winter break HW

HOLIDAY HOMEWORK 2014-2015

AP English Language & Composition

I want you to have a great break this winter, but I also want you to keep reading! You’re away from the classroom for quite a while, and it’s difficult to focus… But reading independently will allow you to maintain your reading skills over the break. Here’s what you need to do:

PART 1

Reading

First off, read text of your choice over winter holidays. This should be something fun and enjoyable, but it needs to be a full work of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. (Feel free to read graphic novels, but not merely comics.) If you need help choosing a text, please let me know and I’m happy to offer suggestions.

Writing

By the first day of class, please post a blog that introduces your text and then responds to one scene, chapter, or piece. This response can be in whatever form you want. It can be a critique of an idea or representation, an emotional and personal reflection on an idea, an analytical reaction, etc. The options are very open! 

PART 2

Reading

Our focus in AP Lang is on nonfiction, so you will also read one text of your choice from a list of acclaimed nonfiction writing (see below).

Writing

By the first day of class, please post a blog with a short (3-5 sentence) summary of your book’s subject and a longer response that says something about the text’s form. What you say about it is your choice, but you might answer one or some of these questions:

·         What structure does the text take, and what is the effect of this structure?

·         Is the author involved in the story s/he tells, and what is the effect of this choice?

·         What argument is the text making, and how does the author convince you of this argument?

When you return from break, you will work with this book for a paper assignment, so please come prepared! I highly suggest you bring the physical book to campus…

Grading

These blogs will both be scored out of 20 points, for a total assignment value of 40 points.

Note: DO. NOT. PLAGIARIZE. Doing so will push you right over to Honor Council for an unpleasant meeting, and you will receive a 0 on this assignment.

Nonfiction List (for part 2)

Imran Ahmad, The Perfect Gentlemen

Karen Armstrong, A History of God

Wendy Beckett, The Story of Painting

HG Bissinger, Friday Night Lights

Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Slum

Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat

Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

Nicholas Carr, The Shallows

Ted Chapin, Everything Was Possible

Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography

Donald Clarke, Wishing on the Moon

Leah Hager Cohen, Glass, Paper, Beans

Edward Conlon, Blue Blood

Dennis Covington, Salvation on Sand Mountain

Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

Andrew Delbanco, The Death of Satan

Joan Didion, The White Album OR Slouching Towards Bethlehem

David Ewing Duncan, Calendar

David Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius OR Zeitoun

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed

Joseph Ellis, American Sphinx

Anne Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Timothy Ferris, The Whole Shebang

Tina Fey, Bossypants

Michael Finkel, True Story

Barbara Freese, Coal

Thatcher Freund, Objects of Desire

Thomas Friedman, Beirut to Jerusalem

Atul Gawande, Complications OR Better OR The Checklist Manifesto

Brendan Gill, Many Masks

Mikal Gilmore, Shot in the Heart

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point OR Blink OR Outliers

Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You

Yossi Klein Halevi, Like Dreamers: The Story of Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation

Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action

Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit

Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great

Peter Irons, A People’s History of the Supreme Court

Steven Johnson, Emergence

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

Doris Kearnes Goodwin, No Ordinary Time OR Team of Rivals

Tracey Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains

Gina Kolata, Clone OR Flue

Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities

Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild OR Under the Banner of Heaven

Mark Kurlansky, Cod OR Birdseye

William Langewiesche, American Ground

Eric Larson, The Devil in the White City OR Garden in the Beast

Nicholas Lemann, The Big Test

Michael Lewis, Liar’s Poker

Amanda Lindhout (and Sara Corbett), A House in the Sky

Norman Maclean, Young Men and Fire

Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes OR ‘Tis

John McPhee, Coming Into the Country

Donald Miller, City of the Century

Adam Minter, Junkyard Planet

Susan Orlean, White Oleander

Nathaniel Philbrook, In the Heart of the Sea

Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food OR Ominivore’s Dilemma

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death OR Building… OR Technopoly

Matt Ridley, Genome

Mary Roach, Stiff

Karl Sabbagh, Skyscraper

Julie Salamon, The Devil’s Candy

Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation

Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Dava Sobel, Galileo’s Daughter

Susan Sontag, On Photography

Barbra Tuchman, The Guns of August

John Walton, Mississippi

Jonathan Weiner, The Beak of the Finch

Simon Winchester, The Professor and the Madman

Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

evaluating online resources

As you research for the debate, please consult this website and refer to its guiding questions about whether an internet source is credible...

