What We've Done Lately

So far my group has been watching videos on Computer Science and Programming.

These are the videos:

Introduction to programs data types and variables

Binary numbers

Python lists

For loops in python

While loops in python

Fun with strings

In these next couple of weeks we hope to get through at least eight more of the videos in the

Computer Science section of the Khan Academy web site.

The work my group is doing will give us insight into a career in Computer Science and it will

teach us how to program computers, which, in the technological society we live in today, is

very convenient.

Goals

My Goals for the next couple of weeks

My group and I are planning to learn the basics of computer programming and computer science.

We use a great site that not only has computer science, but almost, if not, all subjects taught in schools.

Everyday we are going to watch the videos on computer science and then discuss them when we meet in class.

Right now we are thinking about making a blog and link the videos as well as add our own commentary to create a place where people can go to get an introduction to computer science and programming.

Computers used everywhere today and people should know how they work, even if it is just a basic level of understanding.

AP Essay Examples

Practice Test 1

Question 1
Prewrite:
Explain what we learn about Bassanio and how he arrives at his choice.

• Bassanio sees past the "ornament" and sees the "grossness", "The world is still deceived with ornament." "Hiding the grossness with fair ornament" "Thus ornament is but the guiled shore..."
•  He is wise.
• Bassanio chooses the most simple and plane casket. "Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence; and here choose I; joy be the consequence!"

Intro:
      Bassanio is a wise man. In this passage from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, Bassanio is selecting one of three caskets, and through his thought process we learn much about Bassanio. He sees past the initial grandeur of ornament and eloquence that obscures the show of evil, while "The world is still deceived with ornament." Bassanio knows that just because something looks good doesn't mean that it is. "Ornament is but the guiled shore to a most dangerous sea."


Question 2
Prewrite:
Describe the narrator's attitude toward Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock and explain how he conveys his view of then through literary devices.

• the narrator ridicules and mocks Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock
• narrator uses sarcasm and humor when regarding the Dedlocks
• "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable. He has a general opinion the the world might get on without, hills, but would be done up without Dedlocks." mocks Sir Leicester, calls him egotistical
• describes Sir Leicester as "He is an honourable, obstinate, truthful, high-spirited, intensely prejudiced, perfectly unreasonable man."

Intro:
      "Sir Leicester Dedlock is only a baronet, but there is no mightier baronet than he." This opening line form the passage of Charles Dicken's Bleak House sets the stage for ridicule and mockery the narrator feels Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock deserve. Throughout the text there are subtle remarks of distaste hidden away in the sea of sarcastic praise. "He is an honourable, obstinate, truthful, high-spirited, intensely prejudiced, perfectly unreasonable man." In regards to Sir Dedlock's ego, the narrator states "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable. He has a general opinion the the world might get on without, hills, but would be done up without Dedlocks."

Question 3
Prewrite:
"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers."- Logan Pearsall Smith
Explain how the writer has hinted at, not stated, the meaning of the work.

• Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet and Macbeth most definitely comes to mind.
• Hamlet isn't just man vs. corrupt ruler but man vs. inaction as well. Hamlet knows what he wants to do throughout the play but has trouble with carrying them out.
• Also in Hamlet with the scene regarding the actors, Shakespeare ridicules his society for making children act and work.
• Macbeth is almost all hinted at for Shakespeare just tells the events as they happen and gives us, the readers, no real look inside Macbeth's mind and thought process like he does with Hamlet and with some of his other characters.

Intro:
      Many authors write only one dimensional novels, however an author like William Shakespeare writes multiple layers of depths into their works. In the plays Hamlet and Macbeth, both written by Shakespeare, there are themes that are hidden behind the text. One example of this is in Hamlet. On the surface Hamlet seems like a revenge story where the protagonist, being Hamlet himself, must decide the best course of action to achieve his revenge, which the story is in fact a revenge story. However, what you might not have seen is that Hamlet has decided on his course of action long before we, as the readers, know the details. In the "To be or not to be..." soliloquy we find evidence of this. Hamlet is asking for forgiveness for what his is about to do, not asking for guidance on what he should do. The theme is not Hamlet trying to find the right path, but is instead, Hamlet acting upon that path. Also, in  Hamlet Shakespeare ridicules the exploitation of children as actors in plays. Similarly, Macbeth isn't a play about a man who is guided by fate, but a man who likes what he hears then acts upon it.


