March 30

AGENDA:

1) Work on your essays

HW: Type your essays - no names on them for Monday; bring in printed version - I can not print out these essays in class so bring them with you.

March 29

AGENDA:

1) Work on your essays

March 28

AGENDA:

1) There are many lenses through which to read a literary work. Once you generate a central idea (what becomes a thesis) about a work (what you believe to be true), you set about forming an argument. A substantive argument might use external evidence, "A Letter from a Nineteeth Century Husband," "Girl," internal evidence or both. Regardless of the approach, it is essential that you be thoroughly familiar with the text before examining it under a particular lens.

Things to consider:
        Is "A Doll's House" a window or a mirror? Consider your answer.
        What is it's relevancy today?

2) The back cover of the Signet Classic edition says this about A Doll's House: "...brilliantly exemplifies Ibsen's landmark contributions to the theater: his probing of social problems, realistic dialogue, and depiction of his characters' inner lives as well as their actions. Rich in symbolism...deals convincingly and provocatively with the universal human emotions of greed, fear..., and confronts the eternal conflict between reality and illusion."

Defend these statements using examples from the text. Avoid plot summary.



       

March 27

AGENDA:

1) Socratic Seminar

HW:  Nora and her husband Torvald have both contributed to the fact that their home is a Doll House. Each also has a chance to make it something less, to make their marriage more a shared experience. Track the changes each experiences in their character development.

Nora/Torvald:
How does this character behave toward the other in the beginning of the play?
In what ways does this character contribute to the Doll House?
What is this character's opportunity for positive change?
How does this character change positively or how does this character fail to change?

Period 4 only:
What does Mrs. Linde (Christine) mean when she talks about "how would it be if we two shipwrecked people could join forces"? Explain thoroughly.

March 26

AGENDA:

1) ACT 3 discussion

March 23

AGENDA:

1) Vocabulary quiz - give a piece of advice to someone in the play using 10 of your vocabulary words
2) Read "A Nineteeth-Century Husband's Letter to his Wife"
    a - What is the tone of Marcus' letter to his wife? What differences and similarities do you find between Marcus and Torvald Helmer?
    b.- Write a response (a letter) to this letter from what you imagine the wife's point of view to be. How difficult would life have been for a woman abandoning her husband and family?
3) If you finish early, begin reading Act 3


HW: Read Act 3

March 22

AGENDA:

1) In class worksheet on character's
2) Writing assignment on roles

HW: Vocabulary quiz tomorrow

March 21

AGENDA:

1) Share music (optional) and comparisons for class discussion
2) Check off Act 1 questions
3) Act 2 questions in groups

March 20

AGENDA:

1) Turn in vocabulary worksheets
2) Journal Write:  How do we create gender stereotypes?
3) Scene from Act 2 - tone


HW: Complete reading Act 2

Extra Credit for tonight: Bring in a piece of music that closely matches Act 2 and explain how the music reflects the literary component of the play.

March 19

AGENDA:

1) Hand out vocabulary worksheets 
2) Journal your thoughts on "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid (TPCAASSTT?)


HW: Begin reading Act 2...

March 16

AGENDA:

1) Non fiction Literature Analysis Due
2) Short quiz on ACT 1
3) EPIC Speaker from Cal Poly
4) Discussion questions in groups


HW: Read "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid; be ready to discuss on Monday


Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

March 15

AGENDA:

1) Dramatic Genre - "A well made play"
2) Realism + 19c literature
3) Act 1 from movie

HW: Review Act 1 - quiz tomorrow

March 13/14

AGENDA:

1) Journal Write:

What made you laugh and why? What was used?

What is the tone of Act 1? How do you know?

2) The Suffragettes
3) Marriage and Family Roles - discussion

HW: Non fiction literature analysis due Friday

March 12

AGENDA:


1) Reader's Theater - A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
2) Discussion


HW: Read ACT 1 completely; be ready to answer the following quesitons:

Initial Impressions of: Nora, Helmer, Mrs. Linde, Dr. Rank, Krogstad.

What do you think the external conflict will be?

What are the potential internal conflicts?

Examine the staging directions at the beginning of the Act. What significance do you think these stage directions have on the play’s conflict and/or themes?

