Class of 2013 AP Language and Composition at GHS
Check here for assignments, resources, clarifications, comments. Use the comment box for your responses. Come here often. Oh, and remember, when someone asks you what AP English Language and Composition is about tell them "argument" and "rhetoric".
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Polis Is This
Use the film to help you respond to the prompts on the handout.
(Given in class. Pasted below.)
Be prepared to discuss in class.
Critical
Viewing of Polis is This,
a
documentary directed by Henry Ferrini
BEFORE VIEWING
Define Polis:
WHILE VIEWING
Identify some of the places shown in the film
Identify some of the people in the film
Identify some of the poems used in the film
WHILE VIEWING AND
AFTER VIEWING JOT DOWN IDEAS ABOUT
Olson’s Childhood Relationship
to Gloucester
The effect on Olson of the U.S. dropping the
Nuclear Bomb & the Discovery of Buchenwald and other Concentration Camps
Olson’s View of Wholistic
Knowledge and Wholistic Education (“The Present” a course at Black Mountain
College)
Olson’s View of Writing
Poetry (Projective Verse; Robert Creeley: “we began to respond to what was
happening…a much more active way of proceeding”; “form is never more than an extension
of content”)
Olson’s Cosmology (study of
the universe and man’s place in it) (Robert Creeley: “men could care about the
kind of world they live in…why kind of world are men and women caring to
have.”)
Olson’s View of changes in Gloucester in the 1960s
and our role—the citizen’s role—in those changes
The implication of Olson’s
thinking upon our relationship to our polis (immediate world) and cosmos (large
world) today
Monday, May 14, 2012
AP English Language Rhetoric Vocabulary
Allegory:
An allegory is a fictional
work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts. In Paul Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress, for
example, the characters named Faithful, Mercy, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman
are clearly meant to
represent types of people rather than to be characters in their own rights.
Allusion:
An allusion is a passing
reference to a familiar person, place, or thing drawn from history, the Bible,
mythology, or literature. An
allusion is an economical way for a writer to capture the essence of an
idea, atmosphere, emotion, or
historical era, as in “The scandal was his Watergate,” or “He saw
himself as a modern Job,” or
“Everyone there held those truths to be self-evident.” An allusion
should be familiar to the
reader; if it is not, it will add nothing to the meaning.
An allusion is a reference,
usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person. For example, in
the sentence, “She faced the
challenge with Homeric courage, “Homeric” is an allusion to Homer’s
works, The Illiad and the Odyssey.
Ambiguity: (ambiguous)
When something is ambiguous,
it is uncertain or indefinite; it is subject to more than one
interpretation. For example,
you might say, “The poet’s use of the word is ambiguous, “to begin to
discuss the multiple meanings
suggested by the use of the word and to indicate that there is an
uncertainty of
interpretation.
Analogy:
Analogy asks a reader to
think about the correspondence or resemblance between two things that are
essentially different; a form
of comparison in which the writer explains something unfamiliar by
comparing it to something
familiar. For example, if you say, “The pond was as smooth as a
mirror,” you ask your
audience to understand two different things: “pond” and “mirror” – as being
similar in some fashion. A
second example is: A transmission line is simply a pipeline for electricity In
the case of a water pipeline, more water will flow through the pipe as water
pressure increases.
The same is true of a
transmission line for electricity.
Analytical Reading:
Reading analytically means
reading actively, paying close attention to both the content and the
structure of the text.
Analytical reading often involves answering several basic questions about the
piece of writing under consideration: What does the author want to say? What is
his or her main point?
Why does the author want to
say it? What is his or her purpose? What strategy or strategies does the author
use? Why and how does the author’s writing strategy suit both the subject and
the purpose? What is special about the way the author uses the strategy? How
effective is the essay? Why?
Antecedent:
Every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or
pronoun - the antecedent; antecedent is the
grammatical term for the noun of or pronoun from which
another pronoun derives its meaning. For
example, in the sentence, "The car he wanted to
buy was a green one," the pronoun "one" derives its
meaning from the antecedent "car."
Antithesis:
Antithesis is an opposition or contrast of ideas that
is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses.
For example, “Whereas he was boisterous, I was
reserved” is a sentence that balances two antithetical
observations.
Appositive:
An appositive is a word or phrase that follows as noun
or pronoun for emphasis or clarity.
Appositives are usually set off by commas. For
example, in the sentence, "The Luxury train, The
Orient Express, crosses Europe from Paris
to Istanbul in
just twenty-six hours," the name "The
Orient Express" is the
appositive for "train."
