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Welcome to AP English Lang & Comp
Room 503, Park, Class Wikispace

June 11, 2010: "A Rose for Emily"



May 18, 2010: //SLANG!

[|Bee's Knees!!!]//

May 17, 2010: //F. Scott Fitzgerald//

[|Fitzgerald Biography PBS] [|Wikipedia] [|Online-Literature Biography]

Read and gather information about F.Scott Fitzgerald. On a Word document, list ten things you believe are important facts about this famous author that might have influenced his writings in one way or another.

May 12, 2010:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU FINISHED! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

May 11th, 2010: //**The AP Test that will determine your future**//

...is tomorrow morning at 7:45. You need to report to my classroom by 7 a.m. for some delicious, store-bought bagels, cream cheese, and orange juice.

Some last minute advice:
 * 1) Try and get at least 8 hours of sleep tonight. Since you will be at school early tomorrow morning, try to be in bed by 10 p.m.
 * 2) Review rhetorical terms.
 * 3) Review the essays we have read over the school year. The position essay you write will require you to draw from personal reading, experiences, examples. Make sure you know the titles and names of the authors to reference easily.
 * 4) Try your best tomorrow morning, and the rest will fall into place!
 * 5) Know that I believe in you! You all are good writers!

May 5, 2010: //AP Testing//

Good luck to all of you who are taking AP tests this and next week. As you know, our test is scheduled for next Wednesday morning. Reporting time is **7:45 a.m.**!

In an effort to provide you with some extra energy and sustenance that morning--not to mention some emotional solidarity--a light breakfast will be provided that morning. Please come to Room 503 for some bagels and orange juice. Eating (and last minute reviewing) will begin at **7 a.m.**!

Much love, Ms. P

April 23, 2010: //CST Testing Schedule//



March 30, 2010: //Spring Fling Package//

//10:52 p.m. LAX Airport// Hello everyone! First of all, I just want to wish you a very happy Spring Break even though it hasn't officially started yet. I hope it is a restful one for you all!

Wanted to also thank you for all of your encouraging words and well-wishes. Really, you all lift up my soul!

As you know, I had a really long paper and presentation due today. Technically, the paper is due next Tuesday, but because I will not be able to make my class next week, my professor insisted that I turn it in today, a week early. As well, she wanted me to present my paper to the entire class today.

So, I went to my class feeling a bit anxious about my presentation, but I was relieved the paper was done. All I wanted to do was get everything over and done with! Only then would I be able to relax! Only then could I call it a day! Well, as soon as my professor walked in, she came over to tell me some really shocking news. "Vickie, next week is no longer the last day of class--I've decided to extend our semester three more weeks, so you will not be presenting today. In fact, you can turn your paper in to me on the new last day of class which is April 20th."

WHA?! Waaaahhh! All that hard work! All those sleepless nights!!!

If I EVER do that to you all...you have permission to kick me.

Class, I will miss you. See you again soon!

March 22, 2010: //Preview of Coming Attractions//

Tuesday (30th): Discussion Monday (29th): Reading passage; How to read prompts Friday (26th): Scoring of TW, Sample Essays Thursday (25th): Timed Writing Wednesday (24th): Reading passage & questions Tuesday (23rd): Sanders' Timed Writing due. Registration with counselors. Monday (22nd): Synthesis Essay, Visual arguments

March 17, 2010: //Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!//

Hello everyone! Just a friendly reminder that we will be meeting in the Media Center this Saturday to have an extended session together.


 * Time: 9-12 a.m.**

The meeting isn't mandatory, but it'd be great if you came for even a part of our morning together. Please click on the discussion forum topic titled "This Saturday" to sign up!

Cheers, Ms. P

March 9, 2010: //Loon//

Click:

March 1, 2010: //Potatoes, Po-tah-toes. Tomatoes, To-mah-toes.//

I love you Raymond/Randy!

February 26, 2010: //Booker T. Washington// “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

February 25, 2010: //Bootcamp results//

Bootcamp Test results: Period 4 average = 59.9% Period 5 average = 67.1%

February 24, 2010: //Challenge//

When writing essays, do we use the word "humans," or do we use "people"?

February 18, 2010: Here's the reading for tonight!

February 16, 2010: //Nickel and Dimed//



We've been revisiting Ehrenreich's //Nickel and Dimed// excerpt, but have you taken the time to wonder what the title of her book means? Where does "nickel and dimed" come from?

