Tuesday and Synthesis #2: Embedding quotations in your own argument

REMINDER:  SIGN UP for one of the practice AP tests on

SATURDAY, April 5th from 8:00-12:00 (most likely in the Vintage Library)

or

TUESDAY, April 8th from 3:15-6:30(in E-1)

Tuesday's TARGET: The skill I want us to hit hard this time is USING pieces of text from the synthesis assignment within your argument to further your point of view. Check out this link: http://www.massasoit.mass.edu/academic_resource_center/wwlcenter/pdf/IntegratingQuotes.pdf

Today we will start with a 15 minute multiple choice practice, using the Frederick Douglas piece from the packet.

Then, after a 10 minutes review of those answers, you will have 15 minutes to review and annotate the Synthesis packet on Locovorism. (from 2011 test)

Remember to annotate, highlighting compelling evidence that you might utilize tomorrow in your argument. Today try to building a chart that arranges the sources on the "pro" or "con" side of the argument.  Which ones align?  Which ones contradict?  Where do you see the most compelling evidence/arguments?

Argument Practice

Being a Man

Today we are reading an essay from 1985 by Paul Theroux titled "Being a Man." 

We will discuss specific lines that stand out to you in order to analyze closely how they "work" in the essay to further his main argument.  Then you will fill out the Graff template in order to set up his argument and your response to it. 

After watching the clip above, do you think Paul Theroux's ideas are aligned to the filmakers, based on what you have seen so far?

FRIDAY: Synthesis/Huck Finn chapters 1-11

Friday's Agenda

1. Vocab Test: Lesson 11  (10 minutes)

2. Debrief: Sample Papers and thesis statements from yesterday (10 minutes)

2nd period: http://goo.gl/SCYThM  Results: http://goo.gl/ePpNn2

6th period: http://goo.gl/x3FI5W     Results: http://goo.gl/jrsMHE

3. Huck Finn, notes on the controversy:  http://goo.gl/jrktzn

4. Quiz on chapters 1-11 (10 min)

4. Pass out study questions and assign themes for next chunk of reading:  April 4 Chapters 12-22 (5 minutes)

5. Back to the beginning: Watch Study Sync video/discuss both prompts:  http://goo.gl/a5RNZy  (15 minutes)

Thursday: Synthesis Practice

Writing the Synthesis Essay on Space Exploration

Today we practiced making a chart that aligns the sources into groups that correspond or are in opposition to each other.  What sources "talk" to each other?  Which ones support or refute?

Then we looked at the considerations together and prioritized them by number.  (creating a rough outline)

Then we looked over the attribution sheet posted yesterday and practiced writing a thesis and a beginning that uses the "They Say I Say" model.  We ran out of time to practice embedding quotations so we will do this when we return next week.  

Tonight read through the sample set for this prompt:  Space Exploration: student samples high medium low

Bring your Huck Finn books tomorrow.  We will look at chapters 1-11. 

WEDNESDAY Synthesis Essay: The Last Frontier

Synthesis: Using multiple texts to make an argument

Here is a link to an excellent source on the synthesis essay. 

On Wednesday we will read through a sample synthesis question.  As you read, follow the directives from the site above and take notes and compose a chart to organize your sources.  Be sure to examine each text carefully, checking for credibility and looking for flaws in the arguments they present.

Writing the Synthesis Essay

Here is a link on attribution.    We will practice embedding quotations tomorrow.

Tuesday: Multiple Choice practice--Yippee!

The AP exam

Today we begin in earnest our preparations for the AP exam on May 9.

Here is an excellent overview that you might want to review regularly: http://prezi.com/vho2d45tg4s8/ap-english-language-and-composition-review/

Today we will read two dated passages (they are the hardest kind--here's one) and complete their multiple choice questions.  Keep in mind that you should read it once for the gist and then carefully reread, marking the test.  You will need to this quickly, however.  With practice, your accuracy should improve.

This is a good time to start studying your rhetorical devices flashcards from the summer.  Here are some sets on quizlet.com that should do the trick:

http://quizlet.com/26787029/mvhs-ap-english-language-and-composition-rhetorical-devicesvocabulary-flash-cards/

http://quizlet.com/15982051/ap-rhetorical-devices-miletic-flash-cards/

http://quizlet.com/32644759/ap-rhetorical-devices-flash-cards/

Monday: Final Timed Passage Analysis for The Great Gatsby

Today you were given a passage from either chapter 8 or 9 to closely analyze, examining the use of rhetorical, literary, and stylistic devices.

Here is "refresher" of some devices you might have chosen to write about:

Rhetorical Devices:

allusion

analogy

anaphora

antithesis

asyndeton/polysyndeton

chiasmus

metaphor

parallelism

hyperbole/understatement

zeugma

rhetorical question

satire

paradox

irony

foil

parody

rhetorical appeals

organization/structure

Stylistic Devices:

diction

imagery

figurative language

tone

syntax

Literary Devices:

symbolism

characterization

imagery

ambiguity

plot

theme

narrator

setting 

mood

Gatsby's Glasses and the end of the novel

Thursday we worked hard to try to articulate the main argument of Siri Hustvedt's essay on The Great Gatsby by using the Graff Template.  Here is the link to the handout: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0zERdqb5ufTSEJzNTBqcUlVUFU/edit?usp=sharing

Friday we began by discussing this prompt: 

F. Scott Fitzgerald crafted Nick Carraway as a “perfect narrator.”  But Nick does have imperfections.  Examine his imperfections and discuss how they affect the outcome of the novel.  Is one more important than the other?  Do they compliment each other?  How do they play off his “cardinal virtue” of honesty?   Consider how there were contradictions and imperfections in the society and culture of the 1920’s as a point of comparison.  Write an essay that examines imperfections in society and in Nick Carraway.

