Homework for Life

Friday - To Do

1) Discussion - Non-fiction choices for journal... especially What I Have Lived For.
2) Review - expectations for DOAS Journal - how to write a story/composition.
3) Grad Composition in TODAY. Catch up on overdue work.
4) Work on DOAS Journal

Non-fiction choices... for DOAS

The essay that I have never, ever, tired of - What I Have Lived For by Bertrand Russell: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~bertrand/misc.html
New Studies suggest that Dad's influence is greater than Mom's: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/14/fathers-day/

A review of the newest production of Death of a Salesman: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/03/theater-review-death-of-a-salesman-on-broadway.html

Barack Obama on Fatherhood: http://www.parade.com/news/2009/06/barack-obama-we-need-fathers-to-step-up.html

Check out what the culture-jammers are up to - adbusters:
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine

Friday - Work Block

1) Commence Magazine - draft one due. We're going to create an online version too!

Open publication - Free publishing - More pupils

2) Parody Poem - let's have this ready by the end of class.

3) Lit Terms Study Package - in progress

Poetry Test on Monday - 25 terms (matching to definitions) - two poems, bunch of multiple choice, your choice of written response topic.

Truth Questions

This is old stuff...

p.480 questions #3 and #4.

And, find examples of personification, metaphor and symbol. Explain the effect of each example.

Grad 2012, the book

I think we should make and share a book of YOUR writing about what Grad 2012 was like.

We'll be preparing for the composition section of the provincial exam and making a keepsake that we will all treasure. And, if we do a terrific job, I will look at getting us some money to publish it in book form. Then, we could even consider sharing it with a wider audience.

What do you think?

First, we need to review how to write a reflective composition:

Grad - Writing Topic

This is an open composition class.

You've done it.
The big ceremony.
The big deal.
The suit, the dress, the family, the friends, the parties...

It's time to write about it.

• What will you always remember?
• What were the best parts? The worst parts?
• What did the valedictorians say? What would you have said if you were the valedictorian?
• Be descriptive. (Remember, I could not be there... make me see, smell, hear, taste, feel the whole thing).

Tone: Personal, Descriptive, Narrative
Audience: Anyone in this class
Length: Minimum 300 words
Due: At end of class.

Sonnets, Irony and Happiness

1) First - let's finish our discussions on Denise Riley's Poem, "A Part Song."

2) The Power of Vulnerability: http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

3)Sonnets?
                   Irony?
                               Happiness?

4) Putting it all together - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2_H3hKK6a0zUzdhUVc2VmpOc0E

5) We're heading towards the great play, "Death of a Salesman."

Synthesizing! Analysing! How!?

Sometimes on a provincial exam, you will find the poem in the Synthesis Section, with a story, or an essay - this is when you will need to write a compare/contrast essay.

How do you analyse two pieces and synthesize your ideas to write quickly?

1) Find out what the focus of your writing topic is first! Then, as you read both pieces you will know what kind of examples to look for.

2) Read each piece with a pencil in your hand. Underline important passages that will help you to explain the meaning you are making.

3) Plan before you write.Create a quick T-chart, using the titles of the pieces as headings.

“Title of Poem”	“Title of Story or Essay”
Quote or note 1            Quote or note 2            Quote or note 3            Etc…	Quote or note 1          Quote or note 2           Quote or note 3            Etc…

4) Think, think, think... until it hurts... and then, write the Thesis Statement that summarizes your main ideas.

5) Decide on an approach. Will you use the Block Method or the Point by Point? (Explained in class)

6) Begin to write...

• Remember to focus on seamless "integration of quotes." 
• Moreover, use transitional words and phrases to help your ideas to flow.
• Play with your vocabulary - choose the most evocative words.
• Keep you thinking at the centre of your writing.

Words, (oh!), The Fish, and Mom.

Poets love words. They can spend days picking the right one.
Oh!

Why!?

"Stripped
day by day of all my garments,
dry naked tree,
in my solitary withered mouth
fresh words
will still blossom." ~~Alaide Foppa "Words"

Connotation - Emotion - Tone

Sound - Onomatopoeia - Alliteration - Assonance - Internal Rhyme - Repetition

Image - Symbol - Senses

Irony

First, The Fish, by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22238

Questions:
1) How does the tone shift in this poem? Describe the speaker's feelings at the beginning, middle, end. What words reveal the movement in tone?

