Course Description

Bring The Sound and the Fury to class so we can start working with it on Monday and Tuesday.  Go back to the earlier announcement for the semester exam review and use it for AP Exam review.  Continue to work on Bedford Reader assignments on the nights you have the books at home.  We will be selecting our final book soon.  You can check out the previous list in the 4th quarter folder.

I hope you are enjoying the snow!  If you want to get ahead so your return to school is less stressful, consider working on any of the following:

If possible, pick up a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and begin reading.  We will be focusing on six different critical perspectives as we read this text.  Each group will read from a different critical perspective: feminist, topical/historical, psychological/psychoanalytic, Marxist/economic determinist, archetypal/symbolic/mythic, and moral/intellectual.  You read about these in an article I distributed during first quarter.  The author discussed these critical perspectives as they relate to Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.”  If you contact your group members, you can send me an email request for the perspective you prefer.  Send me a second choice in case another group is faster than you are.

Divide the second set of literary terms in your syllabus into six sections.  Assign them in order to each of the six groups.  Assign them to your group members, and ask someone to be the liaison (receive emails from group members and email total list to me).  Send me words, definitions, and examples.

Each group will also be responsible for reading a section of literary history background in your textbook.  I assigned this in one class but not the other. Group 1 will be responsible for Unit 1, Group 2 for Unit 2, etc.  Read the pages at the beginning of each Unit (before the actual story and poem selections) and take notes.  Later each group will be responsible for a presentation to the class, during which you will teach the class the important information from your section.

We will finish reading The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail whenever we return to class.  Remember to complete your responses to the quotes you picked out from the play.  You need 150 words minimum per quote in which you connect the quote to yourself personally and to today’s society.  I will collect this as soon as I see you at the beginning of class.  Be sure you can also show me that you started your character list with notes on what they stand for, what they believe in, and the roles they play.  I will check your progress on these, but I won’t collect them until after the quiz.  The list should help you prepare for the quiz, which will take place the day after we finish reading the play.

 

Of course reading and writing for pleasure, snowman building, and sledding are also encouraged!

 

A sample synthesis question (the one I showed you in class) can be found at the following address: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap05_englang_synthesi_46827.pdf

You are most prepared for this question because of the length of time we spent on the research paper.
 

 APLC Exam

• 1 55-minute Synthesis Essay (like research paper and DBQ)

To prepare for this essay, go to the following website and read the article, “Preparing for the Synthesis Question: Six Moves Toward Success”: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/51307.html

Remember you are formulating your own thesis in response to the question and supporting your thesis with material from the sources. You are not summarizing sources. Don’t forget to document your sources.

• 1 40-minute Passage Analysis Essay (like Civil War, Arthur Miller, and Gatsby Timed Writings—asks you to analyze devices and to explain how they communicate meaning).  

To prepare for this essay, study your literary terms from the recent test. You might also look at the future terms in your syllabus just to refresh you memory on the ones you know.  

Remember to consider the following on any passage analysis:
o The three appeals: Logos (logical or rational appeal), Pathos (Emotional appeal) and Ethos (Ethical appeal)
o SOAP (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose; Go to the following website for additional help: http://sfhsenglish.com/English%20Handouts/SOAP.pdf) [Sometimes an “S” is added to make SOAPS. The final “S” indicates Speaker or Structure or Syntax.]
o Modes or Patterns of discourse to describe essay structure: Description, Narration, Cause & Effect, Classification, Definition, Comparison, Contrast, Exemplification, Evaluation
o When asked to write about Rhetorical Strategies & Devices, be sure to consider addressing Diction, Details, Figurative Language, Imagery, Symbolism, Tone, Syntax. Also consider how you can include any of the literary terms you know in your analysis of the passage.
o Be sure your thesis addresses both parts of the question: usually part is about tone, purpose, or meaning and part is about rhetorical strategies.

• 1 approximately 40-minute Take-Home Essay (asks you to draw on your own experience, knowledge, understanding of literature, history, current events, popular culture, etc. to support your thesis)
To prepare for this essay, go to the following website and read the article, “The English Language Exam: Developing an Argument”: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/features/8495.html

 Question 3

(Suggested time—40 minutes) 
This question counts for one-third of the total essay section score.)

A weekly feature of The New York Times Magazine is a column by Randy Cohen called “The Ethicist,” in which people raise ethical questions to which Cohen provides answers. The question below is from the column that appeared on April 4, 2003.

