Journal 8: Couplet

A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.  Using The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer as an example, create your own couplet poem.  The poem should be at least 14 lines long and establish a repeating meter. Incorporate as many poetic devices as possible.   

Faith Experience

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TKfCP5LK4SKiFbiGuQd5TJiPy-ZQsg7nRJqzNhMlfsM/edit#slide=id.p13

Journal 7: Narrative

Write a 12 line (minimum) narrative poem for Wednesday.

Use three poetic devices: 

Rhymes: slant; masculine; feminine; end; Simile; Metaphor; Personification; Symbolism; Imagery; Onomatopoeia; Alliteration; Assonance; Consonance; Allusion; Metonymy; Synecdoche; Hyperbole; Oxymoron; Allegory; Paradox; Understatement.

Journal 6: Elegy

Write an elegy of 12 lines minimum using 4 of the following 6 poetic devices.  IDENTIFY THE DEVICE YOU USE BY UNDERLINING THEM AND WRITING THEM IN THE MARGIN.

Allusion; Metonymy; Synecdoche; Hyperbole; Understatement; Litotes;


Below is a sample elegy by Lorca.



Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias


1. Cogida and death

At five in the afternoon.
It was exactly five in the afternoon.
A boy brought the white sheet
at five in the afternoon.
A frail of lime ready prepared
at five in the afternoon.
The rest was death, and death alone.

The wind carried away the cottonwool
at five in the afternoon.
And the oxide scattered crystal and nickel
at five in the afternoon.
Now the dove and the leopard wrestle
at five in the afternoon.
And a thigh with a desolated horn
at five in the afternoon.
The bass-string struck up
at five in the afternoon.
Arsenic bells and smoke
at five in the afternoon.
Groups of silence in the corners
at five in the afternoon.
And the bull alone with a high heart!
At five in the afternoon.
When the sweat of snow was coming
at five in the afternoon,
when the bull ring was covered with iodine
at five in the afternoon.
Death laid eggs in the wound
at five in the afternoon.
At five in the afternoon.
At five o'clock in the afternoon.

A coffin on wheels is his bed
at five in the afternoon.
Bones and flutes resound in his ears
at five in the afternoon.
Now the bull was bellowing through his forehead
at five in the afternoon.
The room was iridiscent with agony
at five in the afternoon.
In the distance the gangrene now comes
at five in the afternoon.
Horn of the lily through green groins
at five in the afternoon.
The wounds were burning like suns
at five in the afternoon.
At five in the afternoon.
Ah, that fatal five in the afternoon!
It was five by all the clocks!
It was five in the shade of the afternoon!



2. The Spilled Blood

I will not see it!

Tell the moon to come,
for I do not want to see the blood
of Ignacio on the sand.

I will not see it!

The moon wide open.
Horse of still clouds,
and the grey bull ring of dreams
with willows in the barreras.

I will not see it!

Let my memory kindle!
Warm the jasmines
of such minute whiteness!

I will not see it!

The cow of the ancient world
passed har sad tongue
over a snout of blood
spilled on the sand,
and the bulls of Guisando,
partly death and partly stone,
bellowed like two centuries
sated with threading the earth.
No.
I will not see it!

Ignacio goes up the tiers
with all his death on his shoulders.
He sought for the dawn
but the dawn was no more.
He seeks for his confident profile
and the dream bewilders him
He sought for his beautiful body
and encountered his opened blood
Do not ask me to see it!
I do not want to hear it spurt
each time with less strength:
that spurt that illuminates
the tiers of seats, and spills
over the cordury and the leather
of a thirsty multiude.
Who shouts that I should come near!
Do not ask me to see it!

His eyes did not close
when he saw the horns near,
but the terrible mothers
lifted their heads.
And across the ranches,
an air of secret voices rose,
shouting to celestial bulls,
herdsmen of pale mist.
There was no prince in Sevilla
who could compare to him,
nor sword like his sword
nor heart so true.
Like a river of lions
was his marvellous strength,
and like a marble toroso
his firm drawn moderation.
The air of Andalusian Rome
gilded his head
where his smile was a spikenard
of wit and intelligence.
What a great torero in the ring!
What a good peasant in the sierra!
How gentle with the sheaves!
How hard with the spurs!
How tender with the dew!
How dazzling the fiesta!
How tremendous with the final
banderillas of darkness!

