Link Added to Fun Sites

Maybe you soccer fans have seen this already, but I just came across UEFA's Training Ground site, which has a lot of instructional and tactical videos. Enjoy!

Reminders and Notices

If you are looking for something to do for the next couple of weeks, you might want to think about your book selection for the final paper. If you have either left the handout at school or misplaced it, look to the right under Syllabus and Assignments and click on English 10 Final Paper. Keep in mind that your book selection is not due until January 27 (Day 3) and January 28 (Day 4), so if you just want to relax over the vacation, please do so; you will still have three weeks to select a book once school resumes. 

Not to be a Scrooge, but if school had not been cancelled just before the vacation, I would have notified the odd-day sections that when we return from the break, the workload will increase noticeably. With all of the interruptions this marking period, you have not been assigned a ton of work, but this will change upon our return. During the first class after the vacation, you will be introduced to existentialism, a philosophical approach that reflects on freedom, responsibility, and the absurdity of everyday life. That day, we will go over Albert Camus's retelling of the myth of Sisyphus in preparation for reading his novel The Stranger, which we will begin in class. You will once again have to annotate each reading assignment and write a journal entry for it which, if done appropriately, will prepare you to have something to say for each class. 

You will have an in-class essay on The Stranger January 20 (Day 4) and January 21 (Day 5), for which you will not receive the topics in advance. Any revisions of the narrative essay, tragic essay, or comic essay must be completed by January 15 (Day 2) and January 16 (Day 3), but no revision will be accepted unless you meet with me prior to turning it in. 

Enjoy the vacation! 

For Tuesday (12/16, Day 2) and Wednesday (12/17, Day 3)

Your comedic essay is due Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Be prepared to read aloud the entire essay, or just a section of it, to your classmates. You should practice reading your essay aloud, and you should mark up your draft to indicate how you want to read it. For example, you could indicate where you should speed up the reading, where you should slow it down, where you should speak more loudly or softly, and so on. 

Some of you may be anxious that your essay is not funny, but keep in mind the goal is not to have everyone falling out of their seats in laughter, but to tell a story that can lighten a mood. It is possible that no one will laugh at your story, but that doesn't mean it wasn't funny. Everyone will read from their essay, so come prepared to do your best! 

If you have any questions about your essay, do not hesitate to e-mail me (fmontas@mph.net) or see me during tutorial. On Tuesday, I am free during the first half of third block (until about 12:20) and all of last block. During third block, I will be in my classroom; during last block you can find me in the faculty room.

Assignment for Wednesday, 12/10 (Day 4), and Thursday, 12/11 (Day 5)

Continue writing the comic essay. Again, bring two copies to class; I will want to see progress between the first draft you turned in and this class. 

Also, read "Guys vs. Men," a comic piece by Dave Barry. It's the introduction to a book of the same title and it employ a variety of comic techniques that might be helpful for you to see as you develop your own piece. You do not need to write a journal entry for it since you are still writing the comic essay, but we will discuss it in class. 

Homework for Monday, 12/8 (Day 2), and Tuesday, 12/9 (Day 3)

Write one or two pages for a rough draft of a funny story. You may relate an incident that happened to you or someone you know, you may create a comical story, or you may write a satirical piece such as The Onion article on Barack Obama or The New Yorker pieces. The final version should be two to three pages in length, and will be due Tuesday, December 16 (Day 2), and Wednesday, December 17 (Day 3). As you write this piece, keep in mind the comic strategies we have discussed in class: situation, characters, language, irony, pacing, and (with satire) exaggeration for the sake of critical commentary. Please type the draft and bring two copies with you to class. 

Homework for Wednesday, 12/3

1. Find examples of nine of the eighteen genres of comedy we identified and discussed in class on Monday. Simply list your examples in your journal.

2. Complete the first column of the handout distributed in class concerning a satirical subject in The Simpsons episode, "Crepes of Wrath."  

JV Basketball

To the right, below the slideshow of this year's authors and books, you will find two links to some things we will do with our offense and defense. For your own copy, either use the "print" link, or see Coach Jackson next week.

Assignment for Monday, 12/1 (Day 5), and Tuesday, 12/2 (Day 6)

For Monday and Tuesday, read the short essays from The New Yorker and the article from The Onion that were handed out in class. Write a journal entry (250 words) that responds to how these articles use comic elements in different ways. Be sure to comment on the visual elements of these pieces as well. If you misplace the readings, you can use the links below, but be sure to print them out and bring them to class.

