The main focus of class this week was our comparative essay. In my group we had previously outlined our essay, so the bulk of our time in class was spent making our notes into paragraphs. Doing it this way made the writing process easier and quicker, as our ideas were already laid out. My group picked Communion, Shakespeare, and Symbolism as our relating topics for our books. It was interesting to discuss these ideas with my group members. We split the work up evenly, but we were very collaborative and helped each other with all paragraphs. We thought it would be easier to write the comparative paragraphs first, and then write the introduction and conclusion. Because each of our writing styles, and individual voices are different, it was a challenge to make the paragraphs flow together nicely and make the essay sound like one voice. After our essay was completely finished we formatted it in the correct MLA format.
After our essays were finished, we spent the end of the week peer reviewing our essays. Each group was paired with group that read different books than they did. This way, the writers of the essay got reviews from readers who had, ideally, no former knowledge of the books. With this type of peer review, our essay was over all more comprehensible. Focusing on the whole picture of the essay, rather than tiny details, like comas, is a much more helpful way of peer review. Mr. S also asked for “two stars and a wish.” Meaning, he wants us to say two things the writer did really well, and one thing the writer could change to make their essay better.
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This past week in AP Lit we focused on writing a comparative essay and exploring the rhetoric of a poem. Our comparative essays pertained to the books we read over the summer. My group read The Fall, by Albert Camus, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid. After filling out the summer reading discussion, my group found that our two books were much more similar than we thought. Putting things next to each other on paper really helped us connect ideas. To begin our essay we did a pre-write where we lined out all the topics we wanted to write about, and found examples for each one. Both The Fall and The Reluctant Fundamentalist were interesting books. My group thoroughly enjoyed both of them. And we all got really excited when we found similarities in both books. We even started a group chat to continue our book discussion after class! I know, we are such good students. The other focus of the week was a poem titled The Eagle, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Each day we would go more indepth, focusing on different aspects of the poem. We discussed how things like imagery, alliteration, and personification helped convey the effect Tennyson wanted to the reader. To develop our ideas we took notes on our own, talked in our table groups, and then presented our ideas to the class. By going through the poem little by little each day, I began understanding the poem more. In class, we focused on what we each think The Eagle is about, but I'm wondering what Tennyson’s meaning of the poem was. Or does Tennyson’s meaning even matter? how to Explicate a PoemThe first week of AP Lit was as expected, although I did not plan on already learning things. Most of the week was spent understanding what we could anticipate in this class and doing a few activities that would prepare us more when we actually dived into the curriculum. I can already tell that AP Lit will require a lot more writing than any previous year, but I'm surprisingly excited about it. I definitely think this class will allow my writing, and probably reading skills, to improve immensely. The only way to get better is to practice, right? And just by this four-day sneak peak of the year, I can tell there will a lot of group sharing involved too. Mr. Schoenborn is really adept to getting students to think on their own and explore their own thoughts. Throughout the year my classmates and I will just get better at this, and I think it will be incredibly helpful in our futures. Being able to write what you think without other people’s influences is an important skill to have. In class today, our video discussed writing what you want to say, not what you think someone wants to hear. Sometimes students are so focused on getting a good grade they write what they believe will please the teacher. Sometimes students are afraid to voice their opinion in their writing out of fear they will be ridiculed by their peers. I’m ready to get over those fears. writing tips from famous authors |
This is my Reflective Learning Blog for my AP Lit class. Archives
March 2017
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