"Gaming Can Make a Better World"

Our discussions yesterday about the Gregory Bartman activity got me thinking about this video. TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a global set of conferences that is owned by a non-profit organization with the goal of sharing "ideas worth spreading". They have been running these conferences for over 20 years.

In no way am I endorsing the below video as "Truth". I did, however, think there were some intriguing ideas and connections to what we were talking yesterday, specifically why games can be addictive and provide a sense of fulfillment for some individuals and possible skills that games can develop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM

The Stranger and Camus' Absurdism

Camus was a self-proclaimed "absurdist." Based on The Stranger and Meursault’s beliefs, how would you define "the absurd"? What role do concepts like "detachment," "alienation," "acceptance," and "society" play? How is absurdity reflected in (a) the events in Meursault’s life, (b) the relationships Meursault finds himself in, and (c) the attitudes with which Meursault faces, and subsequently rejects, the world?  As always, use evidence to support your interpretations. 

The Stranger and the Weather

How does the weather - in particular the sun - affect Meursault’s mood and behavior? As always, use evidence to support your interpretations. 

The Stranger Book 2 Discussion: Meursault the Monster?

To what extent do Meursualt and his philosophy threaten “the universe” (122)?  Is Meursualt “the monster” and therefore rightfully imprisoned and punished; or is the “gentle” and “indifferent” universe and those in it “the monsters” for refusing to understand Meursualt’s plight (122)? Is he more or less dangerous than a criminal who commits a crime with clear motive? As always - use evidence to support your interpretations. 

The Stranger Book 1 Discussion: To Shoot or Not Shoot

Before he commits murder, Meursualt states,

The sun glinted off Raymond’s gun as he handed it to me.  But we just stood there motionless, as if everything had closed in around us.  We stared at each other without blinking, and everything came to a stop there between the sea, the sand, and the sun, and the double silence of the flute and the water.  It was then that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot (56).

What are the implications of Meursualt’s realization that “you could shoot or not shoot,” and how do these implications inform us of Meursault’s approach to reality?  You might want to consider how Meursault’s declaration explains his attitude towards his family and friends and his behavior in his public and private lives.  As always - use evidence to support your interpretations.

The Stranger Essay Prompt

Below is your essay prompt for The Stranger and "The Wall". Feel free to use this post as a means to begin discussing ideas before we talk about the text as a whole class after break. 

Discuss how the knowledge of mortality affects the characters’ understanding of the realities in which they find themselves.  In other words, how does facing one’s own mortality change, reaffirm, or refute one’s understanding of reality (in this case life), and what is significant about this change, affirmation, or refutation? 

Reading Myself - a Poetry Explication (Make-Up Assignment)

Many of you chose not to participate on the poetry posts. I am going to assume it was an issue of time and studying for all those tests yesterday and therefore give you another chance. To earn credit for the poetry blog literary analysis, I ask that you take part in a discussion on the following poem over the break. This second chance is over on Sunday night, so don't wait too long to participate.


Reading Myself 

by Robert Lowell

[Note:  Parnassus is a mountain in Greece and, according to Greek myth, the seat of music and poetry.]

Like thousands, I took pride and more than just,

struck matches that brought my blood to a boil;

I memorized the tricks to set the river on fire—

Somehow never wrote something to go back to.

Can I suppose I am finished with wax flowers

And have earned my grass on the minor slopes of Parnassus. . .

No honeycomb is built without a bee

adding circle to circle, cell to cell,

the wax and honey of a mausoleum—

this round dome proves its maker is alive;

the corpse of the insect lives embalmed in honey,

prays that its perishable work lives long

enough for the sweet-tooth bear to desecrate—

this open book . . . my coffin.

Senior Selected Poems

Here are the poems selected by the groups to share with each other. Please choose at least one poem to help explicate through an online discussion (should be completed by Monday night) - remember, you are explicating as a group not providing a monologue, so your contribution should highlight one or two pieces of the poem and NOT try to deal with everything you notice. If no one happens to be engaging in the poem that you chose, find another discussion that interests you.

Of course - you could also participate in more than one poem. It definitely won't do you any harm, but it could do you some good.


