Test Tomorrow!

Don't forget to study so you feel prepared for tomorrow's test.

Seminar Tomorrow, Exam Wednesday

Tomorrow is our last seminar for The Awakening. You should be fully finished with the book by then. In order to participate you must also complete some questions. HERE are the directions. This document also contains the study guide for your exam on Wednesday.

Important Date Reminders

The Awakening synthesis response (due two days ago) -- write reflectively about issues in feminism, The Awakening and any other text we have studied during this unit. Show me your deep thinking around these issues, using specific reference to texts.

Finish The Awakening -- due Tuesday, April 26th (last seminar that day)

Naturalism & The Awakening EXAM -- Wednesday, April 27th

Finish your selected outside reading book -- due Monday, May 2nd

Wuthering Heights essay rewrites -- due Monday, May 2nd 

AP Exam -- Wednesday, May 4th

My Last Duchess

Today we spent time reading and discussing Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess."

In groups you discussed:

• What are the new words you need to define in order to make meaning of this poem?
• What do you notice about poetic form?
• Who is the speaker of this poem and to whom is he speaking? What are the two of them negotiating at the end of the poem? 
• They are looking at a painting -- who is featured in this painting? Where is this painting hung?
• What are the subtle suggestions about the poem's narrator? What does his monologue reveal about his anxieties?
• What might have happened to the last Duchess? 
• What connections can you make to The Awakening?

This is a really creepy poem once you spend time considering it. If you like it, Browning has another one about a woman who is punished by her lover (Porphyria's Lover).


Tomorrow is Seminar #4. You should be read through the end of chapter 30. In addition to reading, your assignment is to select three passages that you find important and worth discussion tomorrow. Come ready with page numbers, comments and questions for the group.

Seminar Today & Writing Assignment

Today was Seminar 3 for The Awakening and Thursday is Seminar 4. Both of these days we will discuss the connections between The Awakening and the feminist movements.

After your seminars, you will write responsively about the readings and your classmates comments. HERE are the optional prompts and the writing directions.

Be sure to read!

You should be finished through chapter 24 of The Awakening tomorrow!

Feminism, Masculinity & The Awakening

Today you will split into groups to investigate various excerpts and issues surrounding the different feminist movements. There is no one feminism but a variety of ways that men and women have talked about women's rights over the last several decades.

Directions: As you read your assigned materials, take notes. Pull out 2-3 quotes from each source that you feel are essential for understanding that source. Write down connections to "The Awakening" and any other reactions or connections you may have. If you have time, discuss what you watched/read with your group. Your goal is to arrive at a deeper insight and prepare comments for tomorrow.

I will collect your notes. You should plan to draw upon your insights during our seminar, tomorrow.


Group 1: Women's Suffrage

• Overview of the suffrage movement
• Lucy Burns and American Women's Suffrage (video)
• Primary Sources from the Suffrage Movement -- carefully consider the images and what they communicate about the movement
• 7 Things You May Not Know About the Women's Suffrage Movement

Group 2: Betty Friedan and the "feminine mystique"

• Excerpt from Friedan's 1963 Feminine Mystique 
• Read the Friedan excerpt (first three pages of the doc) 
• Read Phyllis Schlafly's response to the women's movement (page 12)
• Read the very last page of the document ("The Equal Rights Amendment")
• Criticism of Friedan

Group 3: Bell Hooks & Black Feminism

• Excerpt from Shaping Feminist Theory (1984)
• Feminism is for Everybody (2000) -- Read the Introduction ("Come Closer to Feminism") and Chapter 1 ("Feminist Politics: Where We Stand")

Group 4: Women and Work in Contemporary American

• Sheryl Sandberg's TED Talk: "Why we have too few women leaders"
• The Problems of "Leaning In"
• Adela Baker's essay "The College Essay I Cannot Submit"

Group 5: The Crisis of Masculinity

• 19th Century Attempts to Assert Masculinity (beards!!!)
• "Why Traditional Manhood is Killing Us" by Mark Greene
• Male Identity Crisis 

For Monday

I hope you all are enjoying a restful break! For Monday, please bring your copy of The Awakening and your outside reading book. You will need to read The Awakening chapters 13-16 but if you finish you have time to read your other book. It should be a pretty relaxing week in class as we weave through a week of testing for the juniors.

DIA pics

I had such a fun time with you at the DIA. Here are some of the pictures from that day. If you took other pictures and wish to share them, email me!

Love you guys!

Outside Reading Book

Today is our Outside Reading Day! You should have a copy of your selected book and we will enjoy a luxurious hour of reading.

Remember to keep up with reading this book. It is due fully read by Monday, May 2nd.

You have no homework over break unless you are making up missed work. Have a great break!