Something else that we did in class that really helped me was filling out the chart on Trends in the History of Western Literature. I was really able to see the trends as we went down the line from Classical lit, to medieval, and all the way down to postmodernist era. I knew beforehand that the literature in these times were different from one another, but I never realized how it was a downward trend. For example, I saw that the literary protagonists in classical lit were the gods and epic heroes, but for the postmodernist era, they were the lower and middle class, even the anti hero. So it was a lot easier for me to remember the little details and the trend by filling out this chart.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Response to Course Material #2
As the weeks have gone by, we have really started to set the foundation by learning some analyzing techniques and trends in literature that will help us later on in the year and on the AP exam. Something that has helped me tremendously so far was DIDLS: Diction, imagery, details, language and syntax. We practiced this over and over again in class, annotating numerous pieces. We also practiced a free response on the poem The Century Quilt, something like what would be on the AP exam and that really opened my eyes as to how important knowing DIDLS would be, and how I should be able to find examples of this in a piece of writing. Because I memorized DIDLS beforehand, I was able to find numerous examples in The Century Quilt. I realized how being able to pick out examples of this would be a crucial part of the prompt on the AP exam as well, so even though I know what DIDLS stands for, I still think I should practice picking out examples more and applying it to the meaning of the work. I learned that you can't just memorize something in this class, you must be able to apply it as well.
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Yes, DIDLS seems so much more complicated when you actually need to apply it to something. When our class was reading The Century Quilt, and analyzing it, the only thing I realized was how difficult the AP Literature test would be. I never really realized how hard the AP Lit essays could (potentially) be. Which kind of worries me. I just hope that I can learn to write these kinds of essays before the actual test in the spring...
ReplyDeleteIt was a really nice idea of Holmes-y to give us the charts. I was mostly just confused though. When I tried to fill certain spots, I just forgot everything. But luckily, when Holmes-y spoon-fed the answers to us, everything made a little more sense.
I am the same way with DIDLS, I know what it means, but I need more practice applying it. When we looked at The Centruy Quilt, I had trouble finding examples of DIDLS. However, when we talked about it in class, everything everyone said made sense and I thought to myself, "why didn't I think of that?" I hope by the end of the year, I will be better at analyzing literature!
ReplyDeleteI also thought the charts were helpful and it was interesting to see how the traits changed through time.
I share the same sentiments with you about DIDLS. I will never forget what each letter means but I struggle at times applying it you literature. For me the DIDL is fairly easy to apply but I really struggle making connections with syntax and meaning. I definitely have to practice more with this before the AP test and I agree that picking out DIDLS in literature would be very helpful practice.
ReplyDeleteThe literary eras chart will definitely be very helpful for the AP test. The trends are a lot easier to remember than each individual era and will be useful when understanding the rhetorical situation. I have realized over my few months in AP English that understanding the context of a work greatly aids in understanding the meaning and motivations behind a piece of literature.