Poetry Out Loud, on the page, and in our hearts---

We are working on three major things this week:
Analyzing and reciting poetry
Learning about the techniques and history of political satire (prep for reading Candide)
Preparing our group presentations on Medea: presentations to begin Thursday--finish on Friday.

Here is the poetry game we played today with the "great poems" that you all brought to class last week: Please Pass the Poem
Homework: Find one poem on the Poetry Out Loud site that you would like to memorize and recite-- print it out and bring it to class.

Link to video we watched today-- I hope!

Readea Medea Tragedea

We read more of the text today in class. Please catch up to page 40 if you have been gone.

Here is the list we have been working on: literary terms definitions/examples. You should have 15,(fifteen), (quince), (10 + 5),(23-8), in other words, 3(2+5) completed/finished/past tense of the verb "to do"  entries when you get back from Winter Break in order to pass this assignment. We should have quick definitions for all terms available in class by Friday.
We will work on presentations for Medea after we finish the text (Thursday?).  This will be a group activity/assignment and be finished before Christmas Break.  Thanks for your hard work!
Mrs. Eddy

Love Poem Examined

Wednesday: Read the following poem-- print it out so that you can write on the text-- comment, underline, and highlight.

since feeling is first
e.e. cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

ASSIGNMENT

After you have digested the poem for a while, write a prompt worthy of this poem: ask a question that you feel this particular poem will yield amazing answers for. Turn the prompt in to Mrs. Eddy  Thank you.

Next Day: Get a copy of all the prompts that students wrote yesterday from Mrs. Eddy.
Write for two minutes: brainstorm/pre-write an essay in response to each prompt.

Make a note of the most promising prompt and the least promising prompt. Turn in your writing.

It's All Greek--and tragic-- to me!

Here is the assignment for Oedipus Rex.  We did the first two items in class-- in groups-- and the paragraphs are homework tonight. We will start Medea this week--Tragedy? Fate? Inevitable Death and Destruction--bring it on! As long as it's just a story!

Frankenstein Essays

Essays are turned in--yes?  Please do so ASAP if not.  We have been practicing on the multiple choice part of the exam, and we will do a little bit more of that on Monday as we get ready for the Greeks.  Introduction to Greek Tragedy in general and Oedipus Rex specifically for Monday-- then you will read it over the break.  You can get a copy from the library or just about anywhere on line: Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles.  CLASSIC!
Bring in $2.00 when you get back from Thanksgiving break for a copy of Medea-- another Greek tragedy and our next read-- I'd like everyone to have this cheap/inexpensive edition for its helpful notes and big margins.

Happy Days!
Mrs. Eddy

Frank Essay and Precis Reminder

Hook  up to my post from last week and get your rhetorical "precis" of an article on medical ethics to me ASAP. Format Lesson:
Thanks!
Here is the schedule of when each part of the Frank Essay is due-- we are beginning Day Three again on Friday, as we had a lot of people unable to bring their rough drafts today.
Frank Process Essay

Frankenstein and Medical Ethics

Read the article about the Ashley Treatment, making notes and highlighting issues along the way. Then follow the directions below as you explore our modern version of Frankenstein's dilemma.

Medical Ethics Assignment:

1- Find an article of  respectable length, of personal interest, from a reliable source (print or electronic), that deals with some aspect of ethics/morality and modern science/medicine.  
2- Follow this link to a document that will explain how to write a “precis” about your article, then write one based on the model you find on this site.
3- Bring a copy of your precis along with your comments to class-- we will share information, discuss, and write a paper that relates our favorite Victorian monster and his creator to the moral/ethical problems created by today’s scientific realities.

Due Monday, November 5th

Working Our Way Through Frank

We had a couple of writing quizzes and some great discussion about Frankenstein--fun Times!

We took a stern look at the poem, "Elegy for Jane" by Theodore Roethke-- searching for meaning through seeing how tone-- Formal and Respectful-- contrasts with Word Choice (diction): which shows the speaker's ATtItUdE-- and reveals his true feelings in the fine print of the poem.
Please continue to read along, Mark up Your Text with all kinds of things you notice--fill out your Major Works Data Sheet for Jane Eyre and be ready to write an amazing essay next week---Oh, yeah!
Mrs. E

Last Week of Jane the Eyre--ee and on to the truly Eerie: Fankie!

Romantics be glad-- we have another Gothic novel on tap.  Frankenstein is a much shorter work, but very full of the high drama and "Emo" attitudes we have come to know and love, via Charlotte Bronte and Jane, herself.  Here is a link to the reading schedule-- we keep strictly to this schedule and there will in-class writings almost daily that will depend upon your having read the material.  Enjoy this romantic, Gothic, Victorian, scary read.

Really working on getting inside those dense poems!

Here is a link to the poem we looked at today that makes a whole new message about beauty-- one that I'm sure never entered Keats's mind! Barbie Doll  and Mirror along with a couple of other poems we will use later.
Glossary Reminder: Please only turn in entries on Thursdays.
APH Essay Outline: Please bring in your revised outline-- if I asked you to revise it-- on Monday.
Reading goal by Monday: Finished with Chapter 23 of Jane Eyre.
Have a great weekend!

Reading Update

Read Jane Eyre!  Okay-- a few more details:

Quiz on Thursday, October 4th if you need to make the first one up-- be done with Chapter 15 by then.

Two chapters a day, that's all we ask!  Easy reading schedule put us finished with Chapter 17 by Friday of this week and up through Chapter 23 by Monday--Mondays are my favorite Quiz days--just thinking aloud here.

