January 29th

Here's where we are at:

Satire instruction is done, along with enough examples (both clear and muddy -- the muddy helps us define our understanding more than the clear ones) that you should be able identify and analyze like a genius.

Now: "The Great Chain of Being" by Alexander Pope. Read the intro and answer the first two questions for Friday.

Next: Whence comes evil? Optimist, Manichean, and Monotheistic Christian perspectives will be explored, with a bit of Deism.

Then: Voltaire context.

Then: Candide

Paper due Wednesday.

Thanks

Reading your essays, I am so proud of you all for your work and writing growth. The clarity of your writing with a laser specific focus is wonderful to read. Way to go!

The short answer is what it was; some thanked me for having it be so straightforward, some clearly didn't prepare or weren't prepared to move beyond identification. My approach to the course was skills, not content. There was no multiple choice matching a writing to the author or year because that matters far less than understanding how the language operates. I feel good that the short answer, in combination with the essay, evaluated that goal.

Finally, thanks for sharing the semester with me; it was a privilege I am fortunate to have. Please encourage Juniors to sign up, as the growth and preparation is consistently strong for college and AP tests. If you're free 8th period, I encourage you to consider AP Lit - even pass/fail or auditing as your time allows - as we'll be reading some of the best literature written.

Tuesday and beyond

Sorry for the slow response to Samantha and Izzy's request for some direction. Here is the plan:

Tuesday- Answer any questions you all have about teh Judicial Branch.
Take the quiz on the Judicial Branch
Pass out the take home quiz on the Landmark Supreme Court cases. (have you all entered your case....last I checked there were still some not done! Your classmates are depending on you. This will be due by the end of the day on Thursday.
If any time remaining we can talk about the final.

Wednesday-First day of finals...good luck

Thursday 6th Period Final Gov't.

Feel free to attach comments to this entry with questions either about the Judcial Branch or the final and I will respond to them Tuesday.

See you all Tuesday
Mr. Thompson

Plans

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." ~J. Steinbeck.

Tuesday in English, we'll scrutinize MLK's LBJ, bring in 10 stunning devices. Please read it thoroughly once in entirety, then do another skim through of what you consider to be central passages. I'll add additional guides below. No essay in class. Also bring in Inaugural poetry responses; depending on the timing we might catch Elizabeth Alexander's fourth inaugural poem.

Finals are now 1-4 on Wednesday (1.5 hours each) and 5-8 on Thursday. 50% short answer terms, 50% essay response to contemporary writing.

Grab a good book, warm blanket, and read away:)

NOT to turn in, but to make sure you get the big points:

APLG “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Study Guide

FACTS

1. What are the concerns of the clergy?

2. How does King address those concerns?

3. What are the steps necessary before direct action?

4. Why direct action? Isn’t negotiation better?

4. How can a law be unjust?

Offer an example, that would work according to King.

6. How can King advocate breaking some laws?

7. One who breaks an unjust law must do so _________, __________________, and _________________________________________________________

8. What are the two great disappointments of King?

9. What troubled King profoundly?

Strategies

1. Where does King use Biblical allusions?

How are these especially appropriate for this audience?

3. What are other descriptive techniques? How are these effective?

4. Does King use ethos, pathos, and logos? Which most? Why?

Ideas

1. How does King’s disobedience differ from Thoreau’s?

2. Is non-violent civil disobedience effective in 2009?

3. If you wanted to protest, say curfew, how would you following HDT? MLK?

4. Which essay is more persuasive? Why? Are these audience considerations?

1^st Semester Finals

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Period 1 Final 7:40 – 9:10

Period 2 Final 9:20 – 10:50

Lunch 10:50 – 11:48

Period 3 Final 11:53 – 1:23

Period 4 Final 1:33 – 3:03

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Period 5 Final 7:40 – 9:10

Period 6 Final 9:20 – 10:50

Lunch 10:50 – 11:48

Period 7 Final 11:53 – 1:23

Period 8 Final 1:33 – 3:03

Landmark Case Assignment

Sorry for the chaos lately. I knew there was a good reason why AP classes are recommended to be year long instead of semesters...too little time and too much content.

Anyhow here is your task! Concisely and limited to the facts, respond with the 3 parts to your assignment on Supreme Court cases. A - the background to the case (who, where, when, what happened). B - what part of the Constitution does the case deal with (Be specific! If it deals with the Constitution itself - what Article, what clause. If it deals with an Amendment - what number, what part. eg Article 1 Section 8 Necessary and Proper Clause. Amendment 8 Cruel and unusual punishment. C What did the court rule and if you can come up with the exact vote (eg. 5-4) great. Up to 10 points for the first 28 entries.

Mr. Thompson

AP Language final daze

Make-up: HDT 15 point quiz.

Wednesday: Techniques used by HDT in Civil Disobedience. More on the intro letter to MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. As time permits: Angelou and Williams - come with assigned questions completed.

Thursday: Walk in with MLK's LBJ read with 10 techniques identified, ready to write.
Friday: Finish HDT/MLK, preview AP LANG test and AP LANG final.
Final: 45 short answer questions, followed by an essay answering: How does the author use language to accomplish her purpose?

AP Language Final

Applying key terminology.

1. Know the terms listed below (and I'll keep adding to these under comments), and other those from "rhetorical devices and persuasive techniques" and any strands (remember those?) that deal with language.
2. Be able to provide an example of each.
3. Be able to identify in a brief passage.

Allegory

Alliteration

Allusion

Anachronism

Analogy

Anaphora

Anecdote

Appeals to (authority, emotion, logic, ethics, tradition)

Aphorism

antithesis

Authority

canon

Caricature

Chiasmus

claim

Coherence

Connotation

critique

Denotation

Description

Diction

Didactic

Discourse (description, exposition, narration, persuasion, also personal observation, narrative reflection)

Elegy

Epigram

Epitaph

Eulogy

Figurative language

Genre

Homily

Hyperbole

Imagery

Interior monologue

Metonymy

Mood

Motif

Oxymoron

Parable

Paradox

Parallelism

Parody

Point of view

Rhetoric

Sarcasm

Speaker

Style

Symbolism

syntax

Theme

Tone

Unity (see coherence)

Voice

Still Want to Be President?

Stumbled upon this research conducted by one of the US' most well-known think tanks the Pew Research Center. There are some pretty telling statistics about America's standing around the world (and other stuff too). Global Public Opinion of the Bush Years

Enjoy,
Mr. Thompson

A great article to read if ever faced with an AP question that needs examples of the president, economic leader, domestic/fiscal policy. For those of you who have wondered how the histroy books will remember President Bush here is one of the chapters The US Economy During the 8 Years of President Bush.

Mr. Thompson

Supreme Court at Work

We haven't blogged an assignment for a while so let's do one. Comment by the end of day Friday the 16th.

Looks like the Supreme Court will be reviewing some Civil Rights legislation to see if still "relevant". Keep your comments brief but since part of our AP curriculum include civil rights and civil disobedience maybe this can kill 2 birds with one stone. I welcome your comments as the Supreme Court Justices Will Hear Challenge to Voting Rights Act. Please keep your comments relative to the function and work of the Supreme Court and not your own personal biases.

Mr. Thompson

It is official Barack Obama was elected president of the US. This is what goes on in Congress that reminds us of the traditions that They operate by.

Pompousness and Circumstance

Mr. Thompson

Welcome back APLGers. Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while but...

Check out the following "Road to the Cabinet". Nothing like getting your feet wet right away after you've been sworn into the Senate. The work starts immediately.

Mr. Thompson