2) Question #2 in the book, p. 617.

3) Find examples of the following sound devices at work - alliteration, assonance, onomatopeia, and, for each, describe the effect on your understanding of the poem's central theme that even the ordinary, the ugly, the worn-out can be extraordinary and beautiful and inspirational?

4) What words stood out? Why? What were their connotations?

5) How does the imagery in this poem make you see/imagine the fish? You may answer with words, or you may draw.

6) What are the ironies of this poem? (What are the things that you do not expect?)

And, for mom: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178168

Bonus Assignment: write your mom a 10 - 20 line poem that describes what you have learned from your mother. Choose each word carefully. Type it up... give it to her for Mother's Day. Give it to me for a few bonus marks.

Thursday, May 10th

I'm away for a meeting today.
You have all day in the library to work on your first poetry response:

Topic:  Discuss how metaphor (or other comparisons) works in the poem you have selected. 500 words minimum.


Include:

• A Catchy Opening
• Background information/context
• Thesis Statement
• Body of support/ small integrated quotes
• Elevated vocabulary and formal tone
• A one sentence conclusion

You will hand in your annotations (answers to The Questions to Ask of Poem) and your response tomorrow.

The Character Project - Exit Survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RKX3XM9

7 billion, the scale of the universe, and poetry begins.

1) Compositions!? 

2) How many people were on this Earth in the 1960?
1990?
October 31st, 2012?


http://www.google.ca/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world+population

3) Our Universe, our information, our lives are expanding.... you live in an exponential world.

http://htwins.net/scale2/scale2.swf?bordercolor=white 

4) Why am I telling you this before we start poetry?
Think - Share with a Partner - Write on the Board

5) The Brick - browse - tell me what you see...

6) Review - Questions to Ask of a Poem and from last year: Tell all the Truth...

7) p. _____, Truth, by Gwendolyn Brooks

Style Checklist

Use this list to help you to edit your literary responses. Link to it here. Or, see it below (you have to be in Firefox or Chrome for it to work properly.

Night Questions

1. Describe Wiesel's community at the beginning of the story. How does young Elie view the world and his place in it?
2. What are some incidents that foreshadow the coming danger? Why doesn't the community believe it is in danger?
3. What if I told you that the current Canadian (federal) government manipulated the last election, lied to the public about billions of dollars of expenses, and muzzles scientists, insisting that they have "communication handlers"? What would you think? Is your democracy in danger? Shouldn't you inform yourself?
4. Even though it was 1944, and Nazi extermination of Jews had begun years earlier, the Sighet Jews had very few facts about it. Do you think it is possible today for a community to know so little? Explain.
5. When Elie arrives at Auschwitz and then at Buna, he describes things he will never forget. What scenes, ideas, feelings from the memoir do you  find unforgettable?
6. In the camps, Wiesel must struggle to remain alive and to remain human. In your opinion, how well does he succeed with his struggles?
7. Does Wiesel's one voice have more power to tell the story of the holocaust than any textbook, or list of statistics? Why?

Elie Wiesel and The Holocaust, The Horror - Discussion Questions

"Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies."

~ Elie Wiesel

I think that everyone in the world should read this memoir.
Why? Do you agree? Is there any adult who should not read it?

What words does the original cover image make you think of?

(Excerpt)

Imagine life before the WW1... what did life centre around? After World War One?

Why did the whole world change after World War Two?
What does the holocaust represent?
Why does Elie still assert that indifference is more significant than evil?
Why is evil a problem?
Why should we never forget? Why is "memory where our redemption is?"
Watch: http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/video/?content=whyweremember

Born September 30, 1928, Eliezer Wiesel led a life representative of many Jewish children. Growing up in a small village in Romania, his world revolved around family, religious study, community and God. Yet his family, community and his innocent faith were destroyed upon the deportation of his village in 1944. Arguably the most powerful and renowned passage in Holocaust literature, his first book, Night, records the horrific experience of the Jews:

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed.Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever.Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust.Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

How does Night relate to the Character Project? 
What traits did/does Elie possess?

Your composition topics. DUE: Monday, the 30th.

