December 17, 2009

AP Literature

• Practice Test
• HW: Flashcards on tone words
• Over break, read The Awakening and complete three pages of Dialectical journal entries.
  

December 16, 2009

World Literature

• Poetry Out Loud
  
• Discuss chapters 2-3
• HW: Review Proverb and vocabulary handouts. Read chapters 4-7 and write a paragraph summary of each chapter. Summaries should include the main events, settings, characters, and ideas. Keep practicing active reading with post-it notes. And practice your poem for recitation on the day you return from break (January 4)!!
  

AP Literature

• Kate Chopin and the Awakening
• HW: AP Test; Flashcards on tone words due Friday

December 15, 2009

World Literature

• Check Active Reading Homework and discuss
  
• Begin Chapter 2
• HW: Finish Chapters 2 and 3; complete the same exercises you did for Chapter 1.
  

2:00
HW: Quiz

AP Literature

• "The Story of an Hour"

December 11, 2009

World Literature

• Final poetry selections due!
• Discussion of "Body Ritual of the Nacerima"
• Novel notes and novel glossary
• Distribute Things Fall Apart, vocabulary, and post-it notes
• HW: Quiz introductory information; read Chapter 1 and complete active reading

AP Literature

• Young Goodman Brown
• HW: Finish story

December 10, 2009

AP Literature

• Discussion of Flannery O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
• HW: Read and complete exercises in Workbook, Chapter 3: Irony and Tone; review tone words from handouts; read Chapter 6 in text: Symbol, Allegory, and Fantasy
  

December 9, 2009

World Literature

• Review Active Reading strategies
• Read "The Body Ritual of the Nacirema" and answer questions
• HW: Questions due Friday

AP Literature

• "A Good Man is Hard to Find" discussion
• HW: "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
  

December 8, 2009

World Literature

• Poetry selections due
• Performances scheduled for 1/4-5
• Introductory notes for Things Fall Apart
  

AP Literature

• Othello tests returned
  
• Select poetry essay for grade and place in writing folders
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
  
• Reading narrative fiction and point of view
• HW: Second reading of "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
  

December 2, 2009

World Literature

• History of Punctuation
• Period Confusions
• Apostrophe Confusions

2 pm

• Memoir sharing
• Review for Monday's test
• Sentence formation and Pronoun usage
  
• Literary Terms
  
• Avoiding Wordiness
• HW: Poetry selection due Tuesday
  

AP Literature

• "Hazel Tells Laverne" and Literary Criticism
• HW: "Porphyria's Lover" short essay due Friday
  

December 1, 2009

World Literature

• Collect memoirs (2pm class's due on Wednesday)
  
• Punctuation History
• Period Confusions
• Apostrophe Confusions
  

AP Literature

• "Hazel Tells LaVerne"
• HW: Select a poem from poetryoutloud.org
  

November 30, 2009

World Literature

• Memoir questions
• Correcting run-ons
  
• HW: Memoirs due
  

AP Literature

• Review Chapter 5 in AP workbook
• HW: "Hazel Tells Laverne"
  

November 24, 2009

World Literature

• Return myth quizzes
• Review grammar packet
• HW: Final memoir due Tuesday, Dec. 1

AP Literature

• Poetry Out Loud
• "Design" by Robert Frost
  
• HW: Read and complete exercises in Amsco workbook, Chapter 5: Analyzing Poetry for the Multiple Choice Section; Othello essay dues tomorrow with all drafts and peer editing

November 23, 2009

World Literature

• Sentence Variety (tomorrow review of sentence formation and pronoun usage)
  
• Review procedure for Writing Workshops and handouts
  
• Group Assignments
• HW: Final Memoir due (with both drafts and peer editing worksheet) Tuesday, December 1

AP Literature

• Workshopping Othello essays
• Final due (with both drafts and peer editing worksheet) on Wednesday, November 25
  

November 20, 2009

World Literature

Cables, folders, and quotes, oh my!

