Daily Log

2011-09-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 14

We turned from William Bradford's account of peacemaking with the Native Americans to Mary Rowlandson's narrative of her as a prisoner of the Indians during King Philip's War. As background and transition we traced the history of Squanto, the plague which devastated the native population before and after the colonists arrived -- and the Puritans' gratitude to God for this "miraculous" development -- and Metacomet's (King Philip's) account of why he went to war.

HW due Thursday:
Finish the biography of Rowlandson on p. 38 of the textbook and the selections from her Narrative on pages 40-45. Students will be expected to provide details from the text to demonstrate that they have read the assigned pages.

2011-09-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 13

We read the section on Indian Relations from Chapter 11 of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, then addressed the questions assigned as homework: were the terms of the Puritans' treaty with the Wampanoag equally favorable to both sides? what does Bradford seem to think about the native population in general?

As part of the process we looked at certain students' papers (mostly from other classes) under the document camera and examined both their views and how well those views were expressed and supported.

HW due Thursday:
Read pp. 38-45 in the textbook (including a biography of Mary Rowlandson and selections from her Narrative of the Captivity).

2011-09-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 12

Dr. P announced that he had located enough books for a class set and that students should therefore leave their textbooks (Elements of Literature, 5th Course) at home wherever they do their homework. We will use the classroom set in class.

We turned to the Puritans, starting with the cover of our textbook, based on the famous quotation from John Winthrop, "We shall be as a city on a hill." We discussed (reviewed) briefly who the Puritans were and why they came to the new world, and then began the selections in EOL from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, stressing how the Puritans saw God's Providence everywhere at work in the world.

HW due Tuesday:
Read pp. 126-133 in the textbook, then type a response to question #3 on p. 135.

2011-09-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 9

Students turned in their Timelines of American History.

We returned to the ambivalence with which European-Americans have historically regarded Native Americans, using as illustrations the Pioneer Square totem pole, artifacts of the Makah Tribe, and the photographs of Edward S. and Asahel Curtis.

2011-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 8

We picked up on the theme of racial profiling in "The Lone Ranger and Tonto . . ." by listening to a short segment from a National Public Radio segment (from this morning) about counter-terrorist surveilance at the Mall of America in Minnesota, where statistics indicate that non-white minorities are subjected to questioning regarding "suspicious activities" ouut of all proportion to their numbers.

The perspective of those who "do not fit the profile of the country" (to quote Alexie's narrator) -- and specifically of Native Americans -- was localized through the history of the Pioneer Square totem pole pictured on the back wall of the classroom.

HW due Friday:
Timeline of American Literature. See yesterday's entry and Documents page.

2011-09-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 7

Students checked out copies of the textbook for the year (Elements of Literature, 5th Course), an anthology of American literature.

Students also received a copy of a 400-year timeline to which they are to add the names and dates of forty American authors, along with the name of one work by each.

We continued our discussion of "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," and in some sections critiqued a further example of student writing about the story.

HW due Friday:
Complete the timeline (see Documents page).

2011-09-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 6

(1) We put student papers under the document camera and critiqued them, commenting on matters small and large, from MLA format to clarity of expression; then
(2) we used the papers to initiate a discussion of the story's meaning and techniques.

Students turned in their papers.

2011-09-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 2
We watched parts of an old episode of The Lone Ranger to clue students in on who the heck the Lone Ranger and Tonto are (were?) and what a violation of everything sacred it is to suggest that the two would ever fight, in heaven or elsewhere.

We returned to yesterday's Native American stories, read "The First Ship" aloud, and discussed why students felt it was outside the mould for stereotypical Indian tales. That it is historical rather than mythological was an important reason given in each class. Dr. P suggested that our preference for the mythological in Native culture reflects our inclination to relegate Indians to a distant, pre-industrial past for which we feel great nostalgia. The assigned story by Sherman Alexie will testify that Native Americans are still very much a part of our modern world.

HW due Tuesday:
Read "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" closely, sensitively, and repeatedly and TYPE a solid paragraph or two of your best writing explaining why the story is named what it is. I am not looking for a single right answer. I want your ideas, well explained and supported with details from the text.

2011-09-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 1

We compared the four Native American stories students read last evening, discussing which stories conformed most closely to our preconceptions of what such stories are like ("How Mosquitos Came to Be," "Raven,"); which conformed the least ("Iktome," "The First Ship"); and why. Students received copies of Sherman Alexie's short story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven."

HW due Tuesday, Sept. 6:
Read the Alexie story closely, sensitively, and repeatedly and TYPE a solid paragraph or two of your best writing explaining why the story is named what it is. I am not looking for a single right answer. I want your ideas, well explained and supported with details from the text.

2011-08-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 31

Students took a 15-question "open book" quiz over the course syllabus, and we graded it in class, using that means to review the procedures and expectations for the class.

Students turned in signed forms from parents & guardians.

Dr. P handed out copies of a slim packet containing several Native American stories.

HW due Thursday:
Read the packet of stories and prepare to answer questions over it.
Signed forms from parents/guardians are due Friday at the latest.

