Writing Exam, Frankenstein & Outside Reading

The WRITING EXAM will conclude on Friday. Those who missed a day due to absence...the MAKE UP will be WEDNESDAY 4-6-11 BEFORE SCHOOL IN ROOM 322 ... MEET AT 7 AM.

Outside Reading (except annotated resource set) due Monday April 4th.

Frankenstein Chapters 16-18 due Block Day next week...circle discussions on Block Day.

BONUS: The creature learned from books like Plutarch's Lives, Sorrows of Werter and Paradise Lost. When and where were these books written? Due Thursday by 10 PM

Block Day

Block Day this week we'll spend 15-20 minutes on a peer review. Bring a pen of a different color for editing purposes!

The remainder of the class will be spent on the WRITING EXAM. If you need to take a break and know you can finish by Friday at the end of class, you can read Frankenstein or your Outside Reading Book.

Blog Bonus: Frankenstein traveled to Mount Blanc. Where is it? What significant event occurred there in 1924? Respond by Wednesday by 5 PM.

Week of March 28th

Writing Exam this week.

Monday the prompt, rubric and article will be introduced. Writing will continue all week. Bring your Frankenstein and Outside Reading books to read if you have extra time in class.

Outside Reading book and report (all but the annotated resource section) is due Monday April 4th. Upload to turnitin.com.

Monday April 4th and Tuesday April 5th we'll work in the library on the annotated resource section...with that portion dye uploaded to turnitin.com no later than Monday April 11th.

Block Days April 6th and 7th we'll commence circle discussions about Frankenstein!

Block Day

Grammar Review in the Vocabulary Book (152-154)
Active and Passive Voice Exercise #4 page 615-616 (Quiz on Friday)

Discuss Frankenstein:
Romanticism & Gothic Novel (ELEMENTS)
Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Prometheus Myth...Inspirations for author

Remember AUTOBIOGRAPHY PAPER UPLOADED TO TURINITIN.COM BY 11:59 FRIDAY NIGHT. BRING FINAL DRAFT RUBRIC TO CLASS ON FRIDAY.

Tuesday March 22nd

Today in class I returned Macbeth tests. We also reviewed Voices of Verbs and Shifts in Tenses (pages 141-145 in the Grammar Book).

Monday March 21st

Happy First Day OF Spring!

Today we turned in Frankenstein Chapters 1-5 WS and I passed back Letters. We also covered the following Grammar review exercises:
Vocabulary Book pages 110-112
Grammar Book 129

We corrected the Capitalization test

This Week:
Discuss Verbs unit in the Grammar Book and Discuss Frankenstein
Return Macbeth Test
Frankenstein 6-8 Due Block Day
Verb Quiz Friday
Autobiography Final Draft Rubric Due in class Friday, paper uploaded to WWW.turnitin.com by 11:50 PM.

REMEMBER...LATE START THURSDAY...NO HOMEROOM PERIOD

aPRIL 1ST...REGISTRATION/CLASS SCHEDULES ARE DUE.

Friday March 18th

Today we did the GRAMMAR REVIEW in our vocabulary book on pages 65-67 then took a CAPITALIZATION QUIZ.

Monday: Frankenstein WS Chapters 1-5 is due
We'll correct the Capitalization quiz

Tuesday: Grammar Concept: Active and Passive Voice of Verbs

Other Upcoming Deadlines:
Frankenstein 6-8 Block Day
Grammar Quiz (Verbs) Friday
Autobiography Rubric Due in Class and Paper Uploaded by 11:59 pm (Friday 25th)

Monday March 14th

Monday and Tuesday we will take the Macbeth test. After the test the assignment on the board is to:
1. Read the January 10th Upfront Magazine articles on pages 12-17. Prepare for discussion on BLOCK DAY.
2. Read Frankenstein LETTERS and complete WS (Frankenstein page of website)

Grammar will be discussed all week. We will continue with capitalization and move on to active vs passive voice of verbs, pronoun reference and punctuation. There will be a CAPITALIZATION Grammar quiz on Friday.

The Frankenstein Reading and Worksheet Due Dates:
BLOCK DAY 3/16-17 Introduction about author (link on Frankenstein page of class website) and Letters section
Monday 3/21 Chapters 1-5
Block Day 3/23-24 Chapters 6-8
Monday 3/28 Chapters 9-12
Block Day 3/30-31 Chapters 13-15
Block Day 46-7 Chapters 16-18
Friday 4/8 Chapters 19-21
Tuesday 4/12 Complete Book
TEST...Monday and Tuesday April 18, 19 (Holy Week ...take test before you go if you will be absent)

Upcoming Due Dates
Friday 3/25 Autobiography Final Draft
Monday April 4th Outside Reading Report (all but Annotated Resource Section...will work on in library 4/4 and 4/5 with that section due 4/11)

FYI: Writing Exam IN CLASS week of March 28th...if you will miss class for doctor appts, illness, sports, etc. please make arrangements to make up the time you missed the week of 4-4-11.

Thursday 3-10-11

This week we covered poetry and the Short Story Galloping Foxley by Roald Dahl.

Next Week:
Monday Macbeth test
Bring Frankenstein Book

Block Day:
Complete Frankenstein Letters and Read the Background information about the author Mary Shelley on the Frankenstein page of the website. The worksheet/study guide is attached to the website as 2011FrankensteinStudyGuide

Friday 3-18-11
Grammar Quiz - Capitalization and punctuation

Continue to read your Outside Reading Book ... Report (all but the Annotated Resource Section) is due April 4th.

Check out this link...

Word Warriors...

