Letter to Character Due Tuesday!

And the Profile Page(s) will be due on Wednesday.

I evidently did not save the letter assignment to the server, and I don't have a copy.  It's on the back of the Profile page in case you didn't see it.

But the key elements are as follows:

• Give ADVICE to a main or key character at a plot appropriate point  for how far you should have read by now.
• The advice should be in the form of a personal letter.
• You can be a character in the book, or you can invent (and manage to explain) an identity and role for you in the life of the character.
• You must include at least three text-based references, one of which must be a direct quotation
• About 250 words in length

In class tomorrow:

These letters will be collected.

An administrator will visit to discuss graduation procedures in more detail.

You will have some time to work on your character profile page(s).

TODAY IN CLASS
Students got their lit circle books.  If you were absent, get one!  You will need to go to the bookroom on your own before or after school or at lunch.  See yesterday's post for the list of options.

Be sure you've read "Araby"--see prior posts.


TOMORROW
Tomorrow's plan--a shortened period, but full-time reading.

Fiction Terms (all in lit book):
Ambiguity, Antagonist, Character (note sub-terms), Characterization, Flashback, Foreshadowing, Mood/Atmosphere, Plot (note sub-terms), Point of View, Protagonist, Setting, Static/Dynamic

Choice Novel Unit--
We get the books tomorrow, except that we don't have all the titles, so . ..

ABSOLUTELY, positively .  . .

If you are interested in Brave New World (the futuristic dystopian novel) or in Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen's popular social comedy/love story/smart women rule except when they don't story) you need to be locating one.  Few people will get our few BNW's, and the school library has only a few Pr and Prej. copies.  

Reading starts on Thursday.  You can access Pride and Prejudice online for a few days, but you probably want the whole book.

FOR TOMORROW
Be sure that you have read Joyce's story "Araby" (starts on p. 1198)

Late, but PresentAn

SHORT STORIES

"The Demon Lover" (1230) -- Essentially done in 1st; needs a final wrap-up in 3rd/5th

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" (1154)--Turned in:  both the questions on the hand-out from Friday, and the 3 tracking categories from Thursday's reading.  If you did NOT turn them in in class, tomorrow at the start is the last full-credit chance.  (Unless you were absent--usual rules apply!)

New story assigned:  "Araby" (1200)  Read.  No written work yet.

CHOICE NOVELS

Books we have on-hand--no need to purchase on your own:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

John Gardner's Grendel

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams

Books you can choose, but will have to provide (purchase, borrow, etc.):

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice 

WHERE WE'VE BEEN
All sections have now completed all parts of the 1984 assessment:

• A short "pure objective" test
• Several written questions on aspects of the novel
• A non-fiction reading/writing section:  newspaper article and argumentative response

If you have not finished any one of these, please try to come in tomorrow morning (after 9--there's a faculty event earlier).  You can't come tomorrow afternoon; there's a faculty meeting.  No make-ups Thursday or Friday; I will be gone.

Also--there are a few people who have not yet submitted last Thursday's assignment (due no later than this past Sunday night, online only!).  I have created a "post-deadline" folder--at this point, I think all submissions are "late" vs. absence-related, but a late paper will still carry some credit through this week.  So GET THAT IN.  Instructions and links are in the post for Thursday, May 2.

TODAY IN CLASS

We set up and then read Elizabeth Bowen's "The Demon Lover" (p. 1228).  We discussed the ambiguity of the title, and I asked you to stay alert for further ambiguity within the story itself.

There will probably be some quick accountability at the start of class.

FOR TOMORROW

If you finished the story in class, that's great--no other homework.

If you did not, access it online and finish reading it.

An Interesting Day in the Neighborhood

TODAY IN CLASS--
It depended . . . .
1st period--Took the main written part (newspaper article) as well as the written questions on 1984
3rd period--Thanks to no I-vision and a full 60 minutes of time, took the WHOLE test.
5th period--We could have come close--many people would have been fine--but others would have need to come in to finish in order to have their allotted allowable time.  So I split it up.

Thus tomorrow--
1st--Pure objective section  (15 minutes average!)
5th--The newspaper article (about 30 minutes)

BUT ABOUT THE HOMEWORK DUE ONLINE BY SUNDAY NIGHT
Many--most in some classes--got this done and on turnitin.com in a timely fashion.  Others, for a variety of reasons, did not.  I have opened a "Post-Deadline" folder, and all further submissions, for whatever reason, need to go in there.  Do this ASAP if you haven't already.

No other homework for anyone

1984 Assignment and Test

TODAY IN CLASS
We went over the assignment posted Thursday that is due into turnitin.com no later than Sunday night. It is  described in Thursday's blog, and www.turnitin.com is already open.

