Teaching Website for IB Literature HL with Ms. Hughes
IB LITERATURE HL
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Updates on assignments - Week of May 18th
Tuesday, May 19th:  
  • letters of recommendation: how to request a letter of recommendation from Ms. Hughes, instructions, limitations, etc.
  • IOP: hard copies of the instructions, ideas, evaluation criteria for the IOP.  The electronic copies are here.
  • Vocabulary: handout new set of words
  • Time to read in class

Thursday, May 21st
  • How tone functions in literature: short exercise for you to practice literary deconstruction of your choice text.
  • Quiz: vocabulary.  Choose seven of the new words to define and write a luscious sentence.
  • Time to read in class
vocabulary from choice texts
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Persuasive Essay:  Final Draft Instructions
Thursday, May 7.  In class, we will review our essays and decide which target skill we want to focus on during revision.  Revised 'final' drafts will be collected on Tuesday, May 12th.
You will choose between:
skill 6 (combined with 3): illustrate with effective evidence AND analyze evidence for connection to thesis
skill 5: demonstrate formal academic use of grammar and conventions
skill 5: demonstrate a sophisticated use of academic vocabulary in the register of the specific topic
evaluation rubric
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reviewing_the_persuasive_essay.pdf
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choice text

The final text of the year will be your choice (within reason).  I suggest the following texts, but I am open to something not on the list as long as it has literary merit.*
The month of May will function as literature circles (mini book groups).  Our class time will balance an exploration of what you are reading with preparations for the IOP (Individual Oral Presentation).

The recommended texts are:
A Gathering of Old Men by E. Gaines
Montana 1948 by L. Watson
Chronicles of a Death Foretold by G. G. Marquez
Fahrenheit 451 by R. Bradbury
Beloved by T. Morrison
Animal Dreams or Homeland by B. Kingsolver
Nine Stories by JD Salinger
Mama Day by G. Naylor
My Antonia by W. Catha
Time of the Butterflies by J. Alvarez
Homeland by B. Kingsolver

*literary merit, like beauty,  is in the eye of the beholder.  Yet, as students of literary critique and academic interests, we recognize that some texts are more rich in their prose, plot, character development, imagery, and general storytelling technique than others.

a handmaid's tale


Monday, April 27th
Due:  SCRIBE draft of persuasive essay.


For Tuesday, April 21st.
Bring your typed draft of the persuasive essay you are writing.
Bring your source material.
Your essay should have paragraphs, a beginning and end.  We will work on refining our arguments, the introduction, the hook, the opposing argument in class.

These two revision documents (right) will help your editing process.

linking_paragraphs.pdf
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persuasion_map.pdf
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Tuesday and Thursday, April 14 and 16:
Rhetoric, argument, and synthesis.
In class on Tuesday, we will examine rhetoric and how it's used to persuade.  
The following slide deck is used along with a class activity.

If you miss class on Tuesday, please ensure you take notes on the slide deck and can, confidently, distinguish between logos, ethos, and pathos.

Thursday, April 9, 2015
There were a total of 18 people absent today, as a result of many field trips and a few folks taking an even longer weekend (I suspect).
As a result, we did NOT do the timed writing; we will do this on Monday.
We did, however, have some interesting conversations about the article, "Asking For It"


20 minutes to read/write in journals
20 minutes for contextual discussion of article "Asking For It"


This will happen Monday
25 minutes to write on one of the following prompts (see below)
  • What is suggested by the existence of “colonies” where the “unwomen” live?
  • Examine the crimes the Martha’s gossip about in their “private conversations”?  
  • Examine the ideology behind “freedom from rather than freedom to.”
  •  What is the function of the Wall?
  • Is Gilead a stable society?  What is a destabilizing influence in it?
  • Words can limit and can add new connotations.  What words are used here that have new meanings? Why doesn’t Atwood explain them all as they occur?
  • How does the world of Gilead contain elements of extremely conservative, religious believes, as well as elements of more liberal, feminist beliefs?  Discuss.
  • Consider the ways Gilead turns its people’s anger and frustration away from the regime and onto some safe target as scapegoat.