Practice Test 2
Question 1

Prewrite:
Explain how Henry's language reflects his intent.

• Henry speaks to the French governor as a veteran of many wars. "Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds of deadly murder, spoil, and villainy."(30-32)
• Henry's tone is dark, grim, and violent."Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,"
• He speaks with confidence that if the French governor chooses to fight they will be destroyed, only surrender will save them. "What say you? Will you yield, and this avoid? Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd?"

Intro:

      "Your naked infants spitted upon pikes," This is just one of many grim lines Henry delivers to the French governor. In Henry V, by William Shakespeare, King Henry of England goes to war with France. In an attempt to bypass a battle with the people of Harfleur, Henry offered the towns people and their governor a chance to surrender. Henry speaks as a veteran of many wars. His tone grim and dark. Perhaps to scare the people of Harfleur. Needless to say, Henry admits that in a time of war and bloodshed, soldiers become savages, and thus uncontrollable. Henry offers a way to avoid this, but if they do not accept, there is nothing he can do for them and their fates sealed.

Question 2
Prewrite:
Analyze how the author's stylistic devices contribute to our understanding of the passage.

• The theme of prejudice and hate is strong throughout the passage
• repetition, imagery, short but strong sentences

Intro:
      Prejudices and hatreds have been sown into people's minds over hundreds of years. Morrison, in Beloved, looks at this injustice and expresses her views. The jungle of hatred and prejudice that has been planted into the souls of the Africans by the whites. The same jungle that spread into neighbors and even the planters themselves. Morrison uses such language of  strong, firm sentences of vivid imagery, as well as repetition, to convey her own thoughts on the matter at hand.

Question 3
Prewrite:
Discuss how irony and other literary techniques are employed throughout the piece to develop the meaning of the work.

• Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
• Jean Valjean's relationship with Inspector Javert has elements of irony
• Jean Valjean's life is ironic 

Intro:
      Throughout all literary works, irony and other techniques play a key part in developing the meaning of the pieces. In the novel Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, irony is behind the steering wheel. Jean Valjean's character is the epitome of irony. He is an escaped convict who becomes the mayor of a city. Valjean has become a merciful and kind man, however when everything seems to be going perfectly his old prison guard becomes his new chief of police. Javert notices Valjean for who he really is and begins an investigation in to the mayor's past, upsetting Valjean's life and causing the plot of the novel to develop into something greater than it was.


1994 AP Exam

Question 1

Prewrite:
Show how the author dramatizes the young heroine's adventure.

• A White Heron, Sarah Orne Jewett
• vivid imagery, descriptive diction
• "It was like the main-mast to the voyaging earth;"
• changing point of view from Sylvia to the tree (line 43) and back again (line 55)

Intro:
      Sylvia is a little girl with a big ambition. It may just be to climb a large tree, but author Sarah Jewett makes it seem like Sylvia is on an epic voyage to climb to the heavens and beyond. Jewett uses vivid imagery and decisive diction to capture your imagination and create the Sylvia's journey. With descriptions such as "the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons, the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round and round the tree's great stem..." that lend to the dramatization of Sylvia's glorious adventure.

Question 2
Prewrite:
Contrast the speakers' views of Helen.

•  speaker1(Poe)-admires Helen's beauty more than "The weary, way-worn wanderer bore to his own native shore.", he sees her as immortal and unchanging as a statue.He speaks for himself.
• speaker2(H.D.)-resents Helen for her facade of false smiles, however she cannot deny her beauty. She speaks for Greece as a whole.

Intro:
      Helen was said to the most beautiful woman in the whole world. A war was started over her, two kings fighting for her to be by his side. Her legend lives on today because of poets like H.D. and Edgar Allan Poe for writing their own interpretation of her beauty. Poe's poem, To Helen, describes Helen's beauty as immortal and unchanging. Meanwhile, H.D.'s poem, Helen, has a different taste to it. H.D.'s speaker is resentful saying all of Greece hates the still eyes in the white face,...remembering past enchantment and past ills." Poe revels in Helen's beauty, while H.D. is wary of it. Both, however, accept that she is beautiful beyond imagination.

