Bring your S.A.T. questions to class on Thursday

Mr. Brintle will be joining us on Thursday, during A block, to answer your S.A.T. questions.  Do some research so that you are ready to benefit from the opportunity.

Check out the links:

http://sat.collegeboard.org/home

http://sat.collegeboard.org/register/sat-us-dates

 

 

Introductory Hamlet Assignment

Shakespeare...background - Due Tuesday, 9/25/12

On Friday, you received a packet with background information about William Shakespeare.  Your assignment is to read the packet and decide one aspect/topic to discuss.  Because I would like for everyone to share his/her blog on Tuesday, I'm asking for no more than two students to write about any given topic. Please keep in mind, you can select a topic addressed in the packet as a starting point and add your previous knowledge or expand to the topic by researching additional information.  In addition, you can disagree or criticize with the position/topic addressed.

Assignment specifics:  Respond to (reflect, agree/disagree with, speculate about...) a topic addressed in your Shakespeare packet.  Responses must be a minimum of 250 words and must include specific quotes from the article.  In addition, unless you are the first student to respond, you should address a comment made by one of your classmates.  (What you choose to address from your classmate does not necessarily need to be directly related to your topic of discussion.)  As always, follow the conventions of standard written English. 

This is an academic assignment, not a Facebook posting...

Information about The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Author's Full Name: William Shakespeare

Date of Birth: 1564

Place of Birth: Stratford-upon-Avon, England

Date of Death: 1616

Brief background: Shakespeare’s father was a glove-maker, and Shakespeare received no more than a grammar school education. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, but left his family behind around 1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor and playwright. He was an immediate success: Shakespeare soon became the most popular playwright of the day as well as a part-owner of the Globe Theater. His theater troupe was adopted by King James as the King’s Men in 1603. Shakespeare retired as a rich and prominent man to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1613, and died three years later.

Key Facts:

Genre: Tragic drama; Revenge tragedy

Setting: Denmark during the late middle ages (circa 1200), though characters in the play occasionally reference things or events from the Elizabethan Age (circa 1500).

Climax: The climax of Hamlet is a subject of debate. Some say it occurs when Hamlet kills Claudius, others when Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius while Claudius is praying, others when Hamlet kills Polonius, and still others when Hamlet vows to focus on revenge at the end of Act 4.

Protagonist: Hamlet

Antagonists: Claudius

Historical and Literary Context

When Written: Between 1599-1601

Where Written: England

When Published: 1603 (First Quarto), 1604 (Second Quarto).

Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500-1660)

Related Literary Works: Hamlet falls into the tradition of revenge tragedy, in which the central character’s quest for revenge usually results in general tragedy. This tradition existed from Roman times (the Roman playwright Seneca was well known for writing revenge tragedies). The most famous revenge tragedy of Shakespeare’s day before Hamlet was Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and some believe that Kyd wrote an earlier play of Hamlet, now lost, which scholars call the Ur-Hamlet. The story of Hamlet is based on a Danish revenge story first recorded by Saxo Grammaticus in the 1100s. In these stories, a Danish prince fakes madness in order to take revenge on his uncle, who had killed the prince’s father and married his mother. But Shakespeare modified this rather straightforward story and filled it with dread and uncertainty—Hamlet doesn’t just feign madness; he seems at times to actually be crazy.

Related Historical Events: Hamlet is in many ways a product of the Reformation, in which Protestants broke away from the until-then dominant Catholic Church, as well as the skeptical humanism of late Renaissance Northern Europe, which held that there were limits on human knowledge. Hamlet’s constant anxiety about the difference between appearance and reality, as well as his concerns about and difficulties with religion (the sinfulness of suicide, the unfairness that killing a murderer while the murderer is praying would result in sending the murder to heaven) can be seen as directly emerging from the breaks in religion and thought brought on by the Reformation and Renaissance humanist thought.

 

                                         Important Characters:

 

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark The crown prince of Denmark who returns from the university in Wittenberg, Germany, to find his father dead, his mother married to the king's brother (his uncle-now new step-father) Claudius, and Claudius newly self-crowned King.

Claudius, King of Denmark Dead King Hamlet's brother who has usurped the throne and married his sister-in-law. Young Hamlet's former uncle, now step-father.

Gertrude, Queen of Denmark Prince Hamlet's mother, King Hamlet's widow, King Claudius' new wife.

The Ghost Spirit of the late King Hamlet, condemned to walk the earth until his soul is cleansed of its sins.

Polonius The elderly Lord Chamberlain, chief counselor to Claudius.  The father of Laertes and Ophelia

Laertes A student in Paris, Laertes is Polonius' son and Ophelia's brother; he returns from school because of King Hamlet's death, leaves to go back to Paris, and then returns again after his own father's murder.

Ophelia Daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, Ophelia is the beloved of Hamlet.

Horatio A commoner, Horatio went to school with Hamlet and remains his loyal best friend. He is smart and well-respected

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Classmates- not true friends of Hamlet's in Wittenberg. Claudius summons them to Elsinore to spy on Prince Hamlet. 

