Blog Assignment #3 - Due Tuesday, May 4th

Practice for the AP Lit Exam! Follow the link below and take the 20 question practice AP Lit Exam. DO NOT post your score on the blog. E-mail Ms. Arko your score (miarko@rochester.k12.mn.us) or print off your score and turn it in. Credit will not be based on the score you receive on the practice exam, just that you completed it.
Good Luck! (10 points)

http://www.shmoop.com/ap-english-literature/

Guest Blogger - Zack J.

We've just finished reading As I Lay Dying. We've really been looking in depth at perspective, which this book has a whole lot of. I thought that the story was really difficult to keep together while reading through all the different character's chapters. The character's feelings about their mother's death vary dramatically throughout all the children. As I Lay Dying is about the death of Addie. However, we only see the story from her perspective during only one chapter. During this chapter we learn a lot about the background of the family and the feelings of Addie and her reasoning for being buried in Jefferson. Addie really doesn't like her life which is kind of sad because she has all those kids, whom most of them hate her, with the exception of a couple. Addie believed that we live to get ready for death. This story was boring to me because there was no action. I thought the plot was plain and had very little interesting aspects of it. It seemed to me as if Addie was the only thing holding the family together. None of the kids liked their father Anse, who brought a new wife to Addie's funeral which is not very classy. I think that this story is about a family that did not get along with each other; they were a family because they had to be. Addie believed that words were just words, and actions said everything. I thought it was funny how Addie got revenge on her family by making them bury her in Jefferson which would cause the family conflicts. This followed her belief of actions say everything, because she knew that making her family take her to Jefferson would be a major struggle for the family.

Guest Blogger - Sophie H.

So what the heck is with all these dead people? William Faulkner seems to be obsessed. I mean seriously, from As I Lay Dying to A Rose for Emily? It is quite creepy. But if you look closely the stories are very similar. Obviously they both have dead people who are around for much longer then they needed to be. Addie, who was carted around in a coffin for a week and Emily’s lover, who laid in her bed and she slept next to for years? Also they both have odd smells coming from Addie’s coffin and the smell from the dead person in Ms. Emily’s house. Both stories play with point of view, but if you look deeper into the stories, there is more. Both stories have to do with a deeply misunderstood woman. Ms. Emily we finally realize is psycho. But obviously something happened along the line that made her snap. We realize something is wrong when she won’t let her father’s dead body leave the house for three days. By the end Ms. Emily has killed her lover and has slept with his dead body for years. Addie is less obviously misunderstood. We only see what she thinks through her chapter. Addie hates her life and only loves Jewel. And she believes that we live our life to die. Although Addie didn’t kill anyone, do you believe there is a reason they both act strangely? What could have happened to Ms. Emily to cause her to kill?

Guest Blogger - Melanie J.

While reading, As I Lay Dying, I have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan. However, now that we’ve gone over symbolism and dug into character analysis, I feel that there is much more to this “southern fiction” that Faulkner envisioned. Though the book is about ordinary people, I think the meaning behind each action of the characters represents something much deeper. When looking back on Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech, an important line that sticks with me says, “The universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed—love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.” When reflecting on As I Lay Dying, he writes using all of these “truths.” Of all of these, I feel that sacrifice is most prevalent throughout the book. Though the journey to Jefferson represents Addie’s own resentment, Anse chooses to pursue her wishes and follow through with it. During each step of the voyage, every one of the characters loses a little bit of themselves. Whether it is Jewel’s horse, or Cash’s leg, each family member gives up more and more of themselves until the river scene, where sacrifices reach an ultimate height. “I felt the current take us and I knew we were on the ford by that reason, since it was only by means of that slipping contact that we could tell that we were in motion at all. What had once been a flat surface was now a succession of troughs and hillocks lifting and falling about us, shoving at us, teasing at us with light lazy touches in the vain instants of solidity underfoot. Cash looked back at me, and then I knew that we were gone” (147). This is a climatic moment, and could have many meanings behind it. Honor, pride, compassion, and sacrifice are all used in this scene, and it makes someone question, why? Though the whole situation seems completely out of hand, I feel like almost anyone can relate to these moments in life. Someone’s life doesn’t change overnight, and small decisions can escalade to unrecognizable people. I think Faulkner thought really deeply about anything he wrote (evident when he said writing was agony), and that he not only wanted to make people apply the story to their own lives, but to seek a deeper meaning of life.

