Beloved 

AP Prep - Lincoln's inaugural address

"Woe to those by whom the offense cometh."
1st period: ended here - I discussed the existential and theological implications of this set-up quote.



HW: Read chapter 18 and part of chapter 19
(187 to top of 222)

First half of class - Begin reading Beloved, chapter 15.

Second half of class - 
Review more rhetorical terms
Discuss Lincoln's purpose, strategy and specific moves to achieve that strategy...
Main purpose: Unify the country - minimize blame and desire for revenge,You can't just win the war, you need to win the peace. create a healing/forgiving atmosphere.  
What are some specific strategies he employs? Find examples of the following: (e.g., word choices/avoidance of certain words, limited time/words spent on potentially incendiary topic, allusions/appeals to authority, logos - theological reasoning)

Look at one student essay response

HW: Finish reading Beloved, ch 15-17 (pp 159-186). Very important chapters. Please post one discussion question to turnitin.com and respond to another.


Tomorrow: Discuss Beloved and do AP Prep

Paul D poem

Break today from Beloved

AP Prep today...
*Review terms 
*look at one rhetorical analysis prompt 
*student response and look at one argument prompt

We will also do more AP prep

Overview of Exam structure
Review of terms
Read the AP prompt (again - think we might have read this one earlier in the year)
Outline a response
Look at a student response to 2nd inaugural
Look at argument response

HW: Read chapters 13-14 for tomorrow; perhaps a brief quiz or discussion followed by AP prep work with 2nd inaugural address

Chapter 10: All the hidden truths are revealed to the outsider Chapter 10 provides an alternative to the textbook narrative of American history...a view from the outside...

Exodus/Hero's Journey patterns, archetypes and images

Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenence author dies


White Supremacist Tries to Make Amends


HW: Many critics have pointed out the Odyssey or Exodus-like quality of Chapter 10.

Using language from Chapter 10, your own words, and an epic or Biblical style, tell this journey story in your own poem, one with enough stanzas to do justice to Paul D's story. (typed or handwritten)

Also, remember to have read through chapter 12.



Odyssey Chapter 9 (Fagles tranlsation read by Ian McKellan)

Critics have also commented extensively on Chapters 11 and, especially,Chapter 12, and the developing clues about the complex nature of Beloved's character and how she might represent a baby's ghost, the many slaves that suffered and died in the middle passage, and the legacy of slavery and the past (to name a few). What evidence, clues, symbols could be interpreted to suggest a passage from one metaphysical realm to another? What images might suggest a slave ship? What might suggest drowning? The womb? Rebirth?  Etc.


Closer To Fine by The Indigo Girls
Closer To Fine
Exodus by Bob Marley
Exodus by Bob Marley

Beloved Chapter 9 silent conversation

April 21, 2017
Beloved
Day of Silence

In honor of the Day of Silence for LGBTA, we will have silent reading today.

Some thoughts…Many people in this world are not allowed - for one reason or another - to have a voice. Sometimes their voices have been ignored - think about the people represented in the book we are reading - and other times they feel the need to self-censor, to hide certain parts of their being because society still does not fully accept or approve of who they are. Let us remember all of those who have been shunned or silenced for simply being who they are.  I personally believe that we are all children of God, and our tremendous variety is part of this universe's beauty. No matter what you believe, I think that most of us will agree that we should strive treat others with respect and dignity.  Kindness, my friends, is the greatest wisdom. Let's try to remember that today and every day.

Silent Conversation
Hand in your questions from the last two days (please make sure your name is on them and put them in the plastic bin in front), and your chapter 9 literary/rhetorical analysis paragraph (assigned yesterday).  If you were absent yesterday, don’t worry about writing a question or paragraph – today we will work with what we have. 
I will redistribute questions and paragraphs.

Response to questions…Most of you will receive questions on both yellow and pink notecards.  Fold and then neatly tear a sheet of paper in half…Using at least one analytical verb or compare/contrast keyword (please underline) and one direct quote, respond with a full paragraph to one question from a yellow notecard and another from a pink notecard. When done, put your name on the paper and staple it to the question you responded to (do that for both questions).  When you are done writing your question responses, make sure your name is on them, staple them to the notecards and return them to the respective writers of each question. 

