Another Portfolio Option: Poetry Comparison

Another option for your portfolio is to find poems and/or song lyrics which clearly and meaningfully relate to the plot, use of imagery, or themes of Times Arrow. Be sure to discuss the relationship between the works of literature in several well-developed paragraphs.

Student Generated Portfolio Prompt

Ms. Kemp has posited the notion that the idea that "perception is reality" may well apply to Time's Arrow. If so, discuss how this concept relates to both Tod and the Doppleganger.

Purchasing a Book

Time's Arrow is available at Barnes and Noble in Newnan--which probably means you can order it from their website as well. If you are behind in your reading, you may want to consider one of these purchasing options.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre readers:

This article suggests that female artistry in Jane Eyre serves an integral purpose

in Jane’s individual psychic identity development and in her courtship

with Edward Rochester. It views Jane’s practice of and attitudes towards

artistry in light of various female models in the novel who are either artists

themselves or appreciators of art. Her art, either as storyteller or painter,

helps to serve her domestic artistry as she (re)imagines the domestic

life and landscape of Jane and Rochester’s life at Ferndean. Female artistry

functions to promote a feminist agenda of gender equality in Charlotte

Brontë’s text.

brontë studies, Vol. 35 No. 3, November 2010, 248–66

From the first article in Avdanced Placement via Galileo...certainly would provide an interesting analytic tool to help you examine the protagonist of your novel! Sorry for any odd spacing errors here...cut and pasted from Galileo.

Article

http://www.thepequod.org.uk/essays/litcrit/memory.htm

More info on the themes and plot sturctures of Time's Arrow. An easy page or two of your portfolio could be a discussion of several of the main points of this article as juxtaposed to your initial reactions.

Time's Arrow poem for portfolio

Another option for your portfolio would be to, using lines from the novel, create a poem that features as its central purpose one of Amis' themes: time as fluid, the nature of the human soul, the nature of evil, the quest for repentance, etc. 15 to 20 lines please.

Chapter One and Beyond

Just some suggestions for how to analyze rather than summarize plot:

Discuss the relevance of the subtitle of the novel.

Discuss chapter titles and how they relate to the novel as a whole (Gestalt).

Discuss how the “I” of the text seems more singular in the first few pages of the novel. When does the spilt between Tod T. Friendly and the doppelganger occur?

Describe the author’s use of ominous foreshadowing in Chapter One…where or how does the narrator seem to feel this journey will end? Discuss foreshadowing throughout the rest of the novel. How does foreshadowing seem ironic within the context of this particular novel?

Some have described the doppleganger as a parasitic creature. Is he? Why or why not? Explain by references to specific passages.

In chapter one, the author uses the simile “like a storm of human souls.” Keep this phrase in mind and discuss how it relates to the rest of the novel.

Discuss “mirrors” as they appear in Chapter One.

Create an on-going list of powerful, evocative, provocative, and/or meaningfully compelling images…how about…sentences 4-7 on page 10. If you ever need to remind yourself of what imagery is—this is it!

The narrative voice shows many sides to his personality—most of which are easy to see since his life is ironically going somewhat forward whereas Tod’s is going backwards.  

Gestalt Psychology and Times Arrow

For you looking to push your minds just a bit further, consider the following:

"The fundamental "formula" of Gestalt theory might be expressed in this way,” Max Wertheimer wrote. “There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes” (1924).

Have you ever noticed how a series of flashing lights often appears to be moving, such as neon signs or strands of Christmas lights? According to Gestalt psychology, this apparent movement happens because our minds fill in missing information. This belief that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts led to the discovery of several different phenomena that occur during perception.

Considering the comments about psychological theory above, can you apply the Gestalt concepts of “seeking wholeness,” “filling in missing moments,” and the importance of “perception” to Tod’s reverse quest for meaning?

Source: 

http://psychology.about.com/od/schoolsofthought/f/gestalt_faq.htm

The "challenges" of Times Arrow

Time's Arrow is a remarkable imaginative achievement, and it places special demands on the reader. Disorientation is one's initial response to a world in which time moves in reverse and effect always precedes cause. A simple process like gardening becomes a bizarre ritual of uglification when it takes place in reverse: "all the tulips and roses he patiently drained and crushed, then sealed their exhumed corpses and took them in the paper bag to the store for money. All the weeds and nettles he screwed into the soil--and the earth took this ugliness, snatched at it with a sudden grip" (18-19). Everything in Time's Arrow is narrated backwards: old people become younger and more vigorous, children grow smaller and eventually enter hospitals from which they never return. Eating, drinking, love-making, even an abortion are all described in reverse. Early on, Amis even reverses words and sentences, so that "how are you today?" becomes "Aid ut oo y'rrah?"

