-subtle reminder for those of you who may have forgotten some “poetic truths”: 1. It is the speaker of a poem (not the narrator) who “speaks” the lines; it is also not the poet or the poem who speaks. 2. Indicate line breaks / with a slash. Indicate stanza breaks // with two slashes.

There are a million ways to explicate this poem, so your explication should be different than all others posted before you. Post early if you are worried about this.

Please take a second to respond to this....

Can you please take a moment to respond to this in the comment stream so I can forward this on to Ms. Clapp. Since these prep sessions are for you, your comments will be listened to and planned for. Thanks bloggies.

A message from Ms. Clapp:

"Hi Everyone,

It was great to see everyone last Saturday and I hope your students felt it was worthwhile. Please let me know any feedback you've received, positive or negative.

So I'm now planning the next one, January 24th. The students will take a full sample exam in the first 3 hour block. Could you please ask them (and weigh in yourself) on what comes in the 90 minute block after lunch:

Option A: Student will review the multiple choice section of the exam they just took, using the student run discussion model we did at the prep session and that many of you use at home.

Option B: Students will attend sessions on new topics - writing, close reading, etc."

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

November Literature Circle Posting Assignment

Image from the ICA at Boston's website. Tara Donovan Through January 4, 2009

This is a 100 point homework assignment.

You need to make 5 posts in total. There is a Part A and a Part B to each post you make.
All posts are due by December 5^th @ 3:00p.m., though you should be posting within the next week. Keep in mind others depend on your comments to continue with their own.
You can also use the comment stream to make some decisions among yourselves about what the posts should be on: topics, parts of the book schedule, or even (for those of you that prefer or think you need a stricter schedule—make one up.)
Your group should have book # 2 chosen by Dec. 1^st. You may want to do this as soon as possible, in case your book takes a while to acquire.

Please title your posts Post 1-5, Parts A and B, etc.

Part A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the book (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a couple hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
Part B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a couple hundred words as a minimum.)

You will be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric.

The above prompts are vague because it is up to you as a group to start to develop your own focus. You can feel free to bring in outside research etc, just make sure you cite or give a link to your sources—but I’m most interested in your “philosophical” discussions about specifics in the books and your ability to discuss the writer’s technique and how he or she affects meaning.

Here’s a links to a solid discussion from last year: Madame Bovary. The requirements were a bit vague for the postings and there is a variety of effort and insight in these posts, but on the whole I thought it was quite nice to read.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Schedule of Poetry Presentations

Image: Ryan Gallagher, "Persephone Eating Pomegranates" Oil on canvas. 16 x 20.

You are responsible for:

Bringing in a copy of the poem for everyone. Make at least 20 copies. Including me, we are 19.

Reading the poem aloud to begin. Read the poem how you think it should sound (tone, speed, etc.) Practice please. You need to read this poem many times anyway to come up with an insightful thesis; it will probably help your understanding of the poem if you read aloud: (melopoeia).

Orally Explicating the poem for us. In other words, you need to have a thesis. Then you need to show us HOW the poet accomplishes his or her purpose. Please refer to handouts. It would be entirely helpful if you photocopied your notes on the poem (maybe on the other side of the copy you provide us.)

You only have ten minutes, so prepare your remarks; this is not something you can "wing" successfully. You will be scored on the MHS Open Response Rubric. Even though this is an oral grade, you are essentially explaining how you would write an explication--we are just hearing your mind work.

Nov. 17th:
“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W.B. Yeats: Carla
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning: Kayla
“The Author to her Book” by Anne Bradstreet: Mary
“The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden: Jenny
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen: Stephen

Nov. 18th:
“This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams: Andy
“Anyone Lived In A Pretty How Town” by e.e. cummings: Matt
“Root Cellar” by Theodore Roethke: Ashley

Nov. 19th:
“Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath: Sodaba
“You Fit Into Me” by Margaret Atwood: Tzivia
“Resume” by Dorothy Parker: Emily

Nov. 21th:
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas: Mario
“Sonnet” by Billy Collins: Cynthia
“Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop: Vanessa
“Because Poem” Lisa Jarnot: Kristen

Nov. 24th:
“The Second Coming” W.B. Yeats: Alinne
“I Know a Man” by Robert Creeley: Melissa
“Spring and Fall” Gerard Manley Hopkins: Michaela

Agenda for week of 11.10.08

Focus: Characterization & Historical Context (Ibsen's A Doll's House)

11.10.08: Class did not meet because of rotation.

