DOAS - Act One

<--- Impressionistic Set

1) Reminder - get your memoirs and late work in.

2) Discussion: Expectations - what are yours? What are your parents?

3) Finish reading: Act One of DOAS.

4) Writing Assignment - response to "It's Not About You."

Tuesday and Wednesday

Remember when we started this semester I told you that it was a very unusual one as I would be pulled away frequently for responsibilities outside of my class? Well, Tuesday and Wednesday I am away on a field trip... but this is it. No more days away.

To make things productive and enjoyable, I ask that you accomplish two things each day. There will be no homework as you are preparing for GRAD! :) (However, a little quiz on the play is coming up...)

1) Read Death of a Salesman out loud for half of the class. Stop an make sure you understand what is going on. I'll review the most essential lines when I return. Please let Ms. Rae know what page we are on.

2) For the last half of each day, watch the movie, Into the Wild. The film is based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. His struggles with a dysfunctional family and a growing sense of disconnection lead him towards a journey of independence and extreme connection with nature. He is searching for his own version of happiness that has no relationship to money, family or traditional expectations of success (he is like Biff in some ways). Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life. Ultimately, his personal legend is not one that inspires, instead his story becomes a cautionary tale.

Metaphors and Imagery

1) Silent Reading

2) A New Poem

Metaphors By Sylvia Plath

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.

This short poem is a riddle. It is your job to solve the topic of the poem.
a) What do all the metaphors suggest about the speaker?
b) Define Imagery. What is the most dramatic image in the poem and why?
c) Given the metaphors, what are the implications about the speaker’s state of mind?

3) Time to work on re-do of The Dumka (or Truth) response. Do you need me to do an explication of the poem?

Tuesday

Still sick. Sorry to everyone...

1) What do these two pictures share in common? What does each photo make you think of in your own life?

For one photo write a sentence that describes the contrast in the photo.

Writing about contrast means that you have to be able to write about TWO things at a time. It`s trickier than we might think. Today you will write about contrast in order to gear up for writing a big compare and contrast essay.

2) Remember the exemplars I gave you last week - the ones that were all about a poem entitled, `The Dumka`?

Today is your turn to try out the provincial exam sample - pages 4-7.

By the end of class, try out the MC questions - help one another - and more importantly, write a rough draft of your response to the contrast question about `The Dumka.`

DUE TODAY.

Monday 11th

1) Attendance

2) "Truth" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Questions to check understanding - whole class or in small groups:

a) What's the poem's title about? What is the opposite of truth?

b) We've recently defined some old, familiar terms - Metaphor, personification, connotation, and symbol... what examples of these do you find in this poem?

c) What does propitious mean?

d) Think of some examples of times when it is better to live in ignorance than to face the truth. How do those real-life examples fit the theme of this poem?

3) A Literary Response to a Poem - Library

In a minimum of 250 words, explain the theme of the poem, "Truth," by Gwendolyn Brooks.

You will want to include the following elements:

- A clear thesis statement that uses both the title and the author's name
- Transitional phrases
- No re-telling
- At least 8 sentences
- Sentence variety - try having some really short sentences and build one or two really looooooong sentences
- at least 6 short supporting quotations (even a word or two from the poem counts as support)
- a memorable last line/conclusion

Take a look at the exemplars about "The Dumka" for ideas. Two were handed out on Friday.
Here is the 6 point scale that you will be marked on.

4) Rough Draft due at the end of class... print it and write your name on it.

Friday!!!

1) Time to prep for group presentations - 10-15 minutes

2) Presentations - 18 marks... make it great! READING - ANALYSIS - LECTURE/NOTES

3) Writing Assignment - Read: TBA

4) Samples - see handout

Don't Forget - Poetry is Where the Wild Things Are...

I dare you to enter to wild. To listen! To feel! To learn!

Wednesday, April 6th - Poetry Slowly

"April is the Cruellest Month"
1) Silent Reading

2) Parody Poems - hand them in - share mine. What was this like? How did the Q's to Ask of a Poem help you?

