<p>Actually a full re-write with smileys is demanded.</p>
<p>English is :( :( :( , Calc was :D, current math class is :( , spanish and physics are also :(</p>
<p>English is :( , Calc is :D , French is :) , Euro is :D :D , but Band is :( :(</p>
<p>English is :D:D, AP Statistics is :( x 1,000,000, Choir does not deserve a face, and Senior off is TOO amazing for a smile :]]]]]]</p>
<p>The fact that chicago decisions are making everyone resort to using too many smiles is pretty :(</p>
<p>
[quote]
English ... easy? Are you serious?? My test -- that I'm still studying for because it got delayed -- is on the 10 group poetry presentations made in the last 3 weeks + 125 lit terms. And it's fill-in-the-blank. (aka I have this kind of concrete diction ... which poem is it from? or alliteration is not found in which poems? which poem was a rondeau?) AND I DON'T HAVE THE POEMS IN FRONT OF ME. I simply fail at memorizing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That sounds like a horrible horrible english class. Making you memorize isn't even teaching. I can understand trying to get people to know literary terms but having them remember which poem they are from? How does that help you become a more intellectual, literary person? Brutal</p>
<p>^ yeah i think i might beat that</p>
<p>our teacher is insane and makes us do huge projects on literary theory which according to my sophomore year english teacher is graduate level work.</p>
<p>it's all over our heads and she doesn't seem to notice</p>
<p>for example, i am turning in my 8 page paper on 4 different critics from different critical theories responded to Hamlet and my responses to their responses.</p>
<p>I tried to pick easy ones (New Criticism, Psychoanalysis - Oedipus Complex FTW, Feminism, and reader response)</p>
<p>on and i may not pass her class now 'cause i missed a week of school when my mom was in the hospital for a drug overdose. she told me that these thing "just happen" and we have to learn to get on with our lives. happy times.</p>
<p>^ Ohh, I had to do something like that too. Except it was only one type of literary criticism and I had to do it on a children's book :p</p>
<p>I'm doing an independent study on literary theory and cultural theory, so I definitely sympathize with your pain. I think it's fascinating, and I love the teacher I'm working with, but it can be tough to wrap your hand around. :]</p>
<p>^^oof, that sounds pretty horrible. i'm guessing there was no possibility of taking the same class with the same teacher and/or switching out towards the beginning of the year? or by the time you recognized her insanity, was it too late?</p>
<p>We had a group project in our AP Lit class this year in which we had to write a script (15-45 pages) on using three literary theories to compare and contrast two works. So awful, I'm trying to remove it from my memory.</p>
<p>The worst part about the projects in that class are that they have no guidelines/rubrics.</p>
<p>^^ I really dislike not having rubrics. AS much as I love freedom of expression and what not, I really enjoy knowing what concrete elements need to be present in my academic projects.</p>
<p>My lit teacher rarely gives out guidelines or rubrics for projects/papers. We don't bother asking him. If we do, he'll inevitably say something like: "20 pages single-spaced." And then we'd have to write 20 pages single-spaced instead of, eh, three pages double. So, freedom of expression = good. :)</p>
<p>To contribute to the list of bad English projects, last semester in AP Lit, we had to write 30-40 single spaced pages of poetry analysis every other week for each poetry chapter. Ended up doing five chapters. It was rather horrific and made me want to gouge my eyes out . . .</p>
<p>Hm... for me..
AP Gov = :mad: and :eek: I despise this class not the subject. The teacher is trying to finish the entire book by giving us tests and hw nonstop. Ridic.
AP Econ = :D
AP Calc BC = :rolleyes: because I got an A on my test today. My teacher grades like a college professor. No joke. Maybe even harsher. It gets annoying at times because he takes it overboard.</p>
<p>AP English Lit = :) Writing's my stronger area
Korean 5 Honors = :cool: The teacher likes me since I'm not rowdy and rude like the other kids.
Advanced Journalism = :o and :) Being Editor-in-Chief is fun yet stressful
Ceramics = :rolleyes: Why are there so many projects?</p>
<p>AP English Lit is pretty chill for me. A lot of kids complain because they don't "learn" anything because my teacher doesn't have a strict schedule and doesn't teach out of a book. Oh, boo hoo. We write essays in class for every piece we read and practice MC Reading in class every week, too. Seriously, I enjoy this class. I don't see how 30 page essays, single-spaced will help AP students when they take the test...