Good luck researching!

more AP essay practice

If you're super-motivated to do well on the final exam and want some additional practice, feel free to check out the essay questions on this website. The AP includes all past essay questions.

Try out questions by either annotating and planning an essay, or taking the step of writing one. I'm happy to sit with you and look at your practice essays at any time -- just let me know!

readings for Wednesday / Thursday

Check out this article for our class on Wednesday 29 October (11-2) / Thursday 30 October (11-1).

For homework, write down one quotation from the text you think is interesting, infuriating, challenging, rewarding, exciting, etc. Bring this to class on the notecards I will give you in class.

group identity mashup

Due Monday 10 November

Make a list of all the groups with which you affiliate. Using this list, of groups with which you identify, create a manipulatable that shows how these groups relate to your individual identity. By maniplulatable, I mean that you cannot give me an electronic document – it must be something you create that I can touch and manipulate with my hands. This might be a 3-D thing, like some sort of paper folding, or a collage, a puzzle, a ven diagram, a simple geometric design, a drawing, a flexagon, etc. I’m purposefully being vague in my directions so that you can be as creative as you want. But the manipulatable must:

show in some visual way your affiliations with different groups

The second part of the assignment is a 300-500 word written reflection that describes, explains, debates, expands, etc. your visual. They should go together.

Grading out of 30 points is a simply A (exceptional), B (above average), C (average), D (below average), based on the level of your thought and effort more than on specific outcomes. 

Assignment goals

--To stretch you to think visually rather than merely in words, but also to push your own writing to act as a complement to a visual.

--To spark your thinking about your personal identity as it relates to identities you assume in different groups.  

paragraph re-work

Hi everyone,

We talked about paragraphs last week, and I asked you to do a little revision exercise. Some of you have sent them (thanks!). For the rest of you, please send it to me before you leave for Activity Week. I will grade these and put them in for the first assignment for Quarter 2. They will be graded on effort/completion.

Remember the four elements of a paragraph we discussed, and see if you can improve your weakest body paragraph:
1. Unity
2. Coherence
3. A topic sentence
4. Adequate development

I'll post the powerpoint to the google drive ASAP, so you can see it, but remember that you should have notes considering how little text is on the powerpoint.

Thanks! best, Ms. Mel

1984 text / audio

Hi everyone,

We'll start reading George Orwell's 1984 (1948) this week.

Here is the full text of the book, in Microsoft Word doc form.

Here is a free audio version of the book -- not the best voice recordings, but it's FREE! Please use this if hearing something aloud helps your comprehension.

Also, if you want a hard copy of the book, here is it is on flipkart for Rs. 80. It delivers quickly.

Get excited about entering a whole new world, very different from the one in Atonement. Dystopia, here we come!!

Citing and editorial analysis...

We need to get into the habit of following citation styles so we can learn how to participate in the academic community. The standards these academic organizations set can often seem annoying and too picky, but we don't make the rules: we just learn how to follow them.

For this class, please practice MLA citation, which is the primary style used in humanities writing. The best online repository of information on MLA citation is OWL at Purdue.

This paper will require you to cite one source -- your editorial. The normal format for that type of text is below:

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent[West Lafayette, IN] 5 Dec. 2000: 20. Print.

(The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 24 August 2013.)

To read more on in-text, parenthetical citation, check out this page. For this paper, since most of you are using short, electronic articles, you can just cite the paragraph number. We'll talk about this in class.

I hope you'll become more comfortable with this format as you practice it. Let me know if you have questions.

Paper #1: Analyzing an Editorial

Hey everyone,

In case you lose the hard copy of your assignment sheet, find it in our class folder on google drive - see the "Homework" tab!

