Hey kids -
Here is a link to an online version of "A Modest Proposal".
http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/modest.html
Please read it in its entirety for Monday and be prepared to answer questions on its content.
Also, don't forget to complete The Office: Diversity Day Worksheet, due Monday. You can catch the rest of the episode at www.hulu.com
I found the following online; it's a little blurb about the episode and its satirical nature:
The Office: Diversity Day
"During its first three seasons, NBC's The Office satirized corporate America's bumbling attempts to change its own entrenched sexist, racist, and homophobic attitudes. Michael Scott is a comic representation of the hypocrisy of the American business environment; personifying both its urge to be seen as likable and tolerant and its longing to return to a time when it could freely run on a system of white male privilege.
A manager who became successful during a time when business shamelessly ran on the good ol' boy system, Michael cannot change his sexist and racist outlook to keep up with the corporate world's new need to seem inclusive. Yet, it is he who has to lead the diversity day training (where he requires all staff to say racially insulting things about whatever ethnic group is named on a card taped to the person's head) and oversee the sexual harassment awareness training (in which he constantly sexually harasses the office women).
However, no matter how diverse his staff or how many diversity training sessions he attends (or leads), Michael continuously fails to rewrite his sexist and prejudiced views of people. Michael treats every woman as a sex interest, a matron, or an emotional fluff brain and insults every minority by mimicking stereotypical representations of their ethnic group. He is constantly surrounded by women and minorities who are far more competent than he is, but he unfailingly adjusts his view of them to match his preconceived notions of a group to which they pertain. Part of the humor of the show comes from watching people decide how to react in the face of his egregiously incorrect views. We watch people react to Michael's misbehavior and recognize the decisions we make on a daily basis about when to let an offense go unmentioned and when we should protest."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Keats Homework Assignment
Hey kids - yes, that is the home of John Keats! Very exciting - I think he wrote "Ode to Nightingale" in the front yard!!!
Here is your assignment:
Read the poem (Google it).
Do the following:
1. Make a list of and identify all allusions
2. What is the speaker's mood in lines 19 and 20 and how is the mood revealed?
3. Compare the celestial images in stanza 4 to the earthly images in stanza 5 and determine the point of the contrast.
Enjoy - Due tomorrow, February 24th.
Here is your assignment:
Read the poem (Google it).
Do the following:
1. Make a list of and identify all allusions
2. What is the speaker's mood in lines 19 and 20 and how is the mood revealed?
3. Compare the celestial images in stanza 4 to the earthly images in stanza 5 and determine the point of the contrast.
Enjoy - Due tomorrow, February 24th.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Comp Entrance Essay
Hey kids -
Here is a link you can check out for tips on how to write the comp entrance essay. Although it's information about how to write the SAT essay, you can follow the advice and get a good idea of what to do and what not to do.
The #1 issue I foresee kids falling into tomorrow is the employment of vague/tired/cliche/average examples, such as "Changes do make our lives easier because we now can write essays on a computer instead of by hand which takes too long."
Remember, be specific. Use interesting, well developed examples that support your main idea. Don't write a lot of B.S. Develop an idea in a new and interesting way. Vary your sentence structure. Brush up on your grammar. USE PARAGRAPHS to separate EACH NEW IDEA!! Do not use "text speak" - capitalize words that need capitalized and don't use abbreviations or slang.
Here's the link - it's from your favorite website:
http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/newsat/chapter6section5.rhtml
Here is a link you can check out for tips on how to write the comp entrance essay. Although it's information about how to write the SAT essay, you can follow the advice and get a good idea of what to do and what not to do.
The #1 issue I foresee kids falling into tomorrow is the employment of vague/tired/cliche/average examples, such as "Changes do make our lives easier because we now can write essays on a computer instead of by hand which takes too long."
Remember, be specific. Use interesting, well developed examples that support your main idea. Don't write a lot of B.S. Develop an idea in a new and interesting way. Vary your sentence structure. Brush up on your grammar. USE PARAGRAPHS to separate EACH NEW IDEA!! Do not use "text speak" - capitalize words that need capitalized and don't use abbreviations or slang.
