Tuesday, October 4th: College Essay Outlining

Thinking about the essay prompts and the scoring criteria….which prompt do you believe would make the best essay for your college essay application? Which prompt will allow you to share an original, important, or meaningful part of who you are? Will allow you to develop your voice and write your heart out? Has the potential for a clear, focused essay?

You may have to try out two or three drafts before you decide which one to pursue!

H.W.: Carefully select which prompt you are going to work with for your college essay. Work on writing the introductory paragraph and outlining the rest of the essay (body paragraphs/development and concluding ideas/reflection).

"The Flowers" and "The Wig"

Obj: I can use narrative techniques (imagery, fig lang, diction, tone, and symbolism) in my own writing exercises after reading two short examples of these techniques.

1.Review Stories Discuss the pieces you read from last night. Which did you like more? Why? What effective narrative techniques did you see in each one? What were the authors’ purposes?

2. Reading: Read and annotate “The Wig”

3. Reading: Read and annotate “The Flowers”

4. Writing: Choose one prompt to write--using the narrative techniques

Directions: Spend 10 minutes in class answering each writing prompt. Don’t worry about content (you could make it up if need-be!). Instead, practice using narrative techniques:

• imagery (5 senses)
• figurative language to describe
• use a symbol
• create a tone
• try to speed up/slow down the pacing in certain spots
• include some dialogue
• play with the order--use a flashback, fastforward, start at end, etc.

6. H.W.: Finish writing story--have fun with it!

*This is not your college essay! It is an exercise in narrative writing. So take risks, play with the narrative techniques. Make up the story if need-be. Have FUN!

Requirements: Write your story (about a page or two) and label your use of the following--must label at least 5 different narrative techniques.

1. Imagery
2. Figurative Language to describe
3. Use a symbol
4. Create a tone
5. Speed up/slow down the pacing
6. Include dialogue
7. Play with chronology (order)

Intro to Narrative Writing- "The Pie"

I can identify an author’s use of diction, imagery, symbolism and syntax and interpret how it contributes to the narrative’s meaning.

1. Draft Letter:
Review your essays- find your thesis sentence and underline it. Then, write a statement about how well you feel your essay went--strengths and struggles, what did you like about it, not like about it, need to work on, etc.??

2. Narrative Techniques (handout)

3. Gary Soto- "The Pie"
Read and annotate the text, looking for the following:

• Diction (religious, guilty, glutinous)
• Vivid sensory images
• Shifts in tone
• BIG, MEANINGFUL statements

4. Wrap-Up Writing and Reflection

1. “Write” your own essay: Answer the prompt. Compose an intro and outline what you would discuss in your essay (20 minutes)
2. Share your essays with a partner (piece of)
3. Read student sample essays and reflect on “writing about writing”
4. Wrap-Up: What makes effective narrative writing? What works in this piece of writing?

Homework:

Read the following two stories (“Eleven” and Half-Broke Horses). Annotate the texts for all their bang-up, impressive narrative techniques going on. Then, write a quick 3-paragraph response to each one:

• What is the author’s purpose (message or point) in writing this story?
• What techniques (writing style, narrative techniques) did the author use in writing this story and how effective were they?
• What is your personal response to the story? Did you like it, relate to it, abhor it….? Explain.

The Santa Ana Winds

LT: I can use the “says/does” technique (identifying the effect of what an element says) to prepare for a close analysis of a text.

1. Paper Talk

2. Says/Does Overview

3. "Santa Ana Winds" Practice Piece

4. Your turn: Try the Says/Does Format with the passage you are using for your essay!

Essays due Wednesday  

TSAR Roundtable Discussion

LT: I can analyze specific details and major themes from SAR by closely reading the text and using evidence to support my interpretations in a passage of my choice.

Written Response: Hemingway is typically seen as a “machismo” writer. However,  SAR, by having Jake and Brett be “equals” in the end, offers the possibility of a new kind of relationship where men and women are equal.

In the face of WWI’s destruction, is this “equality” a possible positive outcome of the war? Or do we need the old traditions? Explain.

Class Discussion: Now take out your close analysis questions from last night. We will take turns going around the circle sharing our responses. As we do so, take notes in the margins of your papers and add on any more insights you pick up in class. This is to show you’re listening to each other and to help you learn from each other!

Model Essay: what does it do with the passage? what is left out?

Assign Essay: Assignment: You are going to write a 2-3 page analysis of a close reading of a passage from The Sun Also Rises. Your essay needs to be clear, well-thought-out, logical and eloquent. Your analysis should explain the meaning and structure of the passage and discuss how the passage relates to the novel as a whole (what is the significance of this passage).

Analyzing the passage:

Begin by choosing a passage of roughly a page in length. Look at the following:

• Diction (word choice)
• Sentence structure (does Hemingway use his usual short, simple sentences structure or does he deviate?)
• Structure of the whole passage
• Use of dialogue, gestures, etc--what they say, how they say it, as well as what they don’t say
• Characterization (direct/indirect)
• Description (of environment, surroundings, actions, events…)

ESSAY DUE Monday, Sept 26th at the start of class!!