We discussed the test--about half the time will be for a standard objective test with a few short written responses; the other half will be on a writing assignment based on a newspaper editorial from the Seattle Times.  You will need to answer a few short questions about the article and then write a multi-paragraph response that states and supports your own position on the subject discussed.

Song Lyrics:  in 1st/3rd, you were simply advised to take these seriously, but in 5th there was some time to work on these with a partner.  Consider the lyrics that are woven into various places in Orwell's text:

• the thrush (Golden Country/then mentioned in conjunction with the prole woman)--okay, no words, but Winston definitely hears a "message"--what is it?
• the Bells song--pay attention to ALL the verses (several references)
• the prole woman singing as she hangs laundry (more than once)
• Chestnut Tree--yes, it's a place, but it's also a song; look closely at the words and the timing

SO the idea here is to make connections between the words and actions, themes, ideas in the novel.

The Ending--In 1st/3rd, we looked at this closely, from the last few paragraphs of  Winston's time in Room 101 to the end of the book, with special emphasis on the last page. In 5th, we did not look so closely at the interaction between Winston and Julia when they accidentally met on the park bench, nor did we look at the ambiguity of the ending  (the very last page).  You need to re-read the last chapter and think about these ideas.  (And to everyone--why do you think Orwell decided to have Winston and Julia even meet at all?  What does that add?)

FOR MONDAY

Do the written assignment.

Pay attention to whichever part of the material above (either the song lyrics or the ending) was given short shrift in your class.

If you've kept up with the reading and done the prior work, you should be in good shape for the test.

TODAY IN CLASS

• All classes turned in the Chapter Three study guide.
• 1st/3rd wrote the short responses to the 1984 Apple ad based on 1984 (5th had done that on Wednesday)
• Students then worked on responding to the claims in the Anticipation Guide according to the world of 1984; statements 1-5, 7, and 9 were included in this assignment.  Working individually, in pairs, or threes, the task was to provide evidence from Orwell's book to show the "truth value" of each claim.  In some cases, several short examples would be best; in others, the example might be complicated enough that one significant incident would be sufficient.  The point of view should be "the party"--but where there are distinctions (Winston's doubts; the proles' lack of concern) they should be mentioned as qualifications. If you were in class, then you've done this.  IF YOU WERE ABSENT today, you will need to complete this assignment on your own. Write neatly in ink or type. You should still have the hand-out from a couple of weeks ago; you were asked to keep it because we would use it later. 

FOR TOMORROW

Current events, just FYI: check out these articles on the man with local ties recently sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean labor camp:

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-sentences-american-15-hard-labor-022806263.html

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-sentences-american-15-years-labor-035931247.html

For a writing assignment:  It will be enough to read the article and work on the summary portion for tomorrow; the complete assignment is not due until Sunday night (via www.turnitin.com).

1) Look briefly at both of these:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-north-korea-the-news-agency-is-the-weapon-of-choice/2013/04/28/88f3003e-aff2-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html?wpmk=MK0000200
(longer but more interesting)

http://news.yahoo.com/pyongyang-glitters-rest-nkorea-still-dark-014946168.html
(shorter but the implications are harder to dig out)

2) Choose ONE to read carefully.  You would be wise to print it out, because the writing assignment will be much easier to do if you have something to look at.

3) The following assignment needs to be done the computer because you will submit it to www.turnitin.com only--no hard copies at all.  You should get going on it tonight, but it is not "due" until Sunday night.  Yes, Sunday night.  I am not telling you to work on Sunday.  Finish it tonight.  Or on Friday.  Or on Saturday.

A) SUMMARIZE the article you have selected.  Do a word count.  You have a 150-word limit on the first article, and only 100 words for the second article.  You must give balanced coverage to the entire article.

B) This section is divided into two parts, and you need to respond to both, no matter which article you selected.

Question 1--Explain what aspects of the situation described in the article are the result of a totalitarian government. Do not just bullet this information.  Organize it in such a way that we see what aspects of government are involved.

Question 2--Explain how the material in the story reflects an oligarchy.

TODAY IN CLASS
Consideration of May 1--community identity and "coming together"--across the globe and the centuries.
Celebrating 20 years of the World Wide Web
Apple's revolutionary 1984 ad that utilized "1984"
 (1st/3rd:  there will be a quick follow-up to this)

FOR TOMORROW
Finish reading 1984; finish the Chapter Three worksheet.

There will be no separate Ch. 3 quiz; however, there WILL be a test over the whole work on Monday, May 6.  (I think I told 1st period that it would be Friday, but I've decided to make it Monday instead.)