Then we read and discussed the questions on the handout in the packet with Gatsby's Glasses titled "Land of the Free, Home of the Dream."  Filling that out will help you with your analysis on Monday.

Also, read HUCK FINN to page 68 (or the end of chapter 11) for FRIDAY.  

Wednesday: Vocabulary and Quiz

Here is a link to our next set of Vocabulary words: http://quizlet.com/33280031/power-plus-vocab-book-3-lesson-11-flash-cards/

Today we will take a quiz on chapter 8 and 9, and then spend time discussing the answers and their significance.

Homework is to read the essay "Gatsby's Glasses" by Siri Hustvedt and make careful annotations.

Tuesday: Chapter 8

Character Foils

Today we will begin rereading closely the section about Nick's birthday from Chapter 7. 

What do you notice after a careful rereading? Use padlet so we can see: http://padlet.com/wall/noinj6vcg9

"Now he found he had committed himself to the following of a grail."  (chp 8)

Discuss how this word choice affects your understanding of Gatsby's motivation so far.

The last four paragraphs of Chp 8:  What's going on here?

Chapter 7: It's all in the EYES

Reviewing and Revising Claims

Today we will be reviewing the posts you made this weekend for Chapter 7 on collaborizeclassroom: http://goo.gl/mqbyB9

Then, we will be examining references to EYES in chapter 7.  Here is a link to our padlet exercise:

2nd period:http://padlet.com/wall/gvwhnvx4f3
6th period: http://padlet.com/wall/nod289d238

Tomorrow, we will be working on a dissecting a passage from chapter 8, and reviewing EYES, as well as Nick's passage about turning 30...

FRIDAY's Class: Gatsby's romanticism

We reviewed some key moments from Chapter 5 today in class before we took on Chapter 6.

One thing that you MUST consider when carefully analyzing a passage is its CONTEXT.  In order to fully grasp what is going on at the end of Chapter 6, we must look carefully at a particulary dense passage from the beginning of this chapter : Chapter 6 passage-part one

Monday we will return to that passage you wrote about yesterday in order to revise our thinking about what it means....

This weekend, please log on and register to http://jlamonte.collaborizeclassroom.com
Click REGISTER NOW and complete the form (no email address required).

I will have to approve your registration first.  Check back later and try to answer at least one of the discussion questions about CHAPTER 7 posted there.

Robert Redford (1974)                            Leonardo di Caprio (2013)

Thursday: "She blossomed for him like a flower..."

Timed writing practice

Today I am asking you to write an analysis of the last 4-5 paragraphs of chapter 6 in The Great Gatsby so that I can give you feedback and so you can have practice gathering and organizing your thoughts during and after a close reading of text.  If you were absent today, I have a copy of the passage, but you can do this without it; simply start with the paragraph: 

"He talked a lot about the past...." to the end.

Prompt:  Read the passage and in a well-organized essay discuss how Fitzgerald uses literary (symbolism, irony, characterization, point of view) and rhetorical techniques (imagery, diction, syntax, tone) to convey meaning (this is the "purpose" in non-fiction texts)....

Try using the close reading scaffolding to get your thoughts in order.

Wednesday: CHAPTER 5

"None of it was any longer real"...

Today you will be working on answering some text-specific questions about chapter 5.  I would like you share your answer to the last question on https://todaysmeet.com/Gatsby5

Feel free to continue the conversation, as long as you keep it appropriate (Kevin, I am talking to you).

Please read chapter 6 tonight for timed writing practice tomorrow. 

Tuesday: Share and Respond

Gatsby: Chapters 3 & 4

If you have a tablet or smartphone, please sign on to todaysmeet.com/lamonteap to respond to the assertions presented today.  

Tomorrow, you will be asked to present your assertions about chapter 5 on a different site:

jlamonte.collaborizeclassroom.com

"Spectroscopic Gayety" and Gatsby's Parties

The Great Gatsby: 

"Instead of rambling this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobilty of the countryside--East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety."

                                spectroscopic: radiated energy, visible light dispersed through a wavelength

Journal Warm-up: Review 1 & 2

Contrast the Buchanan evening with the New York party.

Close Reading

You will be assigned a number up to 9 today. Reread the passage marked below and fill out the "close reading" handout.  Then share with the other classmates who share the same number as you.  At the end of class, I would like you to share your best assertion with the class and/or turn it in to me.

Here are the passages for our close reading group practice for chapters 3 & 4:

Chp 3:

#1: "There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights...." to "The party has begun." (paragraphs 1-6)

#2: "'Let's get out,' whispered Jordan..."  to "We shook hands with him gravely and went back outside." (paragraphs 38-58)

#3: "I was still with Jordan Baker" to "...and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby's head for one link." (paragraphs 60-93)

#4:  "But as I walked down the steps I saw that the evening was not quite over..." to "...the figure of the host who stood on the porch his hand up in a formal gesture of farewell."

#5: "For a while I lost sight of Jordan Baker..."  to "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."

Chp 4:

#6: "On Sunday morning while church bells rang..." to "All these people came to Gatsby's house in the summer." (paragraphs 1-10)

#7: "At nine o'clock one morning late in July..." to "Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder."

#8: "Roaring noon." to  "I turned toward Mr. Gatsby, but he was no longer there."

#9: "One October day in nineteen-seventeen---" to "Her wan scornful mouth smiled and so I drew her up again, closer, this time to my face."