Also, here are more details on how I will grade the paper:

1. Woodstock Writing Rubric - This is the holistic rubric that I'll use in determining whether your work is A-level, B-level, C-level, D-level, or failing.
2. P1 Response Questions - These are questions I'll ask when reading and evaluating your paper. You're welcome to use these questions as a "checklist" of sorts to see whether you're meeting the paper's requirements.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you need any additional information, or want to meet with me for one-on-one assistance. Good luck writing....... :)

TWO MORE RESOURCES:
1. Powerpoint on analysis v. summary...
2. Sample paper from a past student. This one was in the A-level. This doesn't mean it was perfect, but it's pretty well done.

Further reading on EMOTION / CREDIBILITY

Here are two more chapters from that Everything's an Argument book-- one on pathos and one on ethos. Feel free to read through these if you want to gain a deeper understanding of those appeals...

meeting mr. capote

If you want to hear Capote saying more about writing in general - and ICB specifically - check out these interviews!

Further reading on LOGIC

As I mentioned, you can check out the chapter on LOGIC from Everything's An Argument here. It's about 20 pages long and goes into much greater detail than my "mini-lecture." This is optional reading, but helpful if you want a more nuanced understanding of the concepts.

Here's the powerpoint from class, as well...

open space notes

Nice work in class the last few days! I'm doing my best to decipher your notes about the various topics you covered in your open space discussions. This might not be 100% accurate, so please have patience...

SECTION AP11-1 (in Media Centre)
Why does Capote make Perry seem innocent?
-depressing childhood
-author's perspective
-trust-worthy Dick
-sympathy toward Perry?
-main focus on Perry
-find out the deeper meaning behind the murder
-our interpretation
-Perry had no hope; Dick had a family

Forgiveness/Sympathy/Understanding
-he wants us to be sympathetic toward Perry
-people who do wrong have a past - which may force them
-Dick: portrayed his lifestyle to be happier; Perry seems more sympathetic
-we understand but we don't sympathize
-blame goes hand-in-hand - Dick wouldn't plan if Perry didn't pull the trigger

Media's Influence on Crime
-exaggerate
-biased
-twist the plot
-personal preferences
-intervene
-uncertain information
-rely on sources
-take the law in their hands
-concentrate on incident rather than solutions
-don't realize the power in their hands
-target the influence

What does Capote say about the death penalty?
-says it's wrong
-says Dick is innocent and got the death penalty
-Perry killed four; Dick intended to rape
-mental health (INSANE)
-Dick used Perry
-Perry's background made him commit the crime
-Further examination needed to be done to see if Perry was sane or not
-Perry saved the girl from rape and then shot her
-Capote says Perry didn't know the difference between right and wrong
-Capote develops a relationship with them; visiting them in jail and sending them reading material

In-depth analysis of a criminal mind
-inconsistencies
-difficult background of murders (murderers?)
-why would Dick do this?
     -such a good life
     -was it because he was poor?
     -pushed Perry
     -just a witness?
     -blamed for murder?
     -EXPLOITER
     -BYSTANDER
-RAPE IS AS BAD AS MURDER
-Perry = unstable (wanted to be an artist)
-not knowing v. knowing (psychopath v. sociopath)
-trigger

What justifies murder?
-revenge (?) - no. puts in same position :(
-mental/psycho-responsibility
-blame on parents / BG / society?
-choice to kill / not to kill
-alcohol / drugs (personal will and decision)
-legal death penalty
-war / protest - gov's right to kill, personal intentions
-Israel v. Gaza (??)
     -excuse is that G attacked first -media's role in creating bias
     -self-protection justify killing? threat
      before any harm done. no.
      -religion's role

SECTION AP11-2 (in Senior School)
Motives of the killers
-Dick wanted to rape Nancy. Perry stopped him. Dick's idea. Perry blames his past life for the murder. Dick didn't kill anyone, so he took Perry along.
-Anger from the past, anger from the fact that they did not get the money. Dick took advantage of Perry.
1)money
2) sex/rape Nancy
3) killing
-Only reason Dick associated with Perry was because he thought Perry could kill anyone without any feeling. Perry was disturbed.
-Perry was uneducated.
-Clutters were the least likely to be killed.
-They felt relieved when they killed them.
-Psychotic spree
-Dick was frustrated. Tension between Perry as well.
-Dick overestimated himself.
-Dick shows no remorse at the trial.
-They wanted satisfaction. Get rich. Get happy. Go to Mexico. They wanted to improve their lives.
-Perry had a broken family (2 siblings died, 1 sister alive).
-Capote strayed from journalism.

