Bye, Bye Medea

Today, after handing in the warm-ups (yep, all of them since the first day of school) and the study guides, students spend the rest of the period on the Medea timed writing.

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday we continued our look at Medeawith the rest of the terms posters and a few quick writes (interrupted by the fire drill in period 3). Thursday we wrapped up our discussion of Medea with a few more quick writes and some discussion of the study guide. PC and study guide due tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today we continued our terms hunt in Medea, dividing into groups and preparing posters for discussion on Wednesday.

Friday & Monday

Friday we started with some irony practice in the warm-up and then had the Medea quiz. Oh, and of course Mrs. Gardner came in to talk about the rules. Monday we continued our work with Medea, searching for examples of the terms we introduced last week--allusion, stichomythia, and irony--in the play.

More Irony

Today we reviewed the concept of irony with a warm-up examing Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory" (below).  We wrapped up the period with an open-ended discussion of Medea and added the term "allusion" to the notes.
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In the poem to the right, by Edwin Arlington Robinson, relies much on irony. What type of irony is featured here and how does it affect your reading of the poem?



Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.



And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.


And he was rich, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.


So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Isn't It Ironic?

Today we spent the day on the concept of irony, defining the terms, judging Alanis Morissette, and wrapping up the day with a fun video.

The Greeks & Medea

Today we spent the period talking about the Greeks and the origins of drama.
HW: Finish Medea by Friday.

Pressure Comp #1

Today we took our first timed writing. It took the whole period. Medea tomorrow.

The Study Guide

Today we pent the whole period talking through the various parts of the study guide and actually doing about 1/2 of it in class.
HW: The Study Guide is due on Monday before the timed writing.

The Study Guide Begins

Today we began with the warm-up below and I collected revised CRAs. We then spent the rest of the day review questions left over from Tuesday and working on the first two sections of the first study guide. Handouts available in class and at Moodle.

WU (9/15): Review the CRA paragraph you wrote yesterday and revise it, preferably using another color pen or pencil so that your revisions are obvious.

• Are the aspect and effect clear, especially at the beginning, but also throughout the paragraph?
• Are all of your quotations smoothly integrated into your sentences?

New Due Dates

• Have Medea by 9/20
• The Awakening Study Guide and Timed Writing 9/19

The Awakening: a CRA

Today we spent the day looking at two passages of The Awakening, first annotating them and then choosing one aspect of the annotation and writing it up as a CRA paragraph (like the Neruda paragraphs). The prompt is below.
 
Reread chapter 6 and the final chapter.  Explore Chopin’s style in these chapters, especially the repetition of structure and motif.  How do the elements of the novel as a whole come together around these two chapters?

Talk Time

Today we began with a short warm up about the end of the novel (below) and then spent the rest of the period talking about The Awakening in a wide ranging fashion.

Consider the end of the novel.  Does it have to end this way, or does Edna have another way out?  Think particularly about the events leading up to her suicide: her final visit with Robert, her attendance at Adele’s labor and subsequent discussion with Dr. Mandelet, and finding the note from Robert upon her return to the pigeon house.  How do these things lead her to make her fatal choice?

The Awakening: Quiz 2

Today we took and talked through the second quiz on The Awakening.

A Couple Quick-Writes

We began today with this warm-up: Is Edna “awake” yet? If so, how awake is she? To what exactly has she been awakened? After learning to unsubscribe from Moodle forum emails and wrapping up the "Reading and Responding to Literature" presentations, we added the following quick-write to the warm-up page: In chapter XVII, after fighting with Léonce at dinner, Edna, in a moment of anger “[takes] off her wedding ring” and “[flings] it upon the carpet.” The narrator says, “When she saw it lying there, she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the little glittering circlet” (87). There are two levels to this moment, literal and symbolic. Explain them.

Thursday

After briefly considering the feminist interpretation of The Awakening, we spent the rest of the period on "Reading and Responding to Literature" presentations, which we almost finished. Almost.

Tuesday & Wednesday

On Tuesday we started looking at an introductory essay called "Reading and Responding to Literature" by each reading a section and taking notes, then sharing those notes with a larger group, and making a poster of key points to present to the rest of the class.
Wednesday we spent the whole period on our first reading quiz.

New Due Date

• Finish The Awakening by 9/12 with at least one more Moodle post.

Picture Day

Today we began with a brief course description quiz, went over my classroom rules a bit, had pictures taken, turned in final draft CRAs and had a short introduction to The Awakening.
Due Dates:
Read chapters 1 through 16 in The Awakening and post at least once by 9/7

Wrapping Up the CRA

Today we wrapped up the CRA assignment we started yesterday by having a look at the exemplary examples selected by the groups. We ended the day with a look at Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour."
HW Revise CRAs, due 9/2

Remember, tomorrow is picture day!