The Last Blog of the Summer 2013

I know that this blog post is late, but I assure you this is an easy post.  Hopefully you have finished reading Black Elk Speaks as the essay is due on Monday.  This week's blog is to write an outline of your final essay.  Include at least one quote from the text  for each major point you make in the essay.  In other words if you are going to speak about the theme find a quote that proves what you are trying to say about theme.

Check out the blog during the first week of each month for additional resources to prepare for the exam.

6th Blog Post of the Summer of 2013

If you haven’t yet caught up with the blog posts and intend on being in the AP section of the class, you need to do so immediately, as I will be turning in grades by on 19^th of August.  As usual if you need any assistance please contact me.

I also recommend that you print out your first essay and have someone else read it and correct any errors.  Look for the following common errors:  basic spelling and grammar errors, clear pronoun usage (often times inexperienced writers will talk about two males in the same sentences and refer to each as he), verb tense, verb agreement, unclear thesis, weak transitions between paragraphs, lack of citations, as well as weak introductions and conclusions.  Please, use the rubric!  Yes, I know that it says "O'Rourke Rubric" but pretty much any English teacher will be using the same rubric.  

Part #1-Blog Response

So this week’s blog is more along the lines of “AP thinking” rather than what’s the plot etc.…

Black Elk Speaks is the narrative of the life and times of a Sioux medicine man named Black Elk.  This book was created as a dissertation study of the Sioux people by John Neihardt in the early 1930's.  In order for Neihardt to conduct his research he either had to learn how to speak Lakota (a dialect of the Sioux language) or find someone who could translate Lakota into English.  Neihardt found Ben Black Elk who was the son of Black Elk. Ben helped Neihardt to translate Black Elk's life's story into English.  Neihardt then told his own daughter Black Elk's stories and she wrote down what he said.  However, because the book shows John Neihardt as the author of Black Elk Speaks and not just the editor, there has been a controversy in academic circles and Native American circles as to the accuracy of the story from Black Elk's point of view.  The primary argument made is that Neihardt, being the author and editor, was able to exaggerate or change some parts of the story and did so to make the story more interesting to a white "American" audience of the 1930's and thus more profitable.  Thinking about the number of translations (John Neihardt asking Ben to ask his father Black Elk a question and Black Elk responding to Ben who translated to John the answer and then John telling his daughter to record Black Elk's response and then publishers' prerogatives added to the mix), do you believe the final product is effective in telling the world the story of the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Wounded Knee Massacre from the perspective of a Native American?  Do you believe that if Black Elk read and spoke English that the book would have been much different?  What is the role of an individual's voice in such a story?

For next week you will need to read through the end of chapter 20 of Black Elk Speaks (about 100 pages).  There will be more of a focus on details next week.

Part #2-Flashcards

This week’s words are…

S

satire  A work that exposes ridicule the shortcomings of individuals, institutions, or society, often to make a political point.

setting  The location of a narrative in time and space.  Setting creates mood or atmosphere.

situational irony  A technique in which one understanding of a situation stands in sharp contrast to another, usually more prevalent, understanding of the same situation.

speaker  The narrator of a poem; also the voice assumed by the writer.  The speaker and the author of the poem are not the same person.

stream-of-consciousness narration  Form of narration in which the narrator conveys a subject’s thoughts, impressions, and perceptions exactly as they occur, often in disjointed fashion and without logic and grammar of typical speech and writing.  Usually written in first-person narration, but sometimes written in the third person as free indirect discourse.

syllepsis  A stylistic device in which a single word governs or modifies two or more other words in different ways.  Example:  “Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave.”

symbolism  The use of objects, characters, figures, or colors to represent abstract ideas or concepts.  Unlike emblems, symbols may have different meanings in different contexts.

syntax  The way the words in a piece of writing are put together to form lines, phrases, or clauses; the basic structure of a piece of writing.

T

theme A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work.

thesis statement  The main idea, or principal claim, that is supported in a work of nonfiction.

third-person narration / third-person point of view  A literary style in which the narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns he, she, it, and they.

tone  The author’s attitude toward the subject or characters of a story or poem, or toward the reader.

transition words  Words that connect ideas and show the relationships between those ideas (relationships such as casual links, similarities, contrasts, and so on).

trope  A figure of speech that extends the literal meanings of words by inviting a comparison to other words, things, or meanings.  Metaphor, metonymy, and simile are three common tropes.

U

unreliable narration  A process of narrating in which the narrator is revealed over time to be an untrustworthy source of information.

utopia  An imaginary, idealized world presented in literature.

Important Announcement

As you may have heard in the past couple of days, I will NOT be returning to SBHS.  L  This may have caused a bit of concern for you and your future in AP English Language and Composition.  I am sorry that I cannot answer any questions regarding who will be your teacher as I no longer officially work at Bernard’s.  However, one of the things you would have gotten to know about me (if you don’t already know), is that I rarely leave my responsibilities undone.  We started off on this blog venture together this summer so I see you ALL as MY responsibility.  So here’s the deal…the summer blog is still on.

You are responsible for completing all of the blog responses and flashcards!  Why?  Well, the purpose of the blog has always been to begin getting students to think about how to look at literature from a different perspective, to keep students on track with the reading and writing required to develop good summer reading essays, to get a jump on AP content (this year that’s the flash cards), and to get used to a high level (in amount and intensity) of work.  The blog responses due this week will directly relate to your first essay.  As I also stated, you really should write a good draft of the essay after completing this week’s blog response.  You can use another student’s ideas in your essays as long as you cite him/her as your source.

At the end of the summer (just a couple of weeks left—we will go through August 18^th—that’s 7 blog posts), I will give your grades (up to 25 points per blog post response) to Ms. Capell (and whomever is your new teacher) and she will add them to your AP English Language (or if you prefer, English Honors III) grade.  I will also notify them (Ms. Capell and the new teacher) that you were also expected to complete 149 flash cards for 149 points.  Please study these cards throughout the year as they contain the concepts and terms that are salient for writing a good AP response essay (yes, I am speaking of the exam).  In the Appendix of the O’Rourke Reader are several other terms (with the definitions and examples) that I recommend making flash cards for and studying.  You should ask your teacher if he/she will give you credit for making flash cards of those terms as well.

I will continue to post resources and ideas at least once a month throughout the school year to help keep you on track.  Of course, I won’t be able to give you grades throughout the school year but I want to make sure you study throughout the year if you have a chance at passing the exam.  My new position at Maranatha High School (in Pasadena) is more on the administrative side, but I will be teaching AP Language there as well.  Of course, your participation in what I post after August 18^th is voluntary.

If you ever have any questions please contact me via my personal email tgorourke@verizon.net, as I will no longer have access to my Bernard’s email soon.

I really am going to miss working with you on a daily basis this year!