English 8

The novel test will be on Monday.  Tonight, complete the handout entitled "How to Review for a Novel:  The Outsiders".  Don't worry about answering the first page of 50 questions or so.  These are student questions that we will discuss tomorrow.

English 10

On Wednesday, we looked at poetry and poetic devices.  Students who were away camping can get these handouts on their return.  Today, we discussed more poetic devices, answered the Act 11 questions, and watched some of the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet (I, iv and v).

English 8

Complete the yellow sheet entitled "Important Objects and Their Meanings".  Also, make sure that your Chapter 8 and 9 questions are complete.

English 10

Answer questions 6 and 7 from I, i and then answer all the questions for I, ii.

English 8

Your Body Bios are due on Tuesday.  Also, complete the following for Tuesday:

1. Finish the pink vocabulary package.
2. Complete the first page of the green handout on adjectives.
3. Read Chapter 9.
4. Answer the yellow sheet questions on Chapters 8 and 9.

English 10

Answer the questions on the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, as well as questions #1-5 on Act One, Scene One (I, i).

Communications 11/12

This is your assignment for the weekend (due Tuesday):

Lord of the Flies Captain’s Report

You are Captain Smith of the HMS Valiant.  Write a report to your commanding officer, Admiral Jones of the Royal Navy, about finding 37 English school boys on an uninhabited island in the Pacific (Uninhabited Island #14).

Here is what you should put in your paragraphs:

• Explain what the boys seemed to be doing when you arrived.
• Explain the boys’ physical condition.
• Report on what two boys say about their lives on the island (how they got there and what they’ve been doing)
• Make a recommendation for what should be done about the boys.

English 8

Tonight, finish the questions on Chapter 6 and review those vocabulary words.  The test on Wednesday will include the following:

1. a word bank
2. multiple choice questions and fill in the blank sentences

There will be 6 or 7 multiple questions on synonyms and 4 or 5 questions on antonyms, and about 8 or 9 fill in the blank sentences.  Every word will be used just once.

English 8

Students' news articles are due on Friday (tomorrow), and there will be quiz on verbs on Monday.  The quiz will look very similar to the pre-quiz we had today.  Finally, next Wednesday, there will be a quiz on the vocabulary words from Chapters 1-6.   Here they are for your convenience:

1. acquire (verb) – to obtain; to accomplish; to get as one’s own
2. clammy (adj) - cold and damp; covered with a cold, sticky moisture
3. defiance (noun) - daring or bold resistance to authority or an opposing force
4. contemptuous (adj) - showing disdain, scorn, or disrespect
5. reckless (adj) - utterly unconcerned with the consequences of an action; without caution; carelessness
6. premonition (noun) - feeling or anticipation or anxiety for a future event
7. gingerly (adv) - done with great care or caution; warily
8. incredulous (adj) - skeptical; showing disbelief
9. nonchalantly (adv) - coolly unconcerned; indifferent; casual; unexcited
10. gallantly (adv) - brave, noble, chivalrous
11. clad (v): dressed; wearing an article of clothing
12. ruefully (adv): done with sorrow or regret
13. reformatory (n): an institution for youths who break the law
14. implore (v): to beg
15. apprehensive (adj): nervous and uneasy
16. hue (n):  a particular variety of a colour; a shade
17. indignant (adj):  expressing strong displeasure at something considered to be insulting or offensive
18. sullen (adj):  gloomy; resentfully silent
19. elude (v): to avoid or escape by being quick or skillful
20. doggedly (adv): in a persistent or stubborn manner 

English 8

Today, students were give a news article assignment that is due on Friday.  See the handout for more information.  Also, students handed in their homework on the poem "Richard Cory".  Some did not finish the last part of the handout which asked them to note the similarities between the poem and The Outsiders and then list the differences between the two works.  Please complete this tonight if you have not already finished it.  Here is a copy of the poem to help you.

Richard Cory
by Edwin Arlington Robinson


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—yes, 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, on calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Communications 11/12

Today, we wrote the vocabulary quiz and read Chapter 9 and most of Chapter 10 of the novel.  Your character biographies are due on Thursday.

English 10

Today, we watched the movie of To Kill A Mockingbird.  Students need to hand in their statements on the different broad themes of the novel (see Friday's blog post).

English 10

Finish the novel this weekend if you have not already done so. Begin preparing for these five essay questions:
1. In what ways is this a novel about courage?
2. What values does Atticus teach his children?
3. What major life lessons does Scout learn over the course of the novel?
4. How is this a novel about growing up?
5. How are the Boo Radley and Tom Robinson plot lines connected?

To begin preparing for these questions write down one-sentence or two-sentence responses to each question:
1. What is the novel saying about courage?
2. What is the novel saying about values?
3. What is the novel saying about life lessons?
4. What is the novel saying about growing up?
5. What is the novel saying about scapegoats or victims?

Looking at the essay topics in this way will help you focus your thinking and help you write a stronger essay.

English 8

Read Chapter 4 and complete the questions that I distributed in class.  Also, finish the handout on the poem, "Richard Cory".

Communications 11/12

Your body bios are due next Thursday, May 10th.  You will also have a vocabulary test on the 30 terms from Chapters 1-6 of Lord of the Flies, which are as follows:

1. effulgence: brightness or a brilliant light radiating from something
2. clambering: climbing with difficulty
3. enmity: extreme ill will or hatred that exists between enemies
4. contemptuously: behaving as though other people are inferior or useless
5. astern: positioned behind a boat
6. smart: to feel a stinging pain
7. conspiratorial: two or more people joining together for an immoral reason
8. indignant: being upset over something that is unfair
9. recrimination: accusing someone who has previously charged you with wrongdoing.
10. festooned: decorated with a string or garland
11. inscrutable (adj): impenetrable
12. heed (v): to pay careful attention to something
13. vicissitudes (n): unexpected changes or conditions
14. contrite (adj): feeling sorrow or regret
15. tacit (adj): implied or believed without being spoken aloud
16. furtive (adj): secret or hidden
17. loom (v): to appear in shadowy form; to hover in a threatening manner; to seem to be on the verge of happening
18. discount (v): to ignore or to doubt
19. detritus (n): any disintegrated material or debris
20. malevolently (adv): doing something with ill will or intent
21. atavistic (adj): characterized by reverting back to something ancient or primitive
22. taboo (adj):  forbidden; something that goes against the standards of a society
23. sinewy (adj):  lean and muscular
24. reverence: a deep feeling of respect
25. lamentation: an audible expression of deep grief and sorrow
26. mimicry: the act of imitating someone’s speech or behavior
27. emphatic: strongly expressive in speech or action
28. diffidently: lacking confidence in one’s own ability
29. leviathan: anything of immense size and power
30. mutinously: with a feeling of rebellion