Here's the link - it's from your favorite website:
http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/newsat/chapter6section5.rhtml
Monday, February 2, 2009
Don't Forget to Finish The Thirteenth Tale !!
Hey kids -
I hope you are surviving midterm exams! Just a reminder - you only have ONE more weekend to finish The Thirteenth Tale!
I promised I wouldn't make you do any work related to the novel while you were reading it and I hold true to that promise... however, as of Monday, February 9th, that promise expires.
In preparation for class the weeks of February 9th and 16th, come to class each day prepared with a written answer to the following assigned questions:
Tuesday, February 10th:
Consider this quote: "All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get won't be the truth; it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story." -- Vida Winter.
How does this quote act as a thesis for the entire novel?
Wednesday, February 11th
Margaret tells a tale in the book of becoming so engrossed in reading a book that she falls off the wall where she is sitting. She suggests that this proves that "reading can be dangerous."
The Thirteenth Tale shows that reading is powerful, and that the dangers of reading are far more pervasive and can be far darker than Margaret's amusing childhood tale would allow. These dangers are not confined to the naive reader, nor can they be limited to childhood. Reading is a dangerous pastime; words have an inescapable physicality and can work for profound good or profound evil. Do you agree with Margaret about the danger of reading? Why, or why not?
How does this connect to our study of Blake's Three Stages of Being?
Thursday, February 12th
When Margaret challenges Miss Winter on the many versions of her life story she has already told, the author replies "It's my profession. I'm a storyteller." For Miss Winter, Margaret's pursuit of biography, her insistence on working with facts, is "horribly dull...Don't you think one can tell the truth much better with a story?" (p. 46). Who do you agree with more, and why? What makes someone's life story fiction? A biography? A memoir?
Friday, February 13th:
Like the book whose secrets are hinted at by its cover, houses reveal much about their owners. This is especially true in The Thirteenth Tale, where houses are virtual reflections of their inhabitants. Margaret's room above her father's bookshop, Angelfield, and Miss Winter's Yorkshire home all reveal much about the people who live in them, as does Aurelius's cozy cottage. What did you think about the meaning of houses and other structures in The Thirteenth Tale? What do the characters' surroundings say about them and their role in the novel?
Tuesday, February 17th:
Consider our study of Romanticism and apply the definitions we drafted in class to the following: What does Dr. Clifton mean when he tells Margaret that she is "suffering from an ailment that afflicts ladies of romantic imagination"?
Also, choose one character from the novel and gather 10 quotes from the book that reveal, directly or indirectly, that person's true "character".
Wednesday, February 18th:
The Thirteenth Tale is, at its core, a novel about secrets and the ways that the characters are shaped by secrets, their own and the secrets of those around them. Vida Winter is "as famous for her secrets as for her stories" (p. 11), and Margaret is forever scarred by her discovery, at the age of ten, that her mother has kept a secret. What role do secrets play in the story, and which ones did you find most surprising?
I hope you are surviving midterm exams! Just a reminder - you only have ONE more weekend to finish The Thirteenth Tale!
I promised I wouldn't make you do any work related to the novel while you were reading it and I hold true to that promise... however, as of Monday, February 9th, that promise expires.
In preparation for class the weeks of February 9th and 16th, come to class each day prepared with a written answer to the following assigned questions:
Tuesday, February 10th:
Consider this quote: "All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get won't be the truth; it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story." -- Vida Winter.
How does this quote act as a thesis for the entire novel?
Wednesday, February 11th
Margaret tells a tale in the book of becoming so engrossed in reading a book that she falls off the wall where she is sitting. She suggests that this proves that "reading can be dangerous."
The Thirteenth Tale shows that reading is powerful, and that the dangers of reading are far more pervasive and can be far darker than Margaret's amusing childhood tale would allow. These dangers are not confined to the naive reader, nor can they be limited to childhood. Reading is a dangerous pastime; words have an inescapable physicality and can work for profound good or profound evil. Do you agree with Margaret about the danger of reading? Why, or why not?
