Week of December 1st - December 5th

• Finish Antigone
• begin essay (in class)
• continue individual reading of semester challenge book and choose project

Week of November 24th - 26th THANKSGIVING BREAK, NO CLASS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

• Begin Greek Tragedy/Antigone unit
• Aristotle "The Poetics" and Antigone background
• active reading with tragedy hand-out
• Begin Antigone
• in class dialogue journal - 3 passages that connect to the theme of Man's law VS God's law. The 10 entries you collect from the play will ultimately be used in your argumentative essay; who is right, Antigone or Creon? Is it more important to follow the laws of the land and society or is it more important to follow your own religious beliefs - even when they are in conflict with the laws of society?

Week of November 17th - 21st

2 journal entries due, also some students have not turned in last set of reading questions from The Alchemist

• students worked on building a synthesis essay in class this week and typing it up in the computer lab on Thursday.
• Students also completed a college readiness survey
• checked out The Theban Plays. Must read Introduction - P. 71 first play King Oedipus. For extra credit students can read second play in the trilogy; Oedipus at Colonus and prepare a dialogue journal using the same format as used for The Alchemist. We will read the 3rd play in the trilogy Antigone in class after the Thanksgiving break.

Week of November 10th - 14th

• A short week as the end of the first quarter came to an end. Students placed in new English class on Monday November 17th.
• Thursday NO SCHOOL ICE DAY

"Follow your inner moonlight; don't fight the madness" - Alan Ginsberg

New classes will be created next week so ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN TO RECEIVE CREDIT BY OCTOBER 28TH. 

FINAL ASSESSMENT OVER THE ALCHEMIST TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4TH

Week of October 20th - 24th Mandala's and found poems

PSAT's October 15th

October 7th in school field trip Profile Theater's performance of Sam Shepard's material

First Quarter Assingments

First Quarter

• The role of storytelling in fiction according to; Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Eli Shafak, Chimamanda Adichie, and you (graph)
• Questions in response to Adichie and Shafak's Short Stories
• Short Story and Flash Fiction Literary Terms
• The Language of Cultures  
• Questions for "tunneling to the center of the earth"
• Short Story Assessment (summative assignment)
• Define literary terms for The Alchemist
• Dialogue journal The Alchemist
• Dream Journal
• Challenge Book First Semester Assignment
• The Geography of The Alchemist
• PSAT grammar refresher
• Summary of the Stages of the Hero's Journey
• First quarter journal check (entries 1 - 23)
• The Alchemist reading questions pages 1 - 79

Daily Entries....

First Quarter Journal Entries

•  Entry #1 If I didn’t care what people thought I would…
• Entry #2 “Music is the language of the spirit” - Kahil Gibran, watch Madihi Bhati’s Mu(sick) video and respond
• Entry #3 What is culture?
•  Entry #4 word bomb supermoon/coffee/wave/book cover/orange
• Entry #5 What is the role of literature in culture?
• Entry #6 What do you remember of this day (9/11) 13 years ago? Or what stories have you been told?
• Entry #7 As the moon…
• Entry #8 What is your favorite story? What is the stories theme?
• Entry# 9 What is a reoccurring theme in your life?
•  Entry #10 If your life were a song what would it be called?
• Entry# 11 where does your road lead you?
• Entry#12 What does it mean to lead a good life?
• Entry#13 How do we find meaning in life?
• Entry #14 What elements of magical realism do you see in the photo’s throughout the story?
• Entry #15 (word bomb) As the tide crashed against the rocks .../blue chevy/popcorn/dream/tethered
• Entry #16 choose a line from the Sam Shepard material presented in class, and respond in an original entry (piece inspired by quote)
• Entry #17 Shapes like stars...
• Entry #18 What is the Baker's dream? How would you compare his dream with most of society? Explain...
• Entry #19 "The secret of happiness is to see the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon" P.34 Explain this philosophy
• Entry #20 Where have you always wanted to travel to, why?
• Entry #21 and Entry #22 Metaphorical Journey's 
• Entry #23 Write about a dream you had that wasn't realistic at all - and had moments of magic in it.
• Entry #24 Define alchemy.
• Entry #25 List some essential qualities about Santiago. What defines him? What is important to him?
• Entry #26 List some essential qualities about your self. What defines you? What is important to you?
• Entry #27 Mandala (Sanskrit means circle) is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism representing the Universe.