Word Warriors' 2011 top 10

Wayne State University launched this website two years ago to retrieve some of the English language's most expressive words from the dank closet of neglect, in hopes of boosting their chances of a return to conversation and narrative. Some of these words once were part of the common speech (it was hard to be a writer in the late 19th century, for instance, without "indefatigable"); others have capered in and out of the language like harlequins, dazzling and then just as suddenly departing. Others -- the wonderful "numinous," for one -- may never have been heard every day or even every year. Some, like "galoshes," just went into hiding for no apparent reason.

But no matter why especially expressive words have disappeared from everyday use, we believe many of them still deserve to be exercised freely in prose, poetry, song and story. Otherwise, we simply aren't painting our speech with a full palette.

So cue the fanfare, please. Check out the Word Warriors' 2011 list of the 10 best picks from last year’s selection of eminently useful but often overlooked words...

BLOG BONUS

BONUS due via email...send me a message to my yahoo account by 8 PM tonight.

Where is the mansion that F. Scott Fitzgerald based his novel the Great Gatsby located? Who currently lives in the home?

In what year was The Great Gatsby (an American novel) published?

Macbeth TEST

Monday 3-14-11 We will have the Multiple Choice section of our Macbeth test. Tuesday 3-15-11 we will have the essay portion of our Macbeth test.

Each day before the test we'll do a grammar lesson. After the test there will be time to read Frankenstein.

Being American Essay Contest

The winners were announced today.

You guys worked hard. Although none of you were finalists, you did a great job and should be proud of your efforts.

Two writing contests are posted on my door. If you wish to participate for BONUS PAPER CATEGORY POINTS, see me for details.

Friday March 4th

I was out of class Friday with some of your classmates at the awards ceremony for the Chapman University 12th Annual Holocaust Writing and Art Contest (Your intersession assignment).

Your assignments was to TPCASTT the following poems from your lit book for Monday:
page 470 My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke
page 412 Sonnet by Shakespeare Let me not the marriage of true minds
page 485 Sonnet by Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

And the following for Tuesday:
page 411 Stop all the clocks, cut the telephone by W.H. Auden
page 604 Dule et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

If you finished in class, you were to read your OR Book or work on Macbeth crossword puzzle.

Next Week: Bring Macbeth, Lit Book and Grammar Book. We'll work on these poems, a short story and more CAPITALIZATION.

Tragedy

Aristotle's Definition of Tragedy:“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody.”

Further Details

According to Aristotle...a TRAGIC HERO...

...is a man of noble stature
...is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him
...His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle.

Common characteristics of a tragic hero
According to Aristotle:

1. Usually of noble birth

2. Hamartia – a.k.a. the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall.

3. Peripeteia – a reversal of fortune brought about by the hero’s tragic flaw

4. His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge

5. The audience must feel pity and fear for this character.

Week of Feb. 28th

Monday we had class presentations on Acts 3 and 4. Students were told to start checking turnitin.com for autobiography comments. I'll have all completed by the end of this coming weekend. Final draft due Friday 3-25-11 at 11:59 (turnitin.com)...rubric will be due in class 3-25-11.

This week we'll discuss Macbeth and have quizzes on acts 3,4 and 5. No specific reading homework...work on reading outside reading...due April 4th (Monday).

Macbeth and Outside Reading

Next week's Macbeth quiz schedule is on the previous BLOG POST. We finished reading Macbeth this week (due Block Day).THEREFORE...THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO WORK ON READING YOUR OUTSIDE READING BOOK.

The homework suggestion from earlier this week was to take your OR book and look at the number of pages in the book. We looked at a calendar and the due date for the OR Report (not the Annotated resource list part) is April 4th. That was about 40 days. I suggested you divide the number of pages by the number of days you needed to read or by weeks and set small goals. This is the ONLY NON-READING week we'll have until the report is due. It's built in so you get a good start on the book.

The week of March 7th we'll look at Sonnets by Shakespeare.

Monday March 14th we'll have a Macbeth/Shakespeare test. The play itself, poetry and historical context will be covered on the test. Format: Multiple Choice and Essay.

Tuesday 2-22-11

Blocks 1 and 2 Read Acts 1 and discussed/read scenes from Act 2. Papers were returned.
Block 4 had time to work on reading Acts 4 and 5 and their OR selection in class.

Due Block Day:
Acts 4/5 Read/Worksheet
Quiz Act 1

Watch BBC Cartoon on GLOG if you wish a visual review (http://rmacvay.edu.glogster.com/macbeth/)

Friday:
Act 2 Quiz

Tuesday 3-1-11 Quiz Act 3
Block Day 3/2 or 3/3 Quiz Acts 4 and 5

Week of February 14th ... and beyond

Monday and Tuesday we read aloud and discussed Act 1 in detail...looking at author's writing style, characters and plot. Worksheets were returned. Block day all Act 1 and 2 WS will be returned.

Block Day:
1. We'll finish reading Act 1 in class. There WILL be an Act 1 Quiz on Tuesday 2-22-11.

2. Autobiography Rubric and class notes (family tree too) are due

3. Outside Reading Title needs to be written down on our form.

4. Act 3 WS due in class.

Friday 2-18-11 is a Day Off from Classes. Autobiography Paper Rough Draft is still due - uploaded to turnitin.com by 11:59 PM

Monday 2-21-11 Day Off - President's Day

Block Day 2/23 or 2/24 Acts 4/5 WS due in class.

Macbeth Test Friday 3-4-11.

Macbeth

Monday's class will include a discussion relating to HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. CHECK OUT THE GLOG used in class.

Macbeth Unit Test Friday 2-4-11.