We have been going full speed the past month and it still does not feel like we have enough time to get everything done.
Before we finished Ceremony, we all read different criticisms of the novel and discussed them. I thought this was interesting, especially because there are so many aspects to Ceremony. I think they did add to the understanding of the Pueblo culture more and helped with the understanding of the whole novel.
Coming up with a theme statement for Ceremony seemed to be the most uncomfortable experience in AP lit yet. Ceremony seems to be the type of book that you can read a thousand times and still find something new. I also feel cheated reading it because I think I would understand it more if I understood all the intricacies of the Laguna Pueblo culture.
I always find it interesting to read from a completely different culture. I have noticed that even if the culture follows a traditional Western plot, I find discrepancies with my own culture. Romeo and Juliet, for instance, was extremely hard for me to read seriously, and I to be honest, I still cannot get into the mindset of the culture it was written in. I can still understand the culture, but I am always a bit skeptical.
We also analysed several poems in one setting, which was interesting. I find it difficult to analyse poem because I just do not enjoy doing it. Most of the time, I end up resenting a poem I had originally liked. Sometimes there are poems that I feel do not have some profound meaning; sometimes a poem about sex just is a poem about sex in my mind. Still, analyzing poetry has given me insights into poems in the past, and I am aware that i will encounter poetry both on the AP test and in college.
For the first time, we had individual multiple choice practice. Personally, I am better at the essays than I am at the multiple choice. This was also true in AP World. I like having some wiggle room where am not forced to know one answer. The essay allow for more interpretation and persuasion as opposed to right and wrong.
The added practice in the last few weeks has been really helpful. We have been doing more timed essays and multiple choice practice which is great. My group did a lot better on the multiple choice practice. I am not sure if it was because the passage was easier to understand or because we are just better at taking the multiple choice (personally I think it is largely the first one, with some of the other mixed in). I think some passages are definitely going to be easier on the test. I have found that if I have some background with the author, the questions are much easier.
Before we started the Weebly assignment we discussed some Open Prompts. It is funny to see that there are prompts that are just flawed, and we have to figure out how to make it work in our time limit. For the open prompt, I am convinced that I will have to use a novel/play I have read in the last year. It is difficult for me to remember enough from past things I have read accurately enough to write an essay about it. Still, I think Hamlet and Death of a Salesman can really cover any prompt. If they do not, I have a few other options in my back pocket.
The Weebly project was fun. I liked getting a chance to work with someone from another class. When assigned the project, I was really worried I would not have enough time. Even though I could not work on it for the weekend, I still think Susheela and I worked on it a normal amount of time and were able to finish. I think it shows how far I have come in the past year. Normally that assignment would have scared me to death, but I was able to do the assignment with minimal stress while I had another project in another class due the same day and a million other things to do.
I think that most of the reason I was not stressed is because AP lit has helped with time management, especially because we know our assignments for the semester and have to manage when we are going to do them.
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