Freya's Day, "seventh" month

HOMEWORK: Discuss chapter 8; over the weekend read chapters 9, 10 (22 difficult pages)

Read The Crucible
Notes: Puritanism; What really happened to the "afflicted girls"
Find an article on one of the two topics above and create a link in the following Google Doc

Write a sentence paraphrasing one of the most important ideas

The Scarlet Letter Video, narrated by President Snow of The Hunger Games!
Take notes (don't hand in until we have finished this 50-minute video next week

Quizlet list of 24 Scarlet Letter words. You will be tested on these first 12 words Monday and the remaining 12 words on Thur/Friday.
Find example sentences on Chromebooks
In groups of two or three max, write vocabulary story using at least 7 of the 24 words, with an emphasis on the first 12. Submit to Google Doc:
Vocab Story, Scarlet Letter, Period 6

Poems to start the year: October, Bereft, Spring and Fall, 73rd Sonnet
Choose one of the four poems to memorizeDiscuss and write in Journal: "In what ways does the poet use imagery to develop one of his main ideas. 

• State the idea and then 
• Cite/quote at least two examples from the poem. Then 
• Explain how the example supports that idea. 
• Elaborate for an additional sentence.

Memorize one of these poems Friday, October 6th
You will write the poem from memory.
How to memorize: 

• visualize each image
• recite with feeling, paying attention to the rhythm and meter
• act it out with hand gestures
• think through concepts and the development of ideas
• practice, using different voices and intonation
• read it very slowly. Bit by bit. 
• write it over and over again 
• if you're a really big nerd, you use crazy voices

Every night (including "A days" and weekends) you will read approximately 10 pages of The Scarlet Letter. So, even if I don't give you a specific reading assignment, you should read on your own at home or you will fall behind. Remember, many good students have "B's" by the end of this unit simply because this is a challenging novel    8^o
Here's an audiobook from YouTube:
Scarlet Letter, chapters 1, 2
Scarlet Letter, chapters 3, 4, 5
Scarlet Letter, chapters 6, 7, 8, 9
Here's another audiobook version: Scarlet Letter
Side-by-side "translation" of the Scarlet Letter: No Fear Lit: Scarlet Letter

Notes on Romanticism
1776-1848 in Europe and U.S.
Characteristics of Romantic Worldview
--The Individual
--The Human Heart (over mind)
--Passion
--Nature
(the individual learns "what it's all about" 
  by heading into nature)
--Intuition 
--Intense personal experience
--Exotic
--valued genius
--valued pyschology, mystery, the occult

Woden's day, Sept 27

OMEWORK: Read chapter 5; over the weekend read chapters 6, 7
Every night (including "A days" and weekends) you will read approximately 10 pages of The Scarlet Letter. So, even if I don't give you a specific reading assignment, you should read on your own at home or you will fall behind. Remember, many good students have "B's" by the end of this unit simply because this is a challenging novel    8^o
Here's an audiobook from YouTube:
Scarlet Letter, chapters 1, 2
Scarlet Letter, chapters 3, 4, 5
Scarlet Letter, chapters 6, 7, 8, 9
Here's another audiobook version: Scarlet Letter
Side-by-side "translation" of the Scarlet Letter: No Fear Lit: Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter Video, narrated by President Snow of The Hunger Games!
Take notes (don't hand in until we have finished this 50-minute video next week

Quizlet list of 24 Scarlet Letter words. You will be tested on these first 12 words Monday and the remaining 12 words on Thur/Friday.
Find example sentences on Chromebooks
In groups of two or three max, write vocabulary story using at least 7 of the 24 words, with an emphasis on the first 12. Submit to Google Doc:
Vocab Story, Scarlet Letter, Period 6

SCARLET LETTER
Notes on Romanticism
1776-1848 in Europe and U.S.
Characteristics of Romantic Worldview
--The Individual
--The Human Heart (over mind)
--Passion
--Nature
(the individual learns "what it's all about" 
  by heading into nature)
--Intuition 
--Intense personal experience
--Exotic
--valued genius
--valued pyschology, mystery, the occult


Page 55 Hester is an individual
Page 58
Page 66
Page 74
Page 83
Page 108

Poems to start the year: October, Bereft, Spring and Fall, 73rd Sonnet
Discuss and write in Journal: "In what ways does the poet use imagery to develop one of his main ideas. 

• State the idea and then 
• Cite/quote at least two examples from the poem. Then 
• Explain how the example supports that idea. 
• Elaborate for an additional sentence.

