Monday, November 29

Well kids, here we are on the home stretch. On this first day back from Thanksgiving here's what we did:

Class time in dyads to work on Chapter Analysis for the Monster Mosaic Project.
To access your chapter, click on the link above.

This is the last class period you will have to work on these. Divide and conquer whatever is remaining. Be ready to show these at the end of this week.

Friday, November 19

The LAST day before Thanksgiving Break!!!!

We began phase I of the Monster Mosaic Project - Chapter Analysis. I paired you up with another student in the class and assigned one chapter for you to analyze on our wikispace.

There are four elements that I'll be looking for in your pages:
1. Scope and Depth (Do you thoroughly answer each category?)
2. Academic Thought (Are your answers on par with our AP expectations?)
3. Creativity and Personality (Are you taking advantage of the freedom a wiki gives you to go beyond the dry material you often see concerning literature?)
4. Look and Feel (Is your page clean and easy to navigate?)

Block Day, November 17-18

I. Book check: I checked your Frankenstein books for the last set of annotations and discussion questions. Overall, I was pleased with the level of annotation that you delivered. For the next book, I'd like to work on adding literary terms and more connections as you notice them.

II. Discussion: We had a rousing discussion about the last set of chapters and the book in general. Each class was unique in its direction, but overall, I think the unanimous sentiment is that Victor Frankenstein is "extremely annoying". Most of you bristled at his selfishness and his uncanny ability to faint at the first sign of trouble - requiring at least three months of convalescence each time.

III. Monster Mosaic Project: I had you sign up for a Wikispace and we had a workshop on working with the WYSIWYG editor. Wow, what a wicked wealth of W words.

Tuesday, November 16

Today we took a Multiple Choice Post Test. It was comprised of two prose sections and had 24 questions.

Good Times.

Monday, November 15

1st, 2nd, 7th: We went over the created questions for Mr. Gradgrind. Congratulations to 7th period for garnering the most votes!

4th: We studied another MC passage on Criticism.

Things to keep in mind:
MC Post-Test Tuesday
Finish Frankenstein by Block Day
Work on your IRA - bonus if you turn it in before Christmas break.
*There is now a revised guide on studywiz.

Friday's Lesson

On Friday we had an extended time with our mythology unit. We heard the story of Mount Olympus and took quite a few notes about which gods and goddesses reside there. You need to know the following information about each one:

Greek Name
Roman Name
Symbols associated with them
What they typically represented

Then we finished our AP style questions for Mr. Gradgrind and input them into the google doc which you can find on studywiz.

Lit Terms and Frankenstein

1. Take Lit Terms II Test on Quizlet

2. Go over examples of good IRA documents

3. ejournal on one of your discussion questions

*check annotations and DQs

4. Discuss major themes in this section of the book, specifically the following questions:

Is the creature an invention or a creation of Victor?

Is the creature more or less human than Victor?

5. Create character or theme wordles (4th period)

Go to wordle.net
Choose a theme or character from the list below:
Victor
Walton
Creature
Elizabeth
Henry
Isolation
Ambition/Obsession
Responsibility
Nature vs. Nurture
Nature of Humanity
Doppelgangers
Familial Duty

Find textual examples of theme/character
add your own descriptions
make connections to other literary works/figures, movies, songs, or real world issues

Create Wordle and save as a pdf (or take a screenshot)

5. Read literary criticism and pull out major themes (see studywiz) (2nd period)

5. Class discussion using prepared questions (7th and 1st periods)

Creating MC Answers

1. Ejournal: What is your impression of Mr. Gradgrind? How does Dickens create this impression?
Discuss your response in groups -
Review annotating passage
What do you notice?
What words stand out?
What patterns emerge?
Paraphrase the 5 W’s
What do you think the tone of the passage is?
What does the author think of Mr. Gradgrind?

2. Each group gets 3 actual MC stems and creates 5 AP style answers.

Review 5 MC answer types:
1 – distractor
2- misleading of literal response
3 – dependent on careful reading of stem
4- two right answers – one more right

HOMEWORK: AP Lit Terms Test II Block Day; Frankenstein ch. 13-18 (annotation and 10 DQs)

Characterization and IRAs

Go over Maggie’s Book MC answers – discuss
Discuss elements of fiction from Maggie’s Book

Take notes on characterization
Types of Characters
Flat/Static
Round/Dynamic
Stock
*foil

Change {Conflict (internal and external)}

Coming of age (bildunsgromen)
Epiphany

Characterization Methods
Direct
Indirect
Speech
Thoughts
Effect on others
Actions
Looks
From Maggie’s Book
What do we know about the main characters?
What is their relationship to each other?
Do they change from beginning to end?
Do some characters see themselves differently than we see them?

Go over IRAs

HW: Annotate Hard Times passage (Studywiz), study for AP Lit Terms test Block Day, read Frankenstein ch. 13-18