December 13, 2012

Today we will be color marking Mary Oliver's poem "The Summer Day."  Your homework assignment is to write the opening paragraph to your commentary on the poem.  Here's how to do it:

• Read the poem three times and as you read ask yourself what point the author is making
• To help you understand the message of the poem, ask yourself why the author uses the literary devices she does (imagery, word choice, anaphora (repetition of word or phrase for dramatic effect), metaphor, etc.)
• Try to  come up with three different points you think the author is making
• Then find a main point or theme that fits everything you have come up with

Your EXCELLENT opening paragraph is due at the first of the period tomorrow.

It looks like I didn't go over this week's vocabulary with you, so we will have the test Monday.  I will give extra credit to a couple of students who prove that they studied the words anyway.

Here's the poem:  The Summer Day

December 10

SUB FOR SANTA

4 YR OLD BOY
LEGOS
TRUCKS
ACTION FIGURES
MOVIES
COLORING STUFF

10 YR OLD BOY
NERF GUN
GAMES- BOARD, WORD, CARD
MOVIES
RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT
REMOTE CONTROL CAR -LAMBOURGHINI AT TOYZ'RUS

19 YR OLD BOY 
CLOTHES- CUSTOMIZED SHOES, JACKETS, SHIRTS
GIFT CARD TO WALMART, AMAZON
MUSIC

12 YR OLD GIRL 
TARGET GIFT CARD
CLOTHES- PINK JACKET, GLOVES, HAT
CANDY

MOM
SPA GIFT BASKET
MASSAGE/PEDICURE/MANICURE
CHICK FLICKS- POPCORN, MOVIES, CANDY
CANDLES
GROCERY SHOPPING CARDS

DAD
GUITAR AMP
GIFT CARD TO RANCH RECORDS, AMAZON

THE WHOLE FAMILY WANTS A WII GAME CONSOLE PLUS GAMES- DONATED BY STUDENT  

32 STUDENTS IN THE CLASS
STUDENTS ARE ASSIGNED TO  1 OR MORE GIFTS BUT PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY

December 10th

By today you should have finished at least chapter 31 in Huckleberry Finn.
It has become obvious that a lot of people aren't reading.  I'll be giving you a pop quiz sometime this week }:-{

November 28th

The "N word."  Should Huck Finn be banned?

Dave Chappelle and Maya Angelou discuss the N word.

The N word

November 15th

Homework:  Huckleberry Finn read to the end of chapter chapter 11 for Monday.
Over Thanksgiving, finish chapter 16

Walden Poster due Monday, November 19th (30 pts)
On a separate sheet of paper, type at least 1/2 page single-spaced explaining how your picture illustrates the idea of the quote

Walden quotes.
25 quotes
Pick 4 quotes.  Write 1 paragraph each explaining what Thoreau is saying
For a 5th quote, write 3/4 page " "
No, none of these quotes are used for your poster.  That's a 6th quote
I prefer typed work.
Hand in Monday


Share examples of Transcendentalism in Dead Poets Society.

Hand in.  10 points

Read Huck

Discuss view of religion (heaven, Moses)

Describe Pap

What is Twain saying in the reformation of Pap passage?

irony of "Govment" passage

November 8

We will be checking out the novel Huckleberry Finn today.  If you read the novel carefully, you will see a couple of similarities between Twain's philosophy and that of the Transcendentalists.  Twain is both a Romantic and a Realist, so this book forms a nice bridge between the two literary movements.

Tomorrow you have a vocabulary test, words 31-60
Scarlet Letter Vocabulary
Homework: Finish your Walden reading--the conclusion as well as 10 pages of your choosing.
Homework: Walden poster due Monday, November 19th.  Start thinking about your photo choice
Homework: Walden quotes due Friday, November 16th.

Watch Dead Poets' Society tomorrow

Write your ten examples and briefly state the connection to Transcendentalist ideas.  Due at the end of the period
Mr. Keating  Oh Captain, my Captain
Neal Perry
Todd Anderson (protagonist)


Transcendentalism

• praises individual worth over society
• shows contempt for attachment to social customs and habits
• heart over mind.  Following your heart is more important than
• belief in living in harmony with nature
• great dignity in manual labor; the common man is the true hero
• praise for the simple life; criticism for reliance on material possessions
• relationship with God should be personal
• value for revolutionary thoughts and ideas
• rejection of customs, especially traditional European ones
• focus on individual responsibility for developing a moral code
• value for intense feeling; Transcendentalists feel deeply and value that
• powerful emotion.
• belief that Nature is the Great Teacher
• optimism

The Dark Romantics--Poe and Hawthorne--have a worldview that is, on the one hand very different from that of the Transcendentalists, and on the other, similar at its foundation.  I've reprinted the principles of transcendentalism, but this time I've changed them to show that the Dark Romantics take a similar view but put a dark, pessimistic tone to it.  The focus is still upon mankind and intense personal feeling, but . . .

• The individual doesn't fit into society because he's damaged
• shows contempt for attachment to social customs and habits 
• Nature is malevolent; mankind struggles with his inner demons
• The common man is the subject of the stories, and the protagonist is evil
• The protagonist has a dark relationship with dark forces within (no God in these stories)
• The protagonist has revolutionary thoughts and ideas, but they're twisted
• rejection of customs, especially traditional European ones
• the individual moral code is twisted and is at odds with society's values
• value for intense feeling; stories are all about the heart and psychology
• there is no Great Teacher.  The protagonist has no moral center.  He is alone
• Pessimism