Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

"Hello everyone.”  “Hello Smith”
We had donut fun filled Wednesday

Fun factoid of the day- If you were wondering there is a national donut day during the summer

Finished Oedipus. Pg. 99-Finish

Discussed the questions for the in class essay.

Edited our college essays

HW

Final college essay due September 9, make sure you sign up to have a meeting with Mrs. Smith

Read another 20 pages of your man booker prize book.

Friday is our first in class essay. 3 to 4 pages you should shoot for.

Intro should be short. Have an attention getter than your thesis.

Body 2 quotes

Body 2 quotes

Body 2 quotes

Conclusion paragraph

            Bring in your outline ONLY. One to two word points to help guide you’re body       paragraphs.

You can have a thesis and it can be fully written out. Restate the question, include title, author, answer the question, and why

Mrs. Smith should see your paragraph setup

Outline should look like this.

1.      First body paragraph is about sickness

Then you have your two quotes. “Quote for sickness” (Sophocles 39) “Quote for sickness”

You can type your quote and just copy and paste

2.      Second is about death

“Quote….” “Quote…”

3.      Third is about survival

“Quote…” “Quote…”

Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Started out by saying “Hello Smith” like always

Dani and Maddie have donuts for Wednesday.

Mrs. Smith gave a run down on Jackson’s 10th birthday party.

Had your first Man Booker Prize group meeting

Independent Reading Groups Week One:

  1. Introduce yourself to your fellow group members!
  2. Answer the following questions: Record answers by the question.  Each member must record his/her answers individually.
    1. Why did you select this book?
    2. What 3 things have you found most surprising thus far?  Why?
    3. What 2 things have you found most disappointing thus far?  Why?
    4. Literary elements: (Be detailed in your descriptions)
                                                               i.      Setting:

                                                             ii.      Characters: (identify at least four)

                                                            iii.      External conflicts:

                                                           iv.      Internal conflicts:

                                                             v.      Motifs:

    1. Vocabulary: Analyze 2 motifs the author has used repeatedly in this section of the reading.  What do the words mean?  What is the author trying to say by the use of that particular word?  What does it represent?
    2. What connections have you made to the piece of literature?  Are there any passages in particular that are “speaking” to you?  Quote the passage and summarize the situation.  Why do these passages speak to you? 
    3. Question for fun:
If you had to cast the film version of your piece of literature, who would you select to portray the main characters?  You need to select at least three characters and assign an actor to each one.  Also, include an explanation of why you selected that particular actor.

                H. Hero element?
Discuss these things and write them down and turn in

Kept reading Oedipus, pages 62-99

Homework

Decide on final college essay. You’re going to summit this essay as a final copy. Final copy is due September 7, worth 100 points. Need to sign up for a one on one conference with Mrs. Smith. (Off hours MWF 4, 6 and T/TH 1, 6) Try and make corrections on your essay you choose and bring in for peer editing on Wednesday. Can go in to writing lab and get more feedback. 

Read Booker Prize. Try and read 20 pages a night every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.






Friday, August 26, 2011

Friday August 26, 2011

We started out class by turning in our "Who Am I?" essays and wrote motifs for Oedipus on the chalk board in the back.  we also had a brief concersation about responsibilty with getting homework done on time.  Then we got into groups and wrote the different motifs on poster paper with quotes and pictures.

Motifs: Death, ships, eyes/sight/blindness, gullibility/ignorace/oblivion, power/confidence

We talked about the in-class Oedipus essay and continued to read Oedipus; pgs. 50-63

Homework: Think about how Oedipus is a tragic hero and how he fits into the heros journey. Also, read booker prize book (don't forget we have the first book meeting on Monday!), if essay isn't done then get it to Smith by the end of the WEEKEND (not last minute on Sunday).

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday August 22 2011

As class started we turned in the second essay.
Wanted! Someone to take Mrs. Smith's three kids to school on the late start in September.
H.W. Presentations for the book start on 10/10. Tonight the pages of your chosen book should be divided for different nights. Also pick three examples of dramatic irony in Odicious as well as three adjectives.

A little bit about the independent reading assignment
- Be creative
- Have a theme
- Should have an idea about what the book is about just by looking at the container that the project is in.
- A container is going to have something on the outer parts about the book as well as the inside.
- 5 items that depict the story/ represent
-Annotate the book with sticky notes or a notebook on the side.
-There will be one journal entry about something in the reading that really stood out.
We then read the reading for Odicious and talked about the irony of how he is trying to convince himself and his people that he had nothing to do with the death of his father.(whom he doesn’t know was his father.)



Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday August 19, 2011


HW: ½ page essay about someone in your life that has made a difference in past present and future. How they affected you and will that carry on. In this essay 1/3 of it should be the story and background and 2/3 should be about the affect what made them the role model that they were.


