I would like for you to reflect this week on how far you have come in AP Literature. What have you learned, in what ways are you still struggling and what skills do you most look forward to mastering? Sometimes an honest self assessment is the best way to move forward!
Poetry is not a frightening monster overflowing with unknown and intimidating devices and words anymore. That is how far I have come in AP English Lit. Haha! I can at least look at a poem, and have a positive outlook and think to myself, “Yeah! Let’s analyze this sucker!” But of course to every class there is the good, the bad, and the ugly.
ReplyDeleteThe good. This is, thankfully, my strongest feeling about the class. I have learned already a plethora of skills and devices in AP English lit. Especially when it comes to poetry. A month ago I could never pick out words with different connotations, determine the tone of a poem from its diction, realize that there are seven types of imagery, discover the deeper meaning behind a poem just by analyzing its words and format, and so much more. I also am so happy that I am reading novels in this class. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Another ability that AP English lit has bestowed upon me is to read a novel, and then own that novel. If I would have just read Huckleberry Finn on my own, I would have never uncovered all the deep meanings and symbolisms that occur throughout the story. I absolutely loved relating the novel to my own life, and discussing it with fellow classmates. All and all, I am becoming way more familiar with poetry and I am learning how to read novels with a deeper and more meaningful perspective.
The bad. I know how to pick out a selected few of poetic devices, but there are still so much more to be learned. I want to learn them. I want to master poetry. I love reading poetry and writing poetry, and I want to be able to learn how to incorporate devices into my writing. I have not come even close to mastering that. I struggle sometimes to read a poem, and determine its meaning. I know they can be interpreted in several different ways, but I always think that my understanding is lame or incorrect. I know this takes practice, and I eagerly desire to become the master of poetry.
The ugly. I complain about homework. All the time. I need to stop doing this. It is something I should really work on. If I could just force myself to have the mindset that the homework is merely to advance and sharpen my skills, I would probably have a more optimistic outlook on it. Reading ten or twelve chapters of a novel, answering questions, and writing a paper on it every week became stressful at times, but to keep going and succeeding, I need to realize that I am becoming a more well rounded literary student. I heartily desire to read classic novels. I do! I want to be an English teacher, for goodness sake! And I enjoy reading. So the biggest aspect of the class I think I truthfully need to work on is having a more positive attitude when it comes to out of class work.
I can honestly say that I feel like I am well on my way to AP test. Mrs. Messineo and my fellow classmates have already taught me so many devices and analyzing methods. I already have one novel under my belt, and I am more than ready to tackle another one soon. I realize that I have so much more to learn, and I am eagerly anticipating obtaining more skills!
Watch out AP English Lit test! Here I come! Hehe!
Rachel,
DeleteI have the same feelings about this class as you expressed. I think that I have learned a lot in this class, but there is so much more to learn. I also think that if I would have looked at the same poem the first day of school I would have had completly different outlook. Finally, I also look forward to mastering all of the aspects of poetry. Nice blog Rachel
Rachel,
DeleteI feel compelled to comment on your blog because you are generally the person I complain to and vice versa. Evidentially we both need an attitude readjustment from time to time. It just sometimes seems so overwhelming. We've done fairly well so far though. We certainly have a lot to learn, however. Poems are such a diverse and deep topic. It'll be a constant learning experience.
To comment on the way you wrote your blog, I liked the way you set it up. It was very creative.
Nice job, Rach!
Beginning to look back at the year thus far makes me realize how much I have already learned. The first thing that sticks out to me is my ability to analyze a novel thoroughly. The MWDS has helped me see a organized way of analyzing a novel. Some of the sections on the MWDS were very helpful in fully understanding a book. The AP questions section of the data sheet is very helpful because it forces us to think about the novel and how we could incorporate the novel into an essay. I think that this is helpful for the AP test when we will have to use a novel to write an essay. Finally, I the MWDS will help us own the novel and provide us with a good source for writing essays.
ReplyDeleteThe next aspect of the year thus far that I have learned is how to revise an essay. I enjoy the opportunity to rewrite and rethink an essay. I know that from experience from writing my college essay that the more an essay is rewritten the better the final project is. I think that the comments on my essays help me to see my mistakes and correct them.
