Due Monday, January 7, 2012

Finish reading Death of a Salesman.

For your final, please review all of the vocabulary and PRS from second quarter. In addition, be prepared to identify the following things from a text:

• A character's dream (what abstract concept a character desires)
• How that dream is thwarted
• What the character's inability to achieve a dream says about the character and American society

In addition, you will be asked to make a connection with one of the texts read during second quarter.

Due Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Please finish reading Act I of Death of a Salesman.

Due Monday, December 17, 2012

Finish reading The Great Gatsby.

Start reading Death of a Salesman. Try to get to the end of Act I (page 59).

Post a quotation from Death of a Salesman in the analysis section and compare it thematically to The Great Gatsby.

There will be a reading comprehension and vocabulary quiz based on "Winter Dreams," "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin," and "Self-Reliance" on Monday.

Due Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Please post a word for each PRS from "Self-Reliance"

Also post an analysis, evaluation, and creation question for what we've read of The Great Gatsby so far.

Due Monday, December 10, 2012

Read Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby.

• Choose a quotation from this chapter that is related to the dream of a character dying and explain the connection.

Read the excerpt "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson from the online textbook. It is in the "American Romanticism" section.

Post something for the vocabulary from "Self-Reliance"

Due Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Post something for each PRS from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin."

Work on your Literature Circle for Setting from The Great Gatsby (due Thursday). Be sure to cite your quotations properly. As usual, the Literature Circle should be 500 words and printed out.

Due Monday, December 3, 2012

Read The Great Gatsby, chapters 5 and 6

• Please remember to bring the novel to class on Monday.

Read "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" in the Early American Writings of your textbook.

Post something for the vocabulary from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"

Write a 300 word letter as your character about another character from The Great Gatsby. The powerpoint with directions and examples is on Veracross.

Due Thursday, November 29, 2012

Finish your character role sheet for Thursday's Literature Circle. 500 words on Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Jordan Baker, Tom Buchanan, or Daisy Buchanan.

Due Monday, November 26, 2012

The Advertisement Project is due. Please be sure to refer to the directions and rubric.

Read to Ch. 4 of The Great Gatsby.

Due Monday, November 19, 2012

Read Chapters 1 and 2 of The Great Gatsby. We will discuss it in class.

Choose two advertisements for the advertisement project. One from the 1920s and one modern one. Powerpoint directions on Veracross.

Due Thursday, November 15, 2012

Post an example word for each PRS from the vocabulary of "Winter Dreams."

Due Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Write a 500 word Literature Circle on one of the following subjects in regards to "Winter Dreams." Please be sure to bring a paper copy to class.

• Dexter Green's character
• Judy Joness character
• Setting
• Theme
• Style

Due Thursday, November 8, 2012

Post something for each vocabulary word from "Winter Dreams."

Due Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Read "Winter Dreams" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Post a quotation in the analysis section that has to do either with the dream of a character in the story, or the time period. Explain how it is related.

Due Monday, October 29, 2012

The midterm will consist of:

• Two texts with accompanying reading comprehension, vocabulary, and PRS questions
• All vocabulary and PRS from the quarter
• A short answer comparing the depiction of Puritans in The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
• A short answer on Dark Romanticism.

Due Thursday, October 25, 2012

Post a comment asking a corresponding question about either The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible to my posts about Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation. Think about how the two texts are similar and different, and how they influence peoples' views about Puritanism.

Due Monday, October 22, 2012

Finish reading Act I of The Crucible. Choose another quotation that makes a connection to The Scarlet Letter and explain why.

Post an example word for each PRS associated with vocabulary from The Crucible.

Due Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Find a quotation from "The Crucible." To access the play, go to my.hrw.com and sign in. The Crucible is under Early American Writing. Choose a quotation from page 138-141 that you think has a connection to The Scarlet Letter. Post the quotation in MLA format in the analysis section of the blog, and include a response comparing or contrasting its content to The Scarlet Letter.

Post something for the vocabulary words: deference, subservient, and corroborate.

Due Monday, October 15, 2012

Finish reading The Scarlet Letter, you should know all of it to be able to participate in next week's class activities effectively.

If you would like, you can preview Act I of the Crucible. It is located in Unit 1 of your online textbook, Early American Writing. We will be using class time, however, to fill out the Holt Reader for Act I.

Extra Credit: If you would like to make-up points or get extra credit, make a poster (at least size A3) of your reworked 4 stanzas of "The Raven." The poster should be decorated with a picture of the bird you have chosen to replace the raven, and reflect the mood of your lines. The latest this will be accepted is Thursday, October 18th.

Due Thursday, October 11, 2012

Rewrite your response to the Socratic Seminar essay. Print it out with correct formatting and include your first draft when you turn it in.

