AP Language and Composition Independent Reading Assignment

Transcription

1 AP Language and Composition Independent Reading Assignment Santagata What is It? You will be reading one book per six weeks and completing an independent reading assignment. This assignment counts as 10% of your overall average (see grading). Term Book Selection Book Approval 1 st You may pick your selection* 2 nd You may pick your selection* 3 rd Vance, J.D. Hillbilly Elegy OR Desmond, Matthew, Evicted 4 th You may pick your selection* 5 th F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby*** 6 th Valby, Karen, Welcome to Utopia*** *IR books chosen by the student MUST be grade appropriate. You must obtain approval for the book by the date given on the reading calendar, otherwise, the highest grade you can receive is a 70. *** These books have a specific focus for reader response quotes. Please see below. The Assignment q You will turn in four reading responses. These reading responses should show your progress throughout the book. They CANNOT be from the same section of the book. I would suggest dividing your book up. q Your four reading responses will together count as 10% of your overall average (see grading). q This assignment must be typed and submitted to turnitin. q See procedure below for how to complete the reading response. For Each Reading Response 1. Set your document up per MLA style (see handbook for model) 2. Find a passage that is a good example of language (3 sentences in length minimum, could be longer) and copy the passage and document per MLA. 3. Underneath the quote, begin an informal analysis. Analyze why you think the quote is important. a. Analyze the rhetoric or literary strategies the author used and how they advance purpose, theme, tone, or mood. This will help you prepare for the rhetorical analysis essay (think of this as informal rhetorical analysis). b. You might note an interesting assertion or claim. (for nonfiction) c. If you have a text with historical significance, write about HISTORICAL connections that you find. d. You might question what you have read.write about something that had grabbed your attention, but you aren t sure what it means. e. DO NOT WRITE A SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU READ. You will not receive credit. 4. See below for length of analysis. Method RR Length* Typed ½ a page double spaced 11 LINES is ½ page * RR length DOES NOT include the quote.

2 For The Great Gatsby & Welcome to Utopia We will be focusing on a major theme for each novel. The work we do in class with the novel will aid you in completing your IR assignment. Your quotes and responses will have to have a specific focus for these novels. See chart below for the focus of each novel. Novel The Great Gatsby Welcome to Utopia Focus Quotes should be focused on the discussion of character archetypes. In addition to rhetoric, you will be looking at how each character serves as an archetype for the history of the 1920s/30s. You may use your character journal to aid you. Quotes should be focused the the changing dynamics of the town and how Valby responds to those dynamics. Grading: q Independent reading will be graded on a scale of 0, 70, 85, or 100 per the rubric below. Please read this rubric carefully. Grade Descriptors 100 These assignments demonstrate clear and consistent competence as well as an insightful and intricate analysis (not of the passages chosen, though there may be occasional errors. To receive a grade of 100, you must meet ALL of the easy to below requirements. q Paper is formatted in MLA format. receive) q Quotes meet length requirement of at least three sentences. q 3+ quotes have CORRECT MLA in text citation. q Responses meet ½ page minimum. (11 lines double spaced) q Responses offer an insightful analysis of the passage, focusing on elements of rhetoric and literary devices. q Responses are distinguished by varied sentence structure, effective word choice, and a sense of voice. q Have no more than three (3) errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation. 85 These assignments demonstrate adequate competence. While these assignments do fulfill the requirements in the directions, the analysis is less insightful or precise as an assignment receiving a 100. A grade of a 85 would contain one or more of the following (please keep in mind that if you have one of the below bullet points in your paper, you will receive a 85). q Quotes do not meet minimum length requirements. q 2-3 quotes have incorrect MLA in text citations. q Responses meet ½ page minimum (11 lines double spaced). q Have more than (3) but less than five (5) errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation. q q Formatting of paper is incorrect and does not follow MLA guidelines. Responses are adequate, but do not look at the language of the quotes given. There tends to be less of a focus on rhetoric than reader response. 70 These assignments demonstrate developing competence. While these assignments do fulfill the requirements in the directions, the analysis is less insightful or precise as an assignment receiving a 100. A grade of a 70 would contain one or more of the following weaknesses (please keep in mind that if you have one of the below bullet points in your paper, you will receive a 70). q All quotes have incorrect MLA in text citations (but citations are present). q Responses meet ½ page minimum (11 lines double spaced). q Reponses are superficial and offer thin analysis of the passage. These responses may rely heavily on what the author s personal response was without referencing the language of the passage itself. q Responses border on summary. q Responses have almost no examples of varied sentence structure and/or effective word choice. q Have more than five (5) errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation. 0 These assignments are incomplete, off topic, or not submitted to turnitin. A grade of a 0 would contain one or more of the following egregious errors. q Assignment is not turned in (to be turned in, the assignment MUST be turned in to turnitin.com; it cannot be ed to Santagata). Assignments not turned in are ineligible for corrections. q Assignment is incomplete: fewer than four passages analyzed, analysis does not meet ½ length requirement. q Reponses do not address the passages provided. q Responses are summary. q The assignment, overall, represents a lack of effort and attention to detail (this includes repetitive mistakes in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation).

