Responses to Course Material

September 18, 2011

             Although we have only had AP English classes for a couple of weeks, I find that I have learned more about how to write a concise yet thorough introduction than I have in all of my previous years of language arts.  By keeping it at around three sentences long, I find it so much more convenient and practical to write an introduction the way we learned than the way I was taught in middle school and earlier years in high school.  Teachers always wanted us to write long, rambling introductions with dialogue, attention-grabbing word choice, and cheesy questions to the reader.  I feel like the way we learned to write introductions thus far is much more mature and professional, though without being boring or bland.

            While this may seem to be something one would learn in middle school, I have just recently discovered that I have been interpreting the term “diction” incorrectly.  I always thought that word choice consisted of a single phrase or few words strung together, not literally just one word.  When we read the essay The Way We Are, I noticed how much significance one word has.  There were the masculine words, like “beating” and “marching”, and then there were the feminine words, like “ kneeling” (if that could even be considered a feminine word).  Regardless, the feeling the different words produced, whether it be calmness or more of a harsh feeling, they always coordinating perfectly with the message that Sedaris was making in that particular part of the piece.  I find it fascinating how the words that we often breeze over when reading are hand-picked with such skill that they may invoke a certain feeling without the reader even being aware of it.  Now that we have discussed more about diction and I have seen how one word cause launch a discussion, I am much more aware of the diction in anything I read.  There is obvious diction, like in a food advertisement where the author uses mouth-watering adjectives, and more subtle diction, like in Sedaris’ essay.

            I thought I knew how to read a prompt, incorrectly thinking you just read it and began to write.  The lesson we did in class on how to respond to all parts of prompt helped me greatly.  I had no idea that there was a different between technique, effect, and meaning.  It took me a while to understand that techniques bring about effects that work with technique to create meaning.  The hidden “so what?” question that is lurking in many of the prompts had been completely unknown to me up until now.   I really like that we are digging deeper into answering a prompt, rather than just skimming the surface like in many of my other language arts classes.  Especially by learning the difference between effects and meaning, I feel as though I will be able to write more complex essays with a thought process that will carry over into my other classes as well.

October 9^th, 2011

            Over the past couple of weeks in AP English, we have continued to learn about forms of technique, both broad and more specific.  We also spent some time reading about different specific forms of literature and elements that they encompass.  Most recently, I have finally understood how an author uses syntax to contribute to meaning and tone (not just that he does), learned about the differences between direct and indirect characterization, and the various types of a comedy and the similarities and differences between them.

            Although I previously knew what syntax was, I never really understood how an author could use it to enhance his or her work.  The packet we got that explains syntax (Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style by Virginia Tufte) was really helpful in providing explanations and examples as to how much syntax impacts writing.  For example, I never knew that polysyndeton and asyndeton existed, and that polysyndeton adds smooth rhythm while asyndeton creates a hurried, more informal tone.  The concept of passive voice making something more obscure or removed from the sentence if something I never knew, especially because I had previously been taught to always avoid using the passive voice.  I find it interesting and helpful that, at this point in our study of literature and writing, we are able to use it again to enhance a work and create purposeful distance and vagueness.  The differences an author uses in his or her syntax, though possibly slight and subtle, have all the difference in establishing a mood and tone. 

            The notes we took from our literature textbook were extremely helpful at simply explaining literary terms and ideas.  Rather than being upon for interpretation, as much is in literature, terms like “round characters”, “flat characters”, and “stock characters” are ones that exist in almost every work of literature I have read but didn’t know what they were called.  The book also differentiated and defined indirect characterization and direct characterization.  While I understood before that there was such a thing as characterization, I didn’t know that an author could show rather than tell the audience about a character.

            The packet we received about the different types of comedy was the first exposure I have had to all the types other than parody and satire; low comedy, high comedy, burlesque, farce, lampoon, slapstick, and travesty are all new concepts for me that will be helpful in the comedies we read throughout the year.  As well as learn about the different types of comedy, I also learned about the Theatre of the Absurd, something I had previously been entire unexposed to.  It was particularly useful to read right before reading Albee’s “The American Dream” (as I’m sure Ms. Holmes did on purpose).

            Now that I have learned most of the basics, like the techniques of writing, from which to build a foundation, I am excited to learn more specific concepts like the Theatre of the Absurd.  I look forward to concentrating on one area of study and reading examples that relate to it.

