APELC DLR 2013
8.21.13
Peter 4:10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.
Proverbs 2: 20-21 Walk therefore in the way of the good and keep the way of the righteous ones. Because the upright dwell in the land and those without blemish are spared in it
Robert E Lee You have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience.
power of allusions: "grail" --> holiness, quest (ultimately unsuccessful), commitment for life
Lessons from Great Gatsby
- you don't get everything you want
- America has become a (moral) wasteland
- failure of "The American Dream"
What is "The American Dream"?
- social power
- money
- social legitimacy (DAR)
- "rags to riches", "work your way up"
- "boy gets girl"
- "land of the free"
08.22.13
American dream is different for women:
Child: Daisy :: Daisy : Tom
Jordan and Daisy have different definitions of success.
Think of Jordan as in the line of suffragettes
Nick is narrator: does this imply you have to take what he says as the truth?
"unreliable narrator"
HW Passages where nick contradicts himself or other impressions about Gatsby:
8/26/13
Differences between modern and colonial American literature: Low literacy rate/Poor education Town crier would read aloud newspapers Political and religious writings were the two major topics heavily focused on before 1820
John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity": Things to look for: -Religious rhetoric/bible refrences/appeal to authority -Rhetoric consists of emotion, facts/reason, and, in the case of John Winthrop, religion
Diction, figurative language (metaphors, similie, symbols, and images) all help convey tone Style is made up by sentence structure
Vocab: Add- Ostensibly - apparently Synergy - working together or in union Omit- Diadem Change- Regale - entertain Vagary - not a whim, but a spontaneous action
8.27.13
- Notice that the reasons are justifications of why the world is as it is rather than Edenic
- Why is there so much emphasis on things that seem non-religion in nature (when to lend to people, how much to lend, when not to worry about repayment, for instance)?
- Near the end of page 41, there is a reference to "Adam, rent himself from his Creator..". What is the theological term for this "rending"?
- What are the conclusions about "love among Christians" to which Winthrop refers [page 44]?
- Near the end of [page 46], what is "the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke"?
- How is his colony "as a citty upon a hill"?
- What is the end result, Winthrop tells them, of not doing as he urges?
AP Argument Essay
Passed out AP grading criteria (also posted on WH); passed out a good sample essay and went through it, explaining what made it good.
Main thing is to answer the prompt correctly! Next item is structure. AP essays expect a somewhat stereotyped structure.
- Intro (answer prompt in here)
- 2-3 points of supporting evidence with specific references to the work/situation in question
- conclusion
9.3.13 Chapter 2 Vocab Quiz:
- strike out acetous
- add copacetic: things are going along smoothly
- comport:
1. reflexive: behave, conduct oneself
2. intransitive: comport with
- umbrage: "take umbrage", resentment
Signs of True Revival:
- about religion
- true revival implies that there is a false revival
- talks about what is "true" and "false"
- justifies why this is the true revival
- very influential in Northeast America because of strong religious backing
- more likely a sermon rather than a book/printed pamphlet
1. oratory
a. repetition
b. emphasis (vary volume/pace)
c. structured
1. When Esteem for the true Jesus is raised
- only actual followers of Jesus can identify the true Jesus
- Protestants believe The Bible is key and Edwards shows this here
- Devil's role is to sabotage your faith, hates Jesus and his followers
2. When Satan's Kingdom is Attacked
- when people are at work they think of happiness and not sinning
- when your conscience is awake your attitude is improved
3. When people come to love the Scriptures more
- spirit of God at work
4. When men are led away from falsehood into truth
- this is true because Satan wants to lead people to falsehood
5. When there is an increase in love to God and man
- if the spirit makes us love God, he must exist
- Message
- there are signs that point to the True Revival
- Speaker's Attitude / Tone
- believes in his words, makes it more convincing - wants people to turn away from sin because of the fear of eternal damnation
Jonathan Edwards
- was a minister - fired for religious thoughts - credited for ideas of the Great Awakening
The Great Awakening
- justification for the American Revolution - knowledge came from the Ancient World - looking at things in a logical way, not through the church
09.12.13
Three kinds of AP essays:
- Argument
- Rhetoric
- Synthesis
Appeals to Authority
- Pathos (emotion)
- Logos (reason)
- Ethos (morality)
- Mythos (culture/tradition)
Language
- Diction
- Imagery : metaphor (strong) vs simile (specific)
- Symbolism
- Language/Syntax
For Common Sense we went through looking at the various kinds of appeals to authority (mostly pathos and ethos); then, we looked at specific devices: mostly diction and imagery.