AP English Lit > AP Gov</p>
<p>yeah for AP history you really need to cram the entire book in before the test</p>
<p>AP Stats = :), because the teacher is one of the two best I've ever had and the material is pretty easy stuff...loses points because only five people out of the ten have any idea what they're doing and the rest are all idiots.</p>
<p>Multivariate/Linear Algebra = :):):):), because it's the same teacher and the material is awesome.</p>
<p>AP Physics C = :):):):), because the teacher is the other of the two best I've ever had, the peers are awesome, and it's fascinating stuff.</p>
<p>AP Lit & Comp = :):), because the teacher's really nice and loves my writing. Hilarious class, downside being that we don't really cover as much as the other teacher for the course does (which is a pity, because he'd have a better effect on my writing).</p>
<p>AP Euro - :(, because the teacher barely teaches, it's another of those "half the class are idiots" situations, but on the flip side we get to hear all sorts of interesting anecdotes when we're supposed to be...well, learning.</p>
<p>I haven't had a serious history class since Sophomore year; last year was a really weird one in which we basically learned how to write essays from the lectures and practiced multiple choice with the tests; I came out tremendously knowledgeable about American history and with a 5 on the AP, but it didn't seem as though we'd actually learned anything (yes, I know that makes no sense - hence why it was weird).</p>
<p>Sophomore (AP World) we had the hardcore Marxist guy who'd just gotten promoted to the head of the History Department. He's six feet tall and weighs at least 250 pounds; everyone kept up on the reading flawlessly because we were all afraid that he was actually a bear and would maul us if we misbehaved.</p>
<p>@ yummymango:</p>
<p>Well, my AP Lit teacher's for a 'this'll-help-you-in-college' sort of philosophy. He totally does not teach the exam (the other AP Lit teacher in my school does, though . . .), and instead uses the class to just . . . help us develop skills that'll supposedly prepare us for college/life. Like, for instance, helping us realize that, no, sleep really isn't necessary at all. And letting us figure out what to do when you accidentally forget you have a deadline coming up in 15 minutes for a powerpoint you really really need to finish (oi, that was a fun day . . .). The crapload of poetry analysis we had to do - they were to a.) force us to collaborate and thus develop multiple 'voices' in our heads so that we could effectively analyze it all from a million different POVs (he called it controlled schizophrenia) and b.) to learn how to analyze very very quickly. By the end of the assignment, we could all spit out three pages single-spaced on a poem in 15 minutes, no joke.</p>
<p>And then we have weekly green essays (written in green, but sometimes in purple or orange?) that we have to randomly connect to whatever we're talking about in class. (i.e. homunculus and 'Frankenstein', the neural network theory and 'The House of Mirth', etc.) All good fun. And then we analyze films because that helps us analyze poems and passages as well as develop our own writing style, if that makes sense at all . . .</p>
<p>Ahhh, I love talking about my AP Lit class (and I'll stop spamming the thread now). Everything we do in the class has a purpose, so I love it to death. No busywork! :)</p>
<p>@jonnosferatu:</p>
<p>That sounds exactly like my AP Euro class . . . Interesting anecdotes, but no actual learning.</p>
<p>My English teacher was my favorite teacher ever and one of the smartest people I've ever met. After the first week we didn't open a textbook the entire year. All we did was analyze like 40 different pieces of writing from Shakespeare to modern short stories through awesome class discussion and also a ton of group writing. Our class averaged like 10% higher than the rest of the school in the standardized testing and we aren't technically an advanced class. Take that conventional teaching!</p>
<p>"^^oof, that sounds pretty horrible. i'm guessing there was no possibility of taking the same class with the same teacher and/or switching out towards the beginning of the year? or by the time you recognized her insanity, was it too late?"</p>
<p>lol her insanity is infamous....and she's been here forever so most people (teachers and administration included) are too scared to deal with her. the large drop in class size from ap lang (junior year) to ap lit is ridiculous and it's all cause of her. I decided to take it because I already had a pretty big advantage (i'm a girl, i'm white, i'm liberal, i don't talk too much and I'm an atheist) yeah....she a racist, feminist, elitist, atheist left wing nazi. and everyone in my class would agree. she can sometimes call you out during class and rip you a new one</p>
<p>when we did our lit theory presentations...this one kid had some part of his New Criticism outline wrong...and she excoriated him for the ENTIRE PERIOD IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE CLASS...we all felt so bad for him.</p>
<p>I am reading all of your posts and getting really jealous...
My school offers very few humanities AP classes. Don't get me wrong, there are difficult classes and they are all very interesting (Russian Lit, Irish Lit, Medieval History, Western Civilization Lit, etc), but they don't usually prepare you for any AP tests and since I am a very humanities-heavy person, I don't really have any AP credits.
But the flip side is that none of our teachers ever teach to the test or use textbooks, so they are very into what they are teaching and we have really engaging classes with lots of discussions and creative writing/independent research opportunities...</p>
<p>....my school doesn't offer AP classes, period. there's a couple of classes given through the local state college that are kind of pseudo-AP, but not really. i've taken some of those classes didn't pay for credits because it's not guaranteed that any school will accept them. most kids who pay for them are kids that know they're going to one of the 2 state colleges or the community college.</p>
<p>so don't complain too much, guys (: you're more likely than not in a much more rigorous school that i am.</p>
<p>....not that i don't love some of my teachers. my english teacher is practically my idol, hahaha. it kind of reminds me of that uchicago blog post with the girl who said she had a "lifestyle crush" on one of her teachers, cause she kind of wanted to BE her.</p>