Calling All Acting Companies: December 2, 2019

Focus: How can performance deepen our understanding of Shakespeare's characters and conflicts?

1. Warming with three good things and five minutes to get thyself ready

2. Performing Acts 2 and 3 of A Midsummer Night's Dream; using each other's opening questions and selected passages to analyze each scene

HW:
1. (Optional) By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).

2. WEDNESDAY this week will be a paper/project work day. Bring what you need.

3. Next MONDAY, DEC 9: Papers/projects due.

Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

This has been your only A.P. Literature homework for the past 23 nights. Please make sure that your final product is college-worthy.

Prepping the Performance, Take 2: November 21, 2019

Focus: How can preparing a performance deepen our understanding of Shakespeare's characters?

1. Warming up with a mini lesson on inversion

2. Perusing the rubric and clarifying expectations

3. Deciding on your opening question and passage for close reading (I will put them on a single slideshow); making directorial choices and rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing

4. If possible, delivering our first performance

HW:
1. By TOMORROW: Complete the brainstorming phase of your paper/project.

• If you're doing the project, complete the attached plan in your packet.
• If you're doing the paper, complete your thesis and a rough outline. 
• E-mail me, submit hard copies, or stop in for a quick chat.

2. (Optional) By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).

Heads-up! December 9-10: Poetry papers and project are due. Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Please plan ahead and spread this out over the next few weeks. You will have one work day in class, but this is largely designed to be an independent, college-style assignment.

Prepping the Performance, Take 1: November 20, 2019

Focus: How can preparing a performance help us understand A Midsummer Night's Dream?

1. Warming up by backtracking to Pyramus and Thisbe, then reading 1.2 with human subtitles

• What do you notice about these characters as a group?

• What do you notice about Bottom in particular?

• Why did Shakespeare put these guys in charge of Pyramus and Thisbe?

2. Getting into Acting Companies and reading through Act 2 and 3 scenes

Acting Company #1: 2.2

Acting Company #2: 3.1.1-100

Acting Company #3: 3.1.101-208

Acting Company #4: 3.2.1-111

Acting Company #5: 3.2.112-180

3. Reading through the scene, understanding the characters and plot, and selecting a passage for close reading

4. Making directorial choices

*Performances will all take place this Friday.*

HW:
1. By Friday, November 22: Complete the brainstorming phase of your paper/project.

• If you're doing the project, complete the attached plan in your packet.
• If you're doing the paper, complete your thesis and a rough outline. 
• E-mail me, submit hard copies, or stop in for a quick chat.

2. (Optional) By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).

Heads-up! December 9-10: Poetry papers and project are due. Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Please plan ahead and spread this out over the next few weeks. You will have one work day in class, but this is largely designed to be an independent, college-style assignment.

Ill Met By Moonlight, Proud Titania: November 19, 2019

Focus: How do Shakespeare's motifs contribute to the play's characterization and conflicts?

1. Warming up with a dramatization of Queen Elizabeth's rebranding of herself as "The Virgin Queen"

• What is the power in being a "Virgin Queen"?

• Can you find any representation of Queen Elizabeth's virgin power in the play so far?

2. Finishing Pyramus and Thisbe, and reading 1.2 with human subtitles

• What do you notice about these characters as a group?

• What do you notice about Bottom in particular?

• Why did Shakespeare put these guys in charge of Pyramus and Thisbe?

3. Reading 2.1 together with a focus on yesterday's motifs and dichotomies

• Find one or two passages from this scene that connect to your motif. Write out the passage(s).

• Put it into your own words, using the footnotes if you need to.

• Read it closely, looking for interesting diction, imagery, and figurative language, such as metaphors, similes, and personification.

• So far, what is this play suggesting about __________ (your motif)?

HW:
1. By Friday, November 22: Complete the brainstorming phase of your paper/project.

• If you're doing the project, complete the attached plan in your packet.
• If you're doing the paper, complete your thesis and a rough outline. 
• E-mail me, submit hard copies, or stop in for a quick chat.

2. (Optional) By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).

Heads-up! December 9-10: Poetry papers and project are due. Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Please plan ahead and spread this out over the next few weeks. You will have one work day in class, but this is largely designed to be an independent, college-style assignment.

From Tragedy to Comedy: November 18, 2019

Focus: How does Shakespeare turn tragedy into comedy?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Close reading two moon metaphor passages

• What does Theseus compare the moon to? Why?
• What does Hippolyta compare the moon to? Why?
• Does any of this connect to the motif you've chosen to follow?
• So far, the moon might be a metaphor for...

3. Group reading the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe

• What parallels can you find between this myth and A Midsummer Night's Dream?

