Friday, October 27, 2017

October 30 - November 3

Happy Halloween!  We will celebrate Halloween, the end of a long month without any holidays or breaks, and, last but not least, the full, solid rough drafts that the class finished and uploaded. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Special Halloween reading of classic American horror writer Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask of Amantillado, The Raven with modern anime-style drawings and lyrics, and a modern sci-fi horror short.  I'll bring some treats; feel free to bring food to share with no peanuts or tree nuts, please.

Due: Please upload a full rough draft to Turnitin.com for credit by Sunday night, October 29 at 11:00 p.m.  Must be in full sentences and at least 4-6 complete paragraphs. Please be sure to get a confirmation and e-mail me at mogilefskya@pvpusd.net with a copy of the essay if you have any issues.

Homework: Study for vocab quiz at the end of the week.

WEDNESDAY: (5th period only) Current event day - read, annotate, and analyze two arguments on different sides of an issue, debate and discuss, and vote.  (SAT/Rhetorical analysis practice with the reading and analysis, and ACT/Argument/Synthesis practice with the discussion and debate using evidence.)

Due: n/a

Homework: Study for quiz on Friday.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocab and grammar only. Read and evaluate model essays. Thesis statements - an overview.  Receive final rhetorical essay rubric and begin work polishing rough drafts into final essays on laptops.

Due: n/a

Homework: Make sure your introduction paragraph of your rough draft is done, and begin working on the wording and analysis in the body paragraphs.  (We will go over conclusions in detail next week.) Be able to access your drafts electronically (Google Docs, e-mail it to yourself, and/or bring your own device) for next class.

Please read and annotate Chapter 6 and 7 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

October 23 - 27

Welcome! It's going to be a warm week, but fortunately we'll be working on essay drafts in the (much cooler) computer lab. We'll also get a chance to preview the school's Little Shop of Horrors production and begin Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Introduction to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, read Chapter One together.  Receive outlines back with comments.  Go over samples. Type out outlines into rough drafts.

Due: Read and annotate Shooting an Elephant in the Close Reading packet, pages 21-24.

Please get a copy of A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and bring it to class next week.  It's available on Amazon for $3, I can sell you a copy in class, or I'm happy to provide a copy if you're not able to purchase it, please let me know.

Homework: For Thursday/Friday, please read and annotate Chapters 2 - 4 in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  (Click here if you need an online version until you receive your own copy.  Be sure to take notes if you're using the online version for now.  You'll eventually need the notes/hard copy for an in-class essay.)

Study for vocab/grammar quiz.
  
WEDNESDAY: (3nd period only)  Play preview from 1:30-2:00.  Journal warm-up.  Prizes for figurative language challenge awarded, reading of class figurative language samples.

Due: n/a

Homework: (same as Monday/Tuesday)

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: (5th period only - play preview 10:20 - 10:50) Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocabulary #6, grammar, and Frederick Douglass reading.  Notes: types of thesis statements and pros and cons of each. On laptops/computers, create Turnitin.com class for your period. Time to type rough drafts on laptops at the end of class.  Share paragraphs at the end of class period.

Due: For Thursday/Friday, please read and annotate Chapters 2 - 4 in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  (Click here if you need an online version until you receive your own copy.  Be sure to take notes if you're using the online version for now.  You'll eventually need the notes/hard copy for an in-class essay.)

Homework: Please upload a full rough draft to Turnitin.com for credit by Sunday night, October 29 at 11:00 p.m.  Must be in full sentences and at least 4-6 complete paragraphs. Please be sure to get a confirmation and e-mail me at mogilefskya@pvpusd.net with a copy of the essay if you have any issues.

Monday, October 16, 2017

October 16 - 20

 Welcome!  Here's what's on the agenda for the week:

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Go over the prompts and class annotations.  Look at pages 25-26 from the Close Reading packet together. Discuss outline styles. Cumulative sentences and group activity.