King Fortinbras  King of Norway. He loses his land and life to King Hamlet.

Prince Fortinbras prince of Norway, bound to avenge his father's death by the Danes' hands.  Think Foil.

Osric Affected courtier who plays a minor role as the King's messenger and as umpire of the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.

Voltimand and Cornelius Danish courtiers who are sent as ambassadors to the Court of Norway.

Marcellus and Barnardo Danish officers on guard at the castle of Elsinore.

Francisco Danish soldier on guard at the castle of Elsinore.

Reynaldo Young man whom Polonius instructs and sends to Paris to observe and report on Laertes' conduct.

Two Clowns (the Gravediggers) Two rustics (identified as clowns) who dig Ophelia's grave. Think comic relief for what is an otherwise dark time in the play.

Calculate your baseline AP Exam Score

Hello class,

As I explained, I scaled your scores so as not to destroy your GPA's.  I know many of you are anxious to know what your score would have been based on your baseline performance. 

In order to do that you are going to take your raw score from the multiple-choice questions. (The number correct out of 55.)

Then, take your essay scores. Remember,  we only completed 2 of the 3 essays in our baseline.  Therefore, you will double (enter the score twice) your first essay (Shakespeare's Henry IV.)

In calculating the score, understand that the essay grades were scaled so that they make sense in gradebook.

Based on the 9 point College Board rubric, here is the conversion, (how the numbers were entered into gradebook.)

If you scored 9/9, I entered 20/20
If you scored 8/9, I entered 19/20
If you scored 7/9, I entered 18/20
If you scored 6/9, I entered 17/20
If you scored 5/9, I entered 16/20
If you scored 4/9, I entered 15/20
If you scored 3/9, I entered 14/20
If you scored 2/9, I entered 13/20
If you scored 1/9, I entered 12/20

Here is the site that will calculate your score for you:

 http://appass.com/calculators/englishliterature

Reaction to the AP Literature multiple choice baseline

A.P. Literature and Composition – M.C.  Section Overview:

I. INTRODUCTION

• 1 Hr. test

• 55 questions (about one minute per question, including reading time)

• Divide time per passage – be ruthless! About 15 minutes per passage.

• Four passages about 12-16 questions per passage

• Essential to practice at home

• Essential to analyze any wrong answers – spot trends and personal weaknesses, then fix them! Understand why a wrong answer is wrong, especially in practice.

• Lose 1/4 point on wrong answers

• Multiple choice = 45% Essays = 55%

• Typical: 2 prose/ 2 poems

• Test only uses literature from 1575—present (no Middle English or Old English)

• One passage will include a minority writer

• Expect 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th century passage

Question Types:

1. Situation

• who? to whom? (poetry)

• subject of 3rd Paragraph (prose)

2. Structure

• poetry: how stanzas relate

• what word in ______ relates back to ______

• what divisions represent its structure

• prose: how one paragraph relates to another

• progression of thought and overall structure

3. Theme

• whole and parts

4. Grammar and Word Meaning

• poetry: specific word choice definitions within context

• pronoun references/antecedents

• paraphrase word choice

• prose: subject of long sentence is…

5. Diction

• poetry: Use of _______ indicates

• poet’s idea of _________ is suggested by _______

• prose: choice of verbs in paragraph 4 suggests _______

• speaker’s anger is implied by ________

6. Images/ Figurative language/ Literary Technique

• which one? Where else in work?

• Purpose of a metaphor

• analogy in 2nd paragraph

7. Tone (perhaps metrics in poetry)

8. Rhetoric (mostly in prose)

• function of last sentence

• effect of shift in point of view

Styles of Questioning:

A.  FACTUAL

• phrase presents example of…

• all are Figurative language except

• Man in line ___ is pictured mainly in his role as ___

• in line ___ the ___ is seen chiefly as …

• in line ___ the speaker regards himself as …

• beginning in ___ speaker does which …

• excerpt is written in …

• according to the speaker, …

• “they” in line ___ refers to …

• the object of “to” in line ___ is …

B.  MAIN IDEA

• ______ hated ______ because _____

• parable of _______ serves to _______

• _______ believed human nature is ________

• which best describes ______ at the end

• tone

• which describes how ____ felt about …

• passage is concerned with …

• relation between line ____ and line ___ is best described as …

• main point about ___ is …

• line ___ speaker attempts to …

• style is characterized by …

• irony rests chiefly on ______

C.  HIDDEN IDEA

• ____ interpreted to mean

• phrase evokes ______

• image of _______ refers to …

• ________ most likely represents ______

• can be inferred

• in line ___ the phrase “ ____” means _____

• line ___ suggests that …

• can be inferred speaker would agree with …

*  REASONS ANSWERS ARE WRONG

1. Irrelevant to the question

2. Contradictory to the passage

3. Unreasonable (the “Huh?” choice)

4. Too general or too specific

5. Never addressed in the passage

6. Look for the SPECIFIC WORDS that make the answer wrong. Remember the difference
between a right answer and the BEST (credited) answer. More than one can be right; look for the
best. Avoid distractions!