2011-08-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 30

Students received copies of the syllabus and a letter addressed to parents & guardians. Students need to read both documents and show them both to their folks. The letter (or the bottom section) needs to be signed & returned by the end of the week. The syllabus will be the subject of a quiz on Wednesday.

We previewed the concerns and content of the course, including issues of Eurocentrism and ethnic diversity/conflict which many of the course readings reflect. We looked at the class website.

HW due Wednesday:
Read the syllabus carefully; quiz to begin the class. Signed forms from parents/guardians need to be returned by Friday.

2011-08-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

2011-12

2011-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 17

Final examination, periods 3 & 4.

2011-06-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 16

Final Examination, Periods 1 and 2

2011-06-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 14

Students were reminded to post their Outside Reading assignments to turnitin.com. Any assignments not submitted to turnitin by 11:59 pm today will not be accepted.

Class ID codes:
Per. 1: 3622528
Per. 2: 3622529
Per. 3: 3622531
Per. 4: 3622532
password: room301

We reviewed what will be on the final exam and reviewed passages from Gatsby with an eye to how they might be handled on the exam.

Final examination

Pers. 1 & 2: Thursday

Pers. 3 & 4: Friday
Bring motif booklets and The Great Gatsby.

2011-06-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 13

Students were reminded to post their Outside Reading assignments to turnitin.com. Any assignments not submitted to turnitin by 11:59 pm Tuesday will not be accepted.

Also, remember to return all textbooks, outside reading books, and any other books checked out to you.

Students took a five-question quiz for extra credit over Chapters VIII and IX, after which we discussed Nick's final encounter with Tom Buchanan, examining the intersection of several strains of imagery (jewelry, careless driving, dust) and the resonance they give to Nick's final judgment on the Buchanans and their "rotten crowd."

HW due tomorrow:
Review -- at the least -- the final page of the novel and consider what it may have to say about "The American Dream."

Thursday/Friday
Final examination. Bring motif booklets and The Great Gatsby.

2011-06-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 10

Students took a twenty question/twenty point quiz over vocabulary in the second half of The Great Gatsby.

Afterwards,we returned briefly to the novel (Chapters VII and VIII) and to our motif booklets.

2011-06-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 9
We read aloud from, and listened to a recording of, the second half of Chapter VII of The Great Gatsby.

HW due Friday:
Fourth and final vocabulary assignment.
Second and final vocabulary quiz.

HW due Monday:
Ninth and final chapter of Gatsby.

Final examination:
Periods 1 & 2 on Thursday, June 16
Periods 3 & 4 on Friday, June 17

2011-06-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 8

Students supplied concrete details from The Great Gatsby, Chapter VII, after which we read from that chapter, focusing on the thematic significance of the summer heat and connecting it with other passages in the book (and in our booklets).

HW due Thursday:
Chapter VIII.

HW due Friday:
Fourth and final vocabulary assignment.
Second and final vocabulary quiz.

HW due Monday:
Ninth and final chapter.

2011-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 7
We began by examining the Platonic ladder of love at the end of Chapter VI of Gatsby (with the aid of Obsession by Calvin Klein) and moved on to (back to) Gatsby's birth in his Platonic conception of himself at the beginning of the chapter. We considered the problematic relationship in the novel between the material and the real, between the dream and the dream's embodiment.

HW due Wednesday: Chapter VII

HW due Thursday: Chapter VIII

HW due Friday: Final (4th) Gatsby vocabulary assignment and final (2nd) vocab quiz.

Students must submit outside reading papers to turnitin.com
Class ID codes:
Per. 1: 3622528
Per. 2: 3622529
Per. 3: 3622531
Per. 4: 3622532
password: room301

2011-06-06T14:44:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 6

Students submitted their third Gatsby vocabulary assignments and their outside reading papers.

We watched half an hour of a documentary about the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, then discussed connections between Fitzgerald's own story and the story of Nick, Daisy, Tom and Gatsby. Can we see aspects of Fitzgerald in both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway?

In two sections we read the first page or two of Chapter VI.

HW due Tuesday:
Chapter VI

HW due Wednesday:
Chapter VII

HW due Thursday:
Chapter VIII

HW due Friday:
Final (4th) Gatsby vocabulary assignment and final (2nd) vocab quiz.

Students must submit outside reading papers to turnitin.com

Class ID codes:

Per. 1: 3622528

Per. 2: 3622529

Per. 3: 3622531

Per. 4: 3622532

password: room301

2011-06-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 3

Last Blast -- no class.

HW due Monday:
Third Gatsby vocabulary assignment and
Outside Reading assignment

HW due Tuesday:
Read at least through Chapter VI of The Great Gatsby

2011-06-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Thursday, June 2

Students supplied CD's from Chapter V of The Great Gatsby, and we resumed reading the book, first finishing Chapter IV, then moving on to V, commenting as we read and adding images to the motif booklet.

HW due Monday:

Third Gatsby vocabulary assignment

Outside Reading assignment

2011-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 1

After students recorded concrete details froom Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby we resumed our reading of it.

HW due Thursday:
Read through Chapter 5 of Gatsby.

2011-05-31T14:31:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, May 31

Students took the first Gatsby vocabulary quiz (over Chapters 1-4).

Students received a calendar with all deadlines for the remainder of the term.

