Monday, June 16

Periods 3 & 4 watched the beginning of The Crucible.
Periods 5 & 6 sunned themselves in the stadium.

Because some 5th & 6th period students' ability to work has been hampered by materials being left behind in the school, Mr. Potratz will accept final projects from them on Wednesday (though there is no class). Textbooks must be turned in on finals day. Final projects are due Thursday for periods 3 & 4.

Research papers have been returned to 3. 4, 5 & 6 will receive theirs Tuesday.
10 pts. extra credit is available for 1 or more pages of "fixes" in response to my corrections.

Friday, June 13

Arthur Miller, the Communists, and the anti-Communists.
Miller's biography: a child of the Depression; his left-wing politics,
Miller's testimony before HUAC, his being found in contempt of Congress.
A very few minutes of David Halberstam's The Fifties.

Mr. Potratz returned the in-class Gatsby essays.

Coming up:
Monday and Tuesday (5th & 6th periods) or Thursday (3rd & 4th): The Crucible (1996 film).
Tuesday or Thursday: final project (Character Nexus & Character Sketches); Crucible notesheet; Elements of Literature textbook.

Thursday, June 12

The Crucible, Act IV

Wednesday, June 11

Mr. Potratz passed out the assignment sheet for the final project, due on finals day (6/17 for periods 5& 6; 6/19 for periods 3&4). The assignment has two parts, a character nexus chart and five character sketches.

We listened to Act III of The Crucible and discussed it.

Tuesday, June 10

The Crucible. We took parts and read aloud from Acts II & III.

Monday, June 9

A brief (10 question) quiz worth 30 points began the period, after which we listened to the beginning of Act II of The Crucible.

Friday, June 6

We finished Act I of The Crucible.

HW due Monday: Read any parts of Act I you have not read (e.g., commentary we skipped over in class), review the act and take notes in your note booklet, and prepare for a small quiz.

Thursday, June 5

We read more of Act I of The Crucible, and discussed what we learned about Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Mary Warren, Rebecca Nurse, and Giles Cory and about conflicts brewing in the town of Salem.

Wednesday, June 4
(Blastus lastus)

Mr. Potratz distributed note booklets for The Crucible, this time focusing on characters rather than motif. Then we began reading and listening to the play, discussing briefly the characters introduced at the beginning of the first act: Rev. Parris, Tituba, Abigail Williams, and Ann and Thomas Putnam.

Tuesday, June 3

Students wrote their Gatsby essays in class.

Monday, June 2

Final crack at Gatsby before Tuesday's in-class essay.
Theme and motif: Images of transportation and versions of the American Dream.