1. 36 days… Last prose writing due in the basket. Please indicate if you want me to read this one or the one you turned in Friday. I can only read one more! Clear off your desk. You will take your satire test first. Turn into basket when you are done. This test is NOT meant to take all hour. You have 20-25 minutes maybe less if people get done pretty fast. Questions before we get started?

2. Homework Go on the website and read through the rehash for “The Broken Heart” and The Street timed writings to prepare for the summative prose writing on Tuesday or Wednesday. If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by and see me before the timed writing. Also, be thinking about your monologue character. I will have this power point on the website as well. Please read through it so you can make informed choices the next few weeks!

3. Please View this Link http://www.ted.com/talks/anna_deavere_smith_s_american_character.html This is our inspiration for this assignment. While we don’t expect you to be as spectacular as she is (though some of you will surprise yourself), we do want you to step outside of your comfort zone to assume the character’s persona. There are four characters Anne Deavere Smith assumes. As you watch pay attention to what she does to take on the character and what you might do to do the same. All of her characters are real people that she interviewed for her performances. The script came from the interview transcripts. First character is Studs Terkel---American Writer At about 6:00 minutes is Paulette Jenkins a murderer in jail. This is a darker more serious selection. At about 12:30 is a Korean store owner after the LA Riots (Rodney King?). She uses an accent well here; another heavier piece. And at about 18:30 is a cowboy she interviewed. Great use of accent and body.

4. Monologue Summative You will choose your character on Thursday. The character should come from a novel you have studied over the last 3 years in HP/AP classes. Please have a few options to choose from. Read the assignment sheet. I have the right to veto your choice (No Streetcars, Kindred, Unwanted, Secret Life of Bees). I don’t want anymore than two of the same characters in any class: I don’t want 5 Elizabeth Bennetts; and any multiples will have to work hard to not have any overlap in their monologues. The best characters tend to NOT have so much given to us in the novel. Main characters tend to be just a rehash of the novel and aren’t always too interesting, however, if you have your heart set on a main character, you will have to come up with a new angle for them. More on this later. Minor characters seem to work best, but really minor ones can be a bomb, too (Wolfsheim---sp?---in Gatsby). Books and characters that haven’t worked in the past: 1984, Brave New World, The Great Gatsby. I am not a fan of crossing genders (more guys playing girls than vice versa…sorry). The goal is to find a character from a book that you LOVE and plan on using on the AP exam for the open response essay. It should be a novel you know well. We will provide samples of each piece as you work through this.

5. Schedule next 3 weeks… 4/15 Tuesday: hours 1-3 ----Summative Prose Timed Writing 4/16 Wednesday: hours 4-6---Summative Prose Timed Writing 4/17 Thursday: Meet in class room, choose character lottery style, check out book and begin work on time line and back story (examples will be available) 4/18 Friday: Meet in lab (time line and back story rough drafts due on Monday! The sooner you can get these to me, the better) 4/21 & 22 Monday & Tuesday: Meet in Library---rough drafts due, begin work on script (due Wednesday) 4/23 Wednesday Scripts due---Meet in Library---practice and revise 4/24 Thursday---meet in auditorium---practice 4/25 Friday---more practice in classroom 4/28 Monday---last day of practice in auditorium 4/29 thru end of week ---Monologue performances (final writing portfolios due Tuesday!)