English 11/12

Hello everyone,

I know that we covered a great deal of material very quickly yesterday.  The teachers' demonstration will last for three days.  Classes will resume on Thursday, March 8th.  Here is what I would like you to do while you are at home:

1.  Literature Circle preparation - first lit circle is Thursday, complete role sheets and vocabulary
Please do the vocabulary for the beginning of the book as we will have a vocabulary quiz on Friday and I wish to review the words on Thursday with you.  I have removed a couple of the words from the list so that there are now only 15 words you need to know. The words are:  frenetic (adj), languid (adj), coax (v), pneumatic (adj), tchotchke (n), nonchalantly (adv), devoid (adj), scrutinize (v), coquettishly (adv), diaphanous (adj), to be shanghaied (v), envision (v), hackles (n), dessicate (v), addle (v)

2.  "The Highwayman" - homework check on Friday
A highwayman is an old name for a person who would rob people who were traveling along roads. Although this poem was written in the early 1900's, it is set sometime in the 1700's. Complete as many of the questions as you can, I will be doing a homework check on this on Friday, March 9th.
Here is the link to the Loreena McKennit video that I would like you to listen to:

"The Highwayman" by Loreena McKennit

3.  "David Comes Home"- homework check on Thursday for this
This short story is from an old provincial exam.  Please read it and answer in point form only questions 1.a) and 1.b), the short answer questions.  Your answer to 1.a) will be shorter, but please also supply a quote from the story that indicates point of view.  For 1.b), you should have 4-5 points about the spinner and what it symbolizes, plus one or two quotes.  A spinner is a kind of lure put on a fishing line to attract prey. Do not worry about question 2, the multi-paragraph composition.  We will discuss it in class.

4.  Narrative composition - I will take in the handout on "Strongboy" on Thursday.
Please read over the material on narrative compositions.  We read "Fish Cheeks" together and discussed it.  Then, I handed out "Strongboy".  Please read that and answer the the questions on the back by referring to the handout that I gave you entitled "Narrative Essays". You can reread "A Not So Silent Night" and see how I employed certain narrative techniques mentioned in the handout.  You will be writing your own narrative compositions after Spring Break. You might want to start thinking of a scene from your own life that you could turn into a narrative essay.  Start thinking of a  funny, touching, meaningful, painful, frightening, or thrilling scene from your own life that you might write about.

I think that this should give you enough work to do. If you have any questions, you may email me this weekend.  I will be able to reply to emails up until Sunday at midnight.  I will then be unavailable until Thursday morning. See you then!

Jenny