Response to literary/rhetorical analysis paragraphs…Read the paragraph they wrote. Annotate in the margins, noting strengths, points you agree with or perhpas have a somewhat different take on. Under their paragraph, write a two or three sentence which share some angle, thought, point of view, connection that conveys what you felt, thought or noticed about the passage when you first read it.  Rather than just repeating what they said, try to share a unique point of view, pivoting or building upon something they said, but striving to say something which is uniquely your own response to the passage.  This should be a short, three or four sentence paragraph and it should include one analytical or compare/contrast word and one short quote embedded into the flow of one of your sentences.  When done, sign it, return it to the original author. Everyone should read the responses they received.

When you have received all of your original materials and responses back, staple them all together, with your literary analysis paragraph on top and the questions and response (in no particular order) behind it.  Hand in for visual check and credit (5-10 points).

In-class and homework: Read and annotate chapter 10, (125-133).

Beloved Chapter 9

Finish reading Chapter 9 (pages 100-124)

On a sheet of notebook paper, identify a scene or passage from chapter 8 or 9 that struck you as interesting, powerful, or particularly well-written. Next, write a paragraph (using at least one or two of the analytical verbs or compare and contrast words) describing what you found moving or interesting and why. In essence, write a mini rhetorical or literary analysis of the scene.

Also, write one more discussion question - on a notecard - for pages 109-124 of chapter 9. In our small group and large group discussions tomorrow, we will use those questions and the questions you wrote a couple of days ago - along with the paragraphs assigned above.

At the end of chapter 5, Paul D believes that Beloved isn't sick. He claims that he saw Beloved pick up the rocking chair with one hand. When Denver was asked if she saw Beloved picking up the rocking chair, she states, "I didn't see no such thing" (67). Do you believe Denver is trying to protect Beloved? Why is Denver trying to make Paul look like a liar?

Melissa



In Chapter 6 of Beloved, Morrison writes "Sethe was licked, tasted and eaten by Beloved's eyes (68)" and continues to describe Beloved devotion and interest to Sethe. How come Beloved is more connected to Sethe even though it was Denver who cared and nurtured her back to health?

Addie



Chapter 5 begins with "a fully dressed woman [walking] out of the water...and [leaning] against a mulberry tree" (Morrison 60). In many pieces of literature water symbolizes baptism and the rebirth of a new identity for a character. Do you think Beloved walking out of the water can be seen as an example of baptism or rebirth? Why or why not?

Caroline




"good lace at the throat, and a rich woman's hat" Why does Beloved have such high class clothes? Where is she from?

JAred




"Paul D asks Sethe, you just gonna feed her? From now on? Paul D, feeling ungenerous, and surprised by it, heard the irritability in his voice" (67). Paul D is very unwelcoming to the guest despite the fact that only a short time ago he was in a similar position. Is Paul D jealous? Is he threatened be the new arrival to the house?

Luke


During chapters 5 and 6 the character of Beloved is introduced, and it appears to be that she is the manifestation of the ghost that haunts 124, the ghost of Sethe's lost daughter Beloved. The girl effects each of the three main characters in different ways, however the common fact is that her presence has a great impact on each of them individually, on a personal level, "Denver tended to her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her breathing... out of love" --"Paul D feeling ungenerous and surprised by it, heard the irritability in his voice...Something funny bout that gal"-- "But as she began telling Beloved about the earrings she found herself wanting to, even liking it." 
What is Beloved's purpose? Her plan? Why come now of all times in physical/human form?

Nick

HW: Read and annotate Chapter 8

aph·o·rism

[ˈafəˌrizəm]

NOUN

1. a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

HW: Read Chapters 5 and 6 and post and respond to one question (for either 5 or 6) online 

Beloved Chapter 3 and 4 creative connections and AP

       Together it was common, to weep in the glow of darkness
Straddled to circumstances made from cold structure
      Details concern the ripe fright hid by a friendly wind
Her thin skin in an embrace of autumn fits 
       But living was a tender imagination, for she was dead
                                                                                                     
                                                         Belinda Andrade

She’s the scariest-looking something, 
Cane stalk arms and an appetite for huckleberries, 
Slowly looking, examining the freshly lit greenery, 
My Jesus my, having a baby along? 
Fanged jaws and split tongues, 

Running, couldn’t die alone.

