Themes Homework

Homework/daily lessons will be noted here, with future dates at the top and earlier dates following. You can check my HOME page and the SYLLABUS page for further information. Be sure to check your Mercy email as well.

Not all internet sources are acceptable for in-class work--we do not, for example, prepare class activities using SparkNotes or SparkNote books--these are digest forms for supplemental review only. You may consult these in your own private study but no part is permitted for in-class work. Review the Plagiarism policy on my home/classes page to avoid penalty. The edition of texts ordered through Varsity Books is the authorized version--always UNABRIDGED. As stated in course guidelines [see Themes Syllabus], failure to have a hard copy of your book [or a previously approved online text] in class will result in a penalty of 10% off the next graded assignment.

Your last two tests (Punching Out/The Things They Carried and The Weight of All Things) will be available to you, if you wish to collect them, on Monday, January 22. I'll alphabetize these in a folder and place it on the table outside S10. Grades will be posted on K12 planet during the week of January 22. Please feel free to contact me by email or arrange a conference with me the week of Jan. 22 if you have any questions.

It was my pleasure to work with you in first semester. Good luck in your studies in term 2!

Please have your text, The Weight of All Things, in class on Friday, January 5 (Day 2). This reading is your homework over Christmas break. You were given a yellow handout to help you focus characters and places. Be prepared for a quiz today on the entire story.

Bring the study guide you worked on before Christmas with you today. This will help us review.

Class WILL meet today. We'll finish review of The Things They Carried (starting from the material you collected from your group review on Wed. 12/20/06. If you were absent Dec. 20, you will need to consult classmates for summaries of their assigned topics. This was a test review. You were given Dec. 11 week a handout summarizing the common themes found in Death of a Salesman, Punching Out and Things They Carried to anticipate comparison and contrast.

Extra Credit: 2 BONUS POINTS, DEPENDING ON THE QUALITY OF Information (in paragraph form) on Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" murals at the Detroit Institute of Art: Answer the following questions:

Why were the murals controversial? Did Rivera make any concessions as a result or did Art prevail?

Have both Punching Out and The Things They Carried in class Dec. 8 - Dec. 20. There will be questions on your quizzes from both texts.

During this time we will use small group discussion to focus on themes and literary elements of Things They Carried. You will receive participation credit for this work.

We'll read segments of Punching Out in class for 2-3 days. Your HOMEWORK is to read The Things They Carried. Prepare written work as requested in class. Handouts provided. Reading schedule follows:

The Things They Carried

MONDAY, December 11 pp. 1-66 plus activities handout 3, 4; 10, 11

Friday, December 15 pp. 67-136

Monday, December 18 pp. 137-end

Remember to have your copy of PUNCHING OUT (Jim Daniels) in class, as we will move into this companion story once Salesman is completed.

Homework this week: reading of The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien). You were given a study guide packet last week. Please complete pp. 5 (#1 only) and pp. 6, 7, 8, 9 which deal with material in the first 66 pages. We'll move into this story once we've completed Punching Out. Reading schedule follows:

The Things They Carried

Dec. 11 pp. 1-66 and study guide, pp. 5 (#1) & pp. 6-9

Dec. 14 pp. 67-136

Dec. 18 pp. 137 to end

Partial outline assigned to each student. Due Friday, Dec. 1, including passage proofs and Bibliographic citation of your edition of the text. Be sure to get clarifications as needed; also you can email me.

Final essay due today, along with title page, self-evaluation, and draftwork.

Quiz today on The Lovely Bones. Be familiar with at least 16 characters in the novel, as well as main plot events (think of the murder mystery plot line that provides some of the structure of this story).

Due Tuesday, Nov. 7: type an outline for the essay [handout provided in class Oct. 30 week], beginning with the given THESIS and including for each TOPIC SENTENCE [you were given 3 which you may use to get you started] at least two (2) compelling, relevant passage proofs (quotations) from The Bean Trees. I'll be available on Tuesday at announcement time to receive your work. You may email it to me on Tuesday by 3:00 p.m. in an attachment, but be sure to bring a hard copy the next day. SAMPLE OUTLINE was provided in class on Thursday, Nov. 2 and will be available as needed for your review. The second half--for The Lovely Bones--will be due Thursday, Nov. 9, with a draft paragraph due Monday, Nov. 13. This paragraph will encompass both stories.

Continuing discussion of The Bean Trees with a focus on conflicts in main plot and subplot(s). We'll begin shaping a possible thesis for our literary essay which will most likely involve this novel and our next one, The Lovely Bones.

