Wednesday

Compose a single, full, handwritten page in response to one question from the group you are assigned to. Be ready to share it with others during the next class. Bring it on paper, not posted to this site. As you answer, remember that characters in a play are tools in the hands of the playwright. He uses them to accomplish his purposes. Give your response plenty of TEXTure. Let’s start with the idea that one of the play’s primary themes is the importance of history to the future of a people.

1. Avery, who is from Mississippi like the Charles family takes to the city “like a fish to water,” according to the stage directions on page 22.  First, he wants to be a preacher, but also he presently has a job operating an elevator. Comment on the role of Avery with special attention to the suggestiveness of his day job, and then continue to evaluate his role, function, and purpose within the play. (Hunter, Morgan, Justin)
2. Reread Wining Boy’s story on page 63 that relates him in some way to Lymon. Was it a good choice to leave this speech out of the movie version? How does its absence change the play and its ramifications? (Rebekah, Kendall, Sydnee)
3. Why does Sutter’s ghost haunt the Charles family? Why does he show up when Boy Willie moves the piano, when Berniece attacks Boy Willie over Crawley’s death, and when Avery tries to exorcise it? How about his appearances to Doaker? And why does he leave when he does? What powers come into play? How is all that connected to Berniece’s history and the power of history? (Dara, Quay, Leo)
4. What do both The Piano Lesson and Beloved say about history and making a start? (Abigail)
5. Wining Boy plays the piano enthusiastically. Maretha plays it as a novice. Why do their songs (even Wining Boy’s song “in MEMORY of Cleotha”) have no effect on the ghost? (Natalie, Meagan, Rebecca)
6. Why is Sutter so interested in keeping that piano where it is? Consider Boy Willie’s hopes and Berniece’s final use of the piano. (Victoria, Daniel O, Quay)
7. The play makes the juxtaposition clear: first comes Avery (starting on page 65); then comes Boy Willie and Grace (what a name, huh? starting on page 72); and then comes Lymon (starting on page 75). Observe Berniece’s reactions to each situation – each with implications about Berniece’s attitudes toward intimacy or sexuality – and comment on those reactions. What do Berniece’s reactions have to do with the larger thematic unity of the play? (Patrick, Eve-liina, Jesse
8. Why do so many aspects of Boy Willie’s and Lymon’s characters remain unexplained? (Did either of them help kill Sutter? Whose truck is it? Did they steal the watermelons or the truck? Consider these things especially in light of Boy Willie’s apparent strong tendencies toward integrity about his intentions). (Kelcey, Dee, Katie)
9. ON page 70, Berniece says, “Sometimes late at night I could hear my mama talking to them. I said that wasn’t gonna happen to me.” On page 91, Boy Willie speaks about his father’s hands. The movie changes the lines to say, after Boy Willie imagines Boy Charles saying, “I got these big old hands but what I’m gonna do with them?” to read, “I ain’t gonna be like that.” Comment on that change and the way it alters the play to have both Charles children saying they are not going to be like their parents. (Samuel, Daniel, Shelly)
10. ON page 88, Boy Willie makes a speech about death. It was not included in the movie version. Say you are the director of the movie. Explain to August Wilson why that speech must be cut and how you think it will better preserve the integrity of the play. (Maddison, Dale, Gabe)
11. Reread pages 90-93. See the argument between Berniece and Boy Willie over Maretha’s future. Decide whose case has the better merit: Boy Willie’s or Berniece’s, and convince us that you are right. (Berniece’s last words to Maretha here before wheeling on Boy Willie are “Hold your head up!”) (Alexis, Jawaun)
12. Why does Grace run away on page 103? Think interpretively. She is a tool in the hands of a playwright. What is her function and role in accomplishing his purposes? (Jeb, Sam, Yarhiel)
13. Comment on Doaker’s railroad speech on page 18 and his words on page 45 that Boy Charles “didn’t know they was gonna come down there and stop the train.” How are these two speeches to be reconciled? Do they express a problem Wilson attempts to address? (Loftin, Justin H, Sam)
14. What is The Piano Lesson? (Will, Preston)

Tuesday

A-day: I mentioned to B-day to do this little assignment before your next class. You should do it too: use your little electronic devices to look up “al jolson minstrels.” Then look up whatever you can find on “bill cosby on rap.” Within any of those results, look for “minstrels.”

 

Then you will be a little more prepared for what August Wilson has to say.

Monday

I've embedded a calendar right here, so assignments will be in two spots, Managebac and here on Google.

Today we finished Act 1, Scene 2 and began watching the video of The Piano Lesson. All students should report to me in my room on Wednesday. We will view the remainder of the movie version of the play.

calendar

Since I now have to enter key dates in Managebac, that is where you also should look for the calendar and for deadlines and dates.

