Mackenzie Greeley's AP Lit Comp Blog

The phrase “a thousand splendid suns,” from the poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi, is quoted twice in the novel – once as Laila’s family prepares to leave Kabul, and again when she decides to return there from Pakistan. It is also echoed in one of the final lines: “Miriam is in Laila’s own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns.” Discuss the thematic significance of this phrase. ~ Much of this novel talks about the nature of humans and the strong emotions we can feel for others (good and bad individuals). But the emotions that were common for the two main characters, Miriam and Laila, was love and devotion to their family. In the beginning, Miriam was totally intranced by her father and would have done anything and everything for him if he only asked, and looking back she still feels the burden of her mother's death as her own fault searching for a father who didn't want her. Then she moves and is sent away to Rasheed who she at 14 becomes his wife and dil...

Goes over the production and Dickens perspective in correspondence with 'current events' that impacted his writing   There is a lot of reading by the Professor to the class quoting the book After the starts to explain what some of the perspectives from Dickens's  peers of the age Character development and allusions to other books/pieces written (by Dickens) So the background of Charles Dickens is an explanation to the audience about the later 'journals' written and was hard because of blockages in his 'creative process'. Talks about his experiences in London/Paris and how his 'disturbing' experiences impacted his writing during that time. Many quotes from Dickens and not much of his personal analysis on the critical points of the characters of the story for a long period of time about A Tale of Two Cities... Really a lot of description about the time period and how that was recreated by the author in his story. T...

Go Michelle! I just figured out how to link this information to my blog!!! For anyone who went to Calvin's seminar today or was absent!!! Part One 35:20 Part Two Part Three

Before I start I really liked this teaching outline.... (http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/pdf/great_expectations.pdf) And the AP 2005 Free-Response Question.... One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work. I chose to us Great Expectations and Jane Eyre... I will read both in the next month! Now Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations because he had some reason to do so... It was during the time of the Industrial Revolution so maybe it was to create some comic relief to a great period of mass manipulation by the powerful. Charles Dickens was using satire to bring attention to a need for social reform. His diction was very precise to where he could wield...

1) your reading schedule to complete your reading/review of the book by Monday, February 4; 2) five AP questions (with source URLs) that you intend to be able to answer by the time you finish; and 3) how you think you should be tested on these ideas, and/or how you intend to demonstrate your expertise on your blog.  1. Michelle and I have decided to read together as a pair to keep each other on track. Seventy pages a night and we can discuss what we read with each other at school if we so desire or need. 2.  Found some questions... Essay Question 1: In the original ending of  Great Expectations,  Pip sees Estella in London in the company of her husband and her children. Dickens was advised by a close friend that this was not how readers would want the story to end, so the ending was changed to the now published ending. Evaluate the purpose behind Charles Dickens' original ending. Which ending completes the story more fully? Which ending makes the most se...

"Epitaph on Sir Isaac Newton", "The Rape of the Lock" both by Alexander Pope, and "Marriage a-la-mode" by John Dryden All from the Augustans "Death Be Not Proud- Holy Sonnet X" "Love's Alchemy" both by John Donne In the Metaphysical Poetry movement Being that I am a student and collaborator, I have used the many outlets of resources available including AP Review books and the internet to read these poems. Both of these movements are very classical when in style and tone. These poets are witty and are trying to point out the more ridiculous parts of acceptable society in their day. How the two movements differ is when we look at their perspectives on humanity; the Metaphysical poets are outlining the importance of being humble while the Augustans are reminding the reader that life is precious. The Augustans had many more words for the audience to precisely get an outlined answer as to why each day is fleeting; however, the...

https://soundcloud.com/sarahnade881/henry-v-saint-crispins-day This is only one of the fifteen audio recordings that I listened to or video I watched in the past five days to help me get through this soliloquy. I should have looked at the videos first but I just was listening to audio or reading it on my own for most of the time. So what did I get out of that... Nothing but a headache trying to force information that didn't relate to much that I had previously looked at in language. Maybe it was the illness that hadn't gone yet, but it was hard to read and more importantly memorize. So instead I am going to explain what I understood about the soliloquy on the blog. He is the King therefore he must lead the troops into battle even if the odds are against them, but morale is low and if it doesn't change they will most definitely abandon the cause. But he doesn't make the battle to be about land or money... instead he makes this about a fight for honor...

Allegory - is a story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself. (http://cheezburger.com/template/3457055/page/1) Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds (http://www.policyprospectus.com/2012_09_01_archive.html) Allusion - a reference to another work or famous figure (http://elloconboricua.tumblr.com/) Ambiguity - something uncertain as to interpretation http://elloconboricua.tumblr.com/ Anachronism - derived from the Greek means "misplaced in time" (http://www.gingerdoodles.com/2012/10/pax-interruptus-xxxvi.html)

From all of my recent posts anyone can tell what my plan for most of the semester will be focused on... However what will I do once May has come and gone, I believe that I will start preserving my memories from the past four years. I know there is this idea of a 'Senior Scrapbook' maybe I can work on creating a website that is a better reflection of those moments. I am basing this on something like Instagram, but what if I could make pages of 'pictures' and re-post those on the website and at the end of the year make a 'book'. Hopefully this online book would be shared with all the people who have taken this journey with me, because I really want them to be able and comment on the book and what they remember from those specific events to give me a more wholesome experience when looking back on my high school days. This is REALLY rough and an idea that I got from talking to Dr. Preston and my mom. Thanks guys.

S- Pass the AP exam M- 3 hours of testing material covering multiple choice questions and three essay question on English Literature and Composition (I will achieve a 4) A- Plan out time to go over the past test materials in order to categorize by importance in a literary movement R- I am going to tell my friends to come over and have reading sessions with me and ask questions about the passages we have just read. Most will be based on poetry and books that we have seen were questioned a lot on the AP Exams T-  My time frame is each week working 3 hours a week to test and check the answers. Outside of required time to read classic that I will be testing myself on.

a) These five questions are ones that I have after reading the passage we were assigned, because most of the resources I found were of other students. What can you guess happened to the main character to give him such a feeling of isolation? During the passage he keeps noting that he was once a priest, more accurately a Brahmin, from this information where is the character from and what is his culture like? What is the author conveying to us as we follow the flow of consciousness of Siddhartha? Compare this to the Essays de Montaigne. The repetition of the word ascetic... If you knew what the word meant, gives the reader a better understanding of what part of Siddhartha's character? "At that moment when the world around him melted away, when he stood alone like a star in the heavens  he was overwhelmed by a feeling of icy despair, but he was more firmly himself than ever." From this quote what do we understand abo...

My passion is to succeed. That's simple right? In order to succeed I have always made goals every changing of the year. This year is no different than the rest. I will maintain my high academic standards in my GPA and on the AP Exams. That is a given. It is different this year however, maybe because this is my last high school semester, but this does not make me waiver because the goals I have made are a 6 year plan. I am a planner once I find out what I want, I make it into a reality. This year I want to pass the English Literature and Composition test with a 4 or higher. Simple right? Not really, I have been studying on my own with little success in regards to the tests we have been taking in my class. I plan to be focusing more on the different movements of the poetry covered in the Princeton Review, because I really have no clue what to be focusing my efforts in understanding the literature demanded in this college course. So I have been working a little bit on my o...