Work to Do

I hope you are all enjoying your break--I know that I am (only two small piles of homework yet to grade and 100 pages of Frankenstein to reread!)--however, I did want to remind you of some homework obligations you have for AP Lit. (This follows a blissfully homework free Thanksgiving break you will recall).

1) Drafts of your essay are due Wednesday (the day after we get back). These should be complete drafts with a concluding paragraph, supporting quotations, and a cover sheet. These are not FIRST drafts. They are drafts you have read and revised. Do not make the class do work you could do on your own. I worry about this because only 29 of you (of 49) have posted to the paper topic poll at Moodle. This seems a very simple first step.

2) You should be reading Frankenstein and posting at Moodle; both are due the day we return. Currently, there are a total of 12 posts at Moodle. This means we are 86 posts short of my minimum expectations and that the vast majority of you have not posted at all. I am afraid this means that the vast majority of you have not started reading either. Frankenstein is a great story, but it could be painful if you try to read it all over the weekend, a holiday weekend at that.

Sorry to remind you that school begins in just a few days, but we have things to do when we get back.

See you in the new year!

Mr. Staiano

The Romantics

Today we spent the day on an introduction to the Romantic Movement. The notes are at Moodle.
Remember, you have a bit of homework over the break:

• Read Frankenstein and post at least twice to the Moodle forum by 1/3/12.
• A preliminary draft of your first essay is due (with a cover sheet) on 1/4/12.

Enjoy the Holidays!

Essay Norming

In preparation for the essays students will be writing over the break, we read and scored three sample essays today.

Candide PC

We began the day clarifying expectations for tomorrow's topic read-around and then spent the rest of the day on the Candide PC (after I collected study guides of course).

Tending the Garden

After a short discussion about theme and symbol in Candide, we wrapped up the satire presentations and Candide. PC and SG tomorrow.

The AP Essay & Candide

Today we started with a quick Candide warm-up, and then I introduced the first formal essay of the year. Handouts are available at Moodle. We wrapped up the day with Candide presentations.
New Due dates:

• Candide PC and SG 12/13
• Essay #1 Topics 12/14

PC Evaluation and More Candide

Today we continued our PC self-evaluation with the steps below. Afterwards, students were given the option of revising their PCs for extra credit (due 12/16).

Students spent the rest of the day on their Candide presentations which are due tomorrow.

Work Time

Today we reviewed the prompt from the last timed writing and then spent the rest of the period on the Candide projects.

Annotation Time

Today we did a bit of annotation modelling on a passage from Candide, and students had the rest of the period to work on their own annotations for the project.

I'm Back

Today we began with a short Candide quiz and then groups had their final literature circles.