Just a reminder for your scheduling convenience....

This Thursday, we will be enjoying presentations in the following order:

Lauren & Ashley

Jessica & Victoria

Tara & Nicole

Next Tuesday, our last day of class, we'll be hearing from...

Alicia & Ameena

Da Boyz :)

And then we will celebrate! I will try to have your grades finished by then as well. 

Post ideas for celebratory activities in the comments section, if you like!

Chekhov

Congrats to the two teams! You guys were ferocious! And you did a stellar job of analyzing and thinking deeply about the story. It's a complex novel, but you all navigated it like pros--I was proud of you, and had fun listening to your discussions!

And NOW... it's time to dive into a bit of Russian literature once again! Just a warning: this is a sad story! But Chekov is one of the major modern writers in Russian literature, so his stuff is rich and full of depth. I'm looking forward to getting your thoughts about it on Tuesday!

Also, please bring a tennative outline for your culture report! This will let me make sure you guys are heading in the right direction (and also keep you guys moving and not procrastinating). I've posted a refresher on the details about the assignment in the left bar, just in case you can't remember what to do. :)

ONE MORE THING: if you haven't given me your edited papers on To Kill a Mockingbird, please bring those in as well! 

Judgement Day

The court case was riveting today! Both sides presented their cases very convincingly, and with great insight! It made me even more excited to finish discussions on Thursday. Plus, I'm sure the wonderful grassy goodness of the great outdoors didn't hurt anything either.

So for this Thursday, finish the book, bring your analytical lists, and turn in the final drafts of your To Kill A Mockingbird papers (unless you happen to be Sak or Patty, in which case, I still have your papers--we'll go over them on Thursday?)

Can't wait! See you all then!

Moving right along...

Well, it was quite a small class today: only four students! But we had fun (at least I did!) discussing the characters and what we know of them so far.

For Tuesday, please read to the end of part 1 and turn in those writing assignments. To clarify, they don't need to be in paragraph format. In fact, you can even use this link as a template for the first option.

For the 2nd option, you could use this link to keep track of things relating to faith and things relating to reason.  By the way, if you're really ambitious and want to dig deeper, you can add a third categroy of superstitious religion to the mix. :)

Reminder

To recap...

Please read through chapter 15 by Thursday (aka.. tomorrow).

WRITING ASSIGNMENT (journal entry) due Tuesday:

For the 10th graders: Please keep a list of character details about each of the main characters in the story. What are they like? What are their strengths and weeknesses?

For the 11th & 12th graders: Keep track of details that relate to the major theme of faith vs. reason.  Write down any quotes you think are pertinent.

Your journal entry will be due Tues., March 24th.

Lessons from Moses

I was thinking about Jospeh today and how his plans were thwarted time and again by either his own conduct or the actions of others, but despite poor circumstances, God was sovereign over it all.

This was a comfort to me in light of the last few fumbled classes. At least last Thursday wasn't a waste, but this today... perhaps God just wanted to bless you guys with some extra time. Thinking I had in my backpack the folders containing your papers, I left Hilton Head yesterday only to find this morning that I had left them behind. Consequently Sarah is bringing the folders home when she returns tomorrow. I was very sad that I couldn't meet and go over your papers with you all today!

Plan B? (or C, D, E.. whatever we're on at this point): Hopefully you have all begun reading Till We Have Faces. Please read through chapter 15 by next Thursday so that we can attempt to stay on track. Tuesday appointments will still take place, and if you are in town and want to make up for today, please join the party!

WRITING ASSIGNMENT (journal entry):

For the 10th graders: Please keep a list of character details about each of the main characters in the story. What are they like? What are their strengths and weeknesses?

For the 11th & 12th graders: Keep track of details that relate to the major theme of faith vs. reason.  Write down any quotes you think are pertinent.

Your journal entry will be due Tues., March 24th.

Movie flop... :(

Due to an unexpected work change, I am posting this really late. But first off... I would like to apologize for the failed movie party--a fiasco comparable to the nuclear explosion you see before you. :)  Don't feel bad, Clow boys, this was a result of poor planning on my part. Maybe we'll be able to put it behind us and move forward into. . .

Till We Have Faces!  This is a novel by C.S. Lewis which is actually a re-telling of the greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. The book is full of metaphysical questions and, despite it's poly-theistic roots, biblical themes and symbolism.

On a more practical note, however, try (or as Yoda would say, "do or do not... there is not try.") to read through Chapter 5 by Thursday (ahem... tomorrow). We will also be spending the latter 45 minutes of class on having private teacher-student conferences in which we will discuss your papers on a deeper and more thorough level.

See you all tomorrow! 

Where in the world is....

Carmen Sandiego? or me....

Sorry i didn't make it to class today! I hope your peer reviewing went well. Please bring your final drafts to class on Thursday and be sure to email me if you are having trouble! And we will be discussing the Dostoevski excerpt on Thursday as well. 

Nicole, what do you think of having the movie day to watch To Kill a Mockingbird at your house on Tuesday? Any thoughts?

Have a great fat Tuesday guys! (Free pancakes at iHop!)

Dostoevsky

Hi guys! I hope your rough drafts for your papers are coming along nicely! For Tuesday, bring those in for a peer edit and also, I finally found a good copy of the Grand Inquisitor to post. So, if you'll read that for class discussion as well, we'll have a grand time! :)

The link is to the left under class documents. There's a bit of background at the beginning of your reading, but to add to that, Dostoevski was a Christian, so in the context of this novel, he gives this startling story to one of the athiestic brothers, Ivan. Ivan's goal is to mock and derail the religious beliefs of his younger brother by providing an argument of sorts against Christianity. See if you can figure out what Dostoevski is trying to accomplish by including this in his novel!