Argument:
Argument is one of the four
basic types of prose. (Narration, description and exposition are the
other three.) To argue is to
attempt to convince the reader to agree with a point of view, to make a
given decision, or to pursue
a particular course of action. Logical argument is based on reasonable
explanations and appeals to
the reader’s intelligence.
Assertion:
The thesis, claim, or
proposition that a writer puts forward in argument.
Attitude:
Attitude describes the
feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person
or
idea. For example, a writer
can think very positively or very negatively about a subject. In most
cases, the writer’s attitude
falls somewhere between these two extremes. This expression is often
used as a synonym for tone.
Audience:
An audience is the intended
readership for a piece of writing. For example, the readers of a national
weekly newsmagazine come from
all walks of life and have diverse opinions, attitudes and educational
experiences. In contrast, the
readership for an organic chemistry journal is made up of people whose
interests and educational
backgrounds are quite similar.
Bathos:
A false or forced emotion
that is often humorous. Whereas pathos draws upon deep emotion, bathos
takes this emotion to such an
extreme that the reader finds it humorous rather than touching.
Beginnings/Endings:
A beginning is the sentence,
group of sentences or section that introduces an essay. Good beginnings
usually identify the thesis
or controlling idea, attempt to interest the reader and establish a tone.
Some effective ways in which
writers begin essays include (1) telling an anecdote that illustrates the
thesis, (2) providing a
controversial statement or opinion that engages the reader’s interest, (3)
presenting startling
statistics or facts, (4) defining a term that is central to the discussion that
follows, (5) asking
thought-provoking questions, (6) providing a quotation that illustrates the
thesis,
(7) referring to a current
event that helps establish the thesis, or (8) showing the significance of the
subject or stressing its
importance to the reader.
An ending is the sentence or
group of sentences that brings an essay to closure. Good endings are
purposeful and well planned.
Endings satisfy readers when they are the natural outgrowths of the
essays themselves and convey
a sense of finality or completion. Good essays do not simply stop;
they conclude.
Claim:
The thesis or proposition put
forth in argument.
Cliché:
A cliché is an expression
that has become ineffective through overuse. Expressions such as quick as a
flash, dry as dust, jump for
joy and slow as molasses are all clichés. Good writers normally avoid such
trite expressions and seek
instead to express themselves in fresh and forceful language.
Coherence:
Coherence is a quality of
good writing that results when all sentences, paragraphs and longer divisions
of an essay are naturally
connected. Coherent writing is achieved through (1) a logical sequence of
ideas (arranged in
chronological order, spatial order, order of importance or some other
appropriate
order), (2) the thoughtful
repetition of key words and ideas, (3) a pace suitable for your topic and
your reader, and (4) the use
of transitional words and expressions. Coherence should not be confused
with unity.
Colloquial Expressions:
A colloquial expression is
characteristic of or appropriate to spoken language or to writing that seeks
its effect. Colloquial
expressions are informal, as chem., gym, come up with, be at loose ends, won’t
and photo illustrate. Thus,
colloquial expressions are acceptable in formal writing only if they are
used purposefully.
Concrete / Abstract:
A concrete word names a
specific object, person, place or action that can be directly perceived by the
senses: car, bread, building,
book, Abraham Lincoln, Toronto
or hiking. An abstract word, in
contrast, refers to general
qualities, conditions, ideas, actions or relationships that cannot be directly
perceived by the senses:
bravery, dedication, excellence, anxiety, stress, thinking or hatred.
Although writers must use
both concrete and abstract language, good writers avoid using too many
abstract words. Instead, they
rely on concrete words to define and illustrate abstractions. Because
concrete words affect the
senses, they are easily comprehended by the reader.
Connotation / Denotation:
Both connotation and
denotation refer to the meanings of words. Denotation is the dictionary
meaning of a word, the
literal meaning. Connotation, on the other hand, is the implied or suggested
meaning of a word. For example,
the denotation of lamb is “a young sheep.” The connotations of
lamb are numerous: gentle,
docile, weak, peaceful, blessed, sacrificial, blood, spring, frisky, pure,
innocent and so on. Good
writers are sensitive to both the denotations and the connotations of
words and they use these
meanings to advantage in their writing.
Description:
Description is one of the
four basic types of prose. (Narration, exposition and argument are the
other three.) Description
tells how a person, place or thing is perceived by the five senses.
Objective description reports
these sensory qualities factually, whereas subjective description gives
the writer’s interpretation
of them.
