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.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, November 9, 2017
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.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Closed Prompt 2
This excerpt from, Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, the author uses literary devices such as language, point of view, and several actions to show the reader how uncomfortable Arun is in his surroundings. By doing so, it forces the reader to sympathize with Arun and his new surroundings, hence making it more clear to the reader what Arun is experiencing.
Language is a strong literary device used throughout the whole excerpt to illustrate the emotional setting. In the first paragraph, Desai describes Arun as despondent- in low spirits due to loss of courage. This sets up the excerpt with a sad and lethargic setting. later on in the excerpt when Arun is outside he sees " these grasses stirring with insidious life, and bushes with poisonous berries." This description of nature is written in such a way that you can feel how uncomfortable Arun is with being outside. The language that Desai uses throughout the excerpt paints a picture of an uncomfortable boy in a foreign environment. By using more of a more dark and unhappy vocabulary, the writer shows us exactly how her words should illustrate how uncomfortable Arun is.
The excerpt, written in third person, allows the reader to witness Arun and his surroundings in an unbiased manner. This excerpt is primarily showing Arun's experience and how he sees and thinks. If the story had been told in a first person view than the reader would only be able to feel and think as Arun does, but by writing in third person it allows the reader to perceive situation in their own way- and allows them to draw their own conclusions. A good example of a situation that would of changed if written in first person is, "Melanie and Arun follow silently. they try to find a way to walk that will not compel them to stand side by side or in any way close together. Who follows whom? Is is an awkward problem." The reason this is a good example is because it allows the reader to contemplate why they can't stand side by side? why do they feel awkward with each other? If this had been written in first person then it would of only explained one view leaving the rest of the picture neglected.
Lastly, Desai uses the actions of her characters to highlight Arun's discomfort. the interactions between Melanie and Arun show the awkward and forced nature of their relationship, "Melanie comes to the door, dressed in her bathing suit with a big shirt drawn across her shoulders, and she stares at him challengingly, he starts wildly to find an excuse." Here Melanie is trying to get Arun to go sailing with herself and the rest of his host family, and Arun is trying desperately to find a way out of doing so. Even an exchange as simple as that shows the readers how Arun feels and how he views the common activities of his host family.
At first glace the except of fasting, feasting, seems lighthearted and like a family trying to go sailing on a nice day. After looking a little deeper it is made clear that Arun, the main character, is uncomfortable with his family and going outside. Desai uses actions of characters, point of view, and language to contribute to the emotional profile of Arun.
Language is a strong literary device used throughout the whole excerpt to illustrate the emotional setting. In the first paragraph, Desai describes Arun as despondent- in low spirits due to loss of courage. This sets up the excerpt with a sad and lethargic setting. later on in the excerpt when Arun is outside he sees " these grasses stirring with insidious life, and bushes with poisonous berries." This description of nature is written in such a way that you can feel how uncomfortable Arun is with being outside. The language that Desai uses throughout the excerpt paints a picture of an uncomfortable boy in a foreign environment. By using more of a more dark and unhappy vocabulary, the writer shows us exactly how her words should illustrate how uncomfortable Arun is.
The excerpt, written in third person, allows the reader to witness Arun and his surroundings in an unbiased manner. This excerpt is primarily showing Arun's experience and how he sees and thinks. If the story had been told in a first person view than the reader would only be able to feel and think as Arun does, but by writing in third person it allows the reader to perceive situation in their own way- and allows them to draw their own conclusions. A good example of a situation that would of changed if written in first person is, "Melanie and Arun follow silently. they try to find a way to walk that will not compel them to stand side by side or in any way close together. Who follows whom? Is is an awkward problem." The reason this is a good example is because it allows the reader to contemplate why they can't stand side by side? why do they feel awkward with each other? If this had been written in first person then it would of only explained one view leaving the rest of the picture neglected.
Lastly, Desai uses the actions of her characters to highlight Arun's discomfort. the interactions between Melanie and Arun show the awkward and forced nature of their relationship, "Melanie comes to the door, dressed in her bathing suit with a big shirt drawn across her shoulders, and she stares at him challengingly, he starts wildly to find an excuse." Here Melanie is trying to get Arun to go sailing with herself and the rest of his host family, and Arun is trying desperately to find a way out of doing so. Even an exchange as simple as that shows the readers how Arun feels and how he views the common activities of his host family.