Monday/Tuesday

Choose one of the following (or devise one of your own) to present individually or in teams of two:

1. With a partner or not, make a case for or against

Boy Willie's rights to the piano

Berniece's rights to the piano

    Introductory arguments (generalities that you intend to prove)

    Presentation of evidence

    Visual aid to enhance arguments (not to replace or substitute for them)

    Closing arguments

2. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing the roles of dreams, visions, and mysterious monologues in the play. You must present with a visual aid that enhances your argument but does not replace or substitute for it. You must build a case for a purposeful role.

3. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing the role of songs in the play. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid. You must build a case for a purposeful role.

4. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing Berniece's role in the play with regard to her various relationships. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid.You must build a case for a purposeful role.

5. With a partner or not, develop a case on a topic of your own device. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid. You must build a case for a purposeful role. (ghosts? trains? prison? money? whiskey? marriage?)

6. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing the role of competing world/spiritual views in the play. You must use a visual or auido-visual aid. Build a case for a purposeful role.

Presentations should last for 8-10 minutes.

If you have wishes or desires to contribute to the rubrics and timelines, think of them for next class (Wednesday/Thursday). This will be a major grade for the nine weeks. Presentations due November 21-26.

ALERT

Blog assignments must be done by grade deadlines – before tomorrow, Friday!

Tuesday/Wednesday

What is the importance of music? Think of your personal experience with it and with your understanding of its effects on groups of people. Does it have a...purpose?

Wednesday

3. Classify the characters who have appeared so far with a brief description and some evidence of their character cited from the text. (Boy Willie, Lymon, Doaker, Berniece, Maretha, Avery, Wining Boy)

4. What or who are the "Ghosts of the Yellow Dog"?

5. Compare and contrast Boy Willie's attitude toward the piano with Berniece's.

6. Compare and contrast Doaker's railroad speech on page 18 with Avery's speech about the three hobos. Let your thoughts dwell here a while. Note the content and images of each speech. Which one seems to you the most authentic? Then look at Doaker and Wining Boy's convesation on Pages 28-30. Then read Wining Boy's "piano" speech on page 41. What conflict is Wilson setting up among these various viewpoints?

7. How does the allusion at the end of the scene influence your evaluation of Boy Willie's attitude toward the piano?

8. Combine with at least two others. Determine the crux of Act 1.i -- the absolute central moment. Then, with the others, prepare a tableau of the scene.

Tuesday

Vow today upon a stack of all you find holy never to say "it's basically saying" again in your life.

A commentary is not about what a poem "basically says" but about all the poem suggests during the process of the reading experience and then all it suggests in its totality after reading -- and it must be done with an emphasis on craft: HOW does it do that suggesting?

Tuesday

Today we tried a timed commentary. Good efforts, it appeared...

Next class meeting, have the play read and plan a TABLEAU of what you consider the most important part of the first scene (pages 1-28).

Monday

Consider what you find to be the very center, the crux, of the play's first scene. That is SCENE.

Plan a still-life demonstration of the tensions and stress-points in that moment. It is called (thanks, Mr. Chrismon!) a TABLEAU!

Tuesday

Today we finally completed class efforts at a practice oral. Expect a timed written commentary on October 8. We will meet as an entire class in the auditorium to conduct the commentary.

Next class period we begin work on August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson.

A video of educational interest

Orals

It is important that your commentary be continuous: do not stop the recording to doll it up. Keep the recorder going the whole time, keep looking at the poem, and keep talking about it.

 

Send me the file. Listen to your own oral and assess yourself.

 

After that, you are clear to delete the file from your phone.

Tuesday

Today we discussed and annotated "Love's Alchemy." Students then annotated "Song" and will perform an oral commentary on it Thursday.

Thursday Deadline Alert!

We can discuss the final explication due date when I have returned the second drafts! They obviously will not be due on the 23/24.

Tuesday

Today we read and studied “Holy Sonnet X” and worked on the imaginaterpretive thing, which is due for B-day tomorrow and for  A-day Thursday and B-day Friday.

Thursday

Today we studied "Holy Sonnet XIV" and worked on either explications (due 15/16) or imaginative interpretations (due 19/20).

Tuesday

I hereby submit for your perusal a draft rubric for the Imaginative Interpretation. No comment means it becomes the official scorecard. If the one requirement -- that the poem be clearly apparent either visually or aurally during the interpretation -- is lacking, you just have to apply for a do-over.

Scoring guide for Imaginative Interpretation

Time: 3-6 minutes	Over/under 30 secs	Over/under 1:00	Over/under 1:30	Over/under 2:00
20	15	10	5	0
Clear, precise, internalized understanding apparent	Good understanding of the poem apparent	Basic understanding apparent	Gaps and inconsistencies in understanding apparent	No or very little grasp of the poem’s literal meaning apparent
40	35	30	25	20
Extremely creative, brilliant illumination of poem; it creates a new insight or movingly makes personal use of it	Creative adaptations that provoke alternative  understandings	Some creative adaptations to provide some interpretation of the poem; somewhat insightful	Attempt at creative adaptation that may not lead to new understandings; flat interpretation	Standard, get ‘er done attempt to illustrate the poem; no new insights
40	35	30	25	20
Awesomeness bonus meter
5	4	3	2	1

Monday

Grades are current in the gradebook.

