Brit Lit:

Today:

I shared information on the new 1984 movie that is being filmed.  Let's home it is not as horrible as it sounds.  A romantic 1984 love story?  Yikes.  I thought they ruined Gatsby last year....

We read the short story Shooting an Elephant by Orwell.  We looked at his experience in India and discussed how it shaped his writing.  We also looked at power and tried to understand why it is to be feared.

I passed out the review sheet for your final and gave you 25 minutes in small study groups to begin to but these together.  You may use one page of notes to help you remember the examples.  Please make sure you have specific examples, not broad statements.

One of you left an iphone charging in the back of my room.  It is safe locked in my desk.

WOS:

Today:

We had day 2 of your sonnet presentations.  These continued to be outstanding.  We will finish these on Tuesday.  Thank you for ending with greatness. :-)

HW: Begin to study for the final using the review sheet given to you Thursday.

Comp. Lit. II:

Today:

We finished Act II

I embarrassed myself performing Oberon as the voice of Barney.

I collected your poetry videos/projects.  If you did not pass this in, please be reminded that you lose 10 points each day.  If you email this to me before 5pm today, it will still be on time.

I gave you a quiz on Act I + II.

I posted a review sheet for the final below.

Comp. Lit. II:

Review sheet for Final Exam:

Questions from the 4 pieces of Literature we read:

1. George Orwell’s    Animal Farm
2. J.D. Salinger’s   The Catcher in the Rye
3. William Shakespeare’s   “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
4. William Golding’s  Lord of the Flies

POETRY/ Lit. Terms:
Allusion –

Metrical feet/ Metrical Lines –

Rhyming Couplets –

Metaphor –

Simile –

 

READING COMPREHENSION:
Protagonist

Antagonist

Theme

Plot

Setting

Climax

Characterization

Point of View – (1^st person, 3^rd person, Omniscient)

Symbolism

Allegory

Satire

 

Shakespeare:

Reversed Word

Reversed Thought

Metaphor

Simile

Personification

Alliteration

 

The World of Shakespeare: Final Exam Review Sheet 2013

 

We read/acted the following:  Othello, Hamlet, The Tempest, The Twelfth Night, sonnets.

 

The following prompts are possible questions to consider (hint, hint):

 

#1 Examine the relationship in terms of a timeline between Desdemona and Othello.  Please make sure to examine the end of their relationship, and how specifically Othello believes she has not been faithful.  Examine how 4 characters other than Othello are directly, or indirectly responsible for the tragic ending.

 

#2 Please explain the ending of the 12^th Night.  Did true love prevail?  Were you satisfied with the ending?  Why or Why not?  Please use specific details in your response.

 

#3 Talk about what makes a Shakespearian tragedy.  Please examine one tragedy in your study group and discuss how it fits the definition.

 

#4 Please define the following literary devices that Shakespeare uses:

Alliteration, simile, metaphor, reversed word, reversed sentence construction, classical allusion, personification, suspension of disbelief, aside, using language to show class and status in the play. You should have three examples of each term and be ready to explain how they are used.

 

#5 Character can be defined by how one handles power.  Look at 3 characters and discuss how well they handled power.

 

#6 Discuss the use of comedy in his plays.  What ideas and specific plays hold up well and still make us laugh.  Please use 3 specific scenes in your discussions.

 

7.  Love, and the quest for love are important themes in many of Shakespeare’s plays.  Please examine three relationships and explain in detail how they played out in specific detail using the 3 of the following plays:  The 12^th Night, Hamlet, Othello.

 

#8 Define a Shakespearian Sonnet.  What did his sonnets reveal about him that his plays may not have?  Pick a sonnet and be familiar enough with it that you could reference it in an answer.  Be prepared to write an original sonnet about this class that follows the rules and rhyme pattern of a sonnet.  You might wish to write this before the exam and have it on your page of notes.

 

 

Brit Lit:

Today:

We looked at the concept of 2+2=5.  We looked at conditioning and how we are controlled by many false truths. 

We watched a short clip from the movie Cool Hand Luke.  In this scene, Paul Newman is forced to dig and re-dig a hole to break him and control his thoughts.

We reviewed your reading from last night.  We looked at the character of Julia and discussed her role in the novel.

We took a quiz on your reading.

