AP POETRY - REVIEW

Each of you needs to choose a different literary movement, research it - the characteristics, major themes, styles, employment of literary devices, authors, and bring one example of a poem from the period to share with the class and to discuss. You'll need to post all of these things on your blog so that your classmates can use it to study.

Lit Movements:

Renaissance
Metaphysical Poets
Neo-Classical or Augustan
Romantic
Transcendentalist
Modernism
Harlem Renaissance
Postmodernism:
Confessional Poets
Beat Poets
New York School of Poets
Black Mountain Poets
Black Arts Movement

Please start compiling note cards of literary devices.

As we review for the AP Test you should spend an hour or so each night looking or reviewing poems from various periods of literature. We will look at each period briefly and examine some of the poems again for ideas.

The first period that you should reacquaint yourself with is the metaphysical poets. Remember John Donne is the greatest poet of this movement.

Go here for a website with an overview of the movement and many poems by each of the major poets.

You should also check out this site.


For the Augustans you should concentrate mainly on Alexander Pope. Read "Essay on Criticism" and "Rape of Lock". Pay attention to the heroic couplets.

Go here for Pope's work on-line.

Thursday 3/8 Class Work

ESSAYS ARE DUE MONDAY!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!

HAMLET ACT 5: Questions

1) What do you feel is the point of the gravedigger’s riddles and song? How does it fit into the play?


2) In what ways do Hamlet’s reactions to the skulls in the graveyard seem to suggest a change in his outlook? Compare Hamlet’s attitude towards Yoric to Hamlet’s attitude to Ophelia or even his father? How is it different? How is it similar?


3) How old is Hamlet? How do you know this?

4) What does the violent argument between Hamlet and Laertes add to the play?

5) What developments in Hamlet’s character are presented through the story of what happened on the boat? (V.ii 1-62). How has Hamlet changed?
6) How do Hamlet’s motives in killing Claudius seem to have shifted according to his speech beginning “Does it not, think thee…” (V.ii.63)

7) What concerns of the play are reinforced in the Osric episode? (V.ii.80-170)

8) Why does Hamlet ‘defy augury’? (V.ii.192)

9) What does Laertes say is his motive in still resenting Hamlet? How has already lost this? How does this contribute to the presentation of revenge in the play? (V.ii216-223)

10) How might the dying lines of Gertrude, Claudius and Laertes be viewed as typical of the way their characters have been presented throughout the play?

11) Who “wins” in Hamlet? How and why do you think this?

HOMEWORK ESSAYS

QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP THESIS STATEMENTS ABOUT AND ANSWER


1) Polonius is sometimes played as a senile old fool, sometimes as a shrewd and worldly old man. Which interpretation do you agree with and why?
2) Pick one character who could, at some point, have changed the whole chain of events. Discuss.
3) Analyze the three appearances of the ghost seen in the play. Where did he appear; to whom did he appear? How does the third appearance differ from the first two? What is the significance of this?
4) Discuss the reasons for Hamlet’s apparent delay in seeking revenge for his father. What is your opinion regarding his procrastination?
5) Compare and contrast Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras as avengers.
6) What is Hamlet’s attitude towards life and people? How does it affect his actions?
7) Apply the following quote to Hamlet: “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how to not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.” -- THE PRINCE, Machiavelli
8) Examine the reoccurring pun on sun and son. How does this symbol work in the overall meaning of the play.

Other possible questions:

9) Was Ophelia pregnant with Hamlet’s child?
10) Did Hamlet slip into madness?
11) It is Hamlet who causes the downfall of Denmark.
12) What is the meaning of the pirates?
13) Is Hamlet Jesus Christ? How is Horatio either John the Baptist or an apostle.
14) Why or how is Denmark the Garden of Eden?
15) Gertrude knows about the murder?
16) The meaning of prostitution in Hamlet?