At my high school, various clubs and organizations sponsor charity drives, asking students to bring in money, food, and clothing. Some teachers offer bonus points on tests and final averages as incentives to participate. Some parents believe that this sends a morally wrong message, undermining the value of charity as a selfless act. Is the exchange of donations for grades O.K.?

The practice of offering incentives for charitable acts is widespread, from school projects to fund drives by organizations such as public television stations, to federal income tax deductions for contributions to charities. In a well-written essay, develop a position on the ethics of offering incentives for charitable acts. Support your position with evidence from your reading, observation, and/or experience.

Stop

End of Exam

 End of First Semester 3rd Period Schedule

Thurs. 1/7 Gatsby Ch. 7/ Passage 8 MC Practice
Mon. 1/11 Gatsby Final Day Ch’s 8/9 & Timed Writing
Wed. 1/13 Gatsby Quiz; Words of the Week Test
Fri. 1/15 Timed Writing; Literary Terms Review
Wed. 1/20 Literary Terms Test;  Exam Review
Fri. 1/22 Exam Review

EXAMS START 1/26

Literary Terms Set 1

     1.      Allegory is a story or tale with two or more levels of meaning –a literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, setting, and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas or qualities.

2.      Allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. Writers often make allusions from the Bible, to Greek and Roman myths, to plays by Shakespeare, to political and historical events, and to other materials with which they can expect their readers to be familiar

3.      Ambiguity is the effect created when words suggest and support two or more divergent interpretations. Ambiguity may be used in literature to express experiences or truths that are complex or contradictory. Ambiguity often derives from the fact that words have multiple meanings.

4.      Analogy is an extended comparison of relationships. It is based on the idea that the relationship between one pair of things is like the relationship between another pair. Unlike a metaphor, an analogy involves an explicit comparison, often using the words like or as.

5.      Antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist. The conflict between the antagonist and the protagonist is the basis for the plot.

6.      Aphorism is a general truth or observation about life, usually state concisely. Often witty and wise, aphorisms appear in many kinds of works.

7.      Argument is a form of discourse in which reason is used to influence or change people’s ideas or actions.

8.      Autobiography is a form on nonfiction in which a person tells his or her own life story.

9.      Biography is a form of nonfiction in which a writer tells the life story of another person.

10.  Character is a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.

11.  Classicism is an approach to literature and the other arts that stresses reason, balance, clarity, ideal beauty, and orderly from in imitation of the arts of ancient Greece and Rome

12.  Climax is the high point of interest or suspense in a literary work. Climax is an arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance. The climax generally appears near the end of a story, play, or narrative poem.

13.  Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. The conflict can be external or internal.  Conflict is one of the primary elements of narrative literature because most plots develop from conflicts.

14.  Connotation is an association that a word calls to mind in addition to the dictionary meaning of the word. Many words that are similar in their dictionary meanings or denotations are quite different in their connotations.

15.  Denotation is a word’s objective meaning, independent of other associations that the word brings to mind.

16.  Description is a portrayal, in words, of something that can be perceived by the senses. Writers create descriptions by using images.

17.  Diction is a writer’s or speaker’s word choice. Diction is part of a writer’s style and may be described as formal or informal, plain or ornate, common or technical, abstractor concrete.

18.  Essay is a short nonfiction work about a particular subject. Essays can be classified as formal or informal, personal or impersonal. Modes of discourse, such as expository, descriptive, persuasive, or narrative, are other means of classifying essays.

19.  Exposition is writing or speech that explains, informs, or presents information. The main techniques of expository writing include analysis, classification, comparison and contrast, definition, and exemplification, or illustration. In a story or play, the exposition is that part of the plot that introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation.

20.  Figure of Speech is an expression or a word used imaginatively rather than literally.

21.  Flashback is a section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of events to relate an event from an earlier time. A writer may present a flashback as a character’s memory or recollection, as part of an account or story told by a character, as a dream or a daydream, or simply by having the narrator switch to time in the past.

22.  Foil is a character that provides a contrast to another character.

 

 

Foreshadowing-foreshadowing in a literary work is the use of clues to suggest events that have yet to occur.

forms of discourse-rhetorical strategy using sensory details to portray a person, place, or thing using narration, description, exposition, and argument.

Harlem Renaissance-The Harlem Renaissance, which occurred during the 1920's, was a time of African American artistic creativity centered in Harlem, in New York City. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance include Countee Cullen, Claude
McKay, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes.