How does this connect to our study of Blake's Three Stages of Being?
Thursday, February 12th
When Margaret challenges Miss Winter on the many versions of her life story she has already told, the author replies "It's my profession. I'm a storyteller." For Miss Winter, Margaret's pursuit of biography, her insistence on working with facts, is "horribly dull...Don't you think one can tell the truth much better with a story?" (p. 46). Who do you agree with more, and why? What makes someone's life story fiction? A biography? A memoir?
Friday, February 13th:
Like the book whose secrets are hinted at by its cover, houses reveal much about their owners. This is especially true in The Thirteenth Tale, where houses are virtual reflections of their inhabitants. Margaret's room above her father's bookshop, Angelfield, and Miss Winter's Yorkshire home all reveal much about the people who live in them, as does Aurelius's cozy cottage. What did you think about the meaning of houses and other structures in The Thirteenth Tale? What do the characters' surroundings say about them and their role in the novel?
Tuesday, February 17th:
Consider our study of Romanticism and apply the definitions we drafted in class to the following: What does Dr. Clifton mean when he tells Margaret that she is "suffering from an ailment that afflicts ladies of romantic imagination"?
Also, choose one character from the novel and gather 10 quotes from the book that reveal, directly or indirectly, that person's true "character".
Wednesday, February 18th:
The Thirteenth Tale is, at its core, a novel about secrets and the ways that the characters are shaped by secrets, their own and the secrets of those around them. Vida Winter is "as famous for her secrets as for her stories" (p. 11), and Margaret is forever scarred by her discovery, at the age of ten, that her mother has kept a secret. What role do secrets play in the story, and which ones did you find most surprising?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
DUE MONDAY 1/26: Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
And William Blake’s “The Tyger”
Label each of Blake’s Contrary States of the Human Soul as Innocence, Experience, or Organized Innocence
1 This state relies upon recognition of the Church’s desire for people to be obedient and accept oppression, poverty, and inequality. It is a profound disillusionment with human nature and society. One entering this state sees cruelty and hypocrisy only too clearly but is unable to imagine a way out. _______________________________________________
2. This state is a higher form of consciousness. In this state, one’s sense of the divinity of humanity coexists with oppression and injustice, however involves continued recognition and active opposition to them. __________________________________________________
3. A state of genuine love and naïve trust toward all of human kind, accompanied by the unquestioned belief in Christian doctrine. Those in this state did not realize that the Church was using religion as a means of social control. ________________________________________
Scene 1:
The Note: Francis, Margie and William Blake’s The Tyger (on the bleachers at soccer practice)
Examine this scene, keeping in mind Blake’s definition of Innocence. Describe how this scene embodies innocence. How does Blake’s poem fit into the scene?
Scene 2: Boys on the Bus: Tim and Sister Assumpta and the book of Blake’s poetry
Paraphrase Sister Assumpta’s view of William Blake and considering William Blake’s States of Being, determine her role in Tim’s Bildungsroman.
Do you agree with Sister Assumpta’s view of William Blake? How does her view reflect the Romantic ideal of the Church using innocence as a means of social control? How is Sister Assumpta trying to control Tim?
Scene 3: Kids at the Zoo: The plan to get back at Sister Assumpta
Who, in this scene, seems to most clearly understand Blake’s concept of Organized Innocence? Read and interpret Blake’s poem “The Tyger”. What does the poem reveal about Blake’s view of experience? Using the poem’s unlocked meaning, consider what the guide says about the souls of animals. Whom do you think the guide would claim created the beast? Whom would Sister Assumpta claim created it?
Scene 4: Margie’s Secret
Consider Margie’s behavior from the beginning of the film up until she reveals her secret to Francis. Compare that behavior to her secret and to the fact she attempted suicide and determine where she is on her Bildungsroman at this point in the film.
