Monday, December 12, 2011

All for One and One for All (classes)! *Dec. 12-16*

'Tis the Season! (for EXAMS)

And Christmas and Chanukah and all those great holidays!

But first, exams:

Monday: Blocks A 1&2
Tuesday: Blocks B 1&2
Wednesday: Blocks B 3&4
Thursday: Blocks A 3&4

ABBA...just like the beginning of a Petrarchan Sonnet!

Sophomores, study the grammar rules I reviewed in class and the literary terms
Seniors, study Arthurian Legend and the KOD grammar rules *The things we reviewed last week*
Senior APEs, practice your AP MC and know the literary and rhetorical devices on "the list."

Good Luck to you all!

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

Monday, December 5, 2011

All for One and One for All *all classes, Dec. 5-9*

Greetings Sophomores and Seniors,

Can you believe the last week before midterms is upon us? I cannot.F

This week will, of course, consist of much review for the big test, but we will also incorporate a few new bits of knowledge.

For my regular seniors, prepare to complete our study of Arthurian Legend. This will include excerpts from Le Morte dArthur, poetry, particularly "The Lady of Shallott," lecture based on T. H. White's The Once and Future King, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We will also have a quiz on lesson 13 vocabulary and review the rules for MLA format and citation.

For my APEnglish seniors, expect some practice on answering AP MC questions,  a Socratic Seminar on Othello and Atonement, and an in-class, timed essay on one of those two works. Your midterm will consist of AP MC questions on poetry and prose as well as a basic understanding of the rhetorical devices on "the list" linked to on the left side of my blog

For my grade-level sophomores, be prepared to practice locating and correcting sentences that have fatal flaws or Kiss of Death errors. These errors include runons, fragments, agreement errors and parallel structure issues. I will also review and expect you to identify active and passive voice. Your midterm will comprise these grammar areas as well as harken back to all the literary devices we have studied throughout the year. You will also have a passage that requires you to define past vocabulary words based on context. There are several passages like the one I will use in your vocabulary workbook, as I showed you last week. Look over those.

And finally, for my Jr. APEs, you too will review the KOD rules and literary techniques. Should time permit, we may move on to that Puritan poetry I promised, but we will certainly study it after the holiday. The vocabulary on the midterm may be new to you, but fear not. It is not mere matching, but rather an understanding of using context that will be tested. I have no doubt you will all do well.

Also, I will be distributing the novel The Scarlet Letter  this week. Please read it over the holiday and fill out a Major Works Data Sheet on it. I will discuss these with you in class. I will give you until the Friday AFTER break to complete the sheets.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO