Assignments (CAP)

last updated 12/14/05

CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS

ALL-CAP TEAM

Your final assignment of the semester--due in Mr. Lester's office by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2005--is a 2-page paper of your "All-CAP" team , which will consist of 3 of our visiting poets and 1 of the canonical authors (Frost, Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, Sylvia Plath the novelist). You have significant poetic license with this assignment. For example, you may change the title from "All-CAP Team" to something else.

Visiting Poets (pick 3): Kenny Carroll, Miles Moore, James Hoch, Lisa Pegram, Brian Gilmore, DJ Renegade

"Veterans' Committee" Authors (pick 1): Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath (for her prose, not her poetry)

Your All-CAP Team paper will need to include an explanation of the criteria you used in selecting your poets. Did you base your decision on the poets who were the best on the page? The best performers? The ones who brought the most joy and pleasure? The poets whose words "chilled and burned" you? The ones who were the most provocative? The poets whose poems you would want if you were locked in jail or stuck on a Survivor-esque island? You may use whatever criteria you want, but you need to explain how you made your selections and what the picks were based on. (The criteria may shift as well. One poet could make it for being a stellar performer, another for being a great writer, etc. Still, explain that). Be clear in explaining WHY each poet made the All-CAP team .Feel free to use first-person, as well. ).

Then, for each selection, explain, in a paragraph or more, why you picked that poet, or what stood out to you about them. Be specific in explaining why the poet is worthy of your squad. You should have the poet's book/packet of poems by your side, so that you can refer to specific poems.

If you were not in class during a visit, you may not pick that poet, unless you watched a tape of them borrowed from Mr. Lester (if you missed Hoch or Kenny Carroll, please see me and I will hook you up with a tape).

Feel free to add graphics, pictures, etc. Make it look good. Have fun with the assignment. Creativity counts. I encourage you to model your All-CAP team after a certain theme: Facebook; Yearbook pages; sports all-star team; a newspaper, magazine, literary magazine, fantasy football squade, etc. Play to your strengths.

Your selections should be well thought-out. Don't simply say, "Oh yeah, blank, blank and blank are on my team." The CAP Commisioner suggests that you read your log responses after the poets visited and look through the packets of their poems to refresh your memory. It should be clear after reading your paper WHY those poets made your squad

Also, don't sleep on DJ Renegade--i.e. don't pick your entire squad just yet. Give him a chance to make the team. If he does not make the cut, fine, but give him the chance to make it..

Grade: Yes, even though a lot of love was given (so to speak) in the Lester CAP Dome, this is not merely a feel good assignment. (Well, it might be a "feel good" assignment if you do a good job with it). It will count as 20% of your semester grade. This is a compilation of all that you have done this semester. Have fun, but make it count. (Chill and burn me, baby).

Printing: If you print in color, you may want to do that at home or on a DL computer. Last year, the STA computer staff got upset--with me, students, and life in general--when a number of students printed out fly color All-CAP papers in the STA computer room. Do so at your own risk (but I do encourage you to make it look good)

Due: by Wed, Jan. 11, 1 p.m., in my New Hallway office. If I'm not in, please slide it under my door.

PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS

posted 10/18/04. Due TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2004.

Qudstions based mainly on pages 74-154.

1. PICK A LINE: Pick a sentence or sentences that resonated with you, write them out (please), and explain why that line stuck out with you.

2. THE BEACH: Why do you think Esther goes to the beach/sea (on pages 150-154)?

3.. 50 YEARS LATER: How are the lives of young women (from perhaps the same background as Esther) different from Esther's life in 1953? As a 19-year-old woman in 1953, Esther has a life and future that are different from what most 19-year-old women in 2004 face. How is the life that the narrator experiences--and will experience--as a woman different from that of, say, an NCS senior today? Explain and explore those differences. Please be as specific as possible.

4. COLORS: What colors have you noticed in the book, especially on pages 74-154? What do you think Plath is trying to convey with those specific colors?

5. FATHER: Why do you think Esther visits her father's grave at this particular point in her life? (NOT IN THESE PAGES, SO OMIT THIS Q.)