International  Con Man Barack Obama (The Onion)

Play Nice (The New Yorker)

Animal Tales (The New Yorker)

Enjoy the weekend!

Homework for Monday, 11/24 (Day 3), and Tuesday, 11/25 (Day 4)

Find a humorous text and bring it to class to share with your classmates. The text may be a short video clip, an audio recording, or a reading. You must also write one-paragraph (in your journal) that discusses how the situation, characters, and language of your text contribute to the humor. If your piece is ironic, discuss the qualities that make it ironic, as well. 

Technical details: If your text is  on DVD, be sure to write down the timer markers for the beginning and end. If your text is online, e-mail the link to me so I can have it ready for viewing in class

 

Homework for Wednesday, 11/12 (Day 2), and Thursday, 11/13 (Day 3)

Write a transitional paragraph that connects the two sections of the paper on Antigone and the story from Uncle Tom's Children. You should continue to work on your thesis, and do anything else you can to improve the essay (find evidence for the Uncle Tom's Children story, make sure that you have interpreted or analyzed your evidence, make sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence that interprets some aspect of the story, and so on). Print two copies of the essay, and either e-mail it to yourself or put it on a flashdrive. This is the last class that you will have to work on the essay; you are off Tuesday and Friday, and the essay is due Monday, Nov. 17 (Day 4), and Tuesday, Nov. 18 (Day 5).

You are bringing two copies to class because with one copy, you will peer-edit your essays on Wednesday and Thursday; the other copy will be for me to compare to your final essay. You need to e-mail it to yourself or bring it on a flashdrive because you will continue to work on it in class. 

On transition essays consider the following from Floyd Watkins, et al., Practical English Handbook, 11th edition:

A transitional paragraph usually occurs in longer essays to indicate that the author has finished discussing one major point and is now moving to another. Transitional paragraphs can be relatively brief as the following example illustrates:

The women of some ancient tribes exercise a great deal of control in the family unit even though they have little political power in the tribe as a whole. The men, on the other hand, may rule the tribe but lack power in the domestic aspects of life. (PEH, p. 61) 

In the preceding paragraph, it should be clear that the first sentence refers to some aspect of the earlier part of the essay, and the second sentence refers to the remainder of the essay. The first sentence summarizes what has already been analyzed, and the second sentence anticipates what is to follow this transition. 

Homework for Monday, 11/10, Day 1

Write one page on a story from Uncle Tom's Children for the essay that you've been working on. E-mail this page to yourself or put it on a flash drive and bring it to class. We will continue working on  the essay in class. The questions for that section of the essay are posted below. In class, we will work on developing a thesis and working on a transitional paragraph from the Antigone section to the Uncle Tom's Children section. 

To clarify, the end product of all the work you've been doing and will do over the next couple of classes is an essay on Antigone and a story from Uncle Tom's Children. The final paper will be approximately four to five pages in length. 

Uncle Tom's Children and Antigone essay

Now that you have worked on revising the Antigone essay, you are now ready to begin writing about Uncle Tom's Children. The following reproduces the topics from the in-class essay, and adds directions for writing about your story from Uncle Tom's Children.

If you answered Topic 1 (whether Antigone is a tragedy), consider the following: In what ways is your story tragic (if it is at all)? Do you find that your story reverses the critic's statement about tragedy's imitation of real life? If it is not tragic, why does it not rise to the level of tragedy?

If you answered Topic 2 (whether Antigone or Creon is the central tragic figure), consider the following: Is the main character of your story a tragic figure? If so, is he or she tragic because of a major failure (like Creon), or because his defeat becomes a triumph (like Antigone), or because of some other criterion? If not, why do the characterization, circumstances, and other factors fail to render your character a tragic figure?

The final version of this essay is due Monday, Nov. 17 ( Day 4), and Tuesday, Nov. 18 (Day 5).

Homework for Wednesday, 10/29, and Thursday, 10/30

For Wednesday, those sections that received the in-class essay should type it over, edit it, and make any revisions necessary for making it a formal essay. These include making revisions according to my comments, referring to specific examples from Antigone, repairing the introduction, and the like. On Wednesday, you will receive the directions for converting this essay into a new essay that compares Antigone to a story of your choice from Uncle Tom's Children. We will have access to a laptop cart on Wednesday, so make sure that you bring a hardcopy of your typed revision and e-mail the essay to yourself so you can continue working on it in class. If you own a laptop, you may bring it to class. 