Diction:
Diction refers to an author's
choice of words. For instance, in the sentence, "That guy was really
mad!" the author uses
informal diction ("guy," "mad"); whereas in the sentence,
"The gentleman was
considerably irritated,"
the author uses more elevated diction ("gentleman,"
"irritated"). A writer's
diction contributes to the
tone of a text.
Ethos:
Ethos is the characteristic
spirit or ideal that informs a work. In "The Country of the Pointed
Firs"
by Sarah Orne Jewett, for
instance, the ethos of the work is derived from the qualities of the
inhabitants, who are
described as both noble and caring.
Ethos also refers more
generally to ethics, or values of the arguer: honesty, trustworthiness, even
morals. In rhetorical
writing, authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to their sense
of ethos, or ethical
principles.
Euphemism:
A euphemism is a mild or
pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh, indelicate, or
simply less pleasant idea.
Euphemisms are often used to soften the impact of what is being discussed.
For example, the word
“departed” is a euphemism for the word “dead,” just as the phrase “in the
family way” is a euphemism for the word “pregnant.”
Evaluation:
An evaluation of a piece of
writing is an assessment of its effectiveness or merit. In evaluating a
piece of writing, you should
ask the following questions: What is the writer’s purpose? Is it a
worthwhile purpose? Does the
writer achieve the purpose? Is the writer’s information sufficient and
accurate? What are the
strengths of the essay? What are its weaknesses? Depending on the type of
writing and the purpose, more
specific questions can also be asked. In response to an argument a reader might
ask: Does the writer follow the principles of logical thinking? Is the writer’s
evidence convincing?
Evidence:
Evidence is the data on which
a judgment or argument is based or by which proof or probability is
established. Evidence usually
takes the form of statistics, facts, names, examples or illustrations and
opinions of authorities.
Exposition:
Exposition is one of the four
basic types of prose. (Narration, description and argument are the
other three.) The purpose of
exposition is to clarify, explain and inform. The methods of
exposition include process
analysis, definition, division and classification, comparison and contrast,
exemplification and cause and
effect analysis.
Figures of Speech:
Figures of speech are brief,
imaginative comparisons that highlight the similarities between things
that are basically
dissimilar. They make writing vivid and interesting and therefore more
memorable.
The most common figures of
speech are these:
Simile: An
implicit comparison introduced by like or as: “The fighter’s hands were like
stone.”
Metaphor: An
implied comparison that uses one thing as the equivalent of another: “All the
world’s a stage.”
Personification:
A special kind of simile or metaphor in which human traits are assigned to an
inanimate
object: “The engine coughed and then stopped.”
Fiction:
The word “fiction” comes from
the Latin word meaning to invent, to form, to imagine. Works of
fiction can be based on
actual occurrences, but their status as fiction means that something has been
imagined or invented in the
telling of the occurrence.
Foreshadowing:
Foreshadowing is a purposeful
hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in
the narrative. For instance,
a seemingly unrelated scene in a mystery story that focuses on a special
interest of the detective may
actually foreshadow the detective’s use of that expertise in solving the
mystery.
Hyperbole:
Hyperbole is a figure of
speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis. The expressions,
“my feet are as cold as an
iceberg” and “I’ll die if I don’t see you soon,” are examples of hyperbole.
The emphasis is on
exaggeration rather than literal representation. Hyperbole is the opposite of
understatement.
Idiom:
An idiom is a word or phrase
that is used habitually with a particular meaning in a language. The
meaning of an idiom is not
always readily apparent to nonnative speakers of that language. For
example, catch cold, hold a
job, make up your mind and give them a hand are all idioms in English.
Image:
An image is a mental picture
that is conjured by specific words and associations, but there can be auditory
and sensory components to imagery as well. Nearly all writing depends on
imagery to be
effective and interesting.
Metaphors, similes, symbols and personification all use imagery.
Irony:
Irony occurs when a situation
produces an outcome that is the opposite of what is expected. In
Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending
Fences,” for instance, it is ironic that the presence of a barrier – a
fence – keeps a friendship
alive; Frost’s observation that “Good fences make good neighbors” is both
true and ironic. Similarly,
when an author uses words or phrases that are in opposition to each other
to describe a person or an
idea, an ironic tone results. For example, in The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
when the speaker says, “I am glad my case is not serious!” the reader –
who is also aware of just how
“serious” her case is – is aware of the irony of the statement.
Juxtaposition:
When two contrasting things -
ideas, words or sentence elements - are placed next to each other for
comparison, a juxtaposition
occurs. For instance, a writer may choose to juxtapose the coldness of
one room with the warmth of
another, or one person's honesty with another's duplicity.