At first glace the except of fasting, feasting, seems lighthearted and like a family trying to go sailing on a nice day. After looking a little deeper it is made clear that Arun, the main character, is uncomfortable with his family and going outside. Desai uses actions of characters, point of view, and language to contribute to the emotional profile of Arun.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
How to approach colleges
As a high school junior I have been starting to think about colleges and what sort of school I want to go to for several years of my upcoming life.
At first I was dead set on going to U of M, simply because that is what my family told me I should go. As I got older and started to recognize my strengths and weaknesses as a student I realized I wanted nothing to do with a big state university! I wanted a small school that could provide me with a quality one on one education.
So that got me thinking how big do you want your school to be? Do you want big classes? Do you want small classes with one on one attention?
Once I knew how big I wanted my college to be, I had to ask myself how far away from home do I want to be? I want to be within a couple hours of home.
With those two ideas in mind, I knew I wanted a liberal arts college in Michigan. And with that I took to google! "Liberal arts colleges in Michigan" did the trick, and with the click of a button I was being informed of all these little colleges all across mid Michigan.
I started taking notes on all the different schools I wanted to research. With these notes I took to the schools websites to investigate their programs. I also used several online sources on how I should go about looking at colleges.
I am still a junior in high school, so I have plenty of time to look around, but it is honesty so fun to visit colleges!!
Just this last weekend I went to my first college this last week and it was amazing! The environment was so positive and it felt like everyone was there for their education, not because they were forced into being there.
At first I was dead set on going to U of M, simply because that is what my family told me I should go. As I got older and started to recognize my strengths and weaknesses as a student I realized I wanted nothing to do with a big state university! I wanted a small school that could provide me with a quality one on one education.
So that got me thinking how big do you want your school to be? Do you want big classes? Do you want small classes with one on one attention?
Once I knew how big I wanted my college to be, I had to ask myself how far away from home do I want to be? I want to be within a couple hours of home.
With those two ideas in mind, I knew I wanted a liberal arts college in Michigan. And with that I took to google! "Liberal arts colleges in Michigan" did the trick, and with the click of a button I was being informed of all these little colleges all across mid Michigan.
I am still a junior in high school, so I have plenty of time to look around, but it is honesty so fun to visit colleges!!
Just this last weekend I went to my first college this last week and it was amazing! The environment was so positive and it felt like everyone was there for their education, not because they were forced into being there.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Late-Night Thoughts
Good whatever-time-of-day-you're-reading-this! How are you today?
I come come to write fully equip with a stress lined rant, so time to get comfy :)
Okay first of we have the endless night packed with studying, and trying oh so very hard to not frustrate the people around and in our lives, and your sleep deprived body tries to communicate on some level of human interaction you could potentially deem as "nice", also known as finals.
They suck. There is no way around that fact. You could have a 4.00 GPA or a 2.00 GPA, and all the while they would still be stressful. It is the unnatural act of cutting your sleep down by a handful on hours up to a few weeks in advance, so you can have more time to study everything you have learned since school has started.
Of course there are the educational benefits, but that's beside the point when you feel the need to pull an all-nighter to try and shove every little tid-bit of information you think you can hold in your brain.
Okay... enough on that now on to: DRAMA! *DUN DUN DUNNNN*
By no means is this section based off of anything in my life, but seriously why does drama always seem to come up just when you feel like you have a little too much of everything on your plate?
Is that some twisted Murphy's Law I neglected to recognize?
Seriously though, I think that people should just consider having a pause button for any and or all friendships. I don't mean that in the way it sounds, but as in if there was a button where you could just put all problems aside for like a few days, just so something could be done without any other distraction, and you could return to the problem again later.
Another serious benefit to the pause button would be it would give people time to think and actually decide what they think is important to be said, versus just say stuff just out of the heat of the moment.
And I can say with full certainty that I think this idea could of saved some of my older friendships that sorta fizzled out over pent up feelings and aggressive reactions.
\My next topic is: PLEASE TRY TO SAY THINGS TO PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW WILL RAISE THEM UP NOT DOWN!!!
