Sorry.

I am calling it a wash. This blog this semester has been an utter failure. My fault. Sometimes when you are doing (way!) too much, some things have to go. Unfortunately for the blog, this is what went this semester. It's not you all, it's me. :) Sorry.

However, while we're saying goodbye, let me say that this semester with you has been wonderful. I have so enjoyed your energy and enthusiasm (at least most of the time)! You are all genuinely nice people and I am so grateful to have spent your last semester of high school with you. For those I have taught in the past, either in English II, English II Honors, or Holocaust Lit (or more than one of those!), it is one of my greatest joys as a teacher to get to teach kids several times. I love to see the ways you have grown up and matured over time. For those I met for the first time this semester, it is because of you that I love to teach AP English. I have told a few of you already, it always saddens me a little when amazing kids graduate and I never got to teach them. This class gave me an opportunity to meet more of you and for that I am grateful. I wish all of you the best, both in your immediate future and in your distant future. You will succeed in college and in life and I am happy to have been a small part of your past. Now go, and find your Personal Legend! :) Love you!!!

Mrs. Davis

Gertrude and Claudius

I mentioned in class today that I personally do not feel that there was an improper relationship between Gertrude and Claudius prior to the death of King Hamlet. I know that other teachers share varying opinions. What are your thoughts on this topic? What examples can you give from the text to back up your opinion? Do you think it is relevant to the plot either way? Do you think Shakespeare really cared what we made of that relationship?

Foil Characters in Hamlet

Do you feel that there are any foil characters in Hamlet? (You may have to remind yourself what a foil character is...) If you feel that there are, use the comment board to identify some and explain what effect the foil relationship has on the play, whether its plot of character development.

Week of February 8

Well, here we are... the moment you have all been waiting for since sophomore year when the curtain fell on Act V of Julius Caesar, with Octavius and Antony extolling Brutus's virtues.... more Shakespeare!!!! It's Hamlet time! I sincerely hope you love this play as much as I do.

Monday, 2/8
Quiz over satire, sonnets, Boswell, "Everyman"
Intro to Hamlet
Hamlet/Shakespeare notes

Tuesday, 2/9
Hamlet, Act I

Wednesday, 2/10
Hamlet, Act II
"Love" activity
SM 5, 6 check

Thursday, 2/11
OFF!!!
(Parent conferences 12-7)

Friday, 2/12
OFF!!!

FOR FUN, does not count as a comment...

You guys are reading "Everyman" this week. Enjoy this guinea pig version. :)

Week of February 1

I hope that you all enjoyed your semi-long weekend and are set to have a wonderful, productive week.

Monday, 2/1
Medieval period test
Write Character analysis

Tuesday, 2/2
Multiple Choice AP test practice

Wednesday, 2/3
Boswell's Biography, Satire
H/W: Write a satire

Thursday, 2/4
"Everyman", Sonnets
H/W: Write a sonnet

Friday, 2/5
Test over this week

Wife of Bath's Tale

We had a great discussion regarding the Wife of Bath's Tale. Do you think the Wife of Bath is meant to contradict the misogynist (woman-hating) ideas of her time, or to uphold them? How might her story be a type of wish-fulfillment for the aging? Respond to any other elements from this tale (or any others we read during this unit).

Six Characters

In the past I have done a precious little activity called "Canterbury Tales: Six Characters in Search of a Pilgrimage" that I heard about at an NCTE conference. The assignment is below.

Select six characters to go on the pilgrimage with you. Two must have been on Chaucer's. Two must be from other literary selections. Two must be real people (though not necessarily living). Explain how these characters would get along and what kind of story they would have told the whole group.

If you feel so inclined, comment on this post and briefly explain your six characters and what kind of story they would have told, who would have gotten along with whom, disagreed with whom, etc.

Epic Heroes (and small-town heroes)

We finished Beowulf today and most of you seemed to get it and even somewhat enjoy it. I would like to know what characteristics of Beowulf as an epic hero do you think are still respected in our society today? Are there elements of the Anglo-Saxon code of honor that are held dear in America in 2009?

Week of January 25

Well, yet another exciting week in AP!!! Canterbury Tales this week! :)

Monday, 1/25
Define Unit 1
Discuss Part 1 of the Prologue
H/W: Read Part 2

Tuesday, 1/26
Discuss Part 2
Write own
Intro to "Wife of Bath's Tale"
H/W: Read Wife of Bath

Wednesday, 1/27
Temperament Activity
Discuss "Wife of Bath"
H/W: Read "Pardoner's Tale"

Thursday, 1/28
DUE: Prologue Memorization
H/W: Read Sir Gawaine/Le Morte

Friday, 1/29
Vocab Quiz 1
Discuss Gawaine/Le Morte
SM 4 check

Week of January 19

Lots to do and read and talk about this week!  :)  (And we only have four days to do it!)