Aside from some other side projects the main focus of the year thus far has been poetry. I personally did not like poetry at the beginning of the year. I have never learned anything about poetry, even though every teacher tells us that we will learn about poetry in their English class. Already this year I have come to enjoy poetry more. I think that poetry needs to be analyzed in many different ways to fully understand the concepts that are being portrayed. The one thing that stood out to me is that knowing the background of the author helps with understanding poetry. I found it difficult to understand poetry before we studied it, but now I immediately search for background information about the author before I try to analyze it. The poetic devices that have been taught to us have also been very beneficial to my understanding of poetry. I think that the presentations really added to my understanding. I thought that I understood all of the sections that were being discussed, but I learned something new in each presentation.
I still struggle with picking out every poetic devices, or even just the major ones. I think that the more we work with poetry the more I will become accustomed with noticing them. I look forward to mastering, or at least becoming better at finding them. I think that this has already been a productive year, and I look forward to taking bigger strides to success.
Kraus,
DeleteI also struggle picking out some of the poetic devices in the poems, but I feel like the more that we practice the easier it will get. So I look forward to when we learn and own all of the devices, which will defiantly make analyzing poem much, much easier. I think that MWDS are great for our exam as well. Even though they are very time consuming they will be extremely helpful in the future. Great job on your blog!
Kraus,
DeleteI also struggle with the poetic devices. Sometimes they are hidden in little obscure places that you wouldn't think to look. That used to annoy me in the beginning, but now it doesn't really bother me anymore. I am also starting to like poetry a lot more. Revising essays has been a godsend. I love having the chance to reorient myself. I think that with more practice we will be really great at analyzing poems.
Ok, I really hope this blog doesn't delete itself like the first one. First of all I have learned a lot in AP Literature. Honestly I thought I wouldn't make it in this class, but now I realize that I can. I thought I wouldn't be smart enough, but I have proved myself wrong with the poetry devices. I learned a lot of devices that I did not even have a clue about when I started the year. I never really studied poetry in depth before, but all that I knew was that there was a lot of scary devices that intimidated me. I now know a lot more than I did at the beginning of the year. Along with learning about poetry, I developed a much needed work ethic. I mean I still procrastinate a little bit, but when I start doing my work I do am a lot more efficient than I was before.
ReplyDeleteThe things I still struggle on: even though I learned a lot about poetry, I still have so much more to work on. I know we learned a lot about figurative language and how to analyze a poem, but translatin a poem that is kind of hard to relate to something you love is difficult. I also struggle with writing essays. I need to work on making them much better. I also need to work on analyzing short stories because, even though they do not matter a lot because I'm almost done with taking SAT's, it can be useful to learn how to analyze one in the future. I'm a perfectionist, and sometimes I need to work on straying away from that habit.
I really look forwarding to mastering how to analyze poetry. This is what our main focus of the year has been, and we can move on when we master analyzing poems. I'm not saying this in a bad way because I actually am interested while analyzing poems, but I am taking an optimistic view on the year. I have no clue what we are learning next, but I hope it helps with the AP Test. I also look forward to analyzing some little stories like we did in our weekend assignments. I thought doing those stories over again could really change the mood and tone of poem. Going more into depth in that direction would be neat.
So far it has been a very successful year that actually has helped me with every subject. AP Literature gave me a better work ethic, which I desperately needed to succeed after high school. I look forward to what the rest of the year holds in store.
Matt,
DeleteI compleletly agree with you and Kraus about the work ethic that this class enforces. I know that I work a lot harder during this class than I do some of my other classes. My only problem is that I wait until the day before to do my homework. I also agree that we have learned so much already in this class. I look forward to learning all of the poetic devices as well. It will be great when I can thoroughly analyze a poem. Great job on your blog!