This one comes out of kind of a sensitive place, because I have been told that I used to or still do (I don't really know) have people come to my blog to read what I have to say only to laugh at it and go off and tease it. That hurts. I realize I'm putting myself on display by trying out my feelings, but seriously if you're going to go off and tease me, PLEASE be classy enough to make sure it doesn't get back to me.
I seriously do not care if people want to go around and bash what I have to say, but please be kind to my face, that's all I ask.
That was sorta off kilter from what I wanted to say, but the point is still valid.
What I wanted to say was, if you have people in your life, regardless if you like them or not, I belive you should still be kind and have positive things to say.
I know it is supper hard to make something nice up to say sometimes, but it seriously helps to compliment someone, or share a (happier) thought, or something. On a selfish level it will make you feel better if you're kinder to others and share positive things.
I feel like this is a good stopping point for tonight. Just fyi I do not even come close to being perfect when it comes to any of these things, but they're some of my personal goals, and I would like to become a more positive and less stressed person.
Anyways, I hope for better days to come,
xoxo
Olivia
* Just roll with it and pretend to hear the dramatic noise in your head.
I come come to write fully equip with a stress lined rant, so time to get comfy :)
Okay first of we have the endless night packed with studying, and trying oh so very hard to not frustrate the people around and in our lives, and your sleep deprived body tries to communicate on some level of human interaction you could potentially deem as "nice", also known as finals.
They suck. There is no way around that fact. You could have a 4.00 GPA or a 2.00 GPA, and all the while they would still be stressful. It is the unnatural act of cutting your sleep down by a handful on hours up to a few weeks in advance, so you can have more time to study everything you have learned since school has started.
Of course there are the educational benefits, but that's beside the point when you feel the need to pull an all-nighter to try and shove every little tid-bit of information you think you can hold in your brain.
Okay... enough on that now on to: DRAMA! *DUN DUN DUNNNN*
By no means is this section based off of anything in my life, but seriously why does drama always seem to come up just when you feel like you have a little too much of everything on your plate?
Is that some twisted Murphy's Law I neglected to recognize?
Seriously though, I think that people should just consider having a pause button for any and or all friendships. I don't mean that in the way it sounds, but as in if there was a button where you could just put all problems aside for like a few days, just so something could be done without any other distraction, and you could return to the problem again later.
Another serious benefit to the pause button would be it would give people time to think and actually decide what they think is important to be said, versus just say stuff just out of the heat of the moment.
And I can say with full certainty that I think this idea could of saved some of my older friendships that sorta fizzled out over pent up feelings and aggressive reactions.
\My next topic is: PLEASE TRY TO SAY THINGS TO PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW WILL RAISE THEM UP NOT DOWN!!!
This one comes out of kind of a sensitive place, because I have been told that I used to or still do (I don't really know) have people come to my blog to read what I have to say only to laugh at it and go off and tease it. That hurts. I realize I'm putting myself on display by trying out my feelings, but seriously if you're going to go off and tease me, PLEASE be classy enough to make sure it doesn't get back to me.
I seriously do not care if people want to go around and bash what I have to say, but please be kind to my face, that's all I ask.
That was sorta off kilter from what I wanted to say, but the point is still valid.
What I wanted to say was, if you have people in your life, regardless if you like them or not, I belive you should still be kind and have positive things to say.
I know it is supper hard to make something nice up to say sometimes, but it seriously helps to compliment someone, or share a (happier) thought, or something. On a selfish level it will make you feel better if you're kinder to others and share positive things.
I feel like this is a good stopping point for tonight. Just fyi I do not even come close to being perfect when it comes to any of these things, but they're some of my personal goals, and I would like to become a more positive and less stressed person.
Anyways, I hope for better days to come,
xoxo
Olivia
* Just roll with it and pretend to hear the dramatic noise in your head.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Monumental moments #1
Recently a friend of mine and myself have decided to start a (two person) writing group, so we can further our knowledge of writing and slowly become more comfortable with sharing our writing. (if you're interesting in joining our writing efforts, shoot me an email at oliviavanark@gmail.com.)
I mean personally, it's not that big of a problem for me, considering I shamelessly shove this blog down the throats of everyone I meet. I mean the mouth is basically free advertisement... AMIRITE?
