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

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Please review before Tuesday

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

 

I Ponder the Mysteries of the Universe

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

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

 

 

 

 

Prologue

Miller's Tale

Nun's Priest's Tale

Wife of Bath

Knight's Tale

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.

 

 

 

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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)

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. 

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

 

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."

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

 

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.

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

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

 

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