Due: 
1. Read and annotate 2 rhetorical analysis prompts.  Think about which one you would like to use to write into a full, take-home essay.

Homework: For Thursday/Friday - complete outline for one of the two rhetorical analysis prompts.  You may use phrases instead of full sentences, but please do write it on a separate piece of paper in outline format.

WEDNESDAY (5th period): Journal warm-up. Current event day: read and annotate articles from multiple perspectives, discuss and debate, outline, and vote.

Due: n/a

Homework: (same as Monday)

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Vocab quiz covering grammar, vocabulary from list #5.  Cumulative sentences - review samples from groups.  Figurative language definitions, how they can make an argument more effective.  Figurative language challenge activity.

Due: Complete outline for one of the two rhetorical analysis prompts.  You may use phrases instead of full sentences, but please do write it on a separate piece of paper in outline format.

Homework: Read and annotate Shooting an Elephant in the Close Reading packet, pages 21-24.

Please get a copy of A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and bring it to class next week.  It's available on Amazon for $3, I can sell you a copy in class, or I'm happy to provide a copy if you're not able to purchase it, please let me know.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

October 9-13

It's PSAT week for juniors; be sure to note the change in schedule for Wednesday morning.  Here's what we'll be doing in English class: 

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  (Hearing test for Monday A Day.)  Talk about Santa Ana Winds and the annotating suggestions from the weekend reading.  Pass back Carter Rhetorical Analysis, and walk through the steps to answer a rhetorical analysis essay prompt about it.  Pass back Kaepernick assignment.  Definitions: paradox, metaphor, simile.  Figurative language group challenge.  

Due: at the end of the period, please leave journals in the bin for grading.  Unless noted, each entry should be a full page except for the first week of school.  For absences, please just mark the date, and put the word "absent" next to it.

Please read pages 4- 10 in the Close Reading packet, including Joan Didion's Santa Ana Winds.  Please annotate it yourself in your current annotation style in the Close Reading packet on page 6.  Then, read the information about annotating on pages 7-10.

How can you sharpen your reading and annotating skills?  Be ready to discuss. 

Homework for Thursday/Friday: Read Death of the Moth from the Close Reading Packet and annotate it. Though this is a short passage, it's challenging.  What conclusions about life does Woolf's speaker come to in this piece?  Can you identify any rhetorical devices that help her make a statement about the nature of human life?


WEDNESDAY: (PSAT Schedule - no Late Start today, classes are 50 minutes long.) Journal warm-up. Vocab Story Rounds.


Due: n/a

Homework: (for Friday, same as Monday's homework): Read Death of the Moth from the Close Reading Packet and annotate it. Though this is a short passage, it's challenging.  What conclusions about life does Woolf's speaker come to in this piece?  Can you identify any rhetorical devices that help her make a statement about the nature of human life?


THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocab, grammar, figurative language.  Class discussion about Death of the Moth.  Notes: definition of satire and how to write about it. Read Groucho Marx's letter,  other written and video samples of satire.

Due:  Read Death of the Moth from the Close Reading Packet and annotate it. Though this is a short passage, it's challenging.  What conclusions about life does Woolf's speaker come to in this piece?  Can you identify any rhetorical devices that help her make a statement about the nature of human life?

Homework:

1. Read and annotate 2 rhetorical analysis prompts.

2. Decide which one you'll want to work with and write into a full essay.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

October 2 - 6

October is here.  Crisp(er) mornings, costumes, caramel apples, and...English class!

I am excited to continue adding rhetorical terms to your list, and to share another reading and activity packet this week: Close Reading and Analysis. I admit, it may not have the most exciting title, but it does have some interesting passages as well as a lot of good reference sheets in the back for writing essays and papers.  Here's what's on the agenda for the week:

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Discuss and analyze Apollo articles, define syntax, anaphora, repetition as rhetorical terms. Pictures as arguments, and how to write about them.  Notes: tone. Tone activity.  Pass out Close Reading and Analysis packet (Packet #2).