Got Grit? Beginning the Character Project.

1) Welcome Back! 
(How were the trips? Did you read? Are you ready for the push to graduation?)

2) The Character Project. Huh? Grade 8's and 12's together. What the? 

• The Article that sparked a conversation:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?pagewanted=all 
• What if school isn't supposed to be this way? p.78 "Flourish," by Martin Seligman.

"First, a quiz.

Question one: in one or two words, what do you most want for your children?

If you are like thousands of parents I've polled, you responded, "Happiness," "confidence," "contentment," "fulfillment," "balance," "good stuff," kindness," "health," "satisfaction," "love," "being civilized," "meaning," and the like. In short, well-being is your topmost priority for your children.

Question two: in one or two words, what do schools teach? .....
Notice that there is almost no overlap between the two lists.
The schooling of children has, for more than a century, paved the boulevard towards adult work.... I want you to imagine that schools could. without compromising either, teach both the skills of well-being and the skills of achievement..."

Sporadically over the next week (or so), you are going to be working with Ms. Mather's Grade 8 Humanities class to answer a really big question: 


Given that the world is a complicated, and often times, difficult place, what traits do we need to possess in order to have a strong character, one that will find happiness, love, and success?


3) Critical Questions to get you thinking again:

• When are the times that we learn the most about ourselves? 
• Do you know yourself?
• How do you know?

TO DO:

4) Starting Survey - Got Grit?

True Grit is about stick-to-it-iveness. It’s about tough-going. It’s about a goal. And, less obviously, it’s about fighting through and alongside in our relationships. Character matters in this movie.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HHMTG9C

5) Attendance - 10 marks per day! I'll deduct marks for being late.


6) What's your Sentence - you need this as an introduction for the first day...
http://vimeo.com/18347489
Make a sentence - type up and print.

7) Visit from Ms. Kotapski - your responsibilities as a mentor/leader to the grade 8's.

Do you remember Grade 8? Do you remember what a grade 12 looked like to you?

Speechcraft! The 1 Minute Rucksack Presentation!

1) Library - let's take out "Night" Read at least half of it by the end of Spring Break.
You'll need to have read all of it by the second week back.

A Memoir of Aushwitz - this book changes people forever...

2) Your Speechcraft Presentation. Tomorrow!

• What makes for brilliant and persuasive public speaking?
• Check out this online Hollywood example:  http://blog.ted.com/ted2023/
• You tell me what should be marked. Let's build a rubric!

What are the things we carry?

1 rucksack. 1 class. 1 minute. 1 object.  - tell the story of how that object represents you. 

"I see the Moon" by Ms. Colborne - example notes for a one minute speech

1. When I was little my mom used to like to tell me the story of the day that I was born. She would make the story a little more detailed every time... by the time I was too old to curl up with my mom, the story was elaborate, I was born in the wee hours of a night of the full moon, the night was sweltering, one of the hottest nights on record that summer, the nurses were bustling, the doctor was nowhere to be found and my mom was heroically saying no to all the painkillers until 18 hours into labour, she pushed me into the world while shouting, "She's beautiful!"
2. My mom was a story teller. If she'd been a fisher, every story would have been about the big one that got away. 
3. About two years ago - using the miracle of Google - I looked up the moon cycles for July 1970 and found out that the day I was born was somewhere between a new moon and a quarter moon. The full moon was on July 18th, my brithday was the 9th.
4. So, for me the moon represents my absolute and unconditional love of stories, storytellers, storytelling. I come from a story teller. I am a story teacher. My children are immersed in stories. My husband is a story writer. I am the moon. I am stories.
5. My kids love to say out loud a little nursery rhyme they have all memorized whenever they catch a glimpse of the moon (full or not). "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me." The moon is also the world of dreams, and childhood, and hopes and aspirations and prayers for goodness - in many ways the moon is more than just stories, it is a symbol of hope.
6. The next time you look at the moon, really look at the moon, dare the dream, dare to remember, dare to celebrate the stories of our life.

Novel Review Begins...

Test on Wednesday!

You can see the review notes here.

Add to Your Rubric

Connections
Are the images, add-in's, text extras carefully chosen to reflect and connect to the themes, motifs, symbols, characters, and conflicts that are at play in the novel?

