Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day #1: November 30, 2017

Focus: What does it take to be self-reliant?

1. Warming up by exploring your transcendentalist blogs and connecting self-reliance to your books (15 minutes)

• Priority #1: Finish your blog entries for "Self-Reliance" (and make sure your blog is accessible). Here are the directions from yesterday:
• Journaling...
  • Find 3-5 lines from the essay you appreciate/love/agree with. Enter them in your blog journal.
  • For each line you've chose, reflect and react. You can simply write, you can create a short video, you can draw and upload your drawing, or you can include a combination of photographs and writing. 
  • Use your reaction to figure out why you're connecting to the lines you've chosen. Why does this matter to you? Why should this matter to everyone?
  
  • "To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature...The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child." -- from Emerson's "Nature"
  •  I chose this image of my three-year-old and five-year-old, bundled up in sweaters, jackets, and hats, because they beg me each morning and afternoon to go outside. They enjoy the quiet darkness of a winter morning. They can't wait to kick their legs on the swings in the summer. In the fall, they chase leaves, In the spring, they taste rain and leave sloppy footprints in the leftover snow. When did I stop going outside to play? 

• Priority #2: Leave comments others' blogs. Intellectual reflections? Emotional reactions? Questions? Please be specific and thorough (much like Fishbowl blogging).

• Priority #3: In your book club book, try this out: Flip through the reading you've done in your book so far. Are there any lines in your book that connect to "Self-Reliance"? Or to the idea of transcending something? Mark them on comment in the margins, or add them to your blog or syllabus.

• As a class: According to Emerson, what must we do to be self-reliant?

2. Engaging in your transcendentalist book clubs: Day 1 (30 minutes)

3. Completing a quick exit ticket on your bookmarks:

• Name one success from today: What's one thing your book club should keep doing?
• Name one failure (if applicable): What's one thing your book club needs to do to improve?

4. Selecting one-minute speech topics for Friday

• Your speech needs to be 60 seconds long. You will have a 10 second grace window.
• You may have a prop or slides (not required, but you may wish to practice).
• It's preferable not to have notes. However, if that's too scary, you may have one index card.

HW:
1. Prepare to give your 60 second speech for tomorrow. You may bring a prop and/or use slides, but this is not required (yet). You are encouraged to try this without any notes at all, but you are allowed to bring one index card (don't use your phone). Bring headphones to class tomorrow.

2. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for next Tuesday.

Romantic Landscapes and Self Reliance: November 29, 2017

Focus: What does it mean to be self-reliant, and why did the Transcendentalists value self-reliance

1. Warming up by exploring American Romantic art and connecting back to "The Castle Builder"

2. Viewing a satirical criticism of millennials and their lack of self-reliance and creating a "Self-Reliance" post

• Before watching: What does it mean to be self-reliant? Create your own definition.

• While watching: To what extent is the video's criticism accurate? Do you think millennials lack self-reliance? What enables this?

• After watching: Based on your definition, would you describe yourself as self-reliant? Why or why not?

3. Taking time to read "Self-Reliance" and journal/blog

If you finish early, click HERE for a recent article about helicopter parenting.
Reading...

• Read Emerson's "Self-Reliance" (there's a vocab sheet if you're getting stuck).

• Let your eyes skim over the lines that don't interest you as much.

• Let your eyes settle on the lines that resonate with you. Underline them.

Journaling...

• Find 3-5 lines from the essay you appreciate/love/agree with. Enter them in your blog journal.

• For each line you've chose, reflect and react. You can simply write, you can create a short video, you can draw and upload your drawing, or you can include a combination of photographs and writing. 

• Use your reaction to figure out why you're connecting to the lines you've chosen. Why does this matter to you? Why should this matter to everyone?

• "To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature...The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child." -- from Emerson's "Nature"
•  I chose this image of my three-year-old and five-year-old, bundled up in sweaters, jackets, and hats, because they beg me each morning and afternoon to go outside. They enjoy the quiet darkness of a winter morning. They can't wait to kick their legs on the swings in the summer. In the fall, they chase leaves, In the spring, they taste rain and leave sloppy footprints in the leftover snow. When did I stop going outside to play? 

