Sophomore English 2015-16 (Period 5) Assignments

Use the attached page to take notes and write an essential question for the Socratic Seminar final exam 

 

 

Bring this chart to the final exam. Make notes about specific ways that monsters are created, defined,rejected, or accepted in various societies.

 

For our Socratic Seminar on the final exam, you will need many ideas to discuss the way our society thinks of "monsters". These links to radio and news stories should help give you ideas and fill in details of real life to support the reading we are doing in class.

 

Use headphones to listen in class

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/6/3/a_school_for_suicide_how_kalief

 

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/15/356165968/culture-of-violence-pervades-rikers-juvenile-facilities

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/03/480449806/at-the-end-of-the-day-i-m-a-25-year-old-convicted-felon

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/02/353312777/teen-spends-years-at-rikers-island-without-being-sentenced

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/04/us/chicago-shootings.html?_r=0

 

Here is a quizlet link to use for the test tomorrow on Night. Use your resourcefulness to find flashcards which address the basic setting, plot, character and other details of the memoir.

Each night, complete the reading and the task assigned by your literature circle group. Use this chart to remind you of the readings.

Each night, complete the reading and the task assigned by your literature circle group. Use this chart to remind you of the readings.

Use this to study

Please answer these questions in your own words. Do not use a website or other source other than your reading of the text to answer the questions. Submit the completed questions to Turnitin.com by the due date specified on turnitin.com

 

This 30 page packet will be used for the entire reading of Frankenstein. You need to answer the questions on the packet using the annotation tools which we have learned about in class.

 

Please Read the introductory section (pages 9-12) about Mary Shelley and the historical background of the novel Frankenstein.

 

Complete the two pages called Active Reading (pages 13 and 14 of the packet). Follow the instructions. If you have not read all of the letters, take time to read them and find quotations to support your answers to the prompts. Make sure that you follow suggested scholarly practices to avoid plagiarism)

 

Save the pages (drag the 30 page document into your google drive--check to be sure it is actually there before you log out)

We will turn the pages in next week.

Read these instructions and follow them to research and write the research paper described. Due dates and expectations are clearly explained in the document.

 

Read the passage from Paradise Lost posted here. Answer the questions on the final page. Use a separate Pages document to address the questions. Submit on Edmodo.

Please select 5 words from each of the following lists. Find and record the sentence in which the word is used, additionally write your own definition of the word

 

Read and be prepared to discuss the important points of this essay in class on Friday

Print and have your parents sign; please bring to class Tuesday

Complete these questions for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; you may work in pairs, but you will put both names on the sheet and then submit to turnitin.com

Use this online packet to study the biographical details of the Romantic Poets. We will read the poems in class and any work for which you need to turn in hard copies, I will distribute in class.

The two poems for which you need hard copies are "Ozymandias" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Using the following thought questions, write a few sentences in which you ponder the mysteries of the universe

Please type your response, include a full heading and title the paper

 

I Ponder the Mysteries of the Universe

This powerpoint previews information critical to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Please review before Tuesday

Before reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in class on Monday, please read the materials in the attached link; Learning targets and details of the setting and preview of characters will help make the poem more comprehensible

Read MacBeth by January 28

Our final will be 100 questions on the play; there will also be a timed writing comparing MacBeth as a king to King Arthur.

 

For tomorrow's 40 question, multiple choice quiz, study these flashcards on Act I of MacBeth

 

 

Read the attached PDF. Complete the questions at the end (including vocabulary and other elements.) Keep the completed questions in a gmail document. I will check them Tuesday in class

Read the document called Arthur and His Noble Knights written by John Steinbeck. You do not have to annotate or share this document with me. Just read the material. If you would like to annotate for your own purposes, that is fine.

Open the attached PDF. Use an annotation tool to complete the questions posed in the margins and to take notes on essential textual elements of the narrative

 

Here are Quizlet links to The Prologue and each tale for which you are responsible for the test Thursday on The Canterbury Tales

Prologue

Miller's Tale

Nun's Priest's Tale

Wife of Bath

Knight's Tale

Clerk's Tale

 

This is the final story to read for our study of The Canterbury Tales. The exam on this unit will include questions about The General Prologue, The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, and The Clerk's Tale.

You will be able to use the notes from the Prologue (in digital or analogue format) the questions from the Miller's Tale, and an outline of the other tales.

 

In reading groups, continue to study The Canterbury Tales by reading this tale of "love and romance"

While there is no official homework over the Thanksgiving break, students will be reading The Canterbury Tales when we return; in order to allow those students with time over the break to take advantage of that time to get ahead in the reading, the online textbook is attached here. No work needs to be completed, but students may annotate and read the selection in order to be prepared upon their return after the break.