It's actually a colloquialism/idiom. Read more here: [|Nickeled and Dimed]

In class today, we began to read the excerpt together, and I modeled for you how to annotate the text. We also started a double-entry journal together. Hopefully, you were able to sense how DJs are a great way to //practice articulating your thoughts and ideas prior to a formal essay//. Here's what we came up with:

__Quote__: "In the Key West area, this pretty much confines me to flophouses and trailer homes--lie the one, a pleasing fifteen-minute drive from town, that has no air-conditioning, no screens, no fans, no television, and, by way of diversion, only the challenge of evading the landlord's Doberman pinscher." __Analysis/Reflection__: Ehrenreich uses the word "confines" to describe what her new living situation will do to her. The word connotes a prison-like existence, emphasized by the anaphora of "no air-conditioning, no screens, no fans, no television." By listing all the things she will not have, we sense how miserable and destitute she feels. In fact, it is as if she is thinking out loud, and the reality of her new life is beyond belief--ludicrous even--and she cannot help but be sarcastic in her ton. The only "diversion" she will get to have is learning how to dodge her landlord's Doberman-pincher.

Thank you everyone for being so focused during our discussion. It's not easy digging deeper, but I see that you're trying, and it's starting to pay off. I also know that I was really hard on you today. I called you out on your statements if they weren't backed by textual evidence and explanation. I called on a couple of you, over and over again, because I wanted you to feel some healthy pressure. Sometimes, we don't grow without someone pushing us out of our comfort zones.

Peace, Ms. P

February 14, 2010:

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Lunar New Year everybody!

Love, Ms. P

February 10, 2010: //Boot Camp//

Hi colleagues,


 * Boot camp is here.**

Now, take the simple sentence above and write a variation of it in the following forms:
 * periodic
 * loose
 * compound
 * complex
 * compound-complex
 * active voice
 * passive voice

02/04/2010 Welcome to SECOND SEMESTER

Preview of coming attractions: Thursday (4th): Score sample essay, Prepositional phrases Friday (5th): More sample essays, Syntax Monday (8th): excerpt from //Walden// Wednesday (10th): more //Walden// Thursday (11th): //Walden// + Vocabulary quiz Friday-Monday (12th-15th): Love packet Tuesday (16th): Timed Writing! Wednesday (17th): Computer lab!

01/13/10 Update! CALLING ALL JUNIORS!

Thank you to all the juniors who have decided to check wikispaces one last time before the night is over. I am going to post the multiple choice questions for tomorrow's M.C. quiz. Unfortunately, I will not be giving you the answer choices, but reading the questions themselves should help prepare you!

Here you go!

January 13th, 2010: //Accolade for the Ah-ha Moment!//

A great big thank you to Judith in period 5 for helping the class experience a collective "a-ha" moment! She asserts that Gladwell uses the rhetorical pairing of extended example and narrative in order to have the reader trigger their own "adaptive unconscious."

In so doing, Period 5 further argues that...
 * Gladwell wants the reader to reflect on their own experiences with the adaptive unconscious
 * He wants the reader to draw from their own personal examples/parallels/experiences
 * Gladwell uses tropes and schemes, diction and tone to trigger the Reader's adaptive unconscious
 * Gladwell employs rhetorical devices (i.e. foreshadowing) to further prove his assertions about the adaptive unconscious

January 7th, 2010: //A Great Hint Because Someone Asked// (The following is an email reply I just sent to two of your colleagues who asked for a hint regarding Gladwell's tone)

Hi Colleague 1 and Colleague 2,

Okay, so in order to figure out Gladwell's tone, first think about what he's arguing and what the subject of his book is. Would you say the subject of his piece is the kouros itself? Or, is it the adaptive unconscious?

Now, if the definition of tone is "speaker's attitude towards his subject," then you need to first figure out what the main subject of Gladwell's piece is, and then determine what his attitude about it is. Moreover, what words or phrases point to his tone towards that subject?

I hope this helps.

Also, to give you a hint regarding what the prompt may entail, think about the kouros again. Is it the subject of his book? OR, is it used just as an //example//? Which rhetorical form would you say he employs? How does he craft his case using that rhetorical form?

Oooohhhh, think about it! Let me know if you need any more help!

Xoxo, Ms. P

January 6th, 2009: //Rubber Meets the Road//

Greetings again! We're in the final stretch now--only a couple more weeks left before the semester is officially over! Hopefully, you have begun the process of reflecting on the semester and how it has progressed. More importantly, note how much you have progressed in your reading, writing, and analytical skills. I know that it's been frustrating at times, and often the learning that happens isn't as tangible as you would like it to be, especially when the grade doesn't seem to change that much. But please know that you have indeed been co-constructing knowledge, and personally, I have been very challenged by each and every one of you.