We then resumed reading and listening to The Great Gatsby, finishing Chapter 3 and beginning Chapter 4, with its satirical catalog of those who attended Gatsby's parties from East Egg. West Egg, and New York City.

HW due Wednesday:
Read Chapter 4 of Gatsby (at the least).

HW due Thursday:
Rean Chapter 5.

2011-05-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 27

Students turned in their vocabulary assignments and Mr. P issued a somewhat reduced list of the words from Chapters 1-4 which will be on the quiz Tuesday. Those words are:

vulnerable feigned
epigram superficial
anticlimax supercilious
reciprocal languid
vigil tangible
cynical pastoral
incessant hauteur
disdain vehemently
credulity impetuous
vacuous corpulent
wan convivial
malevolent poignant
affectations somnambulatory
denizen beaux
debut façade

We reviewed a few of these words, then returned to our reading of Chapter 3 of Gatsby, finishing it in most periods.

HW due Tuesday:
Vocabulary quiz

HW due Wednesday:
Read Gatsby, Chapter 4

HW due Monday, May 6:
Outside Reading Assignment

2011-05-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 26

Mr. P announced a further revision of upcoming deadlines. The second Gatsby vocabulary assignment is still due tomorrow, but the first vocabulary quiz is postponed until Tuesday. The final deadline for Outside Reading assignments is deferred until Monday, June 6.

We looked at a youtube clip of Joe Frisco in action and another of the trailer for the 1926 silent movie of Gatsby, which is all that remains of that film.

We continued reading aloud in Gatsby, stopping at points to annotate and analyze and to add images to our motif booklets.

HW due Friday:
Second Gatsby vocab assignment.

HW due Tuesday:
First vocab quiz.

HW due Monday, June 6:
Outside Reading assignment.

2011-05-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 25

Students received back the first Gatsby vocabulary assignment, and we briefly discussed expectations for the second.

We finished reading/listening to/discussing The Great Gatsby, finishing Chapter 2 and beginning Chapter 3 -- moving on from Myrtle's party to Gatsby's.

HW due Friday:
Second Gatsby vocabulary assignment and quiz over vocab words from the first four chapters.

HW due Tuesday:
Outside Reading assignment.

2011-05-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 24

After students supplied CD's to demonstrate their careful reading of Chapter 2 of Gatsby, we began analyzing it together, listening to a recording which we would stop periodically in order to discuss what we had heard. Students added images to their motif booklets.

HW due Friday:
Second Gatsby vocabulary assignment and quiz.

HW due next Tuesday (May 31):
Outside reading assignment.

2011-05-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 23

Students supplied CD's from Chapter 1 of Gatsby, and we finished reading it together, commenting and adding images to our booklet as we went.

HW due Tuesday:
Read Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby.

2011-05-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 20

Mr. P announced postponement of the deadline for the Outside Reading assignment to Tuesday, May 31.

We reviewed the film on the Twenties (The Jazz Age) which students watched yesterday, then read further in the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, commenting on details of setting and character, and adding passages to the motif booklets.

HW due Monday:
Read carefully the remainder of Chapter 1, adding to your booklet as you read.

HW due Friday, May 27:
Second Gatsby vocab assignment and first vocab quiz

HW due Tuesday, May 31:
Outside Reading assignment

2011-05-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 18

We resumed our reading of the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, stopping to clarify and comment as we read and to record significant details in the motif booklet. We paid especial attention to West Egg and East Egg and the differences between them.

Mr. P announced he will be out of class Thursday; students will take notes on a documentary about the 1920's.

HW due Friday:
First Gatsby vocabulary assignment.

2011-05-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 17

We began reading The Great Gatsby, focusing on the first two pages and their oblique introduction of the narrator and his subject Gatsby, about whom the narrator is of two very different minds. A capacity for hope -- a sensitivity to the promises of life -- unites the two, yet Nick has for Gatsby and everything he represents "an unaffected scorn."

We identified details which may prove to be significant and recorded them in the character booklets under different headings; these included details of East and West (Geography and Locations), Autumn and Spring (Time, Clocks, and Seasons), and the "foul dust which floated in the wake of Gatsby's dreams" (Dust and Ashes).

HW due Friday:
First vocabulary assignment.

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside Reading assignment.

2011-05-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 16

Introduction to The Great Gatsby.

Students received
(1) a vocabulary assignment sheet to accompany the novel, with exercises due each Friday for four weeks and quizzes every other Friday (see Documents page);
(2) a note booklet for students to record patterns of imagery in the book;
(3) a copy of the novel.

Mr. P discussed what is meant by imagery literature and showed a brief video he had constructed to review/introduce the concept.

HW due Friday
First vocabulary assignment

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside Reading assignment

2011-05-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 13
Students in small groups in answering practice SAT questions.

Thursday, May 12
Third and final day of the Junior Writing Assessment.

2011-05-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 11

Day two of the Junior Writing Assessment. Students finished prewriting and moved on to their final drafts.

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside Reading assignment.

2011-05-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 10

Day One of the Junior Writing Assessment, to be continued Wednesday, and Thursday. Students planned and prewrote their essays.

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside reading assignment.