3) Read: Music or Books? What do you think? What is it about songs that might make us more solipsistic? What is it about books that might make us less so? And what about poetry? What does it ask of us?

Separation
by WS Merwin

Your Absence has gone through me
Like Thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with colour.

What makes this a poem rather than ordinary prose?

4) No textbooks available - photocopies instead... :( Read up to Te Receptive Reader "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." Anser all 5 questions - will discuss and mark tomorrow.

Essay Exemplar

War on No Uncertain Terms

Home - a found poem...

I selected a line or two from everyone's letters home... they read like a poem, almost.

Home
by English 12

To Whom it May Concern
To my Beloved
Dear Mom and Dad
Mom
Mom
Loved Ones

I know you are really scared right now.
For a fallen man shall say to his assailant, “If I live, I will kill you. If I die, you are forgiven.”

You have always been there for me and have protected me
since the day I was born.
Thank you for being wonderful.
I want you to know that I am grateful.

Should I die, do not worry.
There is a kind of calm to it, as if the air, though heavy with humidity,
washes over you and lifts your spirits.
I will be safe and fine.
Don’t worry. I’ll be back.
This is my opportunity.

I might die.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll survive.

You really are the most important people in my life.
You are the people that have shaped my life.

Just know that wherever I am, I’ll always be with you.
I’m not leaving, I don’t want to leave, I’m not ready to.
I want to come home.

Please don’t be scared. You have prepared me well.

I love my family and I pray for you everyday.

Please accept my decision and think about my future.
I have such a passion for life and now it is my time to live.
I hope that this is enough.

I’m not sure when I’m coming home.

I love you more than anything. Just know I love you, miss you and I will be home, with love, your only daughter, see you in heaven, love, sending my love, I love you all and I think about you often.

PS – I love you
"Death will give us back to God, just like the setting sun is returned to the lonesome ocean."

Enemies and Friends - Journal Topics

Why is the stolen jackknife more than just a stolen jackknife? Why does it start a feud that ends in paranoia and a "war within a war"?

Jensen copes with his paranoia by separating himself and keeping his back against a stone and remaining "always on gaurd." Why does this defensive move fail? Why is it horrible, in real life, to have to live in fear, believing that someone is out to get you?

Are people born to become crazy or do circumstances and environment make us crazy? In your answer refer directly to the novel.

Sun Tzu, the infamous writer of "The Art of War," wrote in 420 BC, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Is this the better way... to befriend those who you do not trust?

Eventually, Dave and Lee find peace and learn to trust. They even make a formal pact with one another to kill the other if they are wounded in a way that will leave them disabled. But when Lee is injured neither can stand to their word. Lee begs to not be killed and Dave does not even consider finishing Lee off. What was the pact really about then?

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong - Journal Topics

What are the rules of story telling? Rat keeps "breaking the rules." How does he do so... what's wrong with his tone and the ending? How is this story really about story writing?

Mary Anne goes through many stages of transformation in this story? What are those stages? What do they represent? Why does she become so frightening to Fossie?

Why do all the other guys, like Rat, love Mary? Why would they rather love her than some pretty girl back home?

Explain: "The girl joined the zoo. One more animal - game over."

There is yet another allusion to Lord of the Flies in this chapter. The decayed head of the large black leapard is like the head of the pig... If you have read "The Lord of the Flies" explain the relevance of this recurrent allusion.

What does this story tell us about the nature of women and the societal expectations for women?

Monday, March 14th

1) Silent Reading - anything you like...

2) Out Loud Reading - teacher or student: "The Dentis" pp. 87-88

3) Discussion Questions Whole Class:
- In your life, how do you know when someone is telling the truth?
- When you find out someone has lied to you, how do you ever trust again?
- Why is "the truth" so important to us?

4) Review Questions "How to Tell a True War Story."

5) Tomorrow: Journal Time! Introduce the creative aspect of the journal...