Towards the end of last year, we discussed the possibility of having a Writer's Workshop on a weekend to help supplement our writing lessons. Unfortunately, due to testing schedules and the busyness of the holidays, we were unable to choose an adequate date to hold such an event. I'd like to kindly ask you all to look at your calendars for the month of February. Is there a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that is most conducive to an all day (10 a.m.- 2 p.m.) event? I promise it'll be fun.

As well, we have not had as many timed writings or process essays this semester in large part because I did not feel we were quite ready as a larger group to start writing in such great volume. For me, it was much more important to first develop our analytical skills before learning how to organize it into writing...but as this semester draws to a close, you'll find we will be writing more often, and in second semester, it will, indeed, be quite a regular affair. So hold onto your hats! We're about to speed things up a bit!

In the meantime...I hope you're reading! Thank you for taking the time to choose a book from our reading list, and aim to finish by the end of this month. If you already have, choose a second book. There will be a portion on the final dedicated to your extended reading(s).

Cheers, Your new Bikram Yoga instructor

 January 5th, 2009:

**
 * Okay! I was able to FINALLY figure out the madness with the scanner. Sorry for the delay. Please download and print out the following document:

The document is cut off a few lines, so here is the last portion of the article: "...reach conclusions about how good that teacher is that are very similar to those of a student who has sat in the teacher's class for an entire semester. That's the power of our **adaptive unconscious**."

 Hello everyone. My apologies, but my scanner is not working properly barring me from uploading the reading passage for tonight's homework. I will try and fix this as soon as possible! Till then, sit tight!**
 * SO SORRY!

 December 17, 2009: //Thanks Tiffany C.!// :)

**Chiasmus**: In rhetoric, **chiasmus** (from the Greek: χιάζω, //chiázō//, "to shape like the letter X") is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism.

**Antimetabole**: In rhetoric, **antimetabole** is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order (e.g., "I know what I like, and I like what I know"). It is similar to chiasmus although chiasmus does not use repetition of the same words or phrases.

So! Which of the two does the following sentence from Annie Dillard's "Living Like Weasels" display? What is its effect (or affect?)?

"I startled a weasel who startled me, and we exchanged a long glance. "

Special announcement: Please, please, PLEASE watch this!!! [|I'm Yours!]

December 9, 2009: //AMAZING Start to the Amazing Race Presentations!//

In one day alone, we've traveled to Lebanon, Hong Kong and Estonia, and we've visited a museum honoring the Hainan people group! Whew! What a whirlwind traveling schedule! Can't wait to buckle our seat-belts for tomorrow's travels. Where shall we fly to next?!

A few things to keep in mind for future presentations:
 * If using a powerpoint to aid in your presentation, remember! Each slide should act more as a guide or springboard than as a script. Avoid reading off the slides, and make eye contact with the audience!
 * Plan all of your transitions well in advance. Work out the details of where you will stand, who will be the technical person (e.g. clicking the powerpoint, etc.), and practice, practice, practice! Stand in front of a mirror, and watch yourself give your speech. Are your hand gestures appropriate (wink) or are they distracting?
 * A hard copy of your works cited page needs to be turned in at the time of presentation. PLEASE make sure it is in MLA format (like the last page of a Research paper). Refer to the following resource as a MLA guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

 December 8, 2009: 2:14 a.m. ANYBODY AWAKE?

December 2, 2009: //Amazing Paper Rubric//

**Content: 15** Is the biographical information interesting and relevant? Is the historical information accurate, interesting, and relevant? Does the writer do a seamless job of presenting information that is relevant to the overall paper's purpose? Does the writer balance the amount of biographical vs. historical information included? Is the writer's analysis and thought process evident in the information reported on, and in the way the paper is organized?

Does the paper make sense? Is the reader able to follow the logic of the paper? Does the paper flow from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph? Is the information organized in a logical fashion? Is the writer's analysis evident in the way he/she has woven the biographical and historical information together?
 * Organization: 15**

Does the paper show proper MLA formatting? Are the citations correctly done? Are the grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors minimal? Is it evident that the writer PROOFREAD the paper before submission? Does the paper on the most part stay consistent in verb-tense?
 * Mechanics: 15**

Does the writer exhibit interesting diction? Were efforts made to vary sentence structure, length, etc? Is the language used fresh and vivid or plain and nondescript? 
 * Language: 15**

TOTAL: 60

 28 Noviembre 2009: //An email exchange that may be of interest to you!//

Hi Ms. P, I have a lot of discrepancies about the final result of our papers. If you don't mind, I would like an answer back as soon as it is convenient for you.