26) Hyperbole



(as defined in the textbook) "a deliberate exxaggeration or overstatement, ofter used for a comic effect"

(as defined in the handout)"the use if exaggerated terms for the purpose if emphasis or heightened effect"



example: "it's really ironical...I have grey hair. I really do. The one side of my head-the right side-is full of millions of grey hairs"-Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye



27) Imagery



(as defined in the textbook) "tHe descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. These pictures are created by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement"



example: "Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies" Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

28) Imagism



(as defined in the textbook) "literary movement that flourished between 1912 and 1927. Led by Erza Pound and Amy Lowell, the Imagist poets rejected 19th century poetic forms and language. Instead, they wrote short poems that used orginary language and free verse ti create sharp, exact, concentrated pictures.

32) metaphor- A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. The identification suggests a comparison between the two things that have something in common, as in "death is a long sleep."

A mixed metaphor occurs when two metaphors are jumbled together. For example, thorns and rain are illogically mixed in "the thorns of life rained down on him."

A dead metaphor is one that has been overused and has become a common expression, such as "the arm of the chair" or "nightfall."


33) motivation- a reason that explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions or speech. Characters are motivated by their values and by their wants, desires, dreams, wishes and needs. Sometimes the reasons for a character's actions are stated directly, as in Willa Cather's "A Wagner Matinee" (pg. 670), when Clark explains his reception of his aunt by saying, "I owed to this woman most of the good that ever came my way in my boyhood." At other times, the writer will just suggest a character's motivation.



example: "I make a pact with you, Walt Whitman - I have detested you long enough. I come to you as a grown childWho has had a pig-headed father; I am old enough now to make friends. It was you that broke the new wood, Now is a time for carving. We have one sap and one root - Let there be commerce between us" -ThePact by Erza Pound

34. narrative- a story told in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama, often classified by their content or purpose

35. naturalism- a literary movement among novelists at the end of the 19th century and during the early decades of the 20th century, followers viewed people as hapless victims of immutable natural laws

36. novel- a long work of fiction, often has a complicated plot, many major and minor characters, a significant theme, and several varied settings



Incongruity-use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.

(irony)
Irony-use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning
of the word.(incongruity) EX: For Brutus is an honorable man

Local color-use in a literary work of characters and details unique to a particular area. It
can be created by the use of dialect and by descriptions of customs, clothing, manners,
attitudes, and landscape. Local color stories were especially popular after the Civil War,
bringing readers the West of Bret Harte and the Mississippi River of Mark Twain.
 
-Plot- storyline, plan or main story of a literary or dramatic work as a play, novel, or short story.
  Includes using rising action, climax (most dramatic) and falling action.
  Also includes protagonists (hero or central character) and antagonists (person who creates conflict)
-Point of View- the position of the narrator in relation to the story as indicated by the narrator's outlook from events depicted and by the attitude of the characters.
  1st person- the person speaking tells the story from his/her perspective "I"
  3rd person- onlooker, uses he/she
  3rd person- omniscient- can see what each character is thinking 

-Style: A writer's style includes word choice, tone, degree of formality, figurative language, rhythm, grammatical structure, sentence length, organization- in short, every feature of a writer's use of language. 
-Suspense: is a feeling of growing uncertainty about the outcome of events. Writers create suspense by using questions in the minds of their readers. It builds until the climax of the plot, at which the suspense reaches its peak. 

-Symbol: Symbols is a word or object that stands for another word or object.
-Symbolism: The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas.

-Realism- is the presentation in art of the details of actual life. Realism was also a literary movement that began during the nineteenth century and stressed the actual as opposed to the imagined or the fanciful. The Realists tried to write objectively about ordinary characters in ordinary situations. They reacted against Romanticism, rejecting heroic, adventurous, or unfamiliar subjects.

-Resolution- it is after the end of a story, and events that occur after the resolution make up the denouement.

-Transcendentalism 

n. 

1. A literary and philosophical movement, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition.

-Assonance 

n. 

42 Personification: Figure of speech in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
 
43 Persuasion: Writing or speech that attempts to convince a reader to think or act in a particular way
 
44: Plain style: A type of writing in which uncomplicated sentences and ordinary words are used to make simple, direct statements
1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats).

2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills.

3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement

-Setting- the Setting of a literary work is the time and place of the action. A setting may serve any number of functions. It may provide a background for the action. It may be a crucial element in the plot or central conflict. It may also create a certain emotional atmosphere, or mood.

