English 11

Your sight story test is tomorrow.  Your short story presentations are due on Wednesday.

English 10

You will have your sight story test tomorrow, and your short story test on what we read during this unit will be on Wednesday.  You should be reviewing your green story sheets and the sheets on literary terms.

English 11

The English 11 short story test that you will write on Monday will be structured as follows:
15 marks--matching questions and fill in the terms
15 marks--short answers on terms
20 marks--two paragraph answers on the stories we have read.  I'll give you a choice of questions.

English 10

Hallowe'en stories are due on Monday, October 24th.

The English 10 short story test's format will be as follows:

10 fill in the blank questions on the stories and/or literary terms.
5 short answers on literary terms
10 short answers on the stories we have read
1 paragraph answer.  I will give you a choice of questions and you choose to answer one.

The test will be marked out of 60.

English 11

You will have a little more time for your short story presentations.  They have been moved to Wednesday, Oct. 26 and Thursday, Oct. 27.  Your test on the class short stories and terminology will be on Monday, Oct. 24 and the test on the sight story will be on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

English 10

Tomorrow, you will have 30 minutes to work on your Halloween stories, so bring your draft to class (stories due on Monday, Oct. 24).  Also, we will begin reviewing for the short story test which will be on Tuesday, Oct. 25 (sight story) and Wednesday, Oct. 26 (test on the class stories and terminology).

English 11

Students should be working on their short story presentations.  They should know the main literary elements of their chosen stories, and have some ideas about how they are going to present their stories to the class (conveying plot and teaching a lesson).  All presentations will be due on Monday, October 24th.  I have booked the computers in the library on Wednesday of this week for groups to work together.

Next Thursday, we'll have a test on the short stories we've been reading. In class, students filled out review sheets on "Gentlemen, Your Verdict", "A Handful of Dates", "The Story of an Hour", "A Serious Talk", and "Hills Like White Elephants".  On the test, you'll be expected to know aspects of plot, character, conflict, symbol, irony, point of view, and theme on these stories.  Additionally, students will be asked questions on literary elements outlined in the yellow handouts I have distributed to the class.  You may find these handouts on this website (right hand sidebar) or in my classroom.

English 10

Please complete questions 1-7 on "The Telltale Heart".  Also, begin collecting 5 new academic words and their definitions for Thursday.

English 11

On Monday, make sure you have a theme statement written down for "The Story of an Hour".  Also, on Tuesday, you will have to hand in a coherent, cohesive story or paragraph using a minimum of ten of the class vocabulary words.

English 10, Period 4

Make sure to study the 30 class vocabulary words.  There will be a test on these in a week's time.  On Tuesday, you must hand in a coherent story or paragraph using a minimum of 10 of the class vocabulary words.

English 10 Period 2

Make sure that you study your 30 vocabulary words.  There will be a test on them in a week's time.  Also, complete the questions on "Lamb to the Slaughter".

English 10

After reading the short story "The Doll's House" today, I asked students to write down three questions they had about the story.

The apostrophe retest will be tomorrow as well.

English 10

If you have not already done so, please finish your vocabulary cartoon and bring it to class tomorrow.

I also assigned a writing task on the short story "The Possibility of Evil" to be completed for class on Monday. Choose one of the following writing assignments:

Paragraph: Explain how the roses symbolize Miss Strangeworth. Write a coherent, well organized formal paragraph with a quote.


Poem: Write a poem about the story or a poem that summarizes the story. Be creative, use poetic devices and good detail.


Scene: Write a one page scene from Miss Strangeworth's youth—around the time she and Tommy Lewis left high school. Imagine the day they both became awkwardly formal with each other. Try to shed some light on why and how their relationship changed Write well, be believable and creative.

English 11

Today, we wrote the in-class essay on "A Handful of Dates".  Tomorrow, we'll have a short quiz on apostrophes.

English 10

Answer questions 1, 2, 3, and 5 on the short story "The Possibility of Evil" for tomorrow.  In addition, explain the symbolism of the roses in this story.

English 11

Tomorrow, you will be writing an in-class essay.  It is open book, and you should bring your planning sheet with the cited quotations that you will be using.

English 10, Period 2

Tomorrow, there will be a short quiz on apostrophes.  Also, today in class, we read part of the short story "The Possibility of Evil".  Please do not read any further than p.214, where Miss Strangeworth speaks to the town librarian.  Write down your first impressions of Miss Strangeworth; try to come up with five - six things readers learn about her.

English 10, Period 4

Tomorrow, there will be a short quiz on apostrophes.  Today in class, we read the short story "The Possibility of Evil".  If you missed class, please read no further than page 216.

English 11

The in-class composition is on Wednesday.  Make sure you have filled in your planning sheet; we'll discuss the essay tomorrow in class.

A short quiz on apostrophes is scheduled for Thursday.

English 11

Please fill in the planning chart for the "A Handful of Dates" character analysis assignment; it is due Monday.  In addition, complete the sheet on apostrophes and begin to learn these vocabulary words:

1. prescient (adj):  foresight; having or showing knowledge of the future
2. flinch (v):  make a quick, nervous movement of the face or body as an instinctive reaction to surprise or fear
3. perpetuate (v):  to make something continue indefinitely
4. trudge (v): to walk slowly with heavy steps because of exhaustion or difficult conditions/terrain
5. plunge (v): to immerse in water
6. condescending (adj): having or showing feelings of patronizing superiority; haughty
7. hullabaloo (n): a commotion/fuss; a noisy, chaotic situation
8. compel (v): to force or pressure someone to do something; to make something happen by means of force or pressure
9. abstain (v): to restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something; to formally withdraw from the voting process
10. render** (v):  to give or deliver (the jury rendered its verdict); to cause to become/to make (his selfishness rendered us speachless); to represent in art (the image of the sailboat was well rendered); to melt down fat; to cover a wall with plaster

**For our purposes, we will use the first two definitions of render (give or make).