Friday, November 28, 2008

We will go through the Shakespearean piece I gave you yesterday, discuss Shakespearean plays as a how (their value), and hopefully, get you interested in doing this!!! You have questions that are due on Monday.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Today we will go over the meaning of the Shakespearean piece I gave you yesterday. We will also do and go over the questions.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Today we will review iambic pentameter (students were to be prepared to explain it for today). We will then look at a piece of Shakespearean writing and analyze it (in pairs or singularly). There will be questions once the initial work is completed (we will do class analysis and questions tomorrow).

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Students will turn in their novels Night. They will then do their novel study. I will hand out their novel study major assignment which we will review. I will also hand out the Play "Hamlet" once their novel has been returned. Students are expected to be prepared to answer the question :"What is iambic pentameter" for tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Students will be writing an in-class critical/analytical essay. They will also make an appointment with me to discuss this essay.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Today, we will look at writing a critical literary essay. You will have one to do in-class tomorrow in which you can refer to either The Pianist, or Night.
Today, you will be given an overview of what is expected in a critical analytical essay. You will also be given a marking rubrics so you will know what they are marking you on. I will then hand out a list of previously used themes for English 30. You are to examine them in pairs and decide if either of these choices above could be used to address these themes. We will then look at a question for one of them, brainstorm it on the board, pulling out key words, and then examine an exemplar to address how it was approached well.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The students finished watching "The Pianist" Today. They handed in their notes and their rubric.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Students started watching "The Pianist" Today. We discussed the events (it is based on a true story... look it up on-line to find out more). They are taking brief notes about it and will do a critique at the end.

Tuesday, November 19, 2008

Today we will go back to finishing off our notes on the novel "Night" as well as discuss why some people follow orders.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Today, you will watch the video (VHS) Sobibor.
It is about a death camp during WWII. The thing that makes this video so relevant to what you are doing are doing is that it shows how good the Nazi regime was at covering its tracks.
You are to take BRIEF notes while watching and then fill in a movie critique sheet at the end and hand in with your notes. If there is time left over, you are to read your novel.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Yesterday, we ended up viewing more presentations on Genocide. Today, we have one left. After this, we will go into the notes you will need on the novel "Night". These will include major themes, characters, summary, climax, and developing an understanding of foreshadowing and opportunity. Today, we got through the summary and the overall theme (man's inhumanity against his fellow man) and I told you about the three sub themes (Night, Faith, Power of Evil). We then examined the theme of Night to see how it is present. Your homework is to look at the themes of Faith and Power of evil and find evidence from the text that supports these as themes. This can be in point or paragraph form. It is due tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Today, we will finish the presentations on genocide. From here, we will discuss the novel "Night", focussing on the themes present. You will also create a visual on this novel to help you retain it and use it for study purposes. It is also a tool you will be able to bring into an in-class essay.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Students showed their presentations on Genocide. These were not completed so they will be done on Wednesday.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Today, you will finish your research on Genocide (a case study).
This should only take about half the class. We will share them tomorrow.
I then want you to read the novel Night.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The students were given an act of genocide to research. They had to come up with the information using at least three sources (cited). These were to be written on paper (not on the computer as I want to get them away from cut and paste). They were then to locate visuals (at least 20) to show on the projector. At least three sources were to be used for visuals and all of them were to be cited (address under each one). This is due on Friday.
I also handed out the novel Night. They are to read it by Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Today, we finished watching The biography of Elie Wiesel. Students handed in their visual questions and their critique rubric of the documentary.
From here, we discussed what it means to discriminate (both the positive and negative definitions from the dictionary).
From this discussion, students were reminded that, when writing, it is important to make sure they define the key concepts or words in the question so that the reader isn't using their own interpretation but must use theirs.
We then went on to discuss the meaning of "Genocide" (see below)
Genocide' coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1944
Greek word 'genos' (race)
Latin word 'cide' (killing).
United Nations in 1948 : any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including:
(a) killing members of the group
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
(e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
While I provided some examples, they were extremely general and need to be developed and "proven". The main message was that they need to understand that genocide (by definition) does occur everywhere and can occur at any time if people are not on guard for it.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Today, we are starting our novel unit, which is "Night". I will introduce you to the concept of Genocide, how it works in a society, and how Weisel and his family fit into this time period. You will also watch the video "Elie Wiesal, first person singular (VC 940.53 37777000000629) and answer questions. You will also fill in a critique.