“Whatever it is, I can do it. But only if I try.” I am the frog, the only one willing to "take the letter to heaven," the only one willing to "bring the purse of money," the only one willing to "fetch the bride." Kimana's problems are mine to solve; finding the solution is and will always be my ultimate goal. That is why the task role of the initiator/contributor is a visible strength and welcomed challenge of my personal group dynamics. In a group, especially when progress is at a standstill, I am the one who tries to contribute ideas and suggestions while inputting my ideas and thoughts for an eventual solution. Kimana went to everyone (the rabbit, the antelope, the hawk, etc.) without a single animal knowledgeable enough to address his needs. Then, it is the frog - who comes up to Kimana instead of being approached - who doesn't technically know how to travel to Heaven, but is willing to give it his best effort to try. I wait, just like the frog, for a moment where I can contribute most, when some ideas have already been shared, to propose new ideas and to revisit the potential solutions already suggested. I am also the diagnostician, the problem seeker. I like to know exactly the details and nuances of a group project because there are problems to be found and certain things we can do better. This compliments my role as a contributor because I can then collaborate my input with the input of others to work up a solution.
Along these same lines, I also consider myself a strict critic. The expectations I have for my group members is always as close to their best as possible, and I make it a goal to be able to constructively criticize and evaluate a situation before turning something in or giving a presentation. Similar to the smith in "The Master of Masters" who is very critical when Jesus walks in the doorway claiming to be the Master of Masters, I am extremely critical when it comes to the content and focus of a group project. I am able to sacrifice my own opinion and contributions as long as group consensus is reached and the project is improved upon, just as the smith was able to swallow his pride and take down his own "Master of Masters" sign once he had been proven wrong. This type of attitude leads me to believe that my primary social/maintenance role in a group is the harmonizer. Disagreements have the potential to ruin a group if academic arguments are taken too personally. I rarely find myself in group arguments because I can observe the perspectives of a situation and evaluate whether my point is worth arguing over. Usually, I am the one who does not allow the relationship to become awkward because of a disagreement; instead, I look for the best ways to ease the tension and to accept differences, ultimately leading to reconciliation and the reestablishment of the fundamental group dynamics.
Sources: "How Frog Went to Heaven"
"The Master of Masters"
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Blog Post #2: Pre-test Evaluation - It Only Goes Up From Here
As painful as it was to grade my pre-test, it had to be done. While I am not too willing to share my score with the world, I am more than willing to share all the big and small things that I feel the need to improve upon in an overall reflection. In literary analysis, my feeble strengths lie mainly in the surface level comprehension of the passages that I read. It is easy for me to read a passage and follow along with the story-line or poetry and understand the basic meaning of the text. Certain questions such as #24. "'That time of year' (line 1) refers to" or #4. "'He' in line 15 refers to" are the questions that I normally answer correctly because all they require is a basic understanding of the text as a whole and a quick glance back at the lines that are specified. Also I did reasonably well on the questions that ask for an analysis of a small portion of text, such as #26. "Line 12 is an example of..." or #7. "The reader can infer from the play on words in the last stanza that the speaker is..." These types of questions that focus on zoning in on the smaller details are usually the ones I can focus easier on and evaluate with a better frame of reference and context.
I have many things that I struggle with from the big picture questions to the more symbolic ones. Starting with the big picture questions, my biggest weakness is an inability to evaluate the passage as a whole. The tone and "all of the following except" questions tend to trip me up rather consistently because right now, I am not skillfully able to connect the dots of the passage to understand the texts (especially poetry) in a deeper sense, whatever that may mean. This weakness also leads to a shortcoming when evaluating symbolism. Some of the poems and literary texts are more vague and ambiguous in meaning, and digging through the symbolism to find the author's message and real meaning is something that I look forward to improving upon. Poetry as a whole presents a new challenge that I definitely foresee to be the area that I have to work the hardest on this year; currently, some of the poems I read seem almost like a foreign language. As the AP Literature & Composition textbook describes it, interacting with literature consists of three phases: "Experience. Analysis. Extension." In regards to poetry, I think I am in the young stages of truly analyzing it. With constant exposure to this type of literature, I know I will be able to develop more meaning and knowledge in tackling these texts.
I have plenty of room for improvement that goes beyond the above mentioned weaknesses. Starting with general things: I need to do better with my time management. When the 30 minute warning was called (halfway point), I had already finished all of my test. Finishing uncharacteristically early was only part of my problem, as I attempted to go through the passages again and changed some of my right answers (which there weren't too many of) to the wrong ones, second guessing points off my final score. I should have looked through the multiple choice sections in the beginning to see how many passages there were and how the questions were distributed. Then I would have been able to read a little slower and much more cautiously as a stumbled through each section. Secondly, there were around 3-5 questions where I had to blindly guess on just because I had not been exposed to the vocabulary before. For example, on #29 the five answer choices were "A. elegy, B. Spenserian sonnet, C. Petrarchan Sonnet, D. Shakespearean sonnet, E. sestina" I had absolutely no idea what any of these answer choices meant or represented; however, with the development of my Literature and specifically poetry vocabulary throughout this course, these types of vocab questions should become one of the easier questions to answer correctly come AP exam time.
As for my goals, I have thought of some tangible steps I can take to slowly improve my consistency and score.
1. Compile a master list of poetry terms/forms and literary devices and go through an appropriate amount (determined once list is compiled) per week until the end of first trimester. This will help me review and learn the necessary terms that will be found on the AP exam. Hopefully, some class time will be dedicated to learning some of the poetry forms and literary devices so that examples can be provided and I can review with my classmates.
