Monday, October 27, 2014

Do Now: "Shakespeare's art endures...his words continue to give us back the experience of our own lives." Explain the quote.What does it mean "to give us back the experience of our lives"?
Classwork : Welcome William Shakespeare!
1. Read pages 1534 - 36. Summarize the key points of Shakespeare's life that might help you understand his work.
2. Read Shakespeare's Theater 1537-4. Create a time line that traces the theater from 400 - 900 AD through the Elizabethan theater. Focus on the changes that occurred.
Be sure to include theatrical conventions: (asides and soliloquies) and stage settings.
3. The range of Shakespeare's Drama:  Pages 1541-1544
Define comedy focusing on 
comic relief,
romantic comedies
satire
high and low comedy
Define tragedy focusing on the differences between comedy and tragedy.
Homework: Edit your college essay based on my comments. Correct run-on sentences and subject/verb agreement errors.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Do Now: P. 63: The Chorus tells Oedipus it would have been  better to die than live in blindness. Why does Oedipus say he blinded himself as the best course of action? ( 63-64)
Classwork: The final episode.
Oedipus asks a favor of Creon.
Notice his tone.
What effect does blindness have on Oedipus' wisdom? Is this irony?
How does Creon respond? Why?
          Is retribution a part of his decision?
Homework: Study for Multiple Choice and Short Answer Test tomorrow. Use your handouts, the blog, and class notes
          

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Do Now: Paraphrase the Chorus' speech on Page 59. Is this the moment in the play when Oedipus recognizes the truth and loses everything? Why?
Classwork:
 The Chorus helps the audience react to information provided by The Shepherd and The Attendant.
1. Oedipus recognizes who he is and what he has done on Page 58.
2. How does he react? What is his purpose in going to Jocasta?
3. How does he react to her death? Why?
4. Analyze Creon at the end of the play,
Homework: Finish the reading questions on your handout. Begin studying for the test by reading the Literary Terms and Themes sections of your handout.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Do Now: Summarize Oedipus' conversation with Jocasta. What have you learned about each character in this dialogue? ( Pp. 45-49)
Classwork: The focus is on Jocasta!

1. Has she defied fate and the gods?
2. "Forget what he has told you...it makes no difference"
3. "Have I not suffered enough?"
4. "I implore you, do not do it!"
5. "I am warning you for your own good."
6. "Doomed man!"
Homework: Finish the play.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Do Now: Re-read the dialogue on p.43. Sophocles explains the right of a king to rule. When is a king's rule questioned?
Classwork:
Meet Jocasta. She seems to have all the right answers.
1. Examples of dramatic irony
2. Examples of Oedipus' misgivings
3. Role of the chorus
4. The role of fate.
Homework: Enjoy the weekend

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Do Now: Having too much pride is seen as a tragic flaw in Greek drama.  Do you agree that pride can be a problem? Why? Why not?
Classwork:  Oedipus Rex: pages 25-43
Today we will concentrate on three characters: Oedipus, Teiresias, and Creon.
Character analysis of Oedipus at the outset of the play:
His strenths:
1. concerned for his people
2. keeps no secrets from his subjects
3. capable of swift action and thinking
His weaknesses:
1. considers himself as capable as the gods.
2. conceited.
Analyze Oedipus during the conflicts of this scene:
1. The conflict with Teiresias:
Oedipus:  Annoyance leads to anger; anger leads to fury; fury leads to wild accusations.
Teiresias: Delivery of information he never intended to give leads to involving Creon in Oedipus' "fantasies".
2. The conflict with Creon:
Oedipus' role - Assumptions turn to accusations turn to threats turn to banishment.
Creon's role: - Questioning whether Oedipus is a just ruler.
Homework: College Essay due tomorrow on Google Docs. You must share it with me!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Do Now: Who is Teiresias? What is the basis of the argument he has with Oedipus?
Classwork: 

1. The Tragic Hero - definition and explanation
2. The play: Murder Mystery section/ The Prologue
Review Oedipus' reaction to the problems. How would you characterize him based on  this section of the play?
What role does the Chorus play in this section?
Meet Teiresias and analyze the conflict that  results. Now what do you think of Oedipus?
Homework: Final rough draft and writers' workshop tomorrow. Your essay should be just about ready to be put on Google Docs. Do not show me a previous draft!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Do Now: Summarize the legend that opens Oedipus the King. Hint: Oedipus is Greek for swollen foot. Why does Oedipus limp?