Blog Assignment #2 - Due Tuesday, April 27th

Find an example of a literary device or technique in Frankenstein. Explain the context from which it is taken. (5 points)

Example: "...William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (Shelley, 90). In this sentence the words "first hapless victims" lead the reader to believe there will be more victims and functions as an example of foreshadowing.

Guest Blogger - Jessica S.

Over spring break we were assigned to read As I lay Dying by William Faulkner. I was pretty excited to read it as I had enjoyed the last novel we read in class dealing with point of view and stream of consciousness, The turn of the Screw. AILD however turned out to be completely different from what I had expected; in fact it was downright confusing! One thing that really threw me for a loop was Vardaman’s recurring quote “My mother is a fish” (Faulkner 84), it seems that in almost every chapter after the death of his mother he manages to include this quote in his narration of what is happening around him. I don’t know if it was Vardaman’s childish way of thinking or if I just did not quite comprehend the significance of the fish, but I could not seem to understand why Faulkner found it so important to include this quote in the book so many times. Throughout the novel my views on Anse changes dramatically. At the beginning of the novel it seemed that he was head-over-heals in love with Addie and that all he wanted to do in life was to please her, right down to her dying wish, while she seemed rather annoyed with him. This perception made him seem more of Addie’s personal puppet rather than her husband. By the end of the novel however I was very unpleasantly surprised when I came to find out that the reason he was so set on getting Addie’s body to Jefferson was not to simply grant her her dying wish but to get himself the new set of teeth that he had wanted for some time. Another thing that surprised me since I had the impression that Addie meant everything to Anse was that mere hours passed between when Anse buried her and when he greeted his children and introduced them to the new Mrs. Bundren.
One question I had about the book is in regards to Jewel. The readers know that he was fathered by Witfield rather than by Anse, but does Anse know this? and if he does, does it have anything to do with the amount of respect he shows Addie by marrying another woman mere hours after laying her in her grave?
All in all I was not as intrigued by this book as a have been with other books we have read this year. This one was honestly a struggle to read but I hope that by discussing it in class some light will be shed on parts that were harder to understand and that the class will be able to appreciate the book more.

Guest Blogger - Ihab M.

As I Lay Dying was easily the least enjoyable reading experience I have ever had with a novel. And I read The Jungle all the way through. After going back and looking at the sparknotes, I can agree that it has a worthwhile plot. However, the method of getting that plot across, which seemed to be “never actually talk about it clearly,” was a real drag. Never before have I tried so hard to understand a book and still not “get it” by the ending.
For example: Until around halfway through the book, I thought that Dewey Dell was a black servant girl. I cannot defend or explain where I got this idea. It made as much sense as anything else happening. When I finally realized that she was Darl’s brother and not, in fact, a black servant girl, it made it impossible for me to visualize her properly for the rest of the novel.
Another example: Early on, one of Darl’s chapters has him narrating events at the farm while he is not even there. Darl tells us that Anse tells some visitors that Darl and Jewel are not there. Unless there’s some really awesome psychic storyline that I missed, I don’t understand it.
I do understand that the book was perhaps making an important point upon the distinction between what is said to happen and what actually happens. And I appreciate that an author was brave enough to try to say so.
But when, as a result of making this point, a book becomes so confusing that the point is nigh-impossible to extract, can we really consider it a masterpiece? Where should the line be drawn between artistic license and inconsistencies, between dialect and typos? Was this book so successful at being distracting and dodging the point that it itself became distracting and dodged the point? And if so, should we even call it a success?

Guest Blogger - Taylor K.

In the beginning of As I Lay Dying I was extremely confused, but that is normal for me when we read books for classes.
The one part that really caught me was Jewel's chapter in the very beginning. This chapter caught me because it seems so cruel to have to watch someone make your coffin. I get that their mom is going to die anyways, but having to watch that takes away any hope or happiness in the last moments of their life. Also during this passage I was wondering what Faulkner meant by "one lick less." I kept trying figure it out, does it mean like one less time? I suppose in the context of the story that sort of makes sense, but I would also really like to know what Faulkner meant by that. Also, what is "adze?"
Later, during Cora’s chapter (pages 21-25) I was really hooked on when she made a distinction between Jewel’s affection for Addie and Darl’s affection for her. Even though Addie favors Jewel, Darl still shows affection for Addie that Cora does not see with Jewel. I’m really not taking to Jewel; he seems kind to himself and not concerned with what is going on around him. In the beginning I thought that he would be cool, you know, doing his own thing, walking the unbeaten path, but now I’m put off by him. Anyways, this portion of the story really captured me; that the son, who was over looked by his mother, is still greatly affected by this impending death. The way that Cora describes it as, “He just looked at her, and I felt the bounteous love of the Lord again and His mercy.” This look of love and endearment is so moving. Cora continues, “I saw that with Jewel she had just been pretending but that it was between her and Darl that the understanding and the love was.” Not to be a Debby Downer, but when I go to the great beyond I’d like to have someone to share that connection with. I’m looking forward to seeing how Darl and Jewel each react and handle the death of their mother.

