Bring Perrine on Tuesday

FRIDAY IN CLASS
Group prep time for poetry teach-in.

TODAY IN CLASS
20 minutes to wrap that up and solidify plans for presenting to each new table
Three rounds of presentations
Will do one more similar round tomorrow, then use a different tactic to wrap up

FOR TOMORROW

• Read whichever poems in the packet have not yet been presented at your table.
• For those you heard about today, make reflective notes (on the poem page or in your notes) for further questions/concerns 
• As headlined above, bring Perrine to class tomorrow
• There was a new hand-out, the opening paragraphs of Crime and Punishment.  Annotate it (lightly, not within an inch of its life) for tomorrow. 

Read to the end . . .

WEDNESDAY IN CLASS
First draft essays due in class and on turnitin.com; peer response done during class.  Anyone who missed that step must both DO a peer response and have your own paper read and responded to by someone in my class. (If your own section does not work out, I will allow a 1st/5th period swap.)

TODAY IN CLASS
Step One (whole class poem) of group work and jigsaw rotation teaching for 16th /17th century poetry.  We will be doing this for 18th/19th century poetry and for modern/contemporary selections as well.  Today's work was on John Donne's "The Flea"; we will take a short time (7-10 min. max) tomorrow to wrap this up.
Then onward to the packet and your group's poem.

FOR TOMORROW
The revised essay ("final draft") is due.  It really is.  And you will have a better week-end if you just get that done.
But I have become increasingly aware of more people (besides Dance) who will be gone tomorrow and will thus get an automatic extension. And the fashion show has required some extra time from some of you.  And for many of us, public responsibilities always seem to take priority over private ones, however important those other obligations may be.  Also, though there will be a 4th quarter out of class essay after the AP test, this is is a very significant 3rd quarter grade, and it's the 3rd quarter grade that will determine valedictorians (earliest ever cut-off). Regardless of potential valedictorian status, though, I want all of you to do your best.
So--if your essay is on turnitin.com by Sunday night (11:59) AND the hard copy with you in class on Monday, no late penalty points will be applied.

SOME TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Re: MLA--make sure you have the running header, heading, title, spacing, and margins properly done.  The advantage of a process paper is that another pair of eyes will check you on these basic formatting issue.

2.  Since you are using two sources, you need a Works Cited for this paper.  Do your best research in Perrine and the Purdue OWL for documentation guides; this is part of senior work responsibility vs. being told specifically how to do it.  One tricky component is the Project Gutenberg EText for Pygmalion.  Use the page numbers in the text I gave you--otherwise you would have to cross-check with the original (I'd left out some non-Pygmalion publication explanations).

3. On to content--be sure to respect the difference between a THEME and a THESIS.  The "theme" is a universal insight that could apply to multiple works of literature and specifically does NOT state details of plot, character, or other literary details.  But your "thesis" needs to be as rich, exact, and insightful as it can be in setting up the exact nature of the comparison/contrast you will be making.

4.  In that respect, you will find that the words similar and different (in any of their possible forms) lead to vague (or at least not precise) thesis claims.  Thus, your task is to write a thesis that does NOT use these words.

5.  Do not let quotations run away with your paper.  With drama, especially, it's tempting to quote too much.  Summarize/paraphrase non-essential elements of dialogue to shorten them, and keep the essential parts in quotation marks.

TODAY IN CLASS
1.  Overview of Book IX, quick-style; make sure you've read Milton's Argument as better back-up.

2.  In 1st, some consideration of the question that arises from "Hymn to Light":  how arrogant is Milton?

3. Close consideration of Adam's "complaint" to God in Book X.  The back of the "Epic Simile" hand-out had listed all the references; be absolutely certain to notice that lines 743-745 of Book X were on the title page of the original edition of Frankenstein Or, the Modern Prometheus as the epigraph. (I used the old-style underlining to show that the italicized part was in fact also in italics on the title page of the edition I'm using.

4. 1st period began work on revisiting the Donne sonnet from awhile back; we'll move forward in both classes with that tomorrow.