Scene 5: Loss of Innocence – Tim and Francis and the dog on the side of the road.
In this scene, consider the stages Tim traveling through and toward. Is Tim in a state of innocence, experience or organized innocence? What actions would lead you to believe that he possesses innocence? Experience? Both?
Scene 6: Blake’s poem “The Tyger”, revisited
Has Francis moved from a state of Innocence to Experience to Organized Innocence? How does this scene depict Francis’ movement into this state? What is he doing that displays active opposition? Why was this poem a good choice for Francis? What does it symbolize to him? Whom do you think Francis would say made the tiger?
And William Blake’s “The Tyger”
Label each of Blake’s Contrary States of the Human Soul as Innocence, Experience, or Organized Innocence
1 This state relies upon recognition of the Church’s desire for people to be obedient and accept oppression, poverty, and inequality. It is a profound disillusionment with human nature and society. One entering this state sees cruelty and hypocrisy only too clearly but is unable to imagine a way out. _______________________________________________
2. This state is a higher form of consciousness. In this state, one’s sense of the divinity of humanity coexists with oppression and injustice, however involves continued recognition and active opposition to them. __________________________________________________
3. A state of genuine love and naïve trust toward all of human kind, accompanied by the unquestioned belief in Christian doctrine. Those in this state did not realize that the Church was using religion as a means of social control. ________________________________________
Scene 1:
The Note: Francis, Margie and William Blake’s The Tyger (on the bleachers at soccer practice)
Examine this scene, keeping in mind Blake’s definition of Innocence. Describe how this scene embodies innocence. How does Blake’s poem fit into the scene?
Scene 2: Boys on the Bus: Tim and Sister Assumpta and the book of Blake’s poetry
Paraphrase Sister Assumpta’s view of William Blake and considering William Blake’s States of Being, determine her role in Tim’s Bildungsroman.
Do you agree with Sister Assumpta’s view of William Blake? How does her view reflect the Romantic ideal of the Church using innocence as a means of social control? How is Sister Assumpta trying to control Tim?
Scene 3: Kids at the Zoo: The plan to get back at Sister Assumpta
Who, in this scene, seems to most clearly understand Blake’s concept of Organized Innocence? Read and interpret Blake’s poem “The Tyger”. What does the poem reveal about Blake’s view of experience? Using the poem’s unlocked meaning, consider what the guide says about the souls of animals. Whom do you think the guide would claim created the beast? Whom would Sister Assumpta claim created it?
Scene 4: Margie’s Secret
Consider Margie’s behavior from the beginning of the film up until she reveals her secret to Francis. Compare that behavior to her secret and to the fact she attempted suicide and determine where she is on her Bildungsroman at this point in the film.
Scene 5: Loss of Innocence – Tim and Francis and the dog on the side of the road.
In this scene, consider the stages Tim traveling through and toward. Is Tim in a state of innocence, experience or organized innocence? What actions would lead you to believe that he possesses innocence? Experience? Both?
Scene 6: Blake’s poem “The Tyger”, revisited
Has Francis moved from a state of Innocence to Experience to Organized Innocence? How does this scene depict Francis’ movement into this state? What is he doing that displays active opposition? Why was this poem a good choice for Francis? What does it symbolize to him? Whom do you think Francis would say made the tiger?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Writing Contest~
Hey kids - Penguin Publishing Group is running an essay contest and giving out five $1000 prizes.
This year, the essay focuses on the novel Jane Eyre - which is mentioned in The Thirteenth Tale several times! If you have read Jane Eyre or it you are interested in reading it, consider this contest!
Here's a link to the website:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/services-academic/essayhome.html
This year, the essay focuses on the novel Jane Eyre - which is mentioned in The Thirteenth Tale several times! If you have read Jane Eyre or it you are interested in reading it, consider this contest!
Here's a link to the website:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/services-academic/essayhome.html
Friday, January 16, 2009
Last Chance Workout
Ok - here's the deal: I will give you partial credit for each assignment you make up. Partial credit will range anywhere from 2 points off to half credit, depending on the assignment.
