1. Verse 15: "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
2. Close Reading Frankenstein.
Empathy Maps. Victor. Walton. Create.
which become . . . 6 Word Memoirs
and those in turn must be justified with evidence from the text . .
3. Examine test prep work from last week, if time allows.
Between now and next class . . .
Consider how Mary Shelley designed the narrative of Frankenstein and how we might demonstrate the impact of that narrative design (point of view, plot structure, conflict) on the novel's themes through LittleBits. Draw some diagrams. Doodle some notions. Work out some ideas. Be prepared to have text evidence to support your construction.
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY.
1. Synthesis Workshop. Big focus of the day. Bring working, feedback-worthy drafts of synthesis essay #3.
2. Little Bits & Frankenstein design lab: HMW demonstrate impact of Shelley's narrative design on the novel's themes via Little Bits?
SHOW YOUR THINKING.
Blog. DIFFUSION from Kouhei Nakama on Vimeo.
Using whatever tools or media you like, design the patterns that would decorate, camouflage or other wise cover the bodies of Victor, Walton and the Creature respectively. You needn't confine yourself to two-dimensions. Use text evidence to prove the intentional thinking behind your choices. Due. Monday/Tuesday. March 21.22.
Preview for Next Week.
Synthesis Essays Due Wednesday/Thursday.
Digging into Frankenstein each day.
Exploring creativity per the Romantics each day.
Reading Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" over the next weekend to gear up for Heart of Darkness.
READ.
Read Frankenstein for Monday/Tuesday, March 14/15.
WRITE.
Working Draft/Workshoppable Draft of Synthesis #3 for Wednesday/Thursday, March 16/17
BLOG.
Poetic Vocabulary.
Choose 6 Words of Merit/Note from Frankenstein.
Identify their definitions, usage, and use in Frankenstein.
THEN . . .
Use those 6 words to craft a SESTINA some or all of which that could serve as an effective EPIGRAPH to Frankenstein.
Due. Thursday, March 10.
ALSO.
2nd Round of Blogging Evidence for Standards Due Friday, Mar 11. IN CLASS ON MONDAY/TUESDAY.
"I would like them to complete 2 multiple choice test prep items. They are available here in the packet. Please give them only 30 minutes to complete those items. They may use the rest of the time to work on anything for class that they choose -- blog posts, synthesis essays, readings, etc. They know of all additional homework."
IN CLASS ON WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY.
What I told the sub. "Give the class 30 minutes to write to “The Crossing” writing prompt provided in the folder. After they write, they should use the rest of the class to look at the scored samples and determine their own scores. After reading the samples individually, I would like them to record their conversation about the challenges of writing to the prompt, what they discovered from looking at the samples, and how well they think they did. They may record it as video or audio, whichever they prefer. Please have them share their recording with me."
CLOSE READING.
Today we'll focus our energies on close readings of Frankenstein and then an exploration of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias."
We'll use GoSoapbox as a back channel for our discussion. Check your email for the access code.
We'll follow this with another essay workshop and time to connect to one another on the blogs, show you how to turn in your blog posts on our new tracking tool.
When working on your synthesis essays, keep these structural and contextual ideas in mind.
Also Mr. Ryder's feedback shorthand...
HOMEWORK.
Blog: 3+ Posts Req'd Creative Post: Casting Call. Cast a high quality new film version of Frankenstein. Justify your choices. Compose: Synthesis #1
Submit: First Submission Draft Due: Wednesday, Oct 1 Note: Submit as Google Doc; Place in AP Lit IN folder
After that, we took a look at the 20% Time Project Proposal form. This must be completed in detail and with proper spelling, punctuation, grammar and such as it is being treated as professional document.
I've embedded it there. You do not need to worry about the taxonomy spaces at this point in the game.
FRANKENSTEIN.
We started the 1931 Frankenstein film today. Our initial activities will be around the I Notice/I Wish/I Wonder Checking for Understanding form. This, as well as a F clip can be found under "shared with me."
HOMEWORK.
Be Thinking: How will you narrow and define your 20% time project.
Friday: We set up blogs, folks finish their I Notice/I Wish/I Wonder.
Writing Workshop: Synthesis Essay Intro & 1st Body Paragraph
Frankenstein Close Reading & Discussion
That was the plan. We did the first two. And the rest we will do on Friday. HOMEWORK. Blog: 3+ Posts Req'd Creative Posts: Use your media tool of choice to create a three song (at least) play list for Robert Walton on his voyage. Justify your choices.
Use Colourlovers.com to create a customized color palette for Frankenstein. Use the names of the colors to create meaning. Justify your choices.
