Announcements
Jury questions assignment
09 October 2008 10:02 AM
Prosecution & Defense teams:
You are to develop a set of ten questions, collaboratively, that you can use to screen potential jurors for the Frankenstein trial. Your goal is to design questions that will reveal values, preconceived notions, and prejudices that would either favor your preferred verdict against Frankenstein or would eliminate that person as a juror in your mind. Ask yourself what kind of person would convict/acquit Victor Frankenstein.
Post your questions on the appropriate wiki page on http://chsstaff.vail.k12.az.us/groups/chs_tonk/search/?tag=trial . And yes - the other team is going to be able to see your questions and adjust their own questions accordingly. I believe that it works similarly in the real legal system.
These questions are due by Sunday evening at midnight. I will photocopy them and deliver them to 3rd hour on Monday. You will have their responses on Tuesday & Wednesday next week and you can develop your list of "preferred" jurors and your list of people you definitely DON'T want on the jury. On Wednesday, I will ask volunteers from 1st and 2nd to come to class during 3rd hour for formal jury selection. Defense and prosecution will each have two vetoes over each other's choices. 3rd hour students NOT selected for jury duty will play characters.
You are to develop a set of ten questions, collaboratively, that you can use to screen potential jurors for the Frankenstein trial. Your goal is to design questions that will reveal values, preconceived notions, and prejudices that would either favor your preferred verdict against Frankenstein or would eliminate that person as a juror in your mind. Ask yourself what kind of person would convict/acquit Victor Frankenstein.
Post your questions on the appropriate wiki page on http://chsstaff.vail.k12.az.us/groups/chs_tonk/search/?tag=trial . And yes - the other team is going to be able to see your questions and adjust their own questions accordingly. I believe that it works similarly in the real legal system.
These questions are due by Sunday evening at midnight. I will photocopy them and deliver them to 3rd hour on Monday. You will have their responses on Tuesday & Wednesday next week and you can develop your list of "preferred" jurors and your list of people you definitely DON'T want on the jury. On Wednesday, I will ask volunteers from 1st and 2nd to come to class during 3rd hour for formal jury selection. Defense and prosecution will each have two vetoes over each other's choices. 3rd hour students NOT selected for jury duty will play characters.
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Due dates, late work, and explanations
13 July 2008 09:42 PM
This
post is a copy of an email I sent to a
student.
Yes, although I had it assigned for tomorrow morning because that way I could have it graded when school starts. I think there is a legal issue, personally, when marking items as late when they were turned in on the first day of school. Since I wanted you to be able to find information on MrTonk.com and receive group emails throughout the summer (the Scavenger Hunt), it was important that you do that by the end of May. It makes sense to have the Turnitin discussion board assignment due before the analysis, since hearing what others have to say is an important part of shaping your own understanding. It also makes sense to have your initial post to that discussion board due prior to your responses, since people need posts to be there if they are to respond to them. Finally, to be fair, you DID have nearly two months to read two books and find some stuff on the internet, mostly on one website.
You are not alone in your procrastination, and that, in addition to my belief that students should not lose their chance to succeed in anAP course due to the lack of timely completion of work assigned over your vacation, prods me to share the information regarding full credit given until the 18th for everything. And if you look carefully in my documents, you will find that this is not contradictory to anything I have written. Believe me, if students drop my course because of the summer assignment, I will have less grading to do. Despite this, my pride in education demands that I do everything in my power to keep as many students in the AP course as possible, while maintaining my belief in student accountability.
Indeed, after the 18th, it is acceptable for a maximum of 50 percent, unless the student chooses to respond thoughtfully to all three essay prompts included as options in the analysis, due Monday the 21st.
Frankly, doing a ton of work between now and Friday seems like punishment enough, don't you think?
Since I took the time to type this on my phone while my kids are in the bathtub, I trust that you will return the favor and just do the work, please. I am copying this to everyone on the mailing list and blind-copying it to you, since they should have this information as well.
Yes, although I had it assigned for tomorrow morning because that way I could have it graded when school starts. I think there is a legal issue, personally, when marking items as late when they were turned in on the first day of school. Since I wanted you to be able to find information on MrTonk.com and receive group emails throughout the summer (the Scavenger Hunt), it was important that you do that by the end of May. It makes sense to have the Turnitin discussion board assignment due before the analysis, since hearing what others have to say is an important part of shaping your own understanding. It also makes sense to have your initial post to that discussion board due prior to your responses, since people need posts to be there if they are to respond to them. Finally, to be fair, you DID have nearly two months to read two books and find some stuff on the internet, mostly on one website.