Act IV

Act IV, Scene 1
1. What is Claudius' main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius' death?
Act IV, Scene 2
1. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Act IV, Scene 3
1. What image does Hamlet use (ll. 19-29) to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily?
2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter: to whom, and what order does it contain?
Act IV, Scene 4
1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland (l. 20)? What will the invasion itself cost (l. 25)?
2. Hamlet's soliloquy (ll. 32-66) is self-critical; summarize his main fault.
Act IV, Scene 5
1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. Why? What do they tell us about her at the moment? What might they reveal about Her, Hamlet and Polonius?
2. Why is Laertes a danger to Claudius' throne (ll. 98-103)? (Actually two or three related reasons.)
3. What does Claudius offer as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death (ll. 190-9)?
Act IV, Scene 6
1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How did he?
Act IV, Scene 7
1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius (ll. 1-4)?
2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder (ll. 9-24)?
3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon) and that Hamlet is envious of this fame.
4. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge (ll. 126-38)?
5. How does Laertes refine the plan (ll. 138-147)?
6. What announcement does Gertrude make to end Act IV?

More Study Questions for Act III

1) What does Claudius plan to do with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hamlet?
2) What is Polonius going to do while Hamlet speaks with his mother?
3) List three important things about Claudius’ soliloquy.

a)
b)
c
4) Why is it odd that Hamlet sees the king praying?
5) Why doesn’t Hamlet take this opportunity for revenge?
Scene IV

1) Describe Polonius’ advice to Gertrude.
2) What is the significance of the following quote: “How now, a rat? Dead! For a ducat, dead!
3) What is odd about the following quote: A bloody dead; almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother.
4) Why might Gertrude say, “What have I done, that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me.”
5) What descriptions does Hamlet use to compare his father and his uncle?


King Hamlet


Claudius

6) What point does Hamlet make by comparing the men?
7) What is disturbing about the following: Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; stewed in corruption; honeying, and making love over the nasty sty.”
8) What stops Hamlet’s ranting and raving at Gertrude? What does this figure tell Hamlet?
9) By the end of the act, Hamlet has made many statements about humanity, in general. Explain a few of his points. Do his opinions reflect his madness.
10) Explain the differences between the ghost in Act I with the ghost in Act III. Why might these differences reflect Hamlet’s insanity?

January 13th

Work on AP Speeches.

Remember you'll be graded on FORM and CONTENT as well as speaking.

Please practice.

Act 3 Study Questions

Act 3
Scene 1:
1. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to Polonius?
2. How does Claudius react when Polonius says, "…with devotion's visage, And pious action we do sugar o'er/ The devil himself"?
3. What plan do Polonius, Claudius and Ophelia now put into action?
4. What is the nature of Hamlet's soliloquy, lines 57-91?
5. What is Hamlet's main argument against suicide?
6. Why does Hamlet treat Ophelia as cruelly as he does? What has changed him?
7. What thinly veiled threat to Claudius does Hamlet voice, after he becomes of his hidden presence? (lines 148-150)
8. At the end of this scene, what does the King decide to do with Hamlet?
Scene 2:
9. What qualities in Horatio cause Hamlet to enlist his assistance?
10. What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do?
11. Summarize what happens in the play-within-a-play.
12. Why, in line 233, does Hamlet refer to the play-within-a-play as "The Mouse-trap"?
13. What is the King's reaction to the play?
14. In lines 354-363, to what object does Hamlet compare himself? Why?
15. As Hamlet goes to his mother at the end of this scene, what does he admonish himself to do?

Questions for Speeches

In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.


Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.


A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.


The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Select a literary work that makes use of such a sustained reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the work’s meaning.

Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.


Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.


In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

1998. In his essay “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau offers the following assessment of literature:
In literature it is only the wild that attracts us. Dullness is but another name for tameness. It is the uncivilized free and wild thinking in Hamlet and The Iliad, in all scriptures and mythologies, not learned in schools, that delights us.
From the works that you have studied in school, choose a novel, play, or epic poem that you may initially have thought was conventional and tame but that you now value for its “uncivilized free and wild thinking.” Write an essay in which you explain what constitutes its “uncivilized free and wild thinking” and how that thinking is central to the value of the work as a whole. Support your ideas with specific references to the work you choose.


1999. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.”
From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels or plays listed below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.


One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote
Much madness is divinest Sense-
To a discerning Eye-
Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel or play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.


2002. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.


2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.


A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.


The big question of all of English literature: why does Hamlet delay so long in avenging his father's murder? We've offered some well-known critical theories, but who knows, maybe all those scholar people missed something. Give it a shot.