Memorize one of these poems Friday, September 29th
You will write the poem from memory.
How to memorize: 

• visualize each image
• recite with feeling, paying attention to the rhythm and meter
• act it out with hand gestures
• think through concepts and the development of ideas
• practice, using different voices and intonation
• read it very slowly. Bit by bit. 
• write it over and over again 
• if you're a really big nerd, you use crazy voices

Wednesday, September 20th

HOMEWORK: Read chapter 5; over the weekend read chapters 6, 7
Every night (including "A days" and weekends) you will read approximately 10 pages of The Scarlet Letter. So, even if I don't give you a specific reading assignment, you should read on your own at home or you will fall behind. Remember, many good students have "B's" by the end of this unit simply because this is a challenging novel    8^o
Here's an audiobook from YouTube:
Scarlet Letter, chapters 1, 2
Scarlet Letter, chapters 3, 4, 5
Scarlet Letter, chapters 6, 7, 8, 9
Here's another audiobook version: Scarlet Letter
Side-by-side "translation" of the Scarlet Letter: No Fear Lit: Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter Video, narrated by President Snow of The Hunger Games!
Take notes (don't hand in until we have finished this 50-minute video next week

Quizlet list of 24 Scarlet Letter words. You will be tested on these first 12 words next Monday and the remaining 12 words on Thur/Friday of next week.

Poems to start the year: October, Bereft, Spring and Fall, 73rd Sonnet
Memorize one of these poems Friday, September 29th
You will write the poem ifrom memory.
How to memorize: 

• visualize each image
• recite with feeling, paying attention to the rhythm and meter
• act it out with hand gestures
• think through concepts and the development of ideas
• practice, using different voices and intonation
• read it very slowly. Bit by bit. 
• write it over and over again 
• if you're a really big nerd, you use crazy voices

Tuesday, September 19

How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Steal Like an Artist

The Scarlet Letter--Why "scarlet"?
   Old Testament reference
      Significance. Does it give away the ending?

Read chapters 5, 6

The Scarlet Letter Video, narrated by President Snow of The Hunger Games!
Take notes

Poems to start the year: October, Bereft, Spring and Fall, 73rd Sonnet

Quizlet list of 24 Scarlet Letter words. You will be tested on these first 12 words next Monday and the remaining 12 words on Thur/Friday of next week.

Monday, September 18

ANNOTATED SCARLET LETTER
This site is AWESOME. There are links to difficult words.

1. summer Reading Essay: Turnitin.com, due Monday, Sept 18, 9:00AM

Class ID: 16281811

Enrollment key: southsaxons

You must bring a hard copy to class on Monday, too.

How to Write a Creative Title for an Essay

2. Hand in summer reading essay

3. What point is Hawthorne making in the story Young Goodman Brown concerning hypocisy?

4. So, according to Hawthorne the world is filled with evil, especially hypocrisy. The question for all of us is, "How are you going to respond to that?" Start out by asking, "What is wrong with the way that Young Goodman Brown responds to that?"

5.Scarlet Letter. Read chapter 2 together

Homework: Read chapter 

4. Tuesday's homework: Read chapters 5, 6 (we read about 10 pages per day (70 per week)

Grammar exercises to help you avoid conventions errors in your essays:
Two rules of thumb: 
1. "If you could have a period, you can't just have a comma."

2. To write effective sentences that develop ideas, sometimes you need to add a comma or two.
Here are some good Quizlet decks for practice:
Comma Splices 1
Comma Splices 2
Run-on Sentences 1
Sentence Fragment 1

To make sure that you all understand how to write a strong essay, today we will review a fairy tale and ask ourselves how an essay on that story might be written. As a group you will choose one Summer Reading Essay prompt and:

Write an opening sentence

Write a thesis

Write a topic sentence for one idea

Cite a specific example from the story (consider quoting it)

Write three sentences elaborating that idea

Write a concluding sentence for that paragraph

As you write, be sure to follow this basic rule of thumb for good writing:

"Good writing passionately addresses what it is to be a human being."
(As you are writing I will call you up to my desk to show me your annotations)

 1.  Write an essay that presents your interpretation of the novel’s main character (or characters) and discusses his or her motives. Include discussion about the choices and decisions the character makes which impact the pivotal events of the novel. Use specific textual evidence to support your analysis.

 2.  Write an essay that presents an argument about a major theme of the novel. How does the novel’s theme reflect meaningful values shared by human beings. Use specific textual evidence to support your argument.

 3.  Discuss the roles of men and women in the novel (and the interactions and relationships among them) and present an argument about what these roles reveal about the society reflected in the novel. Use specific textual evidence to support your argument.

 4. Write an essay that explains how the novel is concerned with one of the following motifs: the gaining or losing of paradise, initiation, scapegoating, social class and mobility, a utopia/dystopia, a quest, rebirth or redemption, cultural barriers, baptism/floods, transformation, sacrifice, betrayal and revenge, search for identify, the conflict between good and evil, or parental roles. Use specific textual evidence to support your analysis.