                                  Henry Claesson



The Boxwood: 
Her closed place 
A private, secret refuge beyond 124 
Denver's imagination is protected 

Protected of 124 
Protected of Darkness 
Protected of Sethe 
Protected of a hurt world 

Beyond a stream, a field, oaks, bushes, 
Beyond hunger 
Loneliness was sweet 
Loneliness for dead people 

Denver, straddled in combination of secret and imagination 
The boxwood produced food 
Little Denver, crawl from hurt to refuge.

                                        Kelly Dunleavy

Impatient churchbells clanged 
in the distance 
tight, swollen flesh crunched 
the long, wild underfoot 

The dying temple told stories 
of kneeling and protest 
of warmth and cold 

The fields of Sweet Home 
replaced by its thoughts, 
stayed sharp 
like an iron point 

The long row stretched 
from day to night 
alive and alone 
mother and baby sank 

The dying temple told stories 
of kneeling and protest 
of warmth and cold 

The world gained distance 
her thoughts shifted 
the antelope danced 
and her patience drifted

Sophia Sorrentino


This place makes me think of her. She always comes back to help her mother, I think that is why the house that is no longer hers still is. Everything here is untouched like the contents of a museum. But nothing is clean. Dust covers the entire house, especially the attic. The attic is a child's paradise. Relics from the 70's and 80's consume it in the form of clothes and games and music. On the left side there is a PC that hasn't been turned on in 15 years, we loved to push the dirty, faded keys, pretending we were businesswomen while we wore her old shoulder padded jackets. We would push the now ratty and no longer appreciated plush animals in an old squeaky buggy. She has never been childish, maybe she left it all in the attic. Each time we went, we would place a note on the slanted part of the ceiling we could reach. The notes are still there, but now we have to duck so we won't knock our heads on the slanted stucco. My mother’s childhood rests in that attic, packed away but still ready to be taken out and examined by us. Old pictures and dresses were always our favorite to look at. She would tell us stories too, stories I could listen to all day. She is fun like the attic, she loves to take us to museums and out to dinner. She said she loved learning about foreign countries as a child, so she takes us to the countries she could never visit. There are two sets of stairs that lead down to the second floor, I make Anna take the safer one because she's little. The second floor is similar to the attic. The smell of mothballs consume both so intensely. Renovation is not a common occurrence here. "It looks the same, but with less posters and pink floyd albums" she remarked. The hallway walls are filled with pictures of her life, some of us too. Random old paintings and multiple law degrees hang on the wall. She is talented like her family. The best part is the laundry chute. She told us that when she was 7, she and her brother used to drop their cat from the second floor laundry chute into a bed of pillows the bottom. When we come we do that too, no cat this time, just plush animals. We always wanted to be like her. She didn't love everything about her childhood, though. It was chaotic like the living room downstairs. The main floor always smelled like something was cooking, even though almost always, nothing ever was. But the living room was different, it was her father’s room. It smells of books and dirty carpet, the furniture is black and white stripped and the walls are a rich red like, like the blood the seeps from a cut that needs stitches. The living room is eternally stained by the selfish ways of her father. Nobody really likes that room, but you have to pass through it in order to get into a room that is more like her than any other part of the house, the porch. The porch is screened in, it is a small room with two chairs and a couch, both white wicker, a porch swing hangs idly by, waiting for someone to rest on it. I’m sure this room has over 15 small pillows in it and is by far the most colorful of the rooms, even though it is all white. Light always flooded into the room, it seemed to fully disregard the tall shady trees that surround the porch on two sides. It is quirky and different like she is. Sitting on the porch swing you can see the magnificent colors splattered on Columbia drive, the view doesn't get any better considering you're in Waterloo, Iowa. The colors remind me of her, lighthearted similar to her laugh. My father proposed to her on that porch too, I guess happiness just rests there. She is both within and without the grey house on Columbia Drive.

