Winter break review

Welcome to the final month of IB junior English.

Please take some time before Tuesday and complete the following three items.

One:  review your notes concerning Ibsen's life and social etiquette of the time.  We will be writing the in class cultural reflection at the start of class.  Remember this is just a draft in case you write about Ibsen.

Two: Write a pastiche for Journal 1 of Lorca.  The Friday before break, you worked on a pastiche of either Ibsen or Anouilh connected to winter.  For Tuesday, I would like you to write a short pastiche for each author and then write a paragraph discussing what you learned about the differences in the author's styles.  We'll share and discuss the pastiches at the end of class on Tuesday and use them as a reference for examining Lorca's style and discussing the symbolism movement.

Three:  Make certain that the following items are submitted to turnitin.com:  Anouilh essay, Anouilh journals, and Ibsen journals.


Example:  Lorca Journal 1: Pastiches

Anouilh:

Well, today there was a scene.  Not a scene for the weak and vulnerable, but a scene for the frozen and the numb.   I did not say brumal, cool, nippy.  I said numb.  For how else can you be when your name is Frosty.

 
Ibsen:
Renter:  So tell me, how did you come to have all of these antiques?
Girl: Oh a man lived her once, and he packed away items in the attic.  People called him "old man winter" - which is really strange, because he wasn't that old at all.
Renter:  Really?
Girl: Really.  But one day he never came back, and he just left everything up there.
Renter:  Hmn - tell me -when you look at all of his things, don't you want to travel the world?  Get outside and have adventures of your own?
Girl: No, never!  I'm going to remain right at home forever, helping Daddy and Mother.

Reflection:

I enjoyed working with Anouilh because of the short sentences and crisp word choice that were easy to manipulate into a new subject.  The sardonic tone coupled well with Anouilh's contrasts such as silence versus screaming.  However, Ibsen was far more difficult.  But I found myself paying careful attention to the changes I wanted to make and how that would affect the characterization that Ibsen created.  For example I wanted to use Mommy and Daddy for the girl, but Hedvig uses Mother instead, which I thought was clever.  Mother seems to represent the level of respect Hedvig has for Gina and her role in the family where as Daddy has a childish tone that doesn't suggest an awareness of Hjalmar's role as the provider.  Also,  in the original passage Hedvig references "the flying Dutchman," an allusion to a ship that could never reach shore, and clearly demonstrates her ignorance by stating that the captain wasn't Dutch...

The Wild Duck Journal 5

Read Act 5

Journal: Examine whether or not  the play is a Tragedy.  Use your notes from the Tragedy article to clarify your understanding of what makes a play a tragedy.

You might wish to consider the following questions:
Who is the tragic hero?  What is the hero's tragic flaw?  How does the author create catharsis?  Is there a way for the tragic hero to escape the events that are about to take place?  Do any of the characters face an internal struggle?

The Wild Duck Journal 4

Read Act 4

Consider which characters are at fault for the events that are unfolding and why?  Is there a character without blame?  Why or why not?  Is there a character who should carry more of the blame?  Do any of the characters take responsibility? 

The Wild Duck Journal 3

Read Act 3

Choose five quotations of interest to you.  Discuss each quotations significance.

The Wild Duck Journal 2

Read Act 2 of  The Wild Duck

Examine how characters perceive themselves or others.  Who has false conceptions of him/herself?  Who has misconceptions of others?  Who recognizes the facades created by other characters?  Does the character embrace the facade, ignore it, or confront it?

You may choose to discuss any character(s) that interest in you Act 2.

The Wild Duck Journal 1

Read Act 1

Characters constantly face boundaries in literature.  These boundaries can take many shapes: internal or external, physical or emotional, real or imagined... Consider what types of  boundaries Ibsen creates in Act 1.  Who faces what type of boundary, how (stylistic aspect) does the author establish the boundary,  and how do the characters respond to the boundary? 

We'll chat about the journal on Monday during discussion. 


Please remember that your Antigone journals are due on Tuesday to turnitin.com.  Have a great weekend and good luck on the projects, essays and commentaries.

