Introduction & Cat in an Empty Apartment

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Lesson objectives Mrs Nusser 

To introduce the Literature HL programme 

Using Cornell note taking methodd

To introduce the life and poetry of Wislawa Szymborska and consider some poems 

To discuss the area of exploration of 'Time and Space' 

Expectation

Bring an exercise book to the lesson 

Bring your e-reader to the lesson when asked 

What the IB guide says about the Literature course 

Which aspects of this 'text' do you think we could consider in our Language and Literature studies? Write down your ideas in your exercise book. 

Which aspects of the 'text' should we consider in our language and literature studies?

HL Language and Literature 

At HL we can afford to go more in-depth into the study of language as we have 5 lessons per week. 

At HL we accumulate material relating to non-literary texts

At HL we study FOUR works of English literature and TWO works in translation. 

At HL we submit a Higher Level Essay  in the first half of DP2. The essay is based on any text we study on the course.

At HL we sit an oral exam at the beginning of DP2. This is an analysis of both a literary extract and a non-literary extract. 

 

HL Literature 

At HL we can afford to go more in-depth into the study of language as we have 5 lessons per week. 

At HL we study TEN works of English literature of which THREE works in translation. 

At HL we submit a Higher Level Essay (Nov) in the first half of DP2.

The essay is based on any literary work we have studied on the course.

At HL we sit an oral exam in DP2 (Feb) This is an analysis of both a literary extract and a non-literary extract. 

 

IB English A Literature/ Lang Lit  higher level

Component	Marks	Duration	Weighting
Paper 1: Guided literary/textual analysis	40 marks	2 hours 15 minutes	35%
Paper 2: Comparative essay	30 marks	1 hour 45 minutes	25%
Individual oral (IA)	40 marks	15 minutes	20%
HL essay	20 marks	Written during the course	20%

IB English Language and Literature higher 

Readers, Writers, Texts	Time and Space	Intertextuality
Selected poetry by Wislawa Szymborska	A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen	The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien
The White Tiger Aravind Adiga	Candide Voltaire	1984 George Orwell

Various bodies of work which are non-literary texts from the same author, but from different text types. 

IB English Language and Literature higher 

BOW political and social commentary cartoons	BOW advertising	BOW photography
BOW opinion columns	BOW magazine articles	BOW documentary

Various bodies of work which are non-literary texts from the same author, but from different text types. 

IB English A Literature higher level

Readers, Writers, Texts	Time & Space	Intertextuality
Selected poetry by Carol Anne Duffy	A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen	The Things they Carried Tim O'Brien
A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess	Selected poetry by Wislawa Szymborską	On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong
Macbeth or Othello William Shakespeare	The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood	If this is a Man Primo Levi
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

4 literary forms 

3 Time Periods 

2 continents 

Minimum 3 works in translation 

Born in Bnin, Poland in 1923. Died in Kraków, in 2012.

Lived and worked in Poland all her life.

Poland was communist for much of this time…

Her early poetry conformed to Socialist Realism

She worked for decades as an editor of Życie Literackie

She began to distance herself from Socialist style

Secretly worked for the underground press 

as ‘Stanczykówna’

Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996.

Wisława Szymborska

Introduction to Wislawa Szymborska

Nobel prize citation 

"for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"

Introduction to Wislawa Szymborska

Area of exploration 'Readers, writers, texts' 

Why and how do we study language and literature?

How are we affected by texts in various ways?

In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted?

How does language use vary amongst text types and amongst literary forms?

How does the structure or style of a text affect meaning?

How do texts offer insights and challenges?

With the question you are assigned: 

1. explain the question and what you think it means

2. Give an answer to the question with an example.

Inquiry questions 

Skills-based:  How can I use my knowledge of individual poetic features to build up a credible interpretation of a poem?

Content-based: How can use textual evidence from the poems to make an assessment about perspective and point of view?

Concept-based: How can I use my exploration of poetry to 'understand the importance of the reader being able to engage in an imaginative interaction with a text' (key concept: Creativity)?

