Hamlet video critique for Act 3, Scene 1

Please follow all directions. Ask a question about anything that you do not understand in the comment stream by Thursday, March 17th and I will respond. After Friday, you are on your own (collectively.)

You have until Monday, March 21st, 2011 @ 2:00 p.m. to complete this assignment. Late assignments will lose a letter grade a day. You should post your essay on your online portfolio. Feel free to embed video on your website.

It is worth 100 points in 'Quizzes and Open Response' and will be graded with the Literary Analysis Scoring Guide.

You can either write about Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, or the "Get thee to a nunnery" exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia. You have four versions of each section from which to choose in the Act 3 google doc, but you can certainly write about a different version that I did not provide.

Objective: Watch the versions from either Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, or the "Get thee to a nunnery" exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia in Act 3, Scene 1 and argue which of the three videos is the best video interpretation of the text.

Your critique of the video must be based on your knowledge and understanding of the passage, so you must provide textual evidence from Hamlet as well as provide descriptions of the video. I can't watch the video and read your essay at the same time, so you need to make me see what you see with your words. It will also help you to take notes on the video while you watch it. Pay attention to what you captures your attention. Notice what you notice!

Pay attention to:

• delivery of the lines
• imagery the setting / scenery
• the portrayal of the actor[s]
• lighting & camera effects
• sound effects or music
• a million other things . . .
  

You should use the same structure as a poem explication with the addition of your critique of the video. Paper must be MLA formatted, including how to cite line numbers from a play: (pages 198-199 of easyWriter)!

Finally, you only have space in this essay to write about one video--please do not waste any words writing about why the other videos are not as good.

Here's a sample from last year with my comments on how it could have been improved.

Here's a link to 3 / 4 videos of Hamlet's soliloquy (in case you want to watch at school and youtube is blocked.

Revision and Editing Assignment

You are going to revise your extended analysis on Camus' The Stranger for the last grade in your Major Assessments Category. You can, and should, incorporate any research from your Annotated Bibliography that you think is relevant. Your essay must be embedded on your blog via scribd and be in perfect MLA formatting, which means you will also need to include a Works Cited and Works Consulted page and come up with a title this time!

You also need to produce a Meta for Editing, which will count as your last major Homework Grade for the Quarter. Below, I embedded a Key to Editing Guide (KEG) that I created with Mr. Evans and Mrs. Nyman. You are to look at your Extended Analysis Papers (with comments) and refer to all letters, numbers and symbols.

For each notation, you are to explain what needs improved in editing .

• List the Rule from the EasyWriter, then explain it in your own words.
• Then list all the mistakes from each rule and correct them.
  

Key to Editing Guide (KEG)

Poetry Out Loud

Here is the overview that everyone at MHS will be getting:

"Poetry Out Loud is the national poetry recitation contest; Malden High has sent students to the state finals for all but one year that the contest has existed. Last year, we committed to having every student in the school take part in the contest."

The basic process:

• Student select poems from the Poetry Out Loud collections (in print and online) to study, memorize and perform.
• Teachers support students’ selection, study, and performance.
• Each class holds a class contest by the end of December. We will have our contest on December 21st & 22nd, 2010.
  
• Class winners will compete in the period contest in January.
• Period winners will compete in the school contest shortly after the period contest. Period winners will need to select a second poem
• The school winner will compete in the state semi-finals in early March.

And here are the Scoring Guides that we were given:

Malden High School's Poetry Out Loud Analytic Rubric

Assignment for annotated bibliography for Camus’ THE STRANGER

Assignment and Scoring Guide for Annotated Bibliography for Camus

Independent reading books for Cycle 2

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote

For this assignment, you will produce 100 post-it notes that include commentary which draws from the reading strategies from the “WAYS TO ANALYZE FICTION” handout (you can find it in google docs.)

You will need to be complete ½ this assignment before you leave for winter break. You will turn in your book (with post-its) or Reader’s Notebook on January 3^rd and answer a question 3 prompt in class.

For posterity, post a comment as to which book you are choosing to read and why.

Literary Analysis Paper for Camus’ The Stranger

Photo of Camus from Life

Your purpose for this paper is to develop a thesis on a topic in Camus’ The Stranger and show how it is developed throughout the novel. You will use your passage explication from Part I and your passage explication from Part II to show how this idea is developed from the beginning of the novel to the end.

• Introduction >
• Passage Explication from Part 1 >
• Transition >
• Passage Explication from Part 2 >
• Conclusion

This should be 4 – 5 pages, proper MLA formatting and will be turned in on Monday, Dec. 6th. You will need an electronic copy of the essay in class and can print in class if needed.

Literary Analysis Paper Rubric

Welcome to 2nd quarter! Agenda for week of 11.1.10

Elif Shafak on Fiction


We are going to watch this in class today, but I am also posting this so that you can watch it again and take better notes. Treat this like a text that you need to read and mark up. We will begin class tomorrow with a Student-Run Discussion on this video, so please make sure you can use your notes to help you say something specific and sophisticated.

