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.