Lilian Walker




Challenges of a blended family

One packet per pair of students

AP Terms and Chapter 3 passage from 37-42

6 minutes of independent reading from page 37 ("I believe this baby's ma'am is gonna die" to page 42 ("Anything dead coming back to life hurts").

Work thoughtfully through as many of the eight questions as you can manage - careful consideration of each question is more beneficial than speed. It's okay if you don't finish all of the questions.

6 minutes of independent reading

Work question out through conversation - even if one partner is more extroverted, make sure that the conversation is balanced.  When writing out the two to three sentence explanation for each answer choice, alternate which partner does the writing.

Put both names and the period at the top of the packet and hand it in before you leave.

No homework

Beloved Chapter 3:

Creative Sharing: Show and describe your picture;
read aloud your poem; read your person and place narrative;

Chapter 3 Discussion: 

LAD Discussion Rubric

Criteria	Novice	Developing	Proficient	Excellent
Personal Communication of Ideas	Does not contribute to the ongoing conversation nor respond to peers’ comments. Comments continually lack insight and relevance. Multiple filler words and hesitancies impede understanding of message.	Sometimes contributes to the ongoing conversations. Comments occasionally are insightful and relevant but quality is inconsistent. Some filler words and hesitancies are noticeable but do not impede understanding.	Contributes to the ongoing conversations. Comments are consistently insightful and relevant. Thoughts usually articulated fluidly with very few hesitancies or vocal fillers.	Actively stimulates and sustains further discussion by building on peers’ comments. Comments are insightful, relevant, and creatively thought-provoking throughout. Knows when to alter angle of topic to illicit further discussion and comments. Thoughts articulated fluidly throughout with no noticeable hesitancies or vocal fillers.
Personal Integration within the Group	Does not pay attention to discussion. Comments insult group members through derogatory, defamatory, or condescending words or body language. Monopolizes discussion time or refuses to talk at all - ever. Communication causes conflict or derails the objectives of the discussion. Refuses to move on from a topic.	Seems to pay attention to discussion but does not contribute willingly unless asked directly. May interrupt others occasionally or monopolize conversation. Comments are usually appropriate.	Pays attention to discussion as evidenced through nonverbal cues and frequently contributes to conversation. Respectfully enters the conversation. Occasionally makes positive, authentic validations of others’ comments when appropriate. Allows others time to speak. Comments are always appropriate.	Plays a role in facilitating discussion by encouraging others to contribute. Frequently makes positive, authentic validations of others’ comments when appropriate. Attempts to diffuse conflict when necessary. Helps to regulate flow of conversation.

Tonight: Review the AP terms and look for examples of some of them as you read chapter 4 of Beloved for tomorrow. Continue annotating for other connections and questions.

Beloved Chapter 3 Creative Response

April 10, 2017 Beloved Chapter 3 Creative Response

On Friday I forgot to post the weekend reading on the website (and among my three sections of 3AP, I believe eight people were absent), so there will be no additional reading today; however, if you have not already, make sure you finish chapter 3 and post one question and respond to another on turnitin.com.

Also, please take some time to do one of the following creative responses to chapter 3 (5 points):

1)    If you enjoy drawing, draw a scene, a place (like 124), or a person from chapter 3; please take a photo and email it to me.

2)    Write about a place that for you, embodies the spirit (literally or metaphorically) of a person you know intimately, like 124 seems to embody the baby's spirit. But write about in a style similar to Morrison's style; mimic her cadence, her syntax, her pacing, her rich use of imagery. Make sure you convey something about both the person and place which inspired this piece. (about a page) Submit to turnitin.com Discussion Board, Beloved Chapter 3 Creative Response

3)    Write a Found Poem using words from chapter three. Found poems involve writing a poem using words that you find somewhere, in this case, Chapter 3 of Beloved. Submit to turnitin.com Discussion Board, Beloved Chapter 3 Creative Response.