Strategies to consider as we move forward w/ M.C. questions:

1.  After reading the passage, students should read each question and anticipate what the answer
 might be before looking at the answer choices. Many students are nervous when taking the exam,
and any strategies that help them focus and concentrate are good. When students get down to two
 answers, both of which seem correct, I advise them to choose the one that is most specific.

2.  I also instruct the students to read actively rather than passively. I encourage them to underline
words, phrases, or sentences in the passage that they think might be important. I show them how to
 look for patterns, motifs, repetition, and/or contrasts. What they underline is probably not as
important as the process. I emphasize that reading actively increases focus and improves
comprehension. I ask them how many times they have read a passage then looked up and did not
remember a thing they just read. Reading actively helps to curb that wandering mind! Students
cannot afford to waste time on the multiple-choice section with several readings.

3.  I explain that the most difficult kinds of questions are the ones that ask students to find "all of the
 following except" or any questions that require students to reread a large portion of the text. They
 might want to leave them until later, as these questions consume an inordinate amount of time.

4.  The multiple-choice section always presents a combination of easy, medium, and difficult
 questions for each passage. These questions generally follow the chronology of the passage rather
 than transition from easiest to hardest or vice versa. The most important factor, however, is that they
 all are worth the same point value. Therefore, a sound strategy for students is to make sure they get
 credit for all the easy and medium answers first. A student who spends too much time on a single,
 hard question may not get to answer two or three easy questions in a later part of the exam.
 Additionally, I advise students to do a quick check of the number of the question and the number on
 the Scantron forms every time they see a zero (10, 20, 30, and so on). This double-check can keep
 them from getting off track, having to go back to find their error, and wasting valuable time.

5.  When the question refers to a part of the sentence and asks for the meaning of a word or phrase
 in context, what a word refers to, or how a word functions, it is best to go back to the beginning of
 the sentence or even to the previous sentence and read completely to the end of the sentence to
comprehend the meaning. I have seen questions that ask the student what the antecedent of "this" is,
 and the answer is found in the preceding sentence. Students may also want to read the sentence that
 follows because the answer could be there.

6.  If students find themselves running out of time, they can take the following approaches:

A. Scan the remaining questions and look for either the shortest questions or the questions that
direct  them to a specific line or lines. These questions take less time to answer.

B. Look for questions that contain the answer without requiring the student to refer to the text. For
example, "The sea slid silently from the shore" is an example of (B) alliteration. The student would
not have to go back to the passage to find the answer.

7.  One way to ensure that students finish the entire multiple-choice section is to have them scan the
number of questions and divide the number by two. For example, if there are 54 questions, and
students have 60 minutes to complete the section, students should be around question 27 after 30
minutes. Another strategy is to divide the time by the number of passages. For example, if students
have four passages to read and one hour to complete the exam, they should allot 15 minutes to each
passage. The advantage of this method is that every passage has a number of easy and medium
questions, and by moving steadily the students will receive the maximum number of points. Do not
assume that there will be four passages; while four is often the number of sections in the multiple-
choice section, I have seen as many as five. One year a student told me she did not even get to the
last passage because she assumed there would be only four. Students must take responsibility for
managing their time on the exam.

How to write a blog for A.P. Literature and Composition

1. Use the blog to explore literary, cultural, historical, international & local issues.

2. Be informed. Research and reflect on issues before you write. 

3. This task is designed to improve your ability to expand the topics discussed in class.

4. Pay attention to the length requirements indicated on each assignment.

5. Show the readers that you are thinking critically!

6. Use Standard English/ MLA Format to write your blogs

Have some fun with these assignments!

(VOICE YOUR THOUGHTS in an informed and respectful manner.)

Your Assignment: 

This assignment, if done correctly, will take several hours.  Do not leave it until the last day!  

1.  Review the answers to the multiple choice section you recently completed.  Just as we annotate in
 class,  you will mark up your test in order to determine your performance breakdown.  We are 
 looking to identify the types of questions you, "tend to do well on" and those with which you, "tend
 to struggle."  (You are looking for patterns.)

2.  Read the M.C. section overview

3.  Read the Question Types (1-8) 

4.  Read the Styles of Questioning (A-  C)

5.  Assess, from your performance on the multiple choice section, your strengths and weakness with

 the Question Types and Styles of Questioning listed on our blog.  Once you have identified the 

 patterns in your performance,  connect your strengths and weakness with ideas discussed in 
"Strategies to Consider".  Identify your most critical strategies, understandings and plans for
 approaching M.C. questions as we move forward with the course.  

Assignment Parameters:

• Your blog should refer to specific question types, styles and test taking strategies. In addition, unless you are the first to post, refer to an observation or future strategy discussed by one of your classmates. 
• When discussing a specific, provide a quote. (This can be from the question, class discussion and/or the passage.)
• This is a meta-cognitive activity.  Be specific about your understanding of yourself as a learner. Responses should be a minimum of 500 words.  
• (Please do not make reference to your M.C. section score. )

Assignment Due Date:  

Blogs must be posted before class on September, 18th