Assignment for Monday, Sept. 27

1. Read and annotate The Color of Water, pp. 57-105.
2. Write one typed page in response to the following prompt: Write a brief narrative piece modeled on one of the three passages from Color of Water listed below. Your writing should strive to mimic McBride's writing (e.g., sentence structure, word choice, level of detail, and so on ) rather than the specific nature of the incident. That said, you may find it helpful to follow the general nature of the passage's incident as described below.

• p. 9 ("As a boy...race and identity she ignored"; a profile of someone you know well, probably with a distinctive personality) 
• pp. 34-36 ("The incident confirmed my fears...a knot of disbelief and tears"; a confrontation with someone that probably ended badly) 
• pp. 94-95 ("The question of race...began to fall apart"; activities with your family that you probably hated) 

3. Email to me AND bring to class two questions about this reading. (You will try to answer each other's questions during class.)

In addition, be sure to bring 50 Essays to class as you will read George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." 

Lastly, stop by on Friday during tutorial to pick up your summer essays before the weekend. If you don't get them from  me, I will leave them with the substitute. 

For Tuesday, Sept. 20

1. Read pp. 1-55 of The Color of Water. 
2. Write one typed page in response to the following question: How would you describe McBride's narrative persona, and what strategies does he use to develop that persona? Check later in the weekend for a sample response that uses the De Quincey reading completed in Friday's class. Click here for that sample response.
3. Via email, submit two questions about The Color of Water to me. These should focus on aspects of McBride's writing choices.

In class, we will begin with an in-class reading of  Hughes's "Salvation," in 50 Essays, which we did not get to on Friday.

On a separate note, notice independent reading assignments and the vocabulary list posted to the right (under Syllabus and Assignments). Read about the independent reading assignment this weekend; maybe you can even decide on a book. The vocabulary list is where I will try to keep track of unfamiliar words that come up in class. If I miss any that you would like to see on this list, just email it to me. You will not be quizzed on these words, but it would be great to see them in your writing over the course of the year. The listed words link to their Merriam-Webster definitions.

Summer Reading 2011

For next year's AP Lang students, the summer reading options and assignments are posted to the right (under the Times' headlines) and linked here. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach me by email. I hope you enjoy the reading, and have a great summer!

Upcoming Assignments 5/23-6/2

Monday, May 23 (Day 1): Read the excerpts and adaptations from Rachel Friedman's The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost that are linked below. Ms. Friedman will be visiting class today. 

"Galway Girl," from The Pennsylvania Gazette 

Excerpt from Good Girl's Guide

Also, check out the following advice Ms. Friedman dispensed to fellow writers: 

"Seven Things I've Learned So Far," from Guide to Literary Agents, Editor's Blog 

Tuesday, May 24 (Day 2): Continue working on the personal essay for your college application. Give attention to any or all of the following: words, sentences, organization. Remember, the essay will be more successful if it is driven by what you want to say, and not by the prompt. Bring a digital copy of your essay to class.

Wednesday, May 25 (Day 3), and Thursday, May 26 (Day 4) :  Complete a draft of your college application essay, or revise what you have written so far. Bring a digital copy to class.

Tuesday, May 31 (Day 5), and Wednesday, June 1 (Day 6): Final draft of college essay due.

Thursday, June 2 (Day 1): Partager!

Upcoming Assignments

Wednesday, May 18 (Day 2): Read the two admission essays below and comment on their strengths and weaknesses.

Debora Spar, President of Barnard College
Michael S. Roth, President of Wesleyan University

Thursday, May 19 (Day 1), and Friday, May 20 (Day 2): Bring at least one page of a draft of your college essay. The topics below are those found on the Common Application. Your essay must be 250-500 words in length. It's fine to exceed that length for now; you can always cut material later.

1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6. Topic of your choice.

Homework for Wednesday, May 4 to Friday, May 6

For Wednesday, May 4, complete pp. 260-264 in your CliffsAP book. Since there are 25 questions, give yourself 25 minutes to complete these passages.

For Thursday and Friday, write outlines for the FRQs distributed in class and temporarily posted to the right (under Syllabus and Assignments). Make sure you clearly label your thesis. In addition, be sure to have a topic sentence for each paragraph you would write, and at least one supporting idea for each topic sentence.

Homework for Monday, 5/2 (Day 2), and Tuesday, 5/3 (Day 3)

In your CliffsAP book, complete the multiple-choice questions on pp. 298-303. In addition, write outlines for an essay on the following topic in response to each passage: What rhetorical strategies does the author use to achieve his or her purpose?

Rhetorical Terms to Review

You should become familiar with the following rhetorical terms. Your CliffsAP book defines them, starting on p. 65. Some of them will already be familiar to you:

ad hominem argument
antithesis
conceit
loose sentence
parallelism
periodic sentence
rhetorical appeal
rhetorical mode
syllogism
understatement

The following terms (which are also listed in your CliffsAP book) should already be familiar to you. If that is not the case, you should become familiar with them.

allegory  
alliteration
allusion
analogy
atmosphere
caricature
clause
diction
euphemism
figure of speech
genre
hyperbole
imagery
irony
juxtaposition
metaphor
mood
narrative
oxymoron
paradox
parody
personification
point of view
prose
repetition
rhetorical question
satire
simile
subordinate (dependent) clause
syntax
theme
thesis
time
transition

Assignments for April 4-April 15

Monday, April 4 (Day 6): In Advanced Composition Skills, complete Lesson 17 (pp. 117-122). For the Focus on Writing exercise (pp. 120 and 122), just write an outline; do not write an essay unless you really want to.

