Today in class, we...

took a quiz, added 2 boxes to our flow maps (and discussed the reading, of course), and analyzed a passage from the reading. The homework is to compose a paragraph about a cultural event (American, Edinian, ethnic, etc.) imitating the style of Markandaya. Remember that we decided the essential elements of Markandaya's style are:
1. Vivid language (imagery)
2. Use of fragments to list elements of setting
3. Cultural language & made-up words
4. Figurative language (simile, personification)
5. Appeal to all 5 senses

Your paragraph must be typed, printed, and turned in during class tomorrow.

Hopefully, you blogged for today. You have another blog due Wednesday. This time, the theme concept is overcoming struggle of facing a difficulty. Here's another link to an appropriate article.

You are supposed to include--in your post--an MLA citation for your reading material. See the OWL at Purdue for rules about MLA citations.

The appropriate citation for the article linked to this blog is:

Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October
2008. 2 February 2009.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/us/06land.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>

Don't Forget...

...to blog before bedtime on Sunday. The post below has a link to a New York Times article if you're looking for something to read.
...and don't worry if you've switched hours and your blog is listed under the wrong one--I'll fix it.

Today in class we took another quiz, added two boxes to our flow maps, and worked individually on vocabulary.

Homework: Read through page 57 in Nectar in a Sieve.

Today & Tonight

Today: We took a quiz on chap. 3-4. Then, we started to map the plot of Nectar (flow map) with the four most important events thus far. Finally we explored what it is like for people to be slowly stripped of their culture.

Tonight: Read pp. 31-45

Also, begin reading a book or article for outside reading. The concept you will discuss on your blog by Sunday night is natural disasters. For an interesting article about the recent major earthquake in China, click here.

Nectar in a Sieve

We have been thrust into the culture of early 20th century rural India. Almost all you read the first two chapters for today, and many of you indicated that you are enjoying the book so far. Today in class we took notes on the author of our novel as well as on aspects of Indian culture. We also took a quiz on chapters 1-2. The homework for tomorrow is to read chapters 3-4, pp. 18-30. The entire reading schedule is below:

The date indicates the night you should read the assigned pages as homework:

Jan. 27: pp. 3-17
Jan. 28: pp. 18-30
Jan. 29: pp. 31-45
Jan. 30: pp. 46-57
Feb. 2: pp. 49-57
Feb. 3: pp. 58-77
Feb. 4: pp. 78-91
Feb. 5: pp. 92-102
Feb. 6: pp 103-123
Feb. 9: pp. 124-149
Feb. 10: pp. 150-164
Feb. 11: pp. 165-176
Feb. 12: pp. 177-186

**Keep in mind that you should be looking for an outside reading book or article to read this week and discuss on the blog by Sunday evening.

Want More Midsummer?

Hopefully, you have a fairly complete theme map for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ideally, you will have several examples of each theme concept, with context and a direct quote (with citation) for each example. To view an online version of our text, try this link to google books.

A Long Weekend

You've got some extra time this weekend. Hopefully you'll use at least some of it to prepare for the final exam. Here are the recommendations that I presented in class:


1.Take steps to fully understand the characters, plot, and themes of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
To do this, you can...
Take notes during discussion/ film viewing
Complete theme map in notebook (there are several websites that have the full text of the
play--just google "A Midsummer Night's Dream full text."

2. Revisit the past texts/films
Review past notes, assignments, etc
Write down basic elements of the texts/films—characters, plot summaries, themes, etc.
Review notes on MLA & Monomyth

Notebook Check

I'm checking notebooks tomorrow. Here's what I'm looking for (30 points):

Approximately 20 Reading Minute Thesis Statements (11/17-the present)

Complete, Up-to-Date Table of Contents, including the following pages:
11/4 Theme Statements in English
11/10 Hero Definition
11/19 Monomyth Map
11/20 Ethics/Morals
11/23 Reflection Response
12/3 Act 1 Discussion (All My Sons)
12/8 Act 2 Activity (All My Sons)
12/18 AMS Quote Study
12/18 AMS Group Quote Study
1/5 Shpakespeare
1/8 Themes in Midsummer