Both Keats and Longfellow's poems are about unfulfilled desires and the ever-present idea that death is coming. Later on in both poems, their views shift slightly on the matter of life and what needs to come out of it. Longfellow's view on life stays grim and depressing throughout his poem, whereas Keats wants to see all that life has to offer but is daunted by the fear of death and not accomplishing that which wants.
The most similar part of the poems was in the beginnings of them, both start grim and depressing as they express their disdain towards eventual death. Keat's, "I may cease to be," parallels Longfellow's, "Half of my life is gone," by both expressing their common belief that they may stop living at any point. The similarities between the poems extend to Longfellow saying, "gone, and I have let/
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled/ The aspiration of my youth," and Keats' ominous use of the word "before," implying that there is still so much that he has not done that he wishes to do.
The middle part of both of poems is where Longfellow and Keats start to differentiate their points. Keats starts sharing his desire for romance in line 5, "When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,/
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance," to convey his desire for romance before his passing. In contrast, Longfellow says, "But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,/ Kept me from what I may accomplish yet." Longfellow's views are much grimmer and he believes that overwhelming sorrow and dismay is enough to keep him from acting on his desires. Between the two poems, Longfellow is much more depressing and believes that his desires are not able to be pursued because it is all futile, whereas Keats believes that his desire is enough to keep wishing for it and striving for it.
When I Have Fears and Mezzo Cammin both conclude in a scenic way, hence making them similar on the surface, but different once you read a little beneath the surface. "Then on the shore/ Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till love and fame to nothingness do sink," the conclusion of Keats' poem uses imagery to paint this picture of a man standing and looking out onto the world and reflecting his life. Keats shares his view on his past, and how it was filled with more important ideas, other than if you completed a desire or not. In sharp contrast, Longfellow paints a similar image with a man standing and contemplating his life. " A city in the twilight dim and vast, ....The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights," is Longfellows interpretation of a man looking back at his life. The city is a metaphor for his life- vast and dim, filled with missed opportunities and a sorrowful outlook. The real contrast between Keats' and Longfellow's poems is that Longfellow ends his poem with the cry of death, as to say there is no point because all is futile in the end.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Responce to Class Material #2
VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB!!! Over the past couple of weeks, our class has focused very heavily on literary terms that the AP test goes over and uses. Without going into it, here is a list of words that we went over and learned as a class:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMle5ATnv4AOAEhsidTlwCRCIwukMVXp_yr8_mdbfHI/edit
We also did read and were tested on The American Dream by Edward Albee (See Summary and Analysis of The American Dream).
Those are the two big things we have been focusing on but we have also read a couple of sheets and done a couple practices for the AP exam in May.
Some of the papers that we have read were about different theories of different types of humor and why they are funny, one was on existentialism theory and another on the theater of the absurd. All of the papers helped us to read The American Dream. The main ideas were as simple as what their titles suggest. They were helpful, but their titles say it all. We also read a biography of sorts on Edward Albee and some of his life experiences- abusive parents and what not.
We also had several blog posts that we were to do over the last couple weeks; a couple responses to student responses, a couple mock AP essays and the summary for the American Dream that I mentioned earlier.
From reading student responses along with writing my own essays, I have learned that I need to be careful of summarizing and paraphrasing events and simply focus on making my retelling and referencing more concise when it comes to my explanation and answering of the essay question.
Over the last three days (11-7,8,9) our class also did a tone activity to show how very subtle changes in wording and inflection can change the tone of the phrase. I enjoyed it because several kids in the class made theirs humorous.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMle5ATnv4AOAEhsidTlwCRCIwukMVXp_yr8_mdbfHI/edit
We also did read and were tested on The American Dream by Edward Albee (See Summary and Analysis of The American Dream).
Those are the two big things we have been focusing on but we have also read a couple of sheets and done a couple practices for the AP exam in May.