The section that did not receive their in-class essay (due to my error) should read and annotate the handouts distributed in class and write one journal that combines a response to both handouts. In response to the Margolies article, you should focus on your response to his analysis of Wright's writing; in response to the Miller essay, you should concentrate on the differences between Miller identifies between ancient and modern tragedies.

In-Class Essay Wednesday, 10/15, and Thursday, 10/16

In class on Wednesday and Thursday, you will have to write one essay about Antigone. For reasons I will explain in class, I have decided to offer the same two topics for all of the sections, and you will be able to choose your topic. Here they are:

In a well-organized and well-written essay, address one of the following topics. Be sure to skip a line and write on one side of the page.  You may not use your book, your journal, or any notes of any kind. 

Topic 1: A critic has written that "tragedy begins as art, which real life then imitates." With this observation in mind, do you consider Antigone to be tragic, or do teachers and critics overstate its tragic qualities? In your response, be sure to define tragedy, refer to specific aspects of the play (plot developments, characterizations, conflicts, themes, and so on) in support of your position, and discuss the connection (or lack thereof) between Antigone and real-life tragedies.

Topic 2: Concerning Antigone, one critic has claimed, "The play is about Creon's failure." Another critic has argued that Antigone's "very defeat is [her] triumph," which gives her a "sublime dignity." Based on these observations, who is the play's central tragic figure? Or, can you reconcile these perspectives and argue that the play is about both Antigone and Creon? If you select Creon, consider the following: What exactly is Creon's failure? How does this failure render him tragic? If you select Antigone, address the following: Is Antigone's defeat in fact a triumph? If so, how does this triumph render her tragic? If not, in what ways is Antigone a tragic figure?

How to Write a Journal Entry

With the reading from Antigone due next class, you will write your first journal entry without a prompt. Follow the guidelines in the Google document posted to the right that is labeled "How to Write a Journal Entry." The main thing I want to see in your journal entry is that you are thinking about what you have read. You should annotate as you read Antigone, and you should be prepared to discuss your observations, your significant passage, and your questions. If you have any questions, as always, don't hesitate to ask.

Grading Analytical Essays

Just to remind you of the the standard criteria I use to assess your analytical essays, I have posted separately the section of the syllabus labeled "How I Grade Essays." You can find it to the right with the links to other handouts that have been posted as Google Docs.  

Homework for Friday, 9/26, and Monday, 9/29

For homework, write one page of the essay that is due next week. You should type it, print it out, and bring a copy to class. You will find the topics below. If you wish to print out the topics, click on the link to the right. 

Topics for Narrative Essay due 10/1 and 10/2

Select one of the topics below for an essay that is due either Wednesday, October 1 (Day 5), or Thursday, October 2 (Day 6).  This essay must be approximately three pages in length. 

As you prepare to write your essay, look over the readings you have liked so far and recall our discussions of their strengths. Especially keep in mind that they employ specific language, use “I” only when absolutely necessary, incorporate dialogue, and have something to say beyond merely telling a story. You should strive to write your essay as though it is being considered for publication in a book like The Eloquent Essay. 

1.  Annie Dillard’s “The Death of a Moth” presents her observation of a moth as an analogy about herself as a writer. Write an essay that describes your observation of or interaction with an object, animal, or person that allows you to draw comparisons between you and you subject.

2.  Orwell’s “The Hanging” tells an anecdote in order to have the reader think about an issue that is of interest to everyone. With “The Hanging” as a model, write an anecdotal essay tha aims to do three things: to tell a very short, plausible story; direct your reader to think about an issue that has meaning for people beyond the narrator of the anecdote (preferably without directly identifying the issue); and plant enough clues along the way to suggest to the reader the attitude you believe he or she should adopt toward that issue.

3. Using Steinbach’s “The Miss Dennis School of Writing” as a model, write an essay that pays tribute to a person who has strongly influenced you.  Your essay should include some details of that person’s life.  In addition, the essay should clearly describe that person’s appearance, mannerisms, sayings, and impression on others.  The ideal essay will also show your interaction with this person and clearly explain what you learned from him or her.

