Friday April 29 Agenda

*         Bell Ringer: Modernism Poetry: (finish group presentations)

*         Pg 1, 2, 3 Presentations, take notes and annotate your packet

*         American Voices / Small Group Discussion

*         What is the American voice: your group needs a few different ideas/definitions/aspects to definition –post this on my blog, then follow the directions on the post about what to do next.

*         Dickinson and Bradstreet (Pg 1 Group), Whitman (Pg 2 Group), Thoreau and Emerson (Pg 3 group & Pg 4 Group), William Carlos Williams and other modern poets (Pg 5 group & Pg 6 Group)

*         Overall Question: How does their writing exemplify the (or an) American voice?

*         How does their writing show America at their point in time?

*         What does their writing say about people and society?

*         Thinking of all, what aspect(s) of America are not reflected with the voices so far?

*         Write up on blog (also write on sheet of paper for self)

*         Current American Poetry research / work time

*         Multimodal presentation (more than just the words), digital presentation  (PRESENTATION RUBRIC?)

*         Explication due Wednesday / first thing

*         Presentations start Thursday

Authors We've Read and Their American Voice

Your group has been assigned an author/authors.  *Dickinson and Bradstreet (Pg 1 Group), Whitman (Pg 2 Group), Thoreau and Emerson (Pg 3 & Pg 4 groups), William Carlos Williams and other modern poets (Pg 5 & Pg 6 Groups)

You need to find the notes/information you have on that author/authors and answer these questions about their American Voice.  Make sure one of you types up the answers as a comment to this post, but all of you write it down in your notes.

*Overall Question: How does their writing exemplify the (or an) American voice?

*How does their writing show America at their point in time?

*What does their writing say about people and society?

*Thinking of all, what aspect(s) of America are not reflected with the voices so far? 

Once you have posted these ideas, work on your current poet research.  

Current Poets Researched

At this point (beginning of class on Thursday), you should know what poet you are going to be researching and hopefully have an idea of at least one of their poems you will be explicating.  Please comment to this post the name of your poet and the title of one of their poems that you will be focusing upon.

Wednesday, April 27 Agenda

·         Bell Ringer: 15 min time to finalize poem teaching

·         Modernism Poetry:

o   Pg 4, 5, 6 Presentations, take notes and annotate your packet
(Pg 1, 2, 3 present on Thursday)

·         Dickinson Poetry / Review (google comments) – large group

·         Discuss “O Captain” and “Song of Myself” then Whitman and Dickinson (WN entry from Monday)- partner, then large group

·         Dickinson & Whitman – compare

·         NEXT: Current Poets Research: Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marilyn Hacker, Dana Gioia, Jack Kerouac, Pedro Pietri, Marc Smith, Taylor Mali, Robert Pinsky, Li Young, AND LOTS MORE TO CHOOSE FROM

Tuesday, April 26 Agenda

*Bell Ringer: Modern Era Review

*How to Explicate a Poem  (handout + practice/example)

*Movements of Modern Era poetry: Notes and group work (new poetry packet)

Assigned Groups:

• Read all poems together, then:
• With your group, plan if any research needs to be done before you present, then do it if necessary
• Work time on poems: you will TEACH them tomorrow:
• Annotate, teach (explain in detail) anything/everything you think needs explaining, meanings (literal and figurative), poetic devices, background, connection to Modern Era and poetic movements

*Things to Teach:

• What is the poem about? Surface (what happens in the poem, story)? Deeper (theme, message, big picture)? (If also in a text book, what are some of the questions the book asks?)
• What is the emotion of the poem? 
• Is there any pattern (word, rhyme, image, etc)? 
• Is there a format? (What does it look like, mechanics, line breaks, etc)
• What poetry terms are used in the poem? How do they contribute to the meaning?
• Alliteration, symbolism, personification, rhyme, repetition, figurative language (simile, metaphor, imagery), allusions, others?
• What rules does the poem follow or break?
• What characteristics from our notes can be seen in the poem? How does it fit into this era? (imagism, free-verse, objectivism, etc)
• (Page 4 folks…) Ars Poetica: a statement by the poet about poetry, about his or her beliefs about what poetry is and about what it does. What does the poem demonstrate about poetry? 

Monday, April 25 Agenda

*Bell Ringer: Grab a BLUE Lit book. Read p. 114, About the Author

*Anne Bradstreet – “Verses upon the Burning of our House” – Finish poem and questions (from Friday)

*Read Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book” (NEW-on own or with partner)

*What is the extended metaphor throughout this poem?

*What lines imply Bradstreet sees herself as unworthy to write

*Interpret lines 3-5 of “The Author to Her Book”

*What do you think about her attitude that the book is a ninth child? Is this a good comparison (how are they similar or not)?

*Note check on Bradstreet.

*Discussion of Bradstreet Poems

*In the Blue Book: Walt Whitman. Read pp. 365-366.

*“Oh Captain! My Captain!” pg 375

*Analysis of what is the literal level, what is the figurative level (like with “Because I could…”)

*“Song of Myself” pg 368

*Answer, p 374… RECALL and EVALUATE sections (in WN)

*In WN: What do you think are some stylistic (format, structure, conventions) and ideological (beliefs, views, etc) similarities and differences between Dickinson and Whitman? Please list as many as you can think of, if you want to do a venn diagram or a chart, that’s fine.

*Note check on Whitman TUESDAY.