Friday, September 15th

ANNOTATED SCARLET LETTER
This site is AWESOME. There are links to difficult words.

1. summer Reading Essay: Turnitin.com, due Monday, Sept 18, 9:00AM

Class ID: 16281811

Enrollment key: southsaxons

You must bring a hard copy to class on Monday, too.

How to Write a Creative Title for an Essay

2. Quiz 

Literary terms--Quizlet  

First three lines of Song of the Open Road
All names
Young Goodman Brown (PDF) Quiz
3. What point is Hawthorne making in the story Young Goodman Brown?

4. Scarlet Letter. Read pages 1-4 together

Homework: Read chapters 2, 3

Summer Reading Essay

To make sure that you all understand how to write a strong essay, today we will review a fairy tale and ask ourselves how an essay on that story might be written. As a group you will choose one Summer Reading Essay prompt and:

Write an opening sentence

Write a thesis

Write a topic sentence for one idea

Cite a specific example from the story (consider quoting it)

Write three sentences elaborating that idea

Write a concluding sentence for that paragraph

As you write, be sure to follow this basic rule of thumb for good writing:

"Good writing passionately addresses what it is to be a human being."
(As you are writing I will call you up to my desk to show me your annotations)

 1.  Write an essay that presents your interpretation of the novel’s main character (or characters) and discusses his or her motives. Include discussion about the choices and decisions the character makes which impact the pivotal events of the novel. Use specific textual evidence to support your analysis.

 2.  Write an essay that presents an argument about a major theme of the novel. How does the novel’s theme reflect meaningful values shared by human beings. Use specific textual evidence to support your argument.

 3.  Discuss the roles of men and women in the novel (and the interactions and relationships among them) and present an argument about what these roles reveal about the society reflected in the novel. Use specific textual evidence to support your argument.

 4. Write an essay that explains how the novel is concerned with one of the following motifs: the gaining or losing of paradise, initiation, scapegoating, social class and mobility, a utopia/dystopia, a quest, rebirth or redemption, cultural barriers, baptism/floods, transformation, sacrifice, betrayal and revenge, search for identify, the conflict between good and evil, or parental roles. Use specific textual evidence to support your analysis.

2. Summer Reading Essay Turnitin.com due Monday, Sept 18, 9:00AM

1.  SSHS College Visit Calendar

SAT prep, grades, extra-curricular activities, community service to get into the college of your choice

2. Summer Reading Essay Turnitin.com due Monday, Sept 18, 9:00AM

Class ID: 16281811

Enrollment key: southsaxons

You must bring a hard copy to class on Monday, too.

How to Write a Creative Title for an Essay

"Just don't let your paper be ordinary."

C=Common work         It sounds like most papers 

B=Beyond common     Effectively makes it's point. Well supported

A=Above beyond         Very effectively makes it's point with thorough analysis, logical progression of ideas, and originality of thought. "I'm glad I read that!"

3. Show me your annotations for your novel. 20 minimum for "A" consideration
Book Talks
What point is the novel making? Summary. How to Read Like a Professor connections?
Don't give away the ending!!!!!!!!   Don't give away important parts ("Dumbledore dies")  The idea is to try to get the class to read this book!

4. Quiz Friday

Literary terms--Quizlet  Memorize for quiz Friday the 15th

First three lines of Song of the Open Road memorized by Friday.
All names for Friday
Young Goodman Brown quiz Friday (not easy unless you really pay attention)
Groups: What point is Hawthorne making in the story Young Goodman Brown?

5. Scarlet Letter. Read pages 1-4 together
Homework: Read chapter 1

Tuesday, September 12

SSHS College Visit Calendar

SAT prep, grades, extra-curricular activities, community service to get into the college of your choice

Summer reading essay due September 18th--bring a printed copy to class.

How to Write a Creative Title for an Essay

Your Essay needs: 1. a creative title, 2. an opening sentence that compels us to continue reading, and 3. the first three sentences must have no punctuation errors. 

Your Summer Reading Essay needs to focus on your specific and original idea concerning the novel. Systematically develop your ideas throughout the essay, using textual support and analysis. By the end of the essay, readers should say to themselves, "Hmmm. Nice. I'm glad I read that."

"Just don't let your poem be ordinary" (Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society)

And with regard to your summer reading essay (and everything you ever write throughout your life, including love letters ;^)

"Just don't let your paper be ordinary."

C=Common work

B=Beyond common

A=Above beyond

How to Read Literature like a Professor and your annotated novel (10 points)

Divide into groups according to novel read

Glance through How to Read Literature like a Professor, finding ideas from that book that shed light on your novel (help you understand it). Discuss your novel as a group and write down spots in the novel where you can see ideas from the book How to Read Literature like a Professor. I'm not saying this will be easy, but do your best! Each person needs to take notes.