5.  In 5th period, the Paradise Lost written assignment was collected.

FOR TOMORROW
Serious work on the essay.  Go back to last Wednesday, March 19--the original assignment was on that post.  There will be a draft due IN CLASS and online on Wednesday, March 26.  So though you've had plenty of lead time, that means that most of you have two nights (and a Wednesday morning) to work on this essay.  Being out of school on Tuesday for band or orchestra does not change the draft due date.

Follow all the instructions on the assignment post, plus these additional guidelines:

1.  The first draft must be submitted to turnitin.com by the time school starts on Wednesday morning, and you must also have the paper copy with you in class to exchange.  I will be checking for completed drafts before your class gets to the room, and people without essays will not be allowed to proceed.  Giving and receiving feedback is an essential part of this process, and timeliness is the only way to make good use of our class time.

2. The final draft is due on Friday, March 28, also both on turnitin.com and in class as a hard copy.
In this case, the turnitin.com window is "all day"--due by 11:59 p.m. Friday night.  I don't see why anyone would want to wait until Friday night to submit it, though.

FRIDAY
Detailed work on the Rich poem in 1st; a few more comments on that in 5th.
Discussion of "Hymn to Light" in 5th.

Collected the Paradise Lost assignment from last Tuesday  in 1st; that same assignment is not due until tomorrow in 5th. (The difference is due to last week's HSPE schedule).

FOR MONDAY
Both classes make sure that you have thoroughly noted the points in Adam's complaint to God (Book X excerpt).  You don't need to do this on separate paper; just make sure it's carefully marked on the packet text.

Be working on the essay assignment (see last Wednesday's post).

"Review and Solidify" Essay Assignment

What: 
An out-of-class essay that allows you to reflect on broad thematic connections, narrower specific concerns, and close analysis of language in several works.  Though it is out of class, thus with differing expectations than for on-demand timed writing (affecting both the composition process and the polished nature of the final product), you will still be focussed on close analysis of particular conversations, thereby incorporating some of the features of the AP passage analysis question.

Literature to Examine:
You will be working with any TWO of the following:
Ibsen's A Doll House
Shaw's Pygmalion
Shelley's Frankenstein

Honing in on the Task:

• Though obviously your knowledge and understanding of these works as a whole will be important to your success, the assigned task is more limited and specific.
• You will focus on the scenes in each work that contain the most extended conversation between "creator" and "created"/"possessor and possession"/whatever term best applies in the works you select. 
• You will be comparing/contrasting these passages on two overall grounds: the nature of the exact relationship between the two speakers, as developed within the conversation, and the connection between the key passage and larger thematic ideas in the play.
• In order to do this, expect to examine the dialogue extremely closely, for essential content, language, and style (all the ways you can bring to bear.
• But don't forget that the essay as a whole has to make some rich and insightful CLAIM concerning how the works and the key conversation relate to one another.

So again, this assignment thus stresses the language and style analysis in a way that is useful continued preparation for the AP exam, but it also provides the flexibility and student choice/initiative that is typical of college English courses. 

Details:

1) Full-bore MLA:  follow all the rules.  See Perrine, see the Purdue OWL, see me if you are stuck.

Note that your book provides very specific guidelines on handling the special concerns of drama.

2) Length:  about 4 properly spaced and margined pages.

3) First draft due on Wednesday, March 26, two ways:  

Hard copy to be exchanged for peer response--must have with you in class, obviously!

On turnitin.com for me to confirm typed and formatted completion--anytime prior to class time.

NO printing/submitting allowed during class because time is short.  If necessary, you may come to my room well before 1st period.

4) Final draft due on Friday, March 28.  Hard copy in class, on turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. that night.