Juxtaposition sheds light on
both elements in the comparison.
Logical Fallacies:
A logical fallacy is an error
in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. Some of the more
common logical fallacies are
these:
Oversimplification: The tendency to provide simple solutions to complex problems: “The
reason
we
have inflation today is that OPEC has unreasonably raised the price of oil.”
Non sequitur
(“It does not follow”): An inference or conclusion that does not follow from
established
premises or evidence: “It was the best movie I saw this year and it should get
an
Academy
Award.”
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“After this, therefore because of this”): Confusing
chance or
coincidence
with causation. Because one event comes after another one, id does not
necessarily
mean
that the first event caused the second: “I won’t say I caught cold at the
hockey game, but I
certainly
didn’t have it before I went there.”
Begging the question: Assuming in a premise that which needs to be proven: “If American
autoworkers
built a better product, foreign auto sales would not be so high.”
False analogy:
Making a misleading analogy between logically unconnected ideas: “He was a
brilliant basketball player; therefore, there’s no question in my mind that he
will e a fine coach.
Either/or thinking: The tendency to see an issue as having only two sides: “Used car
salespeople are either honest or crooked.
Logos:
The use of reason as a
controlling principle in an argument. In rhetorical writing, authors often
attempt to persuade readers
by appealing to their sense of logos, or reason.
A type of argumentative proof
having to do with the logical qualities of an argument: data, evidence,
factual information.
Mood:
Mood is the prevailing or
dominant feeling of a work, scene or event. The opening scene of
Macbeth in which three
witches are center stage, for instance, sets a mood of doom and tragedy for
the first act of the play.
Mood is similar to atmosphere.
Narration:
Narration is one of the four
basic types of prose. (Description, exposition and argument are the
other three.) To narrate is
to tell a story, to tell what happened. Although narration is most often
used in fiction, it is also
important in nonfiction, either by itself or in conjunction with other types
of prose.
Objective / Subjective:
Objective writing is factual
and impersonal, whereas subjective writing, sometimes called
impressionistic writing,
relies heavily on personal interpretation.
Opinion:
An opinion is a belief or
conclusion not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof. An opinion
reveals personal feelings or
attitudes or states a position. Opinion should not be confused with
argument.
Parallelism:
A literary technique that
relies on the use of the same syntactical structures, (phrases, clauses,
sentences) in a series in
order to develop an argument or emphasize an idea. For example, in the
declaration, "At sea, on
land, in the air, we will be loyal to the very end," the parallel phrases
at the
beginning of the sentence
emphasize the loyalty and determination of a group of people.
Parallel structure is the
repetition of word order or form either within a single sentence or in several
sentences that develop the
same central idea. As a rhetorical device, parallelism can aid coherence
and add emphasis. Roosevelt’s statement, “I see one third of a nation
ill-housed, ill-clad, illnourished,”
illustrates effective
parallelism.
Parody:
Parody is an effort to
ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing an imitation of
the work or of the author's
style.
Pathos:
authors often attempt to
persuade readers by appealing to the sense of pathos, or their emotions.
A type of argumentative proof
having to do with audience: emotional language, connotative diction
and appeals to certain
values.
Persona:
Persona is the character
created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text. The term,
"persona" implies a
fictional representation or an act of disguise (that the speaker is not the
author,
but a created character).
Point of View:
The particular perspective
from which a story is told is called the point of view. Stories may be told
from the point of view of
specific characters or a narrator. The narrator, in turn, may be a
subjective narrator (who may
or may not be involved in the story), or an all - knowing (omniscient)
narrator. (An omniscient
narrator can tell you everything about the characters - even their inner
feelings and thoughts.)
Examining the person of the pronouns used can further describe point of
view. Some literary works
blend different points of view for emphasis and experimentation.
For example, a first person
point of view uses the pronoun I and is commonly found in
autobiography and the
personal essay; a third person point of view uses the pronouns he, she, or it
and is commonly found in
objective writing.
Purpose:
Purpose is what the writer
wants to accomplish in a particular piece of writing. Purposeful writing
seeks to relate (narration),
to describe (description), to explain (process analysis, definition, division
and classification,
comparison and contrast and cause and effect analysis), or to convince
(argument).
Rhetoric, Rhetorical Purpose:
Rhetoric is the art and logic
of a written or spoken argument. Rhetorical writing is purposeful;
examples of rhetorical
purposes include to persuade, to analyze, or to expose.
