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.