What is the role of theater within Hamlet? What is the purpose of the Hecuba speech, the play-within-the-play, and Hamlet's advice to actors? What practical purposes do theatrical moments serve in the plot? What symbolic purposes do they serve? Does theater "hold, as twere, a mirror up to nature" (3.2.2)?

Hamlet: Things to Consider for Speeches

Symbols:

Garden of Eden - (references to characters in the garden)
Ears
Things that are fortified
The Ghost (what is this ghost??? If it is Hamlet's father and is in Purgatory why is it asking Hamlet to murder his Uncle?)
Dress (particularly Hamlet's)
Sun/Son

Motifs:

Prostitution
Decay
Ambition (the shadows of beggars)
Spying
Madness
Acting/Theatre
"To thy own self be true"
Procrastination

Characters (could these also be symbols?):

Fortinbras
Gertrude
Ophelia
Claudius
Ghost
Horatio

Allusions:

Virgil - Tales of Dido
Bible - Garden of Eden, Jepthah
Nero
Alexander, Julius Caesar
Greek/Roman Gods (example: Hyperion, Satyr)

Themes:

Mortality - What does it mean to die? What happens to us after we die?
Lies and Deceit - Does anyone tell the truth in Denmark? Why does this bother Hamlet so much? (Think of ear as metaphor/metonymy/symbol)
Revenge - What does it mean to take revenge against someone? What are the consequences of taking revenge (both physical and spiritual)? This also falls into the meaning of action - as in what does it mean to act (think of the three different avengers: Laertes, Hamlet, Fortinbras).
Sex - what is up with Hamlet and sex?
What is the meaning of family?
What is out there in the universe?
How can one live in an inherently evil world?

And there are others.

Act II Study Questions

ACT II

1) What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II? How does he plan to trap his son?


2) What does this say about Polonius?


3) What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?



4) Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?


5) What does Hamlet ask the players to recite? How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?



Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6) “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”



7) “More matter less art”



8) “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,



9) “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”


10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”


11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.


12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia?


13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” How does this relate to Hamlet.


14) What is a fishmonger?


15) Who was Jephthah?

MORE ACT 1

Act 1 scenes 3-4

1) What is Laertes advice to Ophelia?





2) How does “The canker galls the infants of the spring/ too oft before their buttons be disclos’d” fit into the ideology of the decaying garden?





3) What analogy does Ophelia give to her brother as an answer to his advice? What does she mean?






4) List five of the “few precepts” that Polonius gives to Laertes.







5) In lines 105-109, what is the metaphor that Polonius uses to describe Hamlet’s words of love?







6) List and explain one metaphor found in the lines 115-135.





7) What is Polonius’ command to Ophelia?





8) In scene 4, what is Hamlet talking about in lines 13-38?








9) Why doesn’t Horatio want Hamlet to follow the ghost?







10) What is Hamlet’s command to the three guards?

Hamlet Act 1 scenes 3-5

HAMLET ACT 1 Scene 2

1. What is odd about Hamlet’s appearance in the opening of scene two?





2. Explain (give at least two reasons) why Claudius needs to justify his marriage in the opening of scene two.








3. Laertes asks the King for leave to do what, specifically?

4. Explain Hamlet’s insult when he says, “A little more than kin and less than kind.”







5. Explain Hamlet’s use of pun in the line, “Not so my lord, I am too much in the sun.”






6. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy it is obvious that what troubles him most is?











7. What does Hamlet mean by the following lines

“Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems’.
‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forc’d breath,
No, nore the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected havior of the visage,
Together will all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play;
But I have that within which passes show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.



8. What does Hamlet say about the baked meats and the funeral and the wedding.





9. What news does Horatio, Marcellus and Barnardo bring to Hamlet.

Study Questions for HAMLET

Questions for ACT 1 SCENE 1

1) How is interest created in the opening scene?




2) What information are we given to help us understand the situation?




3) What happens at the end of the scene to create suspense and keep up the reader’s interest?





4) What is the mood of the scene?






5) Why are the sentries apprehensive (there are two reasons)?






6) What reasons are suggested by Horatio for the appearance of the late King’s ghost?