But now he sleeps without end.
Now the moss and the grass
open with sure fingers
the flower of his skull.
And now his blood comes out singing;
singing along marshes and meadows,
sliden on frozen horns,
faltering soulles in the mist
stumbling over a thousand hoofs
like a long, dark, sad tongue,
to form a pool of agony
close to the starry Guadalquivir.
Oh, white wall of Spain!
Oh, black bull of sorrow!
Oh, hard blood of Ignacio!
Oh, nightingale of his veins!
No.
I will not see it!
No chalice can contain it,
no swallows can drink it,
no frost of light can cool it,
nor song nor deluge oh white lilies,
no glass can cover it with silver.
No.
I will not see it!



3. The Laid Out Body

Stone is a forehead where dreames grieve
without curving waters and frozen cypresses.
Stone is a shoulder on which to bear Time
with trees formed of tears and ribbons and planets.

I have seen grey showers move towards the waves
raising their tender riddle arms,
to avoid being caught by lying stone
which loosens their limbs without soaking their blood.

For stone gathers seed and clouds,
skeleton larks and wolves of penumbra:
but yields not sounds nor crystals nor fire,
only bull rings and bull rings and more bull rings without walls.

Now, Ignacio the well born lies on the stone.
All is finished. What is happening! Contemplate his face:
death has covered him with pale sulphur
and has place on him the head of dark minotaur.

All is finished. The rain penetrates his mouth.
The air, as if mad, leaves his sunken chest,
and Love, soaked through with tears of snow,
warms itself on the peak of the herd.

What is they saying? A stenching silence settles down.
We are here with a body laid out which fades away,
with a pure shape which had nightingales
and we see it being filled with depthless holes.

Who creases the shroud? What he says is not true!
Nobody sings here, nobody weeps in the corner,
nobody pricks the spurs, nor terrifies the serpent.
Here I want nothing else but the round eyes
to see his body without a chance of rest.

Here I want to see those men of hard voice.
Those that break horses and dominate rivers;
those men of sonorous skeleton who sing
with a mouth full of sun and flint.

Here I want to see them. Before the stone.
Before this body with broken reins.
I want to know from them the way out
for this captain stripped down by death.

I want them to show me a lament like a river
wich will have sweet mists and deep shores,
to take the body of Ignacio where it looses itself
without hearing the double planting of the bulls.

Loses itself in the round bull ring of the moon
which feigns in its youth a sad quiet bull,
loses itself in the night without song of fishes
and in the white thicket of frozen smoke.

I don't want to cover his face with handkerchiefs
that he may get used to the death he carries.
Go, Ignacio, feel not the hot bellowing
Sleep, fly, rest: even the sea dies!



4. Absent Soul

The bull does not know you, nor the fig tree,
nor the horses, nor the ants in your own house.
The child and the afternoon do not know you
because you have dead forever.

The shoulder of the stone does not know you
nor the black silk, where you are shuttered.
Your silent memory does not know you
because you have died forever

The autumn will come with small white snails,
misty grapes and clustered hills,
but no one will look into your eyes
because you have died forever.

Because you have died for ever,
like all the dead of the earth,
like all the dead who are forgotten
in a heap of lifeless dogs.

Nobady knows you. No. But I sing of you.
For posterity I sing of your profile and grace.
Of the signal maturity of your understanding.
Of your appetite for death and the taste of its mouth.
Of the sadness of your once valiant gaiety.

It will be a long time, if ever, before there is born
an Andalusian so true, so rich in adventure.
I sing of his elegance with words that groan,
and I remember a sad breeze through the olive trees.

Journal 5: Free Verse

Free verse is an open form (see Poetry analysis) of poetry that does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Although free verse requires no meter, rhyme, or other traditional poetic techniques, a poet can still use them to create some sense of structure. A clear example of this can be found in Walt Whitman's poems, where he repeats certain phrases and uses commas to create both a rhythm and structure. Much pattern and discipline is to be found in free verse: the internal pattern of sounds, the choice of exact words, and the effect of associations give free verse its beauty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse

1. Construct your own free verse poem using 6 of the following devices.  LABEL EACH DEVICE IN YOUR POEM! (Minimum of 14 lines)

Rhymes: slant; masculine; feminine; end; Simile; Metaphor; Personification; Symbolism; Imagery; Onomatopoeia; Alliteration; Assonance; Consonance; Allusion; Metonymy; Synecdoche; Hyperbole;  Paradox; Understatement; Litotes; Irony; Caesura, Enjambment.

