Socratic Seminar and HOT (Higher-Order Thinking) Questions

September 15, 2021September 15, 2021Leave a comment

A Socratic Seminar (named after Socrates) is a deep discourse led by questioning. You will engage in one as an assessment over Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. You will prepare your thoughts on several different questions, and the Seminar will take up the entire period.

Why Do Socratic Seminars?

To think out loud and share our valid voices
To share ideas
To investigate what we may not get to talk about in a traditional assessment
To reflect on the way things are or the way they could be
To learn from each other
To engage in academic discourse
To use vocabulary more precisely
To discover the power of many minds at work
To change our minds

Guidelines and Norms for the Socratic Seminar:

Listen carefully! This is crucial. Much of your grade is based on your ability to listen and respond to what was just said.
Be respectful! Sit up straight in your seat. Use names when addressing another student. Raise your hand to speak. If you notice someone is not participating, you may call on them to get them active in the seminar. Do this by calling the student by name and stating your opinion first so the student has something about which to react. Everyone will have a nameplate.
Speak loudly and clearly.
Take turns speaking. You cannot call on the same person who called on you. If you disagree with a something someone said, do so in a thoughtful, appropriate manner. Ask questions without attacking, and disagree with ideas, not people. Ask people to explain what they mean. There are no right or wrong answers.
- Don’t worry if the conversation takes a different direction. When a discussion of a particular question seems to have ended and no one has anything to say, any student may ask, “Are we done?” and/or “Shall we move on to another question?”
Refer to your copy of A Raisin in the Sun when necessary. A seminar is not a test of memory. You are not learning a subject; you are aiming at understanding ideas and issues.
Don’t look at Ms. Antonacci. Discourse is for you, the students. You are teaching each other! Ms. A. will only intervene when absolutely necessary.

Seminar Preparation:

Using the essential questions below, prepare responses to four of them on note cards. You will likely need several note cards. Make a point on the front of the note card and put your proof on the back. All points must be backed up with proof in the forms of text, research, packet information, etc. Label your proof so that you can direct the other seminar members where to find it (i.e. Act II, scene 1).

Seminar Essential Questions:

What is Hansberry’s ultimate message regarding the dreams of African-Americans? To what degree does this message resonate today?
To what extent do you think Hansberry is critiquing traditional gender roles in the play?
Why do you think Lena changes her mind and gives Walter the responsibility of handling the money? Regardless of Walter’s subsequent actions, was this a smart decision?
Compare the personalities of Walter, George Murchison, and Asagai; how they different? Are they at all similar? How do they represent different archetypes of the “black man”?
The play takes its names from a well-known Langston Hughes poem, “Harlem,” which is printed at the beginning of the play. Explain the connection between these two works of literature.
What external factors hindered, or may have hindered, the Youngers’ achievement of their respective dreams? How do faith and family help the Youngers to move beyond those external obstacles?
How do the different characters in A Raisin in the Sun think about identity? How do the different characters think about heritage as an aspect of identity?
Come up with TWO of YOUR OWN QUESTIONS to use during the seminar. It must be open-ended and text-dependent; i.e., it can be answered in many ways and can be backed up with text. Please refer to the handout provided in class for question stems.

****Please note that in order to participate in the Socratic Seminar, you must have your questions and responses completed BEFORE the Seminar. Failure to do so will result in a grade penalty.

Writing Thematic Statements

September 7, 2021Leave a comment

Writing Thematic Statements

Theme is the central message of a literary work. It is not the same as a subject, which can be expressed in a word or two: courage, survival, war, pride, etc. The theme is the idea the author wishes to convey about that subject. It is expressed as a sentence or general statement about life or human nature. A literary work can have more than one theme, and most themes are not directly stated but are implied. The reader must think about all the elements of the work and use them to make inferences, or reasonable guesses, as to which themes seem to be implied.” (from Laying the Foundation series of books published by AP Strategies in Dallas)

For example, if love is a topic/subject of two novels, a major theme in one of the novels could be “Love, if taken to extremes, can be negative rather than positive,” while in the other novel, the theme might be “Love can conquer even the greatest evil.” Notice that the topic/subject is the same, but the messages about that topic/subject are different in different works.