March 30 - April 24th
Our fifth text this year is Margaret Atwood's dystopic A Handmaid's Tale.  As with all reading, we allow ourselves to be transported to other places, be infiltrated by other ideas, and play with imaginary scenarios.  Atwood asks us to consider contemporary society and our relationships with fertility, reproductive rights, patriarchy, and civil disobedience.  
The following calendar is an approximation of the reading schedule and classroom activities.  



theories of literary critique: literary lenses

March 9-20th, 2015
Our study for the next two weeks is the academic understanding of literary lenses.  You are most familiar with the reader-response (attention on the reader rather than the text) and the formalist lens (examining how the writer creates meaning through style and craft).  Now we will examine other literary lenses, and we begin that process by looking at fairy tales.

By now, you are part of a partnership that will examine ONE fairy tale through ONE of three lenses.  These partnerships are:

Jack and the Beanstalk
1.Psychoanalytic
2.Mythological
3.Feminist

Little Red Riding Hood
4.Psychoanalytic
5.Mythological
6.Feminist

Snow White
7.Psychoanalytic
8.Mythological
9.Feminist

Rapunzel
10.Psychoanalytic
11.Mythological
12.Feminist

See below for the calendar for the next two weeks

two classed diverged in a yellow wood...

Project ideas for your culminating assessment
These three documents have hundreds of project ideas that allow you to demonstrate your engagement with a text.  Not all of them, however, speak to the specific skills we are trying to practice (and master) in this literature course.  When choosing, consider what skills you will be demonstrating with this project.  Second semester skills are outlined here:

Consider carefully your project.  How will your project demonstrate these skills?
  • Reading and comprehending the story
  • Identifying themes
  • Appreciate the literary style of the text
  • Recognize the significance of character and symbol within the text
  • Understand allegory
  • Appreciate the context of culture, religion, philosophy, and biography of the author


options for responding to literature1
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options for responding to literature2
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options for responding to literature3
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Vocabulary, Grammar, Conventions are the same for both classes.
Curriculum, reading calendars, homework, assignments are different for period two and three.

Click here for period two                                Click here for period three

You asked for it ... you got it!

Affect and Effect and Commas ... Oh, My!
Second semester will be peppered with direct instruction in grammar, conventions, and vocabulary building.  
Check back here OFTEN for quiz dates and content
Vocabulary for Siddhartha
42 sparkly words to know, love, use correctly in a sentence, and identify the part of speech.
Expect a quiz on ...
  • Monday 2/9  = words 1-12
  • Tuesday 2/17 = words 13-24
  • Tuesday 2/24 = words 25-33 (insipid - pyre)
  • Monday March 2 = words 34-42 (respite - venerable)
vocabulary_word_list.pdf
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Grammar and Conventions
  • Subjects and predicates
  • Coordinating conjunctions
  • Commas, comma splices, run on sentences
  • Commas and semicolons



Siddhartha, Buddhism, hinduism... 

As we move into the second semester and our study of Part Four works, we begin with the novel by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha.
For Thursday, finals day, we will be in the library researching and discovering the religions of India and Asia.  
We begin with Hinduism and Buddhism as context for our story.  
Due Tuesday, Feb. 3
  • Notes from your research in class on Thursday
  • Please ensure that you have watched these two documentaries

poetry!  

Poetry explication:  this document helps us move through a poem, ask questions, evaluate and react to the words.  As we continue to work with poetry, we will become familiar with the terms and rhetoric of poetry explication (analysis), so that our language also reflects what we KNOW about what we READ.
poetryexplicationworksheet.pdf
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Day one:  please read and take notes on this slide deck presented on Tuesday, January 13th.  Six key vocabulary terms are defined that we will use to describe and define a poem's rhythm.
Note:  Only take notes on the first SEVEN PAGES

poetry_introduction_to_vocabulary.pdf
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Poetry Links from class:
A Slip of the Tongue
Spoken word artist: Taylor Mali
Spoken word artist: Shane Koyczan

W.A. due Tuesday, January 13th

What you are turning in:
  • Reflective statement (no more than 400 words).  Typed, double spaced, with your first and last name upper right.
  • Essay (no more than 1500 words).  Typed, double spaced, with your first and last name upper right.  Title of essay is center justified above the introductory paragraph.  Also include a footer with your name and the page number [example = Hughes, page X of Y].

