Assignment for Monday, Oct. 1

Follow the directions on this handout. By the start of class, email your response to me; if you're in Google Classroom, submit it there. Be careful not to submit your assignment as a Pages document; convert it to Word or a PDF before submitting it. (If you missed class, take a look at the handout with the definitions of rhetorical figures posted to the right. Don't worry about the names; take note of the definitions and examples.)

Please keep in mind the following: What I’m asking you to do is kind of like listening to a song for the first time, and noticing the hooks and other little details that make it different; or looking at a photograph or painting, and noticing the things that make it stand out; or watching a game and noticing the team’s strategies and individual player’s moves. Just pay attention to what you see and hear, and take note of anything that looks a little different than usual in the arrangement of the words.

Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 25

Complete the STP action and research plan. (If you misplaced the handout, it is posted to the right.) When you email it to me, put “STP action plan” in the subject line. Please don’t send it as a Pages doc. If you use Pages, convert it to a Word document before sending it. If you are on Google Classroom, please go there and submit it through Google Classroom.

Assignment for Friday, Sept. 21

Use the handout on rhetorical modes posted to the right to guide you as you take another look at Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son." (As I post this, the handout is still in progress; it's about two-thirds ready.) The definitions on this handout barely scratch the surface of these modes, but hopefully you can use them to identify some of Baldwin’s strategies.

Here's your assignment (you don't have anything to write): Come prepared to discuss in detail how Baldwin uses two or more of these rhetorical modes to develop "Notes of a Native Son" and move the reader in particular ways. As always, think of the effects of Baldwin's choices: At any given point in the essay, why would Baldwin write in one mode instead of another?

Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 18

Read James Baldwin's essay "Notes of a Native Son," which was handed out in class and is posted to the right. Take the DIDLSS element you were assigned and write one well-developed paragraph that analyzes its effect on the essay. Email this to me by the start of Tuesday's class.

If you don't remember which DIDLSS element you were assigned, see the list below:

F Block:
Sarah A. Diction
Naldo C. Structure
Ethan H. Language
Charlie M. Imagery
Lyla O. Syntax 
Malachy R. Syntax 
Jacob R. Details
Grace Z. Structure

D Block:
Ren B. Structure
Claudia C. Syntax
Ahmad E. Imagery
Iris F. Language
Taylor G. Syntax
Grant L. Diction
Maddy M. Diction
Kyleigh M. Imagery
Jack M. Details
Kolby R. Language
Angelina S. Details
Sydney S. Imagery
Sarah S. Structure
Hannah W. Structure

Assignment for Friday, Sept. 14

Read Joan Didion's essay "On Keeping a Notebook," and write a one-page response that analyzes two (your choice) of the six elements of DIDLSS that we reviewed in class. If you misplaced the handout or you were absent, it is posted to the right; DIDLSS is explained on the second page.

Assignment for Wednesday, Sept. 12

Please complete this survey about the Make Your World a Better Place summer assignment.

Sign and return the AP contract (which is posted to the right).

Register here with the New York Times here; use your MPH email address; you can create your own site-specific password.

In the CliffNotes AP Lang book, read the passages on pp. 15-16, and p. 18. Do not answer any of the multiple-choice questions, or even look at them. (We won't even answer them in class.) Instead, use the rhetorical triangles to explain the distinctive features of the writing in each passage. Write one well-developed paragraph for each passage, and email this to me at fmontas@mphschool.org by the start of Wednesday's class.

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Welcome!

Welcome to AP Lang! Click here for the first handout of the year, which covers the rhetorical triangles we discussed in Wednesday's class. Use this handout selectively as you prepare for Friday's essay.

And click here is the prompt for Friday's essay. In preparing for it, use the handout distributed in Wednesday's class, which is also linked in the classroom.