Blog 20: Reflection on AP Lit

This is our LAST blog for the school year! I would like you to reflect on this past year in AP Literature and provide me with some feedback about our course and the texts that we have read. Consider the questions below, but feel free to provide any additional ideas or feedback in your response. In order to earn full credit, please provide extensive feedback in your response and respond to at least two of your peers. Thank you!

DUE DATE: Thursday, May 19th at 11:59pm (G Day)

Questions to consider for your reflection:

• What did you like best while Mrs. Loux was instructing the course? Why?
• If you were teaching this course, what would you do differently? Why? What was your favorite assignment/activity in class? Why?
• What was your least favorite assignment/activity in class? Why?
• Describe your experience with the various texts we read this year; consider novels, plays, short stories, and poetry. What would you recommend I continue for next year and what would you eliminate?
• Describe your experience with the various types of writing we did in class this year, particularly the AP exam essays.
• Describe your experience preparing and taking the AP exam.
• What is one thing you would tell a future student about Mrs. Loux’s English class.
• List ONE thing you will take away from Mrs. Loux’s class.
• Other comments or suggestions for the future.

Blog 19: Short Story “Part Deux” (Period 5 ONLY)

For the two PARCC cycles (April 15th-May 6th) we are going to have another “friendly” competition between the students in Period 1 and Period 5. Each class will construct their second original short story via blog posts. It is the entire class’s responsibility to come together and write a creative piece of short fiction.

Here are the ground rules:

• You may start writing on (PARCC F Day) Friday, April 15th at 12:00am and you must end on (PARCC G Day) Friday, May 6th by 11:59pm.
• The short story MUST BE ORIGINAL.
• The short story must have a beginning, middle, and end.
• The short story must have strong character development, a clear conflict, and an important theme or message.
• Each person in the class must respond a minimum of FIVE times.
• Each person must write a minimum of four sentences per blog post. (One word or one liner posts will not be accepted.)
• You CANNOT post twice in a row, you must add to the story after another student has posted.
• Students in Period 5 can ONLY add to this short story.
• Have fun!

The Winners: The class with the most creative and original short story will win the competition. The winning class will receive an automatic 100 for Blog Post 19 and will earn an additional +1 on their Marking Period 4 Grade.

Please note: If both classes fail to follow the ground rules above, neither group will win the competition. 

May the best class win!

Blog 19: Short Story “Part Deux” (Period 1 ONLY)

For the two PARCC cycles (April 15th-May 6th) we are going to have another “friendly” competition between the students in Period 1 and Period 5. Each class will construct their second original short story via blog posts. It is the entire class’s responsibility to come together and write a creative piece of short fiction.

Here are the ground rules:

• You may start writing on (PARCC F Day) Friday, April 15th at 12:00am and you must end on (PARCC G Day) Friday, May 6th by 11:59pm.
• The short story MUST BE ORIGINAL.
• The short story must have a beginning, middle, and end.
• The short story must have strong character development, a clear conflict, and an important theme or message.
• Each person in the class must respond a minimum of FIVE times.
• Each person must write a minimum of four sentences per blog post. (One word or one liner posts will not be accepted.)
• You CANNOT post twice in a row, you must add to the story after another student has posted.
• Students in Period 1 can ONLY add to this short story.
• Have fun!

The Winners: The class with the most creative and original short story will win the competition. The winning class will receive an automatic 100 for Blog Post 19 and will earn an additional +1 on their Marking Period 4 Grade.

Please note: If both classes fail to follow the ground rules above, neither group will win the competition. 

May the best class win!

Blog 18: Open Culture

Euna just shared with me this really interesting website called Open Culture.                           (http://www.openculture.com/) What is it?

“Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community. Web 2.0 has given us great amounts of intelligent audio and video. It’s all free. It’s all enriching. But it’s also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. Our whole mission is to centralize this content, curate it, and give you access to this high quality content whenever and wherever you want it.”

For your blog this week I want you to peruse the site and find an interesting article, video, or lecture to watch. Share the link in your response and explore (1) why you selected this option, (2) what you learned, (3) what you liked/disliked about it, and (4) whether or not others should view your selection.

For instance, I just spent about a half hour trolling through various links and came across this title “Tolstoy calls Shakespeare an ‘Insignificant Inartistic Writer'” (http://www.openculture.com/2016/03/tolstoy-calls-shakespeare-an-insignificant-inartistic-writer.html). I clicked on it which led me to some interesting debates/readings on the authenticity and validity of Shakespearean literature. You obviously do not have to choose something about Shakespeare, or even literature in general. Find a topic that is of interest to you and share your thoughts with us! Don’t forget to comment on at least three other responses.