• Letters in writing folders
• Check Drafts
• Review Peer Editing handout/partners
  
• Review Revision Checklist
• Pronoun Case Review
  
• Review Grammar packet
  
• HW: Revised drafts due Monday, 11/23 for Peer Editing
  

AP Literature

• Sentence Composition
• HW: Draft 2 due Monday

November 19, 2009

AP Literature

• Discuss Workshops
• Syntax and Effective Sentences
• HW: Draft 2 due on Monday; Final due on Wednesday
  

November 17, 2009

World Literature

• Crafting writing: Angela's Ashes excerpt
  
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
• Pronoun Case
• Pronoun Reference
• HW: Memoir Draft due Friday
  

AP Literature

• Review Writing Workshop procedures
• Work independently and conference on drafts
  
• HW: Draft due; Second draft due Monday
  

November 16, 2009

World Literature

• Collect Donor Letter finals
• Return Odyssey test and discuss
  
• Review Memoir Topics--audience; creating scenes; details
  
• Language terms: concise, tone
• Reviewing "How to Be a Bad Writer" by Langston Hughes
  
• Sharing freewrites on sensory details
• HW: Angela's Ashes excerpt--practice active reading; highlight details; Memoir draft due Friday (Monday for 2 pm class)

AP Literature

• Check homework (thesis worksheet) for those absent on Friday
• Shelby to finish test
  
• Review topics from text
• Review use of quotations
• HW: Draft due

World Literature

• Collect mythology books
• Return letters, revised drafts due Monday
• Revist Personal Proofreading Lists
• Review Langston Hughes' "How to Be a Bad Writer"
• Review Memoir Topics--audience; creating scenes; details (sensory, memory, reflective)
  
• HW: Freewrite on sensory details for fifteen minutes (a minimum of two single-spaced pages). Before you begin, close your eyes, and picture the scenes and the people.
  

AP Literature

• Thesis and Evidence
• HW: Read pages 5-29; Draft due Tuesday

November 11, 2009

World Literature

• Collect Letters
• Contests and Literary Magazine
• Discuss "Salvation" questions
• Topic Brainstorming

Language Terms

1. Allusion--cultural reference (Bible, mythology, and Shakespeare are most common)
2. Paradox--a contradiction that reveals a truth
3. Repetition--provides rhythm and enhances meaning
4. Polysyndeton--use of multiple conjunctions (and, but, or, so) in close proximity
5. Figurative--non-literal language that is representational
6. Imagery--language that appeals to the senses

Memoir Tip

Create a memoir with tension or conflict.

AP Literature

• No Heart of Darkness; next novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• Discuss timed writing exercises
• Briefly review topic selection, thesis, and support; revise for Monday; draft due Tuesday
• Review for Othello test
• HW: Othello test tomorrow

November 11, 2009

World Literature

• Final letter due
• Salvation handout due

AP Literature

• Collect lessons on writing
  
• Select topic for Othello essay and complete handout.

November 10

World Literature

• Memoir unit begins
• HW: Final letter due

AP Literature

• Timed writing exercise on betrayal or symbolism.
• HW: Select topic for Othello essay and study for test on Thursday
  

November 9, 2009

World Literature

• Check letter drafts
• Complete peer editing
• HW: Typed final due on Wednesday

AP Literature

• Discuss Act 5 and freewriting
• View last scenes of film version
• HW: Read pages 52-58 in your textbook. Using complete sentences and specific details, write down five "lessons" you learned about writing a literary explication or analysis.
  

November 4, 2009

World Literature

Mythology Group Presentations

AP Literature

• Complete exercises on Act 4. Work in pairs or groups of three.
  
• HW: For Thursday, complete exercises. For Friday, correct incorrect answers on quiz for higher grade.

November 2, 2009

Enjoy your day off! Vote if you can!

World Literature

• Presentations begin on Wednesday
  

AP Literature

• Finish Othello, Act 4 by Wednesday and complete 10 entries in your journal.

October 28, 2009

World Literature

• Work on group projects!

AP Literature

• Act 3.3 journal discussion
• HW: Begin 3.4 and finish by Friday with ten quotations + 5 vocab

October 27, 2009

World Literature

• Work on group projects!

AP Literature

• Film clips from Othello
• HW: Act 3.3 with 15 journals + vocab due Wednesday

October 26, 2009

World Literature

• Introduce Small Group Project and Presentation

AP Literature

• For online copies of Heart of Darkness see sidebar
• Check journals
• Review through Act 3, scenes 1-2
• HW: Read Act 3, scene 3 for Wednesday. Complete journal with 15 entries and 5 new vocab words.
  

October 23, 2009

World Literature

• Finish The Odyssey film

AP Literature

• Begin Act 2, Scene 3
• HW: Finish Act 2 and read through Act 3, scenes 1-2. Complete Journal with 10 entries, 5 new vocab.

