Thursday

Group 1 assignment: Read Act I.1.1-11 and I.3.1-75. From these lines, draw inferences about what powers the witches possess. Also, what are the limits of their powers? How, exactly, from these lines, do you know?

 

Group 2 assignment: Read Act I.2.1-55. Mark and explain images of equivocation or of things being in precarious balance. Then focus tightly on lines 25-34 as the Bloody Captain (or Sergeant) speaks. Explain, line by line and word by word, what this passage means and what it implies about the play and about Macbeth.

 

Group 3 assignment: Read Act I.3.38-152. Contrast Banquo's reactions to the witches with Macbeth's reactions. Focus tightly on lines 120-142, Macbeth's soliloquy. Explain, line by line and word by word, what this passage means and what it implies about the character of Macbeth.

Tuesday

For Thursday/Friday, bring in your permission forms and read Act I of Macbeth and Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave."

 

Monday

Remember the files of the WLA 1 paper! See naming protocol below.

John and Grant: something is awry. No email from you!

Wednesday

Written commentaries Friday and Monday...Prepare!

WLA 1 due with the peer feedback Tuesday/Wednesday with a revised version given to me electronically. Naming protocal:

Lastname.first.WLA1.doc

Thursday

I uploaded a new passage for discussion. It is on the right side of the blog and is labelled "9.1 Passage for comment." B-day should respond by Sunday midnight (Sept. 4) and A-day by Monday midnight (Sept. 5). Grant volunteered to start us today, so you can work anytime between today and the deadline.

1. Engage the previous entries in the discussion thread: be specific in your reference to it.
2. Use one or more of the following critical terms correctly in your comments: narrator, digression, allegory, ambiguity, connotation, diction, irony, metaphor, paradox, satire, or tone. You may also use others of your own choosing (Of course!). Look these terms up and make efforts to understand them.
3. Write one interpretive question (one that requires us to look at the text itself and create an interpretation of its meaning) to prompt future thoughts on the passage.
4. Develop your thoughts clearly. You are not required to apply your critics. You MAY do that, but focus tightly on the passage provided. Quote from and interpret its style, on the ways Conrad creates his effects and complicates or clarifies meanings. Try to get the passage all over your hands in this response. Do not try to sound pretty. Be clear. At the same time, do not be afraid to experiment with your thinking. Clear language HELPS you to lead you to new thinking -- it really does...I promise.

I would write in Word and then copy it to the blog to keep from losing big blocks of material when the internet flickers. Comment here under Thursday's post.

Tuesday

The future holds this: see the calendar. In addition to the critical essays you present, read both Watt (349) and Brantlinger (386). Focus like a laser on what they have to say about Conrad's style. If one of these critics is your assignment for presentation already, read the other one and at least one more criticism.

I am grading blog posts strictly on fulfillment of requirements with a bonus for really thoughtful entries. I am grading the discussions on fulfillment of requirements. Be clear and focused about your three main points. I will not grade your written commentary until you convince me you have read the novel, and you better hurry up and do that. I'm here before and after school, you know. I will then assess the commentaries with the IB commentary rubric available from the IB Handbook posted to the right.

Keep an eye on your WLA 1 revision!

These scheduled events develop your grade on Heart of Darkness and complete the progress report period.

Monday

CORRECTION: WLA 1 is due, file and paper, on Tueday/Wednesday, September 13/14. Sept. 13 is an A day.

Thursday

Reminder: As you bring in your WLA 1 files, be sure they are saved as something compatible with MS Word 2003. Use the drop down "save as type" box and click .doc or .rtf. Documents saved as .docx and .xml do not look right when opened with school computers. WLA 1 revisions will be due September 14.

Now, the assignments for Monday/Tuesday:

A. Read your selected criticism. Note its three main points and compose five good questions on a selection of your choosing from Heart of Darkness that will help others see those main critical points. Confer with your partners about the selection and questions; talk over the implications of the critic's essay. Present your points and lead a short discussion of your selection Monday/Tuesday.

