Hi everyone!
Here is the link to the super helpful site that Ms. Schwab created. Use it! You will need to sign in to your Jefferson Union email address to see it.
Please come to class with a few topics in which you are interested.
Ms. Delman
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
A.P. practice exam - Saturday
Hi all,
Please respond to confirm that you will be here to take the practice exam on Saturday, April 30th from 8 to 11:30 a.m. If you confirm I will expect to see you Saturday.
Please respond by tonight at 10 p.m., the same time the blog post assignment is due.
Thank you.
Ms. Delman
Please respond to confirm that you will be here to take the practice exam on Saturday, April 30th from 8 to 11:30 a.m. If you confirm I will expect to see you Saturday.
Please respond by tonight at 10 p.m., the same time the blog post assignment is due.
Thank you.
Ms. Delman
Sula blog post #3
Hi everyone!
This is your last blog post for Sula. The guiding questions are below and I've also included questions from students from the last post.
A. Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).
B. Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.
C. Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion.
Please be thoughtful, careful, and diplomatic about your comments. I will be checking the blog regularly and will be contributing as well. Each post should be about one body paragraph long. You must complete the blog post by 10 PM on the night before the assignment is due.
Happy reading!
Guiding Questions and ideas to respond to:
1. What is the significance of names and naming in the novel?
2. Although Sula contains several male characters, the book is, in many ways, a novel that celebrates women. Sula looms so large in the reader's mind because Morrison strips away the power traditionally given to men. Examine the deficiencies of two male characters that suggest contrasting strengths in female characters.
3. Toni Morrison once said, "I know evil preoccupied me in Sula…" Examine the nature of evil in Sula, especially as it occurs in the protagonist. To what extent is Sula evil and how does she manifest this trait? What are the sources of her evil and what is its ultimate significance in terms of her relationship with the Bottom residents?
4. Death is a dominant motif in Sula. The text begins, "There was once a neighborhood," signifying that the community no longer exists (3). Morrison portrays death as an event that purifies, renews, and brings freedom to the deceased and/or their family and friends. Death is also an event that is often witnessed in the text; it is a spectacle that demands attention. Consider how this notion of death subverts more traditional depictions and why Morrison uses this strategy.
Questions from students:
5. What is the significance in Sula living a similar life to her mother and what does that say about parent-child relationships?
6. Many of Sula's actions suggest a certain degree of insanity. Do you believe that Sula is actually crazy, evil, or accursed, as the townspeople claim? Or is she instead a perfectly sane woman whose actions are both misconstrued by the residents of the Bottom and exaggerated by Toni Morrison for the purpose of characterization?
7. How does Nel's friendship with Sula impact the actions that the girls do in the book? Is Nell an observer of the havoc that Sula creates or does she play a bigger role in their actions?
8. Since Nel finds out about Sula and Jude's affair, do you think she will ever forgive Sula or will she feel so betrayed that she won't ever talk to her ever again? Why?
9. In the book, death is essentially a normal thing. It happens often, and is caused by people that they have a close relationship with. Do you think that having a "National suicide day" made their society more accepting of death? Is it because of a day like that being put into effect that everyone is so used to the grimness of death?
10. Hannah's father left her as a kid, did that affect her morals as an adult when she broke up families as a result of her promiscuity? And did Sula being Hannah's daughter also have a correlation to her promiscuity?
11. What's the significance of the dead robins and how does it relate to Sula's "evil" character?
12. Why did Toni Morrison choose to have her female characters be such (for lack of a better term) horrible people? Wasn't her point supposed to be to put more of a positive/empowering light on women since men were previously the focus in most literature?
This is your last blog post for Sula. The guiding questions are below and I've also included questions from students from the last post.
A. Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).
B. Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.
C. Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion.
Please be thoughtful, careful, and diplomatic about your comments. I will be checking the blog regularly and will be contributing as well. Each post should be about one body paragraph long. You must complete the blog post by 10 PM on the night before the assignment is due.
Happy reading!
Guiding Questions and ideas to respond to:
1. What is the significance of names and naming in the novel?
2. Although Sula contains several male characters, the book is, in many ways, a novel that celebrates women. Sula looms so large in the reader's mind because Morrison strips away the power traditionally given to men. Examine the deficiencies of two male characters that suggest contrasting strengths in female characters.
3. Toni Morrison once said, "I know evil preoccupied me in Sula…" Examine the nature of evil in Sula, especially as it occurs in the protagonist. To what extent is Sula evil and how does she manifest this trait? What are the sources of her evil and what is its ultimate significance in terms of her relationship with the Bottom residents?
4. Death is a dominant motif in Sula. The text begins, "There was once a neighborhood," signifying that the community no longer exists (3). Morrison portrays death as an event that purifies, renews, and brings freedom to the deceased and/or their family and friends. Death is also an event that is often witnessed in the text; it is a spectacle that demands attention. Consider how this notion of death subverts more traditional depictions and why Morrison uses this strategy.
Questions from students:
5. What is the significance in Sula living a similar life to her mother and what does that say about parent-child relationships?
6. Many of Sula's actions suggest a certain degree of insanity. Do you believe that Sula is actually crazy, evil, or accursed, as the townspeople claim? Or is she instead a perfectly sane woman whose actions are both misconstrued by the residents of the Bottom and exaggerated by Toni Morrison for the purpose of characterization?