4.  Following Iyer’s “In Praise of the Humble Comma,” write an essay that praises an object that is well-known and frequently used, but is nonetheless underappreciated. Realize, as you write the essay, that you are essentially redefining this object for your reader. That is, you must write about this object in a way that no one previously considered. In the ideal essay, the writing style will suit the subject matter, much as Iyer’s exaggerations were suitable to elevating the status of the “humble comma.”

5.  Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” explores her, and her mother’s, relationship to English. Write
an essay that explores how a person’s use of English influences how others perceive him or her. What does that person sound like? Would you describe his or her English as fractured or limited, or does some other adjective apply? Does that person’s language use limit his or her opportunities? The ideal essay will use that person’s words to capture his or her expressiveness.

6.  Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” describes the obligation of philosopher kings to put their talents in service to society. In contrast, his “Ring of Gyges” story describes the selfish use of a special gift, invisibility. With these ethical contrasts in mind, write an essay in which you describe how you would use a superpower. Which superpower would you want to have? What would you do with it? The ideal essay will identify the benefits and drawbacks of your selected
power, discuss what your choice reveals about you personally, and explore the ethical implications of your power (whether you would use your power selfishly, for the benefit of society, or would you keep it hidden to yourself and not use it much at all).

Revised Homework Wednesday and Thursday

Given the difficulties with reading Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," we will not read Crito, the Apology, and "When Free Speech Was First Condemned." Instead, over the next two classes we will focus our attention on the narrative essay that is due next week. Therefore, for class on Wednesday and Thursday, I want you to select one of the in-class writing exercises that you have started and try to turn it into a polished piece of writing. You may write it in your journal or you may type it up; it doesn't need to be more than a page or two pages in length. Whichever piece you decide to revise for next class, you are not obligated to make that the essay you turn in next week. 

As you revise the in-class writing, try to turn it into the first page or two of an essay that could be included in The Eloquent Essay. Pay attention to the narrative voice, descriptions and details, figurative language, dialogue, plot (if applicable), and so on. We will spend our next two classes working on these aspects of your writing.  

For next class, be sure to bring The Eloquent Essay, A Pocket Style Manual, and your journal in addition to your revised in-class writing.

Journal Response and Suggestions for Reading the Allegory of the Cave

Last year with Mrs. Luther, you participated in Socratic Seminars, where you had focused discussions on a variety of issues from your readings. These seminars are named after the main character in your reading for the weekend, Socrates. 

Like I said in class, Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a difficult reading, but I think it can be rewarding, too. The hardest thing to get past is its absence of quotation marks and identification of characters: it's hard to tell who's talking, and when a different character is talking. Let me try to help with that. 

The first "I" in the dialogue (p. 284 of your handout) is spoken by Socrates, Plato's teacher, who is leading a conversation with his students. The response "I see" is given by a student, a man named Glaucon. Each "I said" comes from Socrates; each "he said" refers to Glaucon. Here is a link to a web site that uses the same translation and has Glaucon's responses in bold, which makes it easier to follow. This site, however, stops about halfway through our reading. 

Later in their conversation, Socrates refers to "the State." By this, he means the government, and the conversation he has with Glaucon is part of a larger attempt to figure out the ideal form of government, the ideal state. So here's the topic for your journal response: Why does Socrates tell the allegory of the cave? What is the larger point he is trying to make by telling this story to Glaucon? Could he have made his point more effectively without telling the allegory? Remember, since I have your journals, write or type your response on a separate sheet of paper, and then tape it into your journal after I return it to you.

Enjoy the weekend!

Journal responses for Thursday 9/18 and Friday 9/19

For "Mother Tongue," consider the following question in your journal response: The stockbroker story is comical and the CAT scan anecdote is disturbing, but they both illustrate the same point. What is that point, and why does Tan include both memories in this essay?

For "Lying in the Tall Grasses," consider the following question in your journal response: Writing is often perceived as an intellectual exercise, but Opal Palmer Adisa wants the reader to think of it as something deeper, more visceral. (Click here for a definition of "visceral.") How does she manage to convey that feeling in the opening of her essay?

As you have written for the previous journal responses, your response to each essay should be at least 75 to 80 words for a total of at 150 words.

Journal Responses for Friday 9/12 and Wednesday 9/17

For "The Miss Dennis School of Writing," consider the following questions in your journal response: Miss Dennis urged her students "to tell an interesting story." Whose story is Steinbach telling in this essay? How interesting do you find that narrative?

For "In Praise of the Humble Comma," consider the following questions in your journal response: Why is the comma so important to Iyer? Why does he feel a need to praise it to the rest of the world?