3 Student Name AP American Studies Santagata Month Day, Year Independent Reading: Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky RR#1 Quote: And Mikolka swung the shaft a second time and it fell a second time on the spine of the luckless mare. She sank back on her haunches, but lurched forward and tugged forward with all her force, tugged first on one side and then on the other, trying to move the cart. But the six whips were attacking her in all directions, and the shaft was raised again and fell upon her a third time, then a fourth, with heavy measured blows. Mikolka was in a fury that he could not kill her at one blow he threw down the shaft, stooped down in the cart and with all his might he dealt a stunning blow at the poor mare. The blow fell; the mare staggered, sank back, tried to pull, but the bar fell again with a swinging blow on her back and she fell on the ground like a log stretched out her head, drew a long breath and died A poor boy, beside himself, made his way screaming through the crowd to the sorrel nag, put his arms round her bleeding dead head and kissed it (71-72). In the quote given, Raskolnikov is having a dream/nightmare of a group of peasants cruelly murdering an old mare. Though the quote is only an excerpt from the whole dream, it displays the author, Fyodor Dostoevsky s masterful use of imagery in order to create emotion. Detailing the abuse of the mare in excruciating detail and ending the whole episode with the image of a poor boy put his arms round her bleeding head and kissed it, the author is able to send a chilling image into the reader s mind and evoke their sympathy, making the audience themselves desperately want to put a stop to the mare s torture, to comfort it as it died just as the poor boy did. The characterization of Mikolka in the quote is also extremely important to denote. Mikolka is shown as the ring leader in the murder, as he is the one highlighted swinging the shaft a second time a third time, then a fourth, with heavy measured blows. In addition, because the mare can t pull the load of people Mikolka

4 his greed pulls him into a fury and escalates the torture he inflicts. Both parts work together to characterize Mikolka as cruel, as disgustingly greedy, and also serve to evoke a strong hatred of Mikolka from within the reader. The same holds true with Raskolnikov; he is also disgusted with Mikolka s murder of the horse and as a result once again has doubts about his own plan to murder Alyona Ivanovna. Though the quote is about the murder of a horse, it has strong implications regarding the murder of a human, regardless of the cause, as humans, like the mare, undoubtedly experience immense suffering during their murder. Finally, the quote serves to foreshadow the inner turmoil Raskolnikov will experience after he commits the murder, and also serves to build up the moral ambivalence regarding the murder Raskolnikov commits. I d say the tone is disgusted. Personally, I felt that the whole scene was one of the hardest things I have had to read in a work of literature; Fyodor Dostoevsky s use of imagery really pulled me into the events of the quote and, unfortunately, forced me to vividly imagine the horror of Raskolnikov s dream. RR Quote #2: Enough, he pronounced resolutely and triumphantly. I ve done with fancies, imaginary terrors, and phantoms! Life is real! Haven t I lived just now? My life has not yet died with that old woman! The Kingdom of Heaven to her- and now enough, madam, leave me in peace! Now for the reign of reason and light and of will, and of strength and now we will see! We will try our strength! Pride and self-confidence grew continually stronger in him; he was becoming a different man every moment ( ). Following Marmeladov s death and Raskolnikov s acts of kindness towards the family Marmeladov left behind, Polenka s gratitude makes Raskolnikov see new meaning in life. Ever since the murders, Raskolnikov had been on a downward spiral, alienating those around him and giving off the impression that he was going mad. However, at this point in the book, he is able to acknowledge that life has not yet died with that old woman, meaning that he believes that he still has a chance at life, that he hasn t completely destroyed it. In fact, he again is able to console himself, believing that

