“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

Not much longer before you have your big 5.5 day break.  I promise to give you the whole break to do your thing, as long as you recognize that when you get back…we’re going warp speed.

First, we’ll get everyone who hasn’t gone today to do their pecha kucha.  Then, I’ll want a little blog-post debrief.  Here are the questions:

1. What struck you most about the strategies most students employed in their pecha kuchas?  What worked best?
2. Who was the strongest persuader in the group and why?
3. What do we — as a class — need to work on most?  Logos, ethos, pathos?  Slide design?  Public speaking skills?  Research?

Next, I’ll give back the Sontag responses and I’ll ask you to read 3 strong student responses.

• Student #1
• Student #2
• Student #3

Then, we’ll talk about what is needed for a strong argument AP prompt response. Presentation.

Finally, we’ll look at synthetic essays.  I’m going to give you the 2007 exam’s notorious museum prompt. In small groups, I’m going to ask you to work together to plan an attack on the essay.

• First, read through the prompts and the sources.
• Second, decide together on a thesis.
• Third, break up the sources and figure which sources can be combined or synthesized in the same paragraph. Which sources, when discussed together, can yield a complex nuanced point?
• Lastly, produce an outlined response (including the synthesized passages) and post it here.

HW:  Take a look at the synthesis anchor papers and write a short 100 word blog post response.

What movie should we see for the review assignment? Vote here.

Today’s the day! I’ll give you 15-20 minutes to prepare and then we’ll take turns–one by one–and present out poems to the class.  Of course, I expect ridiculous levels of love and respect from everyone. Vote here.

Afterward, we’ll be talking a bit about Of Mice and Men.  We’ll look at these 4 selections from chapters 4-5 and talk about what theme might be present in each, what Steinbeck might be saying through these stories.

1. Crooks said, gently…to looking towards the window. (pgs 72-73)
2. Crooks interrupted brutally…He stopped, overwhelmed with his picture. (pgs. 75-76)
3. The girl flared up…”I know you guys.” (pgs. 78-79)
4. Curley’s wife laughed at him…I done another bad thing (90-91)

HW: Finish the book

Extra: See the whole text of the book online here.

OK, I’ll do just a quick presentation on quote work and then I’ll ask you to send a fast example of quote use on QuickieQ here.

Then, let’s get these Persuasive essays out the door.

HW:  Finish those persuasive essays.

First, we’ll do a little writing based on your poem. On your blog, respond to the following prompt:

Take a look at the poem you’re presenting on Friday.  Try and give a more or less literal summary of the poem.  What are the parts that you don’t understand? What are the parts that you think are interesting uses of words or imagery?  What do you like best about your poem?  (200 words)

Then, we’ll spend a little time working on memorizing.  We’ll spend the time we need  to make our poems seem as natural as possible.

Next, we’ll see a short presentation on literary terms: irony, foreshadowing, and conflict.

Finally, we’ll answer questions about Chapter 4 in OMM and hopefully get a headstart on Chapter 5 in class.

HW: Read Chapter 5 and be ready to present your poem on Friday