Due Monday, October 8, 2012

Post a comment to "Why a raven," where you rewrite the four stanzas, substituting another bird for the raven.

Read The Scarlet Letter up to Chapter 20.

Due Thursday, October 4, 2012

Post something for the vocabulary from "The Raven."

Due Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Choose a quotation from any place in The Scarlet Letter up to Chapter 15 which marks it as Dark Romantic Literature. Post the quotation along with a short explanation about why it is Dark Romantic. Do not post the same quotation as someone else. Possible reasons include:

• Emotions dominating reason
• Sin and despair
• The outside reflecting the inside

Due Monday, October 1, 2012

Continue reading The Scarlet Letter up to Chapter 15.

Read through "The Raven" at least once.

Bring your Holt Reader, if you did not leave it in class today.

Write a 500 word essay based on one of the questions from the Socratic Seminar. Your essay requires a thesis and at least two supporting topics sentences. It will be graded on how well it uses evidence from The Scarlet Letter to support your own opinions and analyses. Note: As always, bring a paper copy to class or I will not grade your assignment.

Analysis Questions:

•Why does Mr. Dimmesdale refuse to take medicine?

•How has committing adultery affected Hester’s relationship with other people?

•What does Pearl’s attraction to Dimmesdale signify?

•What similarities are there between Pearl and the scarlet letter?

•How has isolation affected Pearl?

•Have you ever been in a situation such as when Hester faced the possibility of giving up Pearl?

•What can we infer about Pearl’s future based on her obsession with the scarlet letter?

•What evidence is there that Dimmesdale might be Pearl’s father?

Evaluation Questions:

•Do you think Dimmesdale is acting suspiciously?

•Do you think Pearl is being raised in a good environment?

•Do you think Pearl is a good or bad influence on Hester?

•Do you think it is fair that the governor’s sister has not been punished?

•Do you think Hester has the ability to give Pearl a complete childhood? If not, should she be taken away?

•Do you think Hester’s attitude toward Pearl is appropriate?

Creation Questions:

•How do you think Pearl’s future will be like?

•What will happen to Dimmesdale if Chillingworth finds out that Dimmesdale had committed adultery?

•Will Pearl commit adultery like her mother when she grows up?

•Do you think the governor’s sister will get thrown in jail?

•How would knowing about the scarlet letter’s meaning affect Pearl’s relationship to Hester and Dimmesdale?

•How will Hester educate Pearl about adultery?

•How would the story have gone if Chillingsworth had not been a doctor?

•What would have happened if Chillingsworth had not decided to pursue revenge?

For Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Please be sure to bring your Holt Reader to class on Wednesday.

Due Monday, September 24, 2012

PRS: for each prefix, root, or suffix posted on the blog, post a word that uses the PRS. Please do not repeat a word someone else has already posted. Please also make sure that the word you are posting is related to the PRS used (for example, there are two meanings for "in").

The Scarlet Letter: Read up to Chapter 10

Due Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Literature Circle for The Scarlet Letter: Write 500 words, double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font with one inch margins on Text-to-Text (with "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), Character, Setting, or (if there are 4 people at your table), Text-to-Self.

Study for the vocabulary test. You will be tested on five words. You will have to spell the word correctly (0.5 points), name the part of speech (0.5 points), write the definition (1 point) and write a sentence that shows its meaning through context (1 point).

Example:

• verity (n.): truth
• She values verity. = 2.5/3 points because there is no context for the word.
• verity (n.): truth
• She values verity because she had previously been betrayed by a dishonest boyfriend. = 3/3 points because the sentence implies what "verity" means.

Due Monday, September 17, 2012

Finish read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Go to my.hrw.com and type in the username (JCHEN978) and password (h2s5j).

• Post a response to each of the vocabulary words from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

Read Chapters 3-6 of The Scarlet Letter.

• Post a quotation from the text on the Analysis section of the blog.
• Comment on your own post, relating the quotation to literary term, yourself, life, or another text.

The Scarlet Letter and Socratic Seminar

Finish reading Chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter.

Come up with one analysis question, one evaluation question, and one prediction question for The Scarlet Letter and post it on the analysis section of the blog.

Vocabulary and The Scarlet Letter

Your homework for tonight is to practice the vocabulary homework by leaving a comment for steeple on the vocabulary section of the class blog (http://pasamlith2012-2013vocabulary.blogspot.tw/).

Also, if you would like to get started on The Scarlet Letter. A good online version can be found here: http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/scarletletter/1/

First homework assignment

Your first homework assignment, albeit ungraded, is to check to see if you have access to the online textbook at my.hrw.com and are able to post on the class blog (under the "Analysis" section).

Your syllabus is due on Monday, September 3rd, for participation points.