11.11.08: Veterans Day, no school.

11.12.08: SLD on Act 1 of Ibsen's A Doll's House. Focus on characterization.

11.13.08: SLD on rest of play. Focus on "The Dr. Rank scene", "The tarantella scenes", and "the most wonderful thing (end of play) scene".

11.14.08: In-class Open Response on A Doll's House. For hints on how to prepare, look at Focus for the Week (above) and read introductory material in book.

11.15.08: Don't forget our Saturday class at Northeastern! Bus leaves MHS @ 7:30.

Start looking for a poet to research. Poet due by Dec. 1st! Please see me for suggestions if you are interested.

Finally, feel free to use this space as a "study guide" conversation with your peers as a place to work your ideas out.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Group members:

Sodaba D.
Jenny L.
Vanessa G
Ashley A.

Image: "Two Orientalist paintings: Sir Frank Dicksee's Leila and William Clarke Wontner's Safie, One of the Three Ladies of Baghdad; Three colonial picture postcards of young Algerian women--staged, produced and bought by French colonial officers; The original picture from which the cover of Reading Lolita in Tehran was cropped." (Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM) Click link for image in context of an interesting article.

Reading / Posing schedule TBA

Monsters in Literature

Group members:

Kristen W.
Mario P.
Kayla P.
Emily C
Tzivia H.

Looks like we can go with David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Here's a link to the online book, so you can read while you wait for the hard copy of your book.

Posting schedule TBA.

Comparative Theme Group, will change name when you pick...

Group members:

Michaela I.
Alinne D.
Mary N.

Book choice: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Paulo Coelho has a blog. I think it might be nice if you referenced it and maybe even framed some conversations around his topics--but make sure you also write about the book. This is a pretty quick and easy book to read, so you should also force yourself to search a bit for outside material to read and discuss--that way you can also build your theme.

Spirituality and / or Philosophy in Lit Group

Group members:

Mels R.
Matty Z.
Cynthia R

I think a good place to start, to get some "philosphy" from Camus before you being, is his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." You can wiki it to read about the essay as well.

Schedule TBA.

Japanese Literature (possible author study of Kawabata?)

Group members:

Andy V.
Stephen C.
Carla C.

Looks like we are going to start with Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. I think you'll enjoy it. There's some interesting background info here and you can also check out the wiki site.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Peter Warshall "Two billion years of animal sounds" (melopoeia)

Peter Warshall "Two billion years of animal sounds"(June 16, 1999)

"A Peter Warshall lecture discussing animals sounds and the nature of music and speech. Warshall plays various animal sounds, talks about how sounds are created and the abilities of the human ear to hear sounds. He discusses a variety of related topics, including the evolution of vowels and consonants, sacred sounds and semantics." (Click here for source in the Naropa Archives.)

This is a 20 point homework assignment.

Listen to the lecture and take notes. Write down what you think might be interesting, important, etc. There may be things to which you do not "get" the reference or allusion and there may be things that spur your own thoughts. Write them down. Pay attention to your mind and document it.
Prompt A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the Warshall lecture (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a couple hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
Prompt B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a couple hundred words as a minimum.)

You will be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric.

Due Monday, November 10th @ noon. Since this is a discussion and your voice is important to the communal dialogue, late posts will lose 2 points a day. Budget your time accordingly, especially is you need the school computers to complete assignment.

Robin Blaser's "Where's Hell?" (logopoeia)

Robin Blaser lecture, "Where's hell?" (June 19, 1999) 65:58

"A Robin Blaser lecture titled Where's hell? Blaser reads and discusses portions of his Great companion piece on Dante Alighieri, a poetic commentary on Dante's ideas and use of language. Blaser discusses the works and ideas of other writers including James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ezra Pound." (Click here for source in the Naropa Archives.)

This is a 20 point homework assignment.

Listen to the lecture and take notes. Write down what you think might be interesting, important, etc. There may be things to which you do not "get" the reference or allusion and there may be things that spur your own thoughts. Write them down. Pay attention to your mind and document it.
Prompt A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the Blaser lecture (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a couple hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
Prompt B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a couple hundred words as a minimum.)

You will be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric.

Due Thursday, November 6th @ noon. Since this is a discussion and your voice is important to the communal dialogue, late posts will lose 2 points a day. Budget your time accordingly, especially is you need the school computers to complete assignment.

AP Literature 2010 - 2011