-Tone –noun 

1. A particular style or manner, as of writing or speech; mood: the macabre tone of Poe's stories.  

2. Prevailing character or style, as of manners, morals, or philosophical outlook:  

-Theme –noun 

1. a short, informal essay, esp. a school composition. 

2. Grammar. The element common to all or most of the forms of an inflectional paradigm, often consisting of a root with certain formative elements or modifications. Compare stem 1 (def. 16). 

3. Linguistics. Topic (def. 4).  

4. Also, thema. An administrative division of the Byzantine Empire.

1. paradox-a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth

2. parallelism-agreement in direction, tendency, or character; the state or condition of being parallel

3. pastoral-a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.

Woodbridge Senior High School Word of the Week

First Nine Weeks 2009-2010

Each week a new SAT word will be announced on the morning announcements. Each word will also be posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway and will be made available on the school Web Site. 

         

Week	SAT Term, Definition, Sentence
1	harbinger  n. [ hrbinjər ]  a sign of, forerunner ·       When I see crocuses in my garden it brings a smile to my face because it is a harbinger of spring and warmer weather is right around the corner.
2	tedium  n.   [ tdee əm ] boredom ·       I made a list of games we could play in the car so that the tedium of a   long car trip would not get to us
3	venerated  v.  [ vénnə ràyt ]   respected, admired ·       The Indian tribe venerated their ancestors.
4	zealous  adj. [ zélləss ]  eager, enthusiastic ·       She was so zealous in her desire to please that she often worked right through her lunch break.
5	belligerent  [ bə líjjərənt ] adj.   hostile, harsh ·       The belligerent group had to be restrained from breaking into     the president's office
6	eccentric [ ik séntrik, ek séntrik ] adj.   odd, strange ·       The old man was so eccentric that they were told not to "trick or treat" at his house.

 

 

 

 

 

7	labyrinth  [ lábbərìnth ] n.    maze ·       They went into the labyrinth at the amusement park and couldn't find their way out.
8	quandary  [ kwóndəree, kwóndree ] n.   a state of perplexity or uncertainty; a predicament.  ·       The traveler was in a quandary after he lost his map and wallet.
9	sagacious  [ sə gáyshəss ] adj.   wise, shrewd ·       His sagacious abilities made us listen when it came time to invest our money in the stock market.
10	capricious  adj.  [ kə príshəss, kə prshəss ] indecisive, fickle ·       Her capricious nature made it hard for her to move up the      corporate ladder.

Second Nine Weeks Word of the Week

1.     querulous  adj.  [ kwérrələss, kwérryələss ]  inclined to complain

The querulous child complained when his mom wouldn’t buy him ice cream.

2.     decorous   [ dékərəss, di káwrəss ] adj.   proper, polite, well-mannered

His decorous behavior made it easy for us to enjoy his company.

3.     insipid  [ in síppid ] adj.   dull, uninteresting, boring

She did not have many friends because of her insipid personality.

4.     mandate  [ mán dàyt ] n.  order

It is a state mandate that students take four years of a foreign language.

5.     ravenous  [ rávvənəss ] adj.   hungry, starving

The ravenous bears totally destroyed the campsite looking for food.

6.     temperate  [ témprət, témpərət ] adj.   moderate, mild gentle

His temperate reaction during this tragedy helped to keep the others calm and focused.

7.     elated  [ i láyt ] adj.   overjoyed, very happy

He was elated when he won the scholarship to the prestigious university

8.     notorious [ nō táwree əss, nə táwree əss ] adj.   well-known, usually for a bad quality or reason

The notorious criminal was finally caught with the help of very alert bank employees.

9.     obstinate  [ óbstinət ] adj.   stubborn

The little boy was obstinate about eating pizza; nothing could be said to convince him to eat anything else.

10. unscrupulous [ un skrpyələss ] adj.   dishonest

She was fired from her job because of her unscrupulous behavior at work.

Third  Nine Weeks Words of the Week

 

1.      wax  [ waks ] adj.   increase, grow

She was able to wax her bank account because she saved a lot of money

    2. adulation  n.[ àjjəláysh'n ] praise, respect, worship

She was received with such adulation that they gave her a   standing ovation.

3.      demonstrative  adj.  [ dimónstrətiv ] characterized by the open expression of emotion.

    The couple was very demonstrative, holding hands every chance they had.

 

4.       refined  adj.  [ rifnd ] polite, well-bred

All the teachers enjoyed having such refined students in their classes.

  

    5. virtuoso  n.  [ vùrchooṓssō, vùrchooṓzō ]  an expert

He was a virtuoso when it came to playing the piano.

