Well, what do you know? It's been another few weeks of school already. So far senior year has been flying by, as well as all of the information we have learned in AP lit. Though we have learned a ton of information, we have also been reviewing the same information over and over again. Normally, I would say that this is extremely boring in classes, but for this particular class, I believe that it is necessary. Literature isn't math or science, there is never only one correct answer, and two different people can have two completely different views on one piece of literature.
As we saw when we deeply analyzed The American Dream, there were many different ideas floating around. After many, many discussions, our class came as close to a consensus as is possible. I'm sure people still have their own opinions about it though. We just started Death of A Salesman (well we watched the movie). I can tell that this play is about to be just like The American Dream. Already, I am very confused. I even read this last year in lit and watched it and I totally forgot what it is supposed to be about. Our discussions though greatly help. Applying everything that we learn almost everyday is very helpful for me, and I'm starting to enjoy doing it more and more.
I also enjoy how we have started looking at elements of the AP test. Being told to write multiple choice questions seemed like almost an impossible task at first, but it proved to be a lot easier that what I anticipated. Reading other groups' questions was also a good way to practice. Everyone is going to have different questions, and the more we answer, the more practice we get in. Along with the AP test, we did the writing about the Century Quilt. I have to say, I wasn't as bad at that as I thought I was going to be. I was off in a couple areas, but overall I didn't find it to be too bad.
Lastly, we have the terms test. I was a little confused on how to go about studying for it this time, because I knew that what I did last time definitely did not work. However, last time I was also completely unaware as to what the format of the test would be like. With that said, I did the exact same thing to study as I did last time, hoping that my familiarity with test questions would help my score. Surprisingly, it did, only by 5%, but I'll take it!
Hey Julia, we're in the same group again! (:
ReplyDeleteYour response to course material is very similar to mine. I like how you divided your response to the top three things we did, rather than bluntly list and state every detail. "Response to Course Materials" are supposed to be the only informal/ personal narrative ones, and I think you did a great job. I can tell what you learned and got out of each topic, and it's easy to follow, because I totally concur with you. Now that we've finished reading and watching Death of Salesman, do you see any new connections with the American Dream? I remember Ms. Holmes telling me that the reason we use classical literature, is because we gain new understandings and perspectives. Since you read it last year, I was wondering if you saw a new layer to this play (even though you said your forgot most of it)? Overall, nice response to our latest materials covered!
Julia, I like your ideas about how although we spend a lot of time covering the same information, it's because a lit class is different from other ones we might take. The skills that we use to read any of the books or novels that we cover are the same ones needed to do it again, so there is a lot of repetition involved. I think that once we get into Shakespeare and then out of drama into novels there will be a lot of differences in the material, but the same basic skills that will be needed should be the same. I think the practice for the AP will be useful for the exam, but its not very interesting to me and I don't really look forward to doing more of it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that repetition is necessary! In this class I think that it is very useful to ensure that there is a complete understanding of the information. Also, I agree with Gloria that this post is well organized and well written while maintaining an informal voice. I wish I had read Salesman last year but it sounds like it didn't really help you this time around. With all of the discussing we do in class I understand Salesman a lot more but I'm not sure all of the concepts are concrete for me. It's good that you got something out of the multiple choice assignment and that you feel it'll help you in the future. Good reflecting!
ReplyDelete