What are these journal entries all about?

20 Paragraph Responses - As you read a novel, your understanding and appreciation will be enhanced if you take a moment to write about each chapter as you go. This novel has 22 chapters, but I am only asking you to write 20 responses.

The Topics - you can write about anything. Really! You could pick 20 quotations and respond to those. You could find 20 parts of the book and reflect on what just happened OR you can use the writing prompt/journal topic suggestions that I am creating, here on this blog, as your headings.

Reflect/Think/Write - See the rubric for how you will be graded. Show me your thinking. Remember that I know the novel. Please avoid re-telling of the story.

Journal Topics - How to Tell a True War Story

- "This is true." This novel is a fiction, that seems an awful lot like a memoir. How can we know what is true and what is fabricated? How can we know this in the real world? Look at the scandal that erupted over the untrue (or just a little bit true) memoir, "A Million Little Pieces." Why is "the truth" so important to us?

- " A true war story is never moral...you can tell a true war story by its allegiance to obscenity and evil." Re-read the passage on pp. 68-69. Do you agree?

- What "seems to happen" in the true story about Rat that is told at the beginning? Does the story have a moral, a lesson?

Rainy River - Possible Journal Topics

Chapter Four- “On the Rainy River”

Why does O’Brien write of his experience as a pig declotter? How does this information contribute to the story? Why does he go into such detail?

The narrator questions war on page 40. What stand does he take on the war itself? Why?

What does the narrator mean why he says that “the draft board did not let you choose your war” (40)?

Why does the narrator express such a feeling of shame on page 52?

Why does the narrator say that going to war is the cowardly thing to do?

In this chapter, the narrator claims that Elroy Berdahl was “the hero of my life”. Why does he make this claim?

Spin - Journal Topics

1. Describe how “the war was like a ping-pong ball.”
2. What does the last paragraph tell us that stories are for?
3. What types of memories are included in this chapter and why are they important?

Group Review Questions

Chapter 4: “On the Rainy River”
1. How did Tim feel about the Vietnam War while he was at college? Do his actions and language support the idea that he “hated” the Vietnam war?
2. What were Tim’s options once he received his draft notice? Who did he hold responsible for his situation? Who did he think should go to war instead of him?
3. What does Tim say is Elroy Berdhal’s role in his life? What sort of person was Elroy? How did Tim know?
4. How do the opening sentences prepare you for the story?: “This is the one story I’ve never told before. Not to anyone.” What effect do they have on the reader?
5. Why does O’Brien relate his experience as a pig declotter? How does this information contribute to the story? Why go into such specific detail?
6. At the story’s close, O’Brien almost jumps ship to Canada, but doesn’t: “I did try. It just wasn’t possible.” What has O’Brien learned about himself, and how does he return home as a changed person?
7. In this chapter, we learn the 21-year-old O'Brien's theory of courage: “Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down. It was a comforting theory.” What might the 43-year-old O'Brien's theory of courage be?

Love - Journal Choices

"You writer types," he said, "you've got long memories." Should we trust Tim O' Brien, the protaganist, to tell the stories truthfully? Why?

When Jimmy meets up with Martha again, after the war, her eyes were "gray and neutral" yet he still loved her. Why does Jimmy need to hold on to Martha and his love for her. What does his love represent?

The Things They Carried - Journal Topics

- What do the things they carried reveal about the soldiers? How are these things symbolic (what do they represent)?

- "The died so as not to die of embarrassment." How do the social expectations for men, in general, play into the soldier's lives in the war?

- (p.22-23) Re-read the poetic passage about the "freedom birds." What does the tone, symbolism and imagery of the paragraph reveal about Tim (the protagonist)?

Use examples - quotations to support your thinking...
Have a main idea - no rambling...

Context - Powerpoint

The+things+they+carried

View more presentations from Tara Colborne.

Map of Vietnam

Check out an Interactive Map here.

The Things They Carried - Day Two

1)Return some things - test back tomorrow...