7. How does Nel's friendship with Sula impact the actions that the girls do in the book? Is Nell an observer of the havoc that Sula creates or does she play a bigger role in their actions?
8. Since Nel finds out about Sula and Jude's affair, do you think she will ever forgive Sula or will she feel so betrayed that she won't ever talk to her ever again? Why?
9. In the book, death is essentially a normal thing. It happens often, and is caused by people that they have a close relationship with. Do you think that having a "National suicide day" made their society more accepting of death? Is it because of a day like that being put into effect that everyone is so used to the grimness of death?
10. Hannah's father left her as a kid, did that affect her morals as an adult when she broke up families as a result of her promiscuity? And did Sula being Hannah's daughter also have a correlation to her promiscuity?
11. What's the significance of the dead robins and how does it relate to Sula's "evil" character?
12. Why did Toni Morrison choose to have her female characters be such (for lack of a better term) horrible people? Wasn't her point supposed to be to put more of a positive/empowering light on women since men were previously the focus in most literature?
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Sula blog post #2 and other business
Good evening students,
I was considering creating a new post for our second round but I've decided to have you continue to comment on the original post so that you're able to respond to the questions some of you posed. I will continue to post your questions.
The second order of business is the practice AP exam day. There are two options: Tuesday, April 26th from 3-6 p.m. or Saturday, April 30th from 8-11 a.m. Please leave your preference (or let me know that either is fine) as a comment on this post. I will decide based on the majority.
Thanks!
Ms. Delman
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Sula - blog post #1
Hello students! I hope you are enjoying Sula so far. This is where you will be posting for the first blog post assignment.
Sula blog post: Please contribute to the blog with your thoughts, questions, and ideas. For each assignment, you must do AT LEAST TWO of the following:
A. Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).
B. Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.
C. Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion.
Please be thoughtful, careful, and diplomatic about your comments. I will be checking the blog regularly and will be contributing as well. Each post should be about one body paragraph long. You must complete the blog post by 10 PM on the night before the assignment is due.
Happy reading!
Guiding Questions and ideas to respond to:
Sula blog post: Please contribute to the blog with your thoughts, questions, and ideas. For each assignment, you must do AT LEAST TWO of the following:
A. Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).
B. Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.
C. Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion.
Please be thoughtful, careful, and diplomatic about your comments. I will be checking the blog regularly and will be contributing as well. Each post should be about one body paragraph long. You must complete the blog post by 10 PM on the night before the assignment is due.
Happy reading!
Guiding Questions and ideas to respond to:
- What is the significance of names and naming in the novel?
- Although Sula contains several male characters, the book is, in many ways, a novel that celebrates women. Sula looms so large in the reader's mind because Morrison strips away the power traditionally given to men. Examine the deficiencies of two male characters that suggest contrasting strengths in female characters.
- Toni Morrison once said, "I know evil preoccupied me in Sula…" Examine the nature of evil in Sula, especially as it occurs in the protagonist. To what extent is Sula evil and how does she manifest this trait? What are the sources of her evil and what is its ultimate significance in terms of her relationship with the Bottom residents?
- Death is a dominant motif in Sula. The text begins, "There was once a neighborhood," signifying that the community no longer exists (3). Morrison portrays death as an event that purifies, renews, and brings freedom to the deceased and/or their family and friends. Death is also an event that is often witnessed in the text; it is a spectacle that demands attention. Consider how this notion of death subverts more traditional depictions and why Morrison uses this strategy.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Ecphrastic poem homework
Hello A.P. Literature students,
Your mission is to visit this site and choose one piece of artwork that you feel a special connection to. Spend some time and play around with the site--it helps to zoom in a bit so that you can see the pieces bigger and closer up.
Once you have chosen your piece of art, write an ecphrastic poem about it.
Your poem should be typed and must be a minimum of 10 lines long. You will be graded on your use of poetic devices and the originality of your poem.
This assignment is worth 50 points.
Have fun with it!
Your mission is to visit this site and choose one piece of artwork that you feel a special connection to. Spend some time and play around with the site--it helps to zoom in a bit so that you can see the pieces bigger and closer up.
Once you have chosen your piece of art, write an ecphrastic poem about it.
Your poem should be typed and must be a minimum of 10 lines long. You will be graded on your use of poetic devices and the originality of your poem.
This assignment is worth 50 points.
Have fun with it!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
The Great Gatsby
Hi readers! Sorry for the late post, I'm home sick today. Here you go:
Brian Sutton argues in his article that light plays a big role in The Great Gatsby. It is both a symbol and a driving force behind Gatsby's dream. Summarize a part of the article that was powerful in one paragraph and then comment on the plausibility of his argument in another. Are you convinced? Why or why not?
Your comment is due by 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
Happy reading and writing!
Brian Sutton argues in his article that light plays a big role in The Great Gatsby. It is both a symbol and a driving force behind Gatsby's dream. Summarize a part of the article that was powerful in one paragraph and then comment on the plausibility of his argument in another. Are you convinced? Why or why not?
Your comment is due by 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
Happy reading and writing!
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