B. Read the passage posted to the right and dated 8.25. Then read all comments from your classmates in this thread. Post here, as "comments" on this assignment posting (Thursday, August 25), a commentary on it. Include a reference to the student who has posted just before you (extend or argue one of her points); an interpretive question on the passage (perhaps based in your critical reading) that will prompt thoughts from your classmates; and an application of some idea from your critic (be sure to acknowledge the critic by name). Develop your thoughts clearly. You may consider speaker, tone, imagery, diction, figures of speech, style, structure, and progression of ideas in the passage. I would write in Word and then copy it to the blog to keep from losing big blocks of material when the internet flickers. Everyone should have an entry posted by Saturday midnight for A-day and Sunday midnight for B-day, or you will be charged a late fee. Think hard and write clearly.

Wednesday

See Tuesday's post for your assignment. Check Parent Portal to see your grade if think you might need to retake the Part 3 quiz.

Tuesday

Bring in your WLA 1 files to work on in class. If you want a retake for H of D reading quiz one, two, or three, come prepared Thursday/Friday.

Monday

Finish Heart of Darkness for next class (Tuesday/Wednesday).

Wednesday

Read Part II. Firm up your choices about WLA 2: rank three sets of options in case the first choice is not available.

Monday

For Wednesday (A)/Thursday (B), read Part I of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Bring in your WLA 1 as a file and as a paper copy for revision. Bring your handout "The Social Me" by William James. Begin thinking about the works on which you would like to base your WLA 2.

 

 

Tuesday

Remember that the explication is to be a full attempt. It should be finished and formatted and documented. If it is not complete on time, you lose 20%. If it is not finished in one week (excepting the break, of course) you get no credit, which in these strange times means you make a 40. Still, you must HAVE a second draft with my feedback before turning in the THIRD draft. So you can't get around it. Be sure to show that you addressed my previous comments from the first draft, and turn in the old draft with the new one (so I can check that you have addressed my comments without having to dig up the comments on my computer).

 

Too many drafts are coming in partial or oddly formatted. Use MLA style. You might have to rearrange some DISCUS citations to fit MLA. I don't know what style they are using that puts the title first, but we use MLA.

Wednesday

Sometimes, you know, with advanced students, I just make assumptions. When you write your slightly researched explications, do not google up any random dude in cyberspace and quote him as if he knows something.

Command one: If you do not go to the library and use some of the critical resources there, go to DISCUS and look for your poem on "Literature Resources from Gale." These sources are valid. Nameless goobers from the internet are NOT valid sources. Stop resisting doing things right.

Command two: Create, right now, your works cited page. Create it the right way. DO NOT copy up some urls and paste them into your paper as if that constitutes citing a source. If your internet source has no author, editor, or sponsoring organization, it is NOT a valid source. Try DISCUS. It doesn't hurt at all. Use MLA style. Don't know what that is? FIND OUT! It's easy. Try the OWL at Purdue.

Command three: Make unmistakably clear which thoughts in your explication are yours and which are from a published critic. Unmistakably clear.

Have you not done research and used reliable, valid resources before? COME ON HERE!

See Megan B. if you need to know how to do an in-text citation and use a critic properly. See Elicia if you want to know, just flat out, how this is done, top to bottom, with works cited.

Tuesday

Check calendar and receive assignments for last nine weeks. This nine weeks will conclude on March 22 and will contain the revision of the Orwell pieces and the "Coy Mistress" group commentary.

Friday

For Tuesday/Wednesday, hand write your section about the poem.

Wednesday and Thursday

Oral commentaries, LIVE! Be ready, and good luck...

 

Friday

I will see all of you for Monday's trial oral commentary.

Your WLA 2 is due on February 28, electronically in WebLocker and hard copy to me. Format exactly as last year's WLA 1. Have access to your files EVERY CLASS DAY between now and February 28.

The real oral commentaries will be March 2 and 3. Watch for schedule posting on my door.

From there, I will begin working with you with the material for the final IB exams.

Wednesday

B-day, please refresh your reading of "Down the Mine." We will discuss it in class Thursday based on YOUR five interpretive questions.

Also, remember the five common traits of Orwell's essays that you are to discern from "The Spike" and all previous essays.

You will receive "Shooting an Elephant" and the remaining essays Thursday.