The lines between purposes,
strategies, and devices are blurry. To accomplish a rhetorical purpose, a
writer develops a rhetorical
strategy, and then uses rhetorical devices to accomplish the goal.
Consider shelter as an
example. If your purpose in constructing a shelter is to protect you from
inclement weather, one
strategy for doing this might be to build a house (other strategies might
involve a tent or a cave, for
instance). Devices would be the choices that you make as you build the
house, such as whether to use
wood or bricks, the number and location of doors and windows, and so
on.
In
the same way, to achieve a purpose in writing you need a strategy and devices.
To use a more
literary example, when
arguing to persuade the world that Americans deserved to be independent
from England (rhetorical purpose), the writers of the
Declaration of Independence
refused to
recognize Great Britain's legislative
authority (rhetorical strategy). To achieve this in their prose, the
writers used syntax
(rhetorical device) that presented all Americans as adhering to one idea
("We the
People ... ") and
diction (rhetorical device) that affirmed their right to be independent
("self-evident"
and "endowed by their
Creator").
Rhetorical, or stylistic
devices:
The specific language tools
that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy and thus achieve a
purpose for writing. Some
typical language devices include allusion, diction, imagery, syntax,
selection of detail,
figurative language and repetition.
Rhetorical Question:
A rhetorical question is a
question that is asked for the sake of argument. No direct answer is
provided to a rhetorical
question; however, the probable answer to such a question us usually implied
in the argument. “When will
nuclear proliferation end” is such a question. Writers often use
rhetorical questions to
introduce topics they plan to discuss or to emphasize important points.
Rhetorical Strategy:
A strategy is a plan of
action or movement to achieve a goal. In rhetoric or writing, strategy
describes the way an author
organizes words, sentences and overall argument in order to achieve a
particular purpose.
Selection of Detail:
The specific words,
incidents, images or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative are
referred to as the selection
of detail.
Sequence:
Sequence refers to the order
in which a writer presents information. Writers commonly select
chronological order, spatial
order, order of importance, or order of complexity to arrange their
points.
Style:
Style is the individual
manner in which a writer expresses his or her ideas. The author’s particular
selection of words,
construction of sentences and arrangement of ideas create style.
Syntax:
Syntax refers to the way
words are arranged in a sentence. For example, the following two sentences
share a similar meaning, but
have different syntax, or word order: "The big blue sky beckoned
her,"
essentially says the same
thing as, "She was beckoned by the big blue sky."
Technical Language:
Technical language, or
jargon, is the special vocabulary of a trade or profession. Writers who use
technical language do so with
an awareness of their audience. If the audience is a group of peers,
technical language may be
used freely. If the audience is a more general one, technical language
should be used sparingly and
carefully so as not to sacrifice clarity. See also Diction.
Tension:
Tension, in a work of
literature, is a feeling of excitement and expectation the reader or audience
feels because of the
conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work.
Texture:
Texture describes the way the
elements of a work of prose or poetry are joined together. It suggests
an association with the style
of the author - whether, for instance, the author's prose is rough-hewn
(elements at odds with one
another) or smooth and graceful (elements flow together naturally).
Theme:
The theme of a work is
usually considered the central idea. There can be several themes in a single
work. In The Woman Warrior,
for instance, Maxine Hong Kingston includes endurance, loyalty,
bravery, intelligence,
fortune and risk as themes variously treated and dramatized.
Thesis:
A thesis is a statement of
the main idea of an essay. Also known as the controlling idea, a thesis may
sometimes be implied rather
than stated directly.
Title:
A title is a word or phrase
set off at the beginning of an essay to identify the subject, to capture the
main idea of the essay or to
attract the reader’s attention. A title may be explicit or suggestive. A
subtitle, when used, extends
or restricts the meaning of the main title.
Tone:
Tone, which can also be
called attitude, is the way the author presents a subject. An author's tone
can be serious, scholarly,
humorous, mournful or ironic, just to name a few examples. A particular
tone results from a writer’s
diction, sentence structure, purpose and attitude toward the subject. A
correct perception of the
author's tone is essential to understanding a particular literary work;
misreading an ironic tone as
a serious one, for instance, could lead you to miss the humor in a
description or situation. See
also Attitude.
Topic sentence:
The topic sentence states the
central idea of a paragraph and thus limits and controls the subject of
the paragraph. Although the
topic sentence most often appears at the beginning of the paragraph, it
may appear at any other
point, particularly if the writer is trying to create a special effect.