From Martin Amis' Website

Time's Arrow and the Concept of Entropy

One of the ideas involved in the concept of entropy is that nature tends from order to disorder in isolated systems.

From: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/therm/entrop.html

Could you use this article to frame your thoughts about Amis’ work?

From a British review of Times Arrow:

"Every once in a while, there's a prize-winning, well-written novel released to critical acclaim that's also readable. This year, that novel has got to be "Time's Arrow" by British writer Martin Amis. It's the remarkable, intense, imaginative and eminently enjoyable story of Tod T. Friendly, an American doctor working in an unnamed hospital in an unnamed city. The story is told from the point of view of a sort of doppelganger spirit, imprisoned within the body and mind of Friendly, who detects Friendly's emotions, but cannot affect Friendly's actions. Oh, and the doppelganger experiences Friendly's life backwards, starting with his death, and ending with his birth. The novel that emerges from this premise an an incredible feat of storytelling, beautifully easy to read, swimming with visual images and so startling that it can stare unflinchingly at what is certainly the ultimate horror of the twentieth century and still somehow be entertaining."

KONY

For those of you following the Invisible Children situation, here is a good read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/the-controversy-over-kony-2012/2012/03/10/gIQAzc6M3R_blog.html

Prezi

http://prezi.com/b-ync1uetpr4/the-garden-of-love-by-william-blake/

An excellent example of the powers of Prezi...

Word

Is there another word for synonym?

AP Midterm

In lieu of the fact that we have just completed--or nearly so--both a major research project and an essay on Postmodernism, it is more than fitting that we turn our midterm writing time toward a different form of writing. Here is your topic:

Write a formal letter to the school board which accomplishes two goals: a) describes several glaring problems you have faced during your years in public education--especially in high school, and b) offers clear suggestions regarding how to remedy these problems.

More Postmodern Characteristics

MORE PM INFO:

* plurality of truth
* despairing rationalism without reason
* ethics without metaphysics
* questioning established cultural norms/paradigms
* supposedly reacting against institutions/power
* openness to spiritual matters
* Globalization
* Consumerism and personal choice
* Right and wrong are matters of an individual's lifestyle decisions
* Fluid personal identity
* Tribalism and tolerance
* The irrelevance of Christianity

For Ms. Lanier

Sorry--your poet doesn't exist. Just discuss the poem.

Poetry Project Two

Poetry Project Two: Independent Poem Analysis

1. Select any poem from the Diyanni text of at least 12 lines in length. The poem should not be one we have discussed as a class.

2. Create a presentation regarding this poem.

3. The presentation should include all of the following:

1. A discussion of the literary devices used by the poet as well as a discussion of the central purpose of the poem.

2. A creative, image filled presentation vehicle such as a tri-board, Prezi, or Power Point presentation.

3. A brief discussion of the poet and his or her life.

4. Reference to one on-line source. 10 points extra for those students referring to a scholarly source found through Galileo or in the media center.

4. An oral recitation of the poem (at least 12 lines of it). Don’t complain too much—my son Henry and his classmates were presenting full length poems in third and fourth grade.

5th Period Shared Test

AP Lit Test for Fifth Period

1) What is the particular significance of Ben as one of Willy’s delusions?
2) How does Biff stealing the pen relate to his life overall?
3) Describe Biff’s inner conflict. Link this to why he hasn’t been successful in his life so far.
4) Describe the strenuous relationship between Charlie and Willy.
5) Describe the dramatic irony in Emilia and Iago’s relationship.
6) Relate Emilia to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
7) Analyze how Shakespeare develops men as weak, flawed characters.
8) What role does the handkerchief play in Iago’s scheme against Othello?

Third Period Student Generated Test

Explain the role of fate in "Oedipus rex."

Compare Biff and Hamlet.

What is the "American Dream" to Willy? Does he ever achieve it? Why or why not?

Discuss the many ironies related to Willy's funeral.

Explain the role of Ben in the play.

How is the title "The Importance of Being Earnest" deeply ironic?

Describe an instance of dramatic irony in "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Compare Cecily and Gwendolyn.

Discuss the concept of "Bunburying" as it is developed throughout the play.

"Oedipus" Chorus

More help: 

http://www.shmoop.com/oedipus-the-king/the-chorus.html

Oedipus readers

Check this site out to help you in your grappling with this Greek tragedy:

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/antigone.html

Free Response Essays

Please review this link about writing the Free Response Essays. It provides several excellent suggestions:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6216281_write-response-essay.html

"The Tempest"

If you are looking for a way to study for tomorrow's demonstration of knowledge on "The Tempest," please peruse this CalPoly professor's thoughts on the play--especially her notes regarding similarities to "Midsummer Night's Dream."

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/tempest.html