Friday, September 7, 2012

Shakespeare:

Today:  Journal Prompt #3:  Describe the rise and eventual fall of a person/company/event/a song.  Why do we enjoy watching the fall?  Why do we slow down and watch an accident?  1 page.

This led us to our intro on Shakespeare and his version of a tragedy.  We defined a Shakespearean Tragedy.  These are important reference notes.  Please make sure that you understand it fully.  We will be referencing it often during our look at the tragedies.

I broke you into 4 groups and asked you to model the final moment of suspense.  I will try and post some of these on the blog.

Brit Lit:

Today:

Journal Prompt #3:  Please describe a moment where you helped someone without looking for any recognition.  A random act of kindness moment.  1 page.

We went over the Hero's Quest, and used examples from many popular movies: Jaws, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc...

I broke you into small groups and asked you to brainstorm on how a specific movie follows this formula.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

World of Shakespeare:

We began class with:
Journal Prompt #2:  Please describe your experience with Shakespeare.  1/2 page.

We went down to the auditorium and did a series of acting games.  It was great to see you all laughing and smiling in school.

HW:  Please look over your reading from last night.  Please be ready for a short quiz on your reading.

Brit Lit:

Today:

We started with journal prompt #2:  If you could choose three super powers, what would they be and how would you use them?    1 page.

We defined the classical hero.  We looked at our need for a hero, and why we are always waiting for superman.  We discussed people that might be modern heroes.

I introduced you to Joseph Cambell and his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces.  I gave you a handout in preparation for your fist paper.  We went over the basic concepts of the Hero's journey.

We looked at Star Wars and other popular stories that follow this formula.

HW:  Please find a movie/book that follows this formula and be prepared to explain how it follows the outline that you were given.
Here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished out at a high school speech about 11 things they did not learn in school.


RULE 1

Life is not fair - get used to it.



RULE 2

The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world

will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel

good about yourself.



RULE 3

You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out

of high school. You won't be a vice president with

car phone, until you earn both.



RULE 4

If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a

boss. He doesn't have tenure.



RULE 5

Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your

grandparents had a different word for burger flipping

they

called it Opportunity.



RULE 6

If you mess up,it's not your parents' fault, so don't

whine about your mistakes, learn from them.



RULE 7

Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as

they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,

cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about

how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest

from the parasites of your parent's generation, try

delousing the closet in your own room.



RULE 8

Your school may have done away with winners and losers,

but life has not. In some schools they have abolished

failing grades and they'll give you as many times as

you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the

slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.



RULE 9

Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get

summers off and very few employers are interested in

helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.



RULE 10

Television is NOT real life. In real life people

actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.



RULE 11

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

World of Shakespeare:

Today:

We started class with our 1st journal Prompt:

#1  Pick a character from your reading last night and write from their perspective.  Please describe a typical day in their life.

We watched a clip from the National Endowment for the Arts on why Shakespeare is important.

We looked at some words and phrases that we thing Shakespeare coined.

HW:  Please read pgs. 17-47 Order in the Court:  The Renaissance
Please wear compfortable outfits for class on Thursday.  We will be doing some warm ups that require you to move around.

Brit Lit:

Today:

I passed out books and we tracked down old writing journals.

We wrote our 1st Journal Prompt:

Journal Prompt #1:  Write an original creation story.  1 page.

We defined the Oral Tradition of storytelling, and explored the fundamental problems.

We defined a Lyric Poem and discussed The Seafarer

Black A:  Read above story for HW.  Page 17.