Presentation
Is the whole journal a creative, engaging, absorbing and effortful project? (aka - Does it look really cool?)

Vietnam - American Perspective

Tim O'Brien Interview

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2010/04/author_tim_obrien_recalls_viet.html

1) Storm Stories!


2) Review Quiz


3) Real life war story -http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/03/2012312123045592978.html


4) Reading and Discussion

5) Time to work - Q's and journals

What`s Hate Got to Do With It?

1) What did I miss? Catch me up.


2) I need your emails.

2) Who do you hate? Who hates you? What would they say about you? Are they right? A story about an environmentalist and a McMillan Bloedel bigwig.http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/news-promo/2012/02/16/what-happened-when-you-met-the-enemy/ Oh, and the story of the black guy who befriended KKK men, and became friends!

3) Read Friends and Enemies.

4) Time to work on journals. Who has not built a blog yet? 


Reading homework:

The Things They Carried Begins

First, you get drafted, then you look at photos...

1) We're going to start reading The Things They Carried on Wednesday, next week, so let's start thinking about where we are going...

2) Write a letter to your Mom or Dad or .... what would you leave behind for them to read after you've left to be "inducted into the armed forces"? 

3) Photo Analysis Assignment - the photos are here...

Read this book review: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/20/specials/obrien-carried.html

Happy Valentine's Day Whatever!

1) My love is like a red, red rose... Blah! Sob, sob. Let's break up, instead.

 Are you up for The Break Up Tweet Challenge? Write a 126 character break up line. Let's write them all on the board. I'll submit the top ones. If you win, you can wrestle me for the ipod.

2) What thematic connections did you make across all four stories (and one poem)?

3) Our First Compare and Contrast Essay - 600 words

Compare and contrast a similar theme 

in two of the stories that we have read.

• Plan with an outline first.
• Develop a powerful thesis statement
• Find three or four quotes (minimum) to use as support.  

DUE MONDAY - then, we can start a novel study!

Here is a great link over-viewing what I will present to you in class: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/eng256/support/litcompare.htm

Lit Terms Quiz and Last Story

1) Quiz


2) A short, short stream of conciousness story - "Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid (you can even listen to a recording of the story with this link... you can also find it in Discovering Literature

3) Pre-reading - What connotations does the word "Girl" have?
(Cluster on the board)


4) Read aloud or listen to online version.


5) Discussion Questions

• What does the syntax (sentence structure) help us understand?
• How does the balance of the mother's voice vs. the daughter's voice help us as readers?
• What does the wordle (below) of the story help us to see?
• What is the significance of the parallelism (repetition to make a point) of the slut comments?
• What kind of woman do you see this girl growing up to be?
• Once you understand that the story is set in Antigua which has a long history of slaves, and where, surprisingly, many slave families have clung to the old notions that they are meant to be slaves, how does your reading change?

6) Make notes/answers to these questions - you'll need them for Monday. I've moved our comparing and contrasting work to that day.

- You can also take time to work on your poem.

Have a happy weekend!

Thursday - Where are you from?

1) Question sets due for the last two stories - "Handsomest Drowned Man" and "The Chrysanthemums".

• Discuss and then submit.

2) Let's take a little step back today - we've been considering stories, and contexts of stories, and writing about stories... but we have not paid attention to the most relevant story of all - YOURS.

• Where do you come from - discussion.

3) Where do you Come From Poem.

• Handout

I come from the steps of Lakehead University, a child of children...

Assignment: Where are you from?                                                              12 marks

Write your own version of this poem.

·         Be detailed, descriptive and evocative.

·         Include a new title (it does not have to include your name).

·         Be descriptive.

·         Evoke the senses – make me see, taste, smell, feel, hear…

·         Images should be unique and meaningful, colourful and rich.

·         Tap into your story – everyone has one.


Tomorrow: Quiz on terms and Comparing and Contrasting.

Tuesday - Teacher Away

(Hi all! I'm having trouble with my voice. I am seeing a specialist on Friday - in the meanwhile, I am to rest it a little bit - so teaching is a challenge. Please be patient as we figure it out.)

1) Library - get out THE BRICK, our text, Discovering Literature.