Read Carefully -- Contains Specific Assignment Instructions

TODAY IN CLASS

1. An Adrienne Rich poem.

2. Time to read the following article about connections between Paradise Lost and Frankenstein:
By a recognized Milton scholar and expert on Paradise Lost (be sure to read the brief blurb below his picture):
http://exhibitions.nypl.org/biblion/outsiders/creation-remix/essay/essaymoeck

3. Linked to a professor's site; the course syllabus contains a particularly good list of literary terms (weighted toward the 19th C. British focus of this course, but still useful to us):
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/eng241/FrankPL.html

We looked at this site for two reasons:

• study the chart carefully as possible further connections between the two works
• click back to the course syllabus for this professor and find the list of literary terms.  Save that site and study it as a further resource (particular for examples in context) of literary terms for the AP test.

4.  We went over the "Hymn to Light" and looked at two good examples of the expected work.

HOMEWORK
This assignment will be collected from 1st period on Friday and from 5th on Monday.  You'll be receiving a significant assignment tomorrow that will make it probably that people in 1st might want knock this out sooner.  This assignment has an initial reading component:

Make sure you can trace Adam's "complaint"  in your PL packet from Book X).  No specific writing required beyond whatever annotating helped you read/understand.

Read all three of the following:
From a college student at Mt. Holyoke, apparently as an assignment:
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist257s02/students/Becky/paradise.html

A second example of student work:
http://mattbucci.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/frankenstein-and-paradise-lost/

From someone's personal blog (obviously geared to intellectual reflections, not a diary):
http://sroibal.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/intertextual-wreading-parallels-of-paradise-lost-and-frankenstein/

WRITING (typed, please)--30 assessment points
1) Write one short paragraph that identifies the section of Moeck's article that you found the most compelling.  If at all possible, extend the idea to anything further you see in Frankenstein or about Mary Shelley that makes the idea interesting/compelling to you.

2) Write a more substantial paragraph  response that defends ONE of the three sources immediately above (NOT Moeck's) as the strongest collection of insights.  Provide ample support for your choice.  If you find something to quibble with or qualify in an otherwise strong piece, state your reservations and why.

3)  Assume, given all the material referenced in this blog post and elsewhere,  that Mary Shelley might have had a complex and overlapping set of reasons for incorporating elements of Paradise Lost into her novel Frankenstein.  But pin down your thoughts on one aspect:  do you think the parallels (or "foil"-like differences) are more important for our understanding of Victor Frankenstein himself, or more important for understanding the Creature?  Pick one or the other here; you can't argue for both.  This should be a multi-paragraph response (2 = "multi"; 3 = the max).

Quick Assessment
Also on Friday (BOTH sections)--there will be a new epic simile for you to lay out carefully, completely, and correctly.  Worth 10 assessment points.

TODAY IN CLASS
Hand-out--the Epic
Epic simile: quick lay-out on "in bulk as huge as . . . " returned; a second one practiced.
Discussion of further "language" ways that Satan's power/individuality/"presence" is reinforced

"Hymn to Light" Summa-phrase turned in (the first 55 lines of Book III)
Read full instructions on Friday's post if you were absent or simply did not do it but would prefer late credit to a 0.

FOR TOMORROW

• 1st--Study the rest of the Paradise Lost hand-out; study/find the Frankenstein passages referred to on the back of the epic hand-out and  bring Frankenstein to class tomorrow.
• 5th--I won't see you tomorrow, but on Wednesday both classes will be receiving a significant assignment.  You should have this done for sure for Wednesday.

TODAY IN CLASS
AP Timed Write (Poetry):  50 assignment points (vs. assessment)--30 minutes.
Make up ASAP and, by the way, Wednesday this coming week is NOT an option because of the HSPE schedule.  Monday/Tuesday after school.

Some notes on the "epic simile" work--
Epic simile assignment--some did not turn in.  Late credit allowed through Monday. You were to focus on the "epic simile" portion of the section from 192-220.  Find the start and end by looking for the usual markers of a simile. Then, as noted on the blog originally,
Do whatever you need to do to show, in accessible graphic form, how the "terms" of the simile progress; what is being compared to what, and to what, and to what . . . .Spell out details as needed.   You will be handing this in; that's why it needs to be done on the separate sheet of paper instead of in the packet.
Even though it won't change a score, check your own understanding by making sure you can find some clear visual way to show what was asked for in the original assignment. 