Enjoy!

More Poetry Tools!!!!!

We went over a very thoroght guide for evaluation poetry in class today-- Wednesday, October 3rd
Investigation Poetry Guide
Investigation Poetry Form
Poem to investigate (Just do the Keats Poem-- we will compare it with the other on a later assignment.
Have most excellent fun!

We Are: Listing our Activities

WE ARE involved with our stories (see previous posts) Peer Feedback should be considered and typed drafts should be ready by 10/3
WE ARE outlining a custom essay about APH (see previous posts about prompts, etc.): Bring your outline to class by 10/2
WE BROUGHT a self-chosen William Carlos Williams poem to class today and practiced focused discussion-- WE TURNED IN OUR NOTES.
WE ARE starting Jane Eyre this weekend-- READ through Chapter 9 by Monday-- read two chapters a day after that.
WE ARE keeping a dialectic journal for each reading session with Jane Eyre.
WE ARE experiencing the sunshine and fall at the same time, enjoy!
Mrs. Eddy

Bye, Bye, Pretty Horses--Hello Jane!

Monday:
We are finishing up APH with an essay-- you write the question that burns within you after you read the following passages, and we'll write a custom prompt together, and you'll write the essay!  Excellent!
Read the following passages an them pick one to ask an analysis question about.  Consider theme, symbol and the ideas in the first 11 chapters of, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Write down a question worthy of an essay and turn it in to the teacher. We will conference individually and decide on a direction for your thesis/essay.

Passages: 
1-page 282: dear slaying scene--beauty vs. pain
2- pg 284: wisdom = misery? the price of growing up
3- pg. 286: crossing back over to Texas

Short Story Drafts:
Fill out a story reaction form for a classmate and have them do the same for you.  Conference and speak to each other about your stories

Tuesday:
Checked out Jane Eyre
Completed a Major Works Data Sheet for All the Pretty Horses

Today we Wrote Away--
Please finish the first draft of your story by Monday.
Please make sure you are letting the words "flow" (dribble, plunk, rush, appear) on the page in a voice that is comfortable for you-- DO NOT try to sound fancy or erudite or pompous or official--just find a voice that is comfortable for you and make sure your DICTION is appropriate to a short story for young adults/adults.
Brainstorm: 3 Ways to go--
Focus on Character
Focus on Situation (character in a particular place: what if Zombies attacked Victorian England (been don!)
Focus on Plot: outline your character's journey in advance--ONLY if you want to.

First Draft: Decide who will tell the story (character/narrator)
Begin--
SHOW don't TELL your story
Exercise from Thursday's class
Enjoy the weekend!

Writing some more!

Here are some writing opportunities you might have missed if you were gone:
APH Quiz: Write a paragraph that discusses the typology/symbolism in the last image (paragraph) in Part III.
In-Class Short Story: we begin on Thursday, September 20th
      Elements: Beginning/Middle/End: quest structure, show--don't tell as you write, first event/problem must happen by no later than the end of the first paragraph, TWO elements of the traditional quest narrative must be included-- in whatever amazing package you choose to dress them in-- you must get your "quester" back home by the end--hopefully changed--hopefully for the better--hopefully not returning to the burned out ashes of his former hovel--BUT,  hopefully or not--end it in NO MORE than three, double spaced, 12-point font, pages. Make it flow-- move like the Colorado during Spring rise--very fast!
Reminder: APH Reading Journals Due September 20th

Here is what we worked on today--

Please remember to download and print the Literary terms glossary.  Here is a link to the poem exercise we did today-- thanks for your hard work!
The School Children

Looking Very Closely at What We Read + Learning New Words

We are working hard to learn how to read closely-- to really think deeply about what we are looking at--whether it be graphic or written in nature.  Here are the exercises we have done so far:
APH Paragraph #1
APH Polysyndeton Study
Optic Method of reading images
 We are also beginning the Literary Terms Glossary that we will create during the semester.  please check out, DOWNLOAD AND PRINT the pieces of this assignment for your reference--thanks!

Quick Reminder: Writing from "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" has a final due date of Friday, September 14th.
All the Pretty Horses REading Journals are due by September 20th.

See you tomorrow!
Mrs. E

First Day!

Attached is the assignment we did in class today-- remember to get hold of a reading notebook and to take care of the summer work if you missed out (see previous posts).
Have a great night!
Student Syllabus

News Feature

If you are just checking in via the information in the summer letter, please read the post below this one, too.
News: I just added a "News" gadget to the left of the post area on this page for stuff I come across that you might be interested in.  The first and only item on the list right now is a link to an online class on how to write a college entrance essay.  The site (figment.com) it comes from is totally reliable (sponsored by the New York Times and monitored for content), and I use it all the time.  Even if the class doesn't interest you, you might check out "fig".  It is an online writers network geared for young authors like yourself-- lots of contests and opportunities to work with other talented students.
Mrs E

Welcome, Scholars!

Thanks for checking in.  Please access the APH (All the Pretty Horses) assignment below. Also, be sure sign up for email notifications at the top of this site (so you will be aware of new material posted here for your use) and check out the "How to Mark a Book" and "How to get an A..." links to your right.  Enjoy the summer weather as you dip into the work for next year.  Thanks again for getting started ASAP--
Mrs. E
Copy of the Summer Letter
APH Reading Log: Summer Assignment
P.S. I have decided to do the APH assignment along with you as I read the book again, and have attached an example of my entries for Section I for your benefit. Yours will not be exactly like mine, but they should  include your own close observations of the text.  Happy Trails!

Journal Entry Example