Some of the papers that we have read were about different theories of different types of humor and why they are funny, one was on existentialism theory and another on the theater of the absurd. All of the papers helped us to read The American Dream. The main ideas were as simple as what their titles suggest. They were helpful, but their titles say it all. We also read a biography of sorts on Edward Albee and some of his life experiences- abusive parents and what not.
We also had several blog posts that we were to do over the last couple weeks; a couple responses to student responses, a couple mock AP essays and the summary for the American Dream that I mentioned earlier.
From reading student responses along with writing my own essays, I have learned that I need to be careful of summarizing and paraphrasing events and simply focus on making my retelling and referencing more concise when it comes to my explanation and answering of the essay question.
Over the last three days (11-7,8,9) our class also did a tone activity to show how very subtle changes in wording and inflection can change the tone of the phrase. I enjoyed it because several kids in the class made theirs humorous.
Monday, November 6, 2017
Summary and Analysis of "The American Dream"
Summary (With symbolism and side notes):
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, is a play first performed in 1961 that reflects the values that the American Dream entails. The characters In the play are Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mrs. Barker, and the young man. The play starts off in the family room in Mommy and Daddy's apartment, and Mommy is telling complacent Daddy about her trip to the store. She went to buy a new hat and got into an argument with a woman outside of the store over whether the hat was wheat-colored or cream-colored. This was important to show the materialistic nature of the women in the 50s and 60s. Shortly after that, Grandma enters the scene with her beautifully wrapped boxes. The boxes represent the quantification of material objects that are included in the dream. Throughout the play, Grandma talks about how you need substance to make anything worth anything. Soon thereafter, Mrs. Barker shows up to the scene. There is an abundance of confusion and Daddy can't remember Mrs. Barker's name, and no one knows why she is there or what she has to do. It is here that Mommy and Mrs. Barker start their pleasantries. Mommy asked questions, but they were not as you would expect. They were with the same diction as a normal question, but they were questions such as "would you like to take off your dress, as to be more comfortable?" (Not an actual quote, just a paraphrased example.) This was included to show the shallowness of the interactions and how they are nothing more than an empty ritual. Fast forward a little further the scene is just Grandma and Mrs. Barker, Grandma is trying to hint to Mrs. Barker why she is there. The hint was what happened a while back; This was written is a very specific style of something like this has already happened. The short story of what happened was Mommy and Daddy mangled their first child because he cried and "touched himself." As punishment for his human actions, they cut off his limbs and finally, he died. Mrs. Barker is trying to connect the dots, and it is there that the audience is aware that Mrs. Barker is there supposedly as a representative/ agent for an adoption agency. Then the American dream comes knocking at the door, literally. Grandma welcomed the final character into the scene, the young man. One of the first things she does is comment on his beauty and she calls him "The American Dream." The American Dream aka the young man talks, says that he is empty and hurts in all the places that Mommy and Daddy harmed the other child. This leads the audience to believe that the young man was the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first (failed) child. The play concluded with Grandma leaving the scene with the young man being welcomed into Mommy and Daddy's lives alongside Mrs. Barker who supposedly facilitated the whole thing. The truth of the matter is that Grandma seemed to be the only character who knew what was going on most if not the whole time.
Theme Statement:
" I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled. I have, now, only my person, my body, my face. I use what I have I let people love me I accept the syntax around me, for while I know I cannot relate; I know I must be related to." - the young man
In the summary, I briefly touched upon the meaning of the young man explaining his pain and emptiness to Grandma. The main idea that was discussed as a class was that of the young man and the first child being related because not only did the stories line up, but so did the pains that were felt. This I believe to be symbolic of Albee's childhood and upbringing. He was thought to be a possession of sorts, not a real person who learns and makes mistakes. In the biography the class read on Albee, it was said that his parents were not super loving and parental, but could show him off like no one's business. That is seen in this part of the play, whether it is admitted or not. There are simply too many similarities to situations and emotions that Albee must have felt towards his parents during his upbringing.