 

Please bring in any supplies necessary to work on your imaginaterpretive thing. A-day set a high standard with their recitations!

Wednesday

Please be sure to bring whatever materials (laptops, cameras, whatever) that you will need to prepare for your assignments in case we have a little class time we can set aside for that.

Tuesday/Wednesday

Look at the poems in the packet linked to the right as "Donne Packet." Rank about 10 of them in order of preference: one poem for a memorization, one for an explication, one for an IMAGINATERPRETIVE WORLD ROCKER THING. See the ManageBac calendar for due dates. You may have up to THREE (no more, absolutely not) working on the IWRT.

Here is the complete set of assignments for the first five weeks:

English 5 IB, Q1, Weeks 1-5

J. Koon, instructor

The first set of assignments consists of a drafted writing piece (an explication of a John Donne poem), a performance piece (a memorized recitation of a separate Donne poem), and an imaginative interpretation of a third Donne poem. For the third piece (the imaginative interpretation), students may pair or form groups of three.

First, students should prioritize their choices from the Donne packet of poems posted on my website. I will attempt to spread the assignments for maximum exposure for each poem, so students might not get their first choices for all three assignments. Have these choices prioritized by class on August 30 for B-day and September 3 for A-day.

On September 9/10, two assignments come due: students should perform their memorized recitations, and they should submit a draft of an explication covering at least the first five lines of their assigned poem. I will mark the explication drafts and return them. Students then should explicate the remainder of the poem to the best of their abilities, address all comments and suggestions from me, and turn in a typed, MLA-formatted draft attached to all previous explication work.  I will mark again and return them. Students then revise as instructed to the final, which is due attached to all previous explication work on September 23/24. Students MUST submit preliminary drafts before the subsequent ones. They must follow that process to receive credit. There is no rubric: students are finished when they have done as instructed.

On September 19/20, students should present their imaginative interpretations of a third Donne poem. The poem should be presented in its entirety as at least a soundtrack to the interpretation. Students may create video, Powerpoints, Prezis, musical scores, paintings, dances, or other creations I have not thought of. Students should be prepared to discuss their interpretive choices after the presentations.

September 9/10            *First draft (five lines) explication (Drafted essays)

                                    *Recitation performance (Performance task)

September 16/17          *Entire poem explicated in MLA style (Drafted essays)

                                   

September 19/20          *Imaginative interpretation project (Project)

September 23/24          *Explication final (Drafted essays)

           

 

Monday, B-Day

Continue the assignment started by A-day below. Be sure to add something substantive to the conversation. Some of you with interest in visuals might link or paste some Seventeenth Century art that reveals something about the poetry of Donne. Be sure to comment on it in  a way that makes it clear to us -- and REMEMBER to cite your source informally. Right, Jeb?

Friday, A-Day

Some of you have not complete the first blog assignment!

Do a little research. Document it informally. Report it as a comment on the blog. Someone volunteers to go first. Then, the next post should provide a clear and MEANINGFUL transition that connects his post to the previous one. Say, for instance, that Dara starts with. "According to William Benson in 'A Poet's Life,' John Donne was born to Catholic parents in 1572." Then Morgan follows with, "Although Dara reports that Donne was born Catholic, according to 'The Life of Donne' in The Literary Journals of the Seventeenth Century by James Jones, he later renounced his faith." Due Tuesday.


Connections to investigate

Henry VIII to Elizabeth
Catholic/Protestant tensions
relations of Donne with Thomas More (who was Thomas More?)
relations of Donne with Anne Moore (who was Anne Moore?)
relations of Donne with Ben Jonson (?)
contempory critical responses to his poetry
family life

Thursday

Do the same thing as assigned to A-day on Wednesday, but put your comments after this post. Also, in the same comment box, tell which quote from a classmate is your favorite (after your own, of course). You may choose from either A-day or B-day quotes.

Wednesday

Look into any source you want and find a quote from a smart person that you find very striking, profoundly true, or highly inspiring. Post the quote, spelled and punctuated exactly right, as a comment under today’s post.

Exam!

Focus on HOW, not what.

How do the writer's choices (of image, metaphor, subject, structure) develop meaning and emotional effects?
Only analysis -- no paraphrase! No paraphrase. No paraphrase. This note is especially for prose selections.
Write with awareness of speaker/narrator perspective.

How is the piece organized?
Open up metaphors. What is compared to what? Add to what has come before and develop meaning.
What is the subject and predicate of each sentence? Read to see the relationships within the sentences as a way of understanding other relationships in and beyond the poem.

Honor what the sentences actually say.
Overwrite and edit afterward.
Write sensibly, create meaning, and make sense of vagueness and ambiguity.

Good luck! You are ready. Write confidently.

Wednesday

Here is the blog with a teacher's attempt at "July Man." It might help you prep a little. I responded to the link as well. It is much easier managed on a phone or iPad than with a computer, which will ask questions before opening the commentary.

Good luck on the exam. My best hopes are with you.