Antigone Journal 4

Journal 4 reading: Finish the play

Choose 10 lines or less that you think best embody the play.  Create a commentary that links the author's techniques to why you chose them.  Come prepared to examine your choice during discussion on Friday.

Antigone Journal 3

Journal 3 read pages 20-44

Journal:  Anouilh bombards his audience with conflicting ideas, phrases, images... choose a set of concepts: yes vs no, ugly vs pretty, truth vs lies, illusions vs reality, dull vs color, short sentences vs long sentences... discuss how and why Anouilh creates the tension between the contrasting ideas.

Just a little helpful information:
We'll have a discussion tomorrow.  Here are some questions you might want to consider:
What role does the chorus play?  How does Anouilh discuss Tragedy?  Is Antigone rational?  Creon discusses the "pride of Oedipus" who displays hubris how and why?  Who wants to life and who wants death - how and why?  Who is taking a "easy way out"?

Bonus:  Cultural significance of the following passages
"We are of the tribe that asks questions, and we ask them to the bitter end.  Until no tiniest chance of hope remains to be strangled by our hands.  we are of the tribe that hates your filthy hope, your docile, female hope, hope, your whore -" (43)

"Kings, my girl, have other things to do than to surrender themselves to their private feelings" (31).

Antigone Journal 2

Journal 2 reading pages 6-20

Journal entry: In order for you to consider character's motivations, I would like you to consider the how Anouilh structures the play.  To accomplish this, outline the events in the 48 hours prior to Nurse catching Antigone sneaking in the house.

Also, tab quotations, patterns or anomalies that catch your attention. 

Antigone Journal 1

Journal 1 reading:  Opening choral ode

Assignment:  Consider how you would stage the opening scene.  What would your set look like?  How would you position actors/actresses?  Would your chorus be one or many?  Are there any actors you would like to play your characters?  What type of costumes would the characters wear?  What sort of props do you need?

Turnitin.com

Happy four day weekend!

Before you take a much deserved relaxing weekend.  Please double check to see that all of your assignments are in to turnitin.com.  I'm getting close to being done with the grading, at which point I'll check turnitin.  If your assignment isn't in to turnitin, I'll use a 0 for a place holder. 

Townzen

Dystopian Journal 3

Final Dystopian Journal Due Friday

Discuss one of the five dystopian museum exhibition areas.

1.  The author’s warning
2.  The corruption of morals or values
3.  The structure of the society
4.  Cultural Connection
5.  Stylistic devices

Dystopian Journal 2

English teachers love to use the term "significance".  What is the significance of the passage, character book... but rarely do we explain how to address a question that asks you to find "significance".

Your assignment:  Identify a significant passage from your novel and explain why it is significant.

How can a passage be significant?  Look for some of the following:
Characters: key characterization, moments of conflict, or moments which resolve conflicts
Setting:  Description of setting
Style: Motifs, symbols, structure, contrasts or oppositions...
Themes

What to do: Choose a passage that is no longer than a page.  In the opening paragraph, describe your passage and identify the page(s) in which it can be found.  After the paragraph describing your paragraph, identify why the passage is significant to the novel.  For each significant point, state significant follow with a colon, identify the specific aspect (characterization, setting, technique...), follow with a short explanation.


Due: Wednesday

Dystopian Journal 1

Dystopian journals should be between 200-300 words (about a typed page).  They should have quotations and analysis, but need not be as formal as your essays. 

For the first journal, I want you to examine the subtleties of the author's style via a commentary.

Read the first page or chapter of your dystopian novel.  Choose a short passage (a paragraph or part of one) and write a commentary on the paragraph.  Treat this commentary as you would an on-demand piece.  Starting at the top and working your way through to the last sentence.  Don't forget to focus on the techniques present in the passage.

