Charlie Hebdo

"The opposite of war is not peace--it's creation"--Jonathan Larson
"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it"--Voltaire

Today's cover of Charlie Hebdo
1,500,000 people march in protest today in Paris. That is the largest demonstration in the history of the country, and perhaps in world history (not counting revolutions. Question: why didn't Americans do this on September 18th, 2001, one week after our attack? Is there a difference between the way we respond to this type of crisis and the way the French do? What does this reveal about the two countries?

FINAL EXAM:
Vocab--Vocab from 2010 PSAT
Reading Comprehension Test, Huck Finn
TODAY: 
Hand back Charlie Hebdo/Boggs journal paragraph.
10 points--3 A's only. Redo for more points. Type. Be sure that you:
1. Pull the reader in with your first sentence.
2. State your controlling idea in the first, second, or third sentence.
3. Use specific examples from the text to support your assertion. Try to incorporate quoted material into the fluid sentences that you write.
4. Be sure to discuss your example for 1-3 sentences. Your paragraph is to be more analysis that summary, obviously.
5. Be sure that the reader can see that you have strong ideas that are well supported.
6. Write a strong concluding sentence.

Written commentary, chapter 31

HOMEWORK:
Finish Huck Finn for Tuesday. We will discuss the book in its entirety.
Final exam Wodensday (Oden)

HOMEWORK:
At vigils around the world people are taking up the saying "Je suis Charlie Hebdo" (I am Charlie Hebdo). What does this saying mean to you? Perhaps it resonates with you personally, or perhaps you would like to discuss an idea of yours concerning what it means that the people of the world are moved by the massacre. Other possibilities abound. Be sure to focus on one idea. This is a paragraph, after all, and you need to elaborate upon your idea before you move on to a second or third idea, which would be dealt with if you were to write two or three pages, which you are not.
Monday you will bring this paragraph along with the other journal entries that have not been handed in yet. At that point you will look at all of your writing with a critical eye and determine which one is the strongest writing. We will consider several criteria in making this determination.

BBC Update on Charlie New York Times Terror Attack on Charlie  Hebdo Newspaper in Paris Kills 12
Witness video of Shooting
BBC News The provocative cartoon
He Drew First
HOMEWORK:
Write one strong paragraph explaining the point being made in the following cartoon:
Cartoon: Pencil pointing toward gun

January 7

HOMEWORK:
1. Pick an issue

2. Find a very specific article on the Internet that discusses this issue.

3. Read the article (or two or three pages of the article if it's extremely long)

4. Go to the class blog and find the link to a Google Doc where you can enter your thoughts about the article. 

5. Type a 3-5 sentence summary of the article. Be sure to quote one or more things actually said in the article. Then write 2-3 sentences telling us why you think this is an important issue.

6.  Create a link or copy and paste the web address if you don't know how to create a link

1st Period:
Contemporary Issues Similar to Those in Huck Finn (Last Name ending in A-L)
Contemporary Issues Similar to Those in Huck Finn (Last Name ending in M-Z)

2nd Period Google Doc:
Contemporary Issues Similar to Those in Huck Finn (Last Name ending in A-L)
Contemporary Issues Similar to Those in Huck Finn (Last Name ending in M-Z)

At the bottom of this page you will find ideas that 1st and 2nd periods generated.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES SIMILAR TO THOSE FACED BY HUCK
Sometimes when we read a novel like Huckleberry Finn, there is a disconnect and we find it difficult to completely relate to the struggles of the protagonist. We might think, "That was then, this is now." If we really think about it, though, Huck's world is our world in many ways.
I'd like to brainstorm as a class and see how many contemporary issues we can find that are similar to the issues in the novel.

2nd period
Broken homes and the challenges faced by children in those homes
Fraud, identity theft, white collar crime, etc.
Substance abuse
Child abuse (connection to substance abuse, etc.)
Discrimination(sexism, etc.)
Prostitution
Slavery, human trafficking, sex slaves
Law interpretation--local, state
Segregation
Racial slurs

1st period
Racism--discrimination (in schools)
Child abuse--(physical and emotional abuse in families. . .  )
Custody battles
Conformity
Lack of Education (school not accessible, dropout rates, Waiting for Superman. . .)
Peer pressure
Substance abuse
Right to bear arms
Sexism
Absent father figure
classism
unemployment
housing
poverty

Welcome back!

FINAL EXAM, January 22

• Huck Finn test
• 40 Vocab Words-- vocabulary words from the 2010 PSAT   Harmony Alvarez made this Quizlet deck for the words. Thank you Harmony!   Vocab from 2010 PSAT

Extra Credit option for the end of the semester
Creative Book Report--Raise your grade up to +5%
Read one of the novels from the following list and write a book report. This is quite a bit of work, but the book reports are a lot of fun and the novels are fantastic.
Reading List
Creative Book Reports
Due at the Final Exam

TODAY:
Journal: Take fifteen minutes to evaluate the following. I'm not so much concerned with paragraph structure and all--simply get out as many of your ideas as you can in 15 min.
Prompt: At the beginning of chapter 22, Colonel Sherburn talks to the crowd and delivers a message with some thought-provoking ideas. Is he speaking for Twain? In other words, is he the voice of the author, sharing an insightful idea concerning human nature? To what extent is this true? What is Twain's message to us? Quite likely he is saying more than one thing.