Unit 10 Vocabulary: #1-10 due Thurs. Feb. 21, #11-20 due Tues. Feb. 26.

#1-10

accrue, annotation, bedlam, covert, debonair, dun, efficacious, equanimity, fortuitous, gist

#11-20

gratuitous, imperious, invective, motley, munificent, procrastinate, provocative, recondite, reprobate, sedentary

Journal 4: Sonnet

Use three of the following poetic devices in your poem.

o  Paradox- seems self-contradictory but expresses a possible truth.

§  Crocodile dilemma

o  Understatement – an expression of less strength than expected

o  Caesura- a complete pause in a line of poetry, a break, usually near the middle of a verse.  IT adds variety to the beat/meter of a poem

o  Enjambment – the breaking/continuation of one line of poetry from line to the next with no syntactical pause.

o  Litotes – a type of understatement, most commonly using an double negative. i.e. you are not a bad teacher.  That wasn’t too weak of an effort.  Not bad!

o  assonance- vowel sounds that rhyme

o  consonance- consonant sounds that rhyme

o  allusion- a reference to a well-known historical work/event

o  alliteration- initial sounds/syllables are repeated

metonymy/synecdoche- substitutes a word or phrase that relates to a thing, for the thing itself/a part that is substituted for a whole.

Sonnet

(sonn-IT): a sonnet is a distinctive poetic style that uses system or pattern of metrical structure and verse composition usually consisting of fourteen lines, arranged in a set rhyme scheme or pattern. There are two main styles of sonnet, the Italian sonnet and the English sonnet. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, named after Petrarch (1304-1374) a fourteenth century writer and the best known poet to use this form, was developed by the Italian poet Guittone of Arezzo (1230-1294) in the thirteenth century. Usually written in iambic pentameter, it consists first of an octave, or eight lines, which asks a question or states a problem or proposition and follows the rhyme scheme a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. The sestet, or last six lines, offers an answer, or a resolution to the proposed problem, and follows the rhyme scheme c-d-e-c-d-e.

When I consider how my light is spent                                                  a

Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,                                      b

And that one talent which is death to hide                                           b

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent                            a

To serve therewith my Maker, and present                                           a

My true account, lest he returning chide;                                              b

"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"                                            b

I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent                                                      a

That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need                                   c

Either man's work or his own gifts; who best                                       d

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state                               e

Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed                                              c

And post o'er land and ocean without rest:                                           d

They also serve who only stand and wait."                                           e

John Milton, "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent"

The sonnet was first brought to England by Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in the sixteenth century, where the second sonnet form arose. The English or Shakespearean sonnet was named after William Shakespeare (1564-1616) who most believed to the best writer to use the form. Adapting the Italian form to the English, the octave and sestet were replaced by three quatrains, each having its own independent rhyme scheme typically rhyming every other line, and ending with a rhyme couplet. Instead of the Italianic break between the octave and the sestet, the break comes between the twelfth and thirteenth lines. The ending couplet is often the main thought change of the poem, and has an epigrammatic ending. It follows the rhyme scheme a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?                                             a

  Thou art more lovely and more temperate:                                        b

  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,                                                 a

  And summer’s lease hath all to short a date:                                     b

  Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,                                      c

  And often is his gold complexion dimm’d:                                          d

  And every fair from fair sometime declines,                                       c

  By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d.                          d

  By thy eternal summer shall not fade                                                                 e

  Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;                                       f

  Nor shall Death brag thou wandered in his shade,                             e

  When in eternal lines to time thou growest:                                      f

  So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,                                     g

  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.                                      g

Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII. See Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia, Handbook to Literature, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Michael Prevatte, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Ode: Due Friday

Create an ode of 10 lines minimum.  Use at least 3 of the following 4 poetic devices.

·       Literary devices

o  Paradox- seems self-contradictory but expresses a possible truth.

§  Crocodile dilemma

o  Understatement – an expression of less strength than expected

o  Caesura- a complete pause in a line of poetry, a break, usually near the middle of a verse.  IT adds variety to the beat/meter of a poem

o  Enjambment – the breaking/continuation of one line of poetry from line to the next with no syntactical pause.

 
Ode  - a celebratory poem pays homage to what the poet holds dear, another person, place, abstract idea etc.