Consider this:

A theme is a meaning of a work. (Yes, there can be more than one “meaning.”) Can the meaning of a work be love? hate? greed? No—that makes no sense! Those are just topics, not themes. The theme is the statement an author is making about a topic.

Stating the theme of a work of literature

Begin by using several abstract words to state the principal ideas of the work (topics that the piece is really about). Abstract words describe concepts or ideas that exist only in our minds like alienation, prejudice, ambition, freedom, love, loyalty, passion, etc.
For this assignment, you will
Combine those abstract ideas with comments that reflect the author’s observations about human nature, the human condition, or human motivation. In other words, what is the author saying about the abstract idea? Is he/she, for example, saying something about the qualities of people and/or commenting on society?

A theme is NOT a moral, a directive, or an order. A moral/directive/order tells us how to behave or what to do. A theme observes, weighs, and considers actions and ideas, but it avoids judging what people should or should not do; therefore, words like “should” and “ought” are not appropriate in a thematic statement. Also not appropriate is an order/directive such as “Be nice to elderly people” or “Love like there’s no tomorrow.”
Themes are NOT trite sayings (clichés, maxims, or aphorisms) such as “Actions speak louder than words,” “Love hurts,” or “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Themes do NOT refer to the specific names or events of a particular literary piece. A theme does not summarize a work, but it does reflect what happens in the work. A theme drops character names and uses more general terms like “parents,” “leaders,” “society,” or “young people” in a general observation about the human experience.
Themes avoid absolute terms such as “all,” “none,” “everything,” or “always” because they indicate sloppy thinking; they are categorical, no exceptions. Terms like “we,” “sometimes,” or “often” suggest a more realistic view of the variety of human experiences.

Writing Thematic Statements

What is Theme? Theme is what a text implies about life or human nature.

A text can have more than one theme.

Theme is the “main” idea of a work; in other words, everything in the text should work together to help communicate that idea. Nothing in the work should logically contradict the theme.

How do I write a thematic statement?

Start by listing some of the topics of the text; for example, alienation, prejudice, ambition, freedom, love, loyalty, passion, etc.). The topic can also be a longer phrase, however, such as the relationship between love and hate.

Combine those topics with comments that reflect the author’s observations about human nature. What is the author saying about those topics? What does the author believe to be true about those topics?

DO…	Well-written Statements:
…draw a general insight from a character’s behavior	Friends are not always trustworthy.
…use qualifying words in a thematic statement, such as sometimes, can, may, and often	Poverty may transform honest people into criminals.
…express the theme as an insight into life	Gossip can cause serious damage to a person’s reputation.
…express the theme in your own words	Evil deeds are punished in ways you might not expect.
…express the theme as a general comment on a subject	People with realistic goals tend to be more successful than those who put little thought into their futures.

DO NOT…	Poorly written Statements:
…express the theme as a subject or topic	Crime doesn’t pay.
…express the theme as a moral	It’s wrong to gossip about people.
…make a thematic statement too general. …Avoid broad generalizations with words such as everyone, always, never, and all	Poverty causes crime.
…refer to specific characters in a thematic statement	Holden learned not to trust others around him.

Example Thematic Statements:

The Hunger Games: Love can make you care more about others than you do about your own life when put to the test.

Trust: Trust in yourself is just as important as trust in others.

Family: A family supports you even when the rest of the world doubts you.

Love:

Love taken to extremes can become dangerous.
Loving yourself, despite your flaws, can lead to a happier life.

Identity: Your identity isn’t static but grows with you as you discover more about yourself.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

August 31, 2021September 1, 2021Leave a comment

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Over the last few weeks, you all have been doing a great job analyzing poetry from different perspectives across America. This week, we will start with one more analysis of a Langston Hughes poem before diving in to Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun. Moving forward and especially between now and the September break, please do your best to be on time and present each day. It is particularly difficult to read a play and get caught up by yourself. We will also be discussing a great deal, and you won’t want to miss out!

Click here for a copy of the play.

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay

August 25, 2021Leave a comment

Happy Wednesday! Today’s Writing Wednesday will take up the entire period, as we will have our first full-length rhetorical analysis practice today. Although the College Board suggests 40 minutes per essay, you will have a bit more time, as this is our first practice rhetorical analysis. Please review the information below and use your SOAPSTone chart from “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema” to aid in your writing.

