Week of February 23 - 27

• Student Path Survey's
• Watch The Boy in the Stripped Pajama's
• Watch Frontline: Memory of the Camps

Week of February 17th - 20th NO SCHOOL MONDAY 16TH

For God's sake, where is God? And from within me, I heard a voice answer: Where is He? This is where - hanging here from this gallow - from Night

• Entry #10 Why do horrible things happen? Why doesnt't God intervene?
• 10 journal entries from Night focusing on the theme of Human Nature. Is human nature basically good? or evil? Due at end of the unit.
• Finish Persepolis
• Night vocab due
• hand-out resource packet for Night
• by Monday 2/ 23 read up to page 66
• watch Oprah interview with Elie Weisel 

week of February 9 - 13

• Entry #9 Why is memory important?
• review for Persepolis unit test
• test over terms/definitions from Persepolis
• Watch Persepolis
• Memoir/graphic story due
• begin reading Night preface, foreword, and pages 3-23 for Tuesday
• Vocab due Tuesday

week of February 2 - 6

Because the soul is progressive, it never quite repeats itself, but in every act attempts the production of a new and fairer whole - Ralph Waldo Emerson from Art

• Entries #1 - #4
• Library to check out Persepolis 2 and Night
• assign memoir and graphic story
• hand-out "what's in your head" brainstorm for memoir piece
• Entry #5 Have you ever found yourself at a crossroad?
• Entries #6 - #8 from Kokology
• Night vocabulary sheet
• watch Rick Steve's Iran
• Finish Persepolis 2 over the weekend

Week of January 26th - 30th FINALS WEEK

UNFORTUNATELY I WAS OUT BOTH MONDAY AND TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK.

• ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN BY THURSDAY JANUARY 29TH
• finish Persepolis
• reading sample completed instead of final

week of January 19th - 23rd FINALS NEXT WEEK/END OF SEMESTER

MONDAY IS MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

• Entry #55 What political changes are you aware of in your lifetime?
• Entry #56 What social pressures are placed on us because of gender?
• Entry #57 Summarize each chapter from Persepolis as we read; a) main point b) one quote from each chapter (basically a dialogue journal)
• Entry #58 Describe a mean-spirited thing you did as a child.
• Entry #59 Describe a time you had to leave place, or a time that a close friend left you.
• Entry #60 Summarize chapters from Persepolis
• Read Persepolis up to "The Jewel" page 87
• Journal entries (#24 - #60) due next week
• select 2 journal entries to re-write/type and turn in
• READING SAMPLE IN PLACE OF FINAL EXAM

January 12 - 16 CHALLENGE ASSIGNMENTS DUE THIS WEEK

• Entry #53 Write about a time you felt oppressed because of; gender, sexuality, race, age, class, or the fact that you have never felt oppressed.
• ENTRY #54 What does your clothing communicate?
• share terms and definitions
• Read "The Secret Garden" excerpt from Lipstick Jihad by Azedah Moaveni
• Interview with Azedah Moaveni with active reading and interview questions
• CHALLENGE ASSIGNMENT DUE AND IN CLASS QUIZ
• begin Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

January 5 - 9

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015

"She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning against the railing, holding the universe together". JD Salinger "A Girl Knew"

• TEDtalks "The Puzzle of Motivation"
• entry #49 recall a favorite line from a book/song/poem/movie and explain why it is so great. Why do you remember this line?
• entry #50 What motivates you?
• begin new unit Memoir Persepolis/Night

"To place yourself on the page is in part self-discovery, part self-creation" from "Good Prose: The Art of Non-fiction" 

• entry #51 write about an eye-opening experience, a time when you shifted your opinion entirely about something.
• terms and vocabulary for Persepolis
• current event Iran
• essential question carousel
• entry #52 recall a very specific moment in your life and write a half page dialogue recalling that moment.
• Youtube "A History of Iran and America in 10 minutes"
• George Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech 2002
• read "The Secret Garden" by Azadeh Moaveni page 167 Holt
• questions after story

December 15 - 19 PROGRESS REPORTS DUE TUESDAY DECEMBER 16TH

Writing Samples 

HAPPY WINTER BREAK!

December 8 - 12

• reading Antigone
• entry #47 word bomb (island, butter, stench, cranberry, time)
• Write Source pages 201-238 The Persuasive Essay
• Writing Samples Antigone
• entry #48 who is right Antigone or Creon? Why? Explain...
• watch Antigone with Juliet Stevenson

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.