6. brevity  n.  [ brévvətee ]  conciseness, shortness

We were thrilled with the brevity of all of the speeches, which gave us more time to enjoy all of the day’s festivities.

7.      denigrate  v.[ dénnigràyt ] to put down verbally, criticize

They tried to denigrate the image of the rock star but no one believed them.

8.      heinous  adj.  [ háynəss ]  horrible, disgusting

The heinous crimes in the park made us all very nervous

9.       meticulous  adj.  [ mətíkyələss ]  very careful, paying attention to details.

My father is very meticulous when it comes to balancing his checkbook

 

 

 

 

 

The next Eddas Coffee House is plugged in. The band will be announced soon. It takes place in the lower cafeteria between 6 and 9:30 p.m. Cost is $5 for admission or $4 if you are performing or displaying artwork. Please sign up in the Eddas room--preferably by January 15th. Coffee and refreshments will be on sale at the coffee house. 

 Each class day please bring in a new revision of your research paper. During class we will be working with peer reviews, rubric scoring, and assembly lines for correcting documentation and formatting errors. Before Thanksgiving, print out an extra copy of your paper to give to me. Write your name, email address, and cell phone on the top of the paper in case I need to reach you with information that can't wait until after the holiday. Currently the final deadline is Dec. 1 and 2. If this changes, I will let you know before Thanksgiving.

 If you missed class or were unprepared for class, you should complete the following with a partner from your English class.  You can do this at home or after school in my room or in the library, but you must spend at least one hour doing it.
1) Read each other's draft for the big ideas.
2) Read "Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge" and talk to your partner about what kind of feedback you are ready for.
3) Reread the partner's paper with a pen in your hand and ask questions in the margin.
4) Answer the Self Evaluation Questions on P. 17 of the syllabus about your paper.
5) Answer the Peer Evaluation Questions on p. 17 of the syllabus about your partner's paper.
6) With your partner, get out three highlighters.  Together, highlight assertions (thesis and topic sentences) in one color, concrete details in a second color, and commentary in a third color.  Discuss what you are highlighting and agree which color is appropriate for each sentence of your paper.  
7) Discuss your peer evaluations and your next steps for your paper.
8) Turn all of this in to Mrs. Hailey for full credit if you were absent and part credit if you were unprepared for class.

We have continued with the seminars on CiR.  We will have one more next class, and we will take a quiz on the book.  I will cover the last two chapters next week.   If you haven't earned many participation points for the discussions of other seminars, you could do a DEN for the chapters you're missing or write a response about the significance of the chapters if you want. 

 

For the research paper, we have a typed introductory paragraph due next class.  The hook should follow one of the types of introductions from p. 15 of your syllabus (but not inquisitive) or some other creative approach.  The thesis should be the last sentence of your introduction.  Between the hook and the thesis you should provide the most necessary background information.  Remember if you have a lot of "statement of fact" to include, you might need to detail that in the second paragraph.

 You will also have an opportunity to take a retest for the Writing Process Quiz if you stay after school Thursday, Friday, or Monday.  I will be in the computer lab on Thursday to help anyone who is behind.  Any student who is at school and is behind on research paper steps should go to the library after school.

 

Do you know a band? Are you a member of a band? Then submit a request to play at the Eddas Coffee House!

Currently looking for a band for the January 20th Coffee House.

Eddas 2010 Spirography can be ordered now for $10!  The cost when it arrives in June will be $12.

Eddas 2009 Qualia is still on sale!

Cost Now Reduced to $10

Purchase in the Eddas room or outside the cafeteria when sales are set up.

 

We will be in the computer lab working on a "dump draft" and an outline following the classical argument.  We'll start by writing for 15-20 minutes without notes in response to the following overall questions:  What do you believe about your topic?  Write as if you are trying to convince someone who doesn't know much about your topic to take your position on the topic.  Write as fast as you can without stopping.  If your fingers slow down and want to stop, then write I don't know what to write next until you think of something better.  Include whatever facts or approximate facts you remember, but don't worry if they are accurate at this time.

 

Once you do that, print it, and read it over.  Highlight the most important ideas you find in your writing.  Compare these ideas to the arguments you wrote on your first outline.  Should you add more arguments?  Should you revise your thesis?  Should you group your arguments in a different way?  If your thesis is three pronged, do those three prongs represent the best three subtopics or arguments to support your thesis?  Think about these questions as you move to the next outline step.