Tuesday, April 5 (Day 1), and Wednesday, April 6 (Day 2): In Advanced Composition Skills, read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" (pp. 146-151), write the outline for an essay in response to the following prompt: Explain the rhetorical strategies Swift employs to achieve the satirical effect of this essay.

Thursday, April 7 (Day 3), and Friday, April 8 (Day 4): In Advanced Composition Skills, complete Lesson 15 (pp. 102-106). Give yourself forty minutes to handwrite an essay in response to the Focus on Writing on p. 104. Also, be sure to read Whitman's profile of Lincoln on p. 105. In class, you will begin developing a response to the Focus on Writing on p. 106. Also, bring in any writing assignment for another class. We will give some time to work on writing for other subjects.

Monday, April 11 (Day 5), and Tuesday, April 12 (Day 6): In Advanced Composition Skills, complete the Focus on Writing on p. 106. This should be typed, double-spaced, and at least 2-3 pages in length. In class, we will review the previous multiple-choice practice exam in preparation for the one you will complete on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday, April 13 (Day 1), and Thursday, April 14 (Day 2): In Advanced Composition Skills, complete pp. 79-85, as well as the additional multiple choice questions about this passage that were distributed in class. In class, you will complete a practice AP multiple-choice exam.

Friday, April 15 (Day 3), and Tuesday, April 26 (Day 4): Partager!

Assignments for March 28 to April 4.

Monday, March 28 (Day 1), and Tuesday, March 29 (Day 2): Write one sentence at least twenty words in length for three of the following categories: an historical event, a political development, a social fad or trend, a sporting performance, an artistic creation or performance, a natural phenomenon, or a personal habit. Keep in mind, as we discussed in class, that your sentence can aim to inform, persuade, criticize, evaluate, describe, narrate, analyze, or summarize, among other functions. Bring your copy of Status Anxiety to class as we prepare for the in-class essays on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday, March 30 (Day 3), and Thursday, March 31 (Day 4): Score the AP sample essays distributed in class. Focus only on the strengths of each essay, and follow the scoring guidelines to give each a score out of 9. In class, you will write two essays in response to Status Anxiety; one essay will require a rhetorical analysis, the other an argument.

Friday, April 1 (Day 5), and Monday, April 4 (Day 6): In Advanced Composition Skills, complete Lesson 17 (pp. 117-122). For the Focus on Writing exercises (p. 120 and p. 122), just write an outline; do not write an essay unless you really want to.

Assignments for March 22-March 25

Tuesday, March 22 (Day 3): Read and annotate pp. 175-213 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.

Wednesday, March 23 (Day 4): Read and annotate pp. 192-213 of de Botton's Status Anxiety. Write a sentence about something that (following Steve Jobs) makes your heart sing.

Thursday, March 24 (Day 5), and Friday, March 25 (Day 6): Read and annotate pp. 217-293 of de Botton's Status Anxiety (it's not as much as it seems; this section is heavily illustrated).  Write a sentence that captures your reaction to this book. As we discussed in class, it might help to envision a particular context and audience for this sentence.

Snow Day Adjustment and a Short Blog Post on Status Anxiety and College

This applies to the even-day class only: We will go ahead with the multiple-choice practice AP exam on the morning of Wednesday, March 9. You will write the Huck Finn synthesis essay in class next Tuesday, March 15, when you return from the long weekend. You should stick to the schedule posted below for reading Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety.

The schedule for the odd-day class remains unchanged.

David Brooks has begun a new blog on human nature and one of his first posts is on college and status anxiety. Click here to read it; the post is short and worth your time.

Upcoming Assignments

Even-Day Classes:
Monday, March 7 (Day 6): Read and annotate up to p. 21 of Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety including the definitions that appear right after the table of contents. In class, you will write a synthesis essay on Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Wednesday, March 9 (Day 2): Read and annotate pp. 23-44 of Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety. In class, you will have sixty minutes to complete the multiple choice section of one AP Lang practice exam.
Tuesday, March 15 (Day 4): Read and annotate pp. 47-102 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.  In class, we will review the synthesis essay and the multiple choice questions.
Thursday, March 17 (Day 6): Read and annotate pp. 107-145 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.
Monday, March 21 (Day 2): Read and annotate pp. 145-192 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.

Odd-Day Classes:
Tuesday, March 8 (Day 1): Read and annotate up to p. 44 of Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety, including the definitions that appear right after the table of contents. In class, you will have sixty minutes to complete the multiple choice section of one AP Lang practice exam.
Thursday, March 10 (Day 3): Read and annotate pp. 47-71 of de Botton's Status Anxiety. In class, we will review the synthesis essay and the multiple choice questions, in addition to discussing Status Anxiety.
Wednesday, March 16 (Day 5): Read and annotate pp. 73-145 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.
Friday, March 18 (Day 1): Read and annotate pp. 147-172 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.
Tuesday. March 22 (Day 3): Read and annotate pp. 175-213 of de Botton's Status Anxiety.