Monday, May 3, 2010

So one of my 46 major character flaws upon which I am working is an intense level of laziness, which is why I neglected to post Friday's lessons. The sophomores took the Author of the Day quiz with varying degrees of success, and the seniors all rec'd the Prom Speech, with varying degrees of success.

Today, however, is another day.

I know several students will be out for the AP Gov test today, but lessons go on despite ourselves.

Gifted English II: Author of the Day is Bill Bryson, word of the day is je ne sais quoi, and the holiday today ranges from Accountant Appreciation Day to Melanoma Monday. And then, unfortunately, we have a timed writing from the State of Florida. Fortunately, this is the adjusted topic for Gifted/Honors, and it has a literary bent. I actually almost like it. Ten points for doing it, plus a grade for your actual score out of 36.

APees: Depending on how many people are out today, we are probably doing small-group preparation for the AP exam this Thursday. All students will be assigned the next (final!) focus paper on Heart of Darkness, though--check this site tomorrow for the prompt if you are out for AP Gov.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Thank goodness I get paid my minor ducats today for my labors. Not that I'm in this for the money, mind you. But little things like "rent" and "car payment" and "ongoing handbag fund" must be ameliorated. . .

Today, the lesson is easy--for me. Not so much for you. Love to all!

Gifted English II: Things Fall Apart assessment, which is a fancy-dancy way of saying "test." Mwahahahahaha. Bring a pencil or pen and your BRAIN.

APees: Heart of Darkness assessment, and y'all are cynical enough to know that it's a test. An old-fashioned test. Please be grateful I postponed it a day in light of the AP Calc, AP Gov, and AP Whatsit tests of yesterday. Can't you feel the compassion? Now take your test!!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

TWO MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Today is the FCAT Writes! during second period, and will result in an adjusted bell schedule. If you are a sophomore, consult me or the lists posted in the media center/guidance for your testing location. If you are a senior with late arrival, double-check with the main office for the starting time of third period, which will most likely be truncated due to the testing schedule. And if you are a senior: My room is off-limits. I am testing AND providing extended testing time to a small group of learners.

2. Tonight is AP night in the auditorium at 6 p.m., followed by a chance to meet the AP teachers and discuss next year's courses in the cafeteria. The cafeteria session should go from 7-8, so if you are interested in attending or sending a parental unit, let them know. If you are interested in helping out and "selling the AP class" for me or for another AP instructor, please show up around 7 at the cafeteria and prepare to be charming. Community service hours will be awarded.

Lessons for today:

Period One: Allaying of FCAT panic and furtherance of Othelloness.

Period Two: FCAT Writes!

Period Three: Short period; Shelley's "West Wind," or at least a hint of a breeze.

Period Four: Writing Center and ensuing chaos.

Periods Five-Seven: Windiness and falling on the thorns of life, Shelleystyle. And there will be much rejoicing.

Lecture Notes on Madame Bovary and Flaubert

This lecture is from Thursday, August 21, 2008, bad weather notwithstanding:

Outline on board:

-physiognomy (connecting physical traits to psychological or personality characteristics)

-themes and motifs in the novel

• condemnation of the bourgeoisie
• failure to communicate/connect
• naturalism (heredity and social environment) and its implications with the characters
• powerlessness of women--Emma v. Leon with contrasting outcomes but similar desires
• debunking Romantic ideology/Emma's fantasies
• institution of marriage itself

-Flaubert and Romanticism/Realism

• dared to write the novel to uproot his deep-seated Romanticism
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo
• sentimentalism
• Romantic hero--notably absent from Bovary
• "Imagination is rich; the world is cold and empty"--the persistent belief that rationalism had robbed men of illusions/dreams
• Romantic ideology often espouses that Nature is a healing entity, but Flaubert seems to see rural life as backward and suffocating--not the exalted, idealized life envisioned by the English Romantics

-Transition into Naturalism and Realism

• Balzac, Stendahl, Zola, Guy de Maupassant ("The Necklace")
• often criticized for being too bleak, too despairing
• le mot juste--Flaubert's legendary perfectionism
• avoiding banality--but what do we idealize today? The popular culture quest for instant fame, the current foreclosure crisis--Bovary is as relevant today as ever before
• Memoirs of a Madman--Flaubert's memoirs, with telling evidence of the autobiographical nature of Madame Bovary

Question: Does American popular culture overemphasize romantic (not Romantic--there's a difference) ideals in relationships between lovers? Specifically, between men and women? Think about "The Hills," "Gossip Girl," any typical soap-operatic fantasy, the Twilight books. . .