In class we started by getting back the essays form Wednesday. We then went over the words that we should then not put in this essay. Words to not use in the essay: Good, bad, stuff, things, it, everyone, everything. There are only 500 words to convince the college of your choice to pick you. Word choice should be descriptive and paint a picture for the reader. When comparing “it got really bad”, to” expressions of grief” one obviously sounds more interesting and an attention grabber. We are encouraged to start out this essay in a different way to catch more attention.
Notes
• There are two types of heroes
o Tragic
o Epic
• Rules
1. Have to be from a noble birth.
2. Hamartia (a tragic flaw) often is pride in many stories.
3. All tragic heroes are faced with a choice.
4. A reversal of fortune.
5. The recognition or discovery of what they have been blinded from but it is always too late.
6. They make the mistake that eventually leads to their own death.
But then again there are always exceptions.
Oedipus Notes
• What we will see from Oedipus
• Decisions that will made him seem blind to the others in the world.
• He may become in a state of self-awareness.
• Compare his journey as going on a big roller coaster and getting to the top and your already at the top so there is no turning back.
• No one really understands him or gets what he is going through.
• As the story goes on the audience becomes a part of the story and are impacted at the end.
• Fate is beyond control even if they try to avoid it.
• People
• Laivs and Jocasta- Oedipus father and mother whom he then marrys his mother and kills his father. (Dramatic irony)
• Oedipus “swollen feet” the main character
• Stages of a hero
o 1. Innocence, one with the world, and the center of the universe.
o 2. Initiation, Could be death, awareness of evil, or an intimate awakening.
o 3. Chaos, feels denial or may gain wisdom or retreat back to innocence.
o 4. The resolution, where the heroes make a name for themselves, better understanding of the world.
We are too finish the notes in class on Monday. Don’t forget the essay!!



Friday August 19, 2011


HW: ½ page essay about someone in your life that has made a difference in past present and future. How they affected you and will that carry on. In this essay 1/3 of it should be the story and background and 2/3 should be about the affect what made them the role model that they were.


In class we started by getting back the essays form Wednesday. We then went over the words that we should then not put in this essay. Words to not use in the essay: Good, bad, stuff, things, it, everyone, everything. There are only 500 words to convince the college of your choice to pick you. Word choice should be descriptive and paint a picture for the reader. When comparing “it got really bad”, to” expressions of grief” one obviously sounds more interesting and an attention grabber. We are encouraged to start out this essay in a different way to catch more attention.
Notes
• There are two types of heroes
o Tragic
o Epic
• Rules
1. Have to be from a noble birth.
2. Hamartia (a tragic flaw) often is pride in many stories.
3. All tragic heroes are faced with a choice.
4. A reversal of fortune.
5. The recognition or discovery of what they have been blinded from but it is always too late.
6. They make the mistake that eventually leads to their own death.
But then again there are always exceptions.
Oedipus Notes
• What we will see from Oedipus
• Decisions that will made him seem blind to the others in the world.
• He may become in a state of self-awareness.
• Compare his journey as going on a big roller coaster and getting to the top and your already at the top so there is no turning back.
• No one really understands him or gets what he is going through.
• As the story goes on the audience becomes a part of the story and are impacted at the end.
• Fate is beyond control even if they try to avoid it.
• People
• Laivs and Jocasta- Oedipus father and mother whom he then marrys his mother and kills his father. (Dramatic irony)
• Oedipus “swollen feet” the main character
• Stages of a hero
o 1. Innocence, one with the world, and the center of the universe.
o 2. Initiation, Could be death, awareness of evil, or an intimate awakening.
o 3. Chaos, feels denial or may gain wisdom or retreat back to innocence.
o 4. The resolution, where the heroes make a name for themselves, better understanding of the world.
We are too finish the notes in class on Monday. Don’t forget the essay!!



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wednesday August 17th, 2011

We started out class by shouting, "Hello Smith!"


Then celebrated our first Donut Fun-Filled Wednesday!


We handed in our crossroads essays, and wrote down the title of the Man Booker book that we chose (if you would like to claim your book title, the blue folder on Smith's desk will have the list in it, write the name of your book next to your name there). Keep in mind that only two people can be reading the same one.


Then we signed up for permissions to be a writer on her blog. You have to ask her in order to have an invite to your email address.


It was then time to share college tips! Here is what our class came up with:



- Keep your focus narrow and personal
- Prove a single point with a thesis
- Take time to go beyond the obvious
- 1/3 of your essay should be story, 2/3 of it should be about you



Good websites to use to improve your essays (Smith is putting links to these on her webpage):
SAS Writing Reviser (http://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/) - general help on the essays
Lexipedia (http://www.lexipedia.com/) - can give you good synonyms to get rid of the overused words



Remember that there is always writing lab as well where you can go in and get advice on your writing from English teachers from Arapahoe. Also keep in mind that anyone in the English office (even if Smith isn't there) is more than willing to help you, you just have to ask.


We then continued onto talking about what the expectations are about scribing:
Date is the title
Detailed notes (imagine if you were in class)
Exciting (personalize it)
Add websites that might have been mentioned
Proofread
Don’t cut corners
You can even add in videos!


We then finished class by watching Mr. Fisch's video, "Did You Know?". Which can be found at this website: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html


Homework:
- read Oedipus material
- parent form needs to be completed for Friday
- bring in Man Booker book

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Guess what? You are seniors! Because you are so learned in your ways and I can't teach you anything you don't already know ( I am being facetious- look up this word if you don't know what it means), I want you to think about what you want your last year of high school to look like.

THINK BIG!

What do you hope to get out of this class?What do you want to learn?What do grades mean to you?How do you learn best?What activities have you previously done in other classes that have been meaningful or interesting to you?