Classwork:
1. Google Docs instructions for College Essay
2. Oedipus the King
Introduction to the play:
http://www.shmoop.com/oedipus-the-king/summary.html
3. Theatrical Conventions of Greek Drama: Bedford Introduction to Literature pp.1437 - 1441.
Reading notes and questions center on the setting, the actors, the orchestra, and the role of the chorus.
Homework: Read pages 25-39 of the play.
1. What is the problem in Thebes? Why?
2. What has Oedipus promised to do about it?
3. Who is Teiresias? What is the basis of the argument he has with Oedipus?
College Essay due Friday!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Do Now: Put your college essay on your desk. Re-read it for subject/verb agreement problems: Example: If you was in the room... My family and I am going...
Classwork: Peer editing
You will answer the questions below on sticky notes and attach them to the essay.
1. What specific paragraph did you like?
2. What part wasn't clear?
3. Were you able to imagine how the writer felt? If not, what  might have helped you to empathize?
4. What is the writer's thesis?
5. Is the introduction powerful and attention-grabbing?
6. Suggestions?
Homework: Timed write tomorrow on The Metamorphosis. Review your notes.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Do Now: Take out the Popular Mechanics handout and read "The Fly" by Shapiro. Do you see any connection to The Metamorphosis? Why?
Classwork "The Fly"

Today's focus is on rhyme scheme, tone, and point of view.
1. This poem is written from the point of view of annoyed people rather than the fly. How does this differ from The Metamorphosis? With what effect?
2. How does the author use figurative language to set the tone?
See analysis following the poem.
3. Is there a point in the poem where your attitude toward the fly changes? Why?
4. What similarities differences can you draw between this poem and the novel?
Homework: Analyze the poem using the five literary strategies on your handout.
College essay draft dur tomorrow.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Do Now: The final section opens with the family allowing Gregor to watch them at the dinner table. List changes in the family and their working status. (pp 38-41)
Classwork: The final section
1. What changes have ocurred in the condition of Gregor's room? Why? (pp 41-43)
2. What changes do the lodgers cause? ( 43-44)
3. And what's up with the violin concert? What is the reality versus Gregor's distorted view of Grete's ability. How do you know?
4. Grete's total metamorphosis: "It's got to go!" ( pp 47-49) Analyze her transformation and compare it to Gregor's.
5. Gregor dies and change occurs in each member of the family. How?
6. Why this last line?
Homework: College easy second draft due Monday. Be prepared to share! (100 points)  Metamorphosis test on Tuesday.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Do Now: How does the fact that Gregor is no longer able to support the family affect relationships? What is Kafka's deeper message about life?
Classwork: The Metamorphosis
Continue with building evidence that supports change in the key elements of the novella.
Introduction to Themes:
Economic effects on human relationships
Family duty
Alienation from self, others, and society
Freedom and Escapism
Internal Guilt
Personal Identity
Homework: Part 3 is due tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Do Now: What is the most dramatic transformation that occurs in Part 2? Explain the transformation using evidence from the text. Why have you chosen it?
Classwork:
1. Explanation of Portfolios and Senior Project
2. The Metamorphosis:
You will be working within your groups to analyze the transformations that occur in this section of the text. Your task is to find instances of change and the evidence that supports your inferences. ( including specific text and page number ). Of course you will need to refer to Part 1 for a baseline.
How do the following change? How do the characters react to this change?
1. Gregor
2. Mr. Samsa
3. Mrs. Samsa
4. Grete
5. Gregor's room
6. Family rituals
Homework: Read Part 3 of the book.
The second draft of your essay is due Monday! I am looking for an organized body with paragraphs and a powerful introduction.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Do Now: What problems are you having with the college essay? Are you considering the reader as Trimble suggested?
Classwork: Today you will work within your groups to provide feedback to each other. You will answer the questions below on sticky notes and attach them to the essay.
1. What specific section did you like?
2. What part wasn't clear?
3. Were you able to imagine how the writer felt? If not, what  might have helped you to empathize?
4. What is the writer's thesis?
5. Suggestions?

Senior Project Overview: Notice the first deadline!
Homework: Find evidence of transformation in the text and write it beside each category.
Be prepared to discuss the changes in Gregor, his family, and his room.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Do Now: Review Part 2 of The Metamorphosis for a quiz.
Classwork: Final episode of Part 1 and setting of Part 2

1. The setting plays a major part in the chaos that results at the conclusion of Part 1.
Mrs. Samsa and the window.
Mr. Samsa and hissing
Gregor's panic.
2. Part 2 is all about transformation. Make sure you have annotated the text for these changes (pp 24-28)
The setting
Gregor
Grete
Family rituals
Homework: Your college essay rough draft is due tomorrow. This is not the free-write!
Organize sections of the body so that they are clear to the reader and develop your thesis.
You will work in groups peer-editing. You must be prepared! ( 100 points )

