AP Lit Blog

"Since childhood, I've been faithful to monsters - I have been saved and absolved by them, Because monsters, I believe, are patron saints of our blissful imperfection." - Guillermo del Toro Using the del Toro quote for inspiration, address the following: You wake up in a world where one of your childhood monster drawings has come to life. Who is this monster? Sketch and label this monster; then discuss how it might reflect one of your imperfections or one of your greatest fears. Then, discuss how you have either defeated or befriended this monster. Write a couple of chunky paragraphs total. You may upload this sketch and write up to Schoology. I've never been so unprepared to face the monster. It had snuck up on me and pounced when I least expected it. Now, it was towering over me, ready to kill. That's what I thought when I walked into class and saw the podium nested in the front of the room. The pile of rubrics looked like a final court sentencing, and I st...

Greek Tragedy Film Festival Oedipus Rex: The Detective of Truth Typed Original REVISED Open Question: Typed Original Prose Passage & Individual Essay: Original Passage: “Oedipus: Teiresias, all things are known to you--the secrets of heaven and earth, the sacred and profane. Though you are blind, you surely see the plague that rakes our city. My Lord Teiresias, we turn to you as our only hope. My messengers may have told you--we have sent to Apollo and he has answered us We must find Laius’ murderers and deal with them. Or drive them out. Then--only then will we find release from our suffering. I ask you not to spare your gifts of prophecy. Look to the voices of prophetic birds or the answers written in the flames. Spare nothing. Save all of us--yourself, your city, your king, and all that is touched by this deathly pollution. We turn to you. My Lord, it is man’s most noble role to help his fellow man the best his talents will allow. Teiresias: O God! How...

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In the Canongate Myth series prompted writing, we were asked to respond to the following prompt: 2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the authors use literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. Original Essay: Homer's Odyssey tells the story of faithfulness as Penelope stubbornly waits for over 20 years for Odysseus to return home. And in Margaret Atwood's parallel novel, The Penelopiad , Penelope retells her version of events of the Odessey and challenges the role of women in traditional Greek society through her cynical point of view and harsh diction, revealing her independence and intellectual nature in a society where women were expected to be subservient and weak. Penelope describes the challenges of grow...

Reflection: In the Open Question Benchmark Essay, I wrote about my Greek tragedy from my summer reading, Oedipus Rex(Oedipus Tyrannus). We were asked to analyze the origins that shaped our character and their relationships, and how these origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole. If I were to score my own essay, I would score it a 7 , because I articulated the complexities of the piece when analyzing Oedipus’s behavior, and was able to develop an organized, well-written response with consistent control of language that followed through the shifts of Oedipus’s character. However, I think the strength and language used in the evidence could’ve have been more complex and defined. The analysis of the narrator’s attitude was insightful and showed understanding, however, so I was still pretty confident to give myself a 7. The grade received from Mrs. Wilson was an 8 . In her feedback, she noted that it was nicely written, and seemed to especially like the mentions of comp...

For the Star Wars Force Awakens Party, I elected not to dress in character and only bring in a dessert dish. I choose to make lightsabers out of pretzels, titled "May the Force Destroy You". To make this, I melted white chocolate and dyed it with colors to represent the different lightsaber colors that the Jedi's have used throughout the Star Wars series: blue, red, green, and yellow. I then dipped a pretzel rod into the chocolate and let it harden to create the lightsaber. Then, I mixed together some chocolate(dyed bright red) with black icing and milk to create a dark brown, liquidly drizzle, that I proceeded to splatter on the pretzels. The drizzle is the color of dried blood, and represents the violence and destruction that the lightsabers can bring; it highlights that they aren't just symbols of a Jedi's powers, but are also deadly weapons that they use to fight with. In the Star Wars realm, different color lightsabers were said to have diff...

Reflection: In the Prose Benchmark Essay, we were given a passage from an 1852 Nathaniel Hawthorne novel about Blithedale, a rural living community. We were asked to analyze the attitude of the narrator towards Zenobia as they part ways. If I were to score my own essay, I would score it a 5 , because although I offered a very reasonable analysis of the narrator’s attitude, I wasn’t able to fully develop the analysis into an organized, well-written response with consistent control of language. I felt that my response was too repetitive, and I would want to improve the strength and language used in the evidence. The analysis of the narrator’s attitude was insightful and showed understanding, however, I feel as though my essays wasn’t quite clear enough in its language and organization to be scored a 6. The grade received from Mrs. Wilson was a 7 . In her feedback, she agreed with my interpretation and liked many of my points throughout. As the writer scoring my own essay, I kn...

Original Song Lyrics: "Immortals" by Fall Out Boy They say we are what we are, But we don't have to be, I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way, I'll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame, I'll be the guard dog of all your favorite dreams, (Ooh) I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass) (Ooh) I try to picture me without you but I can't 'Cause we could be immortals, immortals Just not for long, for long, And live with me forever now, You pull the blackout curtains down, Just not for long, for long, We could be immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Sometimes the only pay off for having any faith, Is when it's tested again and again everyday, I'm still comparing your past to my future, It might be your wound but they're my sutures, (Ooh) I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass) (Ooh) I try to ...