 

Type the word Outline at the top of a page.  Type the word Thesis followed by a colon (:) Type a revised thesis.  Then begin an outline based on the five parts of classical discourse:

I Introduction

A. Hook (Ingratiate yourself with your audience and catch their attention.):

B. Thesis (Inform readers of your perspective/point of view/arguable point on your topic in a single declarative sentence.)

II. Statement of Fact (Background Information, Definition of Terms and/or Criteria, Explanation of the Problem  (Will all of this fit in the introductory paragraph between your hook and your thesis?  Or will your paper require a second paragraph that expands the Statement of Fact?

A

B

C

Etc.

III. Refutation (How will you refute the opposition’s arguments?  Will you offer any concessions? (accept that the opponent is right to some extent about anything?  Will you address all refutation early in your paper, or will you address different points as you proceed through your paper?

A

B

C

Etc.

IV. Affirmation (What are your major arguments in support of your thesis?  How will you support each of your arguments with evidence from your research?

A

B

C

D

Etc.

 

V. Conclusion

A. Remind readers of your major arguments

B. Reflect on the significance of ideas in your paper.

C. Relate out to your audience.

 

 

 The Great Gatsby Responses & DEN’s for Class Discussion
The entire collection of responses & DEN’s should be submitted on the Chapter 9 due date. We do insist that you write each assignment as you finish each chapter. Do not read the entire novel and then do all the assignments. Double-Entry Notebook assignments must include 10-12 items with commentary & page #’s. You should rank items according to the strategy of the literary seismograph. Response assignments should be a minimum of 300 words. Embed brief quotes from the text in your responses.

Chapter 1 DEN w/ seismograph numbers
Chapter 2 Discuss the ideas of breeding and social class in chapter 2.
Chapter 3 Discuss the development of Nick’s perception of Gatsby in chapter 3
Chapter 4 DEN w/ seismograph numbers
Chapter 5 Analyze the passage at the end of chapter 5 that begins with “As I went over to say goodbye,” and goes to the end of the chapter. Draft an essay that explains the significance of the passage in relation to major themes in the novel and describes the stylistic techniques Fitzgerald uses to get his point across. Remember to integrate your discussion of theme and techniques rather than addressing them separately. Since this is an AP practice assignment, try to limit your time to 40 minutes.
Chapter 6 Discuss how this chapter sheds light on Gatsby’s character.
Chapter 7 DEN w/ seismograph numbers
Chapter 8 DEN w/ seismograph numbers
Chapter 9 In Gatsby, Nick makes the observation that “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” In other words, reality can never measure up to the dreams we create for ourselves. Drawing on your own reading, observation, or experience to develop your position, defend, challenge or qualify Nick’s assertion.

OCR Set 1
The article for the first in-class response will be provided in class. You will write a longer response, more like an in-class essay, in 40-60 minutes, depending on time available. Dates will vary for each class.

OCR Set 2 
 Entry: Romanticism – After reading “Thanatopisis” and “The Raven,” identify the meter in which the poems are written and discuss the effect of this choice on the reader. The text will help you if you need a review of meter. Also discuss any other sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, slant rhyme, onomatopoeia, etc.) you notice in the poems. Additionally, all three of these authors are part of the Romantic movement. Review the definition of “Romanticism” from the notes you took in the first quarter and discuss how these authors’ works embody aspects of that definition. Consider each of the characteristics of Romanticism mentioned in the textbooks.
o Bryant: “Thanatopsis” [277] (150 words min.)
o Poe [gold 450-453]: “The Raven” [330] (150 words min.)

 Entry: Henry David Thoreau—During his life Thoreau wrote a great deal about individuality, society, and nature. Drawing on your own knowledge and experience, write a carefully reasoned essay defending, challenging or qualifying one of Thoreau’s quotes below:
o Any man more right than his neighbor constitutes a majority of one.—Civil Disobedience
o It takes two to speak the truth, one to speak and another to hear.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
o The perception of beauty is a moral test.—Journal. June 21, 1852
o That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.—Journal, March 11, 1856
o Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.—Walden. I, Economy
o Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.—Walden. I, Economy
o There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.—Walden. I, Economy
o To be awake is to be alive—Walden. II, Where I lived, and What I lived For
o Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.—Walden. XVIII, Conclusion
 Entry: Transcendentalism—Read the following, and be prepared to write an in-class response.
o Emerson: “Self-Reliance” [online; see Documents]
o Thoreau
 from “Civil Disobedience” [416]
 from Walden [406]

APLC Course Syllabus & Handbook--Everything You Wanted to Know about AP Language & Composition