We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 20, 2014

Focus: How can we improve our responses to Question 3?

1. Warming up: Celebrating Emma!

From Mrs. Little:  "Emma is so positive and conscientious in all

that she does. When absent, she  comes in right away to make up any work

from class. Emma impresses me as being a very thoughtful person in her

interactions with others. I have enjoyed having Emma in class as I have all

the students you have asked me to provide comment on."

From Mr. Kuhlmann: "With Emma, still waters truly do run deep. I'm not sure who said this, but it very well could have been Emma herself! I've never met a student with a more attentive and calm and kind demeanor, whose mind is on fire, breathing with and fed by her synthesis of information, both in class and in the world, writ large."

From Mara: "Emma's a great sister! I can always count on her to go on a late night coffee runs with me or just hang out watching a Netflix marathon. She's always super supportive and fun to be around!"

From Emma's final reading ticket on Beloved: "Just like Beloved, loneliness cannot be soothed to sleep or into peace. Just like Beloved, loneliness constantly begs to be remembered and present...It seems that as more time passes, the more of a dream she becomes. She isn't real after she departs. She doesn't exist in the physical world. Her ideas, her words, and her actions are no longer tangible and what was once concrete and real becomes abstract."

From her mom: "Emma’s sense of adventure runs deep:  Across beautiful lands, through challenging ideas, and within the depths of her own curiosity – with gratitude, always."

2. Workshopping your essays in small groups: Past events, morally ambiguous characters, or happy endings

a. Talk through the prompt...what was the heart of the prompt? What did you think the prompt meant?

b. Read through the rubric and identify the primary difference between a 4 and a 5, a 5 and a 6, a 7 and an       8/9, etc.

c. Peruse the sample essays and discuss what you think they might have received based on the rubric.

d. Pass your essay clockwise, and comment on the following:

• Thesis, topic sentences, and overall organization

e. Pass the essays clockwise once again, and comment on the following:

• Examples and close readings/analysis

f. Pass the essays clockwise once again, and comment on the following:

• Style (word choice, sentence fluidity, maturity, etc.)

g. Retrieve your own essay, and based on your editors' feedback and on the rubric, estimate what grade range you think your essay falls in.  Give a brief explanation of the grade using language from the rubric.

HW:
1. Next poetry response is due Monday.

2. Start thinking about which poem you'd like to explore for your poetry paper/project; remember that it must be from a different era than that of your first semester poem.