The Sun Also Rises Discussion

LT: I can analyze specific details and major themes from TSAR by closely reading the text and using evidence to support my interpretations in a set of questions.

1. Cultural Background
2. Discussion Questions

• 1. Robert Cohn--Who is he? Why can’t he fit into the group?
• 2. Brett--Is she a free or a trapped women? How so? Is she a positive female role model?
• 3. Jake--Is he an egotist or emasculated? Also, is he a reliable narrator?
• 4. Who is the hero of the book and why? (Why not the others?)
• 5. Explain the title of the book
• 6. Explain the role of bullfighting in the novel. How does Hemingway describe the fights? What could they symbolize?
• 7. Discuss Hemingway’s style and voice--how is it effective for his purpose?
• 8. How does this book portray the Lost Generation?
• 9. How is the book an anti-war meditation?

Homework: BIG ASSIGNMENT! You are getting a series of close analysis questions that ask you to go back to certain passages from the book in your analysis. Your responses should be typed and brought to next class (we’ll discuss them!).

In-class Essay: Juxtaposition and Characterization

LT: I can analyze how Capote uses point of view and stylistic elements to create character by juxtaposing two passages.

1. ICB Group Discussion
Threads:
I. The Perversion of the American Dream
II. Nature vs. Nurture: The Dynamics of Family Life
III. Outcasts, Misfits, Alienation
IV. Epigraph- how does the fit Capote's purpose?

2. In-Class Essay

• You will have about 50 minutes to do the in-class essay.
• Read the prompt (last page) carefully and then the passages. Try to annotate for key points you will make in your essay.
• Your essay will be hand-written and turned in at the end of class (along with your annotated notes!). Don’t worry--it’s not a “test”! It’s only scored so we know where we are and where we’re going!!

Intro to Textual Analysis: Holcomb, Kansas

LT:  I can trace a particular element of a text (diction, motif, tone, characterization) and determine how that element contributes to the meaning as a whole.

1.Read the following quote:
“When Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' was first published in 1966, he characterised it as the first "non-fiction novel". What remains remarkable about it, even in a market suffused with narrative history, is Capote's ground-breaking ability to fuse fact with the hard-won skills of fiction. The book – for which he made a reputed 8000 pages of research notes – is plotted and structured with taut writerly flair. Its characters pulse with recognisable life; its places are palpable. Careful prose binds the reader to his unfolding story. Put simply, the book was conceived of journalism and born of a novelist.”--Reviewed for http://www.independent.co.uk/ by Kate Colquhoun

Reflect on the above quote carefully. Do you agree or disagree with Ms. Colquhoun? Did you find examples of the “taut writerly flair” and that its characters “pulse with recognisable life”? Explain.

2. Read and annotate opening passage

Threads to focus on:

• Western Terminology- anything that lets you know this town is NOT East Coast
• Negative (ending, dying out, demise of things)
• Tone shifts and words that create tone
• People that help create the setting- how are they characterized and how does it contribute to the description of this town?

3. Read sample rhetorical analysis essay and discuss:

-What is the purpose of this essay?

-What makes it a strong essay?

-Where does the student talk about the text’s content or meaning?

-Where does the student talk about the text’s style and structure?

-How familiar does this kind of writing feel to you?

Homework:

1. Look over  your dialectical journals for ICB. Find one or two passages where you feel the language is particularly poignant and read what you wrote about it on the right-hand side. Is there anything else you would add to your analysis of the passage after practicing close reading in class today?

2. For H.W., choose one of these passages (you may add onto it if you need to make it longer, just refer to your books!) and write an analysis of the piece. Try to do what the student did--analyze how Capote wrote what he wrote as well as the effect and intent of the passage.

3. This may be hand-written. Due next class. Roughly 2 pages.

Welcome to AP Lang!

LT: I can identify examples of powerful language an author uses to create meaning in real world examples of text.

1. Introductions and Syllabus
2. How gritty are you?

• https://www.ted.com/speakers/angela_lee_duckworth
• Grit Scale
• Writing Prompt #1

2. Small groups: review summer news thread activity
In groups of 2-3, share what topics you selected to read about this summer.

1. Topic--what happened--share the big details (neutral tone)
2. Point of View--what points were made the first article? What points were made in the second article? How did they differ? Did they seem fair and objective or slanted and biased?
3. Did either author convince you of their point of view in the end?

3. Individual work: find and seek examples of strong language

1. Now, take some time to look through your articles for particularly poignant words or phrases that help to create a particular point of view
2. We will record these examples of strong language on a class poster

Wrap-up: Questions??

Review HOMEWORK:
→ No new assignment

→ We’ll start with In Cold Blood--for a couple days; then, Sun Also Rises--for a couple days.

→ Writing assignments, analysis questions, close reading, intro to rhetoric

→ Then, a wrap-up with close analysis before we start a narrative writing unit and the college essay