4. Wrapping up with a quick mini assessment on yesterday's grammar lesson

HW:
1.  Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Thursday.

2. If you were absent when we listened to our memoir feedback and completed the reflective sheet in class, please make sure you have submitted it to me; IF I DON'T HAVE IT BY FRIDAY, I WILL ENTER YOUR ESSAY GRADE AS A ZERO.


3. For Friday: Selecting a new one-minute speech topic or revising the one that you had before break; you will deliver your one-minute speech in front of the class this Friday. The most important thing: Focus on improving one aspect of your speech delivery that you identified as a weakness before break.

Going Book Clubbing: November 28, 2017

Focus: How do we set up successful Transcendentalist book clubs?

1. Warming up with  the role of Romanticism in American culture today

Typical, non-Romantic Clorox commercial
Clorox: Mermaid
Clorox: Pirates

• What elements make these commercials Romantic?
• Do you think the use of Romanticism is effective for selling this product? Why or why not?

2. Offering you an overview of book clubs: Your freedoms and responsibilities

• Click HERE for a sample book club syllabus.

3. Setting your own schedules and manifestos

• Fill out the bookmark: Which reading will be due which days? Who will be in charge of the syllabus each day? Please write this on your bookmark AND in your calendars.

• Create a shared folder called "Book Club Folder." It should be shared with each member of your group and placed inside your Transcendentalism folder. ALL SYLLABI AND CLASSWORK must be placed inside this folder.

• Complete your book club manifesto and place it inside your shared book club folder.

4. Wrapping up with Grammar You Must Know #3: Run-Ons


HW:
1.  Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Thursday.

2. If you were absent when we listened to our memoir feedback and completed the reflective sheet in class, please do so tonight and submit it tomorrow when you walk into class.

3. For Friday: Selecting a new one-minute speech topic or revising the one that you had before break; you will deliver your one-minute speech in front of the class this Friday. The most important thing: Focus on improving one aspect of your speech delivery that you identified as a weakness before break.

Romanticism with a Capital "R": November 27, 2017

Focus: What is Romanticism with a capital "R"?

1. Warming up three good things and a few Romantic questions mini writes:

• How are you affected by nature? Do you find comfort in it? Do you reflect the moods of nature? 

• What is the role of nature in your life? 

• What is meant by an individual's spiritual side? How to you define it? 

• Is there a connection between the individual's spirit and nature? If so, what is that connection? 

• What does it mean to know something intuitively? For example, has a parent or a sibling ever known something was wrong with you without having talked with or seen you? What do we mean when we say "I just know it"? 

• How do you demonstrate that you are an individual? Do you think independently of others or do you follow the crowd?

2. Visiting nature images and creating Romantic metaphors

3. Exploring the Romantic metaphor in Longfellow's poetry as a class and with a partner

• What's the central metaphor in this poem? In other word, what object stands for a larger idea, and what's that idea?
• ex: Lighthouse stands for paternal love 

• How? How do the specific qualities of the object connect to the idea? Consider the metaphor exercise we did earlier in class.

• Why? Why did the author create this metaphor? What's the larger message/theme?

4. Finalizing book clubs (size 3-5, strictly enforced)

HW:
1.  Complete your transcendentalist book approval form and purchase/check out your book NOW! You will need a copy in your warm, little hands on Tuesday, Nov 28. This will be a 10-point completion grade with a one-point deduction for every day it's late.

2. Selecting a new one-minute speech topic or revising the one that you had before break; you will deliver your one-minute speech in front of the class this Friday. The most important thing: Focus on improving one aspect of your speech delivery that you identified as a weakness before break.

3. WHAT? YOU STILL HAVE YOUR ELIC BOOK? FORK IT OVER!

Turning the Corner: November 17, 2017

Focus: How do we transition into our final three weeks of this semester?