Monday/Tuesday

Read "The Spike" and figure out five literary features that are common to all the Orwell essays. List them on paper and mark up a section on that basis. We may also return to "Down the Mine."

Tuesday

WLA 2 drafts for B-day Wednesday. Bring walking shoes and coats to class Thursday/Friday. We'll go on a little expedition. Also, keep WLA 2 materials handy at all times so that you can work on the big kahuna whenever there is a spare moment and a rack of computers.

Wednesday

For Friday/Monday, complete revisions and bring in WLA materials to work in class.

Monday

For Wednesday/Thursday, read George Orwell's "A Hanging" and choose a short passage to parse. Present in class.

Thursday/Friday

For Monday/Tuesday's assignment, use "Lastname.Hollow.doc" as file naming protocol. Put papers in "Hollow Men" folder in Web Locker. Exactly one double-spaced page with no header (your name is in filename). If you cite the critic, simply use his name: "As Grover Smith suggests, the poem has a great deal of convergence with Heart of Darkness." In this case, do not make a Works Cited page. We all have the critical essays.

Thursday

Lots of no-shows in the Web Locker for WLA 1. That's a graded deadline.

Tuesday

Click here to go to School Web Locker, where you can store your documents for the rest of the year. It is like Dropbox but I can access it, so it is a good place to put schoolwork. You can access it from anywhere through the internet. It does not have that great desktop folder like Dropbox, but you can see its usefulness.

Turn in your paper FINAL final WLA 1 at the start of your next English class period. Place your electronic file of FINAL final WLA 1 in Dropbox by midnight on the due date.

Monday

Looking at calendars makes me want to vomit, so what can I say when the schedule gets changed on me? B day class, have your final final on Wednesday. A day, have your final final on Wednesday also.

Thursday

For Monday, bring in any revisions you have made on WLA 1. It is due on Tuesday/Wednesday in its final final form. Also for Tuesday/Wednesday, read the Eliot essays and report on them and how they relate or explain "The Hollow Men."

Friday

Bring a file copy of your WLA 1 to class on Monday and Tuesday. We will work on them during class, and I will show you a couple of ways to make use of Word to proofread.

Monday

Bring in WLA 2 plans on Wednesday/Thursday. You will receive a handout to help with this. Be prepared to discuss and defend your ideas.

Friday

Performances will be on Wednesday for everyone.

 

Friday class, bring data file of your WLA 1 to revise in class and a thesis idea for WLA 2.

Thursday

For next class, be assured I will give at least 45 minutes from the beginning of class to the Prufrock preparations. If you can, begin reading or rereading your world lit material and cogitate over some good topics. Everyone may proceed with the first choice.

I have asked for the entire group for performance day so that everyone can see the work of the others.

Wednesday

All those who chose One Hundred Years of Solitude (4) or The House of the Spirits (1) as their first choice may proceed.

Tuesday/Wednesday

1. Make a list of your top three choices of world lit books for WLA 2.

2. Reread "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." You will need to be informed about your group's decisions about how the poem is divided up.

3. Write your three interpretive questions from your assigned section of "Tradition and the Individual Talent."

4. Think and work on revising your WLA 1 (no grade or checkup on this).

 

I will take your choices and try to get books into your hands as quickly as possible. Then we will discuss "Tradition." For the last 20 minutes, we will work in groups for "Prufrock."

Also, take note of the deadline. If there is a problem, speak to it NOW!

Wednesday

Complete feedback for WLA 1. Read "Tradition and the Individual Talent." Consider performance possibilities.

Tuesday

Have a happy late start day. Here is the link to the website for Andrew Allen.

I recommend Flight, The Thomas Beale Cipher, and The Emperor of Ice Cream. Most of the rest is commercial in nature.

Read "Tradition and the Individual Talent" for Thursday/Friday. Those who have not finished feedback, finish that up.

Friday

Oral commentaries are Monday and Tuesday, following a long IB tradition of moving back deadlines and running out of time. When I first moved the deadlines on the calendar (and I can hardly stand to look at a calendar), I did not consider election day. Sorry for the nerves.

