Heart of Darkness

Taken from Google Images.

What do you think Conrad's "Big Picture" message was when he wrote HOD?  What does this story say about good and evil?  What purpose does the title serve?

HOD & Moral Darkness

Taken from Google Images

After reading the first ten pages of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I want you to consider the following questions and respond in your journals:

•What details suggest that this novel will be a tale of darkness?  What is the tone of the novel?  How is this tone created?

•Take a few minutes and work with a partner to locate these suggestive details from the text.  How does Conrad's story foreshadow moral darkness?

Austen's Big Picture Idea

Taken from Google Images

 

You have finished Pride & Prejudice!  Congratulations! 

AP English is all about looking at the "Big Picture" idea of a text.  It's great that Elizabeth and Darcy both got what they wanted in the end, but it's time to ask yourself the "So what?" question.  Based on the events and outcome of the novel, I want you to discuss in your journal what Austen's overall message was in Pride & Prejudice.  Why did Lizzy and Darcy end up together?  What moral or lesson is Austen teaching to her readers?  By writing this novel, is Austen saying anything else about England during the Regency Period?  Be specific and use evidence from the text!

Tuesday Journal Prompt

Sarcasm is Mr. Bennet's First Language
Taken from Google Images

 

I know what a lot of you may be thinking about Pride and Prejudice: it's just about a bunch of chicks trying to get married.  And you're right - they are; however, you're also wrong.

Austen uses literary devices to illustrate the fact that her characters are flawed, and oftentimes, quite ridiculous.  AP is all about thinking "big picture".  What message is Austen conveying to readers about these "chicks" who are only trying to get married?

Austen's satire begins with the very first line of Pride and Prejudice: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" (1).  Is she being serious?  Did Jonathan Swift really want the aristocrats to eat the beggers' children?

Why does Austen use literary devices like satire and irony?  If you had to determine the tone of P&P, what would it be and why?  Think "big picture".  What is she telling us about life during The Regency Period in England?

Thursday Journal Prompt

Taken from Google Images

 

The definition of "crucible" is "a severe, searching test or trial."  How does the definition of this word relate to what transpired in Salem in 1692?  Which of Miller's characters were put through a test or trial and why?  Analyze the title of the play and its importance regarding the message that Miller sends to his readers.  Think BIG picture - what message did this literary work send to you?

Poetry Monday!

A Lanyard.
Taken from Google Images



Billy Collins's "The Lanyard" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjB7rB3sWc

The Crucible Shenanigans!



Taken from Google Images

 Journal Prompt -

For today's journal prompt, I would simply like you to write about what you know concerning two topics.  These topics seem to have little in common, but Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, saw things a little differently... 

Tell me what you know about:
a. The Salem Witch Trials

b. McCarthyism