For the past few weeks we have continued to learn the skills needed to read literature closely. Like the strange acronym STIFS for poetry. This is very much like DIDLS but focuses much more on imagery because of the nature of poems.
Also we have been discussing Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". This play is interesting to me and the rest of the class because it makes you almost bipolar, one second you pity Willy and the next you think he is the worst man ever. Because of this emotional roller coaster we have been discussing tragedies and what it is. As a class I think at the moment we are saying that this is tragic but not a tragedy. But we may be mistaken because we seemed unsure of the situation upon leaving class Friday.
I am enjoying these Socratic discussions because I think that we come up with many original ideas this way. I am excited to see what we will have to say tomorrow and I love relating this play to other works of art.
I'd like to see a little more detail in your response to course material, Ana--you can use the class blog on the front page if you're having trouble recalling everything we've covered. Also, remember to make connections among course concepts (what does DOS have to do with The American Dream, for instance? why did we read "Promises like Pie-Crust" and "My Father's Song" with DOS? what comedy techniques are used in DOS?) and between the course and other classes and your life outside school (have you seen course ideas in movies, do they remind you of other classes, etc?)
ReplyDeleteAna,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see what you took away from these past couple of weeks. I was thinking a lot of the same thoughts as you. One thing our class differed from yours was the idea of tragedy. Personally, I think Death of a Salesman is a tragedy. Even though it does not fit the classical version of a tragedy does not mean it is not a modern tragedy. As the times change literary definitions need to change as well. I really liked your point about the play making the reader feel bipolar with their reactions to Willy. I agree that Miller makes it hard to hate or love Willy. Very nice job I would just add a little more detail next time to help you remember in the future!
Avery
Ana,
ReplyDeleteYou always have insightful comments during discussion, and I think you play as big a role in the class (as anyone else), because your comments often lead us into bigger ideas, so don't be afraid to put all those thoughts in your discussion of course material. I have also enjoyed our Socratic style discussions, though I am still not 100% Ms. Holmes isn't secretly running a test on all her classes to see how we perform as a group(sarcmark). Try to tie in not only the ideas and discussions we have in class, but how they have changed your perception on things out of class, as Ms. Holmes said. I know I have been connected AP Lit to a variety of things, including the ever fun College Essays.
Hi Ana,
ReplyDeleteLooks like I'm the champion of not doing blog replies more than three hours before they're due! Sigh. As Max said above, you do have very good ideas in class and need to talk more! You're also very, very good at encouraging others, simply by agreeing with the rest of us non-talkers. Whenever you agree with me, for instance, that's actually a huge confidence boost and it really helps me and I haven't even thanked you. So thank you!
For this type of reflective post, one thing that's helped me is I've tried to answer the question, "How can I use this past month in AP Lit in the rest of my life?" While I'm currently afloat in the class, there is absolutely no way that I'm going to spend the rest of my life debating Willy Loman and deeply analyzing poetry. I want to be able to use these skills at some point, or at least be able to write about it in a blog post.
Does that make sense? I think connecting AP Lit to real life/the future will really help this post.
Curtis