1. Warming up by reflecting on your memoirs and finalizing your grades

2. Setting up transcendentalist book clubs: Click here for the letter, book list, and approval form
Make your wish list; find others who share the same interests (no fewer than three in a group, no greater than five)

Click HERE to find your makers and breakers:

• teasers
• sample pages
• book lengths
• reviews of the books

Book Club Meetings

• Tuesday, Nov 28 (you need your book and approval form by this date)
• Thursday, Nov 30
• Tuesday, Dec 5
• Thursday, Dec 7
• Tuesday, Dec 12
• Thursday, Dec 14 (book must be finished by this date)

3. Finding your speech inspiration for today

• Upworthy: Teachers thank students

• Brene Brown: power of vulnerability

4. Gathering personal stories for your speech topics

• Why does this topic matter to you?

• Describe a time (or several times) in which you had a personal encounter with this topic. Tell me the story. Let yourself be vulnerable here (easier said than done).

• Why should this topic matter to us right now?

• Where and how has this topic surfaced in the units we've explored so far? (Salem witch trials, cultural hysteria, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Gothic literature, The Village, Romanticism...)

OR

4. Researching the American history of your speech topic (making a timeline)

• Where has your topic surfaced in significant events in our country's history?

•  How has your topic evolved (or devolved, or wavered) over time?

• What kind of progress would you like to see (regarding your topic) in five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Tomorrow?

5. Staring to organize your ideas

• Click HERE if you'd like an outline to help you organize your ideas.
• You don't have to give a traditional speech, by the way. Spoken-word poems, songs, and other kinds of communication are welcome.

HW:
1. Have a relaxing Thanksgiving!

2. Complete your transcendentalist book approval form and purchase/check out your book NOW! You will need a copy in your warm, little hands on Tuesday, Nov 28.

Reflecting and Projecting: November 16, 2017

Focus: How do we reflect meaningfully on our writing and speaking skills?

1. Warming up by delivering your one-minute speeches in small groups

2. Reflecting on your speaking skills (15 min to present; 5 min to reflect)

3. Wrapping up by returning to your Gothic literary essay

HW:
1. If you have not finished your end-of-unit essay, please finish that by 11:59 pm tonight and submit it to www.turnitin.com (or hand it in tomorrow if you're handwriting).

2. Complete your transcendentalist book approval form and purchase/check out your book NOW! You will need a copy in your warm, little hands on Tuesday, Nov 28.

Mastering the Gothic Unit, Take 2: November 15, 2017

Focus: How can you apply what have you learned from the Gothic unit?

1. Warming up with a sample thesis and close reading

Sample Thesis: In The Village, M. Night Shyamalan uses the Gothic element of the forest's uncanny sounds to illuminate that our greatest fears result not from external forces but from our own insecurity and imagination.

In "House Taken Over," here's something to consider: What is being taken over by what?

Using Evidence:
My trick: I use a Level 1 statement (context/plot summary) to lead into the evidence.
I use some Level 2 thinking to lead out of the example (what does it symbolize? What Gothic element is revealed? What role does it play in the text?)
I blow the reader's mind with a Level 3 statement (what larger importance does it have?).

Sample Close Reading of One Quotation:
As "the monsters" descend upon the village, Ivy refuses to hide with her family, insisting instead on standing on the porch and holding out her hand. Her arm in this scene is outstretched into the night, and in the background, a red-cloaked monster approaches. The vulnerability of her hand symbolizes the strength of her hope and her belief in the power of love. It also foreshadows the bravery she will need later to enter the woods to save Lucius. Most importantly, Ivy's willingness to reach into the unknown dark represents that love, no matter how slight it appears or how much it trembles, should always overpower fear.

2. Using the checklist to see what your essay needs

3. Drafting/revising your end-of-unit essay

4. Submitting it to www.turnitin.com

HW:
1. If you have not finished your end-of-unit essay, please finish that tonight and submit it to www.turnitin.com.

2. If you haven't yet entered your final speech topic, take care of that ASAP!

3. Finish preparing your one-minute speech for tomorrow, Thursday, November 16. Use the rubric to guide your preparation.

Mastering the Gothic Unit: November 14, 2017

Focus: How can you apply what have you learned from the Gothic unit?

1. Warming up by applying Gothic elements to The Village

What is this film really about to you?

What's the larger message / theme? What should we understand better or differently after watching The Village?

How do the Gothic elements contribute to that theme?

