2012-2013+US+Lit

Quarter 4
23 April, Tuesday
 * In-class: We listened to a NPR newscast about //The Catcher in the Rye// entitled, "Holden Caufield: Giving Voice to Generations." Students answered questions about the newscast. We discussed what a theme is and completed an exercise about themes.
 * HW: Complete the theme worksheet by writing three theme statements and noting the evidence from the book (or the newscast) that proves the statement.
 * Here is an article (Room for Debate) from the New York Times about how teens today feel about Holden Caufield and //The Catcher in the Rye.//

Quarter 3
7 March, Thursday
 * In-class: Students worked with their group mates preparing for their presentations on their assigned Harlem Renaissance writer and poem.
 * Videos we watched from the Favorite Poem Project:
 * "Minstrel Man"media type="youtube" key="o18B-DPgr8M?rel=0" height="187" width="252"
 * "Merry-Go-Round"media type="youtube" key="1JsYkdW2UD4?rel=0" height="187" width="252"
 * "Yet Do I Marvel"media type="youtube" key="v0r2cBmrUiU?rel=0" height="186" width="252"
 * HW: Presentation on Harlem Renaissance poem and writer due on Monday. Your presentation should
 * give information about the writer's contribution to the Harlem Renaissance
 * offer an interpretation of the poem
 * offer an analysis of the poem
 * make use of a visual aid to present your information

16 January, Wednesday
 * In-class: We finished watching the video for "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." We discussed the Gothic elements portrayed in the short horror film. We started reading "A Rose for Emily" (pp. 393-400). As we read we discussed the characterization of Ms. Emily as well as the structure of the story.
 * HW: Typed response based on the literary concepts questions on p. 402.

14 January, Monday
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment". Students worked in groups to complete a worksheet on imagery in "The Masque of the Red Death" and a worksheet on allegorical meanings for "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." We watched "Twice Told Tales."
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Write a short essay based on one of the following writing prompts:
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Do you feel an individual responsibility toward the needy people of the world? If so, what does that sense of responsibility compel you to do? If not, why not?
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">As a young person, would you say that youthfulness is overrated in American culture? Give at least three reasons for your opinion.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Quarter 2
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">7 December, Friday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students presented their chosen topic to the class. We read and annotated "anyone lived in a pretty how town."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Please study the literary terms.
 * media type="custom" key="21700506"
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Please study the authors whose works we read this semester:
 * media type="custom" key="21700502"

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">27 November, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We finished reading "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" and then we watched the video "Escaping Affluenza."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read "Conclusion" (pp. 304-307) and write a response to either Rethink #2 OR #3 on p. 309 (make sure that you use textual evidence). Take the "Are You Escaping Affluenza?" Quiz.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">19 November, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We read and discussed Emerson's "Self-Reliance." We also discussed the questions on the hand out "Imitation is suicide."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Please complete the "Trust Thyself" worksheet on a Google Document that you share with me and your partner. Working with your partner/s, you must identify 4 people (at least one historical or literary figure) whom you believe to be an individualist. Using the tools of research in Google Docs, write about the people you have identified and explain how he or she is an individual, citing information from credible sources. Please include a picture for each one as well. You can find the research tool under "Tools."

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">15 November, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the homework assignment and examined Washington Irving's use of imagery in "The Devil and Tom Walker." We red the background information on Emerson.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read the excerpt from "Self-Reliance" (pp. 292-294) and answer question # 3 (rethink) on p. 295.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">13 November, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the quotes on p. 272 about views of life. We read "Psalm of Life" and discussed the meaning of each stanza. Students then wrote a response to the poem, choosing to write about the prompt provided in #3 and #6 of p. 274. When students were finished with their writing we discussed imagery and then started reading "The Devil and tom Walker."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Please finish reading "The Devil and Tom Walker" (pp. 278-285). Choose one of the images listed in the literary concepts box on p.289 and draw a brainstorming web or some other graphic depiction (cluster diagram, circle, pyramid, flow chart, etc.) of how that image supports characterization, mood, plot, or theme.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">7 November, Wednesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students responded to option #1 on p. 262. Read "Spirit of Individualism" and timeline.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read and complete reading strategy worksheet for "Psalm of Life."