As you did for the previous journal response, your response to each essay should be at elast 75-80 words for a total of at least 150 words. 

What is Annotating?

Annotating is writing comments, questions, and reactions to your readings in the margins of the book or handout. In order to annotate, you have to pay attention to both the reading and your reactions to the reading.

What should you annotate as you read?  Here are some suggestions your classmates offered today: 

• vivid imagery
  
• details and descriptions
  
• the speaker/narrator's emotions
  
• the speaker/narrator's personality (his or her persona)
  
• digressions or tangents that appear in the reading
  
• your questions about the reading
  
• the kinds of words the speaker uses (simple or complex, specific or general, concrete or abstract)
  

You may respond to many other aspects of a reading, but this list is a good starting point.

Homework for Wednesday and Thursday

For Wednesday, the class that met first period must write a letter to me explaining what would be the ideal English class.  It may be formal or informal in tone, but it must take the topic seriously. As I said in class, the letter should be about 250 words in length. (You may either type it or handwrite it; as long as it's neat and presentable, it's fine.) Among the issues you might raise are the the things that worked and didn't work in previous English classes, the reasons why they worked or didn't work, how your attitude contributed to your performance in those classes, how your teachers' methods and attitudes affected your performance, readings you enjoyed or disliked, and so on. 

The sections that met right before and after lunch Monday (E and A blocks) must write a journal response to George Orwell, "A Hanging" and Ellen Ullman, "Space Is Numeric" that answers the following questions.  What is Orwell's purpose in writing "A Hanging?" What is Ullman's attitude toward her work ? Be sure to use evidence from each essay to support your responses.  To clarify, this counts as one entry, and it should consist of at least a total of 150 words for the two responses combined. (This will be the homework for the even-day section.)

 

Welcome!

Welcome to English 10! Since you are reading this blog, you have received my e-mail about the summer reading. Throughout the school year, this blog will present previews, assignments, updates, and clarifications related to the course. You should use it in conjunction with the web site for the class (hosted on the MPH server) where you will find handouts and other materials that cannot be hosted on this blog. I am in the process of updating the web site for the new school year.

As you know, the summer reading is Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. (You might also be interested in reading this interview with the author and this article by the author, or listening to this interview with the author.) As I mentioned in the e-mail, you will have a quiz on this novel the first day of class. I also mentioned that you will have to write a paper on Curious Incident.  The essay is due Monday, September 15, or Tuesday, September 16, whichever day you have class. Do not hesitate to ask me by e-mail (fmontas@mph.net) any questions about this assignment. Here are the expectations and the topics for this paper:

Write an essay two to three pages in length that addresses one of the four topics below. Your essay must include information from the beginning, middle, and end of the book. 

In addition, I will look for five things in this essay:  that you can make a point, elaborate on that point, stick to that point, use evidence to support that point, and put all of these together effectively. Beyond these concerns, I am curious to see what you take away from reading a novel independently.

Topic 1:  Christopher Boone interacts with and relates to other people in ways that can make it difficult for them to understand him, and for him to understand them.  One area that’s difficult for Christopher is love and affection.  Do you think Christopher actually feels love for and from others (such as his parents), or does he process love the way he processes other facts about the world?  Or does he understand love in some other way?

Topic 2:  A critic has said that one important criterion for a great work of literature is its ability to make the reader feel both a sense of pleasure and a sense of discomfort.  That is, you enjoy reading a great work of literature even though it presents some unpleasant truths.  By this standard, do you think The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a great work of literature?  Be sure to discuss at least one specific source of pleasure and at least one unpleasant truth in Curious Incident.

Topic 3:  After an important discovery, Christopher observes, “…the mind is just a complicated machine” (p. 116).  What does he mean by this statement? What does it reveal about him as a character?  Could he have made this statement earlier in the novel, before this discovery? By the end of the novel, do you think Christopher still believes the mind is just a complicated machine, or does he understand the mind’s complexity in a different way?

Topic 4:  To some readers, Christopher may not seem very smart at the beginning of the novel, but we soon learn that he is, indeed, quite intelligent.  What is it about Christopher that makes it appear as though he is not smart?  How do we learn that he is, in fact, very smart?  Given the differences between what he appears to be and how he actually is, what do you think the novel reveals about the nature of intelligence?  By the end of the novel, how does Christopher himself understand his intelligence?