Dear AP Literature Students,
I hope you all had a productive and exciting summer. This year you will be required to check this blog for additional resources and assignments.
Your summer assignment was to read Beloved, by Toni Morrison and Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. Please briefly describe (in the comments section) your emotional reaction to the books. Examine your meta cognitive process (meta cognitive means thinking about thinking). Did you find either book challenging? Specifically, what was difficult?
Did you enjoy the readings? Why or why not.
Thanks. I am looking forward to a great year!
Oh and P.S.- Mark your calendars!
English Literature AP Test Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 8AM!
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My emotional recation to both books were that they both were extremely sad. The books got very deep into the main characters' feelings and we got to now each character personally. Both books were equally challenging. The most difficult part about both books was they they used alot of themes, and descriptive words. Beloved was intresting, and Heart of Darkness was accecptional. I enjoyed Beloved because I understood it better than Heart of Darkness.
ReplyDeleteDarra Sellers
per-2
AP Lit.
My emotional reaction to Beloved and Heart Of Darkness, was a feeling of sorrow and depression. Reading a story of a woman killing her baby, in an attempt to save her daughter from a slave master, was kind of distrubing. As well as Heart Of Darkness, a company manager setting up a man to die in wildrness to is also distrubing. The only book I found challenging was Beloved, when the text went from presnt-tense to past-tense. And Heart Of Darkness vocabulary was challenging, I had to look up some words to understand tje context clues in the story. Other than that I really enjoyed reading Beloved and Heart OF Darkness, both books have a great story to them, but I personally pefer Beloved than Heart Of Darkness.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Siders
period 2
AP Literature
I felt both books were challenging in their own way. Beloved was challenging in the sense of you had to pay attention to everything because there was a lot of symbolism. When I first started reading the book I thought it was going to be very simple and straight forward. By the time I got to the end I never would have thought it was going in the direction it did. I didn't have the best of luck with Heart of Darkness. It took me forever to read one page which made me not want to read anymore. I honestly do not remember anything from that book. I enjoyed reading Beloved because I liked it's story line which made it easier for me to read.
ReplyDeleteDominique Smith
Period 2
AP Literature
While reading Beloved I felt a sense of "deep thoughtfulness". The image created where Paul D was forced to wear a metal bit in his mouth was especially powerful to me. Not being able to help you kin in need as well as the restrictions the bit put on his rights to manhood made me think and try to imagine how that must have been. HeaRT Of Darkness, on the other hand, did not interest me in the least. I read the novel unattached and indifferent to the story. Joseph Conrads Heavy use of symbolism made Heart of Darkness hard to follow most of the time. Beloved had me interested at some points but the long dry spells in the plot caused me to lose interest very quickly.
ReplyDeletei didnt get a chance to enjoy the readings because i wasnt aware about the summer assignment.
ReplyDelete- Tymisha Gray
period 2 , ap. Lit
Ms. Kavanagh
My emotional reaction to both books were very different. I hated reading Heart Of Darkness! Beloved was challenging and although I also did not want to read it, it began to grow on me. The whole since of the main character Sethe feeling he erdge that her water as breaking whe she saw Beloved really stood out for me. Beloved ended up being a very good book once I sat down and really thought about the events that happend. Heart Of Darkness did not intrest me at all. Even though it was onlt 100 pages it was one of the most diffifult reading I've ever had to do. I would not recommend that book to anyone.
ReplyDeleteKhalia Price
Period 2
AP Literature.
For Heart of Darkness, it was really challenging for me to read. There was a lot of vocabulary and it didn't engage me because it was about something that I was not interested in. I found the scenes with the cannibals to be very funny because they were more civilized than the pilgrims. I also liked the part where they talked about the heads on the posts. That was unusual but it kept my attention. For Beloved, I found it more interesting than Heart of Darkness but it couldn’t keep my attention. Everyone is complaining about how hard it was to follow, but I found it to be very easy. If you just pay attention the transition from past to present isn’t that confusing. I will admit that the first few chapters of Beloved were my favorite just because it set up the whole story and that it was the most interesting parts out of the whole book. Also, Heart of Darkness’s themes were more obvious than Beloved and that made the story a little easier for me.
ReplyDeleteI read Heart of Darkness and almost fell asleep! From page one I was bored out of my mind. It was very hard for me to understand and I kept getting confused. Joseph Conrad made no sense in that book! I read Beloved and I enjoyed that book a lot more than Heart of Darkness because I saw the movie so it was easier for me to understand. I felt that Beloved was good because Sethe had to deal with her daughter haunting her and that is what really captured my attention. There was lots of vocabulary in this book and I did find some parts difficult to understand. If it wasn’t for the movie I definitely would have been really confused when the book switched from past to present. I would not want to read either of these books again.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult for me to read both Beloved and Heart of Darkness because the plot were not very interesting to me and they were hard to read. Because of this I used internet resources in order to develop a better understanding of the text. I understood enough of Beloved to develop a picture of the main characters and what part they played in the story but the frequent flashbacks threw me off and the majority of the book was hard to comprehend. If I had watched the movie I would have understood it better. Heart of Darkness was a total blur to me I concerted to effort into understanding the book but reading the internet resource.
ReplyDeleteDaVeon Smith
AP Lit
Prd.2
I felt like both of the books were very challenging. I found myself having to go back and re read a lot of passages. I also found myself looking up many words I did not understand.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Beloved. After doing additonal research on the book. I came to understand it very well. I feel like it ia a good that everyone should read. Although it was a complex piece of literature, I feel like people would enjoy it.