Thursday

Tomorrow, Friday, both classes meet with Mr. Belk. On Monday, A-day finishes Macbeth and works on commentary prep. On Wednesday, A-day performs commentaries for a major grade. Be certain of partnerships. B-day does all on Tuesday and Thursday.

Thursday

Monday, all students meet with Mr. Belk. Tuesday is Career Day, so please find a great career. Friday, you will all take a test with Mr. Belk. I will see all of you on Wednesday and Thursday. We will finish the movie Macbeth and work on oral commentaries from the play. Be ready to perform the commentary on the first day that you return the following week. See calendar.

Donuts!

Saturday

This is a dark day. Carolina beat number one Alabama, and Clemson lost. I have lived too long.

Thursday

I have yielded to pleading and moved the group performance back one day. The individual performance due date remains unchanged.

Tuesday

See the rubrics and the calendar dates to the right.

Monday/Tuesday

Prepare your group adaptation for October 11-12; prepare your individual recitation for October 15 and 18. See calendar for affirmation.

Thursday/Friday

In addition to finishing the play, shuffle through the pages to find suitable passages of from 20-30 lines in length that express a complete idea that you will memorize and present in a dramatic monologue. Small passages by servants and others can be done by classmates. Choose three passages: one from the first third of the play, one from the second third, and one from the third third. Prioritize them. WE will lock down the passages during next class.

 

Also, with a group of two-four people, choose a crucial portion of the play (again, choose more than one so we don't all do the same portion) and thoroughly modernize the play. Consciously choose setting and thematic highlights.

 

For both performances, prepare a statement of intent with clear context and defined features that govern your dramatic choices.

Wednesday

Everybody: finish the play by Monday/Tuesday.

Monday

Tuesday's class will not be quizzed or tested in any way, but please read through Act III before the next class period.

Wednesday

Read Act II for Friday/Monday.

Thursday

For Wednesday/Thursday, read Act I of Macbeth. If possible, watch Scarface. Think of a good movie date.

Note slight changes to "Project"

See post "Project" of September 8 below. It has been fleshed out a little, and a time limit has been imposed.

Wednesday

Both A and B day, bring STUFF to work on for your projects!

Project

The date for performance or presentation of your projects is Monday/Tuesday, September 20/21.
1. Identify work and author
2. Contextualize the passage and read aloud, or read select portions that will make sense.
3. Show what literary element, device, style choices, or other artistic methodology you notice in the extract.
4. Tell your intentions as specifically as possible, like a "statement of intent."
5. Perform or display your work.
6. Stand for questions.
7. Assessment: Columns A and B of the oral commentary rubric adjusted to 100-point scale. Detailed evidence and analysis must show.
8. Time limits: minimum five minutes; maximum ten minutes (-10 if outside limits)

For Friday/Monday

Reset: Find a passage you think is crucial in Heart of Darkness. Find something important about the methods, the ways by which Conrad communicates ideas and creates effects. Plan an alternative way to highlight these methods creatively. Have your passage and idea on Friday/Monday. Plan also to set the due date for the final work.

Wednesday

Remember to bring in your findings on the assigned passages: you are looking for images, image patterns (imagery), and making hypotheses about symbols.

Donuts are holey

Please remember to bring a buck if you want some dough.

 

Nuts, that is.

Monday

For Wednesday/Thursday, finish Heart of Darkness. Study the literary terms that are in the right hand column. You will need to use these terms next class.

Friday

OK, yall, look at the blog. You will find two versions of Heart of Darkness that are searchable. You can copy text from them too, so you do not have to write out anything as long as you have access to a printer. Commentary passages should be between 25-40 lines, so it will almost always print on a single page. Look on the right for a downloadable .pdf. Further down, under "Handy Dandy Links," you will find an internet link to an online version of the same novella. (Look up "novella" and use that word when referring to this little book).

Thursday

For Monday/Tuesday, read all of Part II, at least. Continue to note Marlow's attitude, the role of women and the imagery surrounding them, and the "impressionistic" method employed in the novella.

Thursday addendum

Donut notes: Those Krispy Kremes will be in NEXT Friday, not tomorrow! Sorry about that. However, Mr. Belk says ok for his room next Friday.