2) Movie Questions

3)Back to Vietnam - History and Overview

4) Start reading - page 21?

4) Silent Reading?

5)Reading Journal and Chapter Notes... tomorrow.

Test Day

Short Story Test

Begin Discussing Provincial Exam Strategies

Have you checked out the student samples available on the bc exam website?

Independent Short Story Project/Study

This project will prepare you for the short story test on Monday, Feb. 28th and give you a chance to make sure you know how to use the foundational literary terms of English 12.


Step One – Select a story that is longer than 7 pages long – the librarian will have a selection of books out for you to choose from.

Step Two – Photocopy the story.

Step Three – Read the story with a pen or pencil in your hand. Practise your annotation skills. Cover the story in marks as you read. (4 marks for annotation)

Step Four – Find someone else who has read the same story as you and discuss the plot, characters, conflict, setting, point of view and theme. If you must, work by yourself, making sure before you proceed to the next step, that you have figured out these basic elements of the short story. Use the attached graphic organizers to take further notes (10 marks for worksheets).

Step Five - Come up with a question/topic – related to one of the main elements of fiction. For example: How does the setting of the story, “The Liar” alter our understanding of the protagonist’s motivation? Write a 2 or 3 paragraph response to that question. Use supporting quotations. (12 marks) See the sample response at: http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/writersmodel/makepdf.jsp?id=1050&WebLogicSession=TWH8VSb3dessTSN5hGIocmgFxqbMHEGkHXad0ob0d2oUwcXFpG61|8121286389490268350/-1062731312/6/6001/6001/7002/7002/6001/-1

Step Six – Create a visual representation of the theme of your story. Create an online or pen and paper creation/collage. Online you can try a Glogster poster, a Prezi presentation using related video links and text, or an Animoto slide show of images and text. Don’t know what these are? Google them! (12 marks)

All these pieces are due THURSDAY, Feb 24th.

Lazy Whiners? Responding to Non-Fiction...

1) Silent Reading

2) Mark "A Rose for Emily" Questions

3) Lazy Whiners Article - Read/View

4) Whole Class Discussion - Agree? Disagree?

5) How could you respond logically - in pairs or solo, make a list of valid points to raise.

6) Letter writing. Write her. Or write to me or to Mr. Friesen or to another teacher or to the school district... or...

A Rose for Emily - Discussion and Epitaph

1) Silent Reading

2)"A Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner

3) Discussion Questions:

Section I
1. In the first section of “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner sets a particular tone. How would you describe that tone, and what are some of the techniques he uses to do it? How does his word choice, for instance, affect the tone? And how does the tone impact your reading of the story?

2. The date of Miss Emily’s death and the state or region in which the story is set are ever mentioned. However, Faulkner provides several hints in Section I for both the time and the setting of the story. Given what you have read so far, what is your best estimate of when this story takes place, and what region of the country is Jefferson located? Give reasons for your answers.

Section II
1. Two separate and unrelated issues of heredity/inheritance are raised in Section II. What are they, and what role do they play in the town’s perception of Miss Emily?

2. It becomes clear in Section II that Miss Emily may be suffering from some form of mental illness or psychological disorder. Do you think Miss Emily is mentally ill or psychologically disturbed? Why or why not?

Section III
1. Faulkner describes how boys would follow Homer Barron around town in order “to hear him cuss the niggers, and the niggers singing tin time to the rise and fall of picks.” Do you consider Faulkner’s use of the racial epithet “nigger,” as opposed to the terms “Negro” or “Black,” racist? Why does Faulkner use that term in this case? Why doesn’t he use that term when referring to Tobe, Emily’s manservant?

2. The older ladies in the town claim that “even grief could not cause a real lady to forget her noblesse oblige.…” What do they mean by this?

Section IV
1. Faulkner makes a point of explaining how Miss Emily refused to let the post office place numbers on the side of her house. What is the purpose of this information? What role does this information play in the story?