Huck Finn--The Death of Boggs
What point is Mark Twain making in this passage from the novel? In particular, what aspect of Colonel Sherburn's character does Twain find repugnant?
HOMEWORK:
Write one long paragraph explaining Twain's point. Refer to two or more specific examples of word choice, imagery, etc. to support your point.
This assignment is a short version of a commentary. The passage is approximately 30 lines long, and you are to explain the effect of the imagery in the passage (common IB prompt wording).
To do this you must:
     1. Identify a theme. Often it helps to find what you consider to the be key word of the passage
     2. Write a topic sentence for that theme stating the point the author is making
     3. Find textual support--one very specific example, quoted
     4. Explain what point is being made in the quoted word or image
     (it will likely take two sentences to fully explain)
     5. Find a second example of textual support--one very specific example, quoted
     6. Explain what point is being made in the quoted word or image
     7. Concluding sentence

Compare Boggs illustration to:

Goya's painting Execution, May 3, 1808

Manet's Execution Emperor Maximillian

Picasso's Guernica

Wikipedia article discussing Goya's painting

Extra Credit option for the end of the semester
Creative Book Report--Raise your grade up to +5%
Read one of the novels from the following list and write a book report. This is quite a bit of work, but the book reports are a lot of fun and the novels are fantastic.
Reading List
Creative Book Reports

Better Huck--Patrick Day or Elijah Wood?

HOMEWORK:
Over winter break finish chapter 22 at least! Try to read ahead and maybe even finish the novel so that you don't have so much homework for the rest of the semester.This novel is your final exam.


Argumentative Writing

Watch first five minutes of both the Patrick Day rendition and the Elijah Wood version of Mark Twain's novel .

Which actor's performance is truer to the text? Write only one paragraph, citing one or two very specific examples from each actor's performance. Remember, a strong paragraph is focused. If you were writing an entire paper on this, you would discuss three or four aspects of the portrayal of the character. Here you should focus on one. 

Take notes--

Patrick Day

Examples of Good Acting                                Weaknesses

1.                                                                   1.

2.                                                                   2.

3.                                                                   3.

Elijah Wood

Examples of Good Acting                                Weaknesses

1.                                                                   1.

2.                                                                   2.

3.                                                                   3.

HOMEWORK:

Write one strong paragraph convincing me that one or the other actor's performance is superior.

Remember, a strong paragraph:

• 
  

December 15

Sky Full of Stars

She is the symbol of hope in a world of darkness.
Focus on the positives
Contrast helps us understand what is beautiful
Bend "reality" to get to your dreams
He is dedicated
He is willing to devote his entire being to her
When he sees her he feels calm
She fills his emptiness
He would sacrifice himself for her--willing to sacrifice




To write an argumentative or expository paragraph, you will need the following:
1. A topic sentence (your idea stating why the point you're making is valid)
2. Evidence from the text (a quote or other example, that supports your argument)
3. Elaboration (explanation of how the evidence supports this argument)
4. Concluding sentence.






Ralph Waldo Emerson: vocabulary from his essay "Self-Reliance,"    Quizlet, Emerson
Using your cell phones, find example sentences and paste them into the following Google Doc:
Our vocab Sentences
You will be quizzed on the first 10 Tuesday.

Valeria from Costa Rica

Twain's Amazing Adventures

Monday
1. Sub for Santa
2. Vocab
3. His Amazing Adventures
Homework: Read to the end of ch. 15
4. PSAT
    Some of you actually want to learn a few things in your life and might be interested in taking a look at this list of vocabulary words from the 2010 PSAT




PSAT Scores are due. Bring them MONDAY, if you haven't already.
Watch Mark Twain, His Amazing Adventures. I think that it can be found on YouTube if you happen to be absent.
We will play Twain Jeopardy on Monday.
HOMEWORK: Finish chapter 14 (XIV) in Huckleberry Finn

Sub for Santa
Please consider contributing to our mid-year service project. It would be nice if you could show your parents the Sub for Santa letter and maybe even buy a gift between now and next Friday. I will be collecting money next week to buy a few extra gifts.

December 5

Dead Poets Society

The real life Mr. Keating    Real to Reel, by Gerald Pitts (the guy with the "unfortunate name")

Homework: Read Huckleberry Finn to the end of chapter VI. Uh, that's 6, for you guys who don't know your Roman numerals. Page 39.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: vocabulary from his essay "Self-Reliance,"    Quizlet, Emerson
Using your cell phones, find example sentences and paste them into the following Google Doc:
Our vocab Sentences
You will be quizzed on the first 10 Tuesday.

Walden
1. Quotes due tomorrow
25 quotes with page references. There is no need to write the entire quote. Elipses are fine

2. Explanations of 3 quotes due.
What I would like you to do is to choose three of your favorite quotes from Walden and explain what the quote is saying to you.
2@ 1/2 page each
1 @ 1 full page typed, double-spaced. For the 1 page explanation it might help to choose an example that illustrates the idea in the quote. And no, you can't count what you wrote for your Walden poster assignment here.


If your written part of the Walden poster assignment was a bit weak, feel free to rewrite it. At this point, most of them would receive B's and C's. Remember, every time you write something for this class, be sure to organize your thoughts and pick and choose words to create powerful sentences. Revise. We need to step it up.

Watch Dead Poets Society. Continue taking notes of examples of Transcendentalist thought in the film. 3/4 page due by end of the movie. Even if you've already written 3/4 page, please jot down a few more things that seem particularly important.





"Self-Reliance"

Take out a sheet of paper.
Number 1-5, double-spacing

Today, as we read "Self-Reliance," I would like you to write down a list of 5 quotes that resonate with you. Then you are to write 1 paragraph telling me what the quote is saying to you.

Be an Individualist and an Innovator, says Rodney Mullen: Pop an Ollie and Innovate


Do Schools Kill Creativity?
Changing Education Paradigms