Tuesday

For Thursday/Friday, choose one extract from Part I of H of D. The extract should be between 25 and 40 lines in length. Annotate it independently as you did the first extract in class with a partner.

Annotate your extract in the following ways (at least):

1. Give a name to the point of view.
2. Identify, as clearly as possible, the speaker or speakers in your extract.
3. Note the structure of your extract as a whole, within paragraphs, and within selected sentences. Point out any movement or changes that occur (in anything!) through the course of your extract.
4. Using at least four different colors, mark things that you think, for some reason, can and perhaps should be grouped together. (Anything to do with darkness, for instance, or all complex similes, or the author's or the speaker's use of color -- like yellow).
5. After you have done this, provide a legend for your markup that shows what each color indicates: label or categorize the each color.
6. Star any striking or powerful phrase, sentence, or passage.
7. After all, note any changes you see in the speaker's or speakers' attitude.

Friday

Read pages 3-31 in H of D; paraphrase the designated passage about the "glow."

Consider WLA 2. You may see some descriptions of the variety of assignments available in the guide that is posted to your right on this web page as "IB Handbook." Check page 30 of the paper edition or page 33 of the .pdf for initial guidance. The rubric is the same as for WLA 1.

Wednesday

I'm so glad you're here. For your next class, print off one copy of the syllabus and present it in class. Also, be prepared to enter your email into my invitations list so that you can contribute to the blog from time to time. For Friday/Monday, bring in a notebook of the kind I showed you.

Read!

P.S. Third block ends for seniors, upstairs A-hall, at 1:27.

The Graduation Blues with DADDY

Thursday, for Paper Two

Remember that the significant difference between Paper One and Paper Two is that the rubric for Paper Two has a "response to the question" section. The question you choose is not a prompt or suggestion but a question you do need to answer with evidence from two of the four poets: Marvell, Coleridge, Tennyson, and Neruda. Now, go do what you came for! (It's good to have a few key fragments of some poems to pull out when you might need them...things like "But at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near" or "Water, water everywhere,/ And all the boards did shrink./ Water, water, everywhere,/ And not a drop to drink." You can then say lots about meter, rhyme, and line length just on that basis, at least with this particular poem.)

When the Paper Two instructions mention "works," you should regard that as the body of poems by a particular poet. Your knowledge of "works" should be informed by the part of your research we called "philosophical points applied to poems." Use a variety of poems to illustrate your answer, not just one.

Wednesday

See posts from below, reprinted here:
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday

Clearly this is a day late, but you should be doing your assignments on "Khubla Khan" and, after today, Tennyson's "Ulysses."

The nearly complete poetry pack is on Dropbox, and I will embed "Khubla Khan" and "Ulysses" right here by the end of the day.
Posted by Mr. Koon at 8:20 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday

SL students: bring in your projects for presentation on Friday/Monday. All others, listen to and score your oral.


Complete your follow-up to the structural awareness activity on "To His Coy Mistress."

The questions:
1. With two genii, arrange the poem you have received into what you think constitutes the best poem possible with the material.

2. Describe the rhyme scheme.

3. Describe the metrical pattern and write a scansion of two lines.

4. Describe, neatly and in logical order, your group's process for determining where each line goes. Who suggested what? What was the very first thing you did when you saw this cut up mess? Use paragraph form with appropriate transitions to link sentence to sentence (first, next, then, however -- that sort of thing).

5. Write your rationale for grouping the lines as you do. This part differs from process; it is not what you thought and in what order. It is a justification for the poem standing as you have arranged it.

Poem is to your right.

Tuesday

The calendar is to the right. It is to be trusted: A-day goes tomorrow.

Friday

Fine tune of assignment: You can have, as you present, ONLY copies of the poems, statements from your world-class critics, and the rubric. To compensate, your due date has been rolled back one week to Wednesday/Thursday, April 28-29. Early presentations are welcome and encouraged with a five-point bonus on the percentage score for the presentation.

Tuesday

An oral display of staggering erudition is due on Tuesday/Wednesday of next week.