9.26.13
Sleepy Hollow
1.) Why does the protagonist lose? -This type of question requires you to adopt the persona of the writer. One needs to consider tone and the overall point of the story.
2.) What was the significance of the color of the pumpkin?
3.) Was it socially acceptable to be interested in his student?
4.) What is the significance of the food?
5.) Why was he so engrossed in his student?
6.) Did he hit on the women? -Plot question, not good for discussion since the answer can just be looked up.
7.) What is the significance of the one room schoolhouse?
8.) Why does Katrina consider Ichabod as a reasonable suitor?
9.) How does Ichabod's idea of discipline reflect in his character?
10.) Why do the men not play prominent parts in the story?
11.) Why does Broms go to the trouble of pretending to be a ghost?
12.) What is the significance of Ichabod's physique?
13.) What is the significance of the church at the end?
Setting, followed by characterization, is the most important aspect of the beginning of story. Plot comes into play near the end, when Brom and Ichabod are chasing after the same girl. Foreshadowing suggests that Brom is likely to get the girl, and he does. Brom uses an existing local legend in order to get the girl. The adoption of the ghost persona becomes necessary because of Ichabod's avoidance of Brom. Ichabod runs to the church because he believes, due to the existing myth, that the ghost cannot enter.
Due to the ending there is no real moral to the story, and it is meant just to entertain.
If the "ghost" were truly a ghost and disappeared upon reaching the church it would be more a religious story, designed to show how God can protect you from demons.
If Ichabod got the girl then it would be a tale of how the protagonist/underdog wins in the end.
His many pages of description of the setting suggest that the reader would not be used to the setting itself, which includes the time in which the story occurs. It creates a feeling of nostalgia for the time that has past.
09.27.13
Questions from Fall of the House of Usher
- Symbolism of house sinking?
- What's the point of the story?
- Why does he pretend his sister is dead?
- Why do we learn so little about the narrator?
- Why did Usher wait to long to tell the narrator about his sister?
- What's the point of the Ethelred story?
- Does the friend really believe she's dead?
- Why is opium used as a metaphor?
- What's the point of the poem?
- What's the significance of the title?
- What's the significance of moving the body?
We answered (or somewhat answered) #s 1, 4, 6, 8, and 10 in class.
10.02.13
Dominik starts reading a list of words and defining them. Without context. Sigh.
Will: Harvard from 14-18. Then Harvard Divinity; then was a pastor; wife died and he starts to doubt the church's teaching. Tours Europe, comes back, decides he could have a career as a writer/lecturer. Published 1500 lectures/essays.
Stephen: he was raised by a very religious family; at 8 his father dies and family falls into poverty; gets TB--father, brother, and wife all die from TB. His first wife dies from TB. In Europe, he meets many writers and poets. Becomes a Unitarian on return from Europe. Second wife is Lydia Jackson; they are a leading family in Concord. Transcendental Club formed of his neighbors (who are they)? His religion was very personal. Became a prominent Abolitionist.
Stephen has some vocab in context under the Idealism heading.
Jake: Emerson was part of the Unitarian movement until 1832, when with his essays in 1836 he kick-started the Transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalists were Abolitionists.
Jessica: Purpose of Transcendentalist movement was to explain the relationship of nature/God to man. His aunt was a major influence on his evolving Transcendentalism. He himself was a great influence on other Transcendentalist's, esp. Thoreau
Deven: Transcendentalism based on Unitarianism, which was essentially a form of Christianity that rejected the Trinity. Ts believe that man is essentially good. Believe there was no empirical proof of the existence of God (an idea they took from Hume). Their ideas were partly a reaction to the strict Congregationalist movement of Puritan New England. They were much more spiritual than the rationalists of the Enlightenment. They were thus more descended from German Idealists and the literary Romantics. German Idealists relate to Kant's ideas of the distinction between what we see and what's "actually there."
