AP Lit: Sestina Extravaganza!

For this week, your poetry extravaganza revolves around Elizabeth Bishop's poem "Sestina." You have two things to do:

1) Write your own sestina.
2) Write a one page essay that reflects on your own process writing the poem AND addresses this question: how does this fixed form affect Bishop's poem?

Here is the format for a sestina:

1 6 3 5 4 2
2 1 6 3 5 4
3 5 4 2 1 6
4 2 1 6 3 5
5 4 2 1 6 3
6 3 5 4 2 1

After those six stanzas, you need a three-line stanza (a 'tercet') that includes all six words. Two per line, and the words should appear in the middle and the end of each line.

Not so hard, right? Feel free to post your sestinas for extra credit in response to this post. Remember the posting rules, though!

Very Helpful Resource!

While poking around on the interent today, I found this very thorough writing resource. The Purdue University "Online Writing Lab" is available at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl

The site is comprehensive, and you will find everything about writing there: from how to use an apostrophe to how to formulate a convincing thesis. Check it out!

AP Literature: Jane Eyre Reading Schedule

Here is the reading schedule for Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.

Nov. 20: Chapters 1-10

Nov. 27: Chapters 11-19

Nov. 29: Chapters 20-23

Dec. 1: Chapters 24-26

Dec. 4: Chapters 27-29

Dec. 8: finish the book

The first two readings and final one are approximately 100 pages each. You have time to do it, but don't get behind! It's a big hole to dig out of if you try to do it all in one night.