 

Here is the chart to help you discriminate between the characters introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Fill in information on the chart in the empty boxes by OPENING the document in Notability in your locked folder.

 

For Friday's Test be familiar with these elements of the Epic Poem Beowulf:

 

Beowulf/ Anglo-Saxon Test

25 Matching/Multiple Choice Questions = 50 pts. Total

 

Be able to match the following characters with their descriptions. While I have supplied you with a description, you may need to know more about the character.

 

• Beowulf- Strong, Epic Hero
• Wiglaf- Loyal to Beowulf, Successor
• Grendel- Opposer, Killing people
• Grendel’s mother- Fought Beowulf, Lived in Swamp
  Hrothgar- King of the Danes
• Hrunting- Beowulf’s Sword
• Higlac- King of Geats

 

Know the following Information

 

• Poets/ Scops
• Centers of Learning call what?
• Grendel compared to who (allusion?)
• Why does Beowulf help Hrothgar?
• Kennings/ Examples
• Plot Line of the Story
• Epic Hero
• Alliteration

 

 

 

Beowulf/ Anglo-Saxon Test

50 Matching/Multiple Choice Questions = 50 pts. Total

 

Be able to match the following characters with their descriptions. While I have supplied you with a description, you may need to know more about the character.

 

• Beowulf- Strong, Epic Hero
• Wiglaf- Loyal to Beowulf, Successor
• Grendel- Opposer, Killing people
• Grendel’s mother- Fought Beowulf, Lived in Swamp
  Hrothgar- King of the Danes
• Hrunting- Beowulf’s Sword
• Higlac- King of Geats

 

Know the following Information

• Grendel compared to who (allusion?)
• Grendel's mother
• Dragon
• Why does Beowulf help Hrothgar?
• Kennings/ Examples
• Plot Line of the Story--basic geography 
• Epic Hero
• Alliteration
• Caesura

 

Students all have copies of this notes page. They are reading the final chapters of Beowulf and will have a final test on Chapters 27-43 on Friday before Thanksgiving Break.

The notes packet will be due at that time.

 

This copy is provided for the use of students who misplace the original copy at an inopportune time. We will review answers to the packet on Thursday before the test. Students can use the notes on the test.

 

These are the answers we reviewed in class today for the handout on chapters 19-31 of Beowulf:

RESPONDING Parts 19–31
Recall and Interpret
1. Key characters’ bloodlines are frequently mentioned, with
names of male ancestors frequently conferring honor on the
descendants. The lack of information about Grendel’s
father suggests that he may be illegitimate, which would
make him an outcast and deserving of his fate.

2. The mood is joyous because Beowulf has triumphed over
Grendel. The mood quickly changes to mournful and sad
when Grendel’s mother kills Esher.

3. Beowulf’s speech shows his loyalty to his men, expressing
his concern that they be well provided for. Bequeathing his
treasures to Higlac suggests his loyalty and closeness to
Higlac, his king and his uncle.

4. Beowulf is brave, noble, and generous; Hermod is blood-
thirsty, tyrannical, and selfish. The contrast sets off
Beowulf’s superior qualities and makes it clear that he is
an ideal warrior and leader.

5. Beowulf takes Hrunting into battle. Unferth gave him the
sword. Like Hrunting, Unferth is unreliable in battle.
Evaluate and Connect

6. Answers will var y. Some students might view the ancient
sword that Beowulf discovers as an example of deus ex
machina.Others may argue that divine inter vention is an
essential part of the poem and that instances of deus ex
machine are acceptable in a fantasy.
7. Revenge leads to a vicious cycle of killing in which violence
begets violence. Even in the world of Beowulfthere are
other, more effective ways to settle disagreements. Note
that Hrothgar was able to settle the feud between the
Geats, and Wulfings by offering gifts to the injured party.
Students may also mention other means of settling dis-
putes, such as arbitration

Use this link to listen to the reading of Beowulf aloud.

 

We will be taking the practice test on Thursday for chapters 1-18 (pages 1-55)

Please read this article. I would read it this weekend if I were you.

Over the course of three units of time, watch each segment of the History of Britain video and take notes on the attached form. 

This is the prompt for the essay we will write about the short story, "Sonny's Blues". We will work on this essay in class. It won't be due until next week, but the outline should be completed by Friday.

Use this link to take the summer reading survey. Thanks dudezzz and dudettezzz.

Use this outline we discussed in class to start the introduction to your essay.