Transcendentalism also synthesized ideas from other religions with Christian thought. Can think of Transcendentalism as the New Age mysticism "bullshit" of its time. Poe was not a fan.
Dark Romanticism (Poe and Hawthorne) emphasized the fallibility of human nature and were opposed to the Transcendentalist philosophies and approach to life.
10.03.13
Discussion questions:
JB: What does Emerson state is the relationship between natural laws and religion?
Will: Natural laws help govern religion.
Jack: Natural laws set up the parameters for religion.
Tyler: What was Emerson's view on God?
Jack: God was a ruler and a decider.
How is a person's age related to his perception of God?
How does Emerson view the human race?
Naturally good but become depraved.
SS: People are inherently good.
Ty: Why does Emerson believe solitude is necessary in order to connect with nature?
Lindy: Need to cleanse yourself from contact with people.
Ty: Basically Emerson is antisocial and making excuses for it.
Ty: back of page 4. All these lines he quotes are Shakespeare. S. connects man to nature. Using S. would lend credibility to the T movement
Then goes on to quote Plato, that the end goal of philosophy is to create a truth on which you can base everything.
Both S and P aim to find beauty in their own way. And the Transcendentalist movement tries to do the same thing.
The only thing that matters is the connection between man and nature. He's basically trying to support the importance of spirituality over everything else
Tyler: That was tight, yo.
Lindy: "sordor" implies that our nature is to be imperfect and to commit sin
"Orphic" --people need to cleanse themselves in order to gain goodness (she references the myth of Orpheus and Orphic rituals)
"enbruted"--people sink to the level of society
story of Nebuchanezzar: so obsessed with himself that he went insane and lived seven years like an ox
Brooke: history is a time of degradation
"eternal verities"
all the things you can't quite see are in your mind with the eternal truths.
"prayer a sally of the soul" : prayer is an excursion of the soul.
Noah: The poem by George Herbert is a poem.
The first part suggests that humanity is like a body, with all parts working together.
Then the earth is working for man. It gives him either his needs or his wants
In the last stanza, he goes into "in all things we see ourselves"
Mia: Is nature an argument for or against religion.
Ty: do you mean organized religion or being religious? I think E would be against organized religion, but it's an argument for being spiritual?
Monica: What's the significance of the Herbert poem?
Eleni: Why is man described as "a god in ruins"? Man isn't fully using nature [or his own potentialities] Nature should be used for spiritual purposes
Paxton: Why is the nature of man an evening knowledge, but the nature of god is a morning knowledge? God's knowledge is rising and you can learn more and more, whereas people's knowledge is dark and declining.
Mia: What is beauty according to Emerson?
Eleni: Beauty is when man is truly one with nature.
Monica: "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." What is needed, acc to E, to see "the miraculous"?
(can put facts in a broader context and that lets us see connections)
Why is this section called "Prospects"?
Why does Emerson tell us to "build our own world"?
Will: he's in favor of individualism.
Brooke: You have as much power as the "great" men of old, so you can build your own world as they did.
Why does Emerson prefer imperfect guesses to known facts?
Devon: He likes people to draw conclusions from intuition because these are more closely connected to nature, which is the source of goodness.
Notes from Dickinson poems
Ty: For each ecstatic instant… images: coffer heaped with tears, rhyme only in last stanza, strong finish (If I can stop one heart from breaking…)
Mia: I like a look of agony… you can fake happiness, but people don’t fake suffering; image of “eyes glazed” –honesty is more important (I’m Nobody – sporadic use of rhyme, uses a simile )
Devon: Death is like the insect menacing the tree… people try to avoid death, but eventually you can’t avoid it any longer; alliteration
(Ah, necromancy sweet--)
Jessica: Hope is a thing with feathers… personification-ish (extended metaphor); abcb rhyme scheme (I heard a fly buzz when I died) ..you would thing the fly is insignificant, yet in this poem, it stands for death: the light symbolizes life, so when the fly gets between it and her, she dies. Abcb rhyme scheme; synechdoche
Dominik: The woodpecker… metaphor for an everyday man working; may also just be descriptive. (I’m Nobody… fame is a curse than a privilege—you can never be alone, and everyone expects things from you)
Paxton: Heaven is what I cannot reach… heaven is so close, but you can’t reach it; you can’t find heaven on earth even though many people think you can; heaven is always over the hill or beyond the horizon Hope is a thing with feathers… Hope never asks anything of you, you can always rely on it even though it asks nothing in return
Jack: The brain is wider than the sky… abcb rhyme throughout. Iambic trimester; uses a lot of dashes for pauses. Your brain is more powerful than anything on earth; uses very simple words to describe something with a very complex meaning (Hope…)
Stephen: Hope is a thing with feathers… even though hope is small and delicate, it can take you through your hardest problems.