Go ahead and begin reading The Lovely Bones. I expect that we'll be ready to quiz and discuss around Nov. 1 or Nov. 2. Here's an introduction that may help you get started:

"Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones has received complimentary review from many critics because of its powerful beginning and its ability to center on a gruesome rape and murder without morbidity. Susie Salmon, only fourteen years old, is understandably not ready to die, leaving earth and her loved ones. Having been snatched away before her time, she cannot divorce herself from the experiences she would have had if she had been allowed to live to maturity. Throughout most of the story, she follows the living persons she has known, sharing the grief felt by her family and friends and tracking her murderer until he finally meets his doom.

Interest in her story grows from learning the possibilities and limitations of her heaven as well as from sharing with her the experiences of several people whom she tracks. She manifests herself to her family and friends, many of whom sense her presence and even are sure they have seen her; but though she tries to speak to them, they cannot hear her. Even that lack of communication does not frustrate her or the reader but is merely accepted as the way things are. Only once is she able to bridge what she calls the "blue blue Inbetween," when she [borrows Ruth Connors' body]. The one source of frustration is the inability of the law to apprehend Susie's killer, but even that is corrected in the end. . . . Or has Susie gained new powers in her wide wide heaven . . . ? Only the reader can decide exactly. . . .

One other question arising from reading this novel is whether the dead need the living for a while after death. In other words, is the separation difficult for the departed, even though perhaps to a lesser degree than it is for the living bereaved? Susie seems preoccupied with watching the living and refers only occasionally to the activities of her friends in heaven." What happens that makes it possible for her to leave her small heaven behind? What happens to her friends and family on earth by the end of the novel?

Van Arsdale, Ruth L. Curriculum Unit. Westlake, OH: The Center for Learning, 2004. v.

Mrs. Koskela will bring the fujitsu cart and guide us through the Thompson Gale virtual reference tools. We'll begin looking for articles that are suitable for your research project.

Overview of The Bean Trees. Assignment for research topics (using study guide given in advance).

Each student will receive two topics and locate at least two relatively recent news articles about those issues. The study guide asks you to connect what you've learned to the story we're studying. Please provide a complete bibliography (along with urls) and a copy of the articles. Due Monday, Oct. 30.

Have The Bean Trees book with you in class today until further notice. We'll be examining themes and character portraits.

Our next study unit will be The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold). Have this read for Monday, October 30. I'll provide some background in class the week of Oct. 23.

DON'T FORGET: up to 25 points will be earned by recalling memory lines from poems by Billy Collins. This assignment expires Nov. 9.

Two "Blues" poems due today. Bonus points will be awarded for those who volunteer to read (or sing) their blues. [Don't be shy!] Review the handout given on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Have your Billy Collins' poetry anthology, Sailing Alone, in class. We'll be reading aloud today. Each of you has been assigned a section of the poems to prepare to read. We'll begin today and continue next week as needed. You also received a long-term memorization assignment [worth 25 possible points]. See handout distributed on Tuesday.

Today we'll test on the stories assigned for Black-eyed Susans & Midnight Birds. It might be a good idea to have your book in class.

We'll wrap up BES/MB stories by Alice Walker and review format of the test scheduled for Wed.

Have your Billy Collins' poetry anthology, Sailing Alone Around the Room, in class. You'll receive a reading assignment due on Thursday but the book will allow you to note the titles of specific poems we'll work with.

You'll turn in journals for the remaining BES/MB stories today. We'll finish review of White, Morrison, and Brooks stories today. Ask any questions you like about the Blues poems assignment due at the end of this week.

Our class does not meet, but I will be available should you have any questions about the assignment I gave for Death of a Salesman. We will quiz on the entire play on Tuesday, April 25. Be sure to have your book in class.

Written work due Tuesday, April 25: Answer the questions on the study guide for Salesman: #1,2, and 3 for both Act I and Act 2. If for some reason you do not have the guide, please get another copy from me on MONDAY.

In-class writing of composition response to The Lovely Bones (given Tuesday, April 4).

Due Wednesday, March 29 (Day 5) Reading of The Lovely Bones (first half). Go on to complete the second half for Thursday, March 30.

Today we'll review what we've learned about the three families--Hsu, Jong, and St. Clair--to assure we're not confusing them. Following this we'll turn to the remaining Woo family chapters (3), for which you have also prepared a tracking sheet. The Joy Luck Club

What a terrific class you are to work with! Today we will review the information you collected for the St. Clair family tracking sheet [prepared over the weekend]. There will be an oral quiz on the material, so don't lose your voices!

Introduction to The Joy Luck Club. Have the first chapter read for today. A study guide has been provided (March 1) to get you started.

Letter to Ms. Kingsolver due. Minimum, typed, 2 pages, double-spaced. Use letter format. Draw from "Our Sense of Self and the World" handout #6 and use theme threads shared in class.