First Meeting Assignment.

Hi Everyone:  It looks like the best time to meet will be Friday, July 11th, hopefully in my classroom (2209).  I've pasted a copy of the Invisible Cities assignment to the bottom of this message.  At the meeting I will give you a overview of what the College Board's expectations are for reading and writing, how AP Lit. differs from AP Language,  how AP - style analysis compares to other types of critical responses to literature, and we will try out some strategies for dealing with fairly unconventional literature like Invisible Cities.

Here are a few important things to remember:

*** You must come to the first meeting with the assignment, as some of the activities rely upon your written work.  If you can not come to the meeting, please email the assignment to me when it is due: mtelles@gloucester.k12.ma.us

*** If you can not come to the meeting, check the blog for a post-meeting summary and add a comment in response to one or more of your classmates' ideas (300-500 words would be good).

Thank you, and please return to your Ambie Sausage or fried dough, Mr. Telles.

AP Literature and Composition

Invisible Cities: Passage Response Assignment

Description: This assignment is a hybrid which combines the skill of responding to a passage in an exploratory and provisional way (as in the traditional quotation response journal) and something approaching the more focused and formal skill of the AP-style passage response (Question 2) on the AP Literature exam.  Use the attached rubric to guide you through the shorter quotation responses.  The same rubric is applicable to the longer portion of the assignment, only rather than including personal connections and open-ended questions, you should maintain your focus on what is being asked of you in the directions.

Directions:

Part One:  After reading Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, respond to four passages from throughout the text.  You can write about the language, ask exploratory questions, or make connections between your passage and other parts of the book.  Keep in mind these fundamental questions: why does your passage matter so much, and how does your passage function on its own and in relation to the rest of the book?  Each response has a 60 word minimum.

Part Two:  Write one longer response to a passage, around 300-500 words.  Here is the set-up:

Many students respond most readily to the “conversations” between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan that tie together the various descriptions of the cities.  These exchanges are filled with intriguing philosophical dilemmas, ideas and abstractions that are a lot of fun to contemplate.  The descriptions of the cities themselves, however, are a bit harder to approach intellectually.

In your response, choose as your passage part of a city’s description.  Explain how Polo’s description of the city ties into the larger philosophical issues in the book.  You will need to consider

a) imagery (what is connected and what is in opposition, what is described and how is it described?).

b) the symbolic or metaphorical suggestions that are latent in the imagery.

c) the structure of the description (i.e. what is revealed and what isn’t, and how does Polo guide you through the details?). 

d) How does the description of the city reflect, dramatize or complicate the abstract ideas and philosophies explored in the Polo / Khan passages?

You do not need to identify and analyze all of these elements, but one or more should be addressed in your response.