However, I did not enjoy Heart of Darkness. I couldn't understand it, and I couldn't really follow along. Even after conducting futher reasearch on the book I didn't understand it very well.
Candace La Violette
ReplyDeleteMy emotional reaction towards both of these books was extremely different. Heart of Darkness was a very challenging book, i unable to get deep into the book because i continued to loose interest, and soon found myself just reading words on a page. Beloved was challenging but it is something I would love to read again in the future. Beloved was a book that I had to do extra research in order to get the full understanding of what the novel was expressing in each chapter. I really enjoyed how Morrison showed a vivd picture of the emotions that each character experienced during their struggles throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteLauren Lang
Per 2
AP Lit
I feel that both of the books were difficult in their own way. Contrary to my peers, I actually liked Heart of Darkness more than Beloved. I was more interested in Heart if Darkness just by the title of the book, it drew me into it by it's ambiguity, however Beloved did not get the same reaction. I have to say I did not like Beloved not one bit! I'm so tired of hearing about the same type of stories with past slaves and it just really irritated me, it seems like all stories about someone who was once a slave had the same exact outcome, I did not like the fact that i could basically predict what was going to happen next. Heart of Darkness was very interesting to me and that is what kept me reading because I wanted to know what was to come, with Beloved I was turning pages to see when it would be over. I don't think that I would be recommending either of these books to anyone other than just for the purpose of expanding their reading because I don't think that someone will willingly pick up either of these books to read for fun on their own.
ReplyDeleteCiara Allison
Period 2
AP Lit
When reading the book I found it challenging to concentrate and comprehend. Personally I find reading books set in an older time more difficult to connect with because they have different issues to deal with then I would in the 21st century. Although there may be some things that I can relate to in that period it still wasnt enough for my to be empathetic with the problems in the book. Another reason focusing was diffucult was because when ever I did read the novel it was never in a quiet enviorment, but in a setting where music was playing or someone was in the room distratcing me. The main reason why I wasn't able to truley grasp what Toni Morrison was conveying was becuase I never read a book with this writing style. Where she would play on words or even jump to talking about the past, but would very discreet in doing so. With me being distracted I wouldnt always catch that.
ReplyDeleteEven with all my issues of understanding the book I did enjoy reading it. With reading the novel I was exposed to a text that you acctually have to read between the line to truly get the deepth of the situations. Although it took a while to read and understand, it had my mind asking questions that prior to this i wouldnt have asked. I was thinking more in depth and more critically.
Leilani Jefferson
Period 2
AP Lit
My emotional reaction towards the books were that i did not want to read them. When I am not interested in a book it makes it hard for me to read, because I will do my best to avoid touching the book. So reading both books was a drawn out process. Both books were challenging for the simple fact they were the first books ive read of that nature. The books challenged me mentally and challenged me to become a better reader. I had to learn not to read so fast and to look up words I did not understand in order to better understand the book. Ultimately I did not enjoy the books simply because it was summer and no one really enjoys work in the summer time, so that made things worse.
ReplyDeleteNorman Simplis
I'm just starting heart of darkness, and so far its been very long, and drawn out, but I think it might be a good book to read.
ReplyDeleteJamil
AP LIt
Pr. 2
Sorry for responding so late....
ReplyDeleteI personally think that Beloved was an excellent book. I did end up reading half of the book then watching the movie and then reading the rest of the book. The movie was able to help me understand the characters a little better than I did before and helped me understand what was supposed to be going on. After reading the second half of the book I went back to read the whole thing again and it was GREAT!!!! Sadly I didnt get a chance to actually read Heart of Darkness, but from what I've heard it was terrible. I am still planning on reading it so I can have my own opinion of it, but i have to say i am definitly not looking forward to it.
I personally think that Beloved was a boring and sad book. It was interesting in some parts but others were hard to read. My family told me that the movie was really wierd and confusing which i felt that the book was the same way. I did not get a chance to see the movie but I think it would have helped me understand better. I had to use Spark notes and cliffnotes to give me a better understanding of the book because I was still confused when I tried to read it slowly and analyze what I read. Unfortunately, I did not get to read the Heart of Darkness but one of my goals for the end of the school year is to read the book. Although what I heard in class is that it is a terrible story, but I still want to have my own opinion of the book.
ReplyDeleteMy emotional reaction was that I hoped this book would at least interest me in some way because if it does not then it would be very hard for me to read. In the end after two months I finally finished the book at the last two weeks before school started. The thing that was difficult was some of the words, the fact that it would jump to the past then go back to the future, and that it would switch to different narrators.
Chanelle Green
Period 2
AP LIt.
I wasnt able to read Heart Of Darkness yet, but Beloved was actually deep and simply wonderful after read the second time because the first time you read it its confusing but as you take a step back and actually place together the parts of the story it shows the actions of a weak and guilty woman who is unable to accept her past and move forward. i found myself able to sympathize with her, not that Ive killed any poor defenseless children lately-(haha), but the book was challenging the first time as readers i guess we just have to step back and put together all the pieces for the undistorted view of the picture. I enjoyed the reading not only because of the lack of order but because it gave me a look into the desperation of slaves and the cruelty of their masters- although it was fiction.
ReplyDeleteKumari Iboko
Period 2
AP Lit