agenda T/W May 15/16: review second-semester major works

Eyal Press email

review strengths and insights of 3 paragraphs sent to Eyal Press ; mark one sentence that you see as particularly strong or insightful

exercise with supplied topic (refuge)–small group design and present response outline

predict SG question, based on one of the critical thinking skills above smart and white boards in 410

 

 

agenda 11/14 May 18: read and email

learning goal: how does one of the basic elements of fiction enrich your reading of the novel, The Samurai’s Garden?

Press paragraphs sent; link to exam quote bank

time to read

during last 15′-20′, respond to email re basic elements of fiction

agenda M/T May 7/8: Poetry Day–walls and games

learning goal: how do you explain the human impulse to express experiences and emotions–for example the drive to create poetry?

Table of Contents: Borling; haiku

off-the-wall poetry: example and experiment (John Borling)

the haiku-who-am-I poetry game; play with a classmate

exam: what I know

So far, the exam looks like this:

poetry section (20%)

Know the poetry terms in your poetry folder’s  table of contents, from both semesters.  Be ready to (1) identify a term in a given poem (2) explain how the device contributes to the overall poem or (3) create an example of a term in an original poem or short set of lines.

11-part-paragraph response on The Samurai’s Garden (30%)

Choose one of the available questions to be answered in a single paragraph.  Questions will be derived from some of the critical thinking skills named and illustrated across the front of Groesbeck 410.

essay section addressing The Kite Runner and Macbeth (50%)

In a multi-paragraph essay, clearly state and develop a response to one of several possible questions.  Each question concerns some area of overlap between these two works.  For example, one work is a play written for the stage, while the other is novel meant to be experienced by individual readers?  How does this affect the two works’ treatment of a similar element–for example, the theme of conscience, or fate; or the development of similar character traits; or the effect of setting on the characters?

Bring no books to the exam.  Just your laptop.  A quote bank will be provided, based on collection from past years.

How do I prepare?  Based on the above description, practice generating possible questions and responses.  Do this on your own, or with a classmate.  If you do this with a classmate, make possible questions then switch and respond and assess each other’s responses.

I will host a review session in the classroom from 1-2pm on Mon May 21, the day before our exam.

Between now and then, as always, if you have a question, ask.

If the exam starts looking significantly different from this description, I will notify you with a follow-up blog post.

agenda T/W May 1/2: start new novel

learning goal: What happens to painting when the viewer sees it in various lights?  What happens to a novel when the same kind of thing happens?

introduction to novel and the bookmark pamphlet

time to read towards this week’s goal–i.e., “Autumn”

citing lines, embedding quotes

When embedding passages in your paragraph, follow the examples shown below.  Notice that the forward slash indicates line endings, when you are quoting more than one line of a passage.

 

Macbeth is speaking not only to himself but also to others when he says, “Had I but died an hour before this chance, / I had lived a blessed time” (2.3.84-5). He describes his mental state with this declaration: “There’s nothing serious in mortality” (2.3.86). His innermost thoughts are made public with the metaphorical statement that “All is but toys” (2.3.87).

 

introduce someone’s statement with a comma

a more emphatic, pronounced lead-in to a quotation uses a colon

no punctuation needed when simply quoting a phrase or clause

agenda M/T Apr 23/4: Lady Macbeth

learning goal: what is a chiastic story structure? how much does Shakespeare’s play Macbeth fit this structure?

preview/questions about upcoming Poetry Day assignments; review feedback on last original poem)

5.1 moving the needle on Lady Macbeth’s conscience meter

film interpretation of 5.1

moving on to next scenes 5.2 ff.

 

 

agenda Th/F Apr 19/20: conscience meters, 4.3 SIB

learning goal: what does the Macduff-Malcolm dialogue tell us about both men and the condition of Scotland under Macbeth’s rule?

 

conscience-meter exercise

4.3 SIB

(20′ hmwrk reading time for B and D blocks)

 

agenda T/W Apr 17/18: the weird sisters return

learning goal: how does punctuation guide actors in interpreting and performing lines?

3.5 Hecate

3.6 Lennox guards his language

4.1 the three apparitions

homework reading for next class (Thu/Fri): 4.2, 4.3

agenda F/M Apr 13/16: Poetry Day

learning goal: how does concrete imagery help a poem, usually? or how does a metaphor do this, much of the time?

table of contents: Shakespeare, tetrameter, iambic, speaker

lessons from recent student poems, described by the teacher (list these on today’s blank sheet for your poetry folder)

Fear Poems (hunting in the halls) (cf. Macbeth 3.5)

assignment for next poetry day: a finished copy of the fear poem begun in today’s class, and a CORE Reflection on one of your original poems (including today’s fear poem), written for this class, or for some other audience or purpose (ineligible poems are ones for which you have already submitted a PDF)