Breaks...breaks...and more breaks! We've had so many breaks and this year is just flying by it's crazy! The last month of so we finally began and finished Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and let me just say...wow. This play is rather humorous but it is also very confusing to peg what the actual meaning is as well as to understand what is just going on in general. I am relieved we finished reading the play before I left for 7th grade camp, because otherwise I am not quite sure I would've been able to unravel and clarify what was actually going on. however, I did find it difficult when returning to 7th grade camp, to understand and be able to contribute to discussion due to being absent as well as missing the film so I was still unclear on many points. Although, luckily as the discussions went on and after we discussed in detail about the article, "The Lecture on Stoppard" I was able to put more things together. It also became evident to me during discussion that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is a much lighter piece than Hamlet and doesn't have as complex of a plot. Also, as some people mentioned, the purpose of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may have even been to poke fun at Hamlet and prove a point rather than provide to context of the plot. Overall I have enjoyed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and I am somewhat looking forward to doing my close reading on it because I will then be able to further put all the pieces together.
Recently we have also been working on open prompts as well as w have also done two open prompts 2 now, in which we write the actual essay. And...well..I must say these have been quite a struggle for me. When I do the open prompts as home it seems like a much more causal atmosphere and therefore seems much easier to write the essay. However, I know this is not a realistic scenario for the actual AP and should not get used to it. So far writing the essays hasn't seemed too bad, however now that we have gone in depth about what a good intro consists of I have now realized how awful mine have been thus far. It is quite embarrassing to be frank. When we did the intro paragraph practice in class I found this to be extremely stressful and probably my most awful work. I don't know exactly why, but when we did this I completely just froze up and wasn't able to think of how a intro should be structured or how to even create a good prompt. Like Ms. Holmes mentioned though, that is how much pressure there will be on the actual exam day so i know doing exercises like that will help me in the long run. I hope next time though I feel better and more prepared, it was a bit overwhelming the first time. I need much more practice on intro's but I know by exam time I am going to feel much more prepared with my peers and Ms. Holmes help.
Well, that's all for now! I hope everyone has a wonderful President's Day Weekend and I will see you all back on Wednesday! Only a few more weeks till Spring Break...yeaaa...just let that sink in. :)
Serena,
ReplyDeleteI know, the breaks did take up most of February. It is crazy how short breaks can breakup the month. I was excited to finish Ros and Guil too but I did not go to 7th grade camp. It sounds like it was a rough transition back from 7th grade camp and I have heard others complain about the homework load that camp created. Anyway, I am excited for spring break too it is about a month and I cannot wait! It seems like we just started school and now it is about to end! Thankfully we have Ms. Holmes keeping us on tract and practicing essays because otherwise I would be in way over my head.
Sincerely,
Ana
Serena,
ReplyDeleteI’m afraid that I’m going to have to disagree with you. I think that R and G are dead isn’t a light piece (unless you are actually meaning the literal weight or page count of the book. In that case…. Embarrassing.) I think that R and G are dead is poking fun at Hamlet as well as telling the reader some deep meanings. In first hour, we came up with what [to the best of our knowledge] Stoppard was trying to say, basically, because you aren’t art, you aren’t bound by the stage and can be free to decide on anything you want. I think that’s deeper than Hamlet is.
Other than that little bit, I agree with you, especially on the free response. For me, writing at home is a little too casual, and therefore, I get nothing done. Just a little side note: I think if you added a list of things that makes a strong intro it would help you when you get more into the writing.
Hi Serena,
ReplyDeleteYou did a nice job of covering the material in class so far. I am sorry that you had to miss so much material because of 7th grade camp; the movie was actually very helpful to me, so I would definitely advise you to watch it if you have a Netflix! One thing that I noticed was that you weren't really making many connections to things outside of AP Lit. I liked that you were really responding to material, but what has made this text or the Open prompts unique? Have you ever read a derivative work before? Did you like responding to your peers' prompts? Did making your own prompt help you out at all? I agree that R & G is confusing, and now that you have had that PoMo reading and annotations, how have your opinions on the work changed?