Open this document (right) to see a sample formatting


sample format
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Writing the World Literature Essay written assignment (wa)

There is an entire page devoted to the Written Assignment (IB label).  Refer to this page for a smorgasbord of ideas, tips, guides, and advice. Remember, you are not starting from scratch.  You have already written about these texts, so you are simply building upon what you've already written.

Week of December 15th.  You have been assigned a text on which you will write your WA (Written Assignment).  You may swap with someone in your class only.  You may not unilaterally change your text.
Tuesday and Thursday in class:  evaluation rubric for the WA.  How will I be assessed?  What does each category mean?  How does that translate into plain English?
Mind mapping, brainstorming, and templates.  Getting started with the process, taking notes, writing down your ideas.

Regarding the prompt for your writing: there is none.  You select the focus of your writing.  You choose the vehicle to write about theme, style, craft, and the importance of the text.  This is all about you!

The reflective statement is a separate document to the essay.  It is exactly what we've written in class.  See evaluation criteria for length and content.  Don't worry.  You've already done this.

There are hard copies of some mind map templates in class for your use.  Check out these additional resources for mind mapping and brainstorming:
Mind Maps from Illuminae Training
Novamind
24 software tools for mind mapping and brainstorming

Writing and revising

For Thursday, December 11th
Due: one page. typed. double spaced. containing the revised introductory paragraph from the Kitchen essay.  
In class on Tuesday we received the feedback from SCRIBE on our Kitchen essays.  We absorbed (rejected?) the feedback and made revisions.  We looked at several documents to plan and structure our analysis.  You will turn in a revised introdctory paragraph ONLY and not the entire essay.  This facilitates me evaluating three things:
  • your thesis statement
  • your hook
  • your ability to frame your essential position (thesis) and why it matters (so what?)
all of this takes place in the introduction.

context for the stranger

In some ways, we have already created context for this novel.  We've examined the ideology of existentialism, looked at the artistic movements of this time period, and read Camus' essay on The Myth of Sisyphus.  Yet, we are remiss if we don't set the novel in time and place.  
Today, please spend some time researching these two subjects:
  • French occupied Algeria:  how long was it occupied, where is Algeria, when did it gain independence?
  • Biographic look at Albert Camus: where was he born, how long did he live, where and how did he live?

Following this research we will write our reflective statement next week.

writing about The stranger

We worked with these three documents in class on Tuesday.  Please use them to formulate your thinking and writing about the text.  Consider them journal entries.  You are NOT answering each question, but a smattering of questions.
Part One
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Part Two (A)
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Part Two (B)
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Myth of sisyphus

Due Monday, November 24th.
Please read the "Myth of Sisyphus" by A. Camus.  This is an essay he wrote, complimenting The Stranger and The Rebel, asking us to consider our search for life's meaning as folly, absurd.  It concludes asking us to imagine Sisyphus happy.
Full text can be found online here

Also due on Monday:  part two of the text.  You should finish the book!

time and place:  existentialism

In class on Tuesday, we located The Stranger in time and place.  Specifically, we looked at the artistic movements that influenced Camus.  If you missed class, please read/watch the slide deck.

This is part of the interactive orals for this text.  You will refer to this in your reflective statement.

snow day 11.13.14

The week without an A day.  The next time you have class will be Monday, November 17th.  I am at an IB conference that day, so be prepared for a wonderful, experienced sub:  Diane Harlan.

For Monday: you will bring your Kitchen essay to class.  This essay is typed, double spaced, has formatted paragraphs, contains quotations from the text as evidence of your analysis.
On Monday you will work on the skill of embedding quotes:
  • how to quote, paraphrase, and correctly cite text
  • how to interpret not summarize quotes
  • how much quote to use and when

You will revise your essays in class.  Those revisions will be incorporated and an updated version of your essay will come to class with you on Tuesday, 11.18.14.  This is the version we will send to SCRIBE.  Do NOT put your name on this draft.  

On Tuesday, we will collect the essays and move directly into The Stranger.  
See below for how to prepare for Tuesday's lesson.  