Due: Please read and annotate the 3 Apollo articles on pages 10-14 of the Rhetorical Analysis Packet and perform a SOAPS analysis on each of them, (not the cartoon on page 15).

Homework: Read and annotate Elizabeth I's Speech to the Troops at Tilbury on page 1 of the Close Reading packet.  How would you describe her tone in throughout this speech?  Does it shift?  Is this an effective speech? Be ready to share annotations and discuss.  

Read On Bird, Bird Watching, and Jazz in the Close Reading packet, and read through the questions on page 3, jotting down answers and ideas in your own packet.

WEDNESDAY: (5th period only). Journal warm-up.  Presentation from the College and Career Center.

Due: n/a

Homework (same as Monday): Read and annotate Elizabeth I's Speech to the Troops at Tilbury on page 1 of the Close Reading packet.  How would you describe her tone in throughout this speech?  Does it shift?  Is this an effective speech? Be ready to share annotations and discuss.  

Read On Bird, Bird Watching, and Jazz in the Close Reading packet, and read through the questions on page 3, jotting down answers and ideas in your own packet. 

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocab #4, grammar.  Go over Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, watch video of reenactment. Go over answers to page 3 in Close Reading packet. Definition of irony, irony videos demonstrating the definition.

Due: Read and annotate Elizabeth I's Speech to the Troops at Tilbury on page 1 of the Close Reading packet.  How would you describe her tone in throughout this speech?  Does it shift?  Is this an effective speech? Be ready to share annotations and discuss.  

Read On Bird, Bird Watching, and Jazz in the Close Reading packet, and read through the questions on page 3, jotting down answers and ideas in your own packet.

Homework:   Please read pages 4- 10 in the Close Reading packet, including Joan Didion's Santa Ana Winds.  Please annotate it yourself in your current annotation style in the Close Reading packet on page 6.  Then, read the information about annotating on pages 7-10.

How can you sharpen your reading and annotating skills?  Be ready to discuss.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

September 25-29

Welcome! This Thursday night is Back-to-School Night, so be sure to invite parents and guardians to come and see what you've been doing in English class.

I'm excited about the progress we're making with rhetorical analysis, and this week we'll be just about finished with the Rhetorical Analysis packet.  


MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Notes: counterargument, diction, denotation, connotation. Read Waters sample from Rhetorical Analysis Packet in class and note her use of the counterargument. Connotation/denotation worksheet in class. Finish logos, ethos, pathos skits. 

Due:
Please complete the Rhetorical Analysis of President Carter's passage -  Assignment for English 3. 


Homework: For Thursday/Friday -
1. Read and annotate two arguments, articles for and against Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest, carefully noting all rhetorical devices and the types of evidence and examples we've talked about so far in class:

Insulting Colin Kaepernick Says More About Our Patriotism Than His by Kareem Abdul-Jabaar

Kaepernick Has a Right, but He's Still Wrong by John Kushma

(For those students unfamiliar with the topic, I have a general article here.)  

2. Perform a SOAPS analysis on each, right next to the article.

3. Then, take out a separate piece of paper.  For one of the articles, (your choice) write down the following:
A. Name of an important rhetorical device that they use (for example, logos, ethos, pathos, imagery, counterargument, etc.)
B.  A quote or summary from the article how it is used.
C.  Why it makes their argument more effective. 

WEDNESDAY (period 3 only): Journal warm-up.  Last hour = PSAT forms

Due: n/a

Homework:  For Friday:
1. Read and annotate two arguments, articles for and against Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest, carefully noting all rhetorical devices and the types of evidence and examples we've talked about so far in class:

Insulting Colin Kaepernick Says More About Our Patriotism Than His by Kareem Abdul-Jabaar

Kaepernick Has a Right, but He's Still Wrong by John Kushma

(For those students unfamiliar with the topic, I have a general article here.)  