2) Review Symbol/Symbolism - Something that represents something else. A symbol uses an object or action or image that means something more than its literal meaning. For example, an eagle can be a symbol for freedom, independence, etc.



3) Read Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums." p. 229?


4) Discussion Questions - What are the connotations of the word flower (review connotation - make a cluster around the word flower on the board). How are the Chrysanthemums the central symbol? How does the symbol evolve?


5) Assignment - questions # 1-8

Beggar Response

Beggar Response

Your Task: Given that pan-handling/begging is a complicated issue with many perspectives and arguments, present your opinion on “spare-changing.” Should we leave them alone? Should we give them a loonie or two? Should we yell at them to get a job? In your multi-paragraph response you will also be discussing the theme (although it is really a moral) of “The Beggar,” by Anton Chekhov.

Supporting Quotes (check out the Writer’s Guide on the blog):

-         Four quotes from the story itself.

-         Quote the film, at least once.

-         Quote at least one newspaper article twice.

Works Cited:

You must cite and quote all your sources. Microsoft Word does it for you now… I’ll show you.

Due Monday. Minimum of 500 words.

Sample Introduction
Begging, as a profession, and as a blight on society, has historically provoked much heated debate. Kick them off the street! Give them social services! Ignore them! It seems that there is no clear and easy solution to what most, but not all, consider the problem of “spare-changing” ( Panhandling, 2012). After reading Chekhov’s classic tale, “The Beggar,” readers will be no more clear on what to do. We are led to believe that Skvortsov’s kindness and job provisions have saved the lazy liar, but learn, in the end, that the passive aggressive efforts of the cook are really what “saved the wretch” (Chekhov). Begging is a complex issue, and like so many complex issues, the answer may like first with an honest appraisal of the reasons people beg. Only then, will we be able to help, if help is wanted.


I'll upload the pdf of the doc soon... sorry for this quick cut and paste.

Panhandling, the Documentary

The Panhandler from Bud Galloway on Vimeo.

Begging Questions

1) About Yesterday - we weren't done.

• Body in a Box Intro. 
• Paradox Activity.
• Want to see the funny vid I promised?

2) First Reading - The Beggar

There have always been beggars. How do you react when Starvin' Marvin hits you up?

Other links to non-fiction stuff:
Polls Call for Tougher Pan-handling Laws
A Question of Giving
Begging to Differ

3) Homework - B in a B introduction... Re-read the beggar, if needed.

Tomorrow: Be ready to write about "The Beggar", in contemporary context. We'll dive into quoting and citing sources and see how it goes with a little inter-textual analysis.

(FYI: 

What is "Begging the Question?"

"Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.

A simple example would be "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly." The adjective "ugly" does not explain why the subject is "unattractive" -- they virtually amount to the same subjective meaning, and the proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question.

What is it Not?

To beg the question does not mean "to raise the question."

(from: http://begthequestion.info/)

Welcome to English 12

1) Meet the Creature.  (Quick tour of dailyenglish12)

2a) If you teach, you learn. Get up. Stand at the front of the class. We need to break down the barriers fast. Pick one word that represents you. Tell me that one word (and tell me your name while you're at it). Yup, I'm writing them down.

2b) I am a Paradox. So are you. This time tell me the truth....up, up up!

3) The Epic Outline. (Ummmm... what's an epic anyway?)

4) What Dallas Green Said and why the heck should you take English 12, anyway? - A story about how I became "friends" with Grant Lawrence (of cbc radio3 fame). No - not real friends... Twitter followers.

(Don't you love the irony of watching a badly recorded live version of this song?)

5) First Writing Sample - watch Body in Box with me. Write down what you hear. What on Earth do these lyrics have to do with this class, with me, with you?

Writing Topic: It is given that the world is complicated, that you are not going to be here forever, so what are you here for? Tell me what you want to do in this world, in this life?
Due: tomorrow. 200-300 words.

6) Info please! Netbooks to fill in spreadsheet.

It is an honour to teach you in this last year of high school. You are almost free!
In June 2012 you will be born into the world... let's get you ready! (Baby analogy - goo, goo, ga, ga)

(Hey! This lesson got mentioned on CBC radio3: http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2012/1/K-OS-Concert-Today-Plus-Trivia-Challenge)