4. Reading 1.2 with human subtitles

• What do you notice about these characters as a group?
• What do you notice about Bottom in particular?
• How do the mechanicals' linguistic patterns differ from those of the lovers?

HW:
1. By Friday, November 22: Complete the brainstorming phase of your paper/project.

• If you're doing the project, complete the attached plan in your packet.
• If you're doing the paper, complete your thesis and a rough outline. 
• E-mail me, submit hard copies, or stop in for a quick chat.

2. By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).

Heads-up! December 9-10: Poetry papers and project are due. Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Please plan ahead and spread this out over the next few weeks. You will have one work day in class, but this is largely designed to be an independent, college-style assignment.

The Paper/Project Metacognitive: November 15, 2019

Focus: How can metacognition help us close-read poetry?

1. Warming up with an overview of your Shakespearean "homework"

2. Offering you a few metacognitive reminders

3. Performing the metacognitive

HW:
1. By next Friday, November 22: Start brainstorming ideas for your project (see the attached plan in your packet) and possible thesis statements for your essay. E-mail me, submit hard copies, or stop in for a quick chat.

2. By Wednesday, December 4: Turn in your typed, printed one-pager on the Shakespearean film you have watched (see overview).


Heads-up! December 9-10: Poetry papers and project are due. Because we will be at the end of the semester, please note the following:

1. No extensions will be granted. 
2. You will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

Please plan ahead and spread this out over the next few weeks. You will have one work day in class, but this is largely designed to be an independent, college-style assignment.

Power Dynamics: November 14, 2019

Focus: What power dynamics are established in the first scene of MSND?

1. Warming up with a little discussion of yesterday's notes and Shakespearean conjugation

2. Creating a living picture of 1.1 and reading the scene together in an actor's circle

3. Getting acquainted with the tragic tale of Pyramus and Thisbe

• Why the play within a play? In other words, what parallels can you find between this myth and A Midsummer Night's Dream?

HW:
1. If you are absent today, please read Act 1, Scene 1 carefully on your own.

2. For TOMORROW: Bring to class the poem you have chosen for your project/paper, along with a charged laptop, for a metacognitive writing.

3. Please turn in your school copies of East of Eden.

Setting the Stage: November 13, 2019

Focus: How does Shakespeare set the stage in the first scene of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

1. Warming up by tossing the ShakesBEAR and predicting the play's dramatic situation

Before:

• Who has a line with a word they don't know the meaning of?
• Who has a word they don't know how to pronounce?

After each round:

• How many lines can you remember?

After both rounds are done:

• Scan the meter of the lines.

• Which ones are iambic? What do they have in common, or how does the iambic rhythm fit what's being said in those lines?

• Which ones break from iambic meter? Which words stand out? What do those lines/words have in common, or why might Shakespeare break from iambic meter there?

2. Mapping out the play's people, places, and problems:

• Who are the three main groups of characters? What can you infer about each?
• Where are the two main settings? What can you infer about each?
• What central conflicts might be driving this play? 
• Can you find any other patterns?

3. Freewriting on big ideas about being a teenager

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Bring your school copy of East of Eden to turn back in.

2. By next FRIDAY, NOV 15: Select your paper/project poem and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

An Old-Fashioned Workshop: November 12, 2019

Focus: How can workshop help us improve our timed writing skills?

1. Warming up with a reflection on your Socratic success and areas for improvement

2. Getting acquainted with a "classic essay workshop" on a sample timed writing

• Where did you hear complexity?

• Where did you hear specific evidence / examples?

• Where did you hear strong style?

• Where did you hear room for improvement?

3. Trying out a classic essay workshop on three of your timed writings

4. Wrapping up with your timed writing take-aways

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Bring your school copy of East of Eden to turn back in.

2. By next FRIDAY, NOV 15: Select your paper/project poem and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

Writing about East of Eden: November 11, 2019

Focus: How can we synthesize our thoughts about East of Eden through high velocity writing?

1. Warming up with three good things, some watercolors, and a little visualization

2. Exploring your ideas about East of Eden in a timed writing (Q3)

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Bring your school copy of East of Eden to turn back in.

2. By next FRIDAY, NOV 15: Select your paper/project poem and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

Descending into the Fire and Rising up from the Ashes: November 8, 2019

Focus: What does Steinbeck reveal to us in his final chapters?

1. Warming up with Steinbeck's fires (pun intended!):

Take a look at Lee's commentary on fire (598).  Put it into your own words and consider whether or not you agree with him.

Revisit the three scenes in recent reading in which a character sets something on fire:

• Sheriff Quinn's burning of explicit photos (558)
• Cal's burning of the money (565-6)
• Abra's burning of Aron's letters (578, 583)

In each scene, what does the fire release?  What does it destroy?