5 he has given The Kingdom of Heaven to her, a ludicrous attitude in my opinion. Raskolnikov s new attitude, comprised of the reign of reason and light and of will, and of strength stands in stark contrast to his previous toxic attitude, which burdened him seemingly as much as the weight of the sky burdened Atlas. The effects of this attitude can further be seen in Raskolnikov s becoming a different man every moment, where the author s use of an idiom demonstrates the good that Raskolnikov s fresh outlook on life was doing for him. However, this attitude is, of course, short-lived, as Raskolnikov s paranoia again grows later in the book as Detective Petrovich develops a relentless suspicion of Raskolnikov s role in the murders of the Ivanovna sisters. Nonetheless, I feel like this quote marks a major moment in Raskolnikov s redemption arc, despite how cliché redemption arcs seem to be. I d say the tone of this quote is optimistic and hopeful. Though I couldn t include the descriptions of Katerina Ivanovna s children in this quote, I felt like they made the moment much more emotional (as Dostoevsky took great detail in describing the childrens poverty and malnutrition). The quote is, overall, a diamond in the rough; It s one of the few moments, in my opinion, of hopefulness and happiness, rather than tragedy and sadness, contained within the novel. RR #3 Quote: She sank into unconsciousness again, but this time it did not last long. Her pale, yellow, wasted face dropped back, her mouth fell open, her leg moved convulsively, she gave a deep, deep sigh and died. Sonia fell upon her, flung her arms about her, and remained motionless with her head pressed to the dead woman s wasted bosom. Polenka threw herself at her mother s feet, kissing them and weeping violently. Though Kolya and Lida did not understand what had happened, they had a feeling that it was something terrible; they put their hands on each other s little shoulders, stared straight at one another and both at once opened their mouths and began screaming (500). The author s syntax in the second sentence of the quote- linking everything together with commas so as not to end the sentence- really shows the order of events in Katerina s death, thereby making it imaginable and allowing the reader to infer that it was not some short process. How Sonia

6 reacts to Katerina s death, when she fell upon her, flung her arms about her, and remained motionless with her head pressed to the dead woman s wasted bosom, is telling about Sonia s character. Even after all of the abuses that Sonia suffered at the hands of Katerina, including being forced into becoming a prostitute in order to support them, Sonia is still loyal to Katerina and is still loving of her family (including Katerina). This trait is especially important, as it lays the foundation for Sonia s following Raskolnikov all the way to Siberia. Katerina s death as a whole, in my opinion, serves not only to advance the plot but to also highlight just how terrible a problem poverty is in society. Because Katerina was in poverty, she could not seek any aid for her tuberculosis, leading, of course, to her death and her children becoming orphans. In addition, Katerina s death can definitely be considered especially hard-hitting for Raskolnikov, as he definitely went to what he considered great lengths (giving money) in order to aid Katerina and her family. This point in the book is, in my opinion, one of the top two saddest moments; the loss of a loved one is definitely something that all can relate to, and Dostoevsky s amplifying of the moment by describing the hopelessness of Katerina s children makes it impossible to avoid experiencing sadness. The overall tone of the quote is definitely depressed. RR Quote #4: He always took her hand as with repugnance But now their hands did not part all at once something seemed to seize him and fling him at her feet. He wept and threw his arms round her knees at the same moment she understood, and a light of infinite happiness came into her eyes. She knew and had no doubt that he loved her beyond everything and that at last the moment had come They were both pale and thin; but those sick faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life. They were renewed by love; the heart of each held infinite sources of life for the heart of the other ( ). In this quote, Raskolnikov completely rejects his sense of superiority to all of humanity; his character and attitude demonstrate a radical shift and Raskolnikov is finally able to love someone. Through their unity, both Sonia and Raskolnikov realize that they had the dawn of a new future, of a

7 full resurrection into a new life to look forward to; Raskolnikov seems to have gotten past the immense weight of guilt that the murders he committed had had on him and, instead of focusing on the past, is now looking toward the future. I think this is an interesting parallel to Katerina Ivanovna; Katerina experienced her own immense form of suffering, but refused to accept that she was no longer a noblewoman. Because of Katerina s refusal to accept that the luxuries her younger self enjoyed were long gone, she lived a life of misery and died bitter. Raskolnikov, on the other hand, has found solace in Sonia and moved past his misery, now looking toward the prospects of a future life that he plans on sharing with Sonia. Another lesson the author inserts here is the age-old lesson that money is not a source of happiness. Describing Sonia and Raskolnikov as pale and thin and as having sick faces, it is without doubt that Sonia and Raskolnikov definitely lack material goods. And yet, they are completely happy, having found comfort in each other and having been renewed by the life held in each other s hearts. Though the novel was mostly full of tragedy and sadness, this quote is definitely more lighthearted. Overall, I d say that the tone is sanguine.