9.26.12 Reminders 10th Grade

Today in class you continued working with the list of apartheid laws and answering questions for five that you selected from the handout.  You can find the electronic version of the handout here.

For each of the five practices that you select, answer:

• Why was this practice unjust?  
• Why do you think the practice was in place?
• What were the penalties for violating this practice? (Put n/a if the penalty is not provided.)
• How would your life be different if this policy were legal in the U.S. today?

We also began reading Cry, the Beloved Country.  

You received progress reports.  If you had a very low grade, it was likely because you had zeroes on important assignments, namely writing assessments.  Here are the assessments we've done in class so far:

·       “Two Friends” Moral Courage Reader Response

o  Write about a time you or someone close to you showed true courage. Was it moral courage? Why or why not? Why is “Two Friends” a good example of moral courage? Use at least two specific details from the book to support your answer.

·       RAFT Of Mice and Men assignment

·       RAFT: Quiz Grade Chapter 1 / Choose One Topic

R: Role	A: Audience	F: Format	T: Topic
George	Aunt Clara	Letter	Write a letter from George to Aunt Clara explaining why it’s so much trouble to take care of Lennie.
Aunt Clara	George	Letter	Write a letter from Aunt Clara to George explaining why he should take care of Lennie anyway.
Dead Mouse	Dead Mouse	Dramatic Monologue	Write a short speech from the perspective of the dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket, describing his short journey with George and Lennie.

·      Of Mice and Men Robert Burns “To a Mouse” quote essay: Many people in the novel suffer from disappointment as they see their dreams destroyed.  Choose any three of the following characters and discuss what reasons they have to be disappointed about their life: Crooks, Curley, Curley’s wife, George, Candy, or Lennie.  How does the line from Burns’s poem, “The best laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry” apply to their lives?

9.26.12 Reminders 10th Grade Periods 1, 3, 6

Today in class we continued reading Cry, the Beloved Country.  Periods 1 and 6 read chapters 8-9, and period 3 read chapter 10 and part of 11.  You need to make sure you're keeping up with the study questions.  It will be way harder for you to complete those questions if you wait until the last minute.

I also issued progress reports today.  Many people had very low grades because of missing assignments, namely the essay on "A Private Experience."  For good measure, I'm going to give you the prompt again, and you can click here to access the text of the story.

o  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story “A Private Experience” centers on the emotional connection established between two women during a riot in Kano, Nigeria. In a well-developed essay, analyze the story using the following prompt.

o  The riot in the story begins when a Christian Igbo man runs over a copy of the Holy Koran; afterwards, Hausa Muslims drag him out of his car and decapitate him. Incorporate evidence from text to give examples of the religious and cultural conflict at the heart of the story. What do the women have in common? What are the differences between them? How does Chika view the Hausa woman? What stereotypes does she hold? In what ways does the Hausa woman live up to those stereotypes? In what ways does she defy Chika’s expectations? Do you think the cultures discussed in this story will ever be at peace? Why or why not? 

You may turn the essay in late (you'll receive a 20 pt. penalty, but it'll still help your grade tremendously).  Get it to me as soon as possible.

9.20.12 Reminders 10th Grade 5th Period

Today in class you gave your presentations on Steinbeck's Harvest Gypsy articles.  After the presentations, we read and analyzed Robert Burns's poem "To a Mouse. . ." and discussed how the central ideas of the poem parallel the central ideas in Of Mice and Men.

Finally, you wrote a short essay for the following prompt.  You were to finish the essay for homework and turn it in tomorrow.

Many people in the novel suffer from disappointment as they see their dreams destroyed.  Choose any three of the following characters and discuss what reasons they have to be disappointed about their life: Crooks, Curley, Curley’s wife, George, Candy, or Lennie.  How does the line from Burns’s poem, “The best laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry” apply to their lives?

Tomorrow you will also have a vocabulary quiz and we will begin viewing and analyzing the film Of Mice and Men.

9.20.12 Reminders 10th Grade Periods 1, 3, 6

Today in class we read through the end of chapter 5 in Cry, the Beloved Country.  You need to make sure that you have answered the study questions for the chapters, and be ready to explore the use of literary devices in the chapters tomorrow.

You do not have homework tonight.

9.19.12 Reminders 10th Grade 5th Period

Today in class you worked with your groups on the Harvest Gypsy articles: the study questions, the summaries, and the preparation of your presentations.  You will be presenting your articles to the rest of the class at the beginning of the period tomorrow, 9/20.

You can find the text of the articles here.

We will continue working with Steinbeck's work and Of Mice and Men through this week and the beginning of next week.  You will be having a vocabulary quiz on Friday.

9.19.12 Reminders 10th Grade Periods 1, 3, 6

Today in class we read and discussed chapters 1-4 in Cry, the Beloved Country and answered the corresponding questions in the study packet.

Reminders:

• If you are an 11th grader (which will be very few people), you will be taking the Georgia High School Writing Test on October 3.  I will be holding tutorial for the test in my room from 3:00-4:00 today and tomorrow, next Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and the two days before the test.
• Underclassmen picture day is September 24th.  We will be going to the auditorium as a class to have pictures taken.  Look your best!

9.17.12 Reminder Ninth Grade Honors

Today in class we performed a close reading of "The Judgment of Paris" and you began working on an essay assessment.

Here is the essay assignment.

In “The Judgment of Paris,” Paris awards the golden apple, signifying the highest standards of beauty, to Aphrodite.  What was his motivation?  Given the three choices by the goddesses: power, honor and respect, or the love of the most beautiful person in the world, which would you select?  Explain your answer.  Use evidence from the text to support your opinion about Paris, and to justify your own motivations.