April 29 and 30

Sophomores: We studied the concept of the monomyth (go to www.Orias.berkley.edu/hero for the template we used for notes), and began Act III from Hamlet, primarily through an in-depth close reading of Hamlet's famous soliliquy. Finish scene two for next period as well as your "normal English" translation of that famous speech.

Freshmen: We either began presentations or talked about how to do a critique. Periods 3 and 6 must turn in their capstones Thursday.

April 28

Sophomores: We took a quiz on Act II and discussed the Bloom essay. Be sure you are working on your triple entry journal for next time.

Freshmen: Presentations start this week. Be sure to check the schedule so that you know when you are supposed to go, and please be ready to go the day BEFORE you are scheduled, just in case someone is absent. We don't want to waste a day.

April 24

Sophomores: We took a quiz on Act I. Read Act II on your own, due Monday.

Freshmen: We took time to work on the capstone project. Periods 3 and 6, bring in typed drafts on Monday of next week.

Freshman Critique Guidelines

1. Read each short story you are given carefully. Write your name at the top of their draft.
2. Mark up their draft as much as possible: make edits, revisions, comments, observations, etc.
3. Type up a 1 page bullet statement response to the writer's work. Here you might touch on or expand upon those things you wrote on their drafts, but it is more of a place for in-depth reaction to their writing. This should be single spaced, 12 point font, one whole page. Put your name and the name of the writer whose work you are responding to at the top.
4. Focus on areas that are strong, areas that are weak; focus on the micro and the macro (big and small); don't be afraid to address areas that need work or make suggestions or provide an honest reaction, but always do so kindly.
5. Bring the writer's story and your typed reaction to class on Wednesday, May 14 (period 6) or Thursday, May 15 (periods 2 and 3). We will have a critique session that day.
6. After the critique session, you will revise your short story and hand it in on Monday, May 19.

April 22

Sophomores: Today we read the section on Shakespeare's Language - if your copy has that, read it; if not, borrow it. Also, finish all of act 1 for next period.

Freshmen: We had sample capstone presentations today.

April 21

Sophomores: We finished the film version of Hamlet we were watching and began reading Act I. You should finish scene 2 for next period.

Freshmen: We worked on the capstone in class. Due next week.

April 18

Sophomores: We nearly finished Hamlet. The rest is silence.

Freshmen: We took some time to work on your capstone. Get busy; time is running out.

April 17

Sophomores: We continued watching Hamlet. Essays are due tomorrow: do a revision/edit tonight.

Freshmen: We studied the seven elements stories entail. This is one of the structures you might use when crafting your stories for the capstone. Get notes if needed.

April 14

Sophomores: We took an in class essay exam today. If you missed, see me so that you can do this in the TLC. For next block period, you need a typed copy of your essay about your mother and a copy of Hamlet.

Freshmen: We focused on short story structure, using some info adapted from Atwell, and applied it to a story by Sherman Alexi. You will have plenty of time to write in class tomorrow. Here are the notes:

Short Story Structure
How to go about crafting a story that works. Present your story in these steps…

1. Create a narrative lead.
Show the main character doing one of these three things:
In action.
Reacting to something interesting.
Speaking dialogue.
This way is least-recommended, as often times all your reader envisions is a disembodied voice in a white room.

2. Introduce the main character’s character.
Reveal to your reader what your main character is like - show the character’s personality. The things on the main character questionnaire will help you focus on what your reader needs to know about your character.
3. Introduce the setting.
The time and place of the main character’s life will influence the kinds of problems he or she faces. The setting should be more than just a backdrop, and it should be one the writer can easily imagine.A place like your hometown is better than New York City or Maui.
4. Introduce and develop the problem the main character is facing.
Often times the character will face several roadblocks as he or she tries to solve the problem. Keep your problems realistic and solvable.
5. Develop the plot and problem.
Work toward a climax or turning point.
The character should have to make decisions, take action, have conversations, or have a confrontation that shows the problem at its height.
6. Develop a change in the main character.
The character should acknowledge or understand something - a decision, a course of action, a regret.
7. Develop a resolution.
How does the main character come to terms - or not - with his or her problem?
The main problem doesn’t have to be solved, but the character should still be changed in some fundamental way.

April 11

Sophomores: We concluded The Poisonwood Bible and continued our discussion of symbolism from yesterday. You can check below for the questions you might have to write on come Monday.

Freshmen: We talked about elements of fiction and read a Bruce Coville short story. Be working on your capstones - it is coming up.