Have fun with this and be sure to do a bit of searching before finding one that you want to share. Happy blogging!

PS–OPEN THE WEBSITE ON YOUR COMPUTER/DESKTOP. THE MOBILE SITE DOES NOT SHOW ALL OF THE LINKS ON THE RIGHTHAND SIDE. (THANKS EUNA!)

BLOG 17: College Admissions Process (Farwa)

Below, I’ve pasted the link to one of my blogs, which is about the college admissions process. I think it’s important for us to still talk about, as we are far from being done with the college admissions process.

Consider the following questions:

• What is your opinion on Affirmative Action? Is the law righteous, or is there a need for adjustment?
• What solution(s) would you propose to fix the college admissions process? It’s obviously a flawed system- but is there a comprehensive way to make it better?
• How influential is college? I mention in the blog that college can be immensely influential in things like racial justice- do you agree? Disagree? Do you think it could be influential in other issues?
• BE SURE YOU RESPOND ON FARWA’S BLOG (LINK BELOW) THIS IS A PART OF HER SENIOR PROJECT

http://theunexpressed.weebly.com/blog/real-talk-the-college-admissions-process-and-affirmative-action

BLOG 16: Understanding Literature through Hip Hop (Nicole)

Hip Hop has definitely become a big part of young adult culture, whether you listen to the genre or not. Hip Hop used to be widely condemned, but now it is starting to be recognized for its powerful use of language. There are even college courses on Hip Hop! In this Ted Talk, Sage Salvo explains his literary arts program that uses Hip Hop to help students understand and appreciate literature. He argues that Hip Hop should be considered a literary movement. 

 

Watch the video to see how he supports his argument:

https://youtu.be/2kBc6M5XJw0

 

Some questions to consider:

• Do you think that Hip Hop should be considered a literary movement (Neo-Romantic Period)?
• Many people argue that rap is a form of poetry. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
• Do you think that Hip Hop can spark social change in the same way that literature can? Why or why not?
• How does race play a role in the failure to recognize Hip Hop as a literary art? What other factors might also come into play?
• Do you think this is an effective way to make kids appreciate outdated literature? Do you think this can make older generations appreciate Hip Hop?
• Did you have an prior bias about Hip Hop before watching this video? 
• You can definitely branch out and form your own questions about this. Don’t be afraid to give your honest opinion! I’m very interested to see what you guys think. 

Nicole 🙂

BLOG 15: Can a computer write poetry? (Euna)

In today’s society, technology is an important part of everyday life. The idea of artificial intelligence has gained interest, causing a lot of controversy regarding morals, ethics, and other philosophical topics.

One aspect of life that seemed almost untouchable to technology is art. The human emotion and passion that give art its depth seemed to be inimitable at first. However, algorithms and programs have managed to create “poetry” that pass the Turing test.
Oscar Schwartz explores the validity and controversy of computer-generated poetry. Consider the following:

• Does poetry created by algorithms hold any less value or meaning than that created by humans? Why or why not?
• Should the last algorithm mentioned by Schwartz (imitating a poem fed into the system) be considered a form of plagiarism?
• Where should the line, if any at all, be drawn to protect art from technological advancements such as those explored in the video?
• Do you see artificial intelligence and other technology being helpful or harmful to art? How so?

Oscar Schwartz: Can a computer write poetry?
https://go.ted.com/Chxd

BLOG 14: How does literature inspire? (Bryanna)

Listen to the following slam poem “Here Am I” by Anis Mojgani. More often than not, people (especially teenage girls) feel beat down by the stresses of our peers, parents, but mostly from ourselves. After listening to the poem, discuss your reaction to Mojgani’s words. What are some works of literature that inspire you to get back on your feet? Remember: it does not have to be a poem, but can be any form of literature.

Here are some discussion topics:

• What is the name and author of this piece?
• What emotion does it evoke from you?
• Do you think the author intended for this work to be inspirational?
• What would you say to this author after listening to this work?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQAC3WXOOWE (Explicit warning–listen with headphones)

AP BLOG 13: TedTalk “Danger of a Single Story”

Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ted Talk “Danger of a Single Story.

https://inforgood.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/great-ted-talks-for-english-teachers/

What is your reaction to her talk? Do you agree or disagree with her claims? Discuss your opinions, ideas, and questions. See some of the guiding points below.

At one point, Adichie states: “I went through a mental shift in my perception of literature.” Have you ever read something that has changed your perception on literature? In contrast have you ever found yourself “guilty” of “the single story”?

She also says: “The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity.” What do you think about this statement? Do you think this applies to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness? How might Adichie view Marlow’s trek through the African Congo?

AP BLOG 11-12: AP PREP

The next two cycles you will not complete a blog, rather complete an AP essay on Schoology.