"What I'll really have to do is to see if it applies to anything. I mean, after all, I do do volunteer work if an adoption service, but it isn't very much like the Bye-Bye Adoption Service is the Bye-Bye Adoption Service and while I can remember Mommy and Daddy coming to see me, oh, about twenty years ago, about buying a bumble, I can't quite remember anyone very much like Mommy and Daddy coming to see me about buying a bundle."
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, is a play first performed in 1961 that reflects the values that the American Dream entails. The characters In the play are Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mrs. Barker, and the young man. The play starts off in the family room in Mommy and Daddy's apartment, and Mommy is telling complacent Daddy about her trip to the store. She went to buy a new hat and got into an argument with a woman outside of the store over whether the hat was wheat-colored or cream-colored. This was important to show the materialistic nature of the women in the 50s and 60s. Shortly after that, Grandma enters the scene with her beautifully wrapped boxes. The boxes represent the quantification of material objects that are included in the dream. Throughout the play, Grandma talks about how you need substance to make anything worth anything. Soon thereafter, Mrs. Barker shows up to the scene. There is an abundance of confusion and Daddy can't remember Mrs. Barker's name, and no one knows why she is there or what she has to do. It is here that Mommy and Mrs. Barker start their pleasantries. Mommy asked questions, but they were not as you would expect. They were with the same diction as a normal question, but they were questions such as "would you like to take off your dress, as to be more comfortable?" (Not an actual quote, just a paraphrased example.) This was included to show the shallowness of the interactions and how they are nothing more than an empty ritual. Fast forward a little further the scene is just Grandma and Mrs. Barker, Grandma is trying to hint to Mrs. Barker why she is there. The hint was what happened a while back; This was written is a very specific style of something like this has already happened. The short story of what happened was Mommy and Daddy mangled their first child because he cried and "touched himself." As punishment for his human actions, they cut off his limbs and finally, he died. Mrs. Barker is trying to connect the dots, and it is there that the audience is aware that Mrs. Barker is there supposedly as a representative/ agent for an adoption agency. Then the American dream comes knocking at the door, literally. Grandma welcomed the final character into the scene, the young man. One of the first things she does is comment on his beauty and she calls him "The American Dream." The American Dream aka the young man talks, says that he is empty and hurts in all the places that Mommy and Daddy harmed the other child. This leads the audience to believe that the young man was the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first (failed) child. The play concluded with Grandma leaving the scene with the young man being welcomed into Mommy and Daddy's lives alongside Mrs. Barker who supposedly facilitated the whole thing. The truth of the matter is that Grandma seemed to be the only character who knew what was going on most if not the whole time.
Theme Statement:
Albee’s The American Dream critiques the shifting American values of materialism, social behavior, and individual morals.
Important Quotes:
"What a masculine Daddy! Isn’t he a masculine Daddy?" - Mommy
This quote shows how Mommy is trying to convince/tell Daddy how masculine he is. In context, Mommy was trying to get him to open the door to let Mrs. Barker in, so she was building him up so he would do as she said. I also have speculations that this effort to enforce a masculine facade regardless of if that is who Daddy really is, or wants to be.
In the summary, I briefly touched upon the meaning of the young man explaining his pain and emptiness to Grandma. The main idea that was discussed as a class was that of the young man and the first child being related because not only did the stories line up, but so did the pains that were felt. This I believe to be symbolic of Albee's childhood and upbringing. He was thought to be a possession of sorts, not a real person who learns and makes mistakes. In the biography the class read on Albee, it was said that his parents were not super loving and parental, but could show him off like no one's business. That is seen in this part of the play, whether it is admitted or not. There are simply too many similarities to situations and emotions that Albee must have felt towards his parents during his upbringing.
"What I'll really have to do is to see if it applies to anything. I mean, after all, I do do volunteer work if an adoption service, but it isn't very much like the Bye-Bye Adoption Service is the Bye-Bye Adoption Service and while I can remember Mommy and Daddy coming to see me, oh, about twenty years ago, about buying a bumble, I can't quite remember anyone very much like Mommy and Daddy coming to see me about buying a bundle."
