Hound & Fawn

After copying unit 4 down and assigning the new words for Monday's new round of vocab experts, we spent the majority of the time discussing Achilles, Hector, and Athena and their part in the conflict of a demigod, a man, and the goddess who likes to rule the roost. Topics of discussion centered around the epic simile starting the passage, the hound and the fawn, that creates the characterization of Achilles and Hector, how gods and goddesses have a role in this text in comparison to other Anglo-Saxon epics, and the tone surrounding these two main men. For those absent, I will need to see your note from The Iliad to garner your participation points for the day. For homework, you are to read and note Chapters 1-4 in Grendel. Don't have a text? No problem: https://cdgrendel.wikispaces.com/file/view/Grendel+chapters+1-6.pdf.

Disarmed

After vocab quiz #3, we settled back into our partnerships to finish Beowulf and look at how Anglo-Saxon ideologies permeate the telling of an epic hero and his quest to vanquish the monster. Or, as Nick would sum up the moment of battle: "Do you need a sword, Grendel? You seem a little...disarmed." Following Beowulf Live, we moved onto the place we would not like to visit: 999. As noted, we were dismayed at the disease, death, darkness, and all around depravity that existed way back when. To end the show today, we looked at Gilgamesh, breaking into small groups to analyze the man, the buddy, and the monster (although, I will argue that Humbaba is not a monster and just an early version of an environmentalist). For Friday, read The Iliad portion in your textbook.

They Signed a Waiver!

As we mentioned in fifth hour, if you are one of Beowulf's crew, you know part of your duty is playing sacrificial lamb for your boss. Hence, you sign a waiver. If you are eaten by a descendant of Cain, that is your fate. 

Meanwhile, we reviewed vocabulary for the quiz tomorrow. I just made up the answer key, and I hope you all know what antonyms are for this quiz.

For the remainder of the hour, you earned participation points over-analyzing Beowulf sections and noting the literary elements, characterization, and Anglo-Saxon imprint on the text. We did not finish - so close - all the sections, so if you were absent, you will find out tomorrow what section (in second hour between 10-13 and in fifth hour between 12-13) you will be responsible for verbally analyzing. I would make sure to have those sections prepped.

To add to our readings for tomorrow, check out the epic hero and Gilgamesh, which I believe if between pages 54-63 in your textbook. 

The Descendant of Cain

After finishing up vocab unit 3, we spent quality time with the Anglo-Saxons and what ideologies they once held. We created a class list of ideologies, which we will return to after each reading selection in this unit. Afterwards, it was all about that Grendel as we began Beowulf. Noting the Biblical references, alliteration, darkness and light motifs, juxtaposition, and so much more, the class become involved in over-analyzing this scop's version of the mighty epic hero (We Need a Hero!) and the fiendish monster. Make sure to read the rest of the Beowulf section, ending in the vicinity of pg. 38. Of course, take notes on the literary elements - and Anglo-Saxon ideologies - present in the text. To make it even more fun, check out what it was like to live in 999 on pgs. 40-41.

Free Response Peering

After vocab experts, you had the opportunity to peer evaluate the free response essays. Hopefully, the feedback from your classmates will inspire you to redraft your essay into 9-worthy material, which is what you will be completing for Monday's class. The final draft of this essay may be handwritten or typed - depending on the availability of your technology and wants and needs. Also, don't forget to read up on the Anglo-Saxons, which can be found in your textbook on pgs. 4-20.

Survey - Complete by 9/29

Our school district needs a favor from you: a brief survey detailing what English classes you have taken and related questions to your experience at FZN. It is 5 questions and should take you all of two minutes to complete. Here is the link: https://goo.gl/forms/Ns3ukhff2JX347Vo2. Make sure you complete this activity by September 29.

Our Birthday Wishes to Stephen King

All that pie, all that horror, all that Stephen King analysis on our block classes to celebrate his 70th birthday! If you missed class, you missed out on a lot of sugar - pies, cakes, cookies - and a dash of salt with popcorn and chips. You missed our Kerry being Carrie and our fifth hour Shining twins portrayed by the our ever-creepy and every-laughing Michaela & Bailey. And, you missed out on the analysis of Stephen King passages, of course!

In both hours, we had a fun time looking at this genre of literature, and I know that I will be reading more Stephen King novels and short stories in the future. 

Friday's class is all about the draft - the free response draft that should be handwritten and ready to go for peer evaluation during class. I just printed out the evaluation forms, so this will be a chance to read several samples and provide feedback for your classmates.

For Monday, don't forget to have ethos on Anglo-Saxon history, which can be found in your big green textbooks (or your new best friend or your new weights) on pgs. 4-20. I will be asking you about Anglo Saxon history and important cultural info, so make sure you have notes and something to say.

