Menagerie: For tomorrow, choose two pieces (one written and one visual) that you would recommend to others to check out. Without saying too much (no spoilers), prepare a brief comment or two about what you found appealing or interesting about the work? 

Going beyond  the obvious "slavery was bad", what is your take-away from "Beloved"? What did the book reveal or make you question about issues such as slavery, race, human nature, memory, the legacy of personal and societal histories, writing styles, etc?  

What do you know about Vietnam?

Optional Beloved Quiz Make-up Assignment

If you do not feel your Beloved quiz scores accurately reflect your true reading effort and comprehension of Beloved, you may request an opportunity to write a make-up essay at 6:45 am on Monday, May 15.However, before I grant your request, I will review your book for evidence of careful annotations throughout, talk with you, and use professional judgement to determine how rigorous your reading effort was, and whether you are eligible or not for this assignment. This assignment is not meant as a reward or second chance for those who did not read or simply did not read carefully.

On the day of the essay, you may use your book, but no other outlines, and I will grade it holistically but rigorously; in other words, you will have to really earn the grade.

Also note, that the percentages associated with the AP scores of 1-9 are slightly lower than normal (see the back of this page), because, while I want this assignment to help those who truly read well but struggle with MC-style testing, I do not want this assignment to become a too attractive second-chance option to students, and therefore become an unintentional disincentive to read.

Please keep in mind, that regardless of whether you do better or worse, this grade will replace your quiz grades on Beloved (I will apply the percentage earned on the essay to each of the three quizzes on Beloved), so your grade could go up or down.

It will be handwritten, but must be legible.  It will be worth a potential 105 points, the same as our total point value for the quizzes.

Day of the essay: On Monday, May 15, you will report to NC210 by 6:40, and write from 6:45 to 7:30.

Instructions: Respond to one of the following in a thoughtful and well written essay.

1. Choose a character from Beloved who is pulled in conflicting directions. Identify the forces of conflict and explain how this illustrates the meaning of the novel as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2. The setting of a literary text often has special significance for the development of characters, plot, and/or theme. Write an essay in which you analyze the significance of the setting (Sweet Home, 124, Cincinnati, the North/South, the river, etc.) of Beloved and its effect on the meaning of the novel as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

3. No act of violence exists without a specific purpose or intention. Choose one such scene from Beloved, and write a well-organized essay in which you identify the violence and analyze its significance to the meaning of the novel as a whole. Avoid plot summary.

4. The quest for power is a strong human drive. Choose a character from Beloved who either seeks to gain power over another or seeks to free himself or herself from the power of another. Write an essay in which you illustrate how this power struggle is essential to the meaning of the novel. Avoid mere plot summary.

5. Select a character from Beloved who serves as the instrument for the suffering of others and analyze how this action contributes to the meaning of the novel as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

6. Choose a character from Beloved who has to deal with guilt. Identify the situation and analyze how effectively the character deals with his or her struggle. Relate this situation to the meaning of the novel as a whole, avoiding mere plot summary.

7. Select a character from Beloved who demonstrates irrational behavior. In a well-organized essay, analyze how this behavior can be considered reasonable and relate the behavior to the text as a whole.

AP Scoring Guide

9 Essays earning a score of 9 meet all the criteria for papers that earned 8 points and, in addition, are particularly persuasive or carefully reasoned or demonstrate impressive stylistic control.  (93%)

8 Essays that earned a score of 8 persuasively respond to the prompt. They present cohesive and carefully reasoned arguments using appropriate evidence to develop their positions. Their prose demonstrates their ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing, but they are not flawless. (86%)

7 Essays earning a score of 7 fit the descriptions of essays that received 6 points but are distinguished by fuller or more purposeful argument or stronger prose style. (83%)

6 Essays earning a score of 6 adequately respond to the prompt by presenting interpretations that are generally sound and that use appropriate evidence. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but for the most part the prose of these essays conveys the writers’ ideas clearly. (78%)

5 Essays earning a score of 5 understand the task, and their interpretations and arguments are generally clear, although they may use superficial or limited evidence or exhibit uneven development. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be evident, but for the most part the prose of these essays conveys the writers’ ideas clearly. (73%)

4 These essays inadequately respond to the prompt. They may misunderstand, misrepresent, or oversimplify Morrison’s views, or use evidence inappropriate or insufficient to make their own case. The prose of these essays usually conveys the writers’ ideas, but may suggest inconsistent control over such elements of writing as organization, diction, and syntax. (68%)

3 Essays that received 3 points are described by the criteria for the score of 4 (see above), but are less persuasive in their attempts to state and defend an interpretation, or are less consistent in their ability to control the elements of writing. (60%)

2 Essays earning a score of 2 demonstrate little or no success in responding to the prompt. They may have seriously misread Beloved or substitute a simpler task, such as summarizing the novel or writing responses only tangentially related to the prompt. The prose of these essays may reveal consistent weaknesses in control of elements of writing, such as organization, grammar, or diction. (50%)

HW: Read and annotate chapter of The Things They Carried