 

Interested parties should look at the Voice of Democracy oral essay contest! More here soon.

Tuesday

Freud says the consciousness is a filter. It filters out the noise of omnipresent stimuli so that we can find meaning and sense. Consider in light of Coleridge.

Friday

I collected some art from the web that was inspired by Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott." See it to the right just below the calendar. The pictures are of random size, so it is a little weird. If you download the file and view it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, it looks much better.

Thursday

A-day students: I understand your concern about mock exam paper 2. The works posted on this page are eligible works. Apply the IB Poetry Prep sheet, embedded to the right, to each of these, or even to two of them. If you make exhaustive notes and study hard, you will do well by any standard on paper 2. You may also skim through the poetry pack, embedded just to the right on this blog, and choose any poems you like to apply the IB Poetry Prep questions to.

Just for this mock exam, you may also use the poetry of Eliot. You will NOT be able to use Eliot for the real exam in May, but I score these tests, so I know exactly what you have been prepared for. Study, worry as you would for any exam, but do not stress about having too little preparation because the preparer is the scorer.

Look here if you want a heads up on Paper 1. Apply the IB Poetry Prep to it and be prepared!

Wednesday

Clearly this is a day late, but you should be doing your assignments on "Khubla Khan" and, after today, Tennyson's "Ulysses."

 

The nearly complete poetry pack is on Dropbox, and I will embed "Khubla Khan" and "Ulysses" right here by the end of the day.

Wednesday

SL students: bring in your projects for presentation on Friday/Monday. All others, listen to and score your oral.

Complete your follow-up to the structural awareness activity on "To His Coy Mistress."

The questions:
1. With two genii, arrange the poem you have received into what you think constitutes the best poem possible with the material.

2. Describe the rhyme scheme.

3. Describe the metrical pattern and write a scansion of two lines.

4. Describe, neatly and in logical order, your group's process for determining where each line goes. Who suggested what? What was the very first thing you did when you saw this cut up mess? Use paragraph form with appropriate transitions to link sentence to sentence (first, next, then, however -- that sort of thing).

5. Write your rationale for grouping the lines as you do. This part differs from process; it is not what you thought and in what order. It is a justification for the poem standing as you have arranged it.

Poem is to your right.

Find format guide

on Dropbox. It is called "WLATitle.body.wc.format.doc"

 

Look at it carefully and format accordingly. Note the translators included in the works cited.

Tuesday

Be sure to read yesterday's posting first; bring in electronic copies to review in class Wednesday.

 

DO NOT EXPECT ANY EMAILED PAPERS to count toward your WLA 1 or WLA 2. You must have printed copies of both papers with you on Friday.

 

Good luck, but do it right!

Deadline

On my last handout I gave you a deadline of March 10 because of an IBO deadline of March 15. However, Mrs. Cox has clarified: that is not enough time to ensure their timely arrival. It is clear that these papers must be completely finished and in the mail by Monday. Thus, the DEADLINE is Friday, March 5, and that deadline is DEAD! Papers printed, formatted, proofread, and signed.

Bring in electronic copies of WLA 1 and WLA 2 for final packaging NEXT CLASS PERIOD!

Friday, Part Deux

The following people have no record of WLA 2 in the gradebook: SC, KD, JG, NL, AM, IS, DS, WT. From A-day: AB, AC, ME, JJ, CK, IM, BM, AM, DP, LY.

 

That's a lot.

Friday

I have WLA 2 papers that I cannot identify. Please check in if this could be you.

Thursday

SL students with Powerpoints or videos: I need some kind of evidence that you have drafted your project well. A printout of the slides or some equivalent would be good, perhaps with a statement outlining what you plan to say.

Monday

Post comments if you have questions in class and I will do my best to respond to them before day's end. Remember that your intermediate deadline is Thursday; for B-day, it is Friday. I changed this to equalize the number of classes for each block.

Be sure to sign up for orals!

Thursday

Bring materials to work on your WLA 2 assignment. A-day, have a working thesis and a plan to discuss with me tomorrow. B-day, you have the same things on Monday. On the 15th and 16th, have a draft of your paper completed for review in class.