Villanelle

Use the following poetic devices in your poem.

 

Litotes – a type of understatement, most commonly using an double negative. i.e. you are not a bad teacher.  That wasn’t too weak of an effort.  Not bad!

assonance- vowel sounds that rhyme

consonance- consonant sounds that rhyme

 

 

The villanelle has no established meter, although most 19th-century villanelles have used trimeter or tetrameter and Most 20th-century villanelles have used pentameter. The essence of the fixed modern form is its distinctive pattern of rhyme and repetition. The rhyme-and-refrain pattern of the villanelle can be schematized as A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 where letters ("a" and "b") indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain ("A"), and superscript numerals (1 and 2) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2.

Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 2 (b)

Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 4 (a)

Line 5 (b)

Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 7 (a)

Line 8 (b)

Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 10 (a)

Line 11 (b)

Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 13 (a)

Line 14 (b)

Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 16 (a)

Line 17 (b)

Refrain 1 (A1)

Refrain 2 (A2)

Mad Girl's Love Song

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

Line 2 (b)                                 I lift my lids and all is born again.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 4 (a)                                 The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,

Line 5 (b)                                 And arbitrary blackness gallops in:

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Line 7 (a)                                 I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

Line 8 (b)                                 And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 10 (a)                               God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:

Line 11 (b)                               Exit seraphim and Satan's men:

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Line 13 (a)                               I fancied you'd return the way you said,

Line 14 (b)                               But I grow old and I forget your name.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 16 (a)                               I should have loved a thunderbird instead;

Line 17 (b)                               At least when spring comes they roar back again.

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Girl%27s_Love_Song

Unit 9 Vocabulary #1-10 due Tues. the 12th #11-20 due Thurs. the 14th

The new vocabulary format is on the blog right below the syllabus. (3 posts ago)

1-10
abate, adulation, anathema, astute, avarice, culpable, dilatory, egregious, equivocate, evanescent.

11-20
irresolute, nebulous, novice, penury, pretentious, recapitulate, resuscitate, slovenly, supposition, torpid.

Journal 1: Feb. 6th Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Write a poem of 8 lines or longer using the same TONE as "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou.  Use a minimum of three of the following 5 poetic devices. 

Metaphor - a comparision of two or more objects
simile - a comparision using 'like' or 'as'
personification - giving a non-human object human characteristics
alliteration - repeating beginning sounds
symbolism - an object that evokes thoughts of a compartive theme/object
repetition - repeating words or phrases in a line/lines

Syllabus

11^th Grade U.S. Literature

Asuncion Christian Academy

Avenida Santisimo Sacramento 1181

Casilla 1562 – C.P. 1209

Asuncion, Paraguay, South America

+595 21 607-378 or 613-801

Instructor:

Luke Alden Scandrett-Leatherman

Email:  lscandrett@aca.edu.py

Philosophy 

“…students need a structured, sequential development of the skills which maximizes their ability to listen, speak, read, write, observe, and think critically. These skills are highly interrelated, mutually enforcing and reinforcing, and essential to effective communication. Language is the fundamental means by which thoughts, ideas, feelings, and emotions are conveyed. Therefore, a variety of planned instructional strategies will be used stressing teacher-student interaction so that the student will learn to organize and express thoughts through speaking and writing, and will receive, reflect upon, and evaluate the thoughts of others through reading and listening. Students must be given the means of enjoying and appreciating literature that fosters an understanding of life.”[1]  

Course Description

U.S. Literature involves reading numerous literary works, and examining writing techniques, to develop an appreciation for the power of language.  Through literature, students will learn about a variety of perspectives and experiences, and discover how conflict, action, themes, setting, and characters are combined to create vibrant language. Students will relate readings to particular time periods in U.S. history and explore a variety of genres.  They will analyze works known for their historical and cultural significance and literary depth.  Reading, writing, speaking, and listening, tools used to explore literature and facilitate critical thinking, will hone student’s ability to synthesize major concepts and rhetorical strategies. 

Through writing, students will become aware of their own ability to construct meaning; they will develop styles of argument, research, critical analysis, and reflection, and enrich their vocabulary usage.  Students will dissect literature with thoughtful, well-supported, ideas.  The end result is fluency, focus, coherence, and a confident use of language.

