<p>We have to memorize the stupid "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy for AP Lit. So far in the class we have only read 3 books: Dracula, Frankenstein, and Hamlet. It seems like a real waste of time having all 30 of us in the class go up and recite this. Someone asked her why we are doing it and she said "Oh, I did it in high school. You must suffer too." Do other people's AP Lit. classes have this kind of trivial assignment?</p>
<p>lol, the last time we had to memorize a poem was in eighth grade, and it was for extra credit. But then again, my AP Lit class is kinda weird and doesn't really give that many assignments (no tests either). We're all gonna fail.</p>
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"Oh, I did it in high school. You must suffer too."
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<p>Did she say it in a joking way?</p>
<p>Sounds like 'busy work' to me.</p>
<p>If you've only read 3 books, your class is a joke to begin with.</p>
<p>I can't even fathom that. I think we're on our 20th?</p>
<p>Well the list at the beginning of the class said 20 books we read. Someone who had her last year said that when it's near graduation like in May/June, she assigns like 1 book a night with quizzes to get through it all and everyone does poorly because everyone just wants to graduate...we finished Hamlet like 2 weeks ago and now we're just watching like 3 or 4 versions of the movie....</p>
<p>fizix---yeah, she sort of says it in a joking way but she is completely serious about it</p>
<p>That is a ridiculous assignment and definitely not typical for an AP Lit class. The regular English classes at my school have a similar assignment which I think is equally ridiculous...I don't see the point in memorizing soliloquies when time could be better spent discussing/analyzing them instead.</p>
<p>Maybe read the 20 books on your own time, and then in May/June you'll be relaxing while everyone else is studying...
or if you're already a senior you don't have to care</p>
<p>Well the only reason I care is because I don't want to lose being 1 or 2 in the class. She is a very odd teacher. She won't give ANY partial credit on tests and quizzes because she "can't do fractions"....one kid wrote a 15 point essay and messed one little part up and lost all 15 points. He complained saying it wasn't fair because he knew most of it and the error should only be like 2-3 points. She said "Oh yeah. Pretty harsh isn't it? I can't do fractions so don't be suprised." And it doesn't even require the use of fractions to take away 2 points instead of 15....</p>
<p>I totally understand the point of performing monologues, especially for Shakespeare. It really helps you analyze and appreciate the text more. However, if all you're doing is simple memorization, that's completely pointless, especially with 30 people.</p>
<p>Not to mention there are so many better, and more important soliloquies in Hamlet anyway.</p>
<p>Funny we did this in our class too, instead you could memorize a hamlet or macbeth passage consisting of atleast 30lines...barely anyone did it/.</p>
<p>Well, it isn't a performance...she said we could easily get the 100 just be monotonously uttering the lines as long as they are right...no need to act them or perform them well...just say them to class...doesn't even need to have the right tone or anything</p>
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doesn't even need to have the right tone or anything
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<p>Oh god that's even worse! I feel for you..your teacher is pretty weird. Is this one of her first years teaching AP Lit?</p>
<p>Our class had to act out scenes from Hamlet, and we were graded on interpretation, character development, etc. That sounds reasonable to me, since Hamlet is a play meant to be performed, and to see a performance or to perform it yourself is a good way to better understand what's going on. </p>
<p>But if your teacher just wants you guys to memorize it for the heck of it, interpretation or not, that sounds ridiculous. Especially if all thirty people have to do it. </p>
<p>Also, the fact that you guys are watching several versions of Hamlet in class so close to exam time is a little atypical (I should think).</p>
<p>we spent the last couple weeks in AP Lit watching many versions of Hamlet, ha ha.</p>
<p>Which is alright, because Olivier is a stud.</p>
<p>Sounds like something my AP Lit teacher would assign (thankfullly she didn't, though). My class is a joke. What a waste of a year. This year is her first year teaching AP, and she is definitely not competent. I'm sure every single one of my classmates would agree with that. She just assigns us busy work and does a very poor job of preparing us for the AP exam. Your teacher's attitude sounds very similar to that of my teacher too, strangely. And we haven't read a lot of books either, but then it's not like we actually do productive work with them. Our class discussions are totally pointless. It is clear that she doesn't know what she is doing. It is pretty disappointing to end with this English class after years of honors. I would have learned more in a regular English class.</p>
<p>To answer your question, that does seem like a trivial assignment to me. I know the problem isn't that it is a hard task, but yeah, I agree, it's a waste of time.</p>
<p>sounds horrible. GLAD MY TEACHER DIDN"T THINK OF THAT! ha</p>
<p>It's like her 5th year at my school...but she was at other schools before (no sure how long). It's a shame too because all of my other AP teachers (with the possible exception of calc) are outstanding and really teach a ton of stuff. She just loads on the BS and the grading is completely unscientific...you could have all 100s and end up with a 90 or all 80s and end up with a 94.....some of the kids in my class had her two years in a row (luckily I had the other teacher) and last year they had to do similar stuff with Macbeth all year.</p>