Anyways, on to my first monumental moment of my life (AKA our first writing for the group):
The Impact of Writing in My Life:
You know the feeling of being around family, the one that makes you feel safe and like you belong? That is the feeling I get from writing.
It almost gives me a natural high from simply knowing that I am capable of sharing my thoughts and emotions through a set of only 26 letters, that only get moved around to mean different things.
I am constantly thankful for the fact I am able to lay out my thoughts and ideas, but I suppose that can be attributed to the fact it am very, Very, VERY extroverted. So I suppose it is helpful I can successfully communicate what is going on in my chaotic mess of a mind.
The difference between writing and not writing for me is the difference between whether or not I will be able to communicate properly with people. Writing allows for all thoughts to be recorded and then rearranged into a logic order (unlike how they come to me in my head...).
Writing has slowly built up my confidence in what I am capable of producing with my own mind. I have seen the result of this in many different ways, such as: My work in color guard has become more expressive, I have become okay with people looking at me as I put myself on display and I have become okay with criticism. I honestly credit so much of that to my writing and how I have become okay with exposing what I have created.
It seriously puts you on the spot of proving you either know what you're doing or not. I find that simply exhilarating, (and of course nerve racking, or terrifying if I don't know what I'm doing.)
That's all for now... Hope you're have a fabulous day,
Olivia
xoxo
I mean personally, it's not that big of a problem for me, considering I shamelessly shove this blog down the throats of everyone I meet. I mean the mouth is basically free advertisement... AMIRITE?
Anyways, on to my first monumental moment of my life (AKA our first writing for the group):
The Impact of Writing in My Life:
You know the feeling of being around family, the one that makes you feel safe and like you belong? That is the feeling I get from writing.
It almost gives me a natural high from simply knowing that I am capable of sharing my thoughts and emotions through a set of only 26 letters, that only get moved around to mean different things.
I am constantly thankful for the fact I am able to lay out my thoughts and ideas, but I suppose that can be attributed to the fact it am very, Very, VERY extroverted. So I suppose it is helpful I can successfully communicate what is going on in my chaotic mess of a mind.
The difference between writing and not writing for me is the difference between whether or not I will be able to communicate properly with people. Writing allows for all thoughts to be recorded and then rearranged into a logic order (unlike how they come to me in my head...).
Writing has slowly built up my confidence in what I am capable of producing with my own mind. I have seen the result of this in many different ways, such as: My work in color guard has become more expressive, I have become okay with people looking at me as I put myself on display and I have become okay with criticism. I honestly credit so much of that to my writing and how I have become okay with exposing what I have created.
It seriously puts you on the spot of proving you either know what you're doing or not. I find that simply exhilarating, (and of course nerve racking, or terrifying if I don't know what I'm doing.)
That's all for now... Hope you're have a fabulous day,
Olivia
xoxo
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Thoughts
Do/did you have classes where the second the teacher would talk you mind would go numb? Personally, for me that class is science. The thoughts that flood my vacant mind, are those of rhymed whimsy. I can't help it, my right brain wants to run free and leave my left brain to learn, but sadly they are tied together like two kids participating in a three-legged-race. Whenever the right side acts up, it will command me to doodle or scribble all over the sides of my notes and or assignments. I like to think of those doodles as my compensating the "left-sidedness" of whatever we're learning. My doodles are anything from numbers depicting how many more dreadful seconds I have left until I'm free from the class, to poorly drawn flowers with swirls all down the margins of my paper(s).
On the flip side did/do you have a class where the second the teacher would talk, you would be sucked into the lesson faster that a valley girl to a Starbucks coupon? For me that is History. It's like a hour of story time, and from the minute my teacher opens her mouth I am sucked into a realty many years removed, but in that one class period, that lesson seems to coexist with that of the reality we are living.
Hope you're having a good day,
Olivia
xoxo
On the flip side did/do you have a class where the second the teacher would talk, you would be sucked into the lesson faster that a valley girl to a Starbucks coupon? For me that is History. It's like a hour of story time, and from the minute my teacher opens her mouth I am sucked into a realty many years removed, but in that one class period, that lesson seems to coexist with that of the reality we are living.
Hope you're having a good day,
Olivia
xoxo
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