The course will also focus on how the use of diction, syntax, and literary techniques can stylistically form a piece of literature.  Students can expect to frequently evaluate works by various authors of literary merit.  The mastery and knowledge of critical reading and writing skills will prepare students for college entrance exams like the SAT.  To participate fully in class discussion students to will use strategies like critical annotation to fortify their understanding.  Reading strategies will be emphasized and reinforced periodically throughout the semester. Student must be confident in their interpretations of what they’ve read and open to ideas about new schools of thought.  Above all, they should respectfully defend their own ideas with support, organization, and reason, recognizing that literary criticism must be clarified and refined.  

Materials

2 journals (18 cm x 27 cm) (1 for responding to reading/personal journal, 1 for notes)

1 large binder (for saving vocabulary work/worksheets)

100 pages of loose leaf paper (for vocabulary exercises and other assignment)

1 two-hole hole puncher

1 folder for keeping papers/drafts

Policies

1. Respect everyone -- no discriminatory language is tolerated.

2. Remain seated unless given permission to do otherwise.

3. Be silent when the teacher or another student is talking.

4. Keep your hands and other objects to yourself.

5. Come prepared to class.

6. Clean up after yourself.

7. Stay awake.

8. No eating, drinking, or gum (water is permitted).

9. Be attentive, don’t distract others, and participate in class. You are in school to learn.  If there is a problem please talk to me outside of class time.

10. No phones.  1^st offense: Confiscate for day       2^nd offense: Give to the office

11. Use English (speaking in Spanish will result in a lower participation grade)

Tardiness

Students with an unexcused tardy will receive the opportunity to write a creative, descriptive one-page journal documenting their adventures on the school grounds.  Students who are on time, seated, with their homework on their desk, will receive 20 Discussion Dollars for their preparation and promptness.

Absences/Late Work:

Excused Absences:  Students will have one day to make-up assignments and/or one day to make up a test or quiz for each day of class was missed.   It is the student’s responsibility to turn in make-up work and to make up tests/quizzes.

Unexcused Absences or Unauthorized Absences:  No credit for any work due that day including homework, an essay, quiz, test, or assessment.

Late work:  Work is due on the due date, unless other arrangements have been made. However, students can turn in essays up to 5 days late with a loss of a letter grade each day.  On the fifth day, the student’s essay will receive no more than half credit.  This is true of all drafts; however, each step in the writing process must be completed before the final draft is accepted.[2]

 Grading

25% Papers (including pre-writing, thesis, outline, drafts, editing, and final drafts)

20% Participation*: 10% discussions

 10% In-class work: (SAT sample tests, vocabulary, personal                            journal time, SSR) SSR BOOKS MUST BE READ IN CLASS and BLOGGED ABOUT, I WILL NOT CONFERENCE WITH YOU ABOUT A BOOK I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU READING)

20% Projects (group presentations, skits, speeches, artistic response)

15% Reader-Response Journal (respond to reading, explore and practice new ideas/skills)

10% Homework (mostly reading outside of class, usually evaluated through RRJ)

10% Tests (review major skills/concepts, critical thinking, and essay/paragraph response)

(20% Final exams: they are cumulative; thus, good notes are imperative.)   

*Class participation is graded based upon Discussion Dollars. The students will receive Discussion Dollars based upon correct responses, perceptive comments, and insightful observations. Attendance and punctuality are necessities for significant participation.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism, using another person’s work as your own is not tolerated.  Students who cheat or plagiarize in any way will be given a zero (0) on the assignment and sent to the office.  Student’s parents will be notified about academic dishonesty.  This includes, but is not limited to, copying answers from fellow students, using work from past students as your own, and using past assignments and submitting them as recently completed work.

Discipline

Students will directly talk to the teacher concerning their behavior.  If necessary the following are consequences for disruption:

            1st offense:     Teacher/Student Conference

            2nd offense:    Teacher/Student Conference and Parent Contact

            3rd offense:     Teacher Assigned Detention and Parent Contact

            4th offense:     Referral to the Office

Major Projects/Papers/Assignments

I want to give clear guidelines so you can adequately prepare and focus your work.  On assignments where I have not given you a rubric AND at least one sample, please kindly refuse to do the project J.  In this way, you’ll be keeping me accountable as a teacher.   