The Stranger Journal 6

 Reading:  Finish the novel by Tuesday

Journal:  Create a Stranger "found" poem

Here is what you do:

As you read the chapter, pull between 10-20 interesting words, lines, images, phrases, etc.  Choose your top favorites and arrange them in a poetic way to suggest something about a character or a theme.  As you arrange the lines, you may repeat some, you need not place the lines in chronological order, and you may remove insignificant words that don't alter the meaning.  You cannot add words, and you cannot change the context.  The number of lines, structure and purpose is up to you. 

 Have fun with it. 

The Stranger Journal 5

Reading Chapter 3 and 4

Journal:  Examine the stylistic changes between part I and II.  Consider changes in the sentence structure, word choice, and images.  What do these changes suggest about Meursault -be specific. And/ or consider how minor characters change.  What type of characters appear in part II that didn't appear in part I?  Why?  Why and for what period of time do some characters appear in Part II? And/or the change in the setting.  How does Meursault describe the setting?  How does it impact him?  How have the motifs surrounding the setting changed?

Stranger Posters and Tonight's Reading

Reading: NONE

Group project answers to your Questions: 

Yes, it is due tomorrow.  You will have a little bit of time to work on it in class.  Yes, you can read your analysis.  Yes, you should color-code the analysis as we previously practiced with Eyes.

It sounds like coming up with a thesis was difficult for most of the groups, which is good because it means that you're considering all of the aspects of Camus' argument.

For tonight, those of you in tomorrow's discussion please prepare your notes.  Everyone else, should be continuing to clarify your ideas on the group project.

We'll chat tomorrow.

Townzen 

The Stranger Journal 4

Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Part II

Journal: 

Take tonight's journal to contemplate and write about the topic your group chose for tomorrow's activity.  Ideally you would start gathering information from tonight's reading and then consider how the topic links to other points in the book.  No matter where you start or finish, pull quotations that seem to apply to your topic and discuss how the quotation might apply in your writing.  Try to pull quotations that offer different views on your subject. 

Good luck.

Stranger Journal 3

Read Chapter 4-6

Journal:  The title of the novel in French is L'Étranger.  As you know, translations can be tricky.  Words carry a variety of meanings, both connotative and denotative, that the translator must choose between to best portray the author's text.  With this being said, there are three different titles for the novel: The Stranger, The Outsider, and The Foreigner.  Each carries a slightly different meaning and focus.  After considering the connotations of the the title, write a journal that examines how the title connects to the text. 

Also, keep working on the cultural connections and the motifs.  Feel free to change motifs or stop following a motif if it no longer interests you.

Stranger Journal 2

Reading Chapter 3

Journal:  Choose two to three minor characters and examine their importance in the novel.  How do they affect Meursault, what theme(s) do they support, how do they function in the novel.

Also, please continue to track interesting patterns in the novel and the cultural connections.

Stranger Cultural Journal and Journal 1

The Stranger

Cultural Journal:
After each chapter take a moment to consider how the cultural topics can connect to the novel.  Pull quotations that are interesting and seem to discuss the topics.  Take a couple of minutes to write about how Camus addresses the topics and what he seems to suggest.  This journal is to help prepare you for the graded class discussions which start Thursday. 


Journal 1:

Read Chapters 1 and 2

Keep track of what Meursault does and how you respond to his actions.  Choose a couple of lines that develop an aspect of his character to which you respond strongly and discuss them in your journal.  Then consider why Camus would create such a protagonist.

Choose a word, phrase, or idea that recurs in the chapters. Tab your idea and then choose two to three strong examples to analyze in your journal.  The only rule is that you are not allowed to discuss the sun or heat - too obvious.   Keep your mind open to interesting connections and patterns.


Advice:

Your next paper will ask you to examine the novel in its entirety.  In preparation for the essay, I would start tabbing lines that peak your interest, seem to connect to a theme, or make you ask a question.  Tabbing now will make developing your topic and ideas later an easier process.

Final Eyes Journal

Great job working on commentary skills during the unit.  I can see that you are starting to find more techniques and to question the author's choices.  The next step is to sift through your findings and draw connections that you can organize into paragraphs.  We'll tackle organization over the next week.

Tonight's journal should help us practice developing the purpose and, potentially, our topic sentences.

