29 November - Ending Unit 3

AP Language

We crushed it today. My goodness. We had a fantastic seminar on Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" and considered key connections back to our larger unit on The Great Gatsby. I was glad to hear connections to the idea of fantasy versus reality, truth, identity, and the power of the past and society to dictate a person's actions. Sullivan's piece is one to keep hold of as we move on into our next novel unit. There will continue to be productive connections and conversations to be had.

We ended our day by looking at our last writing assignment and feedback. It is important that you dive in deeper to your analysis of language in your selected passages. Explain small details, show what they mean, and explicitly connect them to other pieces to show how everything builds on the argument. Revising your writing assignment from Chapter 8 is a great way to prepare for Friday's timed writing! Use the sentence frames provided in the slide deck for today's class.

For Friday, have your passage ready. You'll have to copy and paste the passage into your essay document on Schoology. You will have access to the passage as you write your essay. The passage can be one that we looked at before in class - this may be a great support for you! Consider the work we've done with our precis, formative writing assignment, and discussion board as support. Remember that your visual and artistic questions will be due next week on Tuesday.

Welcome Back! Three Weeks to Winter Break - 27 November

AP Language

What an incredible day to start our three weeks before Winter Break. We focused our work on Chapter 9 and examined two key passages in order to understand Fitzgerald's conclusion and main arguments about his society in the 1920's. All of this work is key as you are considering your final projects with this book. We started to summarize our main takeaways via a precis and considered how effective Fitzgerald was with the text he produced. All of this work will pay off well on Friday when we complete our in-class analysis. For Friday you'll be selecting your own passage from the novel and writing an analytical essay explaining how this passage conveys a significant argument through the use of motifs and other choices. 

Your visual will be due next week. For the visual be sure to answer the accompanying questions, you may find it easier to do that before building the visual to help guide your construction process. As always, come to Lion Time or after school if you need extra assistance.

Next class we'll be looking at one of our final pieces of this year - Andrew Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" As you read this text, consider connections to characters such as Jordan Baker, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby/Jay Gatz. Consider how each of them live outside of the normal rules of society and what happens to them because of this. It's an interesting text with creative parallels for us to explore in our final seminar.

Thanksgiving Break - 20 November

AP Language

Happy Thanksgiving AP Language! I hope that all of you have a wonderful break filled with people and things that you love. I'm gone to Oregon to be with my aunts, cousins, uncle, and my grandparents. For class today you have a pretty simple day focused on your project work for the end of The Great Gatsby. The substitute form is posted below. Here's your checklist for your day with the substitute:

1. Be sure that you've submitted your formative assessment. I would like to have feedback for all of you when we return from the break to lead us to our final project days.

2. Have your reading, annotating, and motif trackers done to Chapter Eight. Remember to use the recordings, slides, and earlier key passages. 

3. Decide how best to proceed once these things are done. You have Chapter Nine to read for the class after break. You may want to go ahead and read that now and finish up your motif tracker. Some of you have an idea of what you may want to do for your visual of the motif and/or your writing assignment. If you think your time is better spent on the project, spend time there. Use the materials in the classroom, but remember to clean up after yourself.

Remember that you have reading due for Monday when we return: have the book finished so we can have our final conversations on Nick, Daisy, Gatsby, Tom, and the America of the 1920's. See you after Thanksgiving Break!

Happy End of the Week - 16 November!

AP Language

We had the absolute best time in AP Language today discussing and working through Chapter 8. I'm really excited to read your paragraphs and get you feedback on the writing that you did. I hope that you are seeing the way in which all of our work is coming together to support your tasks here at the end of the book. I hope that you can also see the improvement you're showing in your skills as close readers and thinkers. 

For tonight, read Chapter 9 and finish your motif tracker. Hopefully you're starting to have an idea as to what your visual will look like and perhaps what your thesis is for your writing assignment. Next class, I'll be away from you physically, but I'll be with you in spirit as I check in virtually on Schoology. If you need help with your motif tracker or preparing for your project, please make plans for Lion Time after Thanksgiving Break.

14 November - It's Tuesday!

AP Language

We had a fantastic day today discussing the importance of Chapter 7 in The Great Gatsby. I think of this chapter as the fulcrum of the whole novel, everything rests on this. Past this, the conclusion is pretty much baked in, so we'll move quickly to the end of the novel. I liked seeing the engagement that you all brought to our opening conversation to track changes. I also appreciated all of you trying something new with me today with our annotations assignment. 

We paid all of this reading and thinking forward to start understanding Fitzgerald's main arguments to us at the end of the novel. This is key for your project. The arguments have been building the whole time, so now it's time to show and explain how that happened. Next class we'll be doing a graded assignment to see where our skills are as we're wrapping up and preparing for our projects. For tonight, read and annotate Chapter 8. Pay attention to Gatsby. Understand what happens to him and what it means on a symbolic level. Remember, he's not a real person. Be sure that you have also responded to today's discussion board post from the work we did today in class. 

Always excited for tomorrow! See you Thursday!

10 November - Happy Friday and Veterans' Day!

AP Language

Wonderful end to the week today in AP Language. We explored one of my favorite authors, Joan Didion, and her ideas around truth, memory, the past, and the issue of bias. I appreciated the conversation we were having and the connections that we built back to The Great Gatsby and our narrator. Remember that as we look at these parallel pieces we are building our analysis of non-fiction skills, our analytical writing skills, and our reading skills that are key for the AP Examination.

Over the weekend, read and annotate Chapter 7. Focus on using your motif tracker to follow major ideas in the text. Remember that we're moving to the end of the novel, so it's important start to draw your focus in on key motifs and meanings in the novel. We'll be finishing the project in the week after Thanksgiving Break, so putting in adequate time now is important. As always, reach out with anything that I can do for you to assist.

8 November (A Bit Ahead)

AP Language

Happy Wednesday (or whatever day you see this, but this post is for Wednesday, November 8) Everyone! 

I'm away today for some yearly medical appointments today. You've got a pretty straightforward day in class to catch-up and process Chapters 1-6 of The Great Gatsby. The slides posted here and in Materials - Current Lessons will guide you through what you should do and the conversations you should have. Here are the steps for today's class:

1. Get your notebook and have your laptop ready. Open up your Motif Tracker Chart. You may want to access the earlier key passages or the online text to search easily for where motifs are activated.

2. Complete items from the To-Do List (Slide 4). Try to get through 2-3 items. There are some Progress Checks open for you if you want to practice on AP Classroom. The main focus should be your motif trackers. Work with your classmates and use your resources!

3. After spending a bit less than an hour with the text, start to process what you're seeing and think about meanings. Draw connections between motifs and the characters, settings, conflicts, and symbolic objects. Consider the question - Who/What is winning and why? This will take you right into the final slide about Fitzgerald's arguments on American society. Use the DADS structure - and remember to be as specific as you possibly can be!

Next class we'll be looking at the article by Joan Didon. Didion is an amazing author and a bit of a favorite of mine and Mr. Friedman's. As you read, consider our conversation a few days ago related to the past, memory, and truth. This is a great piece to use as you consider Nick and the way in which he operates as a viewer and as a narrator.

2 November - End of the Quarter!

AP Language

Really good time today in AP Language to round out the week. We focused on Chapter 6, which is really the beginning of the end of the novel. I appreciated your engagement in the discussion and in the close reading. I'm especially impressed by the depth that you went into on our last passage - it was just two sentences! As we hit the back half of the novel, consider the major ideas that you're seeing and the arguments that Fitzgerald is making about this world, these people, and this society.

For the weekend, you should be sure that any final resubmissions are in. Remember that I need your rubric to rescore your project. If absolutely necessary, you can send me a photo of the rubric. I should have all grades updated by the end of the week. If you are interested in reassessing on your writing, there is an opportunity to do that today - Thursday - after school. If you can't make this, we may have a time slot on Tuesday, this is TBA.

Feel free to read ahead into the rest of the novel this weekend, focus on your project, or take a bit of a break if you're all caught up. I'll be out on Wednesday, so pay attention to Schoology for your lesson and listen for the substitute's instructions. All the best!