Transitions:
Transitions are words or
phrases that link sentences, paragraphs and larger units of a composition to
achieve coherence. These
devices include parallelism, pronoun references, conjunctions and the
repetition of key ideas, as
well as the many conventional transitional expressions, such as moreover,
on the other hand, in
addition, in contrast and therefore. Also see Coherence.
Understatement:
understatement. For example,
if a writer refers to a very destructive monsoon as "a bit of wind,"
the
power of the event is being deliberately
understated.
Unity:
Unity is achieved in an essay
when all the words, sentences and paragraphs contribute to its thesis.
The elements of a unified
essay do not distract the reader. Instead, they all harmoniously support a
single idea or purpose.
Voice:
How the speaker of a literary
work presents himself or herself to the reader determines that speaker's
unique voice. For example,
the speaker's voice can be loud or soft, personal or cold, strident or
gentle, authoritative or
hesitant, or can have any manner or combination of characteristics.
Voice is also a grammatical
term. A sentence can be written in either active or passive voice. A
simple way to tell the
difference is to remember that when the subject performs the action in a
sentence, the voice is active
(for example: "I sent the letter."); when the subject is acted upon,
the
voice is passive (for
example, "The letter was sent by me."
Writing Process:
The writing process consists
of five major stages: prewriting, writing drafts, revision, editing and
publication. The process is
not inflexible, but there is no mistaking the fact that most writers follow
some version of it most of
the time. Although orderly in its basic components and sequence of
activities, the writing
process is nonetheless continuous, creative and unique to each individual
writer.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Gloucester Poems
I was going to pass out Gloucester poem packets today but ran out of time.
Your assignment is to annotate* particular poems in the packet. (Look for your name below.)
Bring the poems and annotations to class on Monday, May 14.
Post a substantial commentary on the poems Monday night (or before).
Here are the poems each of you has been assigned:
Pauline C: Olson & Ferlinghetti's "The Sea and Ourselves at Cape Ann"
Katie R: Olson & Eliot's "Dry Salvages"
Jessie C: Olson & Crane's excerpts from Sea Birds
Matt C: Olson & Moody's "Gloucester Moors"
Meryl G: Olson & Crane's excerpts from Sea Birds
Romy H: Olson & Moody's "Gloucester Moors"
Rachel M: Olson & Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
Winslow P: Olson & Ferlinghetti's "The Sea and Ourselves at Cape Ann"
Elizabeth S: Olson & Lansing's three poems from Heavenly Tree Soluble Forest
Danielle P: Olson & Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
Abby A: Olson & Dorn's "From Gloucester Out"
Maddy M: Olson & Eliot's "Dry Salvages"
Zoe P: Olson & Dorn's "From Gloucester Out"
Mr. J. Cook: Olson & Lansing's three poems from Heavenly Tree Soluble Forest
You'll each get a hard copy of the packet on Friday but I've attached a copy to an email I've sent to you in case you want to get started and/or in case you prefer to read on the computer.
*Annotating poems is a little different from annotating prose passages. Use whatever is useful in the following three methods. (1) To help take notes on what the poems "says" (both literally and figuratively), on how the poems "play" with language (rhymes, rhythms, alliteration, metaphors, puns, allusions, spacing on the page), and on what the saying and playing might "suggest" or imply". This is say-play-imply annotation. (2) Also annotate based on the SOAPSTone method. Think about the poem's speaker, the occasion, the audience, the purpose, the subject, and the tone. (3) Finally, consider the TPCASTT method. Think about the title, a paraphrase, connotations of words and images, the speaker's attitude (or tone), shifts in the poem's structure, reconsider the poem's title now that you have read it thoroughly, and end by considering themes. (4) Write down very specific questions that might help us generate meaning and a richer experience of the poems.
See you Monday.
all the best,
Mr. James Cook
Your assignment is to annotate* particular poems in the packet. (Look for your name below.)
Bring the poems and annotations to class on Monday, May 14.
Post a substantial commentary on the poems Monday night (or before).