HAMLET

Shakespeare: Tragedy, Comedy and Metaphor

“The poem, the song, the picture is only water drawn from the well of people
and it should be given back to them in a cup of beauty so that they may drink—
and in drinking, understand themselves.”
--Lorca


This unit will give students a chance to look at Shakespeare from a personal and cultural perspective. The class will break of the structure of the play HAMLET and discuss how metaphor and symbol, plot and theme work in conjunction with the development of characters and ideas. A study of Hamlet must involve an examination of his melancholy, his indecision, his fatalism, his cynicism, his general disillusionment with humanity, the question of his sanity or insanity, and the revenging of his father’s death. The play is full of questions: How should one behave? What should one believe? Who is there (what force outside of humanity abides in the realms of the universe)? What is beautiful and what is ugly in humanity? The play also deals with problems: parent’s treatment of their children, the question of suicide and mortality, corruption and evil, loyalty and fate. Ultimately, Hamlet is a play about the question, “How can one live in an inherently evil world?” A timely question even today as we look at possible war with Iraq, a Middle East divided in fractions, a Korea on the verge of nuclear weapons, American and World companies that value money over people and people who value money and power over love.

OBJECTIVES: At the end of this unit students will be able to

Knowledge:

1) List the five elements of tragedy
2) List the five elements of a tragic hero
3) Define theme, plot, setting, foreshadow, oxymoron, soliloquy, personification, dramatic foil, metaphor, symbol, simile, pun
4) Give the four elements of a sonnet and a brief description of traditional sonnet themes
5) Define various vocabulary words from the play


Comprehension:

6) Identify a metaphor, simile, pun or symbol within the play
7) Identify the rhyme scheme of a English sonnet and break a sonnet into quatrains and couplets
8) Give a brief description of all the characters and their roles in the play
9) Given a line of dialogue identify the speaker
10) Outline the plot and break in up into exposition, inciting event, rising action, climax, falling action and catastrophe (or resolution)
11) Summarize each scene into a headline

Application

12) Demonstrate an understanding of a scene in a drawing
13) Demonstrate a relation of characters to contemporary times through a simulation
14) Demonstrate an understanding of characters and acting techniques by writing out a script (including the lines, subtext, emotion or tone, and blocking) and acting out the scene from memory
15) Demonstrate an understanding of the play by writing journal entries and in-class writing assignments including a Dear Abbey Letter, interviews with citizens of Denmark, personal responses, and in-class presentations on characters.
16) Demonstrate an understanding of parts of the play by translation Shakespeare’s lines into contemporary English
17) Write a rap about Hamlet

Analysis

17) In an essay compare and contrast a Shakespeare Comedy to a Shakespeare Tragedy.
18) Write a persuasion paper on some element or question of Hamlet and present the paper to class as an oration


Synthesis

19) Write a sonnet

PROJECT:

A variety of activities could be included as a project, but some include staging a scene of the play (with costumes), making a puppet show, making an activity book, reading other Shakespeare plays and presenting them to class (with some acting), making a movie or video, recording your song/rap (with some polishing), writing a sonnet sequence, writing a paper.


STUDENTS WILL BE ASSESSED IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

1) Class participation (this includes worksheets, homework)
2) Oral presentations and drawings
3) Individual writing (both critical and creative)
4) Character acting
5) Quizzes and Unit Final
6) Unit Project (if time permits)

ACTIVITIES TO BE INCLUDED (but not limited to)
1) short lectures
2) note guides for movies, reading and lectures
3) in-class reading/ some homework reading
4) in-class writing
5) role-plays/ simulations
6) dramatic acting of scenes and/or poems
7) drawings
8) listening to CDs related to Shakespeare
9) scavenger hunt
10) project


QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP THESIS STATEMENTS ABOUT AND ANSWER


1) Polonius is sometimes played as a senile old fool, sometimes as a shrewd and worldly old man. Which interpretation do you agree with and why?
2) Pick one character who could, at some point, have changed the whole chain of events. Discuss.
3) Analyze the three appearances of the ghost seen in the play. Where did he appear; to whom did he appear? How does the third appearance differ from the first two? What is the significance of this?
4) Discuss the reasons for Hamlet’s apparent delay in seeking revenge for his father. What is your opinion regarding his procrastination?
5) Compare and contrast Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras as avengers.
6) What is Hamlet’s attitude towards life and people? How does it affect his actions?
7) Apply the following quote to Hamlet: “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how to not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.” -- THE PRINCE, Machiavelli
8) Examine the reoccurring pun on sun and son. How does this symbol work in the overall meaning of the play.
9) Others will be added as we read.

