IB Language and Literature

Step One Walt Whitman's notebook is small, compact, and very worn.  Despite its ragged appearances, the notebook seems to be a prized item.  The book is black leather and is bound with a simple, yet elegant design.  The outside of this book is just as meaningful as the inside of the book.  Whitman kept his thoughts in secrecy, or perhaps safety, by closing the pages within the cover.  The worn appearance shows that despite the books once pleasant appearance, Whitman used it fairly often to record his thoughts.   Each page within the notebook is a page number, ranging in number from 503 to 944.  That is a lot of pages.  There is a wide range of content shown on each page, showing the unique and varied origins of his poetry and works.  Whitman has recorded names, dates, addresses, thoughts, events, questions, and drawings.   Many of these pages also have a red stamp that says "The Library of Congress".  This stamp d...

1. How would you describe the “American Dream?” 2. What is your definition of wealth? 3. What are Americans’ attitudes toward wealth and poverty? 4. What is your attitude toward wealth and poverty? The "American Dream" is promise of an better life in the United States, with a Cinderella story of going from rags to riches with just the flick of a magic wand (or in this case a plane ticket to the USA). Whether that message is for immigrants or for citizens of the country, the phrase is no more than a simple generality.  A promise of a new life has historically been used as an argument in encouraging people, internationally, to move to America.  Domestically, this promise has been used as a method of persuasion for risky economic investments into the country of a seemingly capitalist utopia.  These life altering choices made by individuals are true shows of the blind faith in a opaque concept, with only stories as evidence of success.  In present day, America ...

INDIVIDUAL ORAL COMMENTARY: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5BAIwN0tHcOR0UtNVVzeWc4NDdIUHN6V09LUHJVcDY4V2g0 Grading:  Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text or extract - 7 At the beginning, I was able to identify the the context (text and author).  I think I identified the themes and connected them to the rest of the story, although not in depth.  However, I am not sure how effective I was at using well-chosen evidence to make connections.  Criterion B: Understanding of the use and effects of literary features - 7 I used a pretty good amount of literary devices in my opinion, although I did not have a broad variety in what type of devices I looked at (repetition seems to be my favorite).  Although I usually forget to do this, I actually did connect these devices to the effect they had on the reader.  I need to make sure I do this for all examples, and broaden the types of examples chosen.  Criterion C: Organizati...

ANALYSIS #1 "Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug." 1.  First word is the name of the character "Gregory Samsa" - character immediately introduced 2. "woke" - occurs in the present  3. "giant bug" - imagery is very vague, basic word choice, unsure of species or specific appearance 4. "uneasy dreams" - uncomfortable, anxiety inducing dreams 5. active voice, third person → missing "bed", uses "changed", "Gregory" #2 "When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug." 1. First word is "When" - reflecting upon an event (narrative to analysis) 2. "awoke" "found" - occurs in the past 3. "enormous bug" - adjective is strong/exaggerated, emphasizes the absurdity 4. "troubled dreams" - anxious, caused ...

Freebie :)

Carry Poppy - "A Scientific Approach to the Paranormal" I chose to choose a  Ted Talk titled "A Scientific Approach to the Paranormal".  I did this for a few reasons... 1) the speaker's outfit looks kind of like an elf and I think that's cool 2) I am 99% sure I've felt a ghost numerous times and 3) I am a big believer in science.   Cary Poppy starts by saying "Eight years ago, I was haunted by an evil spirt".  Sounds intense, right?  Poppy does not in fact believe her house was haunted by a sprit because she found out, with a little help from the internet, that her house, instead, had carbon monoxide poisoning.   With using such strong wording in her starting phrase, the speaker was able to grab the audience's attention rather effectively.  The phrase included an allusion to a common belief held by a large audience - the belief in the super natural.  At least for me, the word "evil spirit" brings to mind scary movies ...