Here are the poems each of you has been assigned:
Pauline C: Olson & Ferlinghetti's "The Sea and Ourselves at Cape Ann"
Katie R: Olson & Eliot's "Dry Salvages"
Jessie C: Olson & Crane's excerpts from Sea Birds
Matt C: Olson & Moody's "Gloucester Moors"
Meryl G: Olson & Crane's excerpts from Sea Birds
Romy H: Olson & Moody's "Gloucester Moors"
Rachel M: Olson & Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
Winslow P: Olson & Ferlinghetti's "The Sea and Ourselves at Cape Ann"
Elizabeth S: Olson & Lansing's three poems from Heavenly Tree Soluble Forest
Danielle P: Olson & Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
Abby A: Olson & Dorn's "From Gloucester Out"
Maddy M: Olson & Eliot's "Dry Salvages"
Zoe P: Olson & Dorn's "From Gloucester Out"
Mr. J. Cook: Olson & Lansing's three poems from Heavenly Tree Soluble Forest
You'll each get a hard copy of the packet on Friday but I've attached a copy to an email I've sent to you in case you want to get started and/or in case you prefer to read on the computer.
*Annotating poems is a little different from annotating prose passages. Use whatever is useful in the following three methods. (1) To help take notes on what the poems "says" (both literally and figuratively), on how the poems "play" with language (rhymes, rhythms, alliteration, metaphors, puns, allusions, spacing on the page), and on what the saying and playing might "suggest" or imply". This is say-play-imply annotation. (2) Also annotate based on the SOAPSTone method. Think about the poem's speaker, the occasion, the audience, the purpose, the subject, and the tone. (3) Finally, consider the TPCASTT method. Think about the title, a paraphrase, connotations of words and images, the speaker's attitude (or tone), shifts in the poem's structure, reconsider the poem's title now that you have read it thoroughly, and end by considering themes. (4) Write down very specific questions that might help us generate meaning and a richer experience of the poems.
See you Monday.
all the best,
Mr. James Cook
Friday, May 4, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis of "Why Bother?" by Jonathan Franzen
In the passages selected from Jonathan Franzen's essay "Why Bother?," which you have read and annotated, Franzen explores issues related to the question, "why bother reading and writing fiction?" Take forty minutes or so to plan and write a short essay in which you analyze the strategies--such as but not limited to allusions, selection of detail, personal anecdote, expert testimony--Franzen uses to develop his perspective on reading and writing novels in our time.
Do this before class on Monday.
Do this before class on Monday.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Responding to "Teacher Fired over Trayvon Martin Fundraiser"
Responding to "Teacher Fired over Trayvon Martin Fundraiser"
I've written the prompt below in the form of an SAT English essay question.
For a general overview of the SAT essay click here.
For sample SAT essay prompts go here.
Find example essays and scoring information here.
I've written the prompt below in the form of an SAT English essay question.
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
~
"There is a reason Michigan's English Language Proficiency Standards call for students to 'engage in challenging and purposeful learning that blends their experiences with content knowledge and real-world applications.' Students learn better this way. Real life is not clean. It is not clear cut. It is not safe. But it is the world our students live in and they will be required to navigate it as adults. Teachers must bring this outside world into the classroom."
~
Assignment: Should teachers bring the outside world into the classroom? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this
issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your
reading, studies, experience, or observations.
***For a general overview of the SAT essay click here.
For sample SAT essay prompts go here.
Find example essays and scoring information here.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Over Vacation
Nothing will be due on the Monday we return but there are two assignments you could work on.
1. Work on the third set of AP Language multiple choice questions. (The one that begins "With Imagination in the popular sense...") This will be due on Tuesday, April 24.
2. Work on the assignment pasted below. It will be due on Monday, April 30.
Respond personally. Do you agree or disagree with the depiction? Are you skeptical? Are you surprised? Do you have a personal or family connection to the way Gloucester is depicted in the quotation? (Show me that you are reading with your head and your heart.)
Ask and suggest answers to questions of your own.
To help generate responses remember the essential questions:
How do writers depict Gloucester? How are the differing depictions significant? What's at stake in differing projections of the polis? (How is Gloucester used by the writer? What does the writer suggest about Gloucester? Does Gloucester seem to represent something -- an ideal, an alternative, a warning, a trap, a set of values -- in the book? Does Gloucester’s identity seem static (staying the same) or fluid (always changing)?
1. Work on the third set of AP Language multiple choice questions. (The one that begins "With Imagination in the popular sense...") This will be due on Tuesday, April 24.
2. Work on the assignment pasted below. It will be due on Monday, April 30.
Directions:
Over the next two weeks you
will read a narrative (options are listed below*) in which depictions of Gloucester
-- or parts of Gloucester
-- play a significant role.
While you read you will maintain a double-entry journal, which will be collected on Monday, April 30.
Read the directions carefully.
On the left side of your journal you will record quotations from throughout the book -- at least ten.