Tuesday, 1/19

Anglo-Saxon notes

Kennings

Discuss Beowulf, Section 1

Homework:  Read Section 2

Wednesday, 1/20

Archetypes

Discuss Beowulf, Section 2

Homework: Beowulf, Section 3 and Exeter Book

DUE:  Final Draft College Application Essay

Thursday, 1/21

Discuss Exeter Book

Multiple Choice Practice

Homework:  Prologue Part 1

Friday, 1/22

Anglo-Saxon quiz

Canterbury Tales notes

Discuss Prologue

Homework: Prologue Part 2

DUE:  SM 1-3

DUE:  Journals

"The Sun Goes Down on High School"-- with inspiration by Steve Lawhead

Students were given a poem by Steve Lawhead ("The Sun Goes Down on Summer") and asked to model their own poems after it, titling them "The Sun Goes Down on High School".  Here are a few of our thoughts on the subject...

"This is serious.  This is college ball.  Game over."

"The time has come for me to move on, leaving an empty chair in my classroom, a vacancy in the locker I once occupied, and goals ready to be accomplished."

"I've spent countless hours perfecting them, and now I must wait, the wait for that priceless piece of mail to arrive at my house."

"I'll have to start over/New school, new friends, new me?"

"I hope I'm good enough.  I suppose I won't know until I'm there."

"It'll be professors and textbooks and laptops and upperclassmen telling you what to take."

"Mr. and Mrs. run away, leaving Professor and Doctor."

"I'd give anything to make high school stay a little longer, and not disappear."

"And I can only hope but wonder if I've made my impression here; will I be missed or simply forgotten?"

"Twelve years to get to this point.  Now what?"

"The school looks the same as always./It's a warm place dyed red, white, and blue."

"I pull in the parking lot one last time/Class by class, they slip away."

"I walk across the stage thinking that the end is near."

"It's going; I can feel it slip away, and it leaves a warm, new sense of freedom from the endless routine of everyday, and then the fear sets in."

"I hold fast to the things I'll long to remember, and to my relationships that may not last."

"In these halls, in these rooms/experiences have changed my life./I am not who I once was."

"School will start again.  But I won't return."

"School will be over soon.  And everything I've become used to will change, and the parking lot won't be so noisy anymore."

"It's leaving; it all appears to be drifting away, and it leaves a cold, shallow feeling in the place of heated, driven school spirit and hatred for Walker Valley."

"No, instead I have to figure things out for myself,/and nothing will ever be handed to me again."

"High school wasn't meant to last forever.  I took it all for granted.  Now I'm left wishing."

"As this chapter closes, I remember the earlier pages, when life was simple, like a picture book./ However, I wouldn't wish for these high school days to stay."

"People expect it.  I expect it./Expectations are over.  You're on your own.  You can go do what you want.  You can 'be yourself.'"

Classics

The classics have often been defined as old dusty books written by dead Western white men. I think, over time, that view will change. We had a discussion last week on the classics, and I thought I would provide an opportunity to continue it on the blog. What books have you read that stand out in your mind in this context, either as a certain classic or as certainly not a classic? What part of the criteria relates to your text selection?

Week of January 11

This week will consist of some practice, some peer reading, some discussion, and some literature!!!  Hopefully you will feel like you have a good foundation and are ready to knock the top out of AP English and the AP test!  :)

Monday, 1/11

Define Unit 1

Poetry/Prose AP practice

DUE:  Self-Assessment, parent letter

Tuesday, 1/12

Open essay AP practice

Assign resume

Wednesday, 1/13

In-Class College Application essay

Assign Biblical Allusions for discussion

DUE:  Resume

Thursday, 1/14

Biblical Allusions discussion

Peer Read College App essay

Friday, 1/15

Vocab Quiz

Anglo-Saxon notes

Assign Section 1 of Beowulf

SM 1 and 2

Welcome, Soon-to-be-Graduates!

Hello to the new CHS AP English class!!!  I know we are only two days into it, but I will say that I have a good feeling about your class!  I am excited to spend your final semester in high school with you, reading great works, writing awesome papers, and having amazing discussions.  :)  Some of you I have had in the past, and I am so happy to see you in another of my classes.  The rest of you, I am excited to get to know you, although it does just mean that there will be more people I am saddened to lose in May.......  

Anyway, get ready to fly!  Because believe me, we are all going to glance up and realize that graduation is only days away.