a note on annotations

Hey guys!


Though I'm not looking forward to summer drawing to a close, I am excited about having you in AP this year. I'm looking to try some new and creative things this year, so I think we're going to have a good yet challenging time. 


Anyway, I just wanted to clarify my expectations for your annotations:


Yes, you need to annotate each of your books.
However. This need not be a complicated process. All I ask is that you highlight and mark important quotes/sections of your books.
Chances are, you'll forget parts of the books by the time we get to discussing them the first few weeks of school. Marking your books as you read them will help you to interact with the text and to give you places to look back at as we're discussing in class. It makes life easier for everyone. You don't need to mark literary devices or anything. You don't even need to write many notes. If you have a question about a part of the book, place a question mark by it. If you thought something was funny, go ahead and write "lol" or "haha." If you thought something was ironic, write "ironic." 


Don't make annotating any harder than it has to be--it should be a natural interaction of your mind with your reading. It's a practice that we'll be doing all school-year long, so pick up your favorite color highlighter and get to reading with your highlighter in hand!


Make the most of your last few weeks of school and please post on here or email me if you have any questions! (and don't forget about your movie assignment for How To Read Literature Like a Professor.)

*extra credit only post*

This post is for extra credit only. You may not respond to this question to fulfill one of your assigned 4 questions per novel. You may only receive extra credit for this question if you have already responded to 4 questions for The Great Gatsby and 4 questions for The Importance of Being Earnest. 


How to Read Literature Like a Professor discusses the significance of meals in literature and film. Identify one or more meal/food scene in your summer reading and, using Foster's theories, analyze the significance of food in the scene(s). Refer to specific places in the text and cite the scenes/quotations, using page numbers.


Responses should still be 250+ words. You may choose to answer this question using one or both of your summer reading texts. If you choose to respond to both The Great Gatsby and The Importance of Being Earnest, respond to them in separate posts and identify which you're responding to. 

Question Five: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest: on the play

The play format differs greatly from a novel format. However, you're reading the play instead of seeing it performed as it is meant to be. How does a play differ from a novel? How does reading the play affect, both positively and negatively, your experience with this piece of literature? If you've seen this play performed, how did your experience with being a spectator differ from your experience with reading it? 

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Four: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest: on wit

You'll notice that Wilde's writing (and not only this play... all of his writing) is absolutely dripping with wit, irony, puns, and sarcasm. How does this affect the play and how does it affect your reading of it? Think back (if you were on the field trip to see this play at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater last fall) to when you saw the play--what reactions did you have to the witty dialogue when the play was actually performed? How does this differ from your reading of the work? How would the play be different without this element? Consider these questions as you express your feelings about Wilde's witty writing (alliteration, anyone?) style.

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Three: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest: what's in a name?

As you've noticed, this entire play centers around Earnest--the name, the identity, the confusion. But, why Earnest? Of all the names Wilde could've chosen, he specifically selected this name. Authors do this stuff on purpose. Tell me your theories of why Wilde chose this name--what does it mean? what could it signify? how does it tie in with other themes in the play? how does it tie in with other characters? how does it compare to the other characters' names? Consider these questions as you think about the utter importance of... being Earnest. 

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Two: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest: on love and marriage (love and marriage...)


A major theme in this play is love, relationships, marriage. Choose at least two characters and tell me about both their similar and differing views on love and marriage. What's the overall sense you get about Wilde's attitude toward marriage? Do you find this offensive? humorous? realistic? cynical? Point to a few specific points in the text and focus on those as you tell me what you think about this theme in the play (use page numbers and quotes when you refer to these places...).

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question One: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest: on overstating the obvious

So, tell me. Just what is the importance of being Earnest? Hm...

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Six: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: all about money

Compare and contrast Gatsby's social class with that of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. How does geography contribute to the definition of social class in The Great Gatsby?

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Five: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: on theme


Themes are the overall ideas, sometimes morals, that a novel is shaped around. A few themes here are perhaps the shallowness of America's wealthy in the 1920's, the American Dream (and its decline), the issue of one's identity, and love and relationships. 
Choose one of these themes or pick one of your own. 
This response will be two-fold: first (after identifying the theme you'll be discussing), briefly tell me where you see this theme in the novel. Second, what does the novel tell us about that theme? What lesson/moral do we learn from this novel? What message was Fitzgerald trying to communicate to us?

This response should be at least 350 words.

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Four: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: on symbolism

Another symbol in this novel is the billboard bearing the great eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg. Tell me about these eyes. Did this imagery strike you in a particular way when you first read about them? Why is this billboard included in the novel? Consider the times and circumstances  in which Fitzgerald chooses to call our attention to the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg. What do you think about this symbol?

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Three: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: on beginnings


After reading the novel, reread the first two pages of chapter one (from "In my younger..." to "short-winded elations of men"). Authors don't merely start a novel. Thought goes in to the first words of a piece of literature. Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to begin chapter one with these thoughts from the narrator, Nick Carraway? How does this serve as an introduction to the novel as a whole? After reading the book, what new light is shed on these first words? Put yourself in Fitzgerald's shoes. How would you have started The Great Gatsby?

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question Two: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: Yea or Nay?

After reading the entire novel... so, what do you think? Was this book worth your time, or was it the worst literary pain ever inflicted on you? Did it remind you of any other books you've read or movies or tv you've watched? Did it seem archaic, or was it fairly relevant to our society today? You don't have to answer all of these questions, but tell me your honest thoughts on the book. If you loved it, gush over it and tell me why. If you hated it, (respectfully) rant about it. If you thought it was merely mediocre, explain what you did and didn't like about it. Interact with the novel. I just want your honest opinions, here!

This response should be at least 350 words.

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!

Question One: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: on symbolism

One of the great symbols of The Great Gatsby is the green light at the end of Daisy's deck across the water from Gatsby's back yard. Think about this symbol. What makes this green light so great? What could it represent? 

I want to hear your opinion on this famous symbol. Sure, I've read what critics have said about it. But what do you think about it? What do you think it means? When you first read the novel, did you notice the green light? Refer to specific places in the novel as you tell me what you think about Daisy's green light.

You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 

Responses should be at least 250 words each.

Remember: you must respond to at least 4 questions per novel. 

Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 4 questions.

*and remember, this is a blog--write with good English and use your inner intellectual, but speak casually!