To the AP Crowd:

Schmoop is not your friend.

Words of encouragement

Here are some words of encouragement:

hooray, confetti, cake.

Here are a few more:

dopamine, rocket, tyrannosaur.

Trilogy Fun

Hello, gentle seniors. We have just under a week left before starting our Trilogy Presentations. A few things to consider:


1. Be in class on your assigned day.
2. Be ready to present on your assigned day, no matter who is or isn't in attendance from your group.
3. Be aware of the clock during your presentation. You get 22 minutes.
4. Be prepared for technology glitches. History has taught us to expect them.
5. Be a courteous audience member.
6. Be formal. Transitions should look prepared; no giggle-box, please.
7. Be compelling. Your purpose is to provide us with some kind of interest. This is not a book report.
8. Be confident. You are an AP senior. Give us the goods.
9. Be scholarly. There is nothing wrong with depth.
10. Be excited. This is the last thing you will do for high school English.


Tick, tock.

Seniors: 1 Quarter Left!

Congrats, gentle senior readers. You have made it this far. And you now have just a few more tasks. Namely, some vocab, finishing BNW, reading a little novel by Faulkner, and completing your Trilogy project.


Your Trilogy Project! (I capitalized both words, for emphasis.)


I wish you the best of luck in remaining serious-minded about seriously reading your allotted assigned-way-back-in-early-October books. Because your annotated bibliography grade depends on it. More importantly (and more selfishly for me and your fellow English troops), your presentation depends on it. Because we all want high-level, thought-about material from you, not a regurgitation of Schmoop, LitCharts, Spark Notes, et. al. We are better than this. Let's make our products reflect that.


And while we're talking about it, what is with poor grammar in popular rock songs? "I can't get no satisfaction" says Mick. Really? Really? 'Cuz I can't get past that double negative. Well I try. And I try. And I try. And I try. But it just irks me every time I sing along to this song. Maybe it's a Non-Doer thing. Maybe not. To be clear, I have no revision to offer. It's a great song with a fantastic rhythm, and tampering with that ain't very rock 'n roll. But still.


Tip of the Day: be a little more Dickens, a little less Jagger in your essays.

One quarter left!
(Thank you for the joke, Mr. Curtin.)

TO: Junior Researchers

Are you wondering about your Works Cited page? You should know that your English teacher is a poor resource for guidance of any kind. Like you, he also defers to readily-available websites like The Purdue Owl for any questions he has on formatting. Because it changes all the time. And because there are many, many rules to follow when constructing a correct Works Cited page.


So don't wait for class to ask your question; you probably won't get a good answer. Instead, take a look at any of the free websites out there that provide MLA formatting guides.


Be diligent!

Happy Holidays 2015

Thanks for the hard work during Finals Week, gentle student. Enjoy your break. Eat some good food. Drink some good coffee.


Curl up with a good (trilogy project) book.


We'll see you next year.

1st Practice AP Exam... now what?

Alright, gentle test-takers, we have survived our first practice AP English Literature multiple choice exam. Thank you for your willingness to give it a good effort. While I personally enjoy matching my literary wits against things from time to time, there is nothing fun about this exam.


With that said, please direct your attention to our AP English Notes tab on the blog. There you will find a link to AP Pass where you can plug and chug some of your test scores (which now includes both the multiple choice exam and some essay scores from first quarter...). Voila! you know where you currently stand on the 1-5 AP Scale. More importantly, you know how much further you need to climb to reach the score you need for college credit.


Use this information wisely. In other words, motivation before frustration.


My suggestion on what to do next? Brush up on your literary devices vocabulary...