For those of you who need to make up Act I questions, here they are: (the rest of you scroll down)
Act I, Scene i (You can find the play online by Googling it)
1. List two paradoxes from this scene.
a.
b.
2. Use three or four specific words to describe the emotional tone of the scene
a.
b.
c.
Scene ii
1. Identify and explain the simile in the soldier’s opening lines.
2. According to the soldier, what did Macbeth do in the battle?
3. Would the attack of a sparrow dismay an eagle?
4. What fate has befallen the Thane of Cawdor? How will this affect Macbeth?
Scene iii
1. Why is the first witch in a foul mood?
2. Macbeth's opening lines are an echo of which earlier lines?
a. Why would he think the day was foul?
b. Why would he think it fair?
5. Examine Banquo's comments and reaction to the witches and then choose one or two line that accurately infers Banquo’s attitude towards the witches and their prophecy.
5. Compare and contrast the reactions of Banquo and Macbeth when they hear the message from the King that Macbeth was named Thane of Cawdor.
6. Macbeth is a bit worried. He says that the recent events can’t be bad but they also can’t be good. Why can’t they be bad? Why can’t they be good?
For those of you who need to make up the Star Wars/Polanski Macbeth assignment, go to the top left corner and type "Star Wars" into the box and click on "search blog".
For those of you who need to make up the Office Macbeth assignment, see me Tuesday.
For those of you who need to make up the Found Macbeth assignment: choose a scene from Macbeth and using 10 words or lines cut from magazines, write a collage style letter from one character to an audience revealing the character's perspective of the incident.
For those of you who have not written the Hornby Essay, go to the left hand corner and type "Hornby" into the search box and click on "search blog". Follow the instructions on the post that appears, EXCEPT remember to use an allusion from Macbeth as one of your supporting allusions in the 3rd paragraph.
DO NOT EMAIL ANY ASSIGNMENTS TO ME. Please print them out and bring in a hard copy next week.
For those of you who need to make up Act I questions, here they are: (the rest of you scroll down)
Act I, Scene i (You can find the play online by Googling it)
1. List two paradoxes from this scene.
a.
b.
2. Use three or four specific words to describe the emotional tone of the scene
a.
b.
c.
Scene ii
1. Identify and explain the simile in the soldier’s opening lines.
2. According to the soldier, what did Macbeth do in the battle?
3. Would the attack of a sparrow dismay an eagle?
4. What fate has befallen the Thane of Cawdor? How will this affect Macbeth?
Scene iii
1. Why is the first witch in a foul mood?
2. Macbeth's opening lines are an echo of which earlier lines?
a. Why would he think the day was foul?
b. Why would he think it fair?
5. Examine Banquo's comments and reaction to the witches and then choose one or two line that accurately infers Banquo’s attitude towards the witches and their prophecy.
5. Compare and contrast the reactions of Banquo and Macbeth when they hear the message from the King that Macbeth was named Thane of Cawdor.
6. Macbeth is a bit worried. He says that the recent events can’t be bad but they also can’t be good. Why can’t they be bad? Why can’t they be good?
For those of you who need to make up the Star Wars/Polanski Macbeth assignment, go to the top left corner and type "Star Wars" into the box and click on "search blog".
For those of you who need to make up the Office Macbeth assignment, see me Tuesday.
For those of you who need to make up the Found Macbeth assignment: choose a scene from Macbeth and using 10 words or lines cut from magazines, write a collage style letter from one character to an audience revealing the character's perspective of the incident.
For those of you who have not written the Hornby Essay, go to the left hand corner and type "Hornby" into the search box and click on "search blog". Follow the instructions on the post that appears, EXCEPT remember to use an allusion from Macbeth as one of your supporting allusions in the 3rd paragraph.
DO NOT EMAIL ANY ASSIGNMENTS TO ME. Please print them out and bring in a hard copy next week.
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