You are not alone in your procrastination, and that, in addition to my belief that students should not lose their chance to succeed in anAP course due to the lack of timely completion of work assigned over your vacation, prods me to share the information regarding full credit given until the 18th for everything. And if you look carefully in my documents, you will find that this is not contradictory to anything I have written. Believe me, if students drop my course because of the summer assignment, I will have less grading to do. Despite this, my pride in education demands that I do everything in my power to keep as many students in the AP course as possible, while maintaining my belief in student accountability.
Indeed, after the 18th, it is acceptable for a maximum of 50 percent, unless the student chooses to respond thoughtfully to all three essay prompts included as options in the analysis, due Monday the 21st.
Frankly, doing a ton of work between now and Friday seems like punishment enough, don't you think?
Since I took the time to type this on my phone while my kids are in the bathtub, I trust that you will return the favor and just do the work, please. I am copying this to everyone on the mailing list and blind-copying it to you, since they should have this information as well.
AP Life of Pi "Analysis" Due Monday Morning
13 July 2008 04:13 PM
The
misnamed Life of Pi Analysis is due tomorrow morning. This is the
largest part of the AP Summer Work, and is due on Turnitin.com.
Please remember that it is required to have all four parts, and
that the document may be divided into 4 separate sections, since it
isn’t exactly the kind of thing that will flow easily in a single
essay. See below for details - and please, if you are running late
with this assignment and are considering dropping my course,
remember that the contract indicates that you may turn it in late,
if necessary - just not for full credit. I may, however, offer a
full credit option for additional work.
Write a detailed, typed literary analysis of Life of Pi. This analysis must include the following components:
A summary of the novel that is approximately 250 words long and does not give away the end of the novel. This summary must begin or end with a statement of theme. Please remember that thematic statements must be expressed in independent clauses: "The theme of Macbeth is that appearances are deceptive," NOT "The theme of Macbeth has to do with deception." See the difference? One is clear and the other is vague. What might the author be telling us about the nature of youth, choice, family, nation, war, violence, storytelling, truth, or other topics that are raised in the novel?
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Journal. Keep a log of items you see in Life of Pi that correspond to concepts in at least ten of the chapters in HTRLLAP. We will be using this text a great deal next year, and I think you’ll find it quite useful. You don’t have to do anything else, but you will be expected to be able to explain the relevance of each quote to the concepts in the corresponding chapter when you return to school.
Important quotations from the novel. I expect a minimum of 15 quotes that contain rich imagery, sound great when read aloud, or contain moments crucial to the plot or development of the theme. Each quotation should include a brief statement regarding why it was chosen.
A thoughtful response to one of the three following released AP College Board Exam prompts, using frequent and varied references to Life of Pi as support:
Write a detailed, typed literary analysis of Life of Pi. This analysis must include the following components:
A summary of the novel that is approximately 250 words long and does not give away the end of the novel. This summary must begin or end with a statement of theme. Please remember that thematic statements must be expressed in independent clauses: "The theme of Macbeth is that appearances are deceptive," NOT "The theme of Macbeth has to do with deception." See the difference? One is clear and the other is vague. What might the author be telling us about the nature of youth, choice, family, nation, war, violence, storytelling, truth, or other topics that are raised in the novel?
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Journal. Keep a log of items you see in Life of Pi that correspond to concepts in at least ten of the chapters in HTRLLAP. We will be using this text a great deal next year, and I think you’ll find it quite useful. You don’t have to do anything else, but you will be expected to be able to explain the relevance of each quote to the concepts in the corresponding chapter when you return to school.
Important quotations from the novel. I expect a minimum of 15 quotes that contain rich imagery, sound great when read aloud, or contain moments crucial to the plot or development of the theme. Each quotation should include a brief statement regarding why it was chosen.
A thoughtful response to one of the three following released AP College Board Exam prompts, using frequent and varied references to Life of Pi as support:
- One definition of madness is “mental delusion or eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote that “Much madness is divinest Sense – To a discerning eye –“. Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel or play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a short, well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole.
