Ms. Bridges' AP English

Here is the short form I promised you. Please be advised that it is a little different from the one I gave you last semester. I am in the process of updating lesson plans and this is one of the ones I am changing. This is for FRANKENSTEIN and will be due the first week of school. I will give you the long form around the middle of February, or if you just cannot wait, then you can click on Wednesday, February 6, 2006, in the archives on this weblog to get the long form. The long form is for CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and will be due the middle of March. Short Form for A.P. TITLE:____________________________ NAME OF AUTHOR:__________________________________ Protagonist: A clear, concise description of the character, plus a quote from the book to support your description of the character. Antagonist: (See above) Other major characters: (See above) Name at least three. Minor characters: (See above) These characters should play some pivotal role in the plot or theme. MAIN SETTING: Please

Thank you Chrystal, Caroline, Erica and Jessica for attending our AP tutorial this week. So....where were the rest of you? The next one will be on February 26th, 27th and the 28th. This week we did four multiple choice questions over literary selections: "On Superstition", an essay by Francis Bacon, and three carpe diem poems, including "To My Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell (to be found in your English text book), and "Love's Diet" by John Donne. We also discussed the philosophy of the "Age of Reason" (also to be found in your book - please read!) and a comparison between it and the philosophy of the "Romantic Age" (also to be found in your book - please read!) We discussed the lives of Marlowe and read his "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and Sir Walter Raleigh's response in his "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd". We also discussed the life of Mary Shelley and some aspects - such as theme, symbo

Another question you might have in your reading of FRANKENSTEIN is who the heck are Agrippa , Albertus Magnus , and Paracelsus and why should we care? These were men who straddled the divide between rigorous scientific thought and superstition - men whose worlds of inquiry would attract a young restless and ambitious  mind like Frankenstein's, but would be discounted by men of serious scientific inquiry.  Agrippa was a fourteenth century German astrologer whose scientific inquiries devolved into occult musings on the Kabbalah (a school or tradition in Judaism which sought to divine mystical truths in the Old Testament  through ciphers and numerical codes) and the magical properties of plants, minerals and crystals, and of course, astrology. After the Age of Reason (the 1700's), people of a more scientific mind frowned on the occult and mystical bent of his thinking. Albertus Magnus was a 13th Century German priest/scholar who sought to bridge the gap between religious th

Hello! I am back from out of town. Tomorrow we are having a meeting at 1 pm in the staff lounge. The staff lounge is where the copier is located and where many of the teachers eat. We will meet there promptly at one. You may bring your lunch or something to drink. Please don't be late. We will go over multiple choice selections and essays. You will be given a timed essay this week which will count towards your grade in March. I hope to see you tomorrow and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at one o'clock in the staff lounge. J. Kate Bridges

Hello all! The school still hasn't gotten back to me regarding a room for Tuesday - Friday, January 23rd - 26th - so I think we should meet in the staff lounge (the place where the teacher xeroxing room is) at 1pm. If you are coming from dance class, you can bring something to eat and drink and have lunch during the class, but please don't be late. Please bring your books, paper and pens. We will be working on timed essays as well as reading, discussion and multiple choice tests over poetry. Thanks, Jkate jkatbridge@aol.com

Biography of Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who is better known as Mary Shelley, was the daughter of two of the most progressive thinkers of the 18th Century, philosopher William Godwin and feminist thinker Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, in London England. Her parents had been married for five months at the time of her birth, and shortly after her birth (some say two weeks, others say four weeks) her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (who wrote “A Vindication on the Rights of Women”) developed complications from the delivery and died - unfortunately, not an uncommon tragedy for that time. William Godwin married a few years later, but Mary, in Cinderella fashion, had a difficult relationship with her stepmother. However, the home her father provided for her was filled with a constant stream of some of the greatest thinkers and writers of the day. Poets and thinkers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge were frequent guests and they, along with her f

TOPICS to Be Aware of While Reading Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN Taking into account the philosophy of the time, think about the role of the creator, Victor Frankenstein, with the role of a divine creator (God, if you) and how one might see the disastrous effects that occur when man attempts to usurp God’s perceived role as creator. You don't have to agree or disagree with the premise - just be aware of how a 19th Century reader may interpret Victor Frankenstein's wanderings onto the hallowed grounds of creation. Analyze the warning Mary Shelley implicitly gives regarding out of control scientific discovery and the havoc it may wreak in nature. Analyze the significance of the subtitle of Frankenstein and the symbol- ism of the Prometheus myth as it pertains to Victor and his creation of the monster. Consider Gothic literature and analyze how Shelley’s novel is a classic example of Gothic literature. Taking a feminist perspective, analyze the roles of nature