Rhapsody

Thursday

If I returned a paper copy of your explication draft 2 to you with a list of suggestions attached, please bring that paper in with you to class tomorrow.

Thanks!

Tuesday

Although I really think that if you are confused about the presentation, you are one who likes being confused and therefore will persist in that state, I will nonetheless review what is already in the instruction pack linked on the right as "Final 9 Week Assignment."

1. You use poems from the poetry packet. You do not use poems that are not in the poetry packet. Pardon me if I did not explicitly say that (although I probably did). I did not expect to need to say that. The poetry pack is linked on the right as "Poetry Pack."
2. Hand in, as you enter the room, your study guide. "Hand in" means that it needs to be printed. "As you enter the room" means as you should give it to me as you enter the room -- before you start to present. I have asked you to use the template I provided and that is linked on the right as "Rubric and template." It is an MS Word doc that you can type directly into, and the guide will be formatted in an orderly way. I will use this guide to check your presentation AND you receive a grade for the guide itself, as specified in the "Final 9 Week Assignment." You, the presenter, may NOT use the guide as you present. You must know the material.
3. On your desk you may have the three unmarked focus poems from each poet, a blank rubric, the comments by your critics, and a timer. The comments from your critics should be printed out separately a second time so that I get the study guide with the critics and you keep just the critics. That requires two (2) copies of the critics' comments. 

Any pair who would like to go on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday immediately after school is welcome. Make the arrangement with me. Anyone who would like to go immediately after first block, during the first minutes of second block, make arrangements with me.

Monday

Great start to the presentations today -- with bonus points, we had a 106. Two memorizers have earned a 106 as well.

For Tuesday, five presenting groups have signed up. If any of you presenters could run into second block without dire consequence, let me know.

Friday

Again, draft 3 should be dropped in the dropbox. Use the same naming protocol (Last.First.exp). Papers are due at 8:30 a.m.

Assessment will credit 20 points timeliness, 20 points to MLA formatting, and 60 points to your full response to my comments and suggestions.

Updated rubric

Look just below for the requirements for your paper, which is due Monday at 8:30 a.m.

Use the active voice and do not use these words or phrases:
can be viewed as, can be seen as, may refer to, refers to, is referencing, or any other use of "refers" since to use that word means you are not interpreting but somehow showing us what a poetic phrase REALLY stands for, as if the poet could not express the real thing somehow. Rather, investigate relationships within the poem. Everything is about relationships -- word to word, sentence to line, image to idea, me to you. What network of relationships has the poet constructed, and how do you and I fit into it?

Draft 2 of Grade 3: The Explication (without proper citations, the paper is not done)

Format and instructions (20)
Dropped on time: 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 7	10	0
Named	2	0
Works Cited format	2	0
Parenthetical and in-text citations	2	0
Page numbers	2	0
Font (Times New Roman or Garamond 12 pt.)	2	0
Development (30)
Overview/intro	5	3	1
Form and structure	5	3	1
Imagery and metaphor	5	3	1
Movement	5	3	1
Balanced, full-bodied treatment of whole	5	3	1
Conclusion/response	5	3	1
Engagement with text (and critics) combined with language use (50) (The terms that best describe the piece determine the score. Use the active voice. Check behind yourself.)	50 Lively, sophisticated, intense, fierce, playful, obsessed, opinionated, curious, committed, argumentative, tenacious, funny, moving, beautiful, striking	40 fluent, involved, opinionated, sincere,  curious, argumentative, interesting	30 accurate, sincere, workmanlike, sensible	20 puzzling, unresearched, sometimes nonsensical, “Who are you?” clichéd, bland, uncaring, shows tendency to settle

Click here for a pdf that you can print if you like.

Tuesday

We discussed drafts of the explication. For Monday, please do things THIS WAY!

Name your document Lastname.firstname.exp

Drop it in the Dropbox portal linked on the right of this page.

On time means by 8:30 Monday. After that is LATE!

Fully format the paper in MLA style with a Works Cited page and proper documentation.

Thursday

Here is the official scoring guide for the first deadline:

Draft 1 of Grade 3: The Explication

On time, neat	Yes 20	Slovenly 10	No 0
Good, strong attempt	Yes 40	Some effort visible 30	Slapped out a few minutes ago 20	No 0
Two or three valid, reliable, published, scholarly critics	Yes, with response to their ideas cooking 20	One critic, with some response 15	Unreliable critics just googled up 10	No 0
Discussion	You have clear questions, opinions, and a path 20	You have a vague path and vague questions but some engagement 15	You have listlessly fulfilled what’s required 10	It’s not clear you have read the whole poem from your discussion 0

Wednesday

The first deadline looms! Be sure you have read some critics that you can tell me all about.