- The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy endings: “The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events~~a marriage or a last-minute rescue from death~~but some kind of spiritual assessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." In a short, well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole.
- In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I’m coming to believe that is the only way to make people see.” Write a short essay in which you make a good case for distortion in the novel.
AP reading list posted
24 June 2008 09:18 AM
The
updated reading list for AP English Literature & Composition
has been posted as an update to the syllabus. For the full list,
you may read the syllabus; I am providing an abbreviated list
below. The syllabus still needs to be revised somewhat, mainly in
the classroom procedures section.
Each quarter, students will study a novel as a class. This novel needs to be read and annotated prior to the beginning of the quarter. For example, during 1st Quarter, we will be studying Life of Pi, which you are reading over the summer. The class novel study titles are:
Yann Martel, Life of Pi: Q1
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: Q2
William Shakespeare, Hamlet: Q3
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Q4
Each quarter, students will meet periodically in groups to study a novel in a small group, student-directed setting with teacher guidance. This title comes from a list of four possible choices, each of which are linked thematically to the primary text for the quarter from the list above. The theme for 1st Quarter is “the relationship between truth and faith,” and so the group novels for 1st Quarter will all relate somehow to that theme. The list of novels for each quarter is listed below, from which you must read one novel per quarter:
1st Quarter: The Relationship Between Truth & Faith
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
Ceremony, Leslie Silko
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
2nd Quarter: The Power of Redemption
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus
3rd Quarter: Humanity’s Quest for Identity (may be revised)
Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
4th Quarter: Hubris - Arrogance & Pride
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Finally, you are expected to read one novel per quarter on your own from the following list (this list may be added to throughout the year). The only expectation is that you will be required to annotate it and will have the opportunity to use it for an essay:
Willa Cather, My Antonia
Amy Tan, The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
George Orwell, 1984
Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Dante Aligheri, The Inferno
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Richard Wright, Native Son
Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Jack Kerouac, On the Road; The Dharma Bums
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Norman McLean, A River Runs Through It
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Edson, Margaret. Wit.
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Each quarter, students will study a novel as a class. This novel needs to be read and annotated prior to the beginning of the quarter. For example, during 1st Quarter, we will be studying Life of Pi, which you are reading over the summer. The class novel study titles are:
Yann Martel, Life of Pi: Q1
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: Q2
William Shakespeare, Hamlet: Q3
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Q4
Each quarter, students will meet periodically in groups to study a novel in a small group, student-directed setting with teacher guidance. This title comes from a list of four possible choices, each of which are linked thematically to the primary text for the quarter from the list above. The theme for 1st Quarter is “the relationship between truth and faith,” and so the group novels for 1st Quarter will all relate somehow to that theme. The list of novels for each quarter is listed below, from which you must read one novel per quarter:
1st Quarter: The Relationship Between Truth & Faith
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
Ceremony, Leslie Silko
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
2nd Quarter: The Power of Redemption
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus
3rd Quarter: Humanity’s Quest for Identity (may be revised)
Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
4th Quarter: Hubris - Arrogance & Pride
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Finally, you are expected to read one novel per quarter on your own from the following list (this list may be added to throughout the year). The only expectation is that you will be required to annotate it and will have the opportunity to use it for an essay:
Willa Cather, My Antonia
Amy Tan, The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
George Orwell, 1984
Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Dante Aligheri, The Inferno
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Richard Wright, Native Son
Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Jack Kerouac, On the Road; The Dharma Bums
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Norman McLean, A River Runs Through It
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Edson, Margaret. Wit.
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Do you know this student?
02 June 2008 04:09 PM
Hello.
I could use your help contacting some students who have either completed none of the preparation work for next year's AP English Literature course (contract, Turnitin, Scavenger Hunt - or the Evil Trifecta, as one student called it). While I can't disclose their full names because that would violate their privacy, I CAN give you a list of first names. If you know anyone with this first name, you should give that person a kick in the - I mean, call that person and ask if they knew about the AP summer work for Mr. Tonk's class.
Incidentally, I have people who are on Turnitin, but not on Google; people who have signed contracts but done nothing else; people who have completed Scavenger Hunts but have not signed up on Turnitin.