Blog Assignment #1 (4th quarter) - Due Tuesday, April 20th

Choose a quote from Frankenstein and explain the significance of the quote. It can be related to characterization, theme, or literary techniques. Explanation must be at least 4 sentences in length. 10 points

Guest Blogger - Lauren W.

Since we have just finished reading Ethan Frome and we are not very far into As I lay dying I am going to write about some of the important aspects of Ethan Frome. These major aspects include Ethan’s representation of the setting of Starkfield, isolation, and Zeena’s favorite broken pickle dish.
Starkfield is described as a dull, bleak town that is separated from the surrounding towns (mainly because of the train). It has vast fields of boring, white snow that also happens to shut the town and its few residents down. Even the name Starkfield is descriptive of the town, it is a stark, old town surrounded and filled with fields. Ethan is boring, repetitive, not one of the smart ones who get away. Ethan goes through the same routine everyday on his rundown, broken farm and is just as boring and bleak as Starkfield. Ethan is the human embodiment of Starkfield.
Along with the setting comes the isolation, because Ethan is the human embodiment of Starkfield, and because Starkfield is isolated in their old fashioned home, Ethan is isolated also. Not only is Ethan isolated physically by the remote location of his farm and because of Starkfield, but he is also emotionally isolated because of his feelings for Mattie and Zeena. Ethan isolates himself from the two women because he feels an obligation to stay with Zeena and since Zeena rules Ethan will never tell Mattie his true feelings because Zeena is always with them (even when she is gone). Ethan finally tells his true feelings to Mattie but it turns out to be a bit late.
While Zeena is away seeking medical attention Mattie puts out Zeena’s favorite dish, which she has been instructed not to use, and the cat breaks it. The pickle dish represents Ethan and Zeena’s marriage, which wasn’t being used (it was kept up in the closet). When the dish breaks, their relationship breaks, Zeena comes home and suspects something and hires a new girl to come work and Mattie must leave. Ethan excessively searches for glue, like a chore, to put the dish back together, which represents the amount of work it takes to try to put something back together that you don’t want to e put back together.

Guest Blogger - Mitch N.

WOW! What an ending to Ethan Frome, what I thought was going to be a very very boring book turned suddenly into an extremely, well semi-exciting book. Ms. Arko had always mentioned that the book was not going to end all happy, so I just figured that Mattie would leave and Ethan would get the “smash up” doing something farm related. But I did not expect anything like that to happen. The first thing I noticed while I was finishing the book was that Ethan seems to have actual feelings for Mattie, and he does indeed love her, that became very apparent when he first thought about running away with her and started writing a note to Zeena. I always thought that maybe his feelings were a little fake, like she was a sort of substitute for his otherwise boring wife and his life. But the note, along with his continued rebellion against Zeena really proved that Mattie meant a lot to him, enough for him to basically become a new person.
But the second thing I noticed, right after Mattie confessed her love for Ethan, and suggested that they no longer go on living, was that throughout the whole book, it seems that every character gives their opinion. We are somewhat in Ethan’s head, or at least getting the story from him, we get some of the narrator’s feelings through his changing the story to make it sound more exciting, and we even get Mrs. Hale’s opinion about the whole thing after we come back to present time. But we never get anywhere near Zeena’s opinion/feelings on anything that has happened. Mrs. Hale even says it “nobody knows Zeena’s thoughts.” I wondered why that is? I mean we get a very good description of her personality, at least from Ethan’s point of view. But she never really says anything that she thinks. She wants to get rid of Mattie, but never gives a specific reason, just that she needs to go. And then at the end she suddenly has compassion and the 3 of them somehow live together, but still Zeena does not give any indication of what she is thinking. Anyone have any ideas as to why that is?
The final thing I noticed was that during the sled scene, it reminded me very much of Romeo and Juliet, and the typical love story. Ms. Arko says that this storyline could be told anywhere, and it has been. But Ethan Frome turned into much more than a storyline, it turned into a book full of symbols and hidden meanings and about a small town named Starkfield and how that affects everyone’s lives, constantly being imprisoned by the town and by each other, it all comes out in Ethan’s personality, or lack there of.