Free Rangefinding

After vocabulary today, we spent the majority of class time analyzing the rangefinders for the free response prompt and marveling at how a high school senior paralleled Raskolnikov with the schism of Russia's progressivism and conservatism. Wowsa! After all the critical evaluation, you had your first surprise toolbox quiz. If absent, you have 48 hours to either take the quiz or to schedule a time to take the quiz. Due to the nature of this quiz, it can only be completed before or after school.

Then, the time came for you to write your own free response essay. For Friday, you are to answer the same prompt. The rules are as follows: 1. You cannot select a text that was in the rangefinders. 2. The essay will be handwritten and will be considered a draft. 3. You should set aside one hour to write the essay. 4. You should not use the text while writing the essay. 5. Friday will be a peer evaluation day.

See you tomorrow for your book cards, vocab, and that Stephen King birthday shindig!

Reconstruction Louisiana and...

Due to the fact that the remainder of Reconstruction Louisiana may be misconstrued in this professional environment, just imagine second hour giggling right now and generating t-shirt ideas that would not be approved.

After writing down the latest unit of vocabulary, second hour almost finished Chopin and fifth hour did finish Chopin! Then, I recapped the book card assignment - your first one is due on the block day, which is also our Stephen King Birthday Party Day! Don't forget to bring in treats and anything related to Stephen King's works - as long as it is school appropriate, of course.

Last up was your first look at a free response prompt - in the form of rangefinders. Score each essay 1-9 and check out how students approach a free response essay. We will analyze those essays, and then it is time to write your own!

Almost Time to Say Goodbye to Chopin

Great progress today with presentations as we are now left with 3 in each class! That means Monday will be the last day, and it will be time for you to return your Chopin texts.

At the end of the hour, I gave your a highlight package of free response essay writing, one of the three styles you will need to accomplish on your AP Lit exam. Free response prompts are fairly general - as you will see next week - and relies on the writer (you) to select a text of your choosing and bring in the specificity and upper level analysis to show mature, collegiate-level writing. To prepare for free response essays, you will need to know novels/plays forwards and backwards (at least 2 for the test, but we shall have 5 over the course of the class). As a result, you will be making a book card featuring The Awakening or a text from your brand new 101 Books List for the block day of class. We will go over the details one more time on Monday - such as which 101 Books we will be covering during this year - but you can start the process over the weekend.

And, since I did mention to fifth hour about my designer friend, here is a link to her website to check out her clothing and her artwork: https://iheartfink.com/?v=7516fd43adaa.

Yep, Still Presenting Chopin

These Chopin presentations are bringing out the best of your literary analysis skills, so I really can't complain about how many days it will take to complete this assignment. Friday will be a continuation of any remaining presentations and then we will be back to vocab and looking at another portion of the Lit exam, the free response essay.

P.S. If I were you, I would have your literary toolbox with you to class.

Chopin Day 1

While we did not make it far in the presentation order, we did have strong examples of analysis, evidence, and originality across the board. Overall, make sure you have all 7 components utilized in your presentation! Those 10 minutes go by quickly - ask the speakers today - and you want everything included in some fashion.

She's Still Swimming

Let's enumerate...

1. Vocab Quiz 2. Any absentees will need to make up the quiz or schedule a make up time in the next 48 hours.

2. We recapped the presentation requirements for tomorrow's commencement. To achieve a high score, you will need to incorporate the seven bullet points of lit analysis into the presentation in some fashion, and you will need to show ethos by bringing in analysis, evidence, and citations (AND not typing out an essay in advance and reading it verbatim; notes and passage are acceptable). There will be a 10 minute time limit with an 8 minute heads up to finish. You will be evaluated on 1. incorporating all seven elements with analysis and evidence and 2. your maturity and effectiveness of AP-level analysis, voice, and originality.

3. You randomly signed up for presentation order - absentees you have been assigned numbers as well (not in the first 3). All presentations should be ready to go tomorrow - even if you are at the bottom rungs. You never know when guidance may take 12 of you for filling out a form, a plethora of absences occurs, or the presentations go really quickly. Procrastinators, you have had 2 weekends to work on this, so it is time!

4. We finished up Edna's long swimming awakening with a class-led discussion. If absent, you will need to show me your notes for those last chapters to receive participation credit.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and speed reading all of these short stories tonight to be ready for your presentations tomorrow!

The Other Men in Edna's Life

For 2/3 of the novella, we have heard of 2 men rattling around Edna's thoughts: Leonce and Robert. Surprise, surprise, Edna has two new gentleman visitors: her daddy and Alcee, or the stand-in Robert. While we did start class reviewing vocab for the quiz on Monday and finishing up the individual close reads (if you were absent during a close read, I will need to see your notes for Chapters 12-22 for credit), we wrapped up the hour looking at Edna as she became an "independent" woman living in a "pigeon house." For Monday, finish Edna's Awakening and start, resume, or finish your verbal presentation short story analysis -- it looks like we are starting on Tuesday!