Instructions:

*Find a scene which will serve as inspiration and a source of words for your poem.

It should be about a page to no more than three pages in length. 

*Circle thirty or so really good words that capture your attention due to their sound and/or meaning.

*Use those words and a sprinkling (five or less) of your own to create a poem inspired by the scene.

In addition to submitting digital copies to me, please bring your original paper version of your work tomorrow; be prepared to share an excerpt (or your drawing tomorrow).

Beloved Chapter 2

“No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Take 15 minutes to articulately respond to the prompt below in 3/4 to a page long paragraph (use at least one analytical verb and one compare and contrast key word in your response, and underline them)

What similarities do you see concerning the treatment of expectations and memory versus reality in both The Great Gatsby and Beloved? How does this play out for Gatsby, Paul D, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Sethe and Baby Suggs? 

In Beloved, Baby Suggs says "a man ain't nothing but a a man. But a son? Well now, that s a somebody"(27). What does baby Suggs mean by this? What differentiates a son from a man according to baby Suggs? What makes baby Suggs adopt this ideology? (Charlie)

After Paul D and Sethe first had sex in chapter 2, "they lay side by side resentful of one another", and later John D was thinking to himself, "Nothing could be as good as the sex with with her Paul D had been imagining off and on for twenty five years." 

What could have caused the resentment between the two? Why was Paul's imagination greater than reality? Is this a common occurance in life?  (Nick)

Sethe says, "They encouraged you to put some of your weight in their hands and as soon as you felt how light and lovely that was, they studied you scars and tribulations, after which they did what he had done" ran her children out and tore up the house." (Morrison 26) Who is Sethe referring to in this quote, Paul D., Halle, both or neither? What prompts these feelings in Sethe and why?  (Kendall)

"...trees were inviting; things you could trust and be near; talk to if you wanted to as he frequently did since way back when he took the midday meal in the fields of Sweet Home" (Morrison 25). Why did Paul D spend time talking to trees when there were so many other men around to talk to? What does this say about his and other characters relationship with nature? (Jenna)

2 Kaelan Lee yesterday, 8:00:55 PM
3 replies
When Sixo "plotted down to the minute a thirty-mile trip to see a woman", what motivated him? Why would he travel that far just to see a woman?

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2.1 Tara Flaherty yesterday, 8:26:14 PM
0 replies
When Sixo "plotted down to the minute a thirty-mile trip to see a woman", what motivated him? Why would he travel that far just to see a woman?
Toni Morrison seems to indicate that the men are fairly respectable, despite their acts with the cows. They wait for Sethe to pick a man, however, for Sixo, it is not a big problem because of the thirty mile woman. Because of her "Sixo was the only one not paralyzed by yearning for Sethe" (30) making daily life at Sweet Home easier. Additionally, Morrisson's inclusion of their acts with the cows indicates that sex was very driving.

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2.2 Katherine Underwood yesterday, 9:16:13 PM
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When Sixo "plotted down to the minute a thirty-mile trip to see a woman", what motivated him? Why would he travel that far just to see a woman?
I think that Sixo travels that far to see a woman because he is different from the other Sweet Home men. He is the only one "not paralyzed by yearning for Sethe" (Morrison 30). He does not share the other mens' feelings towards women and sex, he seems to be a more reserved and dedicated person. I think he travels so far to see her because he has feelings for her in particular and not just any woman he could find.

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2.3 Max Ryser 16 minutes ago
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When Sixo "plotted down to the minute a thirty-mile trip to see a woman", what motivated him? Why would he travel that far just to see a woman?
Sixo was willing to make the thirty-mile trip because there was no other option. She was probably the only available woman other than sethe in the area and so he was willing to make such a long and arduous hike just to meet her. This displays just how lonely some of the men felt because he was willing to walk for hours to see her and just say hi.

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3 Alex Saacke yesterday, 9:00:24 PM
2 replies
Morrison portrays these Sweet Home men dreaming of rape but also taking a romantic "thirty-mile trip to see a woman" (26). How could these men have such contrasting attitudes towards woman at the same time?

