The past week and two days have been focused on wrapping up our Hamlet discussions and reviewing for the exam. I was so glad we got more time to talk about Hamlet, because I had been puzzling over it during break and getting nowhere. Getting to bounce ideas off of my classmates was very helpful. I did, however, feel a little annoyed during our theme making process, because it seemed like a lot of my ideas got shot down, and I thought we were getting caught up on one idea and smaller details within that idea too much. In the end though, I was pretty happy with our final theme statement and felt I had a better grasp of the work as a whole. I really like how we are able to come to conclusions as a class, without teachers feeding everything to us. This is the first class I've experienced this in, and I think it gives a lot of room to grow. It also helps me be more confident in my own ideas, because even if some are shot down, others are validated and it reminds me that all opinions are valid and a lot is open to your own interpretation. This helps me a lot in my voice lessons. When I get a new piece, I pay a lot more attention to the lyrics and am able to put more meaning into my performance because I am more confident in my interpretation.
The last few days of class have been devoted to a collaborative exam review. I have found it extremely helpful to have a page with all the material we need to know for the exam on it. It makes my studying a lot more productive, because I don't have to spend as much time sorting through everything and figuring out what to focus on. I do think our review could be more concise, but I can't really complain when I have pretty much everything I need to know all organized into one document.
Similarly to you, my class struggled coming up with a theme statement. I think we spent a few days on it actually. It was a mess. But, in the end I think it came out OK. I'm sorry your ideas were shot down. I hate speaking in front of a class, so I normally keep to myself, but I'm glad you don't give up on expressing your ideas! Although the collaborative exam review was bulky, it did fit all the criteria that was needed on the test which was a major help! In fact, the Hamlet analysis was a lot easier thanks to that!
ReplyDeleteSydney,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear 2nd hour was not alone in muddling through the theme statement activity. What you said about beginning to interpret lyrics (art) better is something I can totally relate with. AP Lit is a tad more "loose" than most classes we take at OHS, but the skills we are taking away are showing their worth. Glad you found the collaborative review helpful, too!
Hello Sydney
ReplyDeleteI admit that I was not comfortable with how our conversation seemed to miss things, either, and I was not really comfortable with our theme statement at first, though I warmed up to it. I find the comment about lyrics interesting, as I remember Ms. Holmes comparing lyrics to literature when I was in freshman year. I also find it interesting in how you describe how understanding the lyrics gives you more understanding of the interpretation of the music; after all, some pieces are used in an entirely different context than what they were intended. Though I appreciated the review form, I have to express my feeling that it was too large and bloated; I found it difficult to use effectively as a review document. Maybe if it were better organized, I would like it better.