Read chapters 19 and 20 

Make a list of all of the themes you can find.  These should be one or two word entries.  A good way to look for themes, is to examine the conflicts and how they are resolved or not, and/or the motifs present in the text. 

Example: 
The conflict: Logan struggles with Janie's unresponsive nature
The resolution:  Logan demands Janie works with him which pushes her further away.

Theme: Passion

Motif: Pear Tree

Theme:  Passion

After creating your list, choose three of the themes and write a theme statement for each one.  The theme statement should be a sentence or two explaining what Hurston suggests about the theme.


When you are finished, consider pasting the journals into turnitin.com.  They are officially due on Friday, but you may turn them in at any time. 

Good luck, 
Townzen

Eyes Journal 6

Read Chapter 18  
You will receive a passage from chapter 18 in class tomorrow for commentary practice.

Journal: 
Develop a simple outline: topic sentences and a purpose statement for the passage from journal 5.  Also comment on the journals of three different students.  Cut and paste those comments below the outline.  They should appear on one post.

Eyes Journal 5

Read Chapters 11-17

Journal:  Prepare the following passage for writing a commentary.  Do not write the paper, but take notes as if you were going to write the paper.  Please print out a copy of your blog and bring it to class on Monday.  We will discuss the passage and discuss organization for the essay on Monday.  

Commentary steps to follow:

1.  Read the passage through once with pencil in hand.  As you read write questions in the margin about words or ideas that catch your attention.
2.  Before the second reading, clarify any unknown words and make certain you understand what is happening in the piece.  Then identify the point of view, characters involved and the subject of the passage.
3. On the second reading mark the passage.  Look for patterns in the text: if an image, word(s) or idea repeat.  What feeling does the passage evoke?  What words help create the feeling will establish the mood and tone.  If you don't know where to start, use your knowledge of Hurston's style to get you started.
4. Read again to develop your analysis.  How does Hurston use the image or language?  How does the image or language connect to other parts of the passage? 
5. Identify a purpose for the passage

Advice:  You must cover the entire piece.  Use the commentary graph to make certain you cover all areas available for analysis.



Passage:

They put her to bed and sent for her married daughter from up around Ocala to come see about her.  The daughter came as soon as she could and took Annie Tyler away to die in peace.  She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her.
      The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long.  Anyhow, she wasn't going back to Eatonville to be laughed at and pitied.  She had ten dollars in her pocket and twelve hundred in the bank.  But oh God, don't let Tea Cake be off somewhere hurt and Ah not know nothing about it.  And God, please suh, don't let him love nobody else but me.  Maybe Ah'm is uf fool, Lawd, lad dey say, but Lawd, Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin', Jesus.  Ah done waited uh long time.
      Janie dozed off to sleep but she woke up in time to see the sun sending up spies ahead of him to mark out the road through the dark.  He peeped up over the door sill of the world and made a little foolishness with red.  But pretty soon, he laid all that aside and went about his business dressed all in white.  But it was always going to be dark to Janie if Tea Cake didn't soon come back.  She got out of the bed but a chair couldn't hold her.  she dwindled down on the floor her head in a rocking chair.

(Hurston, 119-120)

Station break

Study Study Study

Literary term vocabulary test tomorrow. 

You can start on your reading chapters 11-17, but you will not have a journal entry until Monday.

Eyes Journal 4

Read Chapters 7-10

Your journal for tonight is to write a pastiche of Hurston's style.  Using the paragraph on page 84 that starts with, "So Janie began to think of Death [...]," please write a pastiche of the paragraph that shows your understanding of the techniques present.  For example, you will change the character from Janie to someone else and you will choose an abstract noun to personify.  Halfway through the paragraph the narration switches from first person to third person - you should do this too.

Example:

So Lydia started to consider Jealousy.  Jealous, that small creature with the sharpened nails who danced in the shadows of each man's heart.  The deceptive one who spied on your dark thoughts like an opera attender without monocles, and without a seat.  Why would jealousy want to sit, and what secret thought wouldn't reach her...