 

Outline Forma for a Five-Paragraph Essay (or piece of writing)

 

____________________________________________

Title of Essay

 

1. Introduction

 

1. Background information (interesting facts, rhetorical questions, philosophical musing on the topic)

 

1. _________________________________

 

2. _________________________________

 

1. Thesis Statement: (Write the sentence in full. Include Topic, Controlling Idea, and 3 Aspects/1, 2, 3 Focal Points.)

 

In the short story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin     _

________________________________________________

________________________________________________.

 

1. ________________________________________

                             (Main idea/Claim # 1)

 

1. ___________________________________

                             (lead in to quotation #1)

 

1.    ________________________________

                   (Discussion of connection between quotation/evidence and claim)

 

1. ________________________________

                   (lead in to quotation #2)

 

2. ___________________________________

                                     (Discussion of connection between quotations/evidence #2, claim and/or evidence #1)

Read all four of these essay prompts. You will be writing about ONLY ONE OF THEM.

We will draft the outlines and do much of the work these essays require in class.

PLEASE READ THE PROMPTS

Do NOT start writing the essay. 

Use the attached link to print a copy of the Mira Costa High School Ethics Policy.

Cut the acknowledgment slip at the bottom of the page and bring it (signed by both you and your parent) to class on Tuesday.

Read the scholarly article which explains the Biblical Allusions in the short story "Sonny's Blues"

Read the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Book of Luke (link below)

 

Please review the following questions. Annotate the text of "Sonny's Blues" to allow access to textual evidence which addresses these questions. The use of that textual evidence will be expected during class in the Socratic Seminar on Friday

1.     What is meant by the word "blues" in the title?  What are Sonny's blues?

2.     What are the narrator's emotions when he reads the news about Sonny in the newspaper?  How would you describe the relationship between these two brothers?

3.     What is the narrator's occupation?  How is his occupation significant vis-à-vis Sonny's story?

4.     What event in the narrator's life acts as a catalyst to encourage him to contact Sonny in prison? 

5.     Why, according to the narrator, were Sonny and his father estranged from one another? 

6.     What does the narrator's mother believe to be his responsibility to Sonny? 

7.     What is the significance of the scene with the street singers?

8.     Give two different explanations for why Sonny leaves Isabel's family's home while the narrator is in the military. (One is Isabel's/narrator's perspective, the other is Sonny's).

9.     What might be some reasons for why the narrator buys Sonny a drink at the end of the story?

1.     Carefully observe the details of the story's opening, how the narrator learns of his brother's downfall, where he is at the time, the interaction with Sonny's friend, etc.  How do these scenes help set up the issues in the story?

2.     How do events in the past, presented as flashbacks or as the narrator's recollections, help to develop the plot and characterization in "Sonny's Blues"?  Consider the narrator's description of his and Sonny's childhood, their lives on the Harlem streets, the Sunday dinners at home, the death of their uncle, the narrator's last conversation with their mother, etc.

3.      Toward the end of the story, as he is trying to explain his addiction to heroin and his passion for music, Sonny tells the narrator that everyone tries to find a way not to suffer, even the narrator himself.  What are the narrator's ways of coping with his pain and fear?

4.     How would you describe the tone of the ending?  What sort of resolution (if any) does the story or the narrator come to?  Does the narrator express optimism?  Pessimism?  Something in between?

5.     Sonny's Blues is populated by images of darkness and light.  Trace a series of these images and discuss how the narrator uses them to create a particular atmosphere and to help tell his story.

6.     A works setting refers to both the time (historical and also time of day or year) and the place (geographical, as in New York, Harlem, Greenwich Village, and also local, as in setting certain scenes in subways, apartments, dark roads, etc.) in which the actions of the story occur.   How do Baldwin's choices about setting help you understand the theme or meaning of the story. 

7.     Look at the map of Harlem. On page 1696,  the narrator, while speaking with Sonny's childhood friend, says "You come all the way down here just to tell me about Sonny?"  But Sonny has been arrested downtown and the narrator is uptown when he speaks with the friend.  How do you explain this apparent error?

8.     On page 1697, the word "it" populates the conversation between the narrator and the friend.  What is the pronoun standing in for in these sentences?  Where else does the narrator begin to rely on the pronoun "it" to help him make sense of Sonny's story?  (p. 1713) Why do you think Baldwin felt that the word "it" was better than its specific referent in these cases? 

9.     Do Sonny and his brother change in this story?  If so, what do you identify as the catalyst for their changes and where do we see these changes?  If not, how can you tell that they remain stagnant?

10.  How do the minor characters in the story function to help develop the story, the characters of Sonny and his brother?  (Isabel, Sonny's childhood friend, their parents, their uncle, the jazz musicians at the Village club).

