College Essays and Jane

Hi Everyone:  I'm just reminding you to bring in what you have for drafts of your college essay tomorrow (Monday).  Hopefully our outside readers will be here for us tomorrow, but if not, we'll peer-edit each other's work.

Now that we're letting go of Jane Eyre, we'll try to have our question 2-style in-class response on Tuesday, and then have a formal discussion on Wednesday, possibly Thursday.  Sounds like a lot, but we've prepared for the question 2, and you always hit the discussions out of the park.  See you tomorrow.

Jane Eyre Chapters 17-27.

Hi everyone: Let's look to have chapters 17-27 read by next Tuesday, Sept. 31.  I'll talk to you in class about other deadlines and plans, but if you can focus at home on reading through these chapters, that would be great.  Thanks, Mr. Telles.

Web Presentations.

Hi Everyone: Once again, let me say that the work you did on your webs is really thoughtful and provoking.  In the comment box below, respond to one of your classmate's ideas as they were presented in class.  You can extend the idea, gently disagree, use the idea as a bridge to another idea, or simply appreciate it.  Please try to have the response in by the end of the day on Monday as there is another response to come soon on your amazing discussions of Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre, Chapts. 1-16

Please read chapters 1-16 of Jane Eyre for Wednesday, September 18th.  We will have a formal discussion on that day, which may run into Thursday, and there will also be a blog post due on Friday.  The blog post will ask you to respond to one of your class mate's ideas from the discussion.  I will create a new post for that purpose when the time comes.  Thanks, Mr. Telles.

Wide Sargasso Sea and Web Assignment.

Hi everyone: I'll have to be brief about our last meeting to discuss Wide Sargasso Sea because I am also going to tack the Web Assignment on to this post, and that will make a lot of reading.  If you were not able to attend, please attach your response to the comment box below.

 I reiterated the importance of trying out two important skills while writing the quotations responses: a) make bold assertions about the details of the book or the book as a whole wherever possible, and b) be resourceful with the entire book, meaning you should be able to access all parts of the book to give your argument context rather than simply focusing on the quote in front of you.  After discussing these things, we had a great discussion about the Wide Sargasso Sea, considering such things as the unusual structure of the book, shifting narrative voice, the restraint of the narrative voice, and the fact that the book often does little to help orient the reader as far as voice, setting, and other contextual elements.  This discussion was deep and wide ranging.  After this, we took a look at a sample Question 2 from the AP Exam itself and we used this as an opportunity to practice annotating the text.  Annotating is essentially the act of close reading with a pencil in your end.  This will be discussed again in class.

To pull together all of the summer work, there is a final literary web project which is copied below.  We'll need to start presenting these some time late next week (meaning the end of the week of Sept. 9-13).  You can ask me questions about this in class.  In the meantime, while working on this project, please check your bookshelves, libraries and book stores for copies of Jane Eyre.  Sorry to say, but the school only owns a handful, so it would be great if you could steal your Uncle Bobby's copy for a while.  Here is the Web Assignment:

Literary Analysis Web

Literary Analysis Web

Making meaning by relating the parts to the whole and the whole to the parts

The Process and the Question

Over the summer we have asked questions that are essential to writing well on the AP Exam: What could each of you do to show that you understand how the parts contribute to the whole of a piece of literature?  How can you show that a writer’s choices – choices of individual events, of the order of events, of the (sometimes strange) descriptions and details, of the repeated images, of the characters and characterization, etc. – fit together to suggest something about the significance of the work as a whole?

You will answer these questions by creating a literary analysis web in response to Invisible Cities, Invisible Man, or Wide Sargasso Sea.

The Web, part one: the center

Each student will make a web. At the center of the web will be a robust paragraph (100 words to 300 words or so), explaining in your own words, your understanding of what the novel you’ve chosen is fundamentally all about. What exactly do you think the novel suggests?

