10th Grade Winter Assignment: December

DUE Monday, January 5, 2009
HAMLET

Read all of Act I (scenes i-v). Select two scenes to complete two Journal Entries. Use the following format:

Hamlet Journey Entry #____

Act / Scene/Lines __________

Name__________________________________________ Date___________________Ms. Walsh


Directions Write in your own voice. Interact with the play. Grades are based on the thoroughness of your responses. Hamlet Journey Entries carry a weight of 30 points each. A letter grade will be assigned to each entry, based on the Letter Grade Interpretation Rubric. Use loose leaf.
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1. Summarize the action of the scene.


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2. Comment in one sentence on what you think is the significance of this scene. What would the play be like without it?


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3. Ask questions about the scene. Has anything in the scene caused you confusion? If not, then write interpretive questions we could discuss in class. Ask one of the characters in the scene a question- or ask me a question.

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4. Quote lines from the scene that you enjoyed and comment on them.

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5. Describe your reactions to a character, action, or idea you confronted in the scene.


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6. Comment on the figurative language used by the characters in this scene.


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7. Talk about the many different relationships characters have to one another, quoting specific words or phrases to give evidence for your opinion.

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8. Imagine that you are an actor playing one of the characters in the scene. Get inside that character’s mind. Tell how the character feels about himself/herself, about other characters, about the situation of the scene.

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9. What do you think are the themes presented in this scene? What techniques does Shakespeare use to convey these themes? (Use the list of Common Literary Themes we discussed in class. Scroll all the way down the blog for a copy of this list).



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Life Musings / period 7

Hello All!

I'm sure many noteworthy things happened in your lives today.......and inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!!

Write a short paragraph (terse, but not trite) about something that happened to you today. In fact, make it a Life Musing!

To earn full credit, you must:

a) use a combination of both simple and complex sentences
b) include one pun
c) include one metaphor
d) write in a matter-of-fact, informational tone



COMMENTING ON OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK IS WELCOME, BUT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR COMMENTS TO QUESTIONS AND COMPLIMENTS THIS TIME!!!

Happy writing,

Ms. Walsh

"The Knight's Tale" Assignment for Period 7

Hello All,

When you are finished taking notes on the analytical question writing prompts:

1) Reread Chaucer's "Knight's Tale"

2) Write, using the following questions as a springboard for your ideas:
- What did you miss on your first read that you noticed on your second read?
- How did your understanding of the story differ on your second read?
- What did you focus on as you read the piece for a second time?
- Were any of the questions particularly interesting to you? Explain.
- What other questions would you have asked, if you made up the questions?

Happy writing,

Ms. Walsh

P.S. This is what you are wondering: How much should I write?
This is the answer to your question: As much as it takes.

P.P.S. Do not post your response. Complete the assignment in your notebook.

Mad Libs Vocabulary Assignment

Mad-Libs Vocabulary Assignment
Ms. Walsh

1) Go to the blog page
2) Click on the Mad Libs gadget
3) Choose a topic from the dropdown menu
4) Fill in the appropriate parts of speech, using vocabulary words and other necessary words
5) Email yourself and one other person when you are done
6) Check your email, open the document from Mad Libs
7) Copy the story into your notebook.
8) In your notebook, translate the story underneath the copied version. Replace vocabulary words with synonyms, and add story elements to make it make sense.
9) Underneath your translation, reflect on your thinking process as you worked to make your vocabulary story make sense.
10) Title your vocabulary story

Sample:
Daniel Walsh, alias Johnny Cool, hated to make decisions even when his adage depended on it. He headed in the direction of an all-night bonanza nestled between a self-service citadel station and a decree parlor. He pushed open the diner excerpt but didn't enter. The only street lamp on the dark laggard illuminated the fear on his toenails. He was coming to another decisive moment, and as always, it scared the plaudits out of him. He took a deep rubble and entered the diner. It was almost servile. Johnny slumped into a/an discordant leather booth. He was very tired. Every wrangle in his body ached. His vigil was trembling. He needed coffee silently.

*The bold words are the words and phrases I selected for the Mad Libs.

Sample Tranlation:
Title: Early Bird J. Cool Needs Rest: The Desire to Run

My brother, who also goes by the name Johnny Cool, didn’t like to make decisions even when his proverb depended on it, and he lived by the old adage, “the early bird catches the worm.” He went towards an all-night money-making diner, located between a self-service protective tower for citizens, and a rules and regulations parlor. It’s tough living in the future. He read the passage written in the diner menu posted on the wall, but he didn’t go in. The only street lamp on the slowpoke lit up the fear on his toenails. He was coming to another decision, and as usual, it scared the applause out of him. He took a deep breath of the debris from recent construction outside the building and entered the diner. The place was like a servant itself, waiters running back and forth without stopping, bells ringing, orders being taken. Johnny, or Daniel, sat down heavily in a booth that shrieked out loud and made a grating sound when his body hit the seat. He was exhausted. Every argument in his body ached- his racing mind verses his sleepiness, his hunger verses his will to keep walking. His ability to keep watch over his target had been reduced to a tremble. He needed to sit silently with a cup of coffee and think for a while.

