I have to say that nothing about today's exam was easy or expected. I was feeling slightly optomistic about starting the two-part exam with a multiple choice section. What I wasn't expecting was a switch-a-roo and starting with the three fifteen-minute short essays instead. I find that I struggle most with timed essays. One forty minute essay is difficult enough for me. My three essays ended up as three big paragraphs, one for each.
The three questions were clearly different, but after rereading my answers with what little time I had left, I thought all of my answers were very similar. I don't know if that's because of the wording of the questions or because of the way I understood each question. (I'm thinking it was most likely ME). I tend to panic under pressure and doubt myself and become discouraged, (I know, I'm a repeat offender of the Ten Commandments) and that has a negative affect on my work. As painful as this was, though, I'm glad for the experience. I can customize a plan for myself that will help me improve on my weaknesses with essays. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect", and I fully intend on challenging myself with more practice essays until, hopefully, a forty minute essay will seem like a breeze.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Practice AP Essay Prompts
I've always been terrible at writing timed essays. So, I found two sources with practice essay prompts that I'm totally going to take advantage of. =D
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lit/samp.html?englit
http://sb169.k12.sd.us/Prompt%20list%20for%20IR%20with%20AP.htm
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lit/samp.html?englit
http://sb169.k12.sd.us/Prompt%20list%20for%20IR%20with%20AP.htm
10 Commandments of AP Literature and Composition
Thank you Dr. Preston for finding these and posting them to the blog. These were very helpful to me and my anxiety issues with the AP exam, so I'm stealing these and putting them on my blog for easier/quicker access. =P
*Written by AP Lit and Comp teacher Martin Beller*
1. I am the Prompt, thy Prompt; thou shalt have no other Prompt before me. Thou shalt read the Prompt with rapt attention; the Prompt is thy friend. Thou shalt address the Prompt. Thou shalt not just get the general idea of the Prompt, nor shalt thou fight the Prompt or substitute thine own ideas for the Prompt.
2. Thou shalt not postpone, omit or bury thy Thesis Statement.
3. Thou shalt not commit plot-summary, nor shalt thou cohabit with Reading Comprehension, for it is an abomination in my sight.
4. Thou shalt not commit free-floating generalization, but shall support and develop thy every assertion.
5. Thou shalt not confuse complexity with confusion, or subtlety with
indecisiveness; thou shalt not attribute thine own insensitivity or ignorance to authorial ineptitude. The fact that thou gettest not the point doesn't mean that the passage hath no point: thou hast missed the point. Deal with it.
6. Thou shalt read every Multiple Choice question with the same exquisite care that thou devotest to the essay Prompt: thou shalt not 'get the drift.' By the same token, thou shalt strive to read what the writer actually wrote, not what thou expectest him or her to have written.
7. Thou shalt not finish early. Thou shalt spend plenty of thy time planning thine essay responses and reading them over.
8. Thou shalt guess when thou knowest not the answers.
9. Thou shalt not merely identify literary, rhetorical and stylistic devices, but shalt show how they function.
10. Thou shalt never permit thyself to become discouraged: I am the prompt, thy Prompt. Thou shalt maintain thy focus, attention and confidence. Yea, though thou hast totally screwed up thy last essay, this next essay maketh a fresh start.
*Written by AP Lit and Comp teacher Martin Beller*
1. I am the Prompt, thy Prompt; thou shalt have no other Prompt before me. Thou shalt read the Prompt with rapt attention; the Prompt is thy friend. Thou shalt address the Prompt. Thou shalt not just get the general idea of the Prompt, nor shalt thou fight the Prompt or substitute thine own ideas for the Prompt.
2. Thou shalt not postpone, omit or bury thy Thesis Statement.
3. Thou shalt not commit plot-summary, nor shalt thou cohabit with Reading Comprehension, for it is an abomination in my sight.
4. Thou shalt not commit free-floating generalization, but shall support and develop thy every assertion.
5. Thou shalt not confuse complexity with confusion, or subtlety with
indecisiveness; thou shalt not attribute thine own insensitivity or ignorance to authorial ineptitude. The fact that thou gettest not the point doesn't mean that the passage hath no point: thou hast missed the point. Deal with it.
6. Thou shalt read every Multiple Choice question with the same exquisite care that thou devotest to the essay Prompt: thou shalt not 'get the drift.' By the same token, thou shalt strive to read what the writer actually wrote, not what thou expectest him or her to have written.
7. Thou shalt not finish early. Thou shalt spend plenty of thy time planning thine essay responses and reading them over.
8. Thou shalt guess when thou knowest not the answers.
9. Thou shalt not merely identify literary, rhetorical and stylistic devices, but shalt show how they function.
10. Thou shalt never permit thyself to become discouraged: I am the prompt, thy Prompt. Thou shalt maintain thy focus, attention and confidence. Yea, though thou hast totally screwed up thy last essay, this next essay maketh a fresh start.
A Tale of Two Cities Lecture Notes
- 1857: wrote "The Frozen Deep"
- inspired A Tale of Two Cities.
- self sacrifice
- love triangle
- 1857: fell in love with actress name Ellen and left wife
- Ellen inspired Lucie's character
- Other characters:
- Charles Darney and Sydney Carton (originally named Dick Carton)
- doubleness of character
- Charle's Dickens' initials
- 1858: public readings for prophit
- separated from wife
- left his editors
- 1859: new editor
- first three chapters of A Tale of Two Cities are pubished
- experiences in London gave him a "profound knowlege of the city"
- a dark and fascating place
- "everything is there and disconnected
- Paris: 1844
- "most extraordinary place in the world"
- strange, striking things
- half size of London
- visited 15 times
- public charity readings
- last visit was 2 years before his death
- vibrant modernizing city
- had a darker side:
- dark, wicked place, but wonderfully attractiv
- liked visiting the Morgue
- public attraction
- attraction of repulsion
- Worlds of London and Paris were the same in his story
- people were haunted by memory of French Rev.
- very brave for confronting that fear in his story
- published in weekly and monthly volumes
- restricted his focus
- "Best story I've ever written"
- 1860: first stage version of book
- 1899: The Only Way
- another stage play
- 1908: Silent film
- 1935: sound film
- Thomas Carslisle
- friends with Dickens
- influence
- "History of the French Revolution"
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What's in a Name? (Great Expectations)
The title almost says it all. Great Expectations is about a poor boy being raised by his horrible older sister and her much kinder husband. He falls in love with a yound lady and goes to the trouble of becoming a gentleman to woo and marry her. But, when his dreams are realized, it turns out to be nothing like what he expected. 'Sounds very depressing.
Great Expectations Chapters 1-3
Great Expectations starts off very somber and depressing right from the get-go. We learn within the first few paragraphs that Pip's mother, father, and five out of his six siblings are deceased, and the story starts with him at a graveyard crying. Charels Dickens uses depressing, emotionally charged words like "bleak" and "dark" and "graveyard" and "damp" and "misty" to set a sort of spooky, creepy mood. I love the imagery and dialect of the characters, and I totally understand now just how good he was at making his characters realistic and believable. I can see the connections between the tragedies in Pip's life and his own. It makes enough sense, since this was written after some of his darkest days. I mostly felt very depressed reading these first few chapters, and I suppose this might have been how he was feeling, or had felt before writing Great Expectations.
Great Expectations chapters 1-3 -
Great Expectations chapters 1-3 -
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