In the first three weeks of school, we have begun to learn about the different ways to analyze literature, as well as reading and the discussing The American Dream. The first few days of class were a little off, because of all the new technology, meaning that Ms. Holmes could not show us her blog or even her website, but we have it now!
The first actual lesson we had was on DIDLS, which stands for diction, imagery, details, (figurative) language and syntax. We practiced annotating some papers and had to do this as homework later in the week. We read a poem called "Promises Like Pie crust", and discussed it in small groups. What stuck with me the most from this, was how much more information it is possible to pull from a poem when doing a close reading and using DIDLS.
We then learned about syntax, using a Syntax as Style paper, which we read later on in the week in my Expos class. It was better the first time. What stuck with me most from this, was how switching around sentence structure can add drama and emphasis to the end of a sentence. After discussing syntax, my group read Walden by David Thoreau and had a pretty good discussion about the many ways the sentence structure showed the tone and mood of the piece. It is all about nature and going back to the simple things, and Thoreau uses long, winding sentences with short, repetitive ones for emphasis. Unfortunately, we didn't present until the next day and volunteered to go first, meaning that we all forgot what we were actually supposed to be presenting on and didn't say half the things our group discussed.
We also read our first piece of literature as a group, The American Dream. I've heard about this play before and people always say things along the lines of, "It's super weird", and "Don't read it", but personally I liked it. I definitely thought that reading Existentialism 101 and Theater of the Absurd gave me a much better understanding of what the writer was trying to accomplish, and why the play was written as it was. We started a class discussion and got a few of the major plot questions covered, but without Ms. Holmes there the next day, the discussion deteriorated slightly.
Alice,
ReplyDeleteNice summary! Sounds about right, cause that's what we did in class too. I have to say, when we first started reading The American Dream, I was so weirded out. Who the heck forces sex changes upon his/her spouse? You know how humans are morbidly obsessed with disgusting things or other people's pain? Like if you see a car accident on the road, you're craning your head as you drive by just to see what actually happened in the accident. Or if you see something on TV that's absolutely disgusting and you don't want to keep watching but you're weirdly fascinated and you have to suffer the nightmares after watching the whole show? That was me with The American Dream, and after starting it in class, I went home and finished the whole thing because I wanted to know what happened. After I got over the initial weirdness, I discovered that The American Dream is an intricately layered commentary on society and the meaning of human life. There are so many parts (just thought of "Ogres are like onions!" from Shrek cause it has so many layers) that we spent a whole week discussing the play in class and we'd only just scraped the surface of what the play was actually about. I enjoy thinking about these things, actually, and what the play could mean. There's just something so satisfying about discovering new meanings to a piece of literature that, at first glance, seems worthless because it's so absurd.
Do you like the play? It's an acquired taste, I'll admit. What are your thoughts right now?
Hey Alice,
ReplyDeleteNice recap! It seems like you touched on all the major things we covered. I agree that DIDLS is an extremely useful tool and can help the reader find so much more information than by just reading a piece. Poems amaze me the most. Who knew all those different meanings were hidden in sometimes just a couple lines?
Do you think that you will go back and re-read books to see how close reading changes their meaning? I think it would be interesting to find new concepts hidden in things I’ve already read. I know I found knew meaning in The American Dream after analyzing it a little bit further.
When we were reading The American Dream, I was weirded out at first, but after analyzing it, I’ve come to really like it. I think that it comes off as something not worth reading if you don’t have any knowledge of the Theatre of the Absurd. Once you know what Albee is trying to say, the play no longer seems like a just bunch of nonsense about a messed-up family.
Alice,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you told of some times where you actually used what you learned outside of the class you learned it, something that I, honestly, cannot say for most of the things I’ve done so far. I can’t think of anything else we did in class during those weeks so you covered all the bases.
What did you like about The American Dream, exactly? Did you enjoy the strangeness of it all, the story it told, or perhaps the messages it was trying to send? And what did you think about Albee saying that the young man was there to kill Mommy and Daddy? I was not expecting it in the least, but it made sense when I thought about it.
Good work on the recap.
Hi Alice! Great job on your response!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you gave your opinion on if you liked something or how learning this impacted you because that really helps the readers to understand what YOU think personally. So what could you say about Existentialism 101 and Theater of the Absurd? What is it? How did it help you understand The American Dream? Why did you like the American Dream? What do you think personally is the whole point of The American Dream? Is there even a point? How does this book affect its readers? Why is it even important?
I think that another way you could improve your post is by making connections of what we learned during AP Lit to things of everyday life so that you can really show that you know your stuff and that you are not just summarizing whats happening during this class. I feel as if by doing that it might impact readers better in order for them to understand what you are learning a little better.
Great job on the response!