Rubric for Class Discussion

5                    Three or more salient comments = 15+ Discussion Dollars

Consistent focus of topic(s)

Respectful to peers and open to new ideas

Defends points with reasoned and specific support

Explored interaction of several elements to convey the message

Rich in detail, specific vivid language with direct quotes

Imaginative, insightful, well-chosen ideas

Fully elaborated; clearly ordered, well developed ideas

Fluent

Demonstrates a sense of closure in ideas

4                    Two or more salient points = 10 + Discussion Dollars

Central focus on topic

Elaborated, organized with a sense of order

Some insight, adequate detail and direct quotes

Somewhat fluent

Demonstrates a sense of closure

3                    One or more salient comments = 5 + Discussion Dollars

Some communication of ideas but inadequately developed

Limited logic and inconsistent organization of ideas

Limited details and general language with little or no use of quotes

Lacking in fluency

Little sense of closure

2                    One or less salient comments = 5 Discussion Dollars

Central ideas are not clear

Little or no comments

Limited insight, little elaboration

Ideas are not focused, irrelevant ideas and details

Limited support for ideas

Unimaginative

Little support for ideas

Flaws in organization and no closure

1                    One or less salient comments = less than 5 Discussion Dollars

Topics are barely or not addressed

Lack of organization

No relevant ideas

Minimal or no support for ideas

Only irrelevant details

Rambles and lacks any closure

^{Rubric created by: James Economon, Metro High School}

Reader’s Response Journals

Over the course of this year, one of the big assignments that will carry us through is the journal. The purpose behind the journal is to allow you a space to free-write and develop ideas and questions without fear of being rigorously graded upon what you write. Think of the journal as a free space to gather and generate thoughts about discussions and readings in the course. This free space does not mean you should take the journal lightly. You will be graded on the content of your journal and the effort you put forth. Journals will be collected periodically throughout the quarter.

Your journal will consist of three parts with each daily assignment:

1.      Part 1: 20 points: A directed reflection on readings and/or topic for each class (at least one page, handwritten)

For each assignment, I have given you a topic or a question or an excerpt to respond to in your journals. Sometimes the prompt will ask you to analyze a specific feature of the text itself. Other times, I will ask you to write on a topic or issue that will feed into class discussion. What you should be aiming for in this writing is getting your critical insights, reactions, and thoughts to the reading or topic down on paper. Don’t worry excessively about grammar and organization. You should be focusing on synthesizing what you have just read (combining ideas in different ways) or analyzing critically the topic. Ask questions, challenge the author, draw upon other sources you have read or seen. This section should not be a summary of the reading! It should be a reaction to it. What do you think?

2.      Part 2: 5 points: An in-class response by another student to your reflection.

For the first 5-10 minutes of class you will swap journals with another person in class. You will then read over what the other person wrote and write a response to their writing in the journal. This will help you respond to others’ work and to get us geared up for class. Think about your responses as a silent dialogue with someone else about the same topic. Was the response the same or different? Do you agree or disagree with your classmate’s reflections? Can you point out areas or bring up points that would contradict, clarify, strengthen, or enhance their reading? The goal of this section is to respond to another writer/thinker like you would engage with a work of literature. The aim is not to rip apart another person’s interpretation. Be critical but conscientious. Sign and date entry. WARNING:  Should you arrive tardy you will not have the opportunity to have someone respond to your journal and you will not be able to respond to someone else’s journal which will cost you points in the overall grade.

3.      Part 3: 5 points A synthesis of new insights based upon peer response and in-class discussion (2 paragraphs)

After class, think about our discussion, presentations, and what your classmates wrote. Then write a brief response in your journal that reevaluates what you originally wrote and thought. Have you gained a deeper insight or understanding of what you have read? How has your initial response changed? What new insights have you gained? What other ideas or questions do you have? The point behind this section is to get you used to rethinking through your ideas and revising your original writing.

Total ___/ 30                                                  

^{RRJS: James Economon, Metro High School}

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[1] ^{Economon, James.  Advanced Placement in Language and Composition 1 & 2.}

[2] Boehm, Scott. Course Policies and Procedures.

New Vocabulary Format

Aberration (N):  synonym: deviation
                          antonym: conformity
                          definition: (1) a defect of focus such as a blurred image
                                          (2) a deviation from what is normal
sentence: The scientist looked at the aberration in the laboratory's test results after conducting the experiement.




List the word.  (Part of Speech):  Synonym:
                                                   Antonym:
                                                   Definition: (1) (2)
Sentence: