Sunday, June 19, 2011

Summer Assignment

Taking AP English Language and Composition next year? Looking for the summer assignment? Follow this link: summer assignment! Enjoy your summer and I'll see you in September.

If you have had trouble accessing the Google Docs, try this site. It's old and I don't use it anymore, but I updated the Summer Assignment page to reflect the current assignment.

UPDATE: The Summer Assignment sheet says it is due on the 1st day of school. That was a remnant of past years and with school beginning prior to Labor Day, it will be due on Tuesday after the long weekend.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Chapter 8 Questions

These are not required, but they are meant to stimulate your thinking about the chapter so we can have a more productive discussion Monday.

Please do not think that any and everything you say in a discussion must be "right". That isn't what discussion is for. It's NOT to show each other how smart we are. It is a place to build meaning together. No one has the full picture, but working together, we can discover more than we can on our own.

Again, these questions are not required, I simply told 3rd period I'd put up some questions to help them prepare so they could feel more confident. Don't forget the post below about your last bump assignment.
  1. How is the tone set for Chapter 8? 
  2. Interpret the simile “’Jay Gatsby’ had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice…” (Pg. 148/155) 
  3. Summarize the beginning of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship, five years ago. 
  4. Why does Daisy give up on Gatsby? How does Gatsby learn of the relationship between Daisy and Tom? 
  5. In what ways can the letter from Daisy while Gatsby was at Oxford be considered Gatsby’s salvation? 
  6. After all that has taken place, how does Nick say he feels about Gatsby? What does he mean? Is he sincere? 
  7. In general, what is Nick’s attitude toward Gatsby? 
  8. What does Jordan do the morning following the accident? 
  9. What clues give Wilson the idea there is another man? 
  10. What conclusion does Wilson come to regarding his wife’s death? 
  11. Whom does Wilson associate with the yellow car? 
  12. What motif reappears in Chapter 8? What meaning is attributed to it? 
  13. Where does Wilson spend the day following Myrtle’s death? 
  14. Where do you think Wilson gets the information to track the car to Gatsby? Use evidence from the text. 
  15. How do we realize that Gatsby is no longer living in a dream and how is it foreshadowed who his killer may be? 
  16. How is Gatsby’s body discovered? 
  17. Why does no one find Gatsby earlier? 
  18. What do you suspect happened to Wilson?

    Thursday, June 9, 2011

    Final Bump

    Best flapper picture ever!
    Last semester we had This I Believe to provide a final boost. This term we have this.

    In The Great Gatsby it becomes clear that Fitzgerald has a particular view on the health of the American Dream. Engage with that view and based on your personal experience and any other sources you wish to consult, write a personal argument that defends, challenges, or qualifies Fitzgerald's fairly pessimistic view of the American Dream and our class mobility.

    Use the general requirements from the This I Believe post. Turn this in on the blog. I will not be looking for it on Google Docs.

    Due Wednesday June 15th.

    Tuesday, June 7, 2011

    Final Study Guide

    Want the final study guide? Also, remember to read chapter 5 tonight. Be prepared to discuss it in the round.
    A lot of the handouts to study are here.