1) Is the info (research) that we turn in on Presentation Day supposed to be our personal notes, or actual print copies of the source? 2) For my interview, I could not find a native X person. However, my grandmother's grandmother was X. My grandmother has detailed firsthand accounts of her grandmother's views. Is interviewing my grandmother an acceptable source, or should I look for someone else? 3) About how long should our papers actually be? What lengths have you seen in past projects? 4) What is your policy on quoting our interviewee in the papers? 5) Which mode of discourse do you want us to utilize when telling the personal history of our subject?

These are all just gaps in the assignment that I don't remember us going over in class. I apologize if you had gone over this, but I think more discussion in class is necessary. Just so no one is confused or gets too stressed.

Sincerely, Student

Student, Thank you for working diligently on this project during your Thanksgiving break.

In regards to your interview, what do you think? Do you believe you will have enough information from your grandmother's account of her grandmother? Why not focus on your grandmother? Just a question...I'm not trying to suggest anything.

How many pages do you think would allow you to do a thorough job?

What does MLA say about quoting an interview?

Can you only have one mode of discourse when writing? Which mode(s) do you think would be most appropriate for this assignment?

Ms. P

p.s. I will be going over the assignment in better detail this week. You will also be receiving rubrics for both your paper and your presentation to guide you in your work.

 November 19, 2009: //Pause and Reflect...//

History is not everything but it is the starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are, but more importantly, what they must be.  Students, colleagues, countrymen and women:

Remember this? We started the semester with this quote, and we revisit it again today. How has its meaning developed or changed for you? How have you changed in your understanding of it?

We've been wrestling with some really challenging ideas together, but I was very impressed with how each student conducted discussions today to start making the connections that are most meaningful to us. In fact, I would suspect that as we co-construct and contest knowledge together, that the implications for each of us as individuals, and who "we must be," have been significant.

Some questions to continue considering:
 * Is history always right? Can we change history?
 * Where do stereotypes come from? Do they harm or help? Do you accept them? Why or why not?
 * The quote claims that history determines who "we must be." Is this a positive thing or a negative thing?
 * What is your history? Who must you be?
 * How does this tie into everything else we've been discussing in class?
 * How do the 4 modes of discourse apply? Why is it important to know how to decipher modes of discourse?

Peace, Ms. P

November 14, 2009: //Quote of the Week//

"A little thing is a little thing, but being faithful with a little thing is a great thing."

 November 5, 2009: //Is Race biology? Genetics?//

Today, we resurrected the article "Race and Ethnicity" and revisited the definitions of both of these ubiquitous terms. What is the definition of race? What is the definition of ethnicity? According to the article, what is the main difference between the two?

I think you would agree that both of these terms are understood by society in very "elusive" ways. Is race really something fixed and concrete? Is race just biology? Genetics? Or is it a social construct?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> November 2, 2009: //Giving Thanks//

Hello everyone. Can you believe it's already November?!

A few announcements...
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tomorrow is a timed writing. Most likely, it will be about Chang-Rae Lee's "Coming Home Again." If you have any last minute questions about the text, please feel free to write me, but I also encourage you to get in contact with one another. Going over SOAPSTone together would be a great starting place.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I will also try and reserve a few minutes for you in class tomorrow to talk amongst yourselves. I know it can be tough to coordinate a partner for the Amazing Race of a lifetime outside of class, so tomorrow, MINGLE! :)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The tentative schedule for this week has been posted on the "Daily Notes" page. Check it out, and pace yourselves with the homework accordingly.

Here's to a good month! Cheers, Ms. P

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">October 26, 2009: //This week//

Hi students. First, I want to say thank you to the anonymous student who kindly left a wonderful gift on my desk. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found a copy of the Jason Mraz concert recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl. SO COOL. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Would you please let me know who you are?

Tomorrow evening is Parent-Conference Night from 4-8 p.m. I have classes on Tuesday nights, so I will most likely leave Parent-Conference Night a little early to try and catch the tail end of one my classes. If your parents are planning on meeting with me, please inform them coming before six would be best. Otherwise, I'd be more than happy to meet with them by appointment on another day. All they have to do is email me at vpark@tcusd.net, and we can arrange for a good time. Thanks!