Hamlet Vocabulary

1) Paradox
2) Sovereign
3) Commission
4) Resolution
5) Malefaction
6) Firmament
7) Tedious
8) Pestilent
9) Pious
10) Promontory

Reader's Response

Go here for BELOVED

School for Trip

1) Finish BELOVED
2) Write 2-3 page Deconstruction Essay.
3) Read and discuss with Mr. F packet on Readers' Response Theory
4) Write 2-3 page Readers' Response Essay.
5) Meet with Mr. F - 40 minutes daily about BELOVED and essays.

Toni Morrison podcast on BELOVED

Go HERE to listen to Toni Morrison talk BELOVED. It might help on your Historical essays.

January 8th, 2012

Today we will finish discussion about New Criticism and discuss pages 50-80 of BELOVED.

Homework: A) Read 80-100.
B) By Friday write a 2-3 page essays using New Criticism to discuss some aspect of BELOVED. Note we will be moving on to another Critical Theory by Thursday so make sure you have this theory down before then. If you need to see me after school be do so.

January 6th: Chokeberry Tree

Today we are going to look at Literary Theory and New Criticism. Go HERE

Also read to page 80 in BELOVED.

Below are the lyrics to MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME - Morrison is playing off these lyrics with SWEET HOME:


The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
'Tis summer, the darkies are gay;
The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.

The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright;
By 'n' by Hard Times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.

Chorus:

Weep no more my lady
Oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home,
For the Old Kentucky Home far away.

BELOVED

That's Be Loved!

Okay, so you obviously have noticed that I'm not in class. I'm stuck in Juneau - perhaps forever (this is were you cheer, stand up and bump each other as if you've knocked down a 3-pt shot.

Overview of the next few weeks (for the AP students0): We're going to look at a few difference theories on literary criticism and write a 2-3 page essays with each. Some of the theories include New Criticism (inspired by Eliot and the one most needed for AP); Historical Criticism (author's life and times - this will be tricky for Toni Morrison because she publishes Beloved in the 80s but the events in the novel take place in the 1880s, so what is it in her life or the time around the 80s that inspires her to write about a time long ago? What in her life appears in the novel?); Feminist Criticism; Deconstructivism ( a postmodern theory developed in the 80s); and Readers' Response (this should be the easiest theory to write an essay using). Just be prepared to write. Looking at last semesters essays we need more analyzation and less "summary" to more into the higher brackets of the AP rubric. Last, we will also be working on the prose selection questions: this is were the AP test gives you a prose passage and asks you to analyze it.
BELOVED is a good novel for prose passages.

Things to NOTE: BELOVED has many references to the BIBLE (you might just find a copy somewhere and begin reading it on your own - unfortunately, I'm serious), slavery and the middle passage (you'll need to research the middle passage, the importance of the Ohio River as a boundary between Kentucky and Ohio (slavery - freedom), and the slave laws and stories about slave hunters (note: think of the slave hunters in Huck Finn), and slave plantations. Question: What does it mean to be free? How does a person go from slavery to being a free person? Is there a transformation? What does it mean to love or be loved? How does the past control our actions (or are we slaves to the past - how do we break free?). Note: some of the book is written in prose poetry. Also Morrison uses many allusions - note the whips on Sethe's back resembling a TREE.

Assignment for today: Find BELOVED textbooks (if you don't already have them) and read the first 20 pages. I want each of you to come up with a theme - what is the book about - and a list of characters.

For AP students I want you also to look at the this site HERE and choose an essay to read and present an overview of in class tomorrow (what is it about, how does it break down the novel, etc.) Please don't pick the same essay.

ASSIGNMENTS: 1) read first 20 pages, come up with a theme and a list of characters; 2) pick out an essay, read it and be able to relate it to the class tomorrow.

BLAKE and DANNY - you just need to do step 1.

GOOD LUCK!!! I look forward to class discussion tomorrow!