Meanwhile, I have been fascinated with coverage of Hurricane Irma (and now the category 4 Hurricane Jose) as she begins her move toward Key West and Florida. As one who spent many of her childhood summers in Sarasota and Clearwater on the Gulf side and as one who now spends her summers in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and the Keys, it is beyond comprehensible the damage that may occur to these wonderful places and the loss of life that may be a result. And when I bring up life, don't forget to consider all the animals - pets, wild, zoos, aquariums - that will be displaced or harmed by this storm. If you have not been to Key West, you may not know that they have a wild chicken population (in the thousands) roaming through the streets. When we were there last year, we would watch chicken families wait at the crosswalk until the sign changed to cross. Surprisingly observant birds.

Since the evacuations began, I have been wondering what will happen to the Zoo Miami, Theatre of the Sea, and all the animal-centric places dotting Florida's coasts. This NPR article delineates methods in which these animals must face the storm:  http://www.npr.org/2017/09/07/548981618/flamingos-in-the-men-s-room-how-zoos-and-aquariums-handle-hurricanes?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170907.

In any case, Mother Nature has become a front page headline from fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes (here and in Mexico), and the best we can do is to recognize her power, prepare, and aid those in need.

Frustration

When I broached the idea that Edna, as a character, is frustrating, I had no idea how many of you would respond with criticisms of her constantly conflicted mind, lack of problem solving skills, and general behavior with friends, family, and men. Anywho, no matter if you love or hate her - or fall somewhere in between - oh, Lifehouse reference - oh, so appropriate lyrics now that I think about it - https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lifehouse/somewhereinbetween.html - Edna reflects a round character struggling to awaken to her fullest extent.

Since I'm referencing Lifehouse, I might as well flashback to Friday to their show at the DuQuoin State Fair!

Other than our general frustration, we finished up vocab unit 2 today, which means a review tomorrow and a quiz on Monday. Irksome to have a quiz on Monday, but that is how it will be this time around. To finish class, we continued with our individual close reads on the board. Alas, we still have some to do and that shall occur tomorrow. Then, we will have a chance to talk about Edna's latest interest and her lifestyle after Robert has influenced her to be free. Of course, Robert has every opportunity to be free since he is a male with a fairly upper class background and has the choice of occupation at his fingertips. Edna does not have that same options.

As for my options, I will be spending the evening celebrating Tango Antonio Gianini's fourth birthday with pretzels, banana crumb muffins, seed, new toys, bell ringing, and a good fly (those last four items will be all Tango). He is a complete mama's boy, his favorite word is "really," he likes to dance, and his best friend is his sister Ingram.

Sleep No More!

2: After vocabulary today, we spent the remaining part of the class completing individual close reads on passages from Edna's now sleepless journey. From the board, you practice close reading strategies by marking (circling, underlining, waves, notes - whatever works for you) words and phrases reflecting characterization, motifs, themes, and anything else that connects to literary analysis. Then, you practice verbal analysis by making observations about your close reading (excellent practice for your verbal essay, which will be soon). We made it through half the passages today, so we will finish those up tomorrow. For reading, you will need to be through chapter 31 for tomorrow - watch how Edna shakes up her life even more!

5: After vocabulary today, our class centered around paper meetings and ways to improve your writing in the next prompt. Now, we will not have another written prompts for a bit (that verbal one will take the place of a written essay); however, all these tips and tricks may help you with your daily discussions and how to present a literary element, provide evidence, and analyze it effectively. In the last moments, we had another individual close read to practice close reading and verbal analysis skills. We will finish those tomorrow. In addition, make sure to have read through Chapter 31 - we are making our way through this awakening!

Meetings

For both classes, we managed to work in 4 more vocabulary words before resuming or starting your meetings regarding the Hawthorne prompts. As discussed in class, you first need to have essay organization before the reader begins to appreciate all the details and upper level analysis of character. Tomorrow, second hour will begin the individual close reads on the board, and fifth hour will continue with meetings.

As you do not have an added reading assignment, don't forget to be working on your short story and the verbal presentation. We will begin presentations the day after we finish analyzing Chapter 39, so keep in mind how much attention this assignment will need in the upcoming days.

P.S. I am wearing the 2017 AP Lang shoes today!

She's Awakened

In both classes, we began unit 2 of vocabulary with the first 4 words.

Afterwards...

2: We discussed prompt writing, essay structure, evidence incorporation, and all the ways to present a literary analysis in a prompt. Then, you received your prompts, filled out your brand new goal sheet, and started meeting with me to ask questions. We will finish these meetings on Tuesday, and then resume Edna's life, which you should know about through Chapter 22.

5: You finished up the small group discussion by sharing the motifs and literary elements in Chapters 9-11. Then, we started our individual close reading on the board to practice you ability of recognizing characterization clues, literary elements, and Chopin's techniques in advancing Edna's awakening. As we analyzed today, she has had a few stuttering steps along the way. We will have your prompts returned on Tuesday, and resume the close reading too.