Friday, April 1, 2011

Today, we finished reading the novel Of Mice and Men. You then worked on the reading questions so you could hand them in before the break. Have a great break!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Today, we read up to chapter 6 of the novel Of Mice and Men. Be sure to answer your reading questions for this.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Today, We read more of "Of Mice and Men" (up to the bottom of page 60). You then ansered the questions up to this point.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Today, we read up to page 28 of the novel Of Mice and Men. You are also to define the following words and answer your reading questions which I handed out yesterday: Mottled, recumbant, imperiously, dejectedly, scuffed, molified, pugnacious, morosely,

Monday, March 28, 2011

Today, I introduced the novel unit (Of Mice and Men). We discussed the Great Depression, the conditions of people in the U.S. and Canada, and the impact this had on the society. I also handed out reading questions for the novel. We came to the consensus that I would read it to the class as much as possible to help with consistency. If you don't feel you are a strong reader, it is best not to miss these classes.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Today, you wrote your Short Story comprehension exam (m.c.). I then instructed you to go to the library and take out the novel Of Mice and Men.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Today, you wrote a literary response essay for the short story unit. Remember that you write the comprehension exam (m.C.) for this unit tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Today we discussed your in class essay (which you will write tomorrow). To do this well, you must be familiar with some of the short stories we have studied this unit (there are seven). Look back over the blogger to find out which ones. Also, you will need to be prepared to write your multiple choice exam for the short story unit on Thursday. If you are not going to be here, you will need to write it at an alternate time. This needs to be arranged with me.

Pasted here are some of the notes from today's class:
Literary Exploration Essay

You will be given a reading to read (in this case, from H.M.S. Ulysses - THIS WILL NOT BE THE TOPIC TOMORROW!)

Answer the Question (in this case, it is as follows):

What is your opinion of the idea that the dangers we face may lie beyond our understanding?

You must use a character from the short stories we’ve studied!!!!! (you can use more than one).

You must form an opinion to answer the question and then prove it using examples from the short story(s).


dangers characters face beyond understanding:

· “Jack, Jack Attack”: Babysitting (superhuman baby!)
· Quitters Inc.”: Quit smoking (serious punishments)
· “Troller”: Make money (danger of losing his life!)
· “For the Birds”: Sit on line by himself (big bird!!)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Today, we watched a film version of Harrison Bergeron. I also stressed that you have an in-class written exam (essay) on Wednesday, and your multiple choice unit exams for this unit (short stories) on Thursday. Be sure to reread the stories we have studied and study your terminology.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Today, you read the short story "Harrison Bergeron". I then gave you questions to answer. If you weren't here, the reading can be found on-line.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Today, we discussed how to write a literary response. This will be expanded upon tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Today, you actively read the short story "The Troller" and then answered some questions. These are due tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Today, you handed in your answers for the questions on the short story "Quitter's Inc." We then watched a film rendition of it. There were other quesitons you had to answer. These were due in-class. If you were not here, come and see me and I will give you the questions and you can watch the film (we will have to do this at lunch).

Monday, March 14, 2011

Today you were given the questions for the short story reading "Quitter's Inc." These are to be handed in by the end of class. I have posted them here for those who were absent; however, they will only be here for the duration of this week so copy and paste them.

English 20-2
“Quitter’s Inc.” Questions

INSTRUCTIONS: Using the computer, answer each of these questions fully.

1. What is the name of the main character?

2. Who are the members of his family?

3. Based on the story as a whole, what type of person is his wife? Provide examples to back this.

4. Who suggested that the main character attend “Quitter’s Inc.?

5. When it comes to smoking, what is different about when this story takes place and Canada today?

6. Who is the person who will oversee the main character’s smoking cessation program?

7. Based on the story as a whole, what type of person is the smoking cessation man? Provide examples to back this.

8. What is the success rate of this smoking cessation program?

9. What will happen if the main character lights up? Explain the steps from first time through.

10. As steps leading to a climax of the conflict, describe the moments when the main character thinks of lighting up. What stops him?

11. In addition to not smoking, what else does this program monitor?

12. What happens if a person doesn’t meet the goals of the other item being monitored?

13. What does the word “Pragmatist” mean? Why is this word mentioned so many times in the story?

14. Why did this program get set up? Who funds it?

15. When does the program expect the main character to pay his bill? Why do they do it this way?

16. How might this story end if he wanted a divorce from his wife?

17. What is the theme of this story (what are we to have learned)?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Today, we read the short story "Quitters' Inc.". I didn't assign any work. Have a great weekend (If you weren't here, you can actually find this one on-line: it was written by Stephen Kind... just Google search for it).

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Today, you were given time to catch up on due assignments. Those who were finished worked on defininf terminology which I have pasted below. All of the definitions can be found in your Passages textbook.

Racist language
Rhetorical question
Sexist language
Simile
Stereotype
Style
Suspense
Symbol
Theme
Thesis
TonePassive voice:
1. Active voice:
2. Allusion:
3. Bias:
4. Cliché:
5. Personification
6. Colloquialism:
7. Connotation:
8. Denotation:
9. Diction:
10. Figurative
11. Language:
12. Hyperbole:
13. Idiom:
14. Imagery
15. Satire
16. Metaphor
17. Narration
18. Narrator
19. Onomatopoeia
20. Oxymoron

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Today, you were given some instructions about how to read short stories. I have posted them below.
You were then given an excerpt from "Goin to Town" to read using these instructions. Once you showed this to me, you were given questions to answer (in your portfolio with a copy of the excerpt if you weren't here). Finally, you were given a small number of multiple choice questions to answer (also in your portfolio if you were absent).

Friday, March 4, 2011

Today, you were given 17 words of terminology that you need to know for this unit. You were to define them and hand them in. You were then to read the short story "The Visitor" in Passages 11 (p. 117).

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Today, I introduced the short story unit. We discussed some of the common terms and the plotline. We then watched some Pixar shorts to get the hang of the plotine.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Today, you wrote your unit exam. If you were not here, you need to make arrangements to do it.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Today, you wrote your first Persuasive writing in context essay. If you were not here, you will need to make this up on your own time.
I also handed out a sheet explaining what must be done to do well on this type of writing (these exams are to be no longer than 50 minutes so you had lots of time).
Keep in mind that you write the test for this unit (short answer, Multiple choice, matching) tomorrow.