Thursday, February 28

Friday is the last day to submit answers to the extra credit "tolo" questions.

We fine-tuned seating arrangements and established new seating charts. Students are to sit in their currently designated seats every day, and attendance will be taken from the chart.

Mr. Potratz checked off people who had library cards to show, or numbers to recite. Final deadline to have a KCLS card: Wednesday, March 5.

We finished looking at topic proposals (in some sections) and read & discussed the Resolutions (new handout) from the Seneca Falls Convention (in some sections).

Final, revised, typed topic proposals due Monday.

Wednesday, February 27

Mr. Potratz put students' research paper topic proposals under the document camera, and he and the class critiqued them, one at a time.


Tuesday, February 26

The class took a five-question, fifteen-point "quizlet" over the assigned chapter from Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the "Declaration of Sentiments" from the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. We then discussed those readings, and in some sections also read a new handout, "The Good Wife's Guide" from 1955.

Mr. Potratz passed out an additional sheet of research paper topic suggestions.

Monday, February 25

Quizlet over Uncle Tom's Cabin and "Declaration of Sentiments" postponed until Tuesday.

Also due Tuesday: Research paper topic proposal: Title, brief description, three questions you want to answer.

Teacher passed out research paper folders with the project assignment sheet (see Documents), ansd we went over the requirements and deadlines.

Friday, February 15

We finished watching A Class Divided, and discussed it, particularly the part where Jane Elliott in the exercise with the adults manages to turn any resistance on their part into further evidence that they deserve the treatment they are receiving.


Assignment for break:
(1) Due Monday 2/25:
Read Chapter XLI of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and "Declaration of Sentiments" (handouts) There will be a quizlet.
(2) Due Tuesday 2/26:
(a)Research Paper Topic &(b) What specifically you want to know about the subject. Typed.
SEE DOCUMENTS FOR RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT SHEET.

Thursday, February 14

Mr. Potratz was absent. The class watched most of A Class Divided, a documentary film from PBS about a famous educational experiment in discrimination.

Wednesday, February 15

We read Chief Joseph's moving "I will fight no more forever," and Frances Gage's account of Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman" sppech at the 1851 Woman's Rights Convention.

Tuesday, February 12

"The Gettysburg Address." We read it, and discussed its meaning and its style. Then (except in 3rd period) students rewrote the speech, maintaining all the basic content but using a radically different style and voice, of their choosing.

Monday, February 11

Students turned in their HW, and we used students' answers to Questions 6 & 7 to focus our discussion of "A Mystery of Heroism" by Stephen Crane.

Friday, February 8

We read and discussed tone and irony in "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master" (handout).

HW due Monday:
Read "The Mystery of Heroism" by Stephen Crane in Elements of Literature, pp. 487-492.
Write one substantial well-crafted typed paragraph in answer to either Question 6 or Question 7 on page 493.

Thursday, February 7

We read more of Whitman's Song of Myself.

Wednesday, February 6

Further reading in Whitman's Song of Myself.
Discussion of his Transcendentalist outlook.

Tuesday, February 5

More on "O Captain, my captain!" and ballad meter. Emily Dickinson revisited. Amazing Grace.
Introduction to "Song of Myself."

Mr. Potratz announced that students could earn 15 points extra credit simply by attending a performance of the school play, The Odyssey, and bringing him their ticket stubs, and could earn up to 25 total by also writing a one-page review.

Monday, February 4

Students took, and we corrected, a quiz over pp. 342-350 of Elements of Literature, dealing with Walt Whitman and how he compares with Emily Dickinson.

Tomorrow: More on Whitman. Bring your textbook.

Friday, February 1

We read "Captain, O My Captain" by Walt Whitman and began to analyze its poetic form.
Students turned in their copies of Huckleberry Finn.

HW due Monday: Read pp. 342-350 in Elements of Literature and prepare for a quiz. Bring your textbook to class, and also bring Huck Finn if you haven't turned it in already.