APEnglish–Los Al

Period 4

The first few minutes of today were spent trying to figure out the extra credit riddle of the week that left everyone flabbergasted. We then began playing games with our new groups and finally decided our group names.

Afterward, we began to analyze passages, looking at syntax.

“Charlotte’s Web” – E.B. White

• * periodic sentnece
• * idyllic and rustic with gentle verbs and adjectives
• * sentence is slowly waking up

“Jamaica Inn” – Daphne DuMaurier (sp?)

• * It goes nowhere. One sentence begins and ends with “the driver.”
• * depressing, lack of hope
• * the coach and the countryside is becoming one
• * formatting reflects sinking feeling: begins with weather, narrows down to driver, narrows down to wheels sinking in the mud

“Song of Solomon” – Toni Morrison

• * structured, chronological
• * understatement of suicide
• * absurd and ironic
• * long, complicated sentences which spending too much on something useless, just like the people of the town do
• * parodying formal language
• * sarcastic

For the bibliography of the research project, be sure to indicate whether your source is biased or not. Facts, figures, and statistics are usually less biased than something like an image. It’s also better to form an opinion after researching your topic, rather than making a claim based on a preconceived notion.

Period 5

Well, this fine Monday began with a boom as each one of us got a huge-o essay prompt packet consisting of numerous AP prompts to help us prepare for the AP test. Then, Shelene mentioned that Lady Montague was still alive, but Eldridge shot her idea down, saying that LM would be like 300 years old… then Butcher mentioned that LM is actually alive in our hearts. haha.

Next, we all played another game in which you had to complete the 3 word phrase with a word that began with an A. For instance, one of the phrases was “coat of arms.”

The class then disappointedly turned to the projector screen thing in which we analyzed a few passages for syntax. These wonderful writings included:

* (1) Charlotte’s Web [who is NOT a black widow according to Mr. E] – The sentence was periodic with many dependent clauses in front leading to an independent clause. The dependent clauses established the setting of the morning on the farm. The dependent clauses and setting descriptions led to a climactic affect that led up to Wilbur the piggie waking up. Also, the tone is soft and gentle with the “whispering automobiles.”

In the middle of all this analysis, Eldridge commented on Shaina’s intensity yet again.

* (2) This was a substantially longer passage about rain and a car. As the writing progresses, the sentences get progressively longer, but the lengths also reflect on the things that the author mentions. The sentences also progress from simple to complex. This effects the mood because the weather becomes overwhelming with the sentences. The setting and tone is dismal, melancholy, and gray. The second paragraph, all one sentence, begins and ends talking about the driver. This, in turn, creates a neverending cycle with no result, which THEN means that the tone is hopelessness and futility. There is no action verb and no independent clause, which also leads to a sense of hopelessness and futility. In the third paragraph, the wheels that SANK implies that even the verbs communicate inaction and hopelessness. Also, like the mud on the windows, everything is obscured.

Btw…it’s supposedly Shaina’s birthday on Wednesday! …it definitely will be intense. haha

* (3) In this last passage, it talks about Mr. Smith flying with his own wings or something….this just means that he COMMITTED SUICIDE BY JUMPING OFF A BUILDING. ewwwww. For the rest of the writing, the author transgresses from the original purpose into some random explanation and history of Doctor Street. The super duper long sentences imply a legalistic and rushed mood. Also, there is irony when the author talks about the “genuinely clarifying public notice” that outlawed people from calling the street Doctor Street. Thus, the street name, now Not Doctor Street, was a sign of rebellion from the local negroes. Similarly, they called the newly integrated hospital No Mercy Hospital cuz black women used to have to give birth on the steps. gross!

And that is alllllllllllllllll! yay! so after we finished this intense analyzing, the bell rang and everyone left.

REMINDER: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECT IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY.

I LOVE MY GROUP WWED!!!

Thank you, thank you very much…

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