"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley :  http://yorkapenggroup1.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"Oh Captain! My Captain" by Walt Whitman  :  http://apenglish2.blogspot.com/

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost  :  http://welovvvvebooks.blogspot.com/

"Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein  :  http://apenglishgroup3.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"Charge of the Light Brigade" by Lord Alfred Tennyson   :  http://bcp2g6.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe  :  http://period2group5.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"The Heart of the Swag"  :  http://madsz4english.blogspot.com/p/poetry.html

"If-" by Rudyard Kipling  :  http://aplithardtimes.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe  :  http://aplitperiod8.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou  :  http://group5p8.blogspot.com/

"The Tiger" by William Blake  :  http://makeenglishfun8.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

"All the World's a Stage" by William Shakespeare  :  http://whereswaldo3.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry

Quotes about Poetry

I strongly believe that poetry is a bit lost these days. Many people fear poetry; many people are never introduced to poetry (beyond Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein). I was thankfully introduced to poetry informally in middle school through a teacher of mine who just encouraged me to read poetry but not "study" it and then formally introduced in college and graduate school.

My experience with poetry is an interesting cycle I have discovered when talking through it with my students. One one hand, I would probably prefer to know poetry informally most days - to appreciate the beauty of the language on the surface level and to not delve too deeply into the larger meaning. With that said, I don't know if I was able to appreciate without first being taught techniques surrounding tone, diction, figurative language, etc. Having an comprehensive understanding of these things provided a new perspective on poetry that I think allows me to truly enjoy reading a poem, and it is that base knowledge I want to provide your students. I don't want them to be afraid of poetry but feel confident in their abilities.

Below are some quotes that I have come upon this year as I complete my own study on poetry while the students do as well. They are not necessarily my own philosophy, but they have peaked my interest for one reason or another.

"Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth."  ~Samuel Johnson

"One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose." ~Voltaire

"Always be a poet, even in prose."  ~Charles Baudelaire

"Out of the quarrel with others, we make rhetoric; our of the quarrel with ourselves, we make poetry."  ~W.B. Yeats

Hard Times Blogs

In hopes of offering a different form of discussion, we will be implementing more blog discussions into our 12 AP Lit curriculum this year. Hard Times is the first text we are using to enter the digital world, but there will be many opportunities in the future. I am hoping you will occasionally check to see what the students are doing and discussing. Additionally, I am hoping to use this blog as a way to share with all of you what the students are doing in class and maybe even share some of their awesome work (anonymously of course).

I believe this is important for a few reasons. 1, it gives students a place where they can grapple with ideas and hear (I mean see) other students' perspectives even when they are not physically in class. Our five hours a week is not the only time students think about the text, so this gives them constant access to discussion.

2, it gives students who are often uncomfortable discussing in large class discussions for various reasons a chance to discuss with their peers in a "safer" way. While I still want and encourage students to participate in all forms of discussions, I find it beneficial to give them multiple opportunities and formats to help them be more successful.

3, it gives me a forum to also engage with students in discussion. Not that this doesn't happen in class, but often times students are participating in a graded discussion in which I try to limit my interruption because often times, a teacher speaking halts their own ideas instead of it being an offering of another interpretation. Your kids are incredibly strong in terms of a classroom discussion, but I like and they like the opportunity for me to engage more with them as a peer engaging in the literary analysis as well; I am finding the blogs to offer that experience.

4, technology is a prevalent role in our society now, especially social media. I believe it is important for students to understand one type of digital communication, especially since many colleges are using such media for class discussions and some classes are fully digital. Beyond higher education, jobs are using this type of discussion forum and tools, so creating a comfort with online discussions should be beneficial for all students as a citizen of a technological world.

Our goals for understanding Muggles

AP Literature and Composition will expose students to the type of scholarly environment that one can expect in college.  Inquiry will guide not only our exploration into the topics which follow, but it will also guide our study of the AP Exam itself.  The course will explore these issues: the impact of one’s philosophical beliefs and ideologies on one’s ability to exist within reality, tragedy’s effects on an individual’s identity, the philosophical beliefs of those involved, and the community’s sustainability, and the possibility of surviving tragedy and making meaning of this loss.

With all of that said, the real goal of this course is for you to become good readers and good writers and not only of Muggle literature. Being a good reader and writer will help you in whatever occupation you decide to pursue.  As such, while we will prepare you for the exam, the course is not designed around the test.  

AP Lit Test Website

So for anyone interested, here is a link to the AP Literature and Composition website. The website provides details for the different portions of the test as well as practice tests and samples to peruse. What I find most helpful and/or interesting are the scoring guides provided. I think as you look through them that most of you will notice that my expectations for your work is much higher than the expectations of the test.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_englit.html