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3.1 Alvaro Villalobos yesterday, 10:04:20 PM
0 replies
Morrison portrays these Sweet Home men dreaming of rape but also taking a romantic "thirty-mile trip to see a woman" (26). How could these men have such contrasting attitudes towards woman at the same time?
I believe a lot of these differing attitudes comes to create contrast of these men's humanity. That they are seen with their humanity striped of them while dreaming of rape, yet these women give these men humanity. For Sixo this woman becomes a focus of his life holding him from slipping into losing his humanity and simply becoming an item. That chance of seeing and gaining humanity is what stops these men from doing all these horrible things. Thinking and doing are different things and I feel that Morrison pushes this with this contrast of these men's humanity.

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3.2 Sam Whalen yesterday, 11:48:50 PM
0 replies
Morrison portrays these Sweet Home men dreaming of rape but also taking a romantic "thirty-mile trip to see a woman" (26). How could these men have such contrasting attitudes towards woman at the same time?
I feel that the "dreaming of rape" quality of these men is more of a label that has been put on these men and a role that they have been forced into more than an actual desire of theirs. The Sweet Home men do not touch Sethe once she arrives and they do not act out in any way that would suggest they are threatening people, however, I think that their lifestyle of deprivation has them thinking of any possible sexual pleasure that they can get. Rape is the most extreme way of saying that these men would get sexual fulfillment, so I think that Morrison uses this phrase to emphasize how desperate the men are to find pleasure in their lives, and that this has caused the thought of rape to cross their minds even though they would never act upon these dreams in reality. Morrison definitely knew this would catch attention and provoke a lot of thought, so it is possible that she just wanted to emphasize how dehumanized these men have been. Also, I feel that the 30 mile journey to see a woman for an hour is a further example of how desperate these men are, and how much desire they have to find pleasures in their tough lives. The innocence of Sixo's actions help to show that these men think about women a lot because they don't have exposure to them, not because they are simply bad people who fantasize about rape.


Homework: Read Chapter 3 and post one question and respond to another in turnitin.com.  

Bellringer:

Choose a turnitin question that you have not already responded to and write a full parargraph response complete with supporting text and your own inferences.  Try to choose your words carefully, remembering to use strong tone/mood words and analytical verbs and words for comparison, as appropriate.

Why might Morrison have chosen to write what she did at the top of page 13 about the men "f___ing cows, dreaming of rape"? Is she denigrating them by presenting them in such way, or does she have another purpose?

What other behaviors of the men are juxtaposed/ contrasted with the "f______ing of cows, dreaming of rape"?  What is the cumulative effect of Morrison's portryal of the Sweet Home men? What do you think she wants the readers to think and feel about the men and their responses to the conditions of their lives? 

What kind of man is Paul D? What effect does he have on women? How might that affect the reader's perception of what he does and says?

Annotation Guides:

Character traits

Character relationships (map)

Events/situations

Timeline

Vocabulary

Questions for discussion

Setting

HW for Friday: Read and annotate Chapter 2. On Turnitin.com post one textually rooted discussion question and respond to one.

In-class on Thursday, we will do the following:

Activity 1:  Three column journal. List of characters/relationship to other characters/key characteristics/details

Activity 2: What is the setting? Time, place, physical and cultural characteristics. 

Class discussion using student discussions

In-class reading and annotating

Beloved - Chapter 1:

Annotation Guides:

Character traits

Character relationships (map)

Events/situations

Timeline

Vocabulary

Questions for discussion

Setting

HW for Thursday: Read and annotate Chapter 1. On Turnitin.com post one textually rooted discussion question and respond to one.

In-class on Thursday, we will do the following:

Activity 1:  Three column journal. List of characters/relationship to other characters/key characteristics/details

Activity 2: What is the setting? Time, place, physical and cultural characteristics. 

Class discussion using student discussions

Beloved Day 1 Foreword and Prereading

Beloved audiobook read by Toni Morrison

Beloved Audiobook

American Slavery

What do you know about it?

What is the legacy of it?

HW: Read the foreword of Beloved...