2. The town seems to abhor the prospect of Miss Emily’s relationship to Homer Barron. Some members think it is a disgrace and a bad example to the young, while others are happy at her prospects of marriage. Explain why there are such differing opinions in the town.

Section V
1. The first paragraph of Section V describes how Tobe greets the ladies who are calling on the house after Miss Emily’s death, and then immediately disappears forever. Why do you think Tobe disappears? What effect do you think Faulkner is trying to create by opening the section like this?

2. Faulkner spends a fair amount of time describing the “very old men” at the funeral. Why does Faulkner do this? Do you think he’s only describing the “very old men,” or are the “very old men” representative of a larger issue or theme that the story addresses?

4) Epitaph Assignment:

Have you ever wandered around a graveyard and read the inscriptions on the gravestones? Some have an epitaph on the gravestone. And epitaph is just a big word for a small poem or statement that commemorates a person who has died. And "A Rose for Emily" is all about death. The story begins with the whole town gathered for Miss Emily's funeral. For this assignment, we're going to pretend we're some of the characters who might be gathered at Miss Emily's funeral, and then you'll write an epitaph for her.

Step 1: With your group, brainstorm about which characters might be at Miss Emily's funeral and what they might think and say about her.

Step 2: Share your ideas for your characters' thoughts and feelings about Miss Emily as with the whole class. Be sure to take notes about each character.

Step 3: Choose a character from the story and write an epitaph for Miss Emily from that character's perspective. You will do this on your own, as homework.

Once your epitaph is turned in, you will have a chance to share yours with the class. I'll put them up on display too.

Stranger than Fiction

Check out today's assignment here.

How are Music Videos like Stories?

For more deets on today's inquiry question, go to:
DailyEnglish11

Netbook Day

1) Silent Reading



2) "Making a Difference" Compositions - Due



3) Finish Google Doc Collaboration response to "Girl" - let's create an editor's checklist.
<--- What does the Wordle reveal?



4) Introduce Blogger - after your paragraph is done, you can begin to set up your English 12 blog.


5) Tomorrow: The Elements of the Short Story and the mammoth textbook. Get ready for a workout.

Girl Continued...

1) Announcements - hand in your permission forms for the trip to the film festival. The bus leaves tomorrow at 11:40. Egypt update. Nobel flags powerpoint.

2) Silent Reading - remember I will give you credit for this time, and will occasionally ask for a silent reading report.

3) "Girl" questions - think, pair, share...

4) Opinion Essays - feedback

5) What does good writing do??

6) Time to work on your written response...

(I will also distribute an email sign up sheet - next week we will start our blogs...)

Just a Girl in Antigua

1) Opinion Response Due - will discuss results tomorrow

2) Silent Reading

3) It's your World Report - Egypt Update?? Flags Powerpoint. Now we are thinking globally.... (which reminds me - make sure you have your world film fest permission forms in by tomorrow).

4) "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid - the first story we will read...

5) Cultural Context - will attach document here soon.

6) Writing Topics - see doc

Have you got a journal yet??? I'll try to go buy some today.

1973 Sugar Cane Workers - Photo

The Ziploc Experiment and The World and Your Opinion about it all... Ya!

1) Silent Reading

2) Ziploc Results - Notes on board and presentations. What does this STUFF say about our world? And, never forget, "Don't eat the cheesestring!" It's not really cheese. Is it?

3) Your World in Context

Nobel Flags Powerpoint

What do you think the average kid has for dinner?

How many TV's does the average home have?

How many people currently in the world?

How many do you guess for 2044? (When you are 50)

4) The Egyptian Revolution and how Google got involved. How are you part of this revolution?

5) No Story - Opinion Essay... My generation... sample opinion essay.
Review qualities of great writing. 250 words minimum. ____/12

Homework - opinion response due tomorrow...

Reminder - get a journal. Paper will be fine for tomorrow only.

Announcement - field trip. Friday 11:40am - 2pm World Film Fest