2011-05-09T15:40:00.001-07:00

Monday, May 9

We reviewed parameters and procedures for the Junior Writing Assessment, to be administered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We looked at the cover sheet, including the prompt and general directions, the checklist of criteria on which the essays will be graded, and (very briefly) the scoring rubric.

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside reading assignment.

2011-05-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 6

Students took the second and final quiz over The Crucible.
Of students' marks on the two quizzes, the higher one will be kept, the other discarded.

HW due Wednesday, May 25
Outside Reading assignment.

2011-05-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 5

We continued watching Citizen Kane.

2011-05-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 4

We continued to watch the film of The Crucible.

HW due Friday:
Completed character booklet.
Quiz over the play (and the film).

2011-05-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 3

Mr. P announced:

(1) the final due date for the Outside Reading assignment is Wednesday, May 25.

(2) (reminder) the second and final Crucible quiz will be on Friday. It will cover the play primarily but will also include questions about differences between the play and the film. Students will receive a grade for one quiz only -- whichever of the two is higher.

(3) students can earn 5 points extra credit for attending the school production of You Can't Take It With You and up to and additional 10 points for submitting a typed review of the production.

We watched the beginning of the film of The Crucible.

HW due Friday:
Completed character booklet. Quiz in class that day.

HW due May 25:
Outside reading assignment.

2011-05-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 2

Mr. P announced that the second quiz would be given after we watch the film of The Crucible rather than before. It will be given Friday, on which day students' completed character booklets are also due.

In addition, Mr. P will throw out the lower score from the two Crucible quizzes, meaning that students who did poorly on the first will have a chance to replace that mark with a higher one.

We finished the recording of the play, then began to discuss characters and work on the character booklets. We began with Elizabeth Proctor, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Reverend Hale.

HW due Friday:
Completed character booklets. The second (final) quiz over the play will be given the same day.

2011-04-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 29

Mr. P announced a postponement of the final Crucible quiz from Monday to Tuesday.

We listened to the recording of the play, concluding Act III and almost reaching the end of the final act (Act IV),

HW due Monday:
Finish the play, review, and work on your character booklets.

HW due Tuesday:
Review for quiz covering the entire play.

2011-04-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 28

Students talked in pairs, then wrote down points of comparison between the Hollywood blacklist, which they learned about in yesterday's documentary film, and The Crucible,
We then discussed the similarities we caame up with and what it was in the Salem witch trials 0f 1693 which Arthur Miller found most relevant to his, and others', experiences in the 1950's.

HW due Monday:
Quiz over the entire play.

HW due next Friday (May 6):
Completed character booklets.

Wednesday, April 27

Students watched, and took notes on, the beginning of None Without Sin, a documentary about the origins of The Crucible: Arthur Miller's experience with the Hollywood blacklist of the early 1950's.

2011-04-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 26

We did a dramatic reading of The Crucible, Act III, with students reading all parts. We made it most of the way through the act, and we will finish it on Thursday.

Mr. P announced that he would be absent Wednesday. Students will take notes on None Without Sin, a documentary film about Arthur Miller and the Hollywood blacklist.

HW due Thursday:
Read carefully the biography of Miller on p. 826 of the textbook and the excerpts from his essay "Why I Wrote the Crucible" on p. 827. Students will be held accountable for the material Thursday but should if possible read it tonight before watching tomorrow's film.

2011-04-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 25

Students took a 22-question (44 pt.) quiz over Acts I & II of The Crucible.

Students then chose (or were assigned) parts for a dramatic reading of Act III in class Tuesday, after which we listened to as much of the act as we had time for.

HW due Tuesday:
Finish reading Act III and practice your part aloud in preparation for tomorrow's dramatic reading.

2011-04-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 22

We listened to the recording of Act II of The Crucible. Students took notes in their character booklets.

HW due Monday:
Quiz over Acts I and II, including stage directions and commentary.

2011-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 21

We finished reading along with recording of Act I of The Crucible.

Students received a booklet with blanks for them to record observations about the characters in the play, and we used the booklet to begin discussing who those characters are, what motivates them, and how they are connected with each other.

HW due Monday:
Quiz over Acts I & II of The Crucible.

HW due Monday, May 2:
Quiz over the entire play, emphasizing Acts III & IV.

2011-04-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 20

Students finished their notes on "The Fifties" as we finished the section on McCarthyism; notes were turned in.

We talked briefly about the relevance of the film to "The Crucible" and of the Salem Witch Trials to the the anti-Communist "witch hunt."

We then listened to most of Act I in a recording of the play.

HW due Thursday:
You will be responsible for Act I of The Crucible, including the sections of commentary.

2011-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 19

In order to establish the historical background for the writing of The Crucible, we watched part of the documentary film The Fifties.

HW due Wednesday:
Read Act I of The Crucible, including Miller's commentary.

2011-04-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 18

We began a new three-week unit on Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, which is is about both the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the anti-Communist "witch hunt" of the 1950's, of which Miller was a target.

We looked at various images of witches over the centuries and at part of a streaming video about the hysteria in Salem. Afterwards we identified other groups which have been demonized and scapegoated in more recent times (Jews, blacks, Japanese-Americans, homosexuals, Muslims, etc.) and looked at particularly vicious images attacking some of those groups.

