This is the last post in September... whoa. This month flew by, but with no shortage in material. I would say that this was really more of an adjustment period for me, getting back into the habit of school and adjusting myself to the new learning environment of team A.P., especially our daily discussions.
A lot of the topics we covered this month were the basic tools that we will be using throughout the year to reach the level of literary analysis necessary for the A.P. exam in May. In particular, our discussion of the use of diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax (D.I.D.L.S.) was very interesting and helpful to me. Though I had encountered these topics in my other lit classes at OHS, our discussions of the three example texts and the close reading activities have been eye-opening for me; I have noticed a difference in how I read, especially what I focus or draw ideas on. For example, I had actually read The Sun Also Rises two years ago for my American Lit class, but I did not pay much attention to Hemingway's diction and syntax, so our class discussion offered me a new perspective on the text's overall meaning. Likewise, I had read The Cask of Amontillado (the short story I annotated) in eighth grade during our Poe unit, but in annotating the piece, I noticed a lot of interesting details that almost popped out of the story because I knew to look for them, such as symbols and syntax variations.
In addition, the experience of reading through the open prompts and the graders' critiques was very eye-opening because it was almost like a discussion put into a concise essay. Seeing the ideas that the students came up with was both impressive and somewhat self-assuring because, especially after doing a (very basic) practice open prompt in class, I am growing more confident in my ability to think and write analytically.
Of course, we also read through the first of our major texts, The American Dream, which was a direct application of the close reading techniques we learned. We also learned about Existentialism and Theater of the Absurd. I found these two topics to be especially interesting because I was introduced to them last year through both my A.P. French class (we read L'etranger) and my Brit Lit class, where we discussed them in the context of the modern era. I felt that through the information we received in class as well as our discussions, I have been able to develop a stronger picture of these styles, and I can recognize the absurdist elements of The American Dream, such as the cyclical plot elements. Moreover, I feel like we have done a pretty good job in our discussions of developing some strong theories on Albee's ideas on materialism, especially with the doll house analogy. These theories have helped me distinguish themes/messages in texts (as opposed to motifs), such as the idea that materialism is an evil of society that threatens American traditions, as exemplified through the interaction between Mommy and Grandma.
Though I am by no means ready to take the A.P. just yet, I am excited to see the progress that I have made this month, and I hope to continue to improve my reading and analytical skills, especially as I annotate The American Dream.
Great work Abhijit! I think you did a really nice job of discussing what we have learned so far and describing your experience with it. I feel exactly the same way in that I am excited with the progress I have made but I still have lots to learn. This month was definitely an adjustment month for me as well getting use to this AP class. It must have been interesting to been able to go back and reread some passages from books you have already read but be able to look at them in different ways. Have you enjoyed reading The American Dream so far? In my class it seemed like at first people were nervous about participating but now it has gotten a lot better. Do you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts in class. I am sometimes a little self-conscious sharing mine in front of the class. In general your reflection was awesome!! You did a fantastic job on touching on everything that we have learned! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel more comfortable in class discussions compared to the first few weeks of school, but I do get a little nervous if I am not sure on an idea that I have.
DeleteYou touched on a lot of important things that we have done so far in class this year. The discussion in class of things like imagery, diction, and syntax were extremely helpful to me as well. In all my previous experiences in literature classes, I have never really been forced to actually learn what these terms mean and how to identify them in pieces of writing as we have in this class. I also found that reading real sample essays and their critiques was eye- opening. I thought that critiquing someone else's essay one day and then flipping roles and writing an essay for ourselves allowed us to identify weak points in their essays and then make sure that when doing the essay ourselves to focus on not making those same mistakes. I was in French last year too and I read l'Etranger, so I found this parallel of style interesting as well. I never really thought about how existentialism played a role in the meaning of that book, and now, after only a short while in this class it suddenly clicked for me. Our discussions of The American Dream are very helpful, and being able to get together with no guidelines as to what to discuss helps us to really develop what we believe to be the message Albee is trying to get across.
ReplyDeleteAbhijit,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of summarizing what we have done in class so far, while still processing and reflecting on each item. There were many things we did that I forgot to include in my own reflection to course work. We have managed to fit so many subjects into just one month of school, that I am excited to see what we will accomplish at the end of the year. I found it very interesting that you were able to connect our curriculum to another subject, even if AP French is a bit out of left field in terms of things I was expecting to connect this class to. I admit I may have the tendency to annotate handouts in other classes now, a helpful habit I have picked up, after only one month in this class. Overall, though I can't speak for the other classes, I quite enjoyed the conversations we have had so far in our hour, and as Olivia said how we are able to develop what we believe about the text without many guidelines.