October 23, 2009

World Literature

• Finish The Odyssey film

AP Literature

• Begin Act 2, Scene 3
• HW: Journal with 10 entries, 5 new vocab

October 22, 2009

AP Literature

• Journal check, 5 quotations
• Discussion of Act 2, Scenes 1-2

October 21, 2009

World Literature

• Odyssey Test

AP Literature

• Quiz, Act 1
  
• Discussion of Act 2, Scene 2
• HW: Act 2, Scenes 1-2
  

October 20, 2009

World Literature

• Review for The Odyssey test
• Film, The Odyssey
  

AP Literature

• Discussion of Act 1 and Journals
  
• Quiz, Act 1
  
• HW: Act 2, Scene 1 (complete 5 quotations, 5 vocab, 3 sentences for journal)
  

October 19, 2009

World Literature

• Review for Odyssey Test

AP Literature

• Return Summer Reading
• Discussion of writing concerns
• Paradise Lost essays
• Discuss Act 1 of Othello
• HW: Quiz, Act 1
  

October 16, 2009

AP Literature

• Timed Writing on Milton's "Paradise Lost"
• HW: Othello, Act I and Reading Journal

October 15, 2009

AP Literature

• Discussion of Milton's "Paradise Lost"
• HW: Othello, Act 1 (15 quotations for reading journal!)
  

October 14, 2009

World Literature

8:00-11:00 am, PSAT Testing

11:00 am and 2:00 pm classes

• Review for Test

AP Literature

• TP-CASTT, Milton's "Paradise Lost"
• HW: Othello, Act I and journal
  

October 13, 2009

World Literature

• Finish "The Odyssey" and prepare for test (next Wednesday, October 21)
  

AP Literature

• "The Tyger" continued
• Sharing of poems
• HW: Othello
  

October 12, 2009

World Literature

• Return Personal Proofreading Sheet
• Quiz on usage (there, your, its, then, to)
• Begin Part II of The Odyssey
• HW: Read through page 935
  

AP Literature

• Review Test
  
• The sounds and form of "The Tyger"
• HW: Songs of Innocence and Experience; read Othello, Act 1 and prepare Reading Journal/Vocab for Monday, Oct 12
  

October 9, 2009

World Literature

• Literary Autobiographies--What I Learned
• Personal Proofreading and Writing Reminders

AP Literature

• Discuss TP-CASTT analysis of "The Tyger" and examine annotations
• HW: Write your own Songs of Innocence and Experience, due Tuesday, 10/13. Be prepared to share.

October 7, 2009

World Literature

Focused freewriting on The Odyssey (8 am only)

• Write a summary of everything that has happened to Odysseus in Part I.
• What is significant about this epic poem?
• What have you learned about mythology and the ancient Greeks?
• What are we learning about human nature, man's relationship to nature, and the importance of journeys?

Review of Olympians (all other classes)

AP Literature

• Smart Board Initiation!
• William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience
• "Laughing Song" and "The Sick Rose"
• "The Lamb" and "The Tyger"

October 6, 2009

World Literature

• Interims
  
• Hades Map
• Sires, Scylla, and Charybdis
• Twelve Olympian Gods (still to do with 9)
  
• HW: Read 922-924
  

AP Literature

• Symbolism and Allusion
• Biblical Allusions
• HW: Read Poetry Explication handout and "What is Poetry?"; see "Reading a Poem" pp. 668-669 in Perrine's
  

October 5, 2009

World Literature

• Quiz, The Odyssey
• Hades
• Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis
• HW: Read pp. 24-39 of Mythology and fill out chart on 12 Great Olympian Gods
  

AP Literature

• Test
  
• HW: Read Chapter 2 in workbook, Symbolism and Allusion; read "What is Poetry?"pp. 647-8 and "Ars Poetica" pg. 665 in Perrine's
  

October 2, 2009

World Literature

• Review Odysseus in Hades and distribute map
  
• Distribute Hamilton's Mythology
  
• Review Dante's "Inferno" and personal versions of hell
• HW: Prepare for quiz on "The Odyssey" and read pp. 916-919, "The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis" and pp. 39-40, Mythology
  

AP Literature

• Review for Test

September 30, 2009

World Literature

• Review questions on "Circe" and "Land of the Dead"
• Review map of Hades
• Discuss Dante's View of the Underworld
• HW: Create your own version of hell according to guidelines. Plan on presenting this to your peers.