6. BADNESS (continued): List the negative events in Esther's life from pages 74-154.

7. ADVICE: If you were Esther's friend, what would you say or recommend to her to help her at this time in her life?

8. RESPONSE/SUMMATION. You're past the initial 49 pages and are nearly finished with the book. You likely have a more complete view of the book--and Esther--than when I asked you this questions last time. What is your reaction to the book/narrator now? Comments or questions?

BELL JAR WORKSHEET, p. 1-49

due on Wed, Oct. 13; please write out or type on separate sheets of paper. Each question merits a 3-5 sentence response.

1. PICK A LINE: Write out a sentence that resonated with you for whatever reason, and explain why you cited it (it may have been poignant, well-written, etc.)

1. RELATIONSHIPS: In the first few chapters, the narrator has trouble fitting in, especially with men. What type of man do you feel she is seeking, and which type would be a match for her? Finally, at the place/stage she's at in her life, would a relationship help or hinder her?

2. FRIENDSHIPS: What type of friend does the narrator seem to be? Give support for your answer. What is she seeking in a friend (what traits)?

3. SELF-ANALYSIS: Would you get along with the narrator? Why or why not? Would you want to be friends with her?

4. BIG APPLE: Without focusing on the specific incidents in the narrator's life (that will come in the next question), discuss the pros and cons of a summer internship like hers. Would you like to have a similar experience (not necessarily at a magazine, but an internship in a large city, staying with fellow interns, all expenses-paid, etc.)?

5. BADNESS: List as many things as possible that have not gone well for Esther, both in NYC or events in her past that she thinks of while in NYC and tells us). You should have a sizable list.

6. WRITING STYLE: How would you describe Plath's writing style? Please explain your answer. Sample words (and feel free to create your own): descriptive, fluid, confusing, convoluted....

7. HUMOR: While there is much darkness in what you've read thus far, there is also humor. Identify a humorous passage and write it out, explaining why you found it funny.

8. SUMMATION: What is your overall reaction to the first 49 pages? Comments and/or questions?

posted Sept. 23, 2004

CAP HOUSE OF MUSIC

Here is the assignment:

1) Select your favorite song or one you really like.

3) Notate the lyrics--citing key words and symbols, providing a translation or interpretation of the lyrics, and identifying stylistic traits (rhyme scheme, "raw"/"cooked", etc.) and bring 20 copies to class.

4) Bring in the song (CD or tape--no vinyl or 8-track tapes, please) to class.

5) You will distribute the lyrics to the class and play your song. Your presentation, which should run no longer than 20 minutes, should address the following:

a) Why do you like the song?
b) What do the words mean? What do they mean to you ?
c) Is the song "poetic" at all? How does the song fit in with--or not fit in with--your definition of poetry?
d) Lead us through an examination of the lyrics. Did you know what the words were and what the song meant prior to looking at the lyrics?

Your song does not need to be a "poem." The objective here is to get you to really listen to the music and for you to scrutinize the lyrics.

Above all, explain your affinity for your song. The class should leave with a clear idea of what your song is about and why you like it. At the end of your presentation, the class should be able to answer these questions: 1) Why does Billy Ray like the song?; 2) What does the song mean?

You will be graded on your presentation and on your lyric notes (two grades). Speak clearly; project to the audience; have a game plan. Have fun.

Note : You may choose a song which has "f-bombs," but hopefully it will have much more than that. Penalty flags will be thrown in your direction if your choice has a preponderence of F--or MF--bombs.

Dates of CAP Music House:

Friday, October 14: #1, #2:
Friday, October 21: #3, #4
Friday, October 28:: #5, #6
Thursday, November 3: 7, 8

Wed, November 9: #9, 10
Friday, November 18: 11, 12

Tuesday, November 22: #13

Friday, December 2: #14, #15

Friday, December 9: #16, #17

Thursday, December 15: #18, #19

Don't be absent on the day you are presenting! Also, Music House days will be "No Cut" days. If you know ahead of time that you will be out on the day you are up, you are responsible for "trading" with a classmate. Notify me of all trades.

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