Class syllabus
TODAY:

Literary terms--Quizlet  Memorize for quiz Friday the 15th

First three lines of Song of the Open Road memorized by Friday.

What can I say, I love teaching Honors American Lit where the discussions are lively, the insights keen, and the writing enjoyable to read (please keep it that way   :^]

Rather than create a website, I've set up this blog for our class and you will be required to view it from time to time.  I prefer blogs to websites because they can be updated so easily and they also give you the opportunity to comment on the things that are said here and to give me input concerning neat and useful links to add to the "Resources" tab and the "Cool Stuff "tab."

My goal is to make this class as stimulating as it is challenging. The works that I've chosen for us to study, as well as the assignments, should give you opportunities to think through challenging issues and to solidify your new ideas as you write your papers and produce creative projects.
_______________________________________

Class today (actually today and tomorrow):

1. The American Dream

• National Public Radio (NPR) video on the singer Bruce Springsteen and the American   Dream. Springsteen's American Dream--Beautiful and Bleak  
• Born to Run with lyrics (Bruce Springsteen)  Discuss meaning of the song. And a link to the lyrics: Born to Run
• Compare and contrast the poems Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman, and 
• I am Waiting, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Both deal with the American dream. Which is more similar to Springsteen's Born to Run? Why do you think these poets and singers see the American dream differently?
• As a group, decide what the song Born to Run is saying.  Take notes.
• Homework: Write three paragraphs telling me what you think Springsteen is saying. Remember, good writing makes a specific point, supports that point with specific examples, and discusses those examples.
• Another Whitman poem: I Hear America Singing
• Literary terms--Quizlet

My hope is that you'll find the class both challenging and fun.

Monday, September 11

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=southsaxons.com_l3pavdtucr90qpt0lc6tlgv0p4@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles&gsessionid=OK

Summer reading essay due September 18th--bring a printed copy to class.

How to Write a Creative Title for an Essay

Your Essay needs: 1. a creative title, 2. an opening sentence that compels us to continue reading, and 3. the first three sentences must have no punctuation errors. 

Your Summer Reading Essay needs to focus on your specific and original idea concerning the novel. Systematically develop your ideas throughout the essay, using textual support and analysis. By the end of the essay, readers should say to themselves, "Hmmm. Nice. I'm glad I read that."

"Just don't let your poem be ordinary" (Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society)

And with regard to your summer reading essay (and everything you ever write throughout your life, including love letters ;^)

"Just don't let your paper be ordinary."

C=Common work

B=Beyond common

A=Above beyond

How to Read Literature like a Professor and your annotated novel (10 points)

Divide into groups according to novel read

Glance through How to Read Literature like a Professor, finding ideas from that book that shed light on your novel (help you understand it). Discuss your novel as a group and write down spots in the novel where you can see ideas from the book How to Read Literature like a Professor. I'm not saying this will be easy, but do your best! Each person needs to take notes.

Class syllabus
TODAY:

Literary terms--Quizlet  Memorize for quiz Friday the 15th

First three lines of Song of the Open Road memorized by Friday.

What can I say, I love teaching Honors American Lit where the discussions are lively, the insights keen, and the writing enjoyable to read (please keep it that way   :^]

Rather than create a website, I've set up this blog for our class and you will be required to view it from time to time.  I prefer blogs to websites because they can be updated so easily and they also give you the opportunity to comment on the things that are said here and to give me input concerning neat and useful links to add to the "Resources" tab and the "Cool Stuff "tab."

My goal is to make this class as stimulating as it is challenging. The works that I've chosen for us to study, as well as the assignments, should give you opportunities to think through challenging issues and to solidify your new ideas as you write your papers and produce creative projects.
_______________________________________

Class today (actually today and tomorrow):

1. The American Dream

• National Public Radio (NPR) video on the singer Bruce Springsteen and the American   Dream. Springsteen's American Dream--Beautiful and Bleak  
• Born to Run with lyrics (Bruce Springsteen)  Discuss meaning of the song. And a link to the lyrics: Born to Run
• Compare and contrast the poems Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman, and 
• I am Waiting, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Both deal with the American dream. Which is more similar to Springsteen's Born to Run? Why do you think these poets and singers see the American dream differently?
• As a group, decide what the song Born to Run is saying.  Take notes.
• Homework: Write three paragraphs telling me what you think Springsteen is saying. Remember, good writing makes a specific point, supports that point with specific examples, and discusses those examples.
• Another Whitman poem: I Hear America Singing
• Literary terms--Quizlet

My hope is that you'll find the class both challenging and fun.