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay, from WriteLab

What is a Rhetorical Analysis?

Rhetorical analysis requires you to evaluate the work of another author. You must analyze the author’s purpose, as well as the strategies the author uses to achieve this purpose.

This type of essay is not a summary. You shouldn’t rehash what you read in the article or literary work, and you shouldn’t simply interpret the meaning of the text.

Here’s the bottom line: Instead of explaining what the author writes, you need to explain how the author writes.

How to Read Critically

The first step to writing a rhetorical analysis is reading. Carefully read through the article(s) or literary work(s) you’ve been assigned to determine the main idea of the author’s argument.

After this initial read-through, read the text(s) again—this time analyzing the author’s use of rhetoric.

Guide your analysis with questions like:

What is the author’s thesis or overall argument?
What is the author’s purpose for writing this particular document, speech, etc.?
Who is the author’s target audience?
How does the author arrange and connect ideas? Chronologically? Cause and effect? Compare and contrast?
Does the author repeat important terms?
How does the writer use punctuation? Does she incorporate fragments or run-ons? Are her sentences declarative, exclamatory, or imperative? What effect does this achieve?
Does the writer use dialogue and/or quotations? Why?
What is the effect of the author’s word choice, tone, and diction? Is the language formal or informal? Does the author use slang or technical terminology?
Does the writer use italics, underlining, or parentheses? Why?
How does the author use ethos, pathos, and/or logos? Are these appeals effective? Why or why not?

As you consider your answers to these questions, annotate the text or jot down notes on a sheet of scratch paper. And note that this list of questions isn’t exhaustive: If you notice another technique the author is using, be sure to address that as well!

The goal here is to break the text into much smaller elements, then analyze how and why the author incorporated these elements. What effect did the author’s various strategies achieve? Did the author fulfill her purpose?

How to Plan Your Rhetorical Essay

Start by crafting the thesis for your rhetorical analysis. In your thesis, you should briefly mention the author’s purpose and main argument, then list 3 to 4 of the main rhetorical devices the author uses.

What if the author used more than 3 to 4 devices?

Choose the strategies that you feel have the strongest supporting evidence. Look for quotes and examples you can use to prove your point.

For each of the rhetorical strategies you select, you’ll need to gather examples from the text. Consider why the author used this device and the overall effect it achieved. You can also evaluate how effectively you feel the author implemented this strategy.

How to Write Your Rhetorical Analysis | Step-by-Step Tips

Once you’ve planned your essay, it’s time to start writing. Here’s a look at each step in the writing process.

Introduction

In your intro, provide any necessary background information related to the author or the topics covered by the author.

You also need to include your thesis, referencing the author’s main point or purpose and the rhetorical devices he used to achieve this purpose.

The bulk of your essay should be the body paragraphs, so keep your intro short and sweet.

Body Paragraphs

The easiest way to organize your body paragraphs is to devote one body paragraph to each rhetorical strategy mentioned in your thesis. These paragraphs should appear in the same order in which you listed the rhetorical devices in your thesis.

Each body paragraph needs its own topic sentence that clearly states what rhetorical device will be covered, as well as the device’s overall purpose.

Next, you should provide several examples demonstrating the author’s use of the device. Make sure you also explain how each example illustrates the technique being discussed.

You should then analyze the author’s use of rhetoric:

Why did the author choose to use this rhetorical strategy?
How does this rhetorical strategy help advance the author’s purpose?
What was the overall effect of this rhetorical strategy?

Conclusion

Your conclusion should briefly restate your main points. Connect the rhetorical devices you analyzed throughout the essay, explaining their overall effect on the reader.

In your final sentence, apply your argument on a higher level: Why does it matter? How does it relate to the real world? What’s the importance of the speech or text you analyzed?

Proofread

Now that you’ve written your conclusion, you’re all done, right? Not so fast—it’s essential to devote some time to revising and editing your essay.

Pay attention to grammar, spelling, word usage, and the flow of ideas. Are all of your ideas logically connected? Did you use transitions? Is your paper clear and concise? If you can confidently answer, “Yes” to these questions, now you’re done.

