Thinking back at what we did in class the main thing that sticks out in my mind was the three day long stretch of allusion presentations. While we were doing it I was mostly confused or wondering when this ridiculous story would actually appear in anything I read. But then I actually made a few connections. In the movie "Anonymous" the main character has a relationship with a woman and learns later that his lover was actually his mother who gave him away as a baby. Sounds a lot like Oedipus doesn't it? Also with the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. Forbidden love between a boy and a girl who meet in secret, have terrible timing, think the other is dead, and think the best solution is to go ahead and kill themselves. And I thought Romeo and Juliet was the original.
What I found difficult in class was trying to use DIDLS to find meaning in the poem "The Century Quilt." With all the other close reading practice we had done for a second I thought this would be a breeze but I'm not sure I have the eye for it yet. What I've realized is that I have trouble looking at the big picture to find a meaning. I start off with picking out specific details to see if they mean something instead of finding a meaning and then going back and looking for the details that support it. Perhaps if I approach it this way I will have better luck.
Finally, reading "The American Dream" was my favorite class activity we've done so far. Because of the title, I knew to look for the message about the American Dream and when reading it I didn't think it showed up until the Young Man entered the scene and Grandma literally shouts that the American Dream is here. A slave to the obvious, that is the conclusion I came to. After reading the handout about the allegory in the play I was surprised to find out that Grandma was also the American Dream. When reading it I did think that Grandma was the least absurd and was the main character but I didn't think anything much past that. Reading the handout and learning about all the things I missed in the play shows me that when reading I need to keep an open mind and a watchful eye from beginning to end.
These are the only main assignment that I found to be the most important. Other than these I think we had a few handouts, and the literary movements presentation.
I too, thought the Century Quilt was a difficult exercise. It really made us think and stretch our abilities to the limit but I think that was beneficial to our learning. We will have to do something similar on the AP exam so it was good practice. Overall, your response was very thorough with coverage of everything that we did and I liked to hear your personal opinion of everything. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteALISON, nice connections about the allusion presentations girl. I definitely think making these connections is what helps keep the stories in our minds. I also thought the century quilt exercise was difficult, but like santos said, it's definitely a good thing we're practicing! The American Dream was my favorite also, The handouts made me think so much more about the play and I love that about AP lit.
ReplyDeleteI'm 100% with you about struggling to find meaning in the Century Quilt and The American Dream. For such a short play, I was surprised at how much deep meaning Ms Holmes extrapolated from The Century Quilt. And it was pretty clear that none of us in class would've had a clue of what The American Dream was about if it wasn't spelled out in the title.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, your response covered all the class topics really well. Good job!