2. Perform a SOAPS analysis on each, right next to the article.

3. Then, take out a separate piece of paper.  For one of the articles, (your choice) write down the following:
A. Name of an important rhetorical device that they use (for example, logos, ethos, pathos, imagery, counterargument, etc.)
B.  A quote or summary from the article how it is used.
C.  Why it makes their argument more effective. 


THURSDAY (period 5 only):  Journal warm-up.  Vocab story rounds.  Quiz covering vocab, grammar. Discuss Colin Kaepernick articles, view outlines and discuss responses.  "Neighbor" style debate/discussion.  Class vote about 1. effectiveness of articles, 2. true opinions.

FRIDAY (minimum day, period 3 only): Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocab, grammar.  Discuss Colin Kaepernick articles, view outlines and discuss responses.  "Neighbor" style debate/discussion.  Class vote about 1. effectiveness of articles, 2. true opinions.

Due:
1. Read and annotate two arguments, articles for and against Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest, carefully noting all rhetorical devices and the types of evidence and examples we've talked about so far in class:

Insulting Colin Kaepernick Says More About Our Patriotism Than His by Kareem Abdul-Jabaar

Kaepernick Has a Right, but He's Still Wrong by John Kushma

(For those students unfamiliar with the topic, I have a general article here.)  

2. Perform a SOAPS analysis on each, right next to the article.

3. Then, take out a separate piece of paper.  For one of the articles, (your choice) write down the following:
A. Name of an important rhetorical device that they use (for example, logos, ethos, pathos, imagery, counterargument, etc.)
B.  A quote or summary from the article how it is used.
C.  Why it makes their argument more effective. 

Homework:
Before next class, please read and annotate all 3 of the articles on pages 10-14 of the Rhetorical Analysis Packet and perform a SOAPS analysis for each, (not the cartoon on page 15).

Friday, September 15, 2017

September 18 - 22

This is an important week (am I saying that every week?!) for our rhetorical analysis unit.  We will add three extremely helpful rhetorical devices to your list, as well as defining a counterargument.  I'm looking forward to the examples that students generate in class this week.

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Collect imagery examples and share them with the class.  Go over SOAPS of BeyoncĂ© speech.  Notes: logos, ethos, pathos - definitions and what each does for an argument.  Read examples of each.  Watch video examples and try to identify them as a class.

Due: Write a SOAPS analysis on a piece of paper for next class for BeyoncĂ©'s speech about Hurricane Harvey at Houston's St. John's Church.  Please come to class with one example of one or more of the five types of imagery from your outside life.
Homework: For Thursday/Friday
Please read and annotate page 7 of the Rhetorical Analysis packet.  Note where Morrison uses logos, ethos, and pathos in her effort to persuade voters.  Is this an effective letter in your opinion?

WEDNESDAY: (5th only) Journal warm-up.  Current event day.  Should schools use cameras for security or not?  Read and/or view different perspectives, "stakeholder" style discussion and debate, vote. 
 
Due: n/a

Homework: For Friday - Please read and annotate page 7 of the Rhetorical Analysis packet.  Note where Morrison uses logos, ethos, and pathos in her effort to persuade voters.  Is this an effective letter in your opinion?

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering Vocabulary sheet #2, grammar, and logos, ethos, pathos.  Receive Vocab #3 and 4.  Review Morrison's letter, noting what each instance of logos, ethos, and pathos does for her argument. Notes: counterargument.  Read Alice Water's argument on page 6 of the Rhetorical Analysis Basics Packet together.  Group activity: logos, ethos, pathos skits. Last few minutes: portfolio retrieval.

Due:  Please read and annotate page 7 of the Rhetorical Analysis packet.  Note where Morrison uses logos, ethos, and pathos in her effort to persuade voters.  Is this an effective letter in your opinion?

Homework:
Please complete the Rhetorical Analysis of President Carter's passage -  Assignment for English 3