Preview of coming attractions: Monday (26th): Test. Tuesday (27th): Review Arie essay. Launch research project. "Coming Home Again" discussion. Wednesday (28th): Finish discussion about Ethnicity and Race. Thursday (29th): "Coming Home Again" essay due. Friday (30th): No student day. READ!

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> October 13, 2009: //Preview of Coming Attractions//

Monday (12th): Ethnicity and Race; Finish sharing Tuesday (13th): Timed Writing, 2 songs and Article Group projects Wednesday (14th): Article Group projects and Finish sharing Thursday (15th): India Arie Essay due. Friday (16th): Voice lessons and Vocabulary quiz! Monday (19th): READ. Please bring a magazine (preferably New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist) Tuesday (20th): Grammar exercises by examining the Greats. Wednesday (21st): Resuming discussions on "Ethnicity and Race" Thursday (22nd): Revisit Close-Reading. Please review "Los Angeles Notebook" for this lesson. Friday (23rd): Assessment and Research Project Launch

Reminder: Ms. P will be out for three days.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> October 3rd, 2009: //YOU!//

Hello AP students,

Hope you're having a good weekend. Have you read anything interesting today? Yesterday?

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your honest feedback last Friday regarding our first month together. On the most part, it appears you are enjoying the class. Fantastic! Many of you mentioned that you feel challenged by your colleagues and by the discussions. Wonderful! Really, I am so encouraged by your efforts to make Room 503 a place where people can feel safe enough to share their thoughts and opinions, and thank you for catching on to the fact that learning happens when knowledge is constructed and challenged. May we continue to aim for meaningful times together, and I look forward to the greater things that have yet to come.

Ah, and to those who shared some reservations and frustrations, thank you for airing them, ha ha, sans maledictions. Please know that your voice has been heard, and please do not lose heart! If I didn't think you could handle the class, I would have asked you to leave a long time ago. As far as I know, I haven't asked anyone to leave. In fact, I've only asked someone to stay. Stay! Please stay! You know who you are. And if you're not sure, be sure. Yes, I'm talking to you. You!

You, the one who wrote, "Everyone seems to know a bunch of big words and has a great writing style. It makes me feel stupid." You also wrote, "My mind sometimes blanks out, and I can't seem to put my opinions into words." Or how about when you asked, "How can I come up with ideas for a discussion topic quickly enough to…share them with the class?' Ah, take heart. To you, especially, I say, "greater things have yet to come," so long as you continue to try.

But I'll also give you a preview of coming attractions to help you prepare in advance.

Questions to think about: What is race? What is ethnicity? What is culture? What is identity?

Quote to continue thinking about this week: "History is not everything but it is the starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are, but more importantly what they must be."

This week's tentative schedule: Monday--Check Daily Notes Tuesday--Timed Writing Wednesday--Rubric revisited Thursday--Voice Lessons; More close-reading Friday--Vocabulary quiz; new reading

Lastly, anybody figure out what's written on the base of the Statue of Liberty?

See you soon, Ms. P

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> September 29, 2009: //Voice Lesson: Diction #3//

Hello everybody!

I'm SO SORRY but I didn't realize that I hadn't uploaded Diction #3 until a student emailed me about it. Here you go! I'll also have copies available in class tomorrow. No worries if you don't have it in class tomorrow since I posted it so late in the day.

Thanks for understanding and for being so flexible!

Sincerely, Ms. P

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> September 8, 2009: //Letter from the Teacher//

Greetings Esteemed Colleagues! Welcome Parents!

I am so pleased and delighted to introduce you to our new class website. Here, students and parents will be able to: > <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Starting next week, students will be creating their own wikispace accounts in order to become official Members of this site. (NOTE: Please hold off on creating your account until we go through it together as a class. I have very specific instructions in store.) If you're internet savvy and would like to get notified of updates to this site, create an RSS feed by visiting the "Notify Me" page.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">stay informed of class news (visit the "Home" page)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">keep up with daily class activities (visit the "Daily Notes" page)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">download important handouts and documents (visit "Handouts")
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">participate in online discussion forums (click on the "Discussion" tab up above)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">design webpages of your own (training sessions to come)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">contact the teacher and other students via site membership

Looking forward to an exciting year as we step into our virtual classroom. To ensure we conduct ourselves in a safe, collegial and academic manner, all school and class rules & regulations will be upheld on this website.

Have any questions? Feel free to contact me through wikispace mail or at vpark@tcusd.net.

Cheers to a great year, Ms. P media type="custom" key="2060424"