This quote was important due to the plot of the play because this is the first time someone implores Grandma to share her thoughts and explain things. The compromise as made by Grandma is that she talks about experiences though comparisons versus just stating what she is thinking. I believe this to be a fundamental idea of theater of the absurd, having ideas that are shrouded with a little crazy and confusion. Keeps the audience of their toes and their mind sharp so they do not miss any little details during the seemingly unimportant dialogue between characters. back to the quote- this quote is the climax of the play where the audience finds out that this has all happened before and that Mommy and Daddy were unhappy with their "bumble" so their solution was simply to find a new one (20 years later.)
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Closed Prompt 1 #2
2009
1A: I believe that this student deserved an 8 on the AP grading scale. It was an extremely well-written essay that I hope that I will be able to emulate when it comes time for me to take the AP exam. Student A did a wonderful job delving deeper than the surface of the speech. As written by Shakespear, it pretty hard to understand and so the fact that student A was able to both comprehend and interpret the work was pretty amazing in and of itself. Specifically, I appreciated the fact that the handwriting was legible and grammatically correct. My one nit-picking detail was I would have appreciated a couple more examples, but that is pretty objective considering I am not an AP reader and have not read a thousand other essays.
1B: Student B, in my opinion, deserves a 6 on the AP grading scale. Just like Student A student B did a great job on their essay and did a pretty good job tapping into the depth of the piece. Granted, I think that A did a little bit better than B but that is simply because A was a lot more thorough in their points regarding the play. One of my critiques of student B is the fact that they fell victim to the paraphrasing bug when writing their essay. This is something that I will have to be very careful about when it comes to my own AP essay when it comes time to write it. Besides that, I feel that student B did a good job with their introduction and conclusion introducing and finishing their ideas.
1C: Although student C had the nicest handwriting, their essay only deserves a 4 or 5 on the AP essay scale. Just as B did, C used a lot of paraphrasing to cover the fact that the content was pretty shallow. Student C's intro was super promising but fell apart when it came to application. As the essay progressed student C lost a lot of the focus that the initial points needed to execute. C did a great job with their introduction paragraph, they laid their ideas and thoughts out very well. On the other hand, their conclusion was not as great. I believe it was due to the lack of focus that was demonstrated in the body paragraphs. My other critique would be, I would have appreciated more concise examples throughout the essay versus paraphrased sections that had to do with the subtopic.
1A: I believe that this student deserved an 8 on the AP grading scale. It was an extremely well-written essay that I hope that I will be able to emulate when it comes time for me to take the AP exam. Student A did a wonderful job delving deeper than the surface of the speech. As written by Shakespear, it pretty hard to understand and so the fact that student A was able to both comprehend and interpret the work was pretty amazing in and of itself. Specifically, I appreciated the fact that the handwriting was legible and grammatically correct. My one nit-picking detail was I would have appreciated a couple more examples, but that is pretty objective considering I am not an AP reader and have not read a thousand other essays.
1B: Student B, in my opinion, deserves a 6 on the AP grading scale. Just like Student A student B did a great job on their essay and did a pretty good job tapping into the depth of the piece. Granted, I think that A did a little bit better than B but that is simply because A was a lot more thorough in their points regarding the play. One of my critiques of student B is the fact that they fell victim to the paraphrasing bug when writing their essay. This is something that I will have to be very careful about when it comes to my own AP essay when it comes time to write it. Besides that, I feel that student B did a good job with their introduction and conclusion introducing and finishing their ideas.
1C: Although student C had the nicest handwriting, their essay only deserves a 4 or 5 on the AP essay scale. Just as B did, C used a lot of paraphrasing to cover the fact that the content was pretty shallow. Student C's intro was super promising but fell apart when it came to application. As the essay progressed student C lost a lot of the focus that the initial points needed to execute. C did a great job with their introduction paragraph, they laid their ideas and thoughts out very well. On the other hand, their conclusion was not as great. I believe it was due to the lack of focus that was demonstrated in the body paragraphs. My other critique would be, I would have appreciated more concise examples throughout the essay versus paraphrased sections that had to do with the subtopic.
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