English 11 Noodleblog

Youtube study aids…

• Hood Version
• 60 Second Recaps

This OMG series is really good (watch in order):

1. OMG Catcher in the Rye 
2. OMG Catcher Pt. 1 (Chapters 1-15)
3. OMG Catcher Pt. 2 (Chapter 16 -End)

This one might make sense if you’ve seen Igby Goes Down

• Interpretation of Catcher using the movie Igby Goes Down

…always put your pants on first.

Continuing the reflective analytical journal on our short readings, finish the story that Mark Twain describes within A Story Without an End.

Try to follow the prerequisites that Twain outlines for a good ending on page. It begins, “Of course none but a happy ending of the story would be accepted…” (350). The end of story must also include:

• Mr. Brown keeping the respect of the women,
• Mr. Brown maintains his normally good behavior,
• Mr. Brown not being embarrassed,
• The Old People being rescued,
• The other characters must be happy with Mr. Brown

Think about the different characters and what you know about them. Given what you know, how will they react to the events that you plan for them in your end to the story? Their actions should follow logically from what we know about the character and what they have done or said earlier in the story.

Remember the plot structure reviewed in class. The story stops at the climax. What happens next? How will these events properly resolve themselves? This is a puzzle you can solve and one that will have more than one correct answer. You may find that this takes more than half a page. That is all right. Seek the best possible resolution for the story.

This is 1/4th of your reflective analysis writing assignment on our short readings.

You will have time to work on this in class tomorrow, and the  four writings will all be due together on Friday.

Continuing the reflective analytical journal on our short readings, write a half page or more on A Story of an Hour on the same paper you wrote your paragraphs for Superman & Me and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. This is a very rich story. In fact if you take AP Lit next year, you’ll read this story and do a much fuller analysis than we are attempting in this context.

For this assignment, identify the character of Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the news of her husband’s death, and then illustrate how that characterization is communicated in the text. Look to metaphor and other imagery to help you in this. The Reading Fiction handout I gave you may prove helpful as you seek to understand and interpret the story.

Additional requirement: In your write-up, you need to have at least one complex sentence that begins with a subordinate clause (see the rules for such clauses in your DGP packet). This sentence must to be clearly marked so I know that you know which sentence fulfills the requirements.

Taking things further: Of course in terms of plot, there is some really interesting irony that is tempting to discuss. If you would like to further your understanding of the work and further improve your reading and writing skills, write about what that irony is and how it is developed.

This entry is worth 1/4^th of your reflective analysis writing assignment on our short readings.

Write a reflective analysis of a theme from The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Among the themes you could write about are some of the statements we discussed in class:

1. Morality is relative.
2. Good cannot exist without evil.
3. The most important thing in life is our own comfort and happiness.
4. Without the bad, we don’t really appreciate the good in life.
5. It is worth the happiness of many if only one must endure misery.
6. Idealism must yield to pragmatism in the end.

Write about half a page on the same sheet you did your write-up for Superman & Me.

Poor Fortunato!

As we discussed in class today, we will be doing something a bit different with A Cask of Amontillado. Your task tonight is to think through the story and find a character, scene, or theme that you would like to draw. The assignment sheet for this is here: Picturing the Text.

Remember, this isn’t going to be graded on how pretty it is, but how well it conveys your understanding/interpretation of the story.

For some of you, this assignment is right in your wheelhouse, while for others of you it is a dreaded albatross about your neck. Do not think of it as an art project per se. It is simply an alternate means of expressing your understanding of a text.

Bring your questions on this to class tomorrow and hopefully we can clear everything up before the long weekend.

Make sure you explain your point so there is no misunderstanding.

As you work on the Crucible paper (hopefully you got a decent start today), remember to keep a good balance between evidence (concrete details) and analysis (commentary).

The purpose of that balance is to do the following:

• The topic sentence sets the tone and direction of the paragraph
• The evidence supports the claim made in the topic sentence
• The analysis explains how the evidence supports the claim in the topic sentence

If you can accomplish the above relationship between claim, evidence, and analysis, then you will be on your way to writing a strong essay.

By Friday, you need to turn in a thesis and I will check off your evidence. Remember that a thesis, at its most basic, is the following:

Subject + Opinion (Pizza is good.)

An example of the type or level of thesis you need to write follows from the 1st option for the paper we discussed in class today:

The villainy of Abigail in The Crucible resides in her temptation and willingness to lie to get what she wants.

That thesis speaks to the source of her villainy. It could also focus on the effect or character of the villainy.

Due on Friday is your thesis and the evidence you gathered for your question thus far.

If you haven’t chosen a question to write on, do so tonight. All of you take your question and brainstorm as much as you can from the text that has to do with your question. That includes quotes and facts from the play.  Look for patterns and ways that you might be able to use this data, but at this point, primarily just brainstorm as much as you can.

If you lost the assignment sheet, it is linked in the previous post.

Act 3 questions: Friday October, 30

DGP Test: Friday October 30

Act 4 Questions: Monday November 2

Prompt choice for the Crucible paper: Monday November 2

Remember that the discussion questions for act one and the character sheets are due Friday.

Also we have a quiz on vocabulary week 6.