Friday, January 30

First and second periods read most of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne; sixth period finished it.

Fifth period finished Culture Box presentations and discussed them.

HW due Monday:
Read pages 276-7 in Elements of Lit (about Hawthorne) and prepare for a quizlet.

Wednesday, January 28



Second day of Culture Box presentations.

Tuesday, January 27

We began presentations of the final project, students' "culture boxes," beginning with volunteers, then proceeding to a lottery if necessary.

Presentations continue tomorrow and Thursday.

Monday, January 26

Using the handout on public speaking distributed on Friday, we went over the elements and expectations of an oral presentation, stressing differences between public speaking and everyday conversation, and reviewing tips for handling nervousness.

In the first period we developed a rubric for grading the boxes and the presentations, and in periods two, five, and six we reviewed that rubric together.

Due Tuesday:
Presentations of culture boxes.

Friday, January 23

Students received a handout with tips for making oral presentations; we will go over that handout together on Monday.

Mr. Potratz further described what sorts of elements might go into students' culture boxes and presentations, then presented his own (imaginary) box as a model.

All students must bring their boxes to class on Tuesday and be prepared to give their presentations. We will begin with volunteers, then conduct a lottery to determine the order of all remaining presentations. Presentations will continue on Wednesday and Thursday.

Today was the last early-release Friday until Spring Vacation (at the least) in accordance with the plan adopted by the school district to make up instructional time lost due to snow and flooding.

Thursday, January 22

We re-read the ending of "The Masque of the Red Death," and discussed why it gives so much pleasure when it is in fact so horrible. We looked at the readers' attitudes toward Prince Prospero and at Poe's masterfully poetic language.

Wednesday, January 21

Mr. Potratz distributed the assignment sheet for the culture box assignment, showed some sample boxes from a previous year, and answered questions.

Students then read silently along with a recording of the "The Masque of the Red Death."

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY:
Students wishing to earn term-end extra credit should speak with Mr. Potratz individually outside of class time. There are two versions of the assignment, both dealing with Gothicism:
(a) Watch Frankenstein Thursday afternoon and write a short essay discussing Gothicism in the film. Refer to "The Gothic Tradition," page 274, Elements of Literature.
(b) Complete the "Gothicism" research worksheet, available on the Documents page, or in the red notebook on the back table.
Either option is due by the end of the semester, Friday, January 30 and can earn up to 15 points.

Tuesday, January 20

Inauguration Day

Students turned in their HW (vocab worksheets for "Masque of the Red Death").

Period 1: We corrected together certain sentences from student slavery essays, projected on the screen, then students individually corrected errors in their own papers, which Mr. Potratz finally returned.

Periods 2, 5, & 6: Subject-Verb Agreement lesson.

HW due Wednesday:

Period 1: Return slavery essays with corrections

Periods 2, 5, and 6: Finish the worksheets on subject-verb agreement which we began in class (except for period 2, which watched the Presidential inauguration instead).

Friday, January 16

my sisters friends clothes

Students punctuated the preceding phrase in four different ways to produce four different meanings, and we reviewed the use of apostrophes, referring in the process to the first six items on the No Excuses Conventions list.

HW due Tuesday:
(1) Read "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe (handout)
and
(2) Complete the accompanying vocabulary worksheet (handout)

Thursday, January 15

MLK, Jr.'s Birthday

We continued with our reading of Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," using a classroom set of the full text, and focusing on parts which precede the few excerpts printed in Elements of Literature.

Wednesday, January 14

MLK, Jr. Assembly Day

Students turned in their HW.

We looked at the connection between Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail."


Tuesday, January 13
Period 1: Subject-Verb Agreement lesson.
Periods 2, 5, & 6: We corrected together certain sentences from student slavery essays, projected on the screen, thewn students individually corrected errors in their own papers, which Mr. Potratz finally returned.

Monday, January 12

Mr. Potratz read "The Ratrace Explained," and we discussed its relevance to Thoreau's Walden.
After this we read and briefly discussed the Thoreau's account of his encounter with the loon (pp. 241-3).

HW due Wednesday:
Read pp. 224-5 (from Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and pp. 249-54 from Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" (aka "Civil Disobedience") in Elements of Lit.
Write (type) one solid two-chunk paragraph (minimum eight sentences) in answer to Question 3 on p. 257

Tuesday, January 6

Students submitted their paragraphs on "We do not ride on the railroad. It rides upon us" and on the Battle of the Ants. Students then divided themselves up into groups of three or four and dicussed each passage for a few minutes, then gave reports from their groups. This led to more general discussion.

Monday, January 5, 2009

We began a close reading of the most famous passage from Walden, that part of the chapter entitled "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" which begins "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately . . .."

HW due Tuesday (second chance for those who did not turn in the assignment today):
Finish reading the selections from Walden (pp. 234-244), and write two two-chunk paragraphs explaining(a) Thoreau's statement (p. 237), "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."and(b) The Battle of the Ants (pp. 240-241). What are we to take from this account?