HW due Wednesday:
Read Act I of The Crucible. Be certain to read carefully not only the dialogue but Miller's extensive commentary as well.

2011-04-15T10:13:00.001-07:00

jFriday, April 15

Students wrote for the entire half-hour period, communicating their interpretations of Whitman's and Dickinson's poetic treatments of death in an imaginary dialogue between the two poets.

2011-04-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 14

We reviewed the homework assignment from yesterday, re-reading "Because I could not stop for Death" and the five critical comments on it, discussing agreements and disagreements between them, and saying which we agreed and disagreed with. We then moved on to the subject of Friday's (tomorrow's) in-class writing exercise, a comparison of Whitman's and Dickinson's treatment of death in the poems we read together.

HW due Friday:
Prepare for the "Dialogue on Death" to be written in class (see Documents page for assignment sheet). Bring notes handouts, printouts -- anything short of a rough draft. The dialogue is to be written in class. You will have half an hour.

2011-04-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 12 Students finished watching the documentary film on Emily Dickinson which we began yesterday, and Mr. P stamped them (rather than collecting them, in order that students have use of them in preparing for Friday's writing exercise); they are to be turned in Friday along with the dialogue. We then discussed what students found most interesting in the film, focusing especially on those parts most pertinent to Dickinson's poetic treatment of Death. HW due Wednesday: Re-read all of the Dickinson poems in the textbook and on the supplementary sheet, and come prepared to discuss her views on death.

2011-04-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 11 Students watched the "Visions and Voices" documentary on Emily Dickinson and took notes on central ideas in the film, especially those pertinent to the "Dialogue on Death" which students will write in class on Friday. Students received back their notes on the similar documentary about Walt Whitman we watched before the break in hopes they will be helpful in preparation for the dialogue. Friday: In-class write.

2011-04-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 1

Students received handouts with additional poems by Emily Dickinson and the assignment sheet for the next writing assignment (in the two sections which did not receive them on Thursday). We went over expectations for the assignment, preparation for which will be done outside of class, and the writing of which will happen in class on April 15. The dialogue is to reflect each student's own interpretations of the poems we have read together in class, plus those on today's handout. See the Documents page for the assignment sheet and a copy of those parts of "Song of Myself" which we read in class.

2011-03-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 31

We compared three of Emily Dickinson's poems about nature, and concluded that the third of them, "Apparently with no surprise," was much darker and raised troubling questions about God's universe, than the other two ("Some keep the Sabbath . . . " and "I taste a liquor never brewed").

We also compared the original text of "Because I could not stop for Death" in our textbook (we discussed it yesterday) with "The Chariot," the poem as edited and published by Higginson and Todd shortly after Dickinson's death, and concluded that it is a darker poem than its original editors wished it to be.

In periods 2 and 3 students received the assignment sheet for a comparison between Whitman's and Dickinson's treatment of death in the form of an imaginary dialogue between the two poets, to be written in class on Friday, April 15.

2011-03-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 30

We continued reading poems by Emily Dickinson, concentrating especially on unlocking the attitudes and emotions regarding death in her poetry of indirection, reading the lines and between the lines. Poems included "Because I could not stop for death"; we also read the letter to T. W. Higginson, Dickinson's first editor, in which she wrote "I sing . . . because I am afraid."

2011-03-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 29 Students took a five question "quizlet" over the assigned reading, after which we turned to Emily Dickinson's poetry, beginning with "If you were coming in the fall," "I heard a fly buzz when I died," and "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." We paid especial attention to the images in the first two poems, and to the third as a statement on Dickinson's practice of poetic indirection.

2011-03-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 28 Students took notes on major points in the documentary film on Walt Whitman from the Voices and Visions series. HW due Tuesday: Students should review today's assignment (poems of Emily Dickinson).

2011-03-25T12:29:00.001-07:00

Friday, March 25

We read Walt Whitman's manuscript poem "Liveoak with Moss." Students wrote briefly, describing the love exhibited in the poem after which we discussed what people thought.

HW due Monday:
See Thursday's entry.

2011-03-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 24:

We began with section 31 of "Song of Myself," which we regarded as a central credo of Whitman's, and discussed what Whitman's creed seems to be, based on that section, the following section, and the final sections of the poem (48-52). Did he reject Christianity or merely Christian practice? If he rejected religion, can we accept his claim that he nonetheless that he "behold[s] God in every object? What sort of "eternal life" does he believe in? Does he believe in reincarnation? We reviewed certain basics of Transcendentalist thought.

HW due Monday:
Read poems (and a letter) by Emily Dickinson. Read them closely, thoughtfully, and repeatedly. Think how they compare with Whitman, especially on the subject of death.
Pages 374, 376, 378, 381-383, 385, 386, 388, 391-394. Possible quizlet.

2011-03-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 23

We explored further the democratic Transcendentalism of Walt Whitman's poetry. For Whitman (unlike Emerson, for example) being at one with the universe -- or kosmos, in Whitman's term -- is also to be at one with everyone; our common participation in nature is allied with our fundamental equality.

We read sections 15, 16, 17, 21, and 24 of "Song of Myself," taking turns reading lines and stanzas.