The Stranger and Existentialism
Please read, listen, take notes, and comprehend this slide-deck for our work in class.  Due Tuesday, November 18th
Yes, it says listen.

kitchen

The Stranger

Writing about Kitchen:
The first solid draft of your Kitchen essay is due on Thursday, November 13th
This draft should include the framework of your essay (intro, body paragraphs, conclusion).  It should be typed.  It should contain supportive evidence from the text.
The essay description and instructions are in the document (below).

A more polished draft of this essay is due on Tuesday, November 18, which will be sent out for the SCRIBE Tribe feedback and revision. 
Picture
Reading schedule
Part One (pages 3-59) due Thursday, November 13th.
Part Two (pages 63-123) due Monday, November 24th

Kitchen essay prompts
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The G.I. Smackdown! (gastrointestinal)
Dear scholars of literature,
I hope to be back on my feet soon.  I'm home with a nasty bout of, as my granddad used to say, the Dreaded Lurgy.  I think it's food poisoning.

I'm so disappointed to miss the Kitchen presentations.  I'm sure they were interesting, entertaining, and provided lots of context for the novel.  Perhaps we can have a short debrief when I return.  I also know there are a number of our tribe also out sick.  'Tis the season.  Whether or not you have been at school, do the very best to get caught up with the work and stay on top of things.  Given all that we have to accomplish, and how very little class time we have over the next month, I'm turning up the volume on what will need to be prepared outside of class.  We've talked about it.  Here it is.

Due Monday, November 3rd.  Complete the following:
  • Notes on the interactive orals from class.  Read through your notes and, while still in your memory, expand them where needed and make additional commentary.  These are a record of the presentations and will  help with writing the essay later.
  • A reflective statement on Kitchen in light of the interactive orals.  I understand, now, that you did not complete this in class on Tuesday, so you will need to write it this weekend.  We will complete the cover sheet in class next week.  This is the prompt for that statement:  How was your understanding of the cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the interactive oral?  You should consider: How does this impact your understanding of the text?  What connections do you make?  Does the meaning of the text change based on what you've learned?
  • Please read and take notes on the slide deck Writing About Literature.  Your notes should reflect an overview of the presentation, but you should write/copy verbatim the information on slides 7-13, please.  These will be used in class.
  • Also, please watch this seven minute video How and Why We Read.
  • You will find these documents/videos on this page.
  • Complete the handout "Identifying Theme" about Kitchen.  Most of you completed this in class last week.  Make sure it is comprehensive and that you have a solid answer for questions 3 and 4.  These are crucial.  I recommend doing this with more than one theme, as there are many that can be identified in the text.  Be sure your sentences in question 4 pass the litmus test.
On Monday, November 3rd, we will collect our next novel from the book room: The Stranger by Camus.  You will not return Kitchen, yet.

Thank you for carrying on my absence.  The sub reported that you have been very kind to him.  Naturally.  My students are the BEST!
Hopefully, I will see you at conferences.  If not, I will see you next week.

Thinking, writing, and speaking about Kitchen.
Consider the following prompts to stimulate your reflection on Kitchen:
  • Are there words in Kitchen that are masculine or feminine?  Do words have gender?  What can we learn from assigning gender to words?  
  • The genre of magical realism is defined as a literary style combining magical or dream like elements with realism.  Origins in Latin America.  Are there elements of Kitchen that can be described as magical realism?  What is there significance?  Why make this literary choice?  What does it do for the reader's interpretation?
  • To nurture is to care for.  Where do you see nurturing take place in Kitchen?  Do we choose to be nurturing or is this an inherent characteristic?  Is nurturing cultural?  What about it is cultural?  Is it gender based?  
  • In Kitchen, the role of the mother is played by a father?  Describe the effect of this.  What are we asked to consider or question?

Reading and Journal schedule for Kitchen:
Due Thursday, October 9: one third of the text and one entry (approx pg. 43)
Monday, October 13:  time to read and write in class.
Due Tuesday, October 14: second third and one entry (approx page 79)
Due Tuesday, October 21: finish the text and final entry.
Kitchen Journal inst.
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Tuesday, 10/7.  Film:  Eatrip.  Click here for a link to the film's site.  I rented this (DVD) from Netflix.
For Thursday, 10/2
Food.  Glorious Food.   As a palate cleanser for our next novel, we will eat, drink, and discuss food.  You have elected to bring with you some sweet or savory snack or a beverage for our Socratic discussion.  Please don't forget.