Due: Friday, Sept 26 Read & Annotate: Frankenstein (Complete Chap 12.) Due: Friday, Sept 26 Hint: Annotations can make great blogging Write: Complete working draft of Synthesis Essay 1 Due: Friday, Sept 26 for workshopping
The intention was to reveal, through comparison, the qualities of a synthesis essay. And I think we were largely successful in so doing -- dealing with bigger ideas and truths that can be proven through evidence, pulling in ideas from disparate sources and experiences, and moving from analysis of taking apart into synthesis of putting ideas together.
And voice. Personality. A balance of the colloquial and conversational with the learned academic. These are the qualities of a synthesis essay.
And then we talked briefly about Frankenstein, our first novel of the year. HOMEWORK Due: Annotations on How to Read Lit Chap 1 Turn In?: Yes. Due: Annotations and 3x3 of "Miss Rosie"
Turn In?: No. Hold on.
Read & Annotate: Frankenstein (introduction and the letters) Due: Wednesday, 9/17
Pre-Write & Compose: Intro & thesis statement for 1st Synthesis Due: Wednesday, 9/17 for workshopping
Gather: Design Kits (Optional yet Encouraged) Due: ASAP (See Mr. Ryder if a struggle)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
AP Lit 2B/3B/3G: Tone, Diction, Frankenstein, and Art!
Today we started by revisiting one of our Frankenstein passages.
With the passage on the board we worked towards identifying the tone by circling and discussing the diction we thought contributed to tone. Together we decided on some very fitting tone words and created a thesis as if we were going to write an essay on tone and diction in the passage.
After that we decided it was much easier to work towards identifying tone in a passage on our own, and that's just what we did!
But we didn't stop there. We took it to the next level and drew a picture to block out everything but the words we thought contributed to tone. We then wrote individual theses based on our passages and constructed essays around them.
Though we're still exploring, we're getting a lot closer to really understanding the importance of understanding theme!
Just check out some of these awesome examples:
Blog: 3+ Posts Req'd Post: What are you passionate about? Write as much, draw as much, audio record as much, video as much as you can and post your passions. The subjects, the ideas, the interests that get you fired up -- that make you want to know as much as you can as fast as you can. Due: Friday, Mar 21 Reading: Read up until the bottom of page 91 in Heart of Darkness Due: Thursday, Mar 20 (2B, 3B) and Monday, Mar 24 (3G)
This week we started to tackle tone. Little word. Big deal.
We started with an on-demand of Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us"
Tone, the speaker's attitude toward the subject, may well be the most difficult literary device to identify and characterize. We know what we mean when we say "tone of voice," and yet identifying the tone evident in a poem or selection of prose can be prove daunting and make one want to smack one's self in the face with a wooden spoon. Repeatedly.
Remember how much we've talked about diction and its importance?
When it comes to tone, it isn't just the choice of words that matter. It's their placement, the syntax, the structure. And tone? Tone is all about what the audience hears in the words, making it one of the most human-centered design elements of the entire work.
For example. . .
This video is a presentation of Jonathan Reed's "Lost Generation." Look at what happens when the words simply arrive in reverse order.
In class we discussed the difference between tone & mood. (Tone contributes to the mood.) We determined that diction, syntax (word order in a sentence), structure (overall order of ideas), and context all contribute greatly to the tone.
For the first time all year, I think, I failed to take pictures of the board and all of the notes accumulated.
That was not wise.
With the weather being what it is, one of our lessons from these two weeks is going decidedly digital and will serve as the blog post for this week. It will NOT BE DUE UNTIL MONDAY, MARCH 17.
Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd:
Read, annotate & then exploring the connections & disconnections -- similarities, dissimilarities, threads, insights, reveals -- between the following poems. Consider also the subtitle of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus
I haven't been here this week, so Ms. Haskell and the rest of the folks in the room caught me up to the speeds. We looked at Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" as a class because so many folks have been absent recently.
We highlighted the contrasts of light and dark, the structure of the rhyme scheme, the presence of only two nouns per line, all working toward Byron's idea of maintaining balance. We then took a look at an excerpt from Frankenstein. I selected the opening paragraph from Chapter 20.
We explored the essential questions Shelley raises: responsibility for creation, playing Creator, progress vs safety and more.
More importantly, we examined HOW she builds these ideas through structure, parallelisms, diction and imagery.
We discussed how Shelley functions as a designer of her work, thinking about the effect the construction of her piece will have upon her chief user: the reader.
Hence, the lack of breaks in the paragraph, the building intensity, the exponential degrees of growth over the space of the passage, all there to get the reader feeling an overwhelming intensity.
If Shelley didn't employ empathy to achieve these ends, I'm not sure what she used.
Design. Build. Create.
Accept. Communicate. Trust.
HOMEWORK
Blog: 3+ Posts Req'd Post:UseColourlovers.com to create a custom palette of at least three colors relating to meaning in Frankenstein. You will need to name the palette and each color within it. Be certain to choose purposeful names and push your self to go beyond the concrete. (Concrete: "blue sky" because the sky was blue.) Due: March 7 Complete: Synthesis #3 Due: Mar 7
