Well, as of late I've learned some interesting things. After reading "Death of a Salesman" and annotating it, I feel that I actually know how to annotate. I'd never been taught how to annotate, heck, I was still at the "If you write in a book you will be struck down by lightening!" point of my life, but I now understand how to annotate well (and that writing in a book will not result in being struck by lightening). Also, analyzing the play in class was really interesting. I'm not the person to say much in class disscussions, but listening to other people's ideas about the play was cool. A lot of people had different views on it than I did (which is probably why I didn't pitch in to the conversation), there was one day when it actually turned into a yelling match between a few people because they wouldn't accept anyone else's idea. That's one thing I wish I could change about AP Lit, everyone's attitude toward other people's input. But anyways.
Everything else that I've learned in class lately was through the eras presentations. I had a lot of fun with that project. My group got Romanticism, which I abolutely love :). I did a lot of research on it so I guess I learned more about it from that, but the sad thing is I already knew most of what I found. Watching other groups' projects was intriguing. The Renaissance group had a cool video about authors of the time.
I'm really excited about reading Ceremony and can't wait to get farther into it :) So, yeah that's about it. Have a good Thanksgiving break! :)
It's interesting how you point out that you never thought it permissible to write in books before this point and how you have grown in comfort in that area; it clearly demonstrates a passage of time and a gradual learning and practice of the activity.
ReplyDeleteTo take a step down from the professional pedestal for a moment - there was a yelling match in your class!? Ha! Wish I could have been there, that sounds like a great deal of fun! Unfortunate that this medium isn't respected in our academic environments, and that popcorn is not allowed in classrooms (most of them anyway).
*ahem. It's unfortunate you were unable to have your say in analytic matters regarding the Death of a Salesman, but your mention of it here grants us insight into your experiences in the calss and how you have responded to current class events, demonstrating an engaged mind despite outward appearances dictating otherwise.
I'm sure your eras presentation speaks for itself, but if there was anything you learned, had difficultly with, or was interesting (or whatever), this is the place you would want to point it out.
I definitely agree with you that unfortunately sometimes some students find it hard to agree or merely even tolerate another point of view during the discussions. Not allowing yourself to at least listen or try to understand another's point defeats the point of a group discussion. However, all in all since those times are too frequent group discussions are still productive. Listening to other's gives a totally new perspective on the book that i could have never come up with on my own.
ReplyDeleteYikes! A yelling match? Intense.
ReplyDeleteI also had Romanticism! I love it as well. Impressive how you already knew so much about it. I had to back back at look at some notes.
Only advice: be careful that the language doesn't get too casual.