So Long, Schlichtmann!

NO SPECIFIC HOMEWORK TONIGHT!!

Tomorrow we will view the last five minutes of A Civil Action. Then, you will receive a writing assignment in which you will explore one of the film's themes. We'll also start our next book, Siddhartha. Homework for Friday will be to complete the A Civil Action study guide as well as the written response to the film.

Revisions, Revisions

I hope things went well today. The final draft of the Animal Dreams essay is due tomorrow. Please be prepared to submit the green rubric, the typed final draft, and the typed rough draft.

**NO EXCUSES WILL BE ACCEPTED TOMORROW.
**I WILL NOT PRINT FOR YOU.

Please work out your own computer issues. If your printer and/or computer is on the fritz, think about the following options: email your draft to a friend/relative/neighbor and ask him or her to please print it for you, type your paper on the computer of a friend/relative/neighbor, or get to school early tomorrow morning to print it (you may save it to--and access it from--a zip drive).

BTW, if you're reading this, I hope it is because you just finished posting to your own blog--your blog post is due before school tomorrow morning.

See you tomorrow!

1st Quarter Outside Reading Assignment

Today you received the outside reading/blogging assignment for first quarter. Here it is:

Quarter 1 Outside Reading Assignment – 250 pages of text.
Our first quarter outside reading assignment is for you to read text, including novels, nonfiction books, periodicals, websites, weblogs, etc., totaling 250 (do your best to approximate the number of pages you read if you’re reading online texts). The texts you read should have literary merit and be age-appropriate.

Blog #1: Sunday, September 21
Blog #2: Wed. October 1
Blog #3: Sun. October 5
Blog #4: Wed. October 8
Blog #5: Sun. October 12
Blog #6: Wed. October 15
Blog #7: Sun. October 19
Blog #8: Wed. October 22
Blog #9: Sun. October 26
Tues. October 28: Final Overall Response (more info. later)

The Blogging
You must post TWICE a week (by Wednesday and by Sunday). I've explained below what should go in the post. Wednesday posts—10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22—are due before school; Sunday posts—10/21, 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26—are due by 11:59pm (i.e. before bedtime).

Free Response
A thoughtful response to the book of approximately 150 words. You must cite the selection, author, and page you're referring to. Some possible ways to respond to texts include: pick a quote and comment on its significance, make connections to the book (self, text, world, media), analyze the protagonist, pretend you're writing a letter—or blog response—to the author or main character, identify the thesis and supporting evidence (of nonfiction) and discuss the arguments from your perspective, etc. There are many, many ways you can do this.

You must attempt to use correct spelling and punctuation and capitalization

**You must also comment on one other blog per week!!

ESSAY DUE WEDNESDAY!

Today we shared our rough drafts with peers and talked about some MLA issues. Tomorrow we will return to A Civil Action and our viewing guides. For Wednesday, you should complete the final draft of the paper. You will need to submit your green rubric, your final draft, and a rough draft. Also, your next blog assignment must be posted on Wednesday before school.

Want a good grade in English?

Then bring in a complete, typed rough draft on Monday. Completing a full draft for Monday will allow you the time to work on things like word choice, sentence fluency, and grammar/mechanics before you turn in a final draft. Also, completing your rough draft in a timely manner will ensure that you have some time to talk to me about your paper.

If you have computer/printer issues this weekend, work to resolve them yourself. Head to the public library, email your draft to a friend, or get to school early Monday morning to take care of it. Good luck!

Symbolism in AD

Codi's journey to find herself is complete. We've analyzed both the causes and effects of her literal and figurative return to Grace. How is symbolism related to this journey? Your homework tonight is to define a symbol of your choice (peacocks, coyotes, the afghan, night, Hallie's letters, transportation, etc.) in the context of the novel. Do this with a circle map. You should have at least 4 quotes in the frame of your map. At the bottom of the page, write a complete sentence about what your symbol represents. For example: "In Animal Dreams, peacocks represent ___________________________________________________."

Don't forget to study vocab tonight!!

It's Going Around...

So I was home today with a sick little boy. In class, you looked at Codi's emotional return to Grace. Finish the novel tonight to see how it all wraps up.

We'll spend some time on vocab tomorrow--the vocab quiz is Wednesday.