(Hint: To begin thinking about the essential themes in the novels review your passage responses and the summaries of summer session discussions written by Mr. Telles.)

The "introductory" paragraph will explain your "big idea," your "bold, insightful assertion" about the novel's meaning. Spend some time with this. The GHS schoo lwide rubric says that in order for such paragraphs to be considered proficient they must be clear, supportable, debatable, and insightful; the ones that are advanced will also be sophisticated and/or original . (Warning: Do not turn to the internet looking for an answer. Rely on your own interpretive skills, your own heart and mind. Each year several students ignore this warning and end up receiving no credit (0) for one or more summer reading assignment.)

The Web, part two: the threads

Then you will connect the central paragraph to interpretations of how at least four passages in the novel support your "big idea," your "bold assertion," your "central insight". Choose passages that show development over the course of the novel (beginning, middle, and end) as well as a range of choices made by the author that contribute to the novel’s development.  (Let me make it clear that four is a minimum and to create a thoroughly convincing web you might need to refer to more passages.)

These "interpretations" need to show two things: an understanding of the passage itself and an understanding of how the passage supports your "big idea," your central insight about the significance of the whole. How you show your understanding of the passage and your understanding of its connection with the "big idea" is up to you.

To show your understanding of a passage what will you do? Will you write a paragraph (in the manner of a standard essay) explaining how the passage supports the central paragraph? Will you quote the passage in one font and offer an explication (an unfolding of meaning) in relation to your big idea by using another font? Will you create a picture that shows an understanding of the passage (and its relationship with the central paragraph)? Will this picture show symbolic understanding as well as literal understanding of the passage?

To show the connections what will you do? Will you draw lines? Will each connecting line include a sentence linking the passage with the big idea? Will you use a "footnote" or "endnote" system in which you put numbers in your central paragraph that will lead to numbers which offer explanations of how passages support the central paragraph? Will you create Powerpoint slides to show connections?

And, finally, will you go beyond? Will you show not only how the big idea is connected with passages but also how the passages are connected with each other? What else might you do to show the relationship between the parts of the novel and your understanding of the whole?

Note:

I know some of you are thinking, just tell me what to do! This is too vague.

Part of AP English Lit & Comp is learning how to be a critical, creative, resourceful, and independent reader and writer. I want you to show me that you don't need to be led by the hand but can come up with appropriate, innovative solutions to challenges. In this case I've given you a few parameters (write a central assertion of a, connect that central assertion to an understanding of at least four passages). I've given you some examples of how you might complete the assignment. I've left the rest up to you.

The Web, part three: teaching your peers

You will be creating a physical object -- a web -- and you will be called upon to explain the web at some point during the second week of class.

Grading

Advanced webs will offer an insightful, sophisticated, perhaps original understanding of the novel as a whole. This overall understanding will be linked to persuasive, nuanced understanding and interpretation of how at least four passages drawn from key moments throughout the novel support your understanding of the whole. These webs may go "beyond" the parameters of the assignment in some significant, meaningful way.

Proficient webs will offer a clear, thoughtful, plausible, understanding of the novel as a whole. This overall understanding will be linked to a reasonable understanding and interpretation of how at least four passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the novel contribute to the whole. The webs are generally considered to have succeeded in fulfilling the assignment but not to have exceeded expectations for a student entering an introductory college-level course at a competitive college or university.

Webs that need improvement may not offer a clear or plausible understanding of the novel as a whole. The central paragraph may point out themes but may not offer interpretation or insight as to the meaning of the themes in the novel. These webs refer to at least four passages but may not adequately show an understanding of the passage or of how the passage contributes to the work as a whole. The understanding and connection of some passages may be effective The passages may not be drawn from the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. In general these webs do not meet the expectations for a student entering an introductory college-level course at a competitive college or university.

Webs that receive warning status may include the weaknesses cited above but also fail to adhere to the basic parameters of the assignment. They may show little to no understanding of the novel or of the passages.