Importance of helping others, even the importance of small things, to make your life worthwhile.
Brooke: I’m Nobody… people aren’t really alone; there’s always someone who’s like you, even the “nobodies” (Hope is a thing with feathers) rhyme scheme is “really weird” ; it’s about hope…
Tyler: There is no frigate like a book… books carry us places—images of transportation, just like there are lots of journeys to go on, there are lots of books to read
Lindy: A bird came down the walk… the bird was peaceful going about its business until he sensed her there; then it flew off—shows how humans interrupt nature. He eats the worm raw—the birds are almost barbaric—wild. The bird’s flight is like swimming—very beautiful and admired it. Hard to tell who’s being cautious in the offering a crumb (Hope is a thing with feathers…) Since birds are everything, hope is everywhere.
Will: Nature, the gentlest mother… the meter is not the same throughout, which makes the poem more interesting. Also, varied rhyme schemes. The whole poem personifies nature. When humans are heard, nature restrains her animals and protects everything (Not with a club the heart is broken…) Kind of a love story from the past… reader expects Dickinson to say that it was love, but was a whip. Name untold, so she won’t tell who the lover was even though he “whipped her heart”
Monica: Why do I love you sir… no particular structure or rhyme scheme. Difficult to interpret. Whoever she’s professing her love to, he seems to be full of wisdom. Also could be interpreted as her love for God because he knows so much, things before they happen.
Eleni: Glee, the great storm is over… language is kind of ironic—she’s talking about forty people who have drowned—juxtaposing the negative idea with more positive words like “glee”; abcb rhyme scheme. Uses a lot of alliteration with “s”—kinda makes it softer, reminds me of the ocean. (Success is counted sweetest…) Also had abcb rhyme scheme. Those who feel the full effect of life are not those who succeed, but those who fail. Those who win are not those who have the clearest picture of what’s going on. “The purple host” being royalty…
Noah: A shady friend for torrid days… Easier to find someone who will make you feel worse when you’re in a good mood than someone who will make you feel good when you’re in a bad mood. Who’s to blame for this state of things? God? Tapestry image… (A long long sleep, a famous sleep)
• Great Gatsby o Dreams vs. reality o Pursuit of happiness o Failure of American dream o Social boundaries o Shallow upper class o Rags to riches o Death o Consequences of being greedy o Morals, moral boundaries o Obsessions o Burden of being rich • Winthrop o Work together o Role models o Role of love o God as a justification o Work together because we have an opportunity to be a model to other communities • Edwards- Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God o Authenticity of spirit o Whether revival is true o Illusion vs. reality • Thomas Paine o The Crisis, Common Sense • Trying to get people to work together • Starts out knowing that not everybody agrees with him • The people who don’t want to work together, however Americans usually pride themselves with individuality • What do you owe to the group? What do you owe to yourself? • Importance of emotions in decisions • Work together for independence • Need to assert oneself, recognize being depressed • Declaration o Independence of thought vs. the need to band together • Sleepy Hollow o Social standing? o Same basic moral as Gatsby o supernatural • House of Usher o Illusion vs. reality o Stylistic o Supernatural • Emerson o Self Reliance, Nature • Reliance on nature- tells you fundamental things about yourself • Self-sufficient • Individualism • Nature as a way to find your true self • Casting away conformity • Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds • Corrupting influence of society • Avoiding formal ways- organization • Thoreau o Civil disobedience o Don’t do things without a purpose- be deliberate o Insisted on living out your values
Illusion vs. reality Tension between self and society Religion Style Living a good life Morals