2011-03-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 22

We continued reading in Whitman's "Song of Myself," probing the curious self-expression and self-celebration of the poet through the comprehensive embrace and celebration of others.

2011-03-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 21

Students received a worksheet with multiple passages from student Nature and Humanity essays exhibiting errors of three types: excessive informality of style, subject-verb disagreement, and problems with pronoun use.

After completing the worksheets and going over several examples, students received their graded essays back.

HW due Tuesday:
Any completed worksheets from class not turned in today and corrections of errors marked on the essays returned today, per the directions at the bottom of the sheet of Editing and Proofreading marks (see Documents page).

2011-03-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 18

Students took a fifteen-question quiz over the textbook readings about Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

We returned to our reading of "Song of Myself," beginning with Whitman's distinction in section 4 between his social self and "Me, myself."

2011-03-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 17

St. Patrick's Day -- Éirinn go brách!

We read further in Whitman's "Song of Myself" and discussed its distinctive mixture of eroticized nature worship and radical egalitarianism.

HW due Friday:
Quiz over pages 342-50 and 372-3 in the textbook.

2011-03-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 15

Students wrote down six or more specific concrete details from their outside reading books. Later in the period they were given time to read in those books.

We wrapped up our reading of "O Captain, My Captain!" and our discussion of poetic form, and began to read the first edition of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself."

Students who are uncomfortable with Whitman's frank celebration of the body are encouraged to speak with Mr. P about an alternate plan for the Whitman unit.

HW due Thursday:
Read pp. 342-50 and pp. 372-3 in the textbook (an introduction to Whitman and Dickinson and a biography of each). There will be a quiz over the reading.

2011-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 14

We continued to explore the question "What is poetry?" and specifically focused on the idea that "poetry is what is lost in translation" (Robert Frost) -- that how things are said is central to poetry as well as what.

We read a passage from Alexander Pope's "Essay on Criticism," making and illustrating the proposition that in poetry "the sound must be an echo to the sense."

We then moved on to our first of Walt Whitman's poems, his very popular but very atypical "O Captain! my Captain," an elegy for Abraham Lincoln. We began to analyze its metrical form, reviewing terminology in the process.

HW due Tuesday (1st, 2nd, 3rd pers.) or Wednesday (4th per.):
Be sure you have begun your outside reading book and come to class prepared to supply CD.s from what you have written. Be sure to bring the book as well; you will have a few minutes to read from it in class.

2011-03-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 10

We looked at the three extra credit options now posted on the class website (see Extra Credit. The Tolo assignment is due by next Wednesday, the others are available until notification to the contrary.

We also briefly reviewed the four options for Senior LA enrollment.

Each student chose one key passage from "Young Goodman Brown" and wrote briefly about which (s)he felt it to be central to the meaning of the story. We then shared passages and explanations and discussed possible meanings of this tale of lost faith.

HW due Friday:
What is poetry?
(1) Answer the question yourself in one or two sentences;
(2) Find and reproduce at least six other definitions of poetry from at least three different respected sources (poets, scholars, reference works);
3) Cite the sources for all your quotations in correct MLA format (see pp. 17-19 of your planner).

YES! It needs to be typed

2011-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 9
Students took a brief quiz over Nathaniel Hawthorne's biography, after which we read (Mr. P and a recording read) the short story "Young Goodman Brown," and we began to discuss it. What it a dream?

HW due Friday:

What is poetry?
(1) Answer the question yourself in one or two sentences;

(2) Find and reproduce at least six other definitions of poetry from at least three different respected sources (poets, scholars, reference works);

3) Cite the sources for all your quotations in correct MLA format (see pp. 17-19 of your planner).

YES! It needs to be typed

2011-03-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

Monday, March 7

We explored the dark Romanticism of Herman Melville's "wicked book," by looking at Captain Ahab as a Prometheus or Lucifer figure, shaking his fist at the cosmic powers that be.

We began by reading, and writing briefly about, William Blake's famous poem "The Tyger," which like Ahab, is preoccupied with "the problem of evil." If God is purely good and all-poweful, where does evil come from. Is God perhaps good but not omnipotent? Or omnipotent but not entirely benevolent?

HW due tomorrow:
Read the biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne on pages 296 and 297 of the textbook.

2011-03-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Friday, March 4

Students received a handout of two poems by Herman Melville, and read silently the first of them, "The Maldive Shark," after which they wrote paragraphs saying what they thought the theme of the poem was and what in the poem led them to think so.

Afterwards certain students read their paragraphs aloud and we discussed their paragraphs and the poem.

2011-03-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 3

We finished our dramatic reading of "The Quarter-Deck," after which we identified details in the drinking scene (as per question #7 on p. 320) which establish the scene as a parody or mockery of a religious ritual, a black communion service, and we began to discuss the nature of Ahab's monomaniacal quest for The White Whale.

2011-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 2

We began with a multiple-choice quiz over Into the Deep and the readings in the textbook from Moby Dick.

Afterwards we began our dramatic reading of th Quarter-Deck chapter, with students portraying Ahab, Starbuck, Queequeg, etc.

