11AP

1. 11AP Monday, Sept. 10

2. Entry task—Respond and Reflect: • “Grammar is a piano I play by ear, since I seem to have been out of school the year the rules were mentioned. All I know about grammar is its infinite power.” • Joan Didion • Do you agree? What is your experience with grammar instruction? Grammar with regard to your writing?

3. Pick fivewords to describe yourself to someone who doesn’t know you. • They might be nouns, they might be adjectives.

4. Once you’ve picked them, ask yourself these questions: • Are these words generic and somewhat vague (e.g. “writer”) or are they specific, vividand precise (e.g. “novelist,” “poet,” “journalist,” “compulsive scribbler”)?   • Examine each word. Is it vivid? Is it precise? Can you REVISE to create more precise words that give someone a much clearer picture of you?

5. Nounsare the cornerstones of writing, and along with verbs, the cornerstone of every sentence. • Nounstransform people into characters, places into scenes, tangible things into metaphors, and ideas into themes.

6. A common noun refers generically to people, places, or things and so is written with all lowercase letters (actor, state, movie). • A proper noun is much more specific, referring to only one person, place, or thing (North Dakota, Fargo) and written with an initial capital letter. • In compound nouns, nouns double up to express a whole that is more than the sum of its parts (film star, silver screen, award winner).

7. JacoboTimerman is a world-renowned journalist who by 1979 had been incarcerated and systematically tortured by the Argentine government for two and a half years, although charged with no crime. • Read JacoboTimerman’s description of his cell. • Notice the power of simple but concrete nouns (blanket, mattress, guard).

8. The cell is narrow. When I stand at its center, facing the steel door, I can’t extend my arms. But it is long, and when I lie down, I can stretch out my entire body. A stroke of luck, for in the cell I previously occupied—for how long?—I was forced to huddle up when seated and keep my knees bent while lying down.

9. The cell is quite high. When I jump, I’m unable to touch the ceiling. The white walls have been recently painted. Undoubtedly they once had names on them, messages, words of encouragement, dates. They are now bereft of any vestige or testimony.

10. The floor of the cell is permanently wet. Somewhere there’s a leak. The mattress is also wet. I have a blanket, and to prevent that from getting wet I keep it on my shoulders constantly. If I lie down with the blanket on top of me, the part of my body touching the mattress gets soaked.

11. I discover it’s best to roll up the mattress so that one part of it doesn’t touch the ground. In time, the top part dries. This means, though, that I can’t lie down, but must sleep seated. My life goes on during this period—for how long?—either standing or seated.

12. The cell has a steel door with an opening that allows part of a face, a minimal part, to be visible. The guard has orders to keep the opening shut. Light enters from the outside through a small crack, which acts also as an airvent. This is the only ventilation and light. A faint glow,night and day, eliminating time.

13. One of the guards has my watch. During an interrogation another guard offered me a cigarette and lit it with my wife’slighter. I later learned that they were under armyorders not to steal anything from my house throughout the kidnapping but succumbed to temptation. Gold Rolex watches and Dupontcigarettelighters were almost an obsession with the Argentine securityforces during that year of 1977.

14. Tonight, a guard, not following the rules, leaves the peephole ajar. I wait a while to see what will happen but it remains open. Standing on tiptoe, I peer out. There’s a narrow corridor, and across from my cell I can see at least two other doors. Indeed, I have a full view of two doors. What a sensation of freedom! An entire universe added to my Time, that elongated time which hovers over me oppressively in the cell. Time, that dangerous enemy of man, when its existence, duration, and eternity are virtually palpable.

15. Which Nouns Stand Out? • In a piece so sparely written, the concrete nouns stand out: words like cell, leak, door, wetconvey Timerman’s grim predicament. References to arms, knees, body, shoulders define the space andplace us in the space with him. • Other nouns, more intangible, more abstract, like life, sensation, freedom, universe, time, existence, duration, eternity, attest to his hopes. • Such intangible nouns, when used so expertly, convey an author’s themes and offer glimpses into the human condition.

16. Timerman uses abstractions strategically to articulate the powerful experience of his kidnapping and imprisonment (freedom, eternity, time). • How perfect it is that Timerman uses hard, stark nouns to describe his hard, stark cell?

17. As Timerman’s passage shows, plain nouns can also be strong: they can convey vivid images and powerful emotions. • Not all nouns need be plain, but they must all be strong. • So what’s the difference between a strong noun and a weak one?

18. For Language section of binder When looking for strong nouns: Choose the familiar word to the convoluted (or highfalutin!).Choose the single word to the circumlocution.Choose the short word to the long.Choose the specific to the general.Choose the concrete to the abstract.

19. Choosing the right noun means exploring the layers of a word. • First, it must be precise, conveying the exact image you are rendering: pick bungalow if you’re describing a one-story house with a low pitched roof. • Second, your noun must be vivid, its connotations conjuring a realm of emotion or sensation: stay with bungalow if you’re capturing coziness, a homey atmosphere. • Finally, your noun must be apt—its associations, its links to other words and ideas, must complement your meaning.

20. White Board Generic nouns 1. Plant 2. Food 3. House Convert to precise vivid nouns (may include descriptive adjectives)

21. White Boards In your groups, clean up these phrases 1. . The Supreme Being mandated the illumination of the Universe and this directive was enforced forthwith.

22. 2. We have absolutely no material information at this period, but we’ll make an announcement the moment there’s a modification in the state of affairs.

23. 3. High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process.

24. Finally: • Work on test! We will finish on Tuesday . . . This means chapter one on Wednesday. No texts needed until that day.