Wonder of Wonders, a Blog Post!

The Finale

I hope you have (or will have had by the time you read this) a happy and safe time at Prom and all associated events.  A few years ago, prom was the Saturday night before senior finals began on Monday.  That year things really were over by then.  This year . . . just a few steps to go.

1.  Here is the updated version of the Sound Track group project; note that it contains the link for putting your music into my Dropbox as well as some final instructions about a cover sheet for the hard copy material.
Sound Track Project

2. And here is the corrected copy of the final essay (individual) with the intended Choice C for Tess instead of the accidental duplication that's on the hand-out I distributed today.
Final Out-of-Class Essay

3.  Now, the other assignment is a group event, and you really can't start until your group receives its designated passage as determined by either the luck of the draw or the throw of the dice. But just for those who missed class today, be aware that there will be a passage analysis that incorporates both the focus on the passage expected in your prior AP work as well as connections that you and your group will make with other significant aspects of the novel.  The formal hand-out for this will be distributed on Monday, and except for the music presentations during part of Tues/Wed, you'll have next week in class to work on this.

By the time you have participated in both group projects and written your final essay, I sincerely hope that you will be well prepared for a straightforward GradeCam test over your book on Tuesday, June 9.  Then you will be, really and truly, done with high school English.

TODAY IN CLASS
Yesterday's AP Lit Exam:  Without any reference to unauthorized disclosures, we talked about vocabulary (vs. literary terms) and the extent to which limited vocabulary could affect understanding of passages, questions, or specific response choices on the AP exam.

Then I tried to provide some sort of overview for deciding which novel you want to read for the final month of school without giving too much away.  Options:
Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles

People who were gone for testing or otherwise absent today--I really don't want to summarize all I said here.  You could ask some friends, or wait until tomorrow.  BUT read through the following hypotheticals:

• If you already have one or the other, then do the one you have in hand (time is of the essence here).
• If you have both, you might bring them both tomorrow. Decide in class, and perhaps loan the other text to someone else.
• If you have neither one--In class tomorrow I will have some Chapter 1 copies of Song of Solomon; Tess is available in an e-text that can be read online or downloaded for free.  

So I actually expect that during class you will be able to get started, one way or another.  Reading will be our primary agenda tomorrow.

1.  Here is a useful set of reminders:  Advice to Young AP Students
      (with a nod to bowdlerized versions of Herrick's carpe diem poem title)

2. With nearly half of you not taking the exam, and a "real" multiple choice test taking 60 minutes, we haven't done a whole one since early in the year.  Every one is different, they are meant to be hard, and the main reason for "practicing" is to realize that the questions are difficult so that you don't panic if you think you aren't doing well.  But IF you would like to practice on your own, and would genuinely do so, you can pick one up tomorrow.

3. Everyone who is not in class tomorrow because of the Calculus tests please stop by between afternoon classes or at the end of the day.  I completely left at home today something I really want you to see.

4.  For tomorrow, DO remember to read the "Arun" passage (on the back of "One Art") and think through how you would respond to that passage.  (15 min. or so)

5.  And for tomorrow (just added, but if you can, try to do this), review "My Last Duchess" and be prepared to say HOW we know what happened to the Duchess and what, if you were the emissary, you would tell your employer when you return. (another 15 min. or so).  You should have already read this because it was in Ch. 7 (Figurative Language 3), assigned in the schedule last Monday. 

6.  On your own between now and Wednesday--Just think through . . . .
a) Use the Question 3's for Crime and Punishment to review that--choose several.
b) Imagine which ones of those might (could) apply to other works we have done.


Works We Have Read that You Should Have Well in Mind for Wednesday:

Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (use this one only if it appears on the list of suggested works)
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

It would be good to have one or two works from prior years of study IF you feel you know them well already and are willing to invest some review time (or even Shmoop time--never use it instead of reading, but it actually is a pretty good source for helping you remember and refresh. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby would probably be my top choice here.

A Vegetable Blog--Keep Checking Back to See How It Grows

Works We Have Read that You Should Have Well in Mind for Wednesday:

Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (use this one only if it appears on the list of suggested works)
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

It would be good to have one or two works from prior years of study IF you feel you know them well already and are willing to invest some review time (or even Shmoop time--never use it instead of reading, but it actually is a pretty good source for helping you remember and refresh. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby would probably be my top choice here.

Make sure that you've followed the schedule for Perinne from Monday.
The material is written directly for student use.  You get out what you put in . . .  A teacher does not need to filter this. So continue to study/review as needed. 

For people not taking the AP exam on Wednesday, remember that you still come to class; there will be a poetry timed write that will serve as your assessment for poetry.