Final Thoughts on the Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Writing a rhetorical analysis isn’t quite as complicated as it seems. To ace your next rhetorical analysis essay, simply:

Read carefully, taking notes on the author’s use of rhetoric as you go.
Based on your notes, construct your thesis and build a plan. Select 3 to 4 rhetorical devices to discuss in your essay, along with textual examples of each.
Write your intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Avoid summarizing! Instead, you’re analyzing and evaluating the author’s use of rhetorical devices.
Don’t forget to proofread!

Following these tips will help your critical reading, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills shine.

“Harlem” by Langston Hughes: SIFT Analysis

August 25, 20211 Comment

Happy Wednesday! Today, we will read and analyze Langston Hughes’s poem, “Harlem.” The play we are about to start, A Raisin in the Sun, includes this poem on the title page. We will use the SIFT method to analyze our poem for symbolism, imagery, figurative language, tone, and theme.

Please see the presentation below if you were not in class:

SIFT Analysis Download

Please be sure to watch the class recording on CTLS if you are out! All recordings can be found under “resources” and are dated.

Click here to access the poem on Poetry Foundation.

Click here to download the assignment for today!Download

Early Release! Start AP Vocab

August 23, 2021Leave a comment

Good morning and welcome to our first early release day of the semester! Today, you will get your first set of vocabulary words. You have ten words per week, which you will get through a tactile vocabulary activity every Monday, after M.U.G. Monday. All of these vocabulary words come from the 100 most common SAT words.

Please see the directions below for this activity:

Get into groups, preferably 3-4 students each.
You will receive slips of paper in a Ziploc bag. Ten of these slips have vocabulary words, while the other ten have denotations.
You have been provided with an example sentence for each vocabulary word. Using context clues and collaboratively within your groups, match up the definitions with their terms.
Call Ms. A. over to check your work. You will only get a “yes” or “no” 🙂
Once you have all terms matched up correctly, copy their denotations on the back of your sheet. Don’t forget the parts of speech!

Moving forward, you will have a vocabulary quiz every Friday over these terms. If you study just a little bit every day, you should have no problem!

Ms. A. also made it super easy for you — check out her Quizlet: www.quizlet.com/msantonacci (you’re welcome.)

American Perspectives OPTIC Analysis

August 19, 2021August 20, 2021Leave a comment

Today, we will complete an OPTIC analysis on two pieces of visual text. Analyzing a visual text means that whatever you’re analyzing is a visual medium – think photographs, political cartoons, book covers, paintings, sculptures, posters, and even TV, movies, and documentaries.

For the purposes of your assignment, please choose one of the visual texts below. Use the guiding questions within your graphic organizer to answer each question in the corresponding boxes of the OPTIC.

Overview: When you look at the cartoon, what is the first impression you receive? What do you think is happening in this cartoon?

Parts: What are the different parts or pieces of this cartoon? Break the cartoon into small pieces using artistic terms to explain what you see.

Theme: What is the theme of this cartoon? What is the message that is being conveyed through the visual? What is the artist trying to “tell” you about their piece? Be very specific with your explanation.

Interrelationships: How do all of the pieces in the cartoon relate to each other? What is the relationship between the central figures and the foreground/ background? What symbolism is present? What is the overall mood of the cartoon?

Conclusions: When searching for the conclusion of this cartoon, look for the artist’s purpose. Why was this cartoon designed in this way? Be specific.

Click here for the assignment sheet: OPTIC Graphic Organizer

Political Cartoon Options (please number on your paper):

1. by Mike Luckovich

2. by Steve Greenberg

3. by Monte Wolverton

4. by David Horsey

5. by Ed Stein (hint: consider what year this cartoon was drawn)

6. by Andy Singer

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7. by Mike Luckovich

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8. by David Horsey

Warm-up: Writing Wednesday

August 18, 2021Leave a comment

Today’s Writing Wednesday prompt comes from author Chuck Klosterman’s Hypertheticals.

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You are offered a Brain Pill. If you swallow this pill, you will become 10 percent more intelligent than you currently are; you will be more adept at reading comprehension, logic, and critical thinking. However, to all other people you know (and to all future people you meet), you will seem 20 percent less intelligent. In other words, you will immediately become smarter, but the rest of the world will perceive you as dumber (and there is no way you can alter the universality of that perception).

Do you take this pill? Please answer in a minimum of 8-10 sentences.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2021: WHAT AM I DOING TODAY?