Wednesday

Revisit, in your notes pertaining to oral commentaries, your section on THEME. Be sure you are exposing a statement the extract or work makes about a thematic idea. A theme is not "isolation" but "Urban accumulation creates an unresolvable isolation" or "Vast accumulations of knowledge in the modern world create a new kind of ignorance." See, it's universal (can fit several works of art, not just "Preludes") and makes a statement. Moreover, it allows a thesis to "move." You prove a point. A thesis then might read, "Eliot uses blah, blah, and blah to reveal that the city brings people together only to isolate them still further" or "...that all our knowledge of one another is partial and fragmented but is still bridgeable by strenuous exercise of imagination."

Tuesday

Both the WLA 2 assignment and the "Additional Ideas for SL" assignments are in Dropbox.

 

Orals the week of February 22 (SL focus on Conrad and Shakespeare).

WLA 2 or alternative week of March 1. Plan for intermediate deadline around the 15th. Bring materials and thesis idea to class tomorrow.

Tuesday

Yall: These oral commentary notes are not to be scratchy little scant things. You should have an EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS of your extracts written in a neat and orderly arrangement, preferably typed and well-formatted, with examples tied to ideas.

Tuesday

Have your notes neatly laid out when you come to class on Wednesday/Thursday. I will take up the notes you use.

Tuesday

See calendar: oral commentaries on selected texts next week.

Tuesday

Kevian -- send me an email from each account you have used in the last year. That will help me search archives.

Monday

Although I do not recommend it because I think you should run screaming out of here with your hands up on Friday, you may defer your presentations of the Eliot poetry until one day after our return in January. That would be January 6 (A) and 7 (B).

Monday

Ok. A-day can have one more day to prep for WLA. Friday will be your due date. See you Wednesday!

Monday

This week, complete revisions of your WLA 1. Begin work on your presentation of an Eliot poem by the end of next week. See format guide in the Dropbox, which includes a title page. Add this: in the header that repeats at the top of each page (the place where you put your last name and the page number at the upper right), center your student number.

Monday

Please bring your WLA 1 for in-class review: I will have laptops, so you can revise if you bring the file.

What does it take to be a real man (or a real woman) according the play Macbeth?Find at least one pair of supportive passages that reveals one of the Macbeths contrasted with a foil character and analyze according to at least two literary criteria. Write your thoughts in a well-formed essay that concludes with your own thoughts on the main idea. Shape your essay as if it were a commentary. Both the essay and each internal paragraph should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. To earn an A, your paper must have a WOW factor. I need a little WOW. See today's instructions. Papers are due Thurday/Friday, Dec. 3/4.

Friday

See notes in dropbox one more time: I am about to assign credit for them if I can read them.

Monday

Look in dropbox at the Shakespeare notes. See how useless it is to write notes no one can read. If your notes are blank, please redo in DARK INK -- neatly.

Thursday

There is a copy of the mini-me research project rubric in Dropbox.

Tuesday

I will not be there Tuesday. Work on orals, log notes from Act I (to be scanned in); present little histories.

Scholarship money!

See Optimist Club essay contest below the calendar to the right. Do it! Or I'll be sure my daughter gets it!

A-day did a great job on the recitations today. Look at the calendar and the previous post for deadline clarifications.

Through Wednesday

I've adjusted the calendar a little because it takes so long to share findings:
Friday/Monday: recitations all day; if we finish, then we report research findings until the bell
Tuesday/Wednesday: complete reports on research; turn in notes on Act I (rather than write them on the board). I'll give you a handout for this. Then begin oral commentaries on the parts you memorized.
Thursday/Friday: finish orals; maybe a reading check; begin movie of Macbeth

Wednesday/Thursday

Prepare for a mini-oral on your memory selection to perform individually on Wednesday/Thursday. Organize as before with clear title, author, context, importance/purpose, and focusing thesis. Prepare for one or two elements or angles. Your commentary should be 4-6 minutes in length. DO NOT WRITE IT OUT. It will be assessed by classmates and me.

We will also go to the library for a little on-the-go research about the background, and we will have a language quiz reviewing the sentence patterns and simple diagrams. We might not get it all done...