2011-03-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 1

WE finished watching Into the Deep.
Students signed up for parts in tomorrow's gramatic reading of the Quarter Deck chapter of Moby Dick.

HW due Wednesday:
Read pp. 311-27 in Elements of Literature, which include a biography of Herman Melville and two excerpts from Moby Dick. There will be a quiz to begin class on Wednesday over the film and the readings. Notes on the film will be turned in at that time as well.

2011-02-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 28

Students took notes on the beginning of Into the Deep, a PBS documentary about American whaling in the 17th through 19th centuries, focusing in their notes especially on those parts of the film which refer to Herman Melville and his masterpiece Moby Dick.

HW due Wednesday:
Read pp. 311-27 in Elements of Literature, which include a biography of Herman Melville and two excerpts from Moby Dick. There will be a quiz to begin class on Wednesday over the film and the readings. Notes on the film will be turned in at that time as well.

2011-02-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 18

Students turned in their Nature and Humanity essays, including rough drafts, peer edit sheets, and outlines.

Students checked out Outside Reading books.

We returned to our examination of euphemisms. (Except in 2nd period, where Mr. P read to the class from Huckleberry Finn.)

HW for the break.
Get reading in your outside reading books. Get ahead of the game -- don't let the May deadline sneak up on you!

2011-02-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 17

We reviewed MLA guidelines further, this time in more detail. Students used their planners and the textbook to construct a Works Cited listing for Emerson's "Nature."

turnitin.com

password: room301

Class ID's:

Period 1 3622528

Period 2 3622529

Period 3 3622531

Period 4 3622532

2011-02-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 16

Students worked together in pairs to read and comment upon each others' rough drafts, adding comments deirectly on the drafts and answering questions on a peer editing worksheet, then discussing that feedback.

Students who came to class without drafts worked writing drafts or read in their outside reading books. They took away peer editind sheets and were asked to complete the editing process outside of class with a parent, guardian, or friend.
Students received back their Outside Viewing essays from the first semester.

HW due Friday:
Final draft, along with outline, rough draft, and peer editing sheet.

2011-02-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, February 15

We conducted a debate related to the topic of the essay, pitting the tree-hugging Thoreauvians against the apostles of economic and technological proress.

HW due Wednesday:
Rough draft

HW due Friday:
Rough draft

2011-02-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 14

Students submitted their outlines for the Nature & Society essay; they were stamped and returned. Unstamped outlines turned in with the essay on Friday can still receive up to 15 out of 20 points.

Mr. P commented on certain outlines, and the necessity to have a coherent thesis and to take a poition, even if that position doesn't clearly and simply endorse the view of one of the quotations.

HW due Tuesday:
Prepare for an in-class debate on the topic.

Wed:
Rough draft

Fri:
Final draft

2011-02-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 11

We reviewed the various sources students have at their disposal for the Nature essays, characterizing them especially in terms of which of the three quotations on the assignment sheet they most closely align with.

These sources include the "Coyotes" song used at the end of Grizzly Man, the script for which is available online. Students received a handout with the lyrics to "Coyotes" (the flipside of which contains the full text of the article by Matt Patterson that the second quotation was taken from). Other sources include the excerpts from Emerson's Nature and Thoreau's Walden, the handouts on maternity among the animals and on the Nukak Maku tribe, and "The First Morning," the opening chapter of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire (yesterday's handout).

HW due Monday:
Formal outline of the essay.

HW due Wednesday:
First draft.

HW due next Friday (Feb. 18): Final draft and turnitin.com submission.

2011-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 10

Students watched the final twenty-five minutes of Grizzly Man. Afterwards they received the assignment sheet for the essay on nature and its relation to humankind which is now due Friday, February 18 (the final day before midwinter break). We reviewed the assignment; students asked clarifying questions.

HW due Friday:
Assemble and review sources for the essay.

HW due Monday:
Formal outline of the essay.

HW due Wednesday:
First draft.

HW due next Friday (Feb. 18):
Final draft and turnitin.com submission.

2011-02-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 9

We watched another thirty minutes of Grizzly Man; afterwards students took five minutes to amplify their notes begun Tuesday.

Mr. P announced that students will receive an assignment sheet on Thursday for an essay due a week from Thursday treating the theme of Man and Nature and drawing on Thoreau, Emerson, Grizzly Man and certain handouts

Students then received two of those handouts, journalistic articles about (1) the Nukak-Maku people of Colombia and (2) animal mothers.

HW due Thursday:
Read the two handouts distributed in class today.

Tuesday, February 8

Students watched 45 minutes of Grizzly Man. Students were instructed as follows:

Grizzly Man offers different points of view on the central figure, Timothy Treadwell: that of Treadwell himself, that of the director and narrator Werner Herzog, and those of several other people who are interviewed. Please take notes which will help you to summarize what those different viewpoints are. Turn in your notes to the tray before you leave.

2011-02-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 7

Students turned in their vocabulary homework, and we reviewed several roots and added several others.

Next, students watched ten minutes of the film Koyaanisqatsi, showing a succession of natural images followed by images of modern technology and its impact on nature, backed by a musical score by Philip Glass. After the viewing students conveyed in written words what they thought the film conveyed in images and music. Certain students read their compositions aloud and we discussed them.