• Clarifying questions about a concept that is confusing to you. Try and answer, but phrase in a way that will prompt your classmates to respond.
• Deep questions about the meaning of what is being discussed.
• A reaction: how do you feel about what's being said. And why?
  
• Connections to other texts or events.
• Observations on how the speaker chooses to present her ideas.

By Friday 11.5.10 Post your in-class essay on your independent reading book.

The Schedule for the week of 10.25.10:

Your final rewrites of the Analytical Essay and the rewrites of College Essay should now be emailed to me as attachments with proper MLA formatting. These are a substantial part of your first quarter grade, since they should represent the best of your writing for the quarter.

Monday 10.25.10, Finish Independent Reading book.

The rest of the schedule is To Be Announced. For the meantime, make sure all of your work is complete. I will be on Professional Development on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and will try to have your grades done by Thursday.

Schedule for the week of 10.18.10:

The Schedule for the week of 10.18.10:

• Monday 10.18.10, Late-entry, the schedule is 7,1,2,3. Long Block. In class essay on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio. Here is the passage explication handout and here is the Scoring Guide for your essay.

• Tuesday 10.19.10, Day 1.. This is the first day of a four day, intensive writing workshop. I will plan little mini lessons to open each class and then be able to work with each of you individually

• Wednesday 10.20.10, Day 7. Writing workshop continued.

• Thursday 10.21.10, Day 6. Writing workshop continued.

• Friday 10.22.10, Day 5. Long Block. Writing workshop continued. Final rewrites of Analytical Essay due by the end of the day. Final rewrites of College Essay also due by the end of the day.

Agenda for Week of 10.11.10

image: Rupert Garcia

You should be reading your Independent Reading Book.  You are to finish the book on October 25th.

10.11.10: Columbus Day: No School

10.12.10: Day 5: Long Block: Homework: D.J.s on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.  Class on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.

10.13.10: Get Ahead Day: No Class.

10.14.10: Day 3: Long Block: Homework: D.J.s on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.  Class on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.

10.15.10: Day 2: No Class.

Next Week:
10.18.10: Late Entry: Long Block: In-class essay  on “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio 

Agenda for week of 10.4.10

Image: Mahoning 1956, by Franz Kline Oil and paper collage on canvas, 203.2 x 254 cm —Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art. © 2009 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 
10.4.10 Day 3: Finish reading 1st third of Independent Reading.  In class, I will explain the Reader’s Notebook Entries.  They are due on 10.6.10 and will be graded on The Reader’s Notebook Rubric.

10.5.10 Day 2: No Class Due to Rotation.

10.6.10 Day 1: Reader’s Notebooks are due.  In class we will have the guidance department present.

10.7.10 Day 7: In class: “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.

10.8.10 Day 6: College Essay Due.  In class: “Plum Plum Pickers” by Raymond Barrio.

Agenda for week of 9.27.10

Joe Brainard's "Untitled" Collage 1975

 

9.27.10 Day 1, Homework: Turn in selection of independent reading.  Click here for the assignment details.  In class we will be looking at the last in-class essays you wrote, as well as the scoring guide that went with it, and developing strategies to make theme more complex and sophisticated in your writing.

9.28.10 Day 7, Class # 2 on “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan as well as review of "Poetry Explication Handout."

9.29.10 Day 6, Poem Explication on Ted Berrigan’s “Red Shift” (In-class).  Click here for handout on Poetry Explication.  Click here for Scoring Guide on essay.

9.30.10 Day 5: Long Block, We will begin updating your  blogs and will have in class time for independent reading time.

10.1.10 Day 4, We will begin updating your  blogs and will have in class time for independent reading time.
 

I expect that you will use your time "at home" to read your independent reading book.

 

Next week:
 

10.4.10 Day 3, Need to be finish first 1/3 of independent reading book.  Notebook Entries will be due.

Ted Berrigan & links for "Red Shift"

the text of "Red Shift" by Ted Berrigan

The Ted Berrigan Page on PennSound

the audio of "Red Shift" by Ted Berrigan

Red Shift on Wikipedia  

The Mamas & The Papas: California Dreamin'

"Portrait of Ted Berrigan" as done by me.

and another....

Independent Reading Project: 1st person narratives

portrait of LL Cool J by Kehinde Wiley

My biggest goal this year (since it is your senior year) is to transition you to life beyond high school--in other words, to make myself unnecessary in your life (in less than ten months.) So, I must hand over much of the responsibility of the class to you. In addition to what we study as "whole class texts," you will also be reading books in literature circles as well as independently this year. Our first "unit" (obviously with the college essay in mind) will cover 1st person narratives (fiction or non-fiction). As you choose a book, you may also want to start to consider what "topic" you are interested in, because we will develop reading plans for ourselves after this first memoir. Here's a short list of suggestions, but it is up to you to do the research on the books and make sure they fit your criteria. My criteria is that they should be at least 200 pages long. 