Thoreau "Poster" Assignment

Walden & Civil Disobedience

*3 Aphorisms (short saying or pointed statement {Direct Quote}) and 3 Main Ideas of the selection assigned (2 groups, one for each selection) (1=Walden, 2=Civil Disobedience)

*Pros and Cons that Thoreau would have about today’s society/America (3) (6)

*Thoreau’s guide (steps) to living the ‘simple life’ (4)

*Thoreau’s guide to politics/life in an American Society (5)

Nature Journaling Assignment

*Homework: Nature Journaling: Go outside or sit at a window without background noise (TV, music, etc) and write about what you see and think.  A nature journal primarily records your responses to and reflections about the world of nature around you.  This entry should be at least 3/4ths of a page (Writer’s Notebook)

Include a "nature selfie" for extra credit points

Wednesday, April 13 Agenda

*         Bell Ringer: Prep Group Presentations

*         Group Discussion: TAKE NOTES. ASK QUESTIONS.

*         “The Lottery”

*         “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Patrick Henry

*         “Harrison Bergeron”

*         “There Will Come Soft Rains”

*         MLK and Malcolm X readings

*         Outlining Time for Individual and Society essay

*         Reminders: BwF reading/journal, outline for test on FRIDAY

ESSAY PROMPT: Individual and Society

Prompt: What is a common message about the topic of the individual and society that is shown through the texts we read.  You need to use at least two texts from this topic, and prove one message/theme/big idea about “individual and society” that can be seen.  You should have at least one piece of textual evidence/specific detail from each to use as supporting details.  You then need to analyze how that piece of information proves the theme/message.

• I can analyze how specific word choices build on one another to create a cumulative impact on the overall meaning and tone of a text
• I can analyze how central ideas develop over the course of a text
• I can choose a topic and id and select the most significant and relevant information to develop and share with my audience
• I can present my information in an objective tone and formal style that includes an introduction statement/section, supporting details, varied transitions and syntax, and a concluding statement/section

Wednesday, April 6 Agenda

*         Bell Ringer: “The Lottery” – Think/ Pair / Share

1.       Pick a partner, and write down answers to the
small group discussion questions (yellow half-sheet)
(Put both names on your response sheet, this will be turned in later)

*         Group Discussion.

*         Read: “Biography of the Story” (in “Wednesday” file)

*         Blog: Questions on the “Biography of the Story”
                = HW if not done before Dystopia discussion

1.       Would you have imagined that much of an emotional response from people based on the story? Why yes or no?

2.       What is your reaction to the end of her ‘biography’?

3.       Respond to this quote:
“Explaining just what I had hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives.” –Shirley Jackson

*         Literary Concept: Dystopia (discuss next slides)

"The Lottery" Blog Posts

Create a comment and post your response to these three prompts.

1.       Would you have imagined that much of an emotional response from people based on the story? Why, yes or no?

2.       What is your reaction to the end of her ‘biography’?

3.       Respond to this quote:
“Explaining just what I had hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives.” –Shirley Jackson

Tuesday, April 5 Agenda

*Bell Ringer: In WN: Write down three things you believe you know about the status of women in America around 1890. If you can’t think of facts, you may write  questions instead.

*Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Biographical information (view slides)

*Grab lit book to discuss “Yellow Wallpaper” (read pg 814 too)

*Small Group: Discuss “The Yellow Wallpaper”

*Small group, discuss comments, discussion questions and then summaries** –what is the story about, how does it show social issues (the role of women) and additional questions

***summary of your interpretation of the story, especially the ending of the story- share with your group after you’ve discussed annotations and questions

*Large Group on “Yellow Wallpaper”

*Literary Concepts: foreshadowing, satire

*Satire: a technique where foolish customs/traditions/ideas are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society, it is often accomplished through humor or wit, but isn’t always (it can be abrasive or bitterly critical)

*“The Lottery”

*Read through, annotating ideas of society and individual, satire, as well as other basic annotations (highlight/underline AND write what you are thinking with it)

*Last few 1-Pagers

Monday, April 4 Agenda

*Bell Ringer: “Speech in Virginia Convention”
– Have it out / show me annotations

*“Speech in the Virginia Convention” Discussion: see blog for directions

*Reminder of Realism Era: what was life at the time, social issues, etc.

*“The Yellow Wallpaper” 799/packet

While reading: minimum of two close read notes/annotations per page (comment/connection/question/etc) plus create two discussion questions about the story and a summary of your interpretation of the story, especially the ending of the story

Speech in the Virginia Convention Discussion

Discuss all of your annotations on this reading.  This is what you were told to read for:

1)      Three rhetorical questions and the assumed answers from the speech.  Why include these questions?  Example: “Is this the part of wise men…? ” -- he wants listeners to think that, no, wise men search for freedom with open eyes, seeing truth.

·         Look at these specific places and discuss: What is the implied answer and why does he ask it?

·         *Line 17-20, 24-27, 30-32, 41-45, 63-68, 83-84

2)      Allusion: find another mention of a literary/historical/biblical event.  Any thoughts as to why it would be included? Take a guess…

3)      How does this fit in the topic (the individual and society)?

4)      How do you see themes of independence or freedom in this speech? (Themes of the era)

Once you have talked through all of these, post as a comment to this post your groups answers to this:

1)      Pick an allusion your group understands and explain why you feel Patrick Henry included it

2)      Post your best pieces of Textual Evidence on:

·         Freedom/Independence

·         Individual and Society

3)      What is the implied answer and why does he ask it?

·         Line 17-20 (1s group)

·         Line 24-27 (2s group)

·         Line 30-32 (3s group)

·         Line 41-45 (4s group)

·         Line 63-68 (5s group)

·         Line 83-84 (6s group)

Friday, April 1 Agenda

1.       Bell Ringer: Collect paper and Crucible book

2.       One Pager Presentations

3.       Finish Books with Friends intro and calendar set up

• Journal Explanation

Thursday, March 31 Agenda

*Bell Ringer: Patrick Henry… Reminders:

·        Your close-read

·        Parallel structure

*Books with Friends Intro

*Book picking and schedule creation

*One Pager Presentations