Tomorrow:
Mr. P will be absent; students will watch the beginning of Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man. There are brief instances of foul language and certain descriptions -- though not depictions -- of violence (people being eaten by bears). Students who wish to be excused from viewing the film should ask the substitute teachher for an alternative assignment to be completed in the library.

2011-02-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 4

Starting from the word "paradox" we worked on a vocabulary exercise exploring word roots and linking from one to the next.

HW due Monday:
Complete the vocabulary worksheet begun in class today.

2011-02-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 3

We looked at walden.org, the website of the Walden Woods Project, which has preserved Thoreau's cabin site at Walden Pond, and offers abundant Thoreau-connected resources both online and onsite. We read part of what the site has to say about Thoreau's heavy influence on the modern environmentalist movement.

Mr. P then read to the class the first chapter, enitled "The First Day," from Desert Solitude by Edward Abbet, a more recent writer who has also influenced modern environmentalism, especially the movement's more radical wing. We briefly discussed the chapter, paradoxes and call for a "hard and brutal mysticism."

2011-02-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 2

We continued our review of central concepts from the first semester. We revisited briefly the Puritan focus on God and eternity, the post-Revolutionary celebration of American Progress (via the famous Gast painting of that name), and finally the Romantic reaction to that religion of progress and the elevation of a faith in Nature.

Students then took detailed notes on the first fifteen minutes of the PBS documentary on America's National Parks ("The Scripture of Nature" and "Eden"), after which they worked in small groups to write brief statements of what they took to be the central themes of what they had watched.

2011-02-01T15:14:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, February 1

Students wrote for five minutes describing "A Family Tree," a painting by Norman Rockwell from a 1958 Saturday Evening Post cover. We then discussed what students saw in the illustration which depicted the diverse heritage of a typical American family. We also discussed what we did not see there (any African-Americans, Asian Americans, etc.) We looked again at an article from Sunday's New York Times about young Americans asserting their pride in being racially mixed, and we speculated about whether the United States may begin to transcend color lines its ethnic admixture and what that might mean for various groups.

2011-01-31T14:50:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 31

We spent the period reviewing major themes from the first semester, such as American cultural and social diversity, including the conflicts and oppression it has often involved (racism, slavery); changing ideas of Nature from tthe Puritans to the Rationalists to the Romantics; rebellion and civil disobedience; religion; liberty; equality.

2011-01-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 28

We continued culture box presentations.

In second and fourth periods, when finished with those presentations, we reviewed the four major types of English sentences: simple (one independdent clause), compound (two or more independent clauses), complex (one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses), and compund-complex (two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses).

2011-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 27

In two classes we finished and in two we nearly finished students' presentations of their cultural heritages.

Students were counseled that any late work must be in by tomorrow (Friday), which is the last day of the first semester.

2011-01-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 26

We resumed the students' presentation of their "culture boxes." Presentations will wrap up Thursday.

Students should return outside reading books.

Tuesday, January 25

As the final for the semester, students began their oral presentations of the boxes they had made representing their cultural heritages.

2011-01-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 24

Preparatory to the final presentations beginning tomorrow, we

(1) went over Friday's handout with its comparison of public speaking and everyday conversation,

and
(2) practiced the techniques presented there by means of an improvisational speaking exercise based on drawing an assortment of items from a sack.

HW due Tuesday:
Culture boxes due; presentations begin.
One day late: 10% penalty; teo days late, 20%. After Wednesday -- too late.

2011-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 21

(1) We explored further the expectations and possibilities for the Culture Box assignment and examine examples of successful boxes from previous years.

(2) Students received and we briefly reviewed a handout with tips on public speaking. On Monday we will conduct a (hopefully fun) exercise in oral presentation to prepare for the presentations on Tuesday.

HW due Monday:
Read today's handout.

HW due Tuesday:
Culture Box (see Documents page) and Oral Presentation.

2011-01-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 20

(1) We read the conclusion of Walden, in which Thoreau explains why he left the woods (for the same reason he went there), and offers hope that society will someday escape the ruts it is in, and that if people are true to their natures and highest aspirations change will come, however unlikely that may seem in the present.

(2) Mr. P handed out the Culture Box project assignment sheet, and students read it and asked questions about it.

Wednesday, January 19

We read the excerpts from the "Brute Neighbors" chapter of Walden, then looked at students' (and Mr. P's) chunks about the accounts of the ants and the loon aas a way of discussing that material.

2011-01-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 18

Students turned in their 87-word chunks.

We read more of Thoreau's call to "simplify, simplify," to escape the rat race and put to rout all the superfluous claptrap of modern "civilization." We do not ride on the railroad. It rides upon us!

2011-01-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 14

We revisited the word "deliberate" and examined the central section of Walden beginning "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately . . .." What Thoreau means by this a is a key to what he is about.

HW due Tuesday:

Read the selections from the “Brute Neighbors” chapter of Walden (pp. 240-43, up to the “Conclusion”) and type one 87-word chunk answering the following question: What meaning or purpose do the Battle of the Ants and the Story of the Loon share? (Or, put differently, what common statement do the two incidents make?) Combine CM and CDs.