Question 3
Prewrite:
Show how such a character, who appears briefly, functions in the work.

•  Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• Fortinbras, prince of Norway, constant pressure on Claudius since he is attack the kingdom
• Ghost of Hamlet's Father, causes Hamlet to want revenge and sets the stage for the plot of the play

Intro:
      There are many different types of characters in literary works. There is the protagonist and antagonist, there are comical relief  and side kicks. Those who are there to move the story along and develop themes, and those who are just there. However, there are some characters who only appear once or twice but have a large impact on the development of the piece. The ghost of Hamlet's father is one such character. He only shows up once at the beginning of the play and then three more time afterwards, but he incites Hamlet to want revenge and he triggers the plot of the play.

100+ AP Multiple Choice Practic Questions

Practice Test 1

1. b
2. c
3. b
4. c
5. e
6. c
7. a
8. a
9. a
10. b
11. d
12. c
13. e
14. e
15. d
16. a
17. a
18. a
19. c
20. c
21. b
22. d
23. b
24. b
25. e
26. c
27. a
28. c
29. b
30. c
31. c
32. d
33. b
34. e
35. d
36. d
37. e
38. b
39. d
40. e
41. c
42. a
43. a
44. d
45. c
46. e
47. b
48. c
49. c
50. d
51. d
52. a
53. c
54. c

Practice Test 2

1. a
2. b
3. c
4. c
5. b
6. c
7. b
8. b
9. c
10. e
11. d
12. d
13. d
14. d
15. d
16. d
17. a
18. b
19. b
20. c
21. b
22. b
23. d
24. c
25. b
26. e
27. d
28. b
29. b
30. b
31. e
32. d
33. a
34. e
35. b
36. b
37. c
38. a
39. e
40. a
41. a
42. a
43. d
44. d
45. c
46. a
47. c
48. c
49. b
50. a
51. e
52. a
53. c
54. e
55. c
56. e

Plan to tackle the AP test

1. make flash cards of, and study, the literature terms

2. take a practice AP exam

3. review what I did wrong

4. take another practice exam

5. review again

Macbeth Test Answers

 *Adopted with gratitude from http://www.apclarke.freeserve.co.uk/mbtest.htm 
**Please include Act/Scene so we can refer easily tomorrow.

1. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by

A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald.

B. serving as a gracious host for his king.

C. not pleading for advancement.

2. King Duncan rewarded Macbeth by dubbing him

A. the Earl of Sinel.

B. the Thane of Cawdor him.

C. Bellona's bridegroom.

3. In addressing Banquo, the witches called him which of these?

"Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." (I)

"Not so happy as Macbeth, yet much happier." (II)

"A future father of kings." (III)

A. I and II

B. I and III

C. I, II, and III

4. When Macbeth said, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues" he was referring to

A. his titles of Glamis and Cawdor.

B. the victories against the kerns and gallowglasses.

C. the predictions made to Banquo and to himself.

5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to

A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor.

B. Banquo's son, Fleance.

C. Duncan's son, Donalbain.

6. Duncan's statement, "I have begun to plant thee and will labour / To make thee full of growing" is an example of

A. a simile.

B. a metaphor.

C. personification.

7. Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband as being

A. "the glass of fashion and the mould of form."

B. "too full of the milk of human kindness."

C. "a cannon overcharg'd with a double crack."

8. When Macbeth agonizes over the possible killing of the king, which of these does he say?

"He is my house guest; I should protect him." (I)

"Duncan's virtues will "plead like angels" " (II)

"I am his kinsman and his subject" (III)

A. I and III

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III

9. Macbeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he

A. is proud of his wife's transformation.

B. is concerned over the succession to the throne.

C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king.

10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady Macbeth would

A. get the chamberlains drunk.

B. smear Duncan's face with blood.

C. arrange an alibi for Macbeth.

11. Trace Macbeth's transformation from a good man to an evil man.

-Macbeth transforms between his first thought of killing Duncan and his assassination of Banquo.