Did the killers deserve their punishment?
-rape (Dick)
-psychological disorder
-Perry doesn't deserve; Dick deserves
-Perry claims (he knew he was wrong)
-Dick denies (sends letters to attorneys)
-Dick was the mastermind
-Perry was weak from inside; he took orders from Dick
-Every action of Perry -- Dick was behind it (the murder)
-Perry was also regretting as we can see when they were travelling, Perry was bringing up the topic over and again to Dick
-Dick surely deserved it
-Perry could have avoided death because of harsh conditions
-Law goes with action (they punish the person who commits the crime)

Do past events affect the future?
-schools (war, nightmares)
-personality
-Perry's uneducated
-Perry was the killer and he had a bad childhood
-Dick did not have any past experiences that he could kill a person but Perry had so he killed the whole Clutter family
-Perry got his diseases from his childhood and that was a reason he could kill a person
-It depends on a person if he could take - Dick wanted what he had-His motive was to steal money
-Going to jail is one of the reasons they end up murdering the Clutter family.
-We totally agree that the past affects the future.

Humanity (?)
-terrifyingly human
-could be anyone, turned out to be Dick and Perry
-humane side; still human
-actions define who you are
-rape then death = worse than killing?
-3/4 book is about past
-killing is only a small part
-some actions are heavier than others
-"make you feel as bad as I do" (Mathai)

Perspectives
-From the killers, the Clutter fam was perfect.
-Perry / Dick feel wronged.
-Clutters didn't do anything wrong.
-Dick influences Perry
-Perry had a horrid life, wasn't taught about wrong and right
-Perry was messed up, in a strong way.
Capote perspective:
-gave a lot of the book to the killers.
-shows how the killers were raised
-psychological reports, supported the killers
-but also showed the killing first, and in gruesome detail.
-and described how nice and supportive the Clutters were at home and in community
-killers were the more interesting people
-Capote paints the manipulation of Perry
-Perry a child, believes in buried treasure
-Until the end, didn't think of the killers as killers - just troubled people.
-Made the killers into the victims.
-Clutters didn't seem to have flaws, but no family can be perfect
Clutters (IIII) v. Killers (III)

blog-rific!

As promised, peruse some of the following blogs for inspiration and an idea of what high-quality writing looks like. Yes, some of these students pushed the word limit at times. (And keep in mind that some used their blogs for more than just class, and they thus include other posts.) However, what most of them consistently excelled at was having something interesting to say and saying that well -- often in an interesting way. Enjoy!

http://fumigateyourmind.blogspot.in/
http://pranitgarg1997.blogspot.in/
http://hyunyoungandherlittlespace.blogspot.in/
http://wsshaurya.blogspot.in/
http://luluandenglish.wordpress.com/

Who are you in relation to AP L&C?

(http://www.abimboladare.com/2011/11/21/who-are-you/)

Your first assignment this quarter is to tell me a bit about yourself. In this case, I don't mean your favorite bands or video games -- this "getting to know you" stuff will come out during class, I hope. But I want to know how you feel about this course, and who you are as a reader/writer/thinker.

So, In about 500-700 words, reflect on the following things:

• How would you describe yourself as a reader?
• How would you describe yourself as a writer?
• What do you hope to get out of this class? What do you need help on the most as it relates to reading/writing for college-level classes?
• What helps you learn? (In other words, do you prefer visuals, or lecture/discussion, or interactive?)
• Do you have any questions/concerns about this course?

This writing diagnostic will help me to understand you as a writer, both as you see yourself and how I see you through the written word. I will take your questions, concerns and requests seriously as we continue through the semester. Thanks for your honesty!

Please email me your reflection by Sunday 3 August at 11pm.