APLit

"A Story" sample student essays

Oedipus Multiple Choice questions

Importance of Being Earnest Multiple choice questions

Independent Novel Assignment--finish reading your book over the holiday. 2A Due Date--January 16 2B Due Date--January 17

Open Essay Prompt for 2A: 2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the answer." Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes' observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary

Are We Living in a Brave New World? We are going to work together to create a class scrap book for BNW. Each person is responsible for creating a section based on the selected topic. Your pages should be the size of a regular scrapbook page--11 x 17--2 pages should be sufficient. The pages should include the following: --a catchy heading (based on your topic) proof pithy claims about the topic based on your own observations from the text and our society --images that connect to the topic--the scrapbook page should be visually appealing --at least 3 quotes from BNW that relate to your topic. We will present our pages and assemble our scrap book on the day we return from the break.

For Mon/Tuesday, read the overview of Literary Criticisms in our text book pp 2334-2336; Feminist Perspective--pp2351; PostColonialism--pp2358; Psychoanalytical--pp2344

The Tempest Critical Analysis Essay Assignment

Read through Act II, scene i for Mon/Tues of next week. Complete your first 5 for 5. (scroll to the bottom for the 5 for 5 assignment on the attached document.)

Revise your passage analysis essay for Mon/Tuesday.

Short Story Unit Test is WEd/Thurs! STUDY!!!!

For Mon/Tues 9/24/25, STUDY for your Unit Test (which will be held on Wed/Thurs). Practice passage analysis and study all of your terms.

For Thurs/Fri, 9/20/21, prepare for our pinwheel discussions. Research your author; prepare questions (if you're a provocateur). Also, bring BREAKFAST!!

For Wed/Thurs, 9/12/13, read "The Birthmark" and "Araby" (in your literature book) and compose your rough draft of the passage analysis essay. We will be workshopping the rough drafts in class.

For Mon/Tues, read "The Swimmer" (full text is located further down this page) and read "The Country Husband" (in your text). Work on your passage analysis essay. Study vocabulary.

For Thurs/Fri, read "Good Country People" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in your literature books. Also, begin composing your passage analysis essay (due next Friday, Sept. 14). Passage Analysis ESsay--500-1000 words--analyze one key passage from your short story. Make a copy of the passage, as well as compose your prompt as the cover page for your essay. In your analysis, include sentence variety--include one of EACH example of Sentence Variety. Use the comment feature on Word to indicate your use of the various structures.

For Friday, be prepared to revised your in-class passage analysis essay. For T/W Sept 4/5, read "Barn Burning" and "Recitatif" in your literature book.

For W/Th 8/29/30, read the stories "A&P" and "Happy Endings". Both are located in your literature book.

For M/T 8/27/28, read the short story "Sonny's Blues" in your text. It's long, so don't wait until too late to read it. Pay attention to the use of music as a motif, as well as the dark/light imagery that pervades the text. Also begin your Short Presentations.

For Friday, 8/24, we'll be composing our first official passage analysis essay in class. I'll give you a hint: the passage has to do with our unit theme. For the next two weeks, you'll be following the reading schedule listed on the Short Story Seminar Presentation Sheet. Sign up will be first-come, first-serve, so when you decide which story you'd like to tackle, sign up with me. "The Swimmer" (it's not in our literature book, so here is the story)

For Wed/Thurs 8/22/23, read the stories "Shiloh" (760) and "Hills LIke White Elephants" (166) in your text. Compose a one-two page Reader's Response for ONE of the stories. Please type this response. What is a Reader's Response? It's a reflection of how you responded to a piece of literature, focusing on themes, symbols, character, historical references, Foster's Focus, and a plethora of other considerations. A Reader's Response reveals how closely you connect with the text.

For Mon/Tues 8/20/21, read the short story "The Storm" by Kate Chopin and the short story "Everything that Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor (page 519). Apply Foster's Focus in a Thought Piece for EACH story.

For Friday, 8/17, read the poem "Surfaces" and annotate it. Apply DIDLS to discover all of the tone shifts, as well as the theme. Also, on Friday we will be completing our last in-class pre-test essay.

For Wed/Thurs 8/15/16, read the short story "The Cathedral" in your lit book. (page 38). Apply concepts from Foster's book to guide your understanding of the story. Also, compose your poetry analysis essay. Time yourself--40 minutes! This essay is not for a grade, but it is part of your pretest. Also, study your vocabulary words. You may go to Quizlet and study from there. The list is called AP Vocab 2012-2013.

For Mon/Tues 8/13/14, read the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Annotate the story as you read, noting key literary features, as well as applying ideas from Foster's book. Also, complete a ladder of questions for the story, and bring these questions (unanswered) to our Socratic Seminar.

Syllabus

For Friday, August 10, read and SIFT (Symbolism, Imagery, Figurative Language, Tone & Theme) the following poems in your literature book: "Barbie Doll" (p. 855) and "Woodchucks" (p. 862)