Writing prompt:  Write Julia's confession.  We then swapped these and you became Big Brother.  Based on this confession, what would her punishment be?

HW:  Please finish the novel.

WOS:

Today:

I gave you 30 minutes to fine tune and finish your presentations.

We closed our look at the sonnets reading and discussing the structure and meaning of 3.

HW: Sonnet Project.

Comp. Lit. II:

Today:

Introduction to Shakespeare.

We talked about why this is still important.

We cast and acted out act I

HW:  Poetry project.

Active vs. Passive voice:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/active-voice-versus-passive-voice?page=all

Brit Lit:

Today:
The first 10 minutes were given to finish up on finding examples of the lit terms that I gave you yesterday.  This is a part of your final exam- so please make sure that you understand the terms, and can explain how each is used.

I asked you to describe what your room 101 would be like.  What are your greatest fears?

We reviewed your reading of the essay: Politics and the English Language.

We summarized:
Never use a common metaphor, simile, or figure of speech
Never use long words when short ones will do.
If it is possible to cut, cut.
Never use a passive voice when you can use the active.
Never use a scientific word or jargon f you can't think of a everyday equivalent

We reviewed your reading.

We took a quiz on your reading.

I passed back your poetry projects.  Great job on those.  I greatly enjoyed reading these..

WOS:

Day 2 of 2 work days on your Sonnet Movie Project.  These are due Thursday.

Here is how you should add music to your PowerPoint so that it plays on ANY computer:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/demo-add-music-to-a-presentation-HA010095060.aspx

Please make sure that you test this before you present it on Thursday.

I will be afterschool Wed. for anyone needing more time on their Othello exam.

HW:  Please finish projects.

Comp. Lit. II:

You voted to use your free class period that I owed you from our last review game.  Be ready to rock Wed.- we have a ton to do...

I passed back your Catcher in the Rye Test.

HW:  Please work on your Poetry project and study the notes that I gave you.

Brit Lit:

Today:

We started looking at a letter that Orwell wrote exploring many of the themes and ideas that ended up the next year in 1984:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/12/george-orwell-s-letter-on-why-he-wrote-1984.html

I broke you into groups and asked you to make a newspeak version that twists the article that I gave you on jobs and the economy.  We shared these.

We broke into groups and completed the following:

Characterization

--Method used to reveal/describe characters and their traits

Foreshadowing

--Hints of future events

*Irony

--Verbal--narrator/character says one thing, means another

--Dramatic--reader/audience knows things characters do not

--Situational--great difference between purpose of an action and the result

*Satire

--Author’s tone used to ridicule human/societal vice and/or weakness with

intent of causing change

*Paradox

--Statement that seems contrary to common sense yet may be true

War is Peace; Ignorance is Strength; Freedom is Slavery

Symbolism

--Representation of a concept/idea by an object

Metaphor

--Comparison/relationship between two things without using "like"/"as"

Flashback

--Returning to earlier time in order to something in the present clearer

Themes (these must be defined within the terms of the text)

*Totalitarianism

*Freedom vs. Absence of Freedom

*Individualism vs. Conformity

Note: 1984 was written in 1948, three years after the conclusion of WWII.

 

Directions:  Please break into small study groups and give examples of the above terms from pgs 1-122.  you will have 2 days to complete if needed.  The above terms will also be part of you final test on the novel- so please keep this sheet to study from.

 

 

 

 

HW:  Please read the article that I gave you, and up to pg 239 in 1984.

WOS:

Today:

We lost 1/2 the class due to the assembly.  We moved the planned activity (Shakespeare remix) to Wed.  Those of you that were left went to the computer lab to work on you sonnet project.

HW:  Please continue work on your projects.  These continue to be due on Thursday.  We will have our last work day tomorrow- so please have everything needed to complete these and make good use of the time.

Comp. Lit. II:

Today:

We looked at the use of the audio from The Dead Poets Society featured in the new Apple ad airing on TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0
 Specifically, we looked at the following poem:

     

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

                                       Answer.

That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

 

I gave you notes on the remaining poetry terms.  We agreed to not have a separate poetry exam due to the limited time that we have left.  This will now be included on the final exam/

 

I collected any remaining journals.

 

I passed out copies of Midsummer Nights Dream.

 

I gave you three poems and asked you to identify the end rhyme, foot and meter.  We will go over this on Tuesday.