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Do Now: Describe Grete from Gregor's point of view. Consider her reactions to him before and after she is aware of his transformation. Why does he feel she would be able to help him with his business associates?
Classwork: The novella

We continue with a close reading of Part1.
Annotate for recurring motifs and Gregor's method of handling his situation.
Homework: Metamorphosis, Part 2 is due on Monday. Be prepared for a quiz.
First draft of college essay is due Tuesday.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Do Now: Time of day and especially the alarm clock are symbols in the  opening pages of the novella. A symbol stands for something greater than just the word itself. What does the alarm clock symbolize?
Classwork: The Metamorphosis

As you are reading , make sure to focus on point of view: third person
Today we dig deeper into the recurring motifs in Part 1.
Setting - both  inside Gregor's room and the dining room.
Time 
The world of work and money
Transformation
Homework: Begin filling out data sheets for this section. Use pencil!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Do Now: Review your 5x8 college essay questions and answers. Put them away and free write for 20 minutes. You have until 8:05.
Classwork: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
1. The author:  1833-1924
http://www.kafka.org/index.php?biography
Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of Bohemia, a kingdom that was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Hermann Kafka (1852–1931), worked as a traveling sales representative and later  established himself as an independent retailer of men's and women's fancy goods and accessories, His father was an ambitious and bullying. His father’s overbearing and authoritarian personality left its mark on much of Kafka’s writing. 

Kafka was the eldest of six children.  On business days, both parents were absent from the home. His mother helped to manage her husband's business and worked in it as much as 12 hours a day.The children were largely reared by a succession of governesses and servants.  Kafka's sisters were sent with their families to the Łódź ghetto and died there or in concentration camps. Ottla is believed to have been sent to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt and then to the death camp at Auschwitz.

Admitted to the Charles University of Prague, Kafka first studied chemistry, but switched after two weeks to law and worked in the insurance industry. In 1917, Kafka began to suffer from tuberculosis, which would require frequent convalescence during which he was supported by his family, most notably his sister Ottla. Despite his fear of being perceived as both physically and mentally repulsive, he impressed others with his boyish, neat, and austere good looks, a quiet and cool demeanor, obvious intelligence and dry sense of humor.

It is generally agreed that Kafka suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his entire life. He also suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, boils, and other ailments, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains. He attempted to counteract all of this by a regimen of naturopathic treatments, such as a vegetarian diet. However, Kafka's tuberculosis worsened; he returned to Prague, then went to a sanatorium near Vienna for treatment, where he died on June 3, 1924.

2.  The historical connection

Some look to Kafka's biographical and historical context to argue that the story, published in 1912, expresses Kafka's own sense of self-alienation. Not only was he a German speaker living in Czech Prague, and a Jew living in virulently anti-Semitic times, but Kafka also felt enormous pressure to become a successful businessman like his father. Gregor's transformation into a disgusting parasite is often viewed as an expression of Kafka's feelings of isolation and inferiority. The story is also read as a prescient allegory for genocide, in particular the Holocaust. The word used to describe Gregor – Ungeziefer – is a term that the Nazis used to refer to the Jew.. While Kafka died in 1924, many surviving members of his family perished in the Holocaust.

A Marxist would read Gregor's inability to work as a protest against the dehumanizing and self-alienating effects of working in a capitalistic society. 
Gregor's conflict with his father and the dream-like quality of the story is seen as a nod to Freud's analysis of dreams and the Oedipal complex

His emphasis on the absurdity of existence, the alienating experience of modern life, and the cruelty and incomprehensibility of authoritarian power reverberated strongly with a reading public that had just survived World War I and was on its way to a second world war.

Part 1
1. Motifs: 
2. Point of View
3. Characterization:
Homework: Reaction Piece - one to two pages. (Journal)
Put yourself in Gregor's place. Use evidence from the text to support your position.
 What circumstances in Gregor’s life might have caused him to feel dehumanized even

before the metamorphosis took place? From Gregor’s point of view, what might be some positive aspects of his metamorphosis into an insect?

Friday, September 19, 2014

Do Now: Put your college essay notes  ( questions and answers ) on your desk. Read over them and organize into an order you are comfortable with. Put them away. Open your notebook and free-write for 20 minutes or until I tell you to stop. You may not stop writing before that point.
Classwork:
1. College essay
You now have a zero draft. Put this away and critique it over the weekend. What works; what doesn't? What will you keep or discard?
2. "The Fly", continued.
Annotate the poem for tone and theme.
Homework:  Catch up! Metamorphosis on Monday.  Chapter 2 by Tuesday!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Do Now: Review Chapter 1 of The Metamorphosis
Classwork:
1.  Metamorphosis Quiz
2. Introduction to the college essay:

The essay prompts are as follows:

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.   

• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure.  How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea.  What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content.  What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. 

3. Writing with Style - applying Trimble' s  suggestions
Homework: Zero Draft and 5x8 slips are due tomorrow

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Do Now: Review for prefix test.
Classwork:
1. Prefix test
2. "The Fly" Karl Shapiro:
Preview the poem.
Focus on figurative language: simile, metaphor, exaggeration
Focus on tone and shifts that may occur in the poem.
Is there any similarity to the short story in theme or tone in this poem?
Read the analysis following the poem. Do you agree/ disagree?
What would you add?
Homework. Kafka's Metamorphosis , Chapter1

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Do Now: Analyze the setting of Popular Mechanics. Consider figurative language, word choice, and sentence structure to consider the tone of the opening paragraph. How about the two windows in the apartment? What can you infer about this information? Remember, minimalism: every word counts. ( 10 minutes )
Classwork:

1. Analysis of plot and symbolism of Popular Mechanics
2. Arriving at theme
AP Lit Alert - Visit this site for a list of terms and definitions:
http://quizlet.com/15077411/ap-literary-terms-definitions-flash-cards/
Homework: 
 Revisit your blog answers. Are there changes you should make after today's class?
Prefix test tomorrow
Kafka: Chapter 1 by Thursday!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Do Now: 1. Put the answers to the blog questions on your desk.
                2. Analyze "her" character in the story. Use evidence to support your opinion.
Classwork:
1.Distribute The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
2. Popular Mechanics:
Today we focus on setting, plot, conflict, characterization, and symbolism.
              Review definitions and identify examples in the short story
A look at style - The first step in analysis
Review and edit your answers to blog questions after class discussion.
3. Prefixes Revisited
Homework: Study for Prefix test on Wednesday
                    Read Chapter 1 of The Metamorphosis

Friday, September 12, 2014

Do Now: Yesterday, I asked you to research  ISIS or ISIL. What did you learn?
Quiz: Writing with Style - 10 minutes
Classwork: Popular Mechanics by Ray Bradbury

1. About the Author:
The basics:   American fantasy and horror author Ray Bradbury is best known for his novels Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles. Born August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois, raised in California, self-educated,  died  on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91.
Philosophy of writing:  Raymond Carver enjoyed Minimalism. He also thought a short story should have a sense of "threat" or "menace." He said the following:
[There should be] a tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, most often, there simply won't be a story. What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked together to make up the visible action of the story. But it's also the things that are left out, that are implied, the landscape just under the smooth (but sometimes broken and unsettled) surface of things.
Personal Life:


2. Popular Mechanics

Reading Questions for “Popular Mechanics”

1.     What is the importance of the story’s title? Why do you think the author chose the title of a magazine for his short story?

2.     What is the importance of the narrator’s emphasis on the snow’s melting into dirty water in the first line of the story?

3.     Carver doesn’t use conventional punctuation when presenting dialogue—he skips quotation marks. What is the impact of this?

4.     What is the symbolic value of the flowerpot?

5.     Why does the woman take the picture of the baby off the bed and walk out of the room with it?

6.     When, and why, does the man decide that he wants the baby?

7.     The last sentence of Carver’s story is “In this manner, the issue was decided.” What do you think “the issue” refers to in the last sentence of the story? Why do you think Carver chose this curiously neutral term?

8.     The last sentence of the story is a passive sentence. (The issue “was decided” as opposed to someone deciding the issue.) Why is this significant?

9.     What themes do you see in this story?

Homework: Answer the above questions using evidence from the text to support your positions.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Do Now: It's been 13 years since September 11, 2001. Is our country still vulnerable to this type of assault? Why? Why not?

Classwork:

1. Writing with Style

Annotate the first chapter paying close attention to the differences between novice and 

experienced writers, Trimble's suggestions for clarity, and specific strategies you can use to have a conversation with your readers.

2. Introduction to Unit 1 - Short Story, Poetry, and Novel -  Fundamentals of Analysis

Popular Mechanics by Ray Bradbury

Homework: Read the short story and be prepared to discuss it in class - focus on Carver's style, tone, and literary elements.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Do Now: Re-read your rough draft to check spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Get rid of "texting".
Do you see problems or ways to improve clarity with this 'fresh' reading?
Classwork:
Writers' Workshop
Chapter 1: Writing with Style
Homework: Your essay/poem is due tomorrow at the beginning of class. It must be in finished form: No ragged edges! Typed or written in ink.  
Because it is your name!!!