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021Leave a comment

Good afternoon and thank you for being on your best behavior while Ms. Antonacci is out at a yearbook conference today! 🙂

Please see your assignments for the day below.

Complete your Lit. Term Tuesday log, using the link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sIearweG96dyYbo4CsVUPMOk5VmwoTwc/view?usp=sharing
Get out your poems from yesterday, as well as your “Poetry Comparison/Contrast Graphic Organizer.”
Using your annotations, respond to the questions in the “Categories” column. Per the directions, please make sure all of your responses are in complete sentences! This sheet is front and back.
You will complete one column for Hughes’s “I, Too” and the second column for Alvarez’s “I, Too, Sing America.” Please analyze each poem one at a time (do all boxes for Hughes, then all boxes for Alvarez, rather than switching back and forth).
See my example below for “Audience” for Alvarez’s poem. You may use this for your chart if you wish, but please make sure your responses are as thorough as mine below.

Categories	“I, Too, Sing America” by Julia Alvarez
Audience: Who is the speaker speaking to? How do you know?	In “I, Too, Sing America,” the speaker is speaking directly to Spanish-speaking Americans. This is evident in her use of “Spanglish,” a mix of both Spanish and English words.

Tips for each:

Setting: Remember that setting is both time and place!
Speaker: What can we infer about the speaker? The poet is NOT always the speaker, so please do not use Langston Hughes or Julia Alvarez for your chart. Using the clues from the poem, how can we describe the speaker?
Audience: Who is the poet writing this for? Who needs to hear this?
Tone: Use your Lit. Term Tuesday notes from last week! Put yourself in the shoes of the speaker — what attitude does he or she exhibit, and how? Use examples from the text.
Poetic Techniques: Look for figurative language here. Consider the structure of the poem, any similes or metaphors, use of imagery, and the allusions to Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing.” What does this figurative language add to the poem?
Theme: Arguably the most important! As a result of reading this poem, what do the poets want the audience to think, do, understand, or believe? What is the message or lesson here?

6. Once you are finished, please scroll down for instructions on how to sign up for USA Test Prep. Add yourself to our class and complete your assignment for this week.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021: What am I doing today?

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021Leave a comment

Good morning and thank you for being on your best behavior while Ms. Antonacci is out at a yearbook conference today! 🙂

Please see your assignments for the day below.

Complete Lit. Term Tuesday, using the slides here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t79iNv8O7WUiVZy8mLgzkqDznq9Uqi1m/view?usp=sharing
Get out your speech from yesterday (“The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie), as well as your SOAPSTone chart.
Grab a Rhetorical Devices chart from the black chair. Get out your green reference packet — it will help!
- In the “How Device Helps Work Achieve Purpose” column, you are explaining why and how this rhetorical device works in this speech for this purpose. What is Adichie’s argument, and how does she get her point across? What are her methods and why does it work on this specific audience?
  - For example, you can analyze how she appeals to her audience using pathos, her use of repetition, antithesis, anecdotes, etc.
  - For your parenthetical citations, please write page numbers on your TED Talk transcript to use as a reference.
  - See my example below from our George Graham Vest reading (the case with the dog):

Rhetorical Device	Example of Device from Text	How Device Helps Work Achieve its Purpose
Imagery (pathos)	“[The dog] will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side… He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world” (Vest 1).	Vest appeals to the audience’s emotions through his use of imagery in describing a dog’s loyalty. His use of imagery allows his audience, the members of the jury, to understand the abstract subject of a dog’s loyalty in a more visceral, emotional way. Furthermore, this supports his claim that dogs are more loyal than humans, as most humans likely woulld not “sleep on the cold ground” and “lick the wounds and sores” just to be “near his master’s side.”

Note my use of text evidence — the more specific uses you can find, the better to support your analysis!

4. Please complete both charts so that you are prepared for rhetorical analysis tomorrow. If you do not complete this in class, please complete this for homework.

**IF (and ONLY IF!) the teacher you are with is allowing his/her students to work collaboratively, you may do so as well. If their students are doing independent work, please respect their space and work quietly and independently.

If you finish early, please work on your AP Classroom assignment for the week!

I hope you all have a GREAT day — see you Wednesday! 🙂