FOR MONDAY
Though we will look at the rest of the Book I excerpt on your hand-out, the homework concerns Book III.  Note that as will all twelve books, the material begins with an "Argument, " which is in effect a summary of the book in its entirety, not just the excerpt I printed for you.  You are NOT to summarize the summary.  You will not get assignment credit if that's what you do.

What you ARE supposed to do--Write a "summa-phrase" of the excerpt itself.  Follow the process described below:
1) Read the 55 line excerpt with care.
2) Physically mark up the hand-out, "drawing boxes" that will mark the ideas conveyed as you go along.  I suggested reading it all (the 55 lines) first, then go for the ideas and turns of thought.
3) Then write the "summa-phrase" with the following things in mind:

• You are not writing a true paraphrase--that would probably take more than 55 lines to write out, and that's not what I expect.
• You ARE going to keep the point of view of the original text.  If the text says I, you keep the first-person POV.
• In one more sense it will be like a paraphrase; you are changing difficult syntax and poetic diction into clearer more accessible terms.
• But shorten the overall written product somewhat by using the ideas you've blocked off to convey Milton's meaning.  You are not responsible for every single phrase that augments style, but you will still wind up with a fairly substantial piece of writing.  Do not over-simplify and miss important steps in the Milton's thinking.
• I suggest that you type the final product, but you are not required to do so. 

TODAY IN CLASS
Poetry 

• Titles are important (unless they are a first line).  Consider them well.  Yesterday and today there were titles containing an allusion to a longer quotation or saying.  Readers are generally expected to "know" what the rest of it is.  (Hard to teach per se, but be aware and if you THINK there's more to it, you're probably right!)691)
• Speaker/audience situation: sizing up the speaker/spoken to using all the available language clues, punctuation marks, and contextual material. 
• It's a process:  make guesses, check against the "data"/evidence in the poem, recalibrate, and sometimes suggest something else
• Point of view/perspective:  be prepared for shifts.  Again, use diction, grammatical forms, punctuation marks, other clues to help understand where (and why) something significant changes.
• Make sure theme statements apply to all of what a poem contains, not merely one section.

Poems we focussed on:
"When in Rome" (691)
"There's been a Death, in the Opposite House" (691)

Collected:  "the epic simile untangled" assignment (PL I.192-220) but written directly on that separate sheet (not the stapled packet)

FOR TOMORROW
Read, nay, study, the rest of the Paradise Lost packet. You do not (shocker) need to bring Perrine with you to class tomorrow.

There WILL be a short timed write (circa 30 minutes), but you don't need to do anything special to prepare for that assuming you've read the two poetry chapters.

TODAY IN CLASS
Survey. 
Many gone beyond those excused.

FOR TOMORROW
Make sure you are brilliant on previously assigned PL and poetry work:  see Monday's post.

HAVE PERRINE IN CLASS: Every single person, please.

TODAY IN CLASS
PL:
1) Effects of foregrounded HIM and the long series of modifying phrases in lines44-49
2) The effect of the transitive verb construction "round he throws his baleful eyes" (56)
3)  The mix of Latinate and Anglo-Saxon diction " obdurate pride and steadfast hate"
4) A "summa-phrase" (keep same POV, as in a paraphrase, cover every idea/point, but don't attenpt a phrase by phrase close translation as a paraphrase would do) for Satan's initial speech to Beelzebut (84-124)

Poetry:
5) Clarification of my misleading reference on Friday to the Dickinson poem in Ch. 2, not the one in Ch. 1.  (Both concern someone's death at home; I swapped them in my mind.  Sorry!)
6) "The Ballad of Birmingham"--how the childlike or light-hearted ballad stanza can be used in serious poems.