The draft will be scored like this:
20% Is it on time, in class, neatly written or typed? (preferably, typed?)
40% Have you made a good, strong attempt?
20% Have you read two or three critics on the poem? Tell me about them.
20% Talk about the poem. Are your questions prepared? Do you have a clear view of the poem?

Monday

Whew. A breather day! Keep your eyes on the prize: First deadline is Grade 3, Draft 1 on March 31.

The next deadline is April 7, when you will need to have completed a draft on the whole poem and have at least two sources involved. That's Grade 3, Draft 2.

Then April 21, with a third draft that responds to my feedback: Grade 3, Draft 3.

Shortly after, on April 23, you must present your study guides and perform your oral presentation on the material. That's all parts of Grade 1.

April 28 is the last day you may perform your memorization. You may perform this memorization at any point up until that day.

April 30: Final of Grade 3 with all of my marks addressed.

Exam Paper 1: May 5, morning
Exam Paper 2: May 6, afternoon

Wednesday/Thursday

A-day, those who have not already chosen steer clear of Tennyson; we have enough of him already. The cap is four per poet with ONE five. Tennyson already has four. We need some Keats in particular.

Also peruse and choose your explication poem and your memorization poem. Each work should be from a different poet.

Monday/Tuesday

Here are the poems. Make a priority list for you and your partner to choose up when you arrive in class Wednesday/Thursday.

The poetry pack is permanently linked in the list to the right, "Handy Dandy Links."

Thursday/Friday

Prepare to teach your poem in a 10-15 minute time slot Monday/Tuesday.

Review this assignment and comment below if you see problems or discrepancies.

Friday/Monday

For Tuesday/Wednesday, complete the questions at the bottom of “To His Coy Mistress” on a separate sheet of paper: give full and complete responses. The final question need not be typed.

Thursday

Students reviewed "The Coronet" and prepared notes and thoughts on "To His Coy Mistress." Both poems are from Andrew Marvell. In addition, they received passages for a written commentary to be held Friday for A-day and Monday for B-day.

Tuesday

Students received progress reports with their orals included on them.

Today's class will go as yesterday's: see the Monday post.

Expect a "timed essay," actually, in IB terms, a written commentary, on Friday/Monday. It will consist of an old IB exam commentary. Students will have overnight to prepare. 

Monday

Congratulations on finishing the orals!

Today, first, choose a group of five. Ms. R, assign each group a poet: Andrew Marvell; John Keats; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; or Sylvia Plath. Then take a quiet field trip to the media center and do 20 minutes worth of research on one of the poets to present on Wednesday. Come back to class after 20 minutes.

Then, read this poem and respond to it in one thoughtful, text-dripping page. At the very end, explain the colon, comma, and semicolon use in the first! second sentence of these instructions.

Friday

Those who have not yet completed their oral commentaries, PREPARE YOURSELVES! Except for Will, finish the practice assignment as well, or combine today's preparation with the practice commentary.

Thursday

Continue your work on the practice oral. I have not received everyone's! Will alone is exempt. (And by the way, read the file naming instructions!)

You may, if you are HL, turn your focus to Donne poems that are between 20 and 30 lines long. Discuss the commentaries with those who have already gone and spend the block making yourself better at preparing. Remember, focus on the HOW not the WHAT. How does the author get 'er done?

Those who have already completed your oral, please be helpful to those who have not. I didn't say "cheat": be helpful!

Tuesday

We are in it now!

Please record an 8-minute commentary based on your self-chosen extract from Orwell or Wilson. Use the notes from your organizer. Please do not stop the recording unless you are taking it from the top and going all the way — no editing, please! Name the file Lastname.Firstname

Your partner should assess your work on one side of your rubric. Clearly label the rubric: 

Commentary by SPEAKER'S NAME

Assessment by ASSESSOR'S NAME

Length: 7:55

Put the exact length of the commentary on the rubric (it will also show in the recording). The speaker himself should assess his own work on the other side of the rubric and clearly label it in exactly the same way (SPEAKER AND ASSESSOR WILL BE THE SAME THIS TIME, BUT LABEL IT!)

You should perform and assess your own commentary: you should listen and assess your partner's commentary. 

Send that recording to me by email or by going to 

Dropittome.com/jkoon and placing the file in there. The password is turnin.

If you have an iPhone 5, you can Airdrop it to me.

Also turn in your extract, the completed two-sided rubric, and your notes when you return to class.

Here is a pdf with both the HL and the SL oral commentary rubrics. They are also linked in the links list to the right.