11.  Consider carefully the narrator's language in the climactic scene, when Sonny plays the piano.  What elements of style can you identify here, and what is their effect?  What is the nature of the epiphany the narrator experiences here, and how does it connect with episodes recounted earlier in the story -- e.g. the mother's story of the father and his brother?

12.  What statement does the story make about the relationship of art to life or about the relationship of art to suffering?

13.  Explore the implicit intersections between the effects of drug use, music and religion in Sonny's Blues. 

1.     Read the Cain and Abel story in the Bible and comment on the ways in which Sonny's Blues is a retelling, revision or modernization of this Biblical tale. 

2.     What is the "cup of trembling" referred to in the last line?  How does this Biblical allusion work to help the reader understand what will or has happened to Sonny, his brother, their family and their community?

3.     In what ways does the singer in Langston Hughes's "The Weary Blues" compare to Sonny?  Make a case for the claim that James Baldwin had read Hughes's poem before writing Sonny's Blues and meant his story to be some sort (you decide what sort) of a comment on or response to "The Weary Blues."

4.     Read the following poems:  "I, Too," "Dream Variations," "Mother to Son," "Harlem," and "Theme for English B," by Langston Hughes and "We  Real Cool," The Rites for Cousin Vit," and "kitchenette building," by Gwendolyn Brooks.  Select a few of the poems.  Then write an essay in which you explore the imagery and messages of the poems (the struggles of the protagonists, the landscape of Harlem, living despite poverty and racial discrimination, etc.) as they compare to the struggles of Sonny and his brother. 

5.     Listen to the songs "Am I Blue," "The Weary Blues," something by Louis Armstrong and something by Charlie Parker (links here?  Or can we have these on an accompanying CD?).  Then write an essay in which you explore these different sounds of jazz/blues music.  Which song(s) do you feel best express the theme of "Sonny's Blues," and why?
To see Audio and Video of Charlie Parker playing with Dizzy Gillespie, scroll to the bottom of the Audio/Video secton of "Eras in Black History."

Use these flashcards to study for the test Thursday on the book of Exodus

By Tuesday in class, read Chapters 15-40 of the Book of Exodus. You have the outline to help you understand what you are reading. The chapters on the laws and the chapters on the construction of the Ark of the Covenant can be skimmed, but be sure to have some idea what the contents of those chapters include. USE THE OUTLINE.

We will review this material in class Tuesday and prepare for the Exodus test which is scheduled for Thursday October 8

Read the article in the attached link:

Prepare to discuss the ideas in groups during class on Wednesday.

Use the following questions to guide in-class discussion of the movie The Prince of Egypt.

 

The writing prompt is included at the end. You will submit the letter to Turnitin.com by Wednesday at midnight. The letter should be 300-500 words and include the required elements of the formal business letter. (review this online resource for a reminder:https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/01/)

 

Questions for discussion 1

• What is a stereotype?
• How have minorities, women, the elderly, and people with disabilities been portrayed in the movies in the past? Give examples.
• How are they portrayed in present day movies? Give examples.
• Have movies changed in recent years? If so how? Why?
• How important do you think this issue is? Reassemble the class and conduct a whole class discussion on the answers to these questions.

 

Questions for discussion 5

• How do you think the Egyptian people were portrayed in the movie?
• Do you agree/disagree with the points in the article?
• Do you think that the producers could have done anything differently?
• Do you think that it is possible to create a movie no one will object to?
• How important do you think this issue is?

 

Writing Assignment follow

Pretend that The Prince of Egypt is still in the production stage. Write a letter to the producers stating your opinions about whether or not the movie should be released, or what changes could be made before it is released.

Genesis Test will be next Friday (Sept 25). 50 multiple choice questions on Chapters 1-50 There will also be 4 short answer and 1 essay question

These flashcards cover The Creation, The Garden of Eden, The First Murder, Noah and the Flood

 

Study cards for The Tower of Babel

These flashcards have the material you have been taking notes on from the presentations. Add details to your notes which you might want during the test from these cards.

For in class discussion on Friday, read the Borges short story, "The Library of Babel" attached to this post. 

Submit your first and last name to this link:  bit.ly/removemyreview (copy and paste the tiny URL)

before Thursday if you DO NOT want your name to appear on the published reviews on the library website

 

 

Use the attached documents to create presentations for your group

Complete the questions for the reading passage The Tower of Babel. Prepare to turn them in on Wednesday at the start of class

Questions 1-5 from part 1 of the Gilgamesh Epic due at the start of class