What do these objects have in common?

Why is destruction by fire (vs. a different method of destruction) appropriate to these particular objects?

How/what do these fiery scenes contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?

3. Enjoying our final Socratic seminar on East of Eden

4. Wrapping up: Lingering questions, big epiphanies, generous kudos

HW:
1. BY MONDAY: Complete your next Big Question Blog for East of Eden to prepare for Monday's timed writing. My recommendation: Reread the first and the last chapter of the novel and consider these questions:

• What central conflict is established at the beginning?
• How is it resolved by the end, and to what extent?

2. By next FRIDAY, NOV 15: Select your paper/project poem and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

I Hope You Like Enjambing, Too: November 7, 2019

Focus: How can enjambment help us find meaning in modern poems?

1. Warming up with enjambment and meeting some of my favorite 20th century poets

2. Reading "The Writer" and trying out the multiple choice questions

• Performing an MMM reading on the poem as a class: 
• Moments (which images, sounds, metaphors, words, etc. make you take a moment to pause?)
• Movements (Where does the poem shift? Is there physical movement in the poem? What larger patterns emerge?)
• Multiple meanings (What do you make of the author's complex tone and themes?)

• Choosing the answers in silent partnerships

3. Reviewing a few key questions together

HW:
1. FOR FRIDAY: Finish East of Eden! Complete your final reading ticket by doing the following:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

2. BY MONDAY: Complete your next Big Question Blog for East of Eden to prepare for Monday's timed writing.

3. By next FRIDAY, NOV 15: Select your paper/project poem and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

Meet the Poetry Project/Paper: November 6, 2019

Focus: How can we use our own creativity to analyze another author's creativity?

1. Warming up by meeting the poetry paper/project and starting to browse poetry

• Please finalize your poem selection by next Friday, November 15; you will perform a metacognitive this day.

• Old School: Books and anthologies

• New School: 
• Contemporary literary journals
• Poetry In Voice (it's like Spotify, but for poems)
• Poets.org

2. Reading time (or, if you're caught up in the reading, poem-perusing time)

3. Wrapping up by starting to think about your new Big Question Blog Post

HW:
1. BY TODAY, 4:00: 

• Submit your printed sonnet essay with the completed checklist stapled to the top.

• You will also have your last 30 minutes of reading time this day, so bring your book.

2. FOR FRIDAY: Finish East of Eden! Complete your final reading ticket by doing the following:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

3. BY MONDAY: Bring your charged laptop to class on Friday to compose your Big Question Blog on East of Eden; complete your next Big Question Blog for East of Eden to prepare for Monday's timed writing.

Cal's Fortune: November 5, 2019

Focus: What do Steinbeck's allusions contribute to our understanding of his characters?

1. Warming up with a close reading the end of Chapter 49 together:

• Which authorial choices stand out to you?
• Why might Steinbeck have made these choices?

2. Enjoying our penultimate Socratic on East of Eden

3. Wrapping up with lingering questions, big epiphanies, and generous kudos

HW:
1. BY WEDNESDAY, 4:00: 

• Submit your printed sonnet essay with the completed checklist stapled to the top.

• You will also have your last 30 minutes of reading time this day, so bring your book.

2. FOR FRIDAY: Finish East of Eden! Complete your final reading ticket by doing the following:

• Select one motif (water, apples, the color gray, Cain & Abel, etc.).

• Describe where the motif has shown up previously, and address where/how it comes into play in the final chapters (include quotations/page numbers).

• What has this motif contributed to the meaning of the work as a whole. In other words, why do you think Steinbeck developed this particular motif?

3. BY MONDAY: Bring your charged laptop to class on Friday to compose your Big Question Blog on East of Eden; complete your next Big Question Blog for East of Eden to prepare for Monday's timed writing.

Workshop, Take 2! November 4, 2019

Focus: How can we improve our poetry timed writing skills?


1. Warming up with three good things

2. Wrapping up loose ends with a preview of your final Socratic reflection and last-minute sonnet essay questions

(3. Enjoying a round table reading of "Thou Blind Man's Mark")

4. Perusing sample released essays and enjoying and old-school workshop of one of yours

HW:
1. You will have a window for submitting your final draft: Oct 30-Nov 6 by 4:00 pm. They will be graded in the order that they are turned in.

2. For TUESDAY, Nov 5: Read Chapters 45 through 50 and prepare your Socratic ticket. We have only two Socratic seminars left, so you must stay caught up with the reading.

(Click HERE if you need the revised East of Eden bookmark.)

3.  BEFORE NOVEMBER 15: REGISTER FOR YOUR AP TESTS. Click here for the link with instructions.