Matt Bobby,
DeleteI'm not going to lie, when I heard that you were in our AP class, I was like, "Really? That's so random!" You are the only person who was not in our AP Lang class last year, so I was skeptical of how you would do. You are definitely the comic relief in the class, and you always know how to make me laugh. Your six word memoir "I've been going hard since 1996" seriously made my day. You are doing well in this class, but I agree with you in that we still have a lot of improvements and skills to learn. I look forward to the rest of the year as well, and I can't wait to see what you have in store to make us laugh next. Great blog, Bobby!
Matt Bobby,
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog. I agree with you that AP Lit helps develop a work ethic. I think that is one thing about that class that I like the most. I enjoy working hard to learn. I also agree with you that it is neccesary to be able to analyze short stories. I think that the rest of the year will be much like beginning.
This year already I feel that I have learned learned so much. At the beginning of the year I was dreading poetry, mainly because I had no idea how interpret it. I have always found poetry to be very beautiful but I could never grasp the hidden meaning behind the words. Now,I can say that I am understanding poetry and I am learning how to interpret the words. So I am very excited to to see so much progress already.
ReplyDeleteHowever, even though we as a class are making enormous strides so far, I still feel like we have a long way to go. I do understand many poetic devices, especially due to the presentations last week, but there are still some devices that I do not understand. Once I learn these devices I will definitely feel much more comfortable with them. I also think that I will be able to pick them out of context and explain their significance to the poem. Which will be extremely helpful during the exam. This is obviously a long process of learning these devices and practicing them, but I feel that I will be well prepared for the exam when it rolls around. Also I can't wait for when we finish learning all of the devices in poetry and I can analyze poems for all of the devices. It will be a great test of my abilities and it will also be nice to realize how much I have really learned during this class.
My major problem is that I procrastinate, when we were reading Huck Finn I would read almost all of the chapters on the weekend. Which was really good for me, but then I push my questions of to the last minute and my paper. I do have to say that I am a ton better with my homework in this class compared to Bio. So it's a good thing for English but then I am scrambling at the end of the week to finish all of my Bio homework. I should really work on getting ahead and staying ahead on homework, so that I don't have a stressful end of the week. If I could master my procrastination I would be golden. It is definitely something for me to work on. My other problem is that I complain that I have so much homework, but in reality it is my own stupidity because I wait until the last minute to actually do my homework.
Overall I think that we as a class are doing very well and are learning a lot. I know that we are making great strides in our work. I don't know about anyone else but I definitely feel smarter than I was at the beginning of the school year, so far so good
Michaela,
DeleteI agree with so much of this. It is encouraging how much we have learned this year. We also have a lot to learn, but I think that that will keep this class interesting. I, like you, have a real knack for procrastination. I do it pretty regularly even though I don't really mean to. Sometimes I don't even realizing that I am doing it. It makes things much harder. I think as a class we are going to learn a lot, and be prepared for the AP test and more.
Michaela Cashmer,
DeleteWe are definitely smarter, girl! I totally agree with you! I feel more comfortable with poetry and analyzing it as well! I also agree with you that myself and the class as a whole has a long way to go, though. We'll get there! And I like your enthusiasm too! I can sympathize with you when you say that one of your problems is procrastinating. I'm the same way when it comes to that. I read all my chapters, but of course, I wait until Thursday to write my paper and answer my questions and I get angry. But it's my fault because I procrastinate. Haha! Anyway, I agree with almost everything you said, and I enjoy our class greatly! Awesome blog, Michaela!
I would just like to take a minute to point out that we are five weeks into school already. Where does the time go? I don't know, but thankfully this class has been going pretty well. I am not going to lie, I was scared that I was going to have another year like last year, and I don't know if I could have handled that. It was pretty rough, but I actually feel good about the strides that I have made.
ReplyDeleteThe major thing that I have learned this year was about poetry. I thought that learning about poems was going to be terrible. I had a really bad misconception of what analyzing poems is though. The only way that I ever knew how to do it was to tie it to a chair and beat it too death. This class has taught me that I will learn more by keeping it simple instead of trying to squeeze the life out of it. I have also learned quite a bit about the different sorts of poetic devices. I didn't even know apostrophe existed until this week. I have also learned a variety of things from the presentations that we did. I have always struggled with tone and mood, but I think that I am finally starting to grasp it. I also didn't know anything about musical devices. I wouldn't even think that that would play a role in poetry. I really have learned a variety of things this year.
