Thus Endeth the Quarter

Today we began with a brief-ish warm-up on Poe's poem "The Raven," after which I collected warm-ups.
In 2nd period we began our first poetry project, choosing groups and poems, and in 6th students continued their poem analyses, which should be more-or-less complete at this point.

More Poetry

Period 2
Today we took some notes on poetic meter and the spent some time memorizing the metric feet.

Period 6
Today we began our first poetry project, choosing groups and poems.

Poetry and Fun with Meter

Period 2
Today we had a look at the poem "Reapers" and took copious poetry notes.

Period 6 
Today we had a little fun with meter, learning some mnemonics to help us remember the different metric feet.

Topics, Topics and More Topics

Today we spent the period reading and commenting on draft essay topics.

More Poetry in P6

Period 2
Today we recapped Friday a bit and finished the Faulkner introduction. Tomorrow, poetry!

Period 6
Today we talked a bit about Faulkner, finished our look at "Reapers," and took notes on some terms specifically related to metered verse.

The Authorfest and Poetry Review

Period 2
Today we enjoyed an interesting presentation by visiting author Pamela F. Service. We will continue Faulkner and poetry Monday. Bring Sound and Sense.


Period 6
Today we talked a bit more about Faulkner and began our first poetry unit with a review of poetic terms focusing especially on Jean Toomer's poem "Reapers."

Finally Faulkner

Period 2
Today we talked a bit about the Oedipus PCs, had the Ceremony PC, and had the briefest Faulkner intro ever (more Monday). Meet in the Lecture Hall tomorrow.

Period 6
We spent the day talking about Faulkner.
The Sound and the Fury Due Dates:

• Parts 1 & 2    Due 11/2     (+2 GC posts)
• Part 3         Due 11/9     (+1 GC post)
• Finish        Due 11/12     (+2 GC posts)
  

Differing Paths

Tuesday

Period 2
Today we wrapped up the Ceremony questions, which were collected; went down and checked out our poetry book, Sound and Sense; and spent the rest of the period talking about the first formal essay (assignment at GC).
Period 6
After some final Ceremony thoughts, we checked out Sound & Sense and spent quite a bit of time discussing the essay.

Wednesday

Period 2
Today we turned in Ceremony study guides, read Pamela Service's story "Lioness" and prepared for the presentation Friday. Finally, we began the introduction to The Sound and the Fury.
Period 6
After turning in study guides, we spent the rest of the period on the Ceremony PC.

Essay Due Dates:

• Topics Due 10/27
• Drafts w/ cover sheet 11/3
• Final Drafts w/ cover sheet 11/12
  

Ceremony Presentations

Today we continued with the Ceremony presentations in period two and finished them in period six. I collected the period six questions today and will collect second period's tomorrow.

New Due Dates:

• Ceremony PC and SG 10/21
• Bring The Sound and the Fury 10/22
  

Thursday & Friday

Thursday, we spent all of second period finishing the Ceremony discussion questions.  In sixth period we began presentations and got through three questions.

Friday the few of us who actually made it to class basically played Free Rice and hung out.

Ceremony Questions

Today, after a short warm-up, we spent the rest of the period working on the Ceremony discussion questions. These presentations will begin tomorrow in 6th period. 2nd period TBA.

If only I had some plaid shoes to go with my tie-dyed socks...

In period two we finally wrapped up the "Eleven" assignment we started last week. In period six, we began the day with a quotation warm-up from Ceremony, had a final thought or two about the "Eleven" assignment, and began a group discussion/presentation assignment. I'll post the questions at GC. Most groups got through question 2.

A Ceremonial Quiz

Today we began with a quiz on Ceremony and it pretty much ate the rest of the day. Happy Homecoming!

Thursday and Friday

We have spent the past two days working with Sandra Cisneros' short story "Eleven." We started by reading the story together and discussing our initial reactions. Students then marked and labeled figurative language and stylistic techniques on their copies (for homework), which we then discussed in class. Next, students were asked to plan an essay in 8 minutes based on this prompt (for extra credit, students may actually write the essay):

Read the following short story carefully.  Then write an essay analyzing how the author, Sandra Cisneros, uses literary techniques to characterize Rachel.

Finally, in period 6, we read, scored and discussed some essays written in 1995 on this prompt.

Eleven

We began the day with a short journal about being eleven-years-old. In second period, we wrapped up the figurative language game and talked about tomorrow's lock-down drill. In sixth period, we read Sandra Cisneros' short story "Eleven" and discussed it a bit.
HW Sixth period only. Re-read "Eleven" marking and identifying figurative and stylistic devices.

Tuesday: Agency Fair & Figurative Language

Today we reviewed the figurative language HW and, in 6th period, played the figurative language game.

Ceremony: Part 1

Today we looked at another Ceremony quoatation in lieu of a quiz (see below) and spent the rest of the period discussing the novel in general.


HW: Fill in your wheel of figurative devices with an example of each type of figurative language following the theme we came up with in class (period 2 "food" & period 6 "sports/exercise").
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Everywhere he looked, he saw the world made of stories, the long ago, time immemorial stories, as old grandma called them. It was a world alive, always changing and moving; and if you knew where to look, you could see it, sometimes almost imperceptible, like the motion of the stars across the sky”(95).

More Figurative Language

 Today we began with the figurative language warm up below and spent the rest of the day reviewing the figurative language terms we researched yesterday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Examine the quotation below.  Identify the figurative device Silko relies on here.  How does her use of this device impact the meaning of the quotation?  Be specific.
“[Tayo] could get no rest as long as the memories were tangled with the present, tangled up like colored threads from old Grandma’s wicker sewing basket when he was a child, and he had carried them outside to play and they had spilled out of his arms into the summer weeds and rolled away in all directions, and then he had hurried to pick them up before Auntie found him”(7).

Figuratively Speaking...

We began the day with an discussion of the difference between literal and figurative language. We spent the rest of the period finding examples of each type of figurative language on our "Wheel of Figurative Devices," making a list on a separate piece of paper. Tomorrow we will fill out the wheel and perhaps play the figurative language game.