Gifted English II: Today is the Count of Monte Cristo check-reading test. Bring your novel, a pencil OR a pen, and your brain. Today is also the assignment of the first official focus paper of the year. Last quarter, writing assignments turned into Epic Fail due largely to shifting deadlines for multiple students--some of whom did not have Gifted English last year, some of whom simply did not do to the summer reading, some of whom were suffering from Schedule Change Existential Woe. I focused pretty heavily on reading, vocabulary, and critical thinking last quarter, and our focus is shifting this quarter to Writing Skills.
Focus papers are short, sharp, focused--hence the title. This paper is due on Friday, no exceptions. It is only 300-400 words long, and you will have a revision opportunity next week if your score is lower than a B-. The topic for this FP is CMC, and over the course of this quarter you will have several focus papers to generate, some of which will be ideologically connected to the literature we are studying, some of which will be more FCAT-y. Regardless, this is the format you will be writing in during AP Lit and Comp your senior year, and it mimics the kinds of essays you are expected to generate on most AP exams. Time to get with the program, sophys! I will help you as much as I can.
AP Literature and Composition: Today might be a Hamlet Act I quiz, depending on the level of emo I sense in the room. Over the weekend, I asked you to read as much as you comfortably could in Act II and address as many of the guided questions as possible. I will most likely start the class by reviewing the concepts and elements of Act I and gauge where the discussion is going; the beauty of Socratic instruction is that YOU determine the lesson's outcome. Be alive, alert, and awake, and all will be well. The quiz is easy IF you read it with focus and "got it." Otherwise, it is mind-bendingly awful.
