Response to Course Material #2

         Diction, imagery. details, language, syntax. Diction, imagery. details, language, syntax. Diction, imagery. Details, language, syntax. I do not think I could repeat this enough times. Only a month into AP Lit and I already know for certain these five words are crucial. It seems as if everything we do these five words come into play. When first learning them, all I could think about was how tedious they would be. But now, after putting them into action with numerous activities, I understand how they are actually helpful and worthwhile. I remember last year, we used to touch on basic ideas like why a word was used or why the author chose to include certain themes. This year, we are taking that to a new level in EVERYTHING we do. The fact that we are going to be reading books/plays multiple times to find the deeper meaning says enough. I am excited to try this new learning style.

        When taking notes on the literary eras and critical perspective I was extremely overwhelmed. The quiz on it did not help. I feel as if we were hit with a boatload of information; some familiar and some completely foreign. I think it is difficult that all AP students did not take Brit Lit and American Lit. Since our background information is not the same we are at conflicting places. What we have done so far with the Trends of Western Literature worksheet has helped me a lot. I think once the worksheet is complete, I will be comfortable with the information.

           I still am having trouble deciphering poems. The lesson on The Century Quilt helped but I am nowhere near when I want to be. I just cannot recognize the theme of a poem! I really hope that with more practice it becomes easier.

       So far, I actually like The American Dream by Edward Albee. I am not to excited about the annotating assignment but I do like the play. I love finding hidden meaning in things. After all the tedious annotating we did on comedies, I hope I am able to fully understand this play.

      

Response to Course Material (September 9th)

          I will start this post off by saying the terms test was by far one of the most frustrating tests I have taken.  Normally, memorizing terms is one of my strong suits but these words were abnormally difficult. The fact that the worlds were extremely long, impossible to pronounce, and many had very similar definitions made memorizing them difficult.  But I am confident that with practice I will have them down pat by the AP test. I just need to really try to just concentrate on looking for them in literature and using them when I write. I need to not take the easy way out and actually take time to understand them. Maybe seeing them in actual literature will help my brain process them better then just trying to embed flash cards into my memory.

           The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing was my favorite part of the summer assignment. I thought the book was very informative and truly will improve my future writing. I loved the layout of the book: very clear and straightforward. I thought it was ironic how our other assigned reading, How to Read Literature Like A Professor, did not exactly follow the guidelines from The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.  Although it was pompous, I felt that Foster actually had some very insightful views on literature. I feel as if I can open a book and actually know what’s going on in it. I wish I would have known Foster’s information before reading books like The Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, and How to Kill A Mockingbird in previous literature classes.  I will (hopefully) no longer be naïve while reading books, poems, and other literary works. I now know what I should be looking for to enhance my understanding while reading literature. That newfound knowledge will allow me to fully comprehend the author’s message.

             Last year, I absolutely hated the forum posts we had to do. Now, I thank Ms.Dockus for preparing me for this class. I actually feel confident with forum posts and they no longer seem like tedious work to me. On the other hand, understanding poems is not quite as familiar.  I continue to struggle with poems. Understanding their themes, tone, and meter’s is very difficult for me. I hope it gets easier with practice because right now I feel like a fish out of water when reading a poem.