March 9

AGENDA:

1) Turn in Satire/Parody homework
2) Vocabulary quiz
3) The Simpsons


HW: Non fiction literary analysis due March 16

March 8

AGENDA:


1) Turn in letter (both)
2) Introduction to satire / ppt



HW: Satire assignment due tomorrow; Vocabulary quiz tomorrow;
Non fiction literary analysis due in one week - March 16

I am trying to attach the PPT from today but it is having problems - I will keep trying. In the meantime - here is the assignment for tonight:

Find a magazine advertisement or company logo/slogan.

Create a parody, satire, or both using inspiration from the advertisement or logo/slogan.

You can either create an entirely new image or manipulate the existing image with new words and graphics.

Write a one paragraph explanation of your parody/satire to show that you know why it is one or the other (or both).  On the back of your advertisement, you will include your one paragraph explanation.  Remember to use proper grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.  You will attach a flap with tape.  Under the flap you will have the “answer” to your advertisement. This is where you will indicate if your advertisement is a satire, parody, or both.

 

You could parody almost any company logo.

Think about controversial topics or problems we have in our world today.  You can satirize one of these issues and parody a logo/slogan at the same time.

If you are strictly creating a satire, you do not need to directly reference a company or brand. Your work must be school appropriate! 

Satire - for real_

March 7

AGENDA:

1) Choose the art form (music, photo essays, speeches, painting, etc.) that you believe is most persuasive, and write an essay on what elements of the text most moved you. Be sure to address the essential question, "How does one construct a persuasive argument?"


HW: Take the letter you wrote earlier in the week and take another look at it. Keeping the first draft, make any changes that you think might make it a more persuasive, moving letter. Attached the new letter to the front of the old and turn both in. Due tomorrow at the beginning of class.

March 6

AGENDA:

1) Vocabulary worksheets (15 points)
2) Music / Art / Photography
2) Discuss artistic messages, compare persuasive text


There is NO homework tonight. I changed my mind. I am sure I haven't disappointed any of you. Prepare for your non-fiction literary analysis.

March 5

AGENDA:

1) MLK "Letter" quiz
2) Justice and Moral scenario / discuss
3) Homework Writing a Letter - begin in class - due tomorrow at beginning of class.
4) Handout vocabulary worksheet - due tomorrow

HW: Like King, you are making an appeal - your task must be centered on either making the person understand and respect your perspective (argument) or change his/her mind entirely on it (persuasion). Thus, you need to pick a person who does not openly accept or "see" your views at the present moment.

Quite obviously, you'll need to rely on those old standbys ethos/pathos/logos to make your argument. You are not required to use all three; it fact, it may not - depending on the situation - be in your best interests to do so. Consider these rhetorical situations:

You don't agree with an elected official (Obama, Romney, Palin, Capps, Gov. Brown) and write to him/her about your views

You write to a boyfriend/girlfriend who does not trust/respect/listen to you

Would logos be an effective method for dealing with the person you're dating? Would relying on pathos persuade a politician from the opposing party? Concentrate on one.

You will need to use ethos, however. Think about it: you're trying to legitimize your perspective.

What else might you use? Structurally there are many ways to convey a message. Think about what we have discussed.

March 1

AGENDA:

1) Read more of MLK's "Letter"
2) anaphora; antithesis
3) Define "civil disobedience"
4) The "Rhetorical Analysis" Question handout

HW: Figure out tonight what you'll write on; return to the text and examine it closely for what you will analyze. Find and list as much as you can from your selected paragraph. Underneath this list, try to articulate in a paragraph how your selections "work" - that is, explain how the message of the sentence, paragraph and/or essay is made clearer or more powerful by the techniques the author uses. 

Metaphor/simile                 Parallel structure                     Semicolons           Anaphora

Allusion                                Diction/loaded language          Syntax                  Antithesis

Use of opposition                Imagery

Complete reading of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" 

What makes a persuasive argument? How does one construct a persuasive argument? Be prepared to answer this on Monday. 

Avoid all the following! Mrs. Byrne has no idea what these mean:

"It adds depth"
"It flows better"
"It expresses the meaning"
"It makes it more effective"


The Rhetorical Analysis Question