12. What motivates Macbeth to take the evil path he chooses?

-Lady Macbeth wants and pushes Macbeth to be the king. Also, the witches motivate Macbeth through their predictions.

13. What influence do the witches have on Macbeth?

-The witches give tell their predictions to Macbeth about his fate, which causes Macbeth to hurry the predictions up as well as his own fate.

14. Contrast Macbeth's response to the witches' predictions with Banquo's.

-Macbeth is indifferent at first, he does not see them as good. However, he starts to believe in what they say when he becomes Thane of Cawdor. Banquo doesn't believe them to be real, but an hallucination. He finally decides them to be unimportant, even after seeing that they were real. 

15. Describe the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Trace how it changes over the course of the play.

-Lady Macbeth and Macbeth treat each other fairly in the beginning. They are very close to each other, and Lady Macbeth jumps at helping Macbeth become king, she pushes him to do so. However, once Macbeth assumes the throne, Lady Macbeth is pushed backstage and as a result begins to become mad.

PART 2

1. "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight?" is a reference to the

A. ghost of Banquo.

B. dagger.

C. bubbling cauldron.

2. Lady Macbeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that

A. she couldn't gain easy access to his bedchamber

B. he looked like her father

C. one of Duncan's guards spied her on the to stairway

3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to

A. allow Macduff to gain admission to the castle.

B. remind the audience of the Witches' prophecies.

C. provide comic relief.

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder

A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles.

B. in order to join Macduff in England.

C. lest they be blamed for it.

5. Macbeth arranges for Banquo's death by telling the hired killers that

A. Banquo had thwarted their careers.

B. if they fail, they will pay with their own lives.

C. he will eradicate all records of their previous crimes.

6. Macbeth startles his dinner guests by

A. conversing with the Ghost of Banquo

B. attempting to wash the blood from his hands

C. saying to Lady Macbeth that, "Murder will out."

7. The Witches threw into the cauldron

"Eye of bat and tongue of frog"(I)

"Wool of bat and tongue of dog" (II)

"Fang of snake and eagle's glare" (III)

A. I and II

B. I and III

C. II and III

8. The three apparitions which appeared to Macbeth were

An armed head. (I)

A child with a crown. (II)

A bloody child (III)

A. I and II

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III

9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward Macduff because he

A. wasn't prepared to overthrow Macbeth.

B. suspects a trick.

C. wasn't worthy of becoming king, in his opinion.

10. Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane when

A. the witches rendezvous with Macbeth.

B. the camouflaged soldiers make their advance.

C. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to stand and fight.

11. What is the significance of the line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (I, i, 10)?

-The line adds to the moral confusion theme of the play, that nothing is quite what it seems.

12. How does Macbeth function as a morality play?

-The play is a warning to anyone who is going to do bad to get what they want.

13. How does Shakespeare use the technique of dramatic irony in Macbeth?

-Duncan and his party are lighthearted and jokingly when they arrive at Macbeth's castle. They are unaware of what is about to happen but we, as the reader, see the irony in this because Duncan is about to die and he is making jokes.

14. How does Lady Macbeth overcome her husband's resistance to the idea of killing King Duncan?

-Lady Macbeth is determined to overcome Macbeth's resistance. She questions his manhood and calls him a coward, which finally overcomes his resistance to killing the king.

15. Contrast Macduff's response to the news of his wife's and children's deaths with Macbeth's response to being told Lady Macbeth is dead

-Macduff doesn't believe what he hears but then accepts their loss and feels pain. He then sets out to get revenge for what has happened. Macbeth on the other hand is accepting right away and doesn't seem to be surprised by the fact. Macbeth then goes to take his own life

Macbeth, Historical Backround Notes

• "Macbeth" was written by William Shakespeare between 1603 and 1607

• James IV of Scotland, Shakespeare's patron, became James I of England in 1603

• May have been inspired by the real King Macbeth of Scotland, however the real Macbeth was an admired king while the play version was somewhat a tyrant.

• Side note: some people in the world of theatre believe the play is cursed and will not call it by name. They called it "The Scottish Play"

• Shakespeare heavily draws upon the Holinshed’s Chronicles of the History of England and Scotland, which give a detailed account of the real King Macbeth