Mad Glibs: Extra Credit Opportunity

Hello Students,

Check out these awesome mad glib links. They used to be called Mad Libs. For Extra Credit, complete a mad glibs story online, copy it onto looseleaf when you are done, make any changes necessary to make your story make sense, and submit.

Links
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/
http://madlibs.org/
http://www.funbrain.com/brain/ReadingBrain/ReadingBrain.html

Due Date for Extra Credit: Friday, October 17, 2008

Happy writing,

Ms. Walsh

Test on Friday, October 3

Hello Students,

For Friday's test, you are responsible for knowing:

Vocabulary Words from the Unit 1 Packet: know the definitions, parts of speech, spelling, and be able to use the words in sentences.

Information found in the Oedipus Rex Introduction Handouts

Literary Terms and Examples for Oedipus Rex and Greek Drama(index card project terms)

Characters, Plot, and "big ideas" (themes) in Oedipus Rex

Study Tips:
- Make study cards for the vocabulary words
- Study literary terms index cards (quiz yourself and each other!)
- Reread the introduction-to-the-play handout and make a list of important facts
- Review all of the notes we have taken in class since we started reading Oedipus
- Make a finalized list of all the characters and their roles
- Make a list of characters who have conflicts, and list the conflicts
- Ask questions in class about facts and ideas you are unsure about
- Make a list of the important events that take place in the play
- See me in S.O.S. or during lunch for a review of anything you are unsure about

*If you have been absent during this unit at all, copy the notes from that day from someone in the class, and then show me the notes when you are finished. You are responsible for all the material covered in this unit, whether you missed school or not.

Happy studying,

Ms. Walsh

New Link For Creative Writers

Hello Students,

I have created a blog site for the creative writers among us. It's set up as a link under "School Information." If you want to be able to post your own creative writing or comment on someone else's, send me an email and I will invite you as an author.

Ms. Walsh

Oedipus Rex : "Big Ideas"

Write one paragraph on the discussion question of your choice. In this paragraph, you must do the following:

- Explore and analyze the literature
- Reference at least two specific moments in the play
- Reference today's discussion
- Use at least 3 new vocabulary words from the packet we went over today.

CHOICES FOR TOPICS:

1) Are Oedipus' attempts to ecape his fate and search for the truth an attempt to be all-seeing and all knowing (like a god)? Or, does Oedipus actually gain stature because he is willing to do anything to escape his fate? In other words, do we respect his search for the truth, or look down on it?

2) What is the the role of the gods in this play? Are they interfering with the lives of mortals too much? Are they abusing their control? Or what?

3) If Oedipus is the protagonist, who is the antagonist? In other words, with whom is Oedipus in conflict with? Who is your nominee for the antagonist?


* Sign your post in this format: First Name. Last initial. period you have English

Happy blogging!

Icarus and Daedalus: You Are a Team of Casting Directors

***The following assignment is for both 7th and 8th period classes.

Read the Greek myth titled, Icarus and Daedalus: Wings of Man. When you are finished, read the situation and complete the task below.

Situation: You are all part of a casting team at a television company. You are working on a show (talk show, news show, special series) about confrontation and controversy. It is up to you to decide which characters from the myth should confront each other in an interview, and which controversies should be addressed. For example, some of us may feel Daedalus should be confronted by his son Icarus (Hades would have to enable him to visit his father on the show, of course). Or perhaps we imagine a confrontation between Daedalus and Minos. The possibilities are endless!

Task: Engage in a dialogue amongst yourselves about the myth. Tell which characters you believe should be interviewed and explain why you feel this way. Pose the controversies and confrontations that you feel should be addressed concerning these characters and explain. Present the questions you would ask these characters. After posting, you must address at least one other student’s comment.

Happy blogging,

Ms. Walsh

Characteristics of Greek Myth

Characteristics of Greek Myth
(with examples from Prometheus and Io)

Hero with a fatal flaw
Prometheus gives fire to mortals

Adventures of a hero
Prometheus and how he gets where he is, chained to a rock as a punishment by Zeus

Intervention of gods and goddesses
Hera intervenes with Zeus and Io, Zeus does not intervene with his wife’s wrath and lets Io become a cow, Hera takes the eyes after the monster is killed

Supernatural Activity (underworld, superhuman tasks)
Zeus causes black clouds to cover the land, Hera turns Io into a cow

Problem caused by greed and jealousy
Zeus likes Io and is so greedy he has to have her, Hera is jealous and turns the girl into a cow

A woman is responsible for causing problems
Io was pretty and so Zeus liked her, Hera became jealous- catalyst

Explanation of how things are now
Prometheus is chained to the rock as a punishment, Zeus restores Io eventually, Hercules descends Io, Hercules frees Prometheus eventually

References to the natural world
Ionian Sea, Bosphorus Sea, Fire used by man

Not always a happy ending
(several possibilities)

Lesson in the story for the reader
(several possiblities)