FOR TOMORROW
1) Re: Paradise Lost

• On the packet itself, in the open space to the right of the text, continue the "summa-phrase" style for Beelzebub's response to Satan (lines 128-155) and Satan's reply (157-191)
• Mark particular lines you might recognize as "famous" (as in possibly you've heard them before . . . )
• On the separate sheet of paper, track the "epic simile" that sprawls essentially from line 192-220).  Do whatever you need to do to show, in accessible graphic form, how the "terms" of the simile progress; what is being compared to what, and to what, and to what . . . .Spell out details as needed.   You will be handing this in; that's why it needs to be done on the separate sheet of paper instead of in the packet.

2) Re: the poetry book
Yes, you should have read pp. 679-688 for today. You should be well up to speed on all of the poetry discussed in that section.  Apart from the PL work above, the only new obligation for Perrine is this:
Read the Dickinson poem (A Death in the Opposite House) (689-690?  need to double check text).  Study and be responsible for informed and ready responses to the questions that follow the poem.

And bring Perrine . . .

TODAY IN CLASS
PL syntax focus; then group discussion of the one poem you had worked with from 669-678.  Exchange of ideas based on textbook questions; then work through applicable steps from "How to Read a Poem."
(Always start with the expectation of considering every single point.  Make sure you're not missing something before concluding that the poem at hand lacks a particular feature.)

FOR MONDAY
Just read the teaching material/sample poems discussion in Chapter 2, pp. 679-688.  Carefully think through the review questions in the box on p. 688.

You are not responsible for any of the larger group (bottom of 688 to the end of the chapter) for Monday.

Bring Perrine on Thursday

. . . as well as the Paradise Lost hand-out.  We will work with both.

TODAY IN CLASS

•  A short homework check
• "The Red Wheelbarrow" (William Carlos Williams)

Yes, there had been a typo on yesterday's blog; the three poems were to have been a genuine choice, drawn from pp. 666-677.  But fortunately there WERE three to do . . . That's okay.

And today we worked with  "The Red Wheelbarrow" in class, so that's off limits.

FOR TOMORROW

Look at the poems on pp. 669-677 (yes, double-checked for accuracy; those are the pages)

Choose ONE of those poems, study it carefully, and write responses to the questions which follow in you notebook.  

Assuming you've already read lines 1-270 of PL that were assigned on Monday, no new work there.

Special note to the couple of people in 1st period who were absent both days, March 4th/5th:  Look at yesterday's post and do the instructions right in the first place; I have corrected the page numbers.  And then you only have to write responses in your notes to a total of 3 poems.

TODAY IN CLASS
1.  Quiz on the second half of the poetry terms.  Make this up ASAP if you missed it; tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. sharp is strongly encouraged.
2.  An untanglement of the syntax for the first sentence of Book I of Paradise Lost (16 lines): write out a clear paraphrase that shows a much more clear and direct word order, together with an understanding of how the grammatical elements of this sentence fit together.  If you were absent, write this out on your own paper and bring it to class tomorrow.
3.  Some pairs/group evaluation of these rewritten sentences.

FOR TOMORROW

• Read Chapter 1 in the poetry section of Perrine. :  657-678
• As you read, continue to "read through" the poems in this chapter as well.  For the poems on pp. 666-677* (only those, NOT any of the earlier ones), select THREE and write answers to the questions about that poem in your notes.  Answers may be informal/not in complete sentences, etc., but you should be able to be held quickly accountable for your knowledge and understanding of the three poems you choose.

*Corrected page range

Obviously have PL with you tomorrow in class, but no homework on that tonight.

Really brief today:

1) Theme statements on Frankenstein turned in (one for all, two for 4, three for 1 category/ies)

2) There was a timed write on Frankenstein; make up ASAP. Tuesday afternoon (2:25) or Wednesday morning (9:00 a.m.) expected UNLESS you make special arrangements with me for compelling reasons.

3) Tuesday in class:  Quiz over the second half of the poetry terms (37-70)

4) Hand-out today:  a packet of excerpts from Milton's Paradise Lost. 

Studying for the quiz is the top priority, but read through the excerpt from Book I so you'll have an overall feel for Milton's epic poem. This is not meant to be a careful "unpacking" and close reading tonight. That comes later . . .