April 10

Sophomores: We began a preliminary discussion about some of the symbolism found in The Poisonwood Bible. We will continue this tomorrow as we conclude the book. Below is an updated list of possible final questions you will write on on Monday. You will only be assigned one. Any notes you wish to take, you can use on Monday.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Examine to what extent the five main characters from The Poisonwood Bible move through the four stages of the hero. Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Symbolism is an important literary device used by Barbara Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible. Focus on, analyze, and explain any or all of the following symbols from the novel: birds (especially in Adah’s entries, as well as Methusela), the garden, wives, the poisonwood tree or Africa itself. How does Kingsolver use these symbols, and how do they reveal some of the themes or messages in the novel. Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
-Miss Maudie, in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
How does the above quote apply to The Poisonwood Bible, Nathan Price in particular? Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Reread Chapter One from The Kite Runner. How does that chapter – particularly the first
paragraph – relate to the characters from The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna in particular? What common theme do these two books share? Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Examine the role the use and misuse of language plays in the novel, particularly as it applies to the Price family. How does the way each character uses language reveal something about the character? Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

Freshmen: We studied Wallace Steven's 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. A Ways poem is one of the requirements for your capstone project, so if need be, get the notes from a buddy.

April 8

Sophomores: We studied some specific kinds of leads and conclusions. You are to use some of these techniques when you write your memory pieces of your mother. I am posting them below my freshmen info. Other specifics for that assignment include:
1. Typed draft due next block period.
2. 1000 words minimum.
3. Include a quote from someone else about your mom.
4. Use a 1 sentence paragraph at some point in your piece.
5. Show don't tell: write small.
6. Title is crucial.

Due for Friday is up through page 533 - finish everything but "The Eyes in the Trees." The final for the book is Friday. Here is what you might get assigned:

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Examine to what extent the five main characters from The Poisonwood Bible move through the four stages of the hero. Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Symbolism is an important literary device used by Barbara Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible. Focus on, analyze, and explain any or all of the following symbols from the novel: birds (especially in Adah’s entries, as well as Methusela), the garden, wives, or Africa itself. Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.

The Poisonwood Bible Final Exam
Reread Chapter One from The Kite Runner. How does that chapter – particularly the first
paragraph – relate to the characters from The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna in particular? What common theme do these two books share? Your essay should have a clear lead and conclusion, a clear thesis statement, and be free of grammatical errors. Be sure to reference specific passages from the text to support your assertions. When finished, craft a compelling title for your piece.


Freshmen: We worked on a main character questionnaire for your capstone fiction piece. You must include this with your final product. See a friend for the notes if you missed.


Sophomore Notes:

Experiment with Essay Leads and Conclusions

Some leads to try…
Anecdote: A brief story that captures the essence of the issue or situation.
It’s 3 AM, and the stillness of the White House night is shattered by the ringing of the red phone. President John McCain, rousing himself from a deep sleep, turns on the light and picks up the receiver. A US Embassy in a Middle Eastern country, he is told, has been blown up, and al-Qaida is taking credit.
McCain takes a deep breath. “Character counts, my friend,” he says. “Bomb Iran. Bomb, bomb Iran.”
-Harold Meyerson, “Would You Sleep Well With John McCain Answering the Red Phone?”
Quote: A voice not your own that speaks to or exemplifies the issue.
“This is the new face of hunger,” said Josetta Sheeran, director of the World Food Program, launching an appeal for an extra $500 million so it could continue to supply food aid to 73 million hungry people this year. “People are simply being priced out of food markets… We have never before had a situation where aggressive rises in food prices keep pricing our operations out of our reach.”
-Gwynne Dyer, “Warming and Biofuels: Here Comes a Food Catastrophe”


Announcement: The writer takes a strong stand on an issue.
The national outpouring after the Littleton shootings ahs forced us to confront something we have suspected for a long time: The American high school is obsolete and should be abolished.
In the last month, high school students present and past have come forward with stories about cliques and the artificial intensity of a world defined by insiders and outsides, in which the insiders hold sway because of superficial definitions of attractiveness, popularity and sports prowess.
-Leon Botstein, “High School, and Institution Whose Time Has Passed”

Background: The writer gives a brief history of the issue or situation.
When I was in the fourth grade, I moved from a small Lutheran school of 100 to a larger public elementary school. Lincoln Elementary. Wow. Lincoln was a big school, full of a thousand different attitudes about everything from eating lunch to how to treat a new kid. It was a tough time for me, my first year, and more than anything, I wanted to belong.
Many things were difficult: the move my family had just made, trying to make new friends, settling into a new home, accepting a new stepfather. I remember crying a lot. I remember my parents fighting. They were having a difficult time with their marriage… Despite all this, the thing that I remember most about the fourth grade is Tiffany Stephenson.
-Bjorn Skogquist, “Tiffany Stephenson - An Apology”
News: The writer gives the reader the who-what-when-where-why of a situation or issue.
Ninety percent of American smokers started as teenagers. There are several reasons for this scary statistic: peer pressure, parents who smoke, and, most significantly, because of the billions of dollars spent by the tobacco industry on ads that target kids.
-Jack Sherman, “Stop the Tobacco Companies from Targeting Kids”