Blue Like Jazz

For Thursday, I'm going to bring an excerpt from Blue Like Jazz to class. This will be your reading assignment, and we'll talk about it from the religious perspective. 

Work on those thesis sentences and rough drafts! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions! Also, please vote for your choice of spring break dates! I'm flexible and want you guys to have the best option.

REMINDER: Rough draft on your paper due TUESDAY, Feb. 24th. And the final draft will be due Thurs., the 26th.

Lenses

I hope today was helpful in seeing how each of the literary lenses can allow you to see different aspects of the story in a new way. You all had tons of great thoughts to contribute to our analysis!

So, for Tuesday, we will finish the book and draw our final conclusions about the characters! 

Also, here is the paper assignment:

Choose one or two lenses from which to look at your paper, and construct a thesis sentence based on those lenses. If there's an aspect of the book you particularly like, you can apply the lenses to that aspect too! You might find out something interesting! 

Other information: the paper will need to be between 700-800 words long (roughly two-three pages), and the rough draft will be due the following Tuesday, Feb. 24th. And the final draft will be due Thurs., the 26th.

So bring those thesis sentences in on Tuesday, and I'll see ya then!

Remember Emerson

Please read chapters 17-23 for tomorrow! And I'll bring discussion items to class tomorrow. 

Stereo-types, Prejudices, and Fredrick Douglas

That was one of my favorite classes so far! Great thoughts and participation from everyone. :) Hopefully, reading about the consequences of thoughtless prejudices and stereotypes will help to keep us from repeating the sins of the past. There are always opportunities for our sinful hearts to demean and diminish the complexity of other human beings as such, and since we too have sinful hearts, it is good to be on guard against that tendancy. So, no more spitting in preppy guys' white mochas for me! ;) haha... 

But seriously, I hope the experiences of Fredrick Douglas will help you to understand the complexities of what takes place in our story, as well. 

So, assignment for Tuesday:

• Read chapters 12-16
  
• Turn in your papers with grammar corrections
  

Have a great weekend!

We're like mailmen

"Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night"... we're still having class, in case you were wondering. :D

To Kill a Mockingbird

I'm hoping you all check this blog before class on Tuesday, but your assignment is to read Chapters 4-8 in To Kill A Mockingbird as well as the short little biography to the left. 

See if you can spot any themes emerging in the novel. Don't you just love themes?? :D

By the way, the picture above is one of the famous prints by James Audubon of the daring little Mockingbird. I wonder if Harper Lee had ever seen this picture?

I've got some grading to do!

Well, now that you all have turned in 5,000 papers to me, I will be spending every waking moment grading between now and Tuesday. :) Good think I like my job! 

So, for Tuesday, we're going to keep it fairly simple. Read the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, linked in the left sidebar, entitled "Yellow Wallpaper." It should prove to be an exciting read. The lecture will be about Writing on Literature, so come prepaired to discuss what you think Gilman is trying to communicate in her story.

Snow Day - Inauguration Day

Well, make snowballs, sled down your yard, and eat snow-cream, because class is cancelled today!

I doubt we're in much danger of bad roads by the time of class, but there's a chance the church will be closed, so we'll wait till Thursday. So, what to do for homework?

Thursday:

-Bring in your final draft of your Expelled papers.

-Bring your article (for extra credit) and your current events topic.

-Bring in your letter to the Sri Lankan ambassador.

-And of course, there's still the Declaration of Independence.

Speaking of our country, if you get a chance, watch the inaugural speech today, and pray for our next President! It will be a historic moment for our nation! See ya Thursday!

Making a Difference

I'm excited to read your assessments of Expelled! Please bring the final drafts of those papers on Tuesday. Also, follow the link to the Declaration of Independence, one of the most famous persuasive essays in our country's history! We'll be discussing those ideas on Tuesday, in addition to a bit more grammar.

For Thursday, start thinking about your letter to the US Sri Lankan ambassador. If you want an example of a letter or more information about the issue, please follow the link to Carolyn's blog post about the anti-conversion bill. 

Additionally, be looking through TV news reports, websites, and local newspapers for a current topic that interests you. If you bring in an actual article, you get extra credit! We'll be using them for class on Thursday! And if you want a few places to check for topics here are a few link ideas to get you started:

http://knoxnews.com/

http://www.curatormagazine.com/

http://www.metropulse.com/

http://www.cnn.com/

Again, these aren't due to THURSDAY. Ask your parents to help too! I certainly can't endorse everything on these sites, so use discernment! 

Annalyzing

Well, I enjoyed the discussion on Expelled today! Great thoughts, everybody. The rough draft of your papers are due this Thursday, and we'll spend some time peer reviewing them. Also, please read Jacoby's essay! It's rather interesting, so I'm looking forward to that discussion as well.  Here's the list of questions to keep in mind as you're reading:

• What is his thesis?
  
• What is he trying to accomplish?
  
• What is his argument? 
  
• Does he acheive his goal?
  
• Are you convinced?
  
• Has it challenged your thinking? Moved you from where you stood before you read it?
  
• What could have made it better?
  

See ya Thursday! 

p.s. The final draft for your paper will be due on Tuesday, for planning purposes (except for you, Nicole).