I definitely have some struggles in this class as well. My biggest struggle seems to come in the form of essays. I have a hard time finding my voice and stating my opinion clearly. I tend to use far too many words to say something easy. I need to practice keeping it simple and too the point. Another big part of my problem with essays is my time management. Having a week to do an essay means that it won't get done until the night before. It's not that I am trying to put myself in that position, but I feel like I have a long time to do things. Then I work on other stuff and put myself behind. It happens pretty regularly, but I am working on fixing it. Fixing that will definitely help me along the way.
I am probably looking the most forward to symbolism and allegory. I know we have already started learning them, but they will help me in more ways than one. It will be great to point them out in poetry, but they will serve a dual purpose. Being a creative writer, I will be able to start incorporating them into some of my stories, and maybe take them up a notch. It will be exciting to be able to master. I can't wait!
I think that English is going really well this year. Here's to more great times!
Megan,
DeleteFive weeks. Seriously, I can't even believe that. Anyways....
I'm so happy we are all learning so much about poetry. It definitely is difficult at times, I certainly don't feel comfortable with it yet, but it is fun. It is such a stark contrast from the rigid analyzations we were put through last year.
You gave a really good self evaluation. It's good that you are able to actively determine what it is you are doing wrong. I know procrastination is a major issue for almost everyone I know. You are in good company.
Nice job, Megan!
Over a month into school. Well, that went fast. For the past two years I have been enjoying taking these AP English courses for two main reasons. One being, I just love English. I like reading and having intelligent discussions about the pieces read. The second reason I love these classes is because I am able to see how far we have all come.
ReplyDeleteAP Literature is drastically different from AP Language and Composition. Last year taught us to analyze. It taught us to analyze things we never even knew we could analyze and then told us to analyze again. This year presents itself with a whole new set of skills to learn, most of which are based more in understanding the figurative interpretations of pieces rather than the literal.
So far this year I have definitely learned the most about poetry. Much more than I ever planned on learning, quite honestly. I was always an individual who backed away from poetry. I always felt like I could barely read it with any sort of semblance of comprehension, let alone write it. Now I'm doing both. To what success? That's hard to say. However, it is a drastic improvement from a month ago when I wouldn't touch poetry with a six foot pole.
I would say that I have most improved in the area of understanding connotation and denotation. I have had a lose grasp on the ideas for quite a while now, however, this is the fire time I feel that a firm understanding has been achieved. Now, even though mastering a skill like connotation is almost impossible, given its wide spread variability among different poems, I certainly feel like I am able to look past a word's literal meaning and understand how the words chosen are important. I think that's another concept I am beginning to understand. Every word in poem was chosen for a purpose and its affect on the piece is dramatic and cannot be overlooked as I had often done in the past.
I sometimes still struggle with understanding a poem from the get go. However, as we begin to read it more and continue to learn and discuss a number of different poetic devices often utilized, I find that understanding the various pieces read is growing easier and easier. However, even given this noticeable improvement, I would say this is the area I still struggle. Many times it takes someone giving me a background on the poem or a push in the right direction before I am really able to open my eyes and notice how the poetic devices used contribute to the meaning of the poem as a whole. I hope that as we continue on with poetry throughout the year, understanding the basic meaning of certain poems will become more like second nature than it is currently. I want to love poetry and embrace it with the same love I have for music, and though I am certainly beginning to experience that, I look forward to growing more acquainted with poetry.
So far I am enjoying this year throughly and very much look forward to advancing through the year with all of you. I know I still have a lot of work to do, but a know I'm on the right track!
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog. I think we can read each others minds (wellat least you can read mine)! When you said that you learned a lot about denotation and connotation, I really related to that. I was really intimidated and I didn't hear about half of the terms before school started. We certainly did learn a lot about figurative language this past month, and even though I wasn't in AP Language, English class is a big change since last year. Good blog!