With the question you are assigned: 

1. explain the question and what you think it means

2. Give an answer to the question with an example.

1. Szymborska died in 2012. I am going to read an article that is a retrospectieve of her life. 
   
2. As you listen, please take notes using the Cornell note taking method. Structure your notes around important aspects of her life, philosophies and poetry. 
   
3. Afterwards, we will share what you think are the most important points you have heard in class. 

Beginning at the end

Look through your notes: 

1. Star your top three takeaways from what you have heard. 

2. Now choose the most important point that you wrote down. 

3. Be ready to defend why you think that is the most important takeaway. 

My most important takeaway

Read the Articles in Managebac about Poet Wislawa Szymborska and respond to the following questions. Put your answers in a Word Document and upload them to the DropBox before class. 

1)  Take notes from each of the documents under the following headings:

• Biographical information
  
• Szymborska's beliefs about writing   
  
• Szymborska's personal philosophy/ world view
  

2) What is your impression of the author? Is she someone you would like to have coffee with? Why or why not?

Homework for 9th Sept

"Cat in an Empty Apartment" 

Generic approach 

Acquaintance	First reading: holistic understanding Question: What is the poem about?
Knowledge	Second reading: looking for structure and/or pattern. Question: how is the main idea, feeling, thought or process explored throughout the poem?
Understanding	Third reading: unpacking and analysing the language of the poem. Question: how is language used to convey the idea, feeling, thought or process and its development in the poem?

Listen to the poem...

On your tables, discuss what is the basic 'story' of the poem? Put that into a summary that you all agree on. 

Someone reads the poem in your group

In the left margin write down for each stanza an interesting word, an insightful idea or a topic. 

What does your table think that the theme and topic is of this poem?

What is the theme of this poem? (Identify the main concept or topic and then what the author is saying about it.) This will be a sentence or two. 

Lesson objectives Ms Nusser 

Homework check

Use supporting information to annotate for technique in the poem " Cat in an Empty Apartment" 

Start analysing another poem 

2nd hour: Write a poetry response using a guiding question 

Seating plan DP1  Lit  HL

board

Window

Door

Kristof - Eva 

Viola - Juul 

Luuk - Annefleur

Vera - Tilly 

Emma - Joel 

Mitch - Guusje

Eliza - Simar 

Seating plan DP1 Lang & Lit  HL

board

Window

Door

Oya - Sofia

Dasha - Mijntje

Constance - Symon 

Ayla - Sonny 

Mila - Cia 

Mert - Alessandro 

Nishtha - Marlene

Liv - Keesje

Bade - Ilia 

Lisa -  Janna

Alexandra - Elias 

Cornell notes 

Complete your Cornell Notes on Szymborska

Read "Cat in an Empty Apartment" one more time and answer these questions

Answer these questions in your exercise book: 

1. Find an example of enjambment. How is it used to connect to the theme in this poem?
2. Identify the narrative perspective (poetic persona) represented in the poem. Why might the author have chosen that perspective? 
3. What tone(s) are represented in the poem? Is there a shift? If so, where?
4. Pick 3 words that you feel are important or impactful. Why did these words stand out? What is the impact of these words on the poem?
   

 

Persona 

Why does Szymborska use the narrative perspective and poetic persona of a cat? 

On the right of your poem comes technique

Use the list of techniques that I will give you to annotate the poem for techniques that you see used by the poet. 

Consider the treatment of death and suffering in the poem. 

• Szymborska presents quiet, introspective poetry as an alternative to the grand, epic heroic poetry of WWII.
• She emphasizes the intimate or personal struggle to re-familiarize the audience with the topic of death
•  She seeks to re-sensitize the reader to the presence of death on a smaller scale, and to perceive it not as evidence of the universe’s cruelty, but as an organic element of the human experience. 
• Introspective/isolationist coping with death
•  Some consider that some of her poems reflect the “stages of grief”   
  

In our 2nd hour you will write a poetry response

Guiding question: How effective is Szymborska's use of stylistic techniques to delivery the theme of this poem? 

Write an introductory paragraph which includes

 a thesis statement and conclude with a short concluding paragraph. You may write two or three body paragraphs depending on your ideas and the time constraints.