Select quotations in which some aspect of Gloucester -- people in or from Gloucester, places in Gloucester, the history of Gloucester, etc. -- is depicted or in which a direct statement about Gloucester is offered. Choose passages that seem significant in presenting a particular perspective on Gloucester and set of perceptions about Gloucester. (Note: If your book has sections that do not deal with Gloucester you may select up to five quotations that are not directly related to Gloucester people, places, history, etc. These quotations should still be significant in some way to the book as a whole.) Also, make sure you choose passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the book. You will write down each quotation and the page on which you found it.
On the right side of your journal you will respond to the quotation.
Make inferences. What does the depiction of Gloucester suggest? How is it significant? What does it seem to mean?
While you read you will maintain a double-entry journal, which will be collected on Monday, April 30.
Read the directions carefully.
On the left side of your journal you will record quotations from throughout the book -- at least ten.
Select quotations in which some aspect of Gloucester -- people in or from Gloucester, places in Gloucester, the history of Gloucester, etc. -- is depicted or in which a direct statement about Gloucester is offered. Choose passages that seem significant in presenting a particular perspective on Gloucester and set of perceptions about Gloucester. (Note: If your book has sections that do not deal with Gloucester you may select up to five quotations that are not directly related to Gloucester people, places, history, etc. These quotations should still be significant in some way to the book as a whole.) Also, make sure you choose passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the book. You will write down each quotation and the page on which you found it.
On the right side of your journal you will respond to the quotation.
Make inferences. What does the depiction of Gloucester suggest? How is it significant? What does it seem to mean?
Respond to how the way the
book is written contributes to its meaning, especially its depiction of Gloucester. Think about
narrative voice, characterization, imagery, selection of detail, conflict,
theme, etc. Think about the connection between the quotation and the book as a
whole.
Respond personally. Do you agree or disagree with the depiction? Are you skeptical? Are you surprised? Do you have a personal or family connection to the way Gloucester is depicted in the quotation? (Show me that you are reading with your head and your heart.)
To help generate responses remember the essential questions:
How do writers depict Gloucester? How are the differing depictions significant? What's at stake in differing projections of the polis? (How is Gloucester used by the writer? What does the writer suggest about Gloucester? Does Gloucester seem to represent something -- an ideal, an alternative, a warning, a trap, a set of values -- in the book? Does Gloucester’s identity seem static (staying the same) or fluid (always changing)?
* Some Gloucester-Related Narratives
All of these works can be found at Sawyer Free Library. Many can be found in the GHS library.
All of these works can be found at Sawyer Free Library. Many can be found in the GHS library.
FICTION
Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling
Out
of Gloucester by James B. Connolly
The
Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant (three copies in the GHS library)
Broken Trip
by Peter Anastas
Decline of Fishes by Peter Anastas (two copies in the library)
Prologos, Gloucesterbook, Gloucestertide,
or Gloucestermas by Jonathan Bayliss
The Siege of Salt Cove by Anthony Weller (in library)
NONFICTION
The Perfect Storm
by Sebastian Junger (four copies in the library)
Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New
England Ghost Town by Elyssa East
The
Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky (seven copies in the library)
The
Finest Kind: the Fishermen of Gloucester by Kim Bartlett (copies in the
library)
Cape
Ann, Cape America by Herbert Kenny (copies in the library)
Hammers
on Stone (quarrying) and A Village at Lane's Cove by Barbara
Erkkila
Voices
(an ethnographic study of Fiesta
in the 1970s) by Richard M. Swiderski
When Gloucester
Was Gloucester (a series of oral histories about Gloucester in the mid
and
early twentieth century) edited by Peter Anastas and Peter Parsons
The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw (copies in the library)
Gone Boy
by Gregory Gibson (one copy in the library)
At the Cut by Peter
Anastas
The
Lone Voyager (about Howard Blackburn) by Joseph Garland (twenty-four
copies in
the
library)
The
Fish and the Falcon (about Gloucester's
involvement in the War (formerly called
Guns
Off Gloucester) by Joseph Garland
(two copies in the library)
History
of Gloucester by John Babson
(copies in the library)
Pringle
(copies in the library)
DRAMA
New
England Blue: 6 Plays of Working-Class Life by Israel Horowitz (in GHS
library)
There are other books in
which depictions of Gloucester
plays a significant role. If you’d like to read something not on this list ask
me or send me an email. I’ll let you know if the book is appropriate for the
assignment.
Postscript
Here a couple collections
of poetry you could read to fulfill the assignment’s expectations.
POETRY
The Maximus Poems by
Charles Olson (in GHS library)
Know Fish by Vincent Ferrini (in GHS
library)
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