Some conclusions to try…
Anecdote: A brief story that captures the essence of the issue or situation.
Admonition or instruction: The writer tells the reader to take a particular action.
What forward-looking communities see is a chance to to get in on the power production boom, not as consumers of dirty, increasingly expensive coal-fired power, but as produces of their own clean power.
There is a solar silver lining in our present environmental mess. It’s a chance to reinvent ourselves. Let’s do it right this time.
-Ed Firmage, Jr. “Revolutionary Solar Technology is Set to Transform Energy Generation.”
Prediction: The writer comments on how the situation might be different.
Somehow, we have to make our children understand that they are intelligent, competent people, capable of doing whatever they put their minds to and making it in the American mainstream, not just in the black subculture.
What we seem to be doing, instead, is raising up yet another generation of young blacks who will be failures - by definition.
-William Raspberry, “The Handicap of Definition”
Quote: A voice not your own that speaks to or exemplifies the issue.
Well, it’s off my chest; and it feels good.
I will no longer make excuses for my musical tastes. Not when millions are being made by performers exhorting listeners to “put your hands in the air and wave ‘em like you just don’t care.”
Compare that with the haunting refrain of Reba Mc.Entire’s “I Think His Name Was John,” a song about a woman, a one-night’s stand and AIDS: “She lays all alone and cries herself to sleep/ ’Cause she let a stranger kill her hopes and her dreams/ And in the end when she was barely hanging on/ All she could say is she thinks his name was John.”
-Lena Williams, “A Black Fan of Country Music Finally Tells All”
Echo: The ending links back to the beginning - an idea, an image, or a word or phrase.

Strong, punched statement: The writer concludes with strong stance, perhaps a one sentence paragraph.
Cohabiting does not necessarily equal the tragic end of a relationship, but couples who do marry after living together have high rates of separation and divorce. The lack of commitment in such a relationship plays a large role in the scenario. If a couple wishes to have a successful marriage, they should show their commitment to each other from the beginning. If they trust each other enough not to cohabit before marriage, their marriage already has a higher probability of success.
-Denise Leight ”Playing House”

April 7

Sophomores: We focused on writing small, or writing low on the food chain, as it related to some of your mother memories. We tried to flesh these out and round them out further by focusing on small details that stick to the page.

Freshmen: This was our final whole-period session for writing for the next few weeks.

April 4

Sophomores: We took and discussed a quiz on the reading. Finish your 12-15 memory statements about your mom for Monday; finish the book for Friday. Get a copy of Hamlet.

Freshmen: We wrote a poem modeled after Williams's "This is just to say" and worked on our essays.

Citing Sources

Citing Sources
To cite: To quote, word for word, someone else’s writing as an example, to support an argument, or explain what’s being said.
There are basically two types of citations. One is:
1. An in-text citation: This is for shorter citations and appears as a part of your text. You must do the following to set it off from the rest of your text…
a. Place it in quote marks.
b. Place the author and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
c. To leave out text, use the ellipsis.

Biofuels are not the answer to our current climate change problems and energy needs. Using food for fuel is a problem for many reasons. First, biofuels don’t slow climate change - they may, in fact, accelerate it. The journal Science published a study that calculated biofuel production may release “between 17 and 420 times more carbon dioxide than… fossil fuel” (Dyer, 11). Second, biofuel production drives up the cost of food. Between 2006 and 2007, “food costs world wide rose by 23 percent”, something that can be linked directly with conversion of land from food to fuel production (Dyer, 78).
There are basically two types of citations, continued. The second:
2. A blocked citation: This is for longer citations and looks differently, as if you cut and pasted part of your source into your text. To do this, do the following:
a. The citation should be single spaced and indented.
b. Don’t set it off with quote marks.
c. Place the author and page number at the end of the citation.
d. To leave out text, use the ellipsis.


We are facing a food shortage crisis, plain and simple. The World Food Program has stated it needs upwards of 700 million dollars this year to help feed the world’s poor, up 200 million from what they needed last year to feed the same number of people.

Last year it became clear that the era of
cheap food was over. Food costs world-wide
rose by 23 percent between 2006 and 2007.
This year, what is becoming clear is the impact
of this change on ordinary people’s lives (Dyer, 11).

What might not be clear is the cause: biofuels.
For the capstone, you must…
• Use each of these techniques at least once.
• Cite from a source in each essay.

April 3

Sophomores: We discussed the Joseph Campbell interview we watched yesterday, and continued the memory activity we began on Monday, keying on what memories reveal about the person being remembered, the person doing the remembering, and the relationship between the two people. We then began a list of 12-15 specific memories about our own mothers - complete this for Friday. Also for Friday: page 423.

Freshmen: We reviewed the steps taken yesterday for the capstone project, assessed the sonnets we wrote, and covered how to cite from a source according to MLA format. I will see if I can get my notes and examples up in the next few days.