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">5 November, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the use of violence in overcoming oppression. We read "Strides Toward Freedom" and "Necessary to Protect." Students outlined Martin Luther King, Jr's arguments against the use of violence to battle the oppression faced by African-Americans.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Complete the chart comparing MLK and Malcolm X. Complete the vocabulary exercise based on the reading.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">30 October, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We went over some of the issues that need to be fixed for The Crucible paper. See the powerpoint presentation that was shared with you on Google Drive.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">24 October, Wednesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students turned in Draft 2 for Teacher edits. We went over rhetorical devices writers use to persuade their audience. We read Patrick Henry's speech at the Virginia Convention and identified rhetorical devices he employed.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Finish reading Patrick Henry's speech and complete the chart for the rhetorical devices he employed.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">22 October, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students brought in their drafts of The Crucible paper. Students edited each other's papers. Every student received two edits on Draft 1. Students who finished early read "The Right to be Free" (pp. 202-204).
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Revise your draft.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">18 October, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We went over the irony worksheet. We discussed the topics for the paper on //The Crucible//.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Draft of //The Crucible// paper due on Monday, 10/22. The draft should be at least 500 words in length, typed, and printed in a hard copy. You will be editing each other's work on Monday.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">16 October, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students finished the movie version of //The Crucible//. After the movie, the students worked in groups to interpret proverbs as they applied to the play, //The Crucible//.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Finish the irony worksheet.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Quarter 1
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">4 October, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the end of Act 3 and students worked in groups to find examples of internal and external conflicts for John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Reverend Hale. Students presented their findings to the class.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Choose one of the three statements on the handout to defend. Look for specific evidence from the text to support your claim. List the evidence and the page numbers on the sheet you were given.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">2 October, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Vocabulary Quiz on Act 1 words. Students explained their quotes and placed them on the theme poster sheets on the bulletin board. We read Act 3 up to p. 91.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read the rest of Act 3---up to p. 111. Continue to look for evidence of the themes in you reading.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">26 September, Wednesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students wrote about the character they had to research using the spidergram. Students answered the following question about their assigned character: How do John Proctor's/ Elizabeth Proctor's /John Hale's actions and words reveal his/her personality? After the class was finished with the in-class write, we read Act 2, Scene 2 (the omitted scene--pp. 139-143).
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Vocab Quiz on Act 1 words on Tuesday, October 2. Answer any two of the questions for the extra scene (see list below). Your answers should be insightful and be supported by textual evidence.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">How has your opinion of Abigail changed because of this scene?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Why do you think Miller decided not to include this scene?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What do readers learn about Proctor in this scene?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What does the reader learn that will occur in Act III?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">24 September, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed questions students had about their reading of Act 2 through p. 67. We also read a handout about Arthur Miller and his reaction to the "witch-hunts" of the 1950s. We read an excerpt from a book about Senator Joseph McCarthy. Students read the rest of Act 2 out loud. We discussed the irony and characterization as we read.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Students must complete the spidergram for their assigned characters. Please include quotes to back up your claims about the personality, motivations, and actions of the characters.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">10 September, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class:We discussed the rhetorical devices used in Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Students also completed an exercise in which they tried to appeal to reason, rather than emotion, in rewriting sections of Edwards's sermon.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Write a persuasive essay about a topic or issue of your choice. you must use at least three of the rhetorical devices we discussed in class.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">6 September, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: Students completed an exercise on tone. Each student received a card that indicated a particular tone. Each student then said the same sentence, but using the tone they were assigned. We discussed how tone was expressed through voice, facial expressions, and gestures. We then discussed how writers express tone if the words are written on a page. We looked at the rhetorical devices writers must employ in order to create tone. Students were given a handout on tone and mood. Students began working on filling in the rhetorical devices chart with evidence from Jonathan Edwards's speech, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Complete the chart and make sure you write down the examples with the page numbers. We will discuss these in class.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">4 September, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed reasons for writing a summary as well as the elements that should be included in writing a summary. Students then used the primary sources they brought for homework to write a summary. The summary should have included some insights into the life of a Puritan.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (pp. 160-164) and complete strategic reading worksheet.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">30 August, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We worked on the lyric poetry web in class. We also talked about and tried to find examples of the different types of meter. Students worked in groups to create stories using their vocabulary words.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Define and write an original sentence for the two words you chose in class. Place the definition and the sentence on the Google Doc that has been shared with you. Bring to class an example (no more than two pages) of a primary source from the Puritans.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">28 August, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We read the timeline and the introductory essay, "Between Heaven and Hell: The Puritan Tradition." We also read the cultural connection for the Anne Bradstreet poems. Students read and analyzed the two poems in class.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Typed response to be turned in on Google Docs (title should be SY2013 AmLit Lastname Firstname - Bradstreet View of God)

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">22 August, Wednesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class:
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Finish writing description of the most horrible place.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">20 August, Monday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We read "Women and Children First" (pp. 96-97) . We discussed the differences in purpose, tone, style between "Of Plymouth Plantation" and "Women and Children First." Students then answered question #3 on p. 98--What conclusions can you draw about the Pilgrims' way of looking at the world? When they were finished we started reading "from The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano" (pp.101-105).
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Finish reading "from The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano" and typed response---How does Equiano's "first encounter" compare to/differ from Bradford's "first encounter"? Turn in your work on Google Docs by placing the work on your shared Google folder.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">16 August, Thursday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the internal and external conflicts in the story, "The Man to Send Rain Clouds." Students answered question #5---Who or what is in harmony with nature in the story? We read the introductory essay, "First Encounters." Students had time to begin reading "Of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Finish reading "Of Plymouth Plantation" (90-95) and complete the strategic reading sheet.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">14 August, Tuesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Students shared information (gleaned from the trickster tales) about the Okanogan culture. We discussed different rituals and traditions we see in practice today (personal connection p. 46). We read "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" and charted the rituals as well as discussed the role of conflict in expressing an idea.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Complete the chart for internal and external conflict and complete the vocabulary exercises.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">10 August, Friday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the chart explaining the Iroquois creation of the world. Students made connections between the explanations and the values and beliefs of the Iroquois. We also read the handout on tricksters. Students completed the quick-write assignment which asked them to write about a particularly compelling villain or trickster.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read the Coyote stories (pp. 38-43) and answer one of the writing prompts on the trickster handout.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">8 August, Wednesday
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In-class: We discussed the syllabus. We went over the Question Focus Rules. Students worked in groups on the Question Focus activity for "Writing in America." We also talked about the difference between open and closed ended questions. After discussing the questions the students generated, we discussed how these questions should be considered in a study of American Literature. In class we read the timeline and the introductory essay, "In Harmony with Nature." Students took notes on this essay.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">HW: Read "The World on the Turtle's Back" (pp. 23-28). Complete the chart on the explanations for the creation of the world.