The names below are those students who have completed nothing OR have only given me a contract:
SIGNED THE SHEET ON THE AP SUMMER WORK DAY:
Nathan
Rachael
Jordan
Ashley (not C)
Colton
Russell
Christian
Victoria
Samantha
Sandra
Nicole
Alexandria
Rachelle (could be Kachelle)
Raj
Jack
Isaiah
Chelsea
Amanda
Jeff
NO SIGNATURE ON THE SUMMER WORK SHEET:
Guy
Gregory
Daniella
Teresa
Kentaro
Katie
Alexandra
Aaron
Kristina
Alissa
Charity
Andrew
Steven
Sarah
Brianna
Christopher
Rhegan
Please contact these people and let them know they are already falling behind and that I will NOT penalize them if they contact me and complete this initial work soon. I do not want to make 36 phone calls!
Thank you for your help.
I could use your help contacting some students who have either completed none of the preparation work for next year's AP English Literature course (contract, Turnitin, Scavenger Hunt - or the Evil Trifecta, as one student called it). While I can't disclose their full names because that would violate their privacy, I CAN give you a list of first names. If you know anyone with this first name, you should give that person a kick in the - I mean, call that person and ask if they knew about the AP summer work for Mr. Tonk's class.
Incidentally, I have people who are on Turnitin, but not on Google; people who have signed contracts but done nothing else; people who have completed Scavenger Hunts but have not signed up on Turnitin.
The names below are those students who have completed nothing OR have only given me a contract:
SIGNED THE SHEET ON THE AP SUMMER WORK DAY:
Nathan
Rachael
Jordan
Ashley (not C)
Colton
Russell
Christian
Victoria
Samantha
Sandra
Nicole
Alexandria
Rachelle (could be Kachelle)
Raj
Jack
Isaiah
Chelsea
Amanda
Jeff
NO SIGNATURE ON THE SUMMER WORK SHEET:
Guy
Gregory
Daniella
Teresa
Kentaro
Katie
Alexandra
Aaron
Kristina
Alissa
Charity
Andrew
Steven
Sarah
Brianna
Christopher
Rhegan
Please contact these people and let them know they are already falling behind and that I will NOT penalize them if they contact me and complete this initial work soon. I do not want to make 36 phone calls!
Thank you for your help.
The Road
29 May 2008 11:49 AM
Interesting article posted by the
New York Times
regarding the Viggo Mortensen film
version of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (virtually certain to be included on next year’s
reading list, by the way). Click here to read the article.
Good article online
27 May 2008 09:23 PM
I found this article on reading, writing, and reading
closely online in Atlantic Monthly.
Contracts
22 May 2008 02:14 PM
AP Summer Work (Class of 2009)
19 May 2008 02:47 PM
Updated
5/19
You will find the summer work listed in the AP English Lit submenu on the left. To download the summer assignments, please visit the File Cabinet page or click on the links below. There are three handouts you need:
1. Summer Assignment
2. Contract (due by the end of the 07-08 school year).
3. Scavenger Hunt (due by June 1)
Please note that the Online Commentary portion of the summer assignment needs to be completed in the Discussion section of Turnitin.com. Log in to the class at Turnitin, then click on "Discussion." You should see the appropriate assignment listed. Click on it, then post your observations. Thank you!
I have been asked about the requirements for the literary terms definitions. You may write the "dictionary" definition if you understand exactly what it means; however, if you have some trouble with the dictionary definition, you should put it in your own words. In other words, I don't really care which definition you use, as long as it is a definition that helps you to remember the meaning and usage of the term. Hope that helps.
You will find the summer work listed in the AP English Lit submenu on the left. To download the summer assignments, please visit the File Cabinet page or click on the links below. There are three handouts you need:
1. Summer Assignment
2. Contract (due by the end of the 07-08 school year).
3. Scavenger Hunt (due by June 1)
Please note that the Online Commentary portion of the summer assignment needs to be completed in the Discussion section of Turnitin.com. Log in to the class at Turnitin, then click on "Discussion." You should see the appropriate assignment listed. Click on it, then post your observations. Thank you!
I have been asked about the requirements for the literary terms definitions. You may write the "dictionary" definition if you understand exactly what it means; however, if you have some trouble with the dictionary definition, you should put it in your own words. In other words, I don't really care which definition you use, as long as it is a definition that helps you to remember the meaning and usage of the term. Hope that helps.