Pride and Prejudice: the End

Finish your web of characters.
Which characters represent pride? 
Which characters represent prejudice?
Are there any other ways the concepts of pride and prejudice appear in the novel?
For each of the couples in the novel, answer the following questions: Who or what brings them together? What happens?  What is their future?
Identify some themes in the novel.

“All her characters are round, or capable of rotundity.  […] they function all round, and even if her plot made greater demands on them than it does, they would still be adequate.”
“All the Jane Austen characters are ready for an extended life, for a life which the scheme of her books seldom requires them to lead, and that is why they lead their actual lives so satisfactorily”
Where would you find evidence of this in Pride and Prejudice?

We will write about Pride and Prejudice in class on Wednesday.

Letters in Pride and Prejudice

Choose three letters found in the novel.  For each one:
What information is being conveyed?
How does this letter contribute to the plot?  How does it affect the actions of characters?
What does the content, diction, tone, and syntax reveal about the writer of the letter?

Lydia and Wickham

The subplot involving Lydia and Wickham basically extends from page 231 to page 262.
Please find specific evidence from the text to answer the following questions:

What are the problems with Lydia’s relationship with Wickham?  Why is her family so worried?

The family treats the situation as a serious matter.  Where in the novel do you find scenes or statements that provide comic relief?

"Pride" and "Prejudice"

Consider the word “pride.”  How can pride be positive?  How can it be negative?
Which characters in the novel are associated with pride?  How does their pride affect their relationships with other characters?
Now, consider the word “prejudice.”  Which characters are guilty of prejudice?
How do these prejudices affect their relationships with other characters?

Remember to find a new independent reading book.  Make sure you are finished with it by the time we return from winter break.

Reading Habits Survey

Do you think reading is a valuable activity?  Why or why not?
What do you read (in general– for school, for work, for self-improvement, etc.)?
Do you like to read?
If you used to read regularly but stopped, when did you stop?  Why?
Do you make sure you have time to read for your own enjoyment?  Why or why not? 
If you do read for enjoyment, what do you usually read?  Books (If so, what genres?)? Online content?  Newspaper articles?
What was the last book you read that was not assigned for school?
Approximately how many books do you read in a year?
What are you reading now?

Literary Terms Packet

Make sure you get a literary terms packet from me if you did not get one today.

Pride and Prejudice

Here is the reading schedule.

Date:      Please Read Chapters:

 

11/2      1-4

11/3      5-7

11/6      8-10

11/8      11-14

11/9      15-16

11/13      17-18

11/14    19-21

11/15    22-24

11/16    25-27

11/17    28-30

11/20    31-33

11/21    34-35

11/27    36-38

11/28    39-41

11/29    42-43

11/30    44-45

12/1    46-47

12/4    48-49

12/5    50-52

12/6    52-55

12/7      56-58

12/8      59-61

More Jane Austen

Here is an interesting link of illustrations from the Regency period.  They are from a website that provides a hypertext version of the novel.  It is worth investigation. 

Please read chapters 8-10 in the novel.

Pride and Prejudice

Please read through chapter 7 in Pride and Prejudice this weekend.

If you forget your book, there are several ebooks available, since the book is in the public domain.  They can be found through a quick search on a search engine of your choice. 

Human Heart in Conflict CFA

Today is our outlining/pre-writing day for the Human Heart in Conflict CFA.  Please see the previous post for the essential questions. 

The Human Heart in Conflict

This marking period’s theme is about “the human heart in conflict.” Answer the following questions and use Joy Harjo’s poems to provide examples.
1)What do we mean by this metaphor, the human heart?
2) Why does a human heart feel conflict?
3) What are the various conflicts the human heart feels?
4) How is the human heart affected by conflict?
5) How is resolution of conflict dealt with?

We will write essays on the human heart in conflict next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Dictionary and Poetry

Choose one of the shortest poems in How We Became Human.
Use oxforddictionaries.com to look up every word in the poem.  Write down the definitions, and do not forget to look at word origins.  Even something as simple as what languages the words in the poem originated from can be important.
What does this show you about the poem? 
How does this illuminate alternative meanings of the text?

Call and Response in HWBH

According to oxforddictionaries.com, “call and response” is “a form of verbal interaction between a speaker and listeners, usually at religious or public gatherings, in which each utterance by the speaker elicits a response from the audience.”

The poems on pages 146, 171, and 177, among others, contain examples of call and response.

Choose one poem.  How do you know which lines are calls and which are responses?  How does this format contribute to the meaning of the poem as a whole?  What other literary devices are integrated with the call and response format?

Find a partner and coauthor a call and response poem. 

What's Next

We have finished watching Blade Runner, so we will begin reading Joy Harjo's How We Became Human next. 

Frankenstein Topic, Continued

Look back at the list of topics above. Pick three or four of the concepts that you think are most developed in the novel. Find specific textual references that show how each is important. Show ways the three or four concepts you selected are connected to each other.