O.D.I.T.L.O.I.D.  [one day in the life of ivan denisovich]

Due Tuesday 9/30
Completed essay for One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich
See below for essay evaluation criteria
Don't over-think this.  You've already written NINE drafts of this essay.  It's already written; you simply need to tie it together.
Nine drafts = three responses for summer assignment, research for orals, reflective statement, three prompts in class, merging three prompts into one.

Due Monday 9/29
Take the three pieces of writing you did in class.  Combine them.  Blend them.  Morph them into one prompt and one response to the text.  If you look at your three selections, you'll find that they are connected in two ways: first, by what interests YOU; second, by theme and subject.  
Bring to class the framework on an essay on Denisovich.  What is a framework?  A structure, a skeleton, a blueprint upon which you will add the details.  
At the very least you will have YOUR prompt (see above) with a hook for the introduction, topics and ideas for the body paragraphs, context (outside the text) to add relevance, specific examples from the text for further investigation.

In class writing Tuesday and Thursday 9/23 and 9/25
Students will write three 'mini essays' based on three different prompts: one from each section a,b,c.
We will explore the framework of an essay: what makes a successful analysis.  
Students will complete an analysis of the text, Denisovich, by writing an essay that is:
  • a blend of two or three prompts, or
  • an extension of one prompt, or
  • from an original prompt of the student's choosing.

The essay must include contextual information from the interactive orals.

timed writing prompts
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essay_rubric.docx
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Due Tuesday, September 23rd.
Annotation and Translation
Complete all four sections of translated text.  Annotate for examples of figurative language, imagery, sensory language, evocative language.  Which specific words stimulate your senses/imagination?
In class, we will discuss our preferences and begin to build our lexicon of literary vocabulary.
translation_side_by_side_compare_opening_scene.docx
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translation_side_by_side_compare.pdf
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Students:  below you will find the links to the interactive oral presentations from the last class sessions.  If you missed class, please review these slide decks.  Some are mostly images requiring you to follow the links to their resources.  Others contain a good balance of image and notes.  However, there is no remedy for missing the actually presentation, as much of the investigation and learning took place during the discussions.  Knowledge of these subjects (context) is required for writing your reflective statement.
Slide decks and presentations from the interactive orals:
Stalin p.2
Stalin p.3
Solzhenitsyn p.2
Solzhenitsyn p.3
Gulags p.2
Gulags p.3
Former USSR p.2
Former USSR p.3
Shostakovich p.2
Shostakovich p.3
Current US/Russia relations p.2
Current US/Russia relations p.3

int.oral research
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Interactive Orals:  your team/table will become subject matter experts on one of the subjects listed.  We will begin the orals on Thursday, September 11th
Questions to consider for our interactive orals:
Before:  What do I already know about this subject?  What am I curious about this subject?  What do I hope to learn?
During/After:  What needs to be clarified?  What needs further exploration? What sparks my curiosity?

Reflective statements (which will be done in class):  think about what you've learned from the interactive orals.  How does this impact your understanding of the text?  What connections do you make?  Does the meaning of the text change based on what you've learned?

Historical Context for One Day...
Picture
Nikolai Getman was a Soviet artist imprisoned in the gulags.  While he was not able to record the details of his imprisonment during his sentence, he vowed to create a legacy of the gulags.  His paintings serve as one of the only artistic, visual representations of that time in history.
[Self portrait painting at left]

Picture
What Were Their Crimes?
Click here to read about how and why Soviet citizens were sentenced to the prison camps.


Literary Criticism:
Due Monday, September 8th
Based on our class discussion and definitions of literary criticism, revise ONE of your written responses to Denisovich from the summer assignment.  This piece of writing demonstrates your finest work in the artful critique of the text.

Due: Thursday, September 4th
Bring your "This I Believe" essay
Bring your three writing pieces from the summer assignment.
Be prepared to take a DYRT quiz [did you read this] which is, quite literally, a way to determine if you read and comprehended the text.

Week One:  This I Believe
In class we will listen to and read a sample essay.  You will write your own "this I believe" essay and bring it to class on Thursday, September 4.  
Link to the NPR "This I Believe" site.  Go here for hundreds of examples to learn from.
From their website: "This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Over 100,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow."
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