Any web that includes language or material taken directly from another source will receive a zero.

Meeting Postponed

Hi Everyone: Just letting you know that I sent an email around about postponing Tuesday's meeting.  I rescheduled the meeting for Thursday, August 29th, from 10-12 in room 1222.  Sorry about this, and I hope to see you there, Mr. Telles.

Monday's Meeting Recap: 8/12

I started Monday’s meeting in the same way I started the previous meeting, by addressing the last set of quotation responses.  The quotation responses were generally of a very high quality and I complimented the group for making very shrewd and perceptive observations.  I reminded the group that the next step is to take these observations and synthesize them into more comprehensive assertions about what is going on in the text.  In other words, what do all of these things add up to?  When you consider all of the things you are observing, what patterns do you see, and why do these patterns matter – not just to the book, but to humanity in general?  Don’t be afraid to make bold assertions about these things.  You do not need to do it in every response, but push yourself to arrive at these assertions occasionally.  Also, push yourself to be resourceful with the book.  Don’t just focus on the quotation in front of you every time; allow yourself to access other parts of the book that relate to the quotation.  This shows that you think in a fluid way and that you have some familiarity with the text.

After discussing the responses, we briefly took notes on a few phases of literary criticism.  The intent was to get at what the AP exam values as far as your critical writing style goes.  The AP tends to value writing that resembles the New Critical style of literary criticism, so we talked briefly about New Criticism as opposed to Post-Modernism / Post-Structuralism.  In simplified terms, New Criticism tends to treat a piece of literature as a force unto itself which can be appreciated fully without any access to information about its historical conditions, the author’s biography, or any other specialized angle of inquiry.  It puts an emphasis on textual structure, tension inherent in the text, and relationships between elements in the text.  Post-Modernism, on the other hand, tends to see the text as porous, and the act of interpretation depends as much upon the interpreter’s lens as it does the text itself.  I briefly mentioned some of these “lenses” as possible areas of interest for students later in the year, but recommended looking up New Criticism as a mode of writing for the AP exam itself.

As for the second half of Invisible Man, students found the book had become increasingly surreal as it went on, and cited a number of scenes and episodes that were either very hard to reconcile with the rest of the book or simply made students uncomfortable.  The “rape” scene concerned many students, and this led us to note that the role of women in the book was quite complicated.  However, at one point we tried to contextualize the rape scene as part of a larger theme concerning role-playing: characters in the novel invariably expect the Invisible Man to play a preconceived role, and become very disturbed when he doesn’t conform, even if the role is a rapist or thief.  We explored other major motifs as well: the preponderance of eyes (“pain-sharpened” or just falling out), the legacy of slavery and the links of chain, issues of discipline and subordination, the creation of new selves and new roles, and the idea of being a “mechanized” or inanimate human being.  The students asked some shrewd questions as well: did Norton recognize The Invisible Man at the station and pretend not to?  How reliable is the narrator? Why does the Invisible Man never mention his family, besides the grandfather?  And I asked: why did the Invisible Man leave Mary for the Brotherhood?  Students offered very thoughtful responses to these questions, which I will leave open for you if you will be responding in the comment section below.

Because of time constraints, I need to schedule the next meeting for Tuesday, August 27^th.  The book this time is Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, which will be a nice transition into Jane Eyre during the school year.  The assignment is the same as the previous two assignments for Invisible Man, only for the longer response, please choose a passage in which the author uses style or technique in a way that is both unique to this book and also reveals something meaningful about the book as a whole.  This particular book boasts a lot of narrative shifts and unusual stylistic choices, which should make it easy for you to find a good passage.  Come to the next meeting ready to say a few words about what you think makes your passage work and what it reveals.

For those who couldn't come, please remember that you have to post a comment in the comment box.  See previous posts for details.

Thanks again to everyone who came to the meeting and to those who wrote to me.  See you next time.  Mr. Telles.