2. Read and practicing annotating poetry passages, developing a highlighting/underlining/circling/etc. technique that is similar to the one I adopted for AP Language & Composition. Aim for one poem per two to three days. Analyze and annotate for theme, tone, symbolism and meaning, literary devices, poetic form (once learned), etc. This will significantly increase my exposure to poetry and make me more aware of what to look for and take note of in these passages.
3. Learn to value every single word on the page. Too often, I find myself skimming a passage, and by the end of the paragraph, I only have a partial idea of what is going on. In order to improve this, I want to develop a natural habit of checking with myself after each paragraph - in all my reading - whether I picked up on the complete ideas and messages of the excerpt I just read. If I do not pick up on ideas of the paragraph, I will proceed to reread. There is no end date for this goal, only a start day--and I am making that day today.
Sources: 5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literature, AP Literature and Composition Textbook
I have many things that I struggle with from the big picture questions to the more symbolic ones. Starting with the big picture questions, my biggest weakness is an inability to evaluate the passage as a whole. The tone and "all of the following except" questions tend to trip me up rather consistently because right now, I am not skillfully able to connect the dots of the passage to understand the texts (especially poetry) in a deeper sense, whatever that may mean. This weakness also leads to a shortcoming when evaluating symbolism. Some of the poems and literary texts are more vague and ambiguous in meaning, and digging through the symbolism to find the author's message and real meaning is something that I look forward to improving upon. Poetry as a whole presents a new challenge that I definitely foresee to be the area that I have to work the hardest on this year; currently, some of the poems I read seem almost like a foreign language. As the AP Literature & Composition textbook describes it, interacting with literature consists of three phases: "Experience. Analysis. Extension." In regards to poetry, I think I am in the young stages of truly analyzing it. With constant exposure to this type of literature, I know I will be able to develop more meaning and knowledge in tackling these texts.
I have plenty of room for improvement that goes beyond the above mentioned weaknesses. Starting with general things: I need to do better with my time management. When the 30 minute warning was called (halfway point), I had already finished all of my test. Finishing uncharacteristically early was only part of my problem, as I attempted to go through the passages again and changed some of my right answers (which there weren't too many of) to the wrong ones, second guessing points off my final score. I should have looked through the multiple choice sections in the beginning to see how many passages there were and how the questions were distributed. Then I would have been able to read a little slower and much more cautiously as a stumbled through each section. Secondly, there were around 3-5 questions where I had to blindly guess on just because I had not been exposed to the vocabulary before. For example, on #29 the five answer choices were "A. elegy, B. Spenserian sonnet, C. Petrarchan Sonnet, D. Shakespearean sonnet, E. sestina" I had absolutely no idea what any of these answer choices meant or represented; however, with the development of my Literature and specifically poetry vocabulary throughout this course, these types of vocab questions should become one of the easier questions to answer correctly come AP exam time.
As for my goals, I have thought of some tangible steps I can take to slowly improve my consistency and score.
1. Compile a master list of poetry terms/forms and literary devices and go through an appropriate amount (determined once list is compiled) per week until the end of first trimester. This will help me review and learn the necessary terms that will be found on the AP exam. Hopefully, some class time will be dedicated to learning some of the poetry forms and literary devices so that examples can be provided and I can review with my classmates.
2. Read and practicing annotating poetry passages, developing a highlighting/underlining/circling/etc. technique that is similar to the one I adopted for AP Language & Composition. Aim for one poem per two to three days. Analyze and annotate for theme, tone, symbolism and meaning, literary devices, poetic form (once learned), etc. This will significantly increase my exposure to poetry and make me more aware of what to look for and take note of in these passages.
3. Learn to value every single word on the page. Too often, I find myself skimming a passage, and by the end of the paragraph, I only have a partial idea of what is going on. In order to improve this, I want to develop a natural habit of checking with myself after each paragraph - in all my reading - whether I picked up on the complete ideas and messages of the excerpt I just read. If I do not pick up on ideas of the paragraph, I will proceed to reread. There is no end date for this goal, only a start day--and I am making that day today.
Sources: 5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literature, AP Literature and Composition Textbook
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Blog Post #1: Establishing a Mood
The color scheme and design that I specifically chose for my blog revolved around my goal of creating a calm, masculine, and non-aggressive mood for the viewers which, surprisingly enough, is the type of life I strive to exemplify. The somewhat faded, old-school blue-green color is a peaceful and relaxing decision, much less aggressive and bright than a red or yellow. I wanted to create a place where writers can focus on deeper thought. According to an article on about.com, blues have an ability to "lower the pulse rate" and greens possess the effect of "relieving stress," both of which blend harmoniously together to achieve my target mood. The minimal contrast in color throughout the page allows the reader's eyes to be focused on one thing at a time, as pages with greater variation in color can sometimes subliminally cause a reader to become distracted. The black font of the blog text is also easily read.
The main font that I picked was "Crimson text," mainly because I wanted something traditional yet formal to sustain my credibility throughout my posts. With no specific mood that comes to mind with this typography, this font is not blaring or eye-popping, but subtle and passive--corresponding perfectly with the relaxed mood of the general blog. The scattered "Arial" font that encompasses the date and headings provides contrast and gives the page a more modern side effect to offset the traditional text that makes up most of my posts. I also want my audience to be able to comfortably browse through my page. According to an article by Carrie Cousins on tympanus.net, font choices such as "Arial" takes "the emphasis off the text so that it is easy to read." The size 14 font of my blog posts is both comfortable to the eye and reasonable to fit an adequate amount of content onto the blog page.
As I preview the page for the twenty-ninth time, I take in a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out...It is calmer already. Perfect.
Sources: http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_green.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_blue.htm
http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/
As I preview the page for the twenty-ninth time, I take in a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out...It is calmer already. Perfect.
Sources: http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_green.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_blue.htm
http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/
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