AP Literature

• Timed writing exercise on Question 1
• HW: Final Medea paper due

September 29, 2009

World Literature

• Review questions for "The Cyclops" and collect homework
  
• In groups, read pages 911-915. Answer questions on "Circe" and "The Land of the Dead" on your own paper, in your own words.
• HW: Complete questions for homework

AP Literature

• Distribute AP Prep Book
  
• Reviewing the Writing Process
  
• Question 1: Poetry
  
• HW: Medea final due Thursday

September 28, 2009

World Literature

• Read "The Cyclops"
• HW: Finish selection and answer questions. Also read page 910, "Welcome: A Religious Duty"

AP Literature

• Workshop drafts on Medea
• Revise drafts on Medea. Final due on Thursday.
  

September 24, 2009

World Literature

• Sharing Homeric Comparisons
• Reading, "The Cyclops" page 899
• HW: Review the reading and prepare for a quiz
  

AP Literature

• Discussion: How is Medea a tragic hero?
  
• Rhetorical Focus: Tone
  
• Break down questions
• Writing Rubric and Scoring
• HW: Drafts (two copies) due Monday

September 23, 2009

World Literature

• Complete Homeric similes. Due for presentation on Friday.
• Mythology Pre-Test
• Review The Odyssey, pages 890-898

AP Literature

• Read Chapter 3 on writing essays and write impressions of each sample essay.
• Complete Medea for Thursday as well as textbook, pages 1209-1216

September 22, 2009

World Literature

• Discuss The Odyssey, pp. 890-898 and study questions.
  

AP Literature

• Definitions of Evil
• The Tragic Hero
• Greek Drama
• HW: Complete Medea and Dialectical Journal/Vocabulary for Thursday.
  

September 21, 2009

World Literature

• Quiz on introductory material
• Characteristics of the Epic
• Epithets and Homeric Similes
• HW: Read pages 891-898 and answer questions.
  

AP Literature

• Summer Reading reports due
  
• What is a classic?
• Book List and the Open Question
  
• Literary Analysis
• HW: Continue reading of Medea
  

September 18, 2009

World Literature

• Check notes from reading
• Engrade
• Why were myths created?
• Discussion of reading
• HW: Prepare for quiz on all introductory material
  

AP Literature

• Engrade
• Finish discussing Shakespearean soliloquy
• Dialectical Reading Journal and Vocabulary
• HW: Read Medea for Thursday with journal entries (15+ quotations) and vocabulary/sentences

September 16, 2009

World Literature

• The Greeks and Mythology
  
• Geography and Timeline
• "The World is Too Much With Us" annotation
• Mythology Pre-Test (2:00 only)
  
• HW: Actively read pages 878-886 and take notes on main ideas. Complete by Friday, 12/18 (or Monday, 12/20 for 2:00 class)

AP Literature

• Review Elements of Style quiz and analysis of sentences
• HW:AP Objective Test
  

September 15, 2009

World Literature

• Distribute textbooks
  
• Literary Autobiographies due
  
• Active Listening and Active Reading
• Return poems and create Writing Portfolios
• HW: Actively read pages 878-886 and take notes on main ideas. Complete by Friday, 12/18 (or Monday, 12/20)
  

AP Literature

• Quiz, Elements of Style
• HW: Study Syntactical Structures
  

September 14, 2009

World Literature

• Collect contract and permission slips (9:00 and 11:00)
• Multiple Intelligences
• Literary Autobiography due for 2:00 class
• HW: Literary Autobiography due for all other classes.
  

AP Literature

• Summer Reading Review posters due
• Distribute textbooks
• Discussion on Elements of Style and Exercises
• HW: Prepare for quiz on Elements of Style

September 11, 2009

World Literature

• Class Rules
• Critical Literacy
• Listening
• Multiple Intelligences
• HW: Literary Autobiography

AP Literature

• Themes
• Summer Reading activity
• HW: Study style vocabulary and complete exercises for Monday; quiz on Tuesday, 9/15

September 10, 2009

World Literature

• Share poetry
• Syllabus and class expectations
  

AP Literature

• Syllabus
• Values, Theories, and Themes
• What is a Classic?
• Summer Reading
• HW: Style Exercises due Monday; Quiz on Elements of Style on Tuesday

September 9, 2009

Welcome Back!

This blog is designed to keep you abreast of what's happening in the classroom and what assignments are due when. Please email me at cwc568@me.com if you ever have any questions.

World Literature

• Introductions
• Poetry Writing: "Where I'm From"
• HW: Finalize poem and be prepared to share

AP Literature

• Experiencing and Writing about Literature
• Stages of Reading and Annotating a Text
• The AP Test
• Summer Reading essays due (For those who added the class late, please bring your novel to class.)