 

Memoirs:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff
Chronicles by Bob Dylan
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Kafir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
Gray's Anatomy by Spalding Gray (or anything by Spalding Gray)
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (or anything by David Sedaris)
When I Was Cool by Sam Kashner
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)

And some other first person narratives (fiction):
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (or any number of his novels)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Nadja by Andre Breton
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Native Son by Richard Wright
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

You will need a copy of the book you choose on Monday, September 27th in class.  I would also like you to post the title of your book in the comment stream below (for posterity) with a 1-2 sentence explanation of why you picked it.

College Essay Scoring Guide

Mirage  1989
oil on linen
16 x 20 inches
Estate no. E1232
Jay Defeo

50 points--Grammar, mechanics, typos, spelling, & usage. Remember, this is your only impression to show yourself through language. No matter the content of your essay, careless mistakes make you seem--well, careless. And you do not want the college admissions team to think you are apathetic. I expect you to make sure the essay is flawless. I would be happy to suggest how to phrase things better, but I should not be spending my time fixing your careless typos and spelling errors (and I won't).

• 50 points--Writer demonstrates control of sentence structure, grammar, and usage.
• 40 points--Errors do not interfere with communication. There are few errors relative to length.
• 30 points--Errors interfere with communication.

50 points--Insight and creativity, readability, and is your essay compelling? A note to remember your audience here and the purpose of your essay: All writers do this on some level--we consistently look at audience and purpose when we analyze writing. If you are using this to apply to college, keep in mind that the admissions officers are looking for intelligent and motivated students who will be successful at their school. Your essay should:

• Be personal (instead of general)
• Be concrete (instead of abstract--can you make your reader "see" your world?)
• Include anecdote (instead of summary--this is not a resume)
• Include a hook or lead
• Have sophisticated and / or subtle organization
• Show a sophisticated or subtle mastery of language
• AND AVOID CLICHE! 

PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE OUT AND ATTACH TO THE BACK OF YOUR ESSAY SO I CAN WRITE COMMENTS. WHEN YOU PRINT, MAKE SURE YOU ONLY PRINT THIS PAGE.

College Essay Prompts

image: Jay DeFeo The Veronica, 1957; painting; oil on canvas, 132 in. x 42 3/8 in. (335.28 cm x 107.63 cm); Collection SFMOMA, Gift of Irving Blum; © Estate of Jay DeFeo / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The prompts provided are often a starting point—it’s not really about which prompt you choose to answer, but HOW you use the topic to write an essay.

Remember Borges, “people tend to prefer the personal to the general, the concrete to the abstract”. You will notice that the questions are vague, repetitive, and general. You could almost adapt any good essay to fit a prompt.

Anyway, here are the common application prompts:

Personal Essay: "Please write an essay (250 words minimum) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below, and attach it to your application before submission. Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box. This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself."

• Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
• Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
• Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.  Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
• A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
• Topic of your choice.

Image of Jay Defeo working on an early draft of "The Rose."

Agenda for week of 9.20.10

image of William Carlos Williams

9.20.10, Day 6: Class discussion on developing universal theme and thesis statements.

9.21.10, Day 5: Long Block: In class synthesis essay.

9.22.10, Day 4: Introduction to independent reading.  Introduction to college essay.

9.23.10, Day 3: Class on “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan.

9.24.10, Day 2: No Class.

Agenda for week of 9.13.10

Artist: Swoon

9.13.10 (shortened period, block 5)

• Homework Due: finish "Letter to Me."
• Opening activity, notebook set-up & SAT prep. (10 minutes)
• Explain D.J. / Reader’s notebook entries on Ovid’s “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus.”

9.14.10 (meet in the Computer Loft, block 6)

• Homework Due: D.J. / Reader’s notebook entries on Ovid’s “The story of Daedalus and Icarus.”
• Set-up blogger accounts, make blog posts

9.15.10: No Class due to rotation.

9.16.10 (Block 1)

• Homework due: 500 word description of Breugel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” posted on blog
• Opening activity, notebook set-up & SAT prep. (10 minutes)
• Class discussion on Breugel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”
• What was Breugel saying about the myth?
• Class / Jigsaw discussion of Ovid’s “The story of Daedalus and Icarus.”

9.17.10 (Block 2)

• No written homework due.
• Opening activity, notebook set-up & SAT prep. (10 minutes)
• Williams’ “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”
• What is Williams saying about the painting?

Blog Assignment # 2: Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus  by Pieter Bruegel

Assignment due: 8:00 a.m Thursday morning, 9.16.10.

Assignment: A 500 word description of the above painting is to be posted in the comment stream.  I am only interested in what you see, in your own words.  You will be graded solely on your completion of the assignment.  All late posts are subject to a loss of one letter grade per day.

Beginning the year with a blog assignment (Step 1)

image by Swoon, image found at The Brooklyn Museum

Date: 9.14.10 (Computer Loft)

Topic: Setting up your blogger accounts.

Objective: SWBAT post their objectives for the year on this blog, as well as their own blog.

• This blog will be an area for me to post agenda for the week, resources for the class, and a place to gather homework assignments.

• Your blog will be your portfolio of work for the year.

In order to complete Step 1 of this class, you need to make a comment on this blog post that states your objective for English class this year.  When you are done, post the same message on your own blog.