October 23rd, 2011

            Throughout the past couple of weeks in AP English, I’ve been surprised to learn so much that can be learned from annotating a work of literature.  I’ve also been grateful at the second chance we had at writing the Eros prompt and I think that it was helpful in our learning of how to write the essay that the College Board wants to read.

            In annotating “The American Dream”, I was surprised at how deep the author’s influence goes in a work.  When we saw how Albee set the stage for his entire play (that is, introduced the conflict and how he was going to solve it) in the first few lines, I understood how much intent goes into every part of a play or novel.  I was also surprised at how much was implied by the stage setting (with the two chairs and a couch in between) that I would have just skimmed over if we hadn’t stopped to discuss it.  There was a lot of hidden symbolism and meaning in Albee’s play as well, such as the idea of the boxes and Grandma.  I don’t think that I would have picked up on the idea that she represents the old American Dream if we hadn’t looked closer at the double meanings behinds things she said and read the criticism online.  I also would have missed a lot of the more subtle sexual references between Mommy and Daddy if not for my classmates bringing up good points and things that they noticed.  It’s really helpful to discuss as a class because of the different viewpoints on certain subjects and also the different things that people come up with.  I’m excited to get better at picking apart a work in order to get deeper into the future plays and novels that we will read.

            I also thought that re-doing the Eros prompt was extremely helpful in seeing exactly what we need to do in order to score well on the AP essays.  I liked re-doing the same prompt because we could see the parts we included last time and see how the things we added earned more points.  When I rewrote my essay, I took the good elements of my previous one but added a response to the hidden meaning question and tried to improve fluidity and organization.  I also found writing the introduction and topic sentences much easier due to all of the practice we had with sample prompts and prompts our classmates wrote.  While tedious, it drilled in exactly what the structure is and made it one less thing to worry about when writing the essay.

            I look forward to annotating more in the future and being able to spend less time on the simple, obvious meaning and get into the bigger picture that generally underlies a work.  I’m also anxious to see how I did on the Eros re-do and hopefully improve enough to be getting at least a seven by May. 



November 20th, 2011
       Over the past two weeks in AP Lit., we spent a lot of time analyzing "Death of a Salesman".  I liked going back to this play; we looked at it a little bit in American Lit., but I didn't see nearly as much meaning or as many themes as I did when we looked at it this year.  I thought it was interesting to watching the movie first, but I think it definitely influenced my views of the plot.  I am easily influenced by the ideas of others, and I think that the way the story and characters were presented affected how I thought of them.  I look forward to reading "Ceremony" because I know nothing about it and will get to jump right in with a clean slate and form my own thoughts and views.
          In class, we wrote another essay comparing "The History Teacher" and "A Barred Owl".  After missing the hidden meaning question on the last essay, I was focused on making sure I included it in this one.  After we wrote the essay, I felt fairly confident.  However, upon discussing it as a class and peer review, I found that I really got the wrong idea from the poems.  I think that I was too focused on having a meaning that I didn't make sure I had the right one.  I want to work on quality over quantity for the next essay, and hopefully I'll be able to calm down and spend more time actually reading the poems instead of just writing the first thing that comes to my mind.
          Most recently, we worked on the Eras presentations.  I hadn't used Prezi before, and as interesting as it was to look at, I found it a little confusing to figure out.  While I much rather would have used the classic Powerpoint, I understand that it often bores the audience and can look dull.  I think that if we have the chance to use Prezi more, I will take the time to understand all the things you can do with it, like get other background and layouts.  I was surprised when other groups had really interesting layouts because I didn't know they were even possible.  Hopefully we get a chance to use it again!




12-10-2011

            Recently in class, we have been doing a close, second read of Ceremony.  I like re-reading it and getting opinions from the class, because when I did my first read, I felt lost in all of the symbols and themes that were present.  The novel seems to be packed full of meaning, and discussing it in class helps to get points of view outside of my own.  However, I still find it very confusing and I feel as though there are a lot of major ideas that I’m missing.  I think it would definitely be helpful if I were more knowledgeable in Laguna culture, because Silko clearly uses many references to it, such as the Ghost Disease and the beliefs that they have.  I liked reading the “Humor in Ceremony” and “Native American Structure” articles because they helped me to understand some of the things I definitely wouldn’t have picked up on, such as the shapes of the poems that are used and how they effect the culture.  I also liked the humor article because upon my first read, I found Ceremony depressing and sad, and I find it comforting that Silko lightens the mood in subtle, ironic ways.   I look forward to dissecting the climax of the novel and having a discussion on the whole book so we can look are some of the broader themes.