Frankenstein: Topics for Discussion

Parallel characters
hatred
parents/children
revenge
revolt
binary opposition
pride
ambition
compassion
loneliness
sacrifice
responsibility
"being human"
intelligence/wisdom
science/black magic

AP Payment

Here is the link for AP exam payment:

https://arlingtonschools.revtrak.net/

Finish Frankenstein

Please finish the novel for the next time we meet.

Frankenstein Reading

Please read to page 218 in Frankenstein. 

Frankenstein Reading and Questions

Please read to page 201.

Here are two questions we worked on in class:

• A motif is an element (incident, device, formula) that recurs frequently in a particular work.  Identify several motifs from Frankenstein.  How are they significant?
• Symbolism is using objects or events to represent both themselves and things beyond themselves.  Identify some examples of symbolism in Frankenstein.  How do they contribute to the meaning of the book as a whole?

Independent Reading Information

Here is information about independent reading.  

Your first book should be completed by November 13th.

More Frankenstein Reading

You should have read up to page 146 today.  I apologize for not putting this up yesterday. 

Today's reading should bring you to page 161.

Please read to page 179 over the weekend.

Frankenstein Reading

You should have read up to page 84 today. 

For tomorrow, please read up to page 106. 

Since we will be finished with summer reading after today, we will discuss independent reading soon.

Frankenstein Reading

Please read to page 63 in Frankenstein.

Frankenstein Reading

Please read to page 39 by Wednesday.

We will be in room 1126 on Tuesday.

Frankenstein Reading

Please up to page 18 in Frankenstein.

Here is an excellent hypertext version of the novel, in case you leave your book somewhere and you can't complete your assignment with it.

AP Exam

We are finishing the practice exam we have been looking at for the past few days.  Second period will finish writing your practice essay tomorrow.

Welcome!

Welcome to English 12AP!

I hope it will be a great year.  To start the year, we are going to work on a full AP Literature and Composition exam.  Because of College Board rules, the exam has to stay in the classroom, so we will have to work something out if you are absent.

Research Paper

We are going to continue using Chromebooks to work on poetry papers this week.  Remember to use the resources listed on the sidebar of this page. 

Independent Reading

You will write about your independent reading book tomorrow.  Please bring your list of AP exam essay questions (#3) with you.

We will begin working on our research paper on Wednesday.  More information to follow!

Book Club #1: Novels and Plays

AP English Literature Book Club #1: Novellas and Plays

For the next several weeks, you will use your time in English class to meet with your book club.  This club will consist of three to five students who are all reading and discussing the same novella or play.

Each club must keep a work journal of its daily activities.  This journal will be kept in the classroom for easy access.   For each day you meet, you must keep track of the following:
•         Group members who are present
•         What you accomplished during the meeting
•         Your goals for the next meeting
•         Additionally, it is recommended that you rotate the role of recording secretary.

Your first act as a group should be to determine each day’s reading assignment.  You may devote some class time to reading, but it must not exceed twenty minutes per period.  Please make sure all group members have the reading schedule; you all should finish the book before your group’s final meeting on February 27th.
•         Each day, you will discuss your reading.  Take special note of how the author draws attention to what is significant.  You may discuss plot, character development, literary elements, themes, and anything else that pertains to your reading.
•         Please keep a daily journal of your reading, observations, ideas, conversations, and questions.  This will be handed in at the conclusion of this project.
•         You will find several assignment topics below.  You will complete two of the assignments below. Each one should be at least 350 words long.
1.    Choose a symbol from your book (an object, a place, an idea) and analyze it.  Do not choose a symbol referenced on Sparknotes or any other online cheating site.
2.    Choose a short passage—no more than a page long—from your book and perform a close reading of it.  Make sure you quote from the passage and comment on what you quoted.  Analyze your selection’s connections to the novel’s themes.
3.    Write an essay in which you discuss how the title relates to the book as a whole—or to a section of the book.
4.    Write about the significance of a minor character.
5.    Trace the use of a particular word in a section of your book.  In what contexts does it appear?  How does it relate to a theme of the book?  The easiest way to find individual words is to search an etext of your, if one is available.
6.    Choose six quotations from your book and analyze each one.
7.    Choose an old AP English Literature essay topic and use your book to answer the question.
8.    If you are reading a play, discuss its staging.
9.    Choose your own topic.

Here are some important dates:
o   February  17th: Assignment #1 due
o   February 24th: Assignment #2 due

o   February 27th will be the last day you meet in your clubs.  On that day, please hand in your personal journal and your club’s reading journal.        

We started reading No Exit today.  More reading tomorrow.

CFA

CFA on compassion and sacrifice in The Stranger and Frankenstein tomorrow.

The Stranger

Please make sure you have finished reading The Stranger.

Your CFA will be on Thursday and Friday of next week.  You may write on The Stranger and/or Frankenstein.

The Stranger Reading

Please read up to and including chapter 5 in The Stranger.

Have a great weekend.  Stay warm.