How´s my driving?

In order to better the class, please give me some feedback on what you make of AP English Lit this year.

PS - I meant teaching; I can´t actually drive.

Hamlet Scrapbook

Rather than maintaining a blog during this Hamlet, we're going to go paper - and keep a Hamlet scrapbook. The scrapbooks will stay in our classroom.

For every scene we'll study you'll create a Hamlet scrapbook entry.

There are some requirements that we'll discuss first.

- cite text specifically following MLA format
- note the date and the scene and lines covered
- deal with at least one word in detail

In addition, you can choose any two of your creative strategies to deal with text. Remember: the entries should be a reflection of your understand of the scene. It should also be a creative representation of your thinking:


- focus on one word and create a visual vocabulary style entry 
- create a collage of a character
- demonstrate inference by animating/illustrating text
- comic book style illustration of dialogue
- paper circuitry
- summarize the scene in a paragraph written in different colors (color-coding)
- write a journal entry as a character in the scene (narrative)
- play what if: create a what if scenario and imagine what the consequences would be
- translate a series of lines to emojis (stickers)
- justify cutting the scene out of a production of Hamlet
- justify not cutting the scene out of a production of Hamlet
- re-write the scene as a children's story or children's illustrated book
- imagine the scene without Hamlet and think about its effects

Here is the rubric I will use to grade your scrapbooks (once every two weeks - formative). Be sure to keep your scrapbook up to date. If you miss class you must either come to Opportunity Day or study the scene on your own with the help of scenes on youtube.

Want some examples? While it's not exactly like what we're doing this is more or less the same idea only with The Great Gatsby. Ours make look a little different as they'll include work with text and more traditional written approaches in addition to the visual work. 

Another place you might go to get an idea of what a scrapbook can look like is Lynda Barry's books, in our classroom and library.



While I have a booklet for each of you, you may bring in your own, if your prefer it. Just know that the book will only be dedicated to Hamlet. Think of the book itself as a work of art - in progress!

Pun Review Video

Stop Motion Tips

New to stop motion animation? Try using these tips.

Assignment for This Weekend

Make photocopies of your scene from Hamlet. Bring them to class on Tuesday. 

Carpe Diem!

A student pointed out that they didn't know what "carpe diem" (or #yolo) on question 10 meant of our Enjambment Quiz. This student is right. As such, all scores will be raised by .5.

Only revised scores under 2 may re-take.

After further thought, I think it's best that we make these scores a "no-count grade". We'll try another quiz, hopefully more fair, in two weeks. I'll talk more about it as we get closer. 

Erasure Poems!

Please don't forget to bring in your erasure poems. 

Task 1 Hamlet

Watch the following video. Follow the Earl of Leicester's instructions carefully.

Our performance will most likely be afterschool November 22nd. Your groups and scenes are as follows:

Period 2

1.5 1-98

Victor, Giorgio

2.2.187-237

Paulina, Veronica

2.2.240-338

Luis, Annika, Claudio

5.1

Gabriela, Valentina, Greg, Gabriela, Ana, Alan, Margarita, Sebastian

Period 6

3.2.96-317

Entire class

Period 8

4.1

Andrea, Felipe

4.4

Isabel, Jonah, Luisa, Michelle, Mariana

5.2.239-449

12th graders

3.1 (90-end, after "To be or not to be" speech)
Abe, Maria Luz

Muse on Fire Activity

These actors are trying to answer the following questions:  “What place does Shakespeare have in our world today?”, and “What are the best ways to keep his stories and characters alive?¨

Try answering these questions along with the actors.  Paraphrase the various answers they find. Be sure to record the names of the interviewees. When finished, come up with your own answer to these questions.

Prep for Hamlet

For those that would like to prepare for our upcoming unit on Hamlet (King of Infinite Space) check out this video starring Benedict Cumberbatch (soon to play Doctor Strange in the next Marvel movie).

Studying for the Exam

For those that are concerned about the grammar portion of your grade, I've created some practice exercises on noredink.com that focus on comma splices, comma usage and sentence fragments. This will also help those that have selected this as their writing goal for the next quarter.

Exam on Wednesday

In class on Wednesday we'll have an exam on The Awakening. You'll be given a piece of text by Chopin and have to perform a close reading.

You'll be graded with the following rubric:

Criteria	4	3	2	1
Understanding of Chopin	Student expressed her/his/their deep understanding of the passage (linking form to content).	Student expressed a valid understanding of the passage, relating it to author’s craft sometimes.	Student expressed an understanding of the passage which lacked depth, and/or author’s craft.	Student did not express her/his understanding of the passage clearly.
Use of quotations	Student incorporated text into analysis seamlessly.	Student incorporated text into analysis using the correct format. There are no floating quotations.	Student incorporated text into argument haphazardly.	Student did not incorporate text into his/her argument.
Grammar and mechanics	Student consistently wrote in formal diction had no sentence fragments.	Student somewhat consistently wrote in formal diction had little or no sentence fragments.	Student occasionally  wrote in formal diction had little or had some sentence fragments.	Student wrote in informal diction or ceremonial diction or had many sentence fragments.