While I am in the Dungeon of AP Practice Test Essays...

Listen to version of Jorgenson's speech and Garfield's speech. or watch:

 

and the response:

Homework for the weekend:

    

1. Rhetorical analysis of what strategy gave Garfield the advantage in the debate.  Do not come without this on Monday!
2. By Monday you need to have a rough draft of their IRP synthesis.  In class you must have draft of the introduction inspired from Wednesday’s Introduction samples.  

Gatsby Blowout!- "Socratic Seminar"*

Here are the questions:

I)  A) Gatsby*

1. Which of the following would you argue best represents Gatsby:

A) Classic Romantic

B) Gangster-”lie down with dogs, you come up with fleas…”

C) Comic Character

D) Narcissist

E) Hero of the middle class

F) Other?

- It is essential to define these labels prior to making your comparison.

2.  Or which from the list above would argue against the most?

3.Nick

- To what extent did Nick succeed convincing you that he was “one of the few honest people I have ever known.”(59)?  

4.Daisy

- Is Daisy a character worthy of our sympathy (before/after Myrtle’s death)?

5. Which characters have the most elaborate foil (Use Venn handout to help trace thoughts)  ?  Nick vs. Gatsby, Myrtle vs. Daisy, Tom vs. Gatsby.

II)    Theme

1. What were this novel’s final statements on the following themes?*

 Love-

Justice-

Wealth vs. Poverty-

America-

Other?

2.  Cover Interpretation- Gatsby Cover Art- break down a cover as it relates to the novel’s themes.  

Cool Prezi on our cover

III) Author Style-

1.How did Fitzgerald position the setting of East/West Egg, Manhattan and “valley of ashes” to amplify various themes?

2.Among the various literary techniques layered within this novel, which emerged as the most unique to Fitzgerald's style?

3.  The Great Gatsby Vs. Winter Dreams vs. Absolution*  What are the most stark patterns in terms of theme and style as you compare these three texts?

Discussion Rubric and Transitions
Period One Sign Up
Period Two Sign Up
Period Nine Sign Up
*Idea lifted shamelessly from the talented Miss Cordes




and part 2 if you are interested.

Rhetorical Analysis of 2012 RNC and DNC Keynotes

Wordle of Christie 2012 RNC Keynote

Analysis experiment-
Let's see how well you can tackle a politician's rhetoric in real-time.  You and your partner already have your group letter (A-....)  Now decide which speech you will watch/ listen (Castro or Christie).  As you listen to the speech, you will place comments on the speech that unpack the various rhetorical strategies at play.  This means both of you have the same document open and comment on it.  You can stop the audio/video at any point if you need to catch your thoughts.
For example: "Speaker X attacks the economic policy of Candidate Y because ...." or "A weakness of Candidate X is....this is why it is targeted."

Focus all of your commentary energy on what emotions/ideas that the speaker is attempting to evoke or plant in the minds of the audience.

  Aim for a minimum of 20 comments in your doc.

Transcripts of Speeches for Analysis
Period 1      Period 2     Period 9

Audio/Video of Castro via NPR or video via NYT
Audio/Video of Christie via NPR or video via NYT

Wordle of Castro 2012 DNC Keynote

Cool Reads for the week of Feb 24

From A.O.Scott's Review of 3 Days to Kill

By any reasonable standard, “3 Days to Kill” is a terrible movie: incoherent, crudely brutal, dumbly retrograde in its geo- and gender politics. But it is also, as much because of as in spite of these failings, kind of fun. 

• When Even the Starting Line Is Out of Reach 
• Cool visualization of Language from 2012 RNC and DNC Candy 
• Crush making some real money 
• Cool photo of a ghost town

Valentine's Day- Civil Wars cover Portishead....Hmm

On the search for the best examples of the rhetorical situation from romance movies...Send them along to me for Friday... Scene #2 The Big Guns Lloyd Dobler

Best Reads of the Week- Late return for 2nd Semester!

Warsan Shire - "For Women Who Are Difficult To Love" from MovingOn & StereoOpticon on Vimeo.

• Sudanese Refugee Crisis Photo Essay AP Study aide 
• Behind your handshake with FB 
• Death of Prince Charming? 
• Euphemism example:

Pocket-sized devices that permit, with minimal effort, the instantaneous distribution of deadly force from a distance: controversial idea?
— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) January 20, 2014

• Would you go to this school?

Basic Appeal:  Aesthetic...no doubt

Review Writing- Mentor Critiques

Let's look at some sharp recent reviews from Grantland:

• Steven Hyden- I love the voice and structure of this review of the worst song of 2013.
• Andy Greenwald Review of Black Sails.

By now you know what medium you will review so today you will spend your time finding yourself a mentor review-particularly in the opening hook-

I have linked for you several quality professional reviewers below.  So what is your medium of choice for a review?  music, film, television, food, video games, books, theater, etc.

Here are some of my favorite reviewers of Film/TV
A.O. Scott       Manohla Dargis       Peter Travers  (Rolling Stone)

Roger Ebert- Suntimes          AV Club                   Salon.com  TV             TV-Andy Greenwald ( Grantland)

 Music- Rolling Stone (Brief)               Paste               Pitchfork             AV Club                              Steven Hyden (Grantland)

Technology- Recode   Wired

For Monday:  Print out or have saved in Google Folder:
I. Mentor Intro (Copy &Paste)  Author- Review of...- Publication
II.  Answer:  What are you going to review?  Why?  Prove your ethos in this medium?
III.  Watch, listen, or engage that topic of review over and over again.  Think about new ways to approach it and have a notebook standing by to catch your ideas.
III.  Preliminary outline- to include preliminary opening idea (Wells), articulated support paragraph ideas

For example:
                       III.  Actors
                                         = Terrible

                       III. Actors confirming every tired cliche of action films
                             A) Actor X- Reluctant hero-Love turns his heart for good
                                  1) Sample of cheesy dialogue
                                     a) "Cassandra I never knew what love was until I looked into your beautiful blue eyes..."
                                     i) Insert sarcasm
                         
This outline reflects sharper observation and an obvious strategy to organize the critique.


Extended Review

For the bragging rights and homework pass...Make a Pulp-o- Mizer for this class.  Save the image and send it to me.  If it is the best, I'll buy it for class!