• Gothic setting: How is the setting significant? How does it reflect the people who live there?

• Repression: What do the characters repress and why? Does it work? Why or why not?

• Uncanny: What's both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time? What disturbance does it create?

• Catharsis: What kind of emotional release do the characters achieve, and how? What emotional release might this film offer the viewers (us) and how?

Sample Thesis: In The Village, M. Night Shyamalan uses the Gothic element of the forest's uncanny sounds to illuminate that our greatest fears result not from external forces but from our own insecurity and imagination.

Using Evidence:
My trick: I use a Level 1 statement (context/plot summary) to lead into the evidence.
I use some Level 2 thinking to lead out of the example (what does it symbolize? What Gothic element is revealed? What role does it play in the text?)
I blow the reader's mind with a Level 3 statement (what larger importance does it have?).

Sample:
As "the monsters" descend upon the village, Ivy refuses to hide with her family, insisting instead on standing on the porch and holding out her hand. Her arm in this scene is outstretched into the night, and in the background, a red-cloaked monster approaches. The vulnerability of her hand symbolizes the strength of her hope and her belief in the power of love. It also foreshadows the bravery she will need later to enter the woods to save Lucius. Most importantly, Ivy's willingness to reach into the unknown dark represents that love, no matter how slight it appears or how much it trembles, should always overpower fear.

2. Taking the Gothic end-of-unit assessment:

• Please read the directions carefully.

• Take your time reading and annotating/journaling about the story.

• Brainstorm and plan your literary essay.

• Start drafting your thesis.

3. Wrapping up with an exit ticket to help me plan class tomorrow

HW:
1. If you have not yet started the writing portion of the assessment, please work on the Gothic end-of-unit assessment tonight. We will continue drafting tomorrow.

2. Prepare and practice your one-minute speech for Thursday, November 16.

3. If you haven't yet entered your final speech topic, take care of that ASAP!

Close Reading The Village: November 13, 2017

Focus: What do close readings of scenes reveal about the film's larger themes?

1. Warming up with three good things and a quick revisit of unclear pronouns

2. Indulging in a "Friday" freewrite on The Village and 9/11:

M. Night Shyamalan (writer, director, and producer of The Village) has stated that he created this film in response to the post-9/11 culture of fear and hysteria. 

• Where do you see this film specifically addressing post 9/11 culture? 

• What does this film have to say about our semester questions:
• What do Americans fear?
• What do we do to feel safe, and does it work? Why or why not?

3. Performing a sample close reading of a scene together to get you ready for your end-of-unit assessment on Monday

Gather evidence: List at least five specific details from this scene that could be read symbolically. Look especially for details that can be read in at least two different ways.

Find the pattern: Choose the three strongest pieces of evidence and highlight them. Brainstorm what ideas they have in common.

Connect to something bigger: Look through our Gothic mysteries and your Village viewing guide. Select one Gothic element that might connect to the ideas/evidence you just explored.

Draft a thesis: Compose a thesis statement that asserts how one of the Gothic elements reveals a larger theme (a Level 3 idea) in The Village.

Sample: In The Village, M. Night Shyamalan uses the Gothic element of the forest's uncanny sounds to illuminate that our greatest fears result not from external forces but from our own insecurity and imagination.

Draft a little more: Try leading into and out of at least one of your pieces of evidence with Level 1, 2, and 3 ideas.

HW:
1. Enter your final speech topic by clicking here.

2. Your final Gothic assessment, an in-class writing, will take place tomorrow and Wednesday during class.

3. Start preparing your one-minute speech for next Thursday, November 16. Use the rubric to guide your preparation.

Exiting The Village: November 10, 2017

Focus: What Gothic elements does The Village use, and to what purpose?

Reminder: I'm grading your Gothic journals; if you have anything you need to hand in, now is the time.

1. Warming up with mental jousting on The Village

2. Watching the ending of The Village with a critical eye

3. Composing a thesis statement about the symbol of your choice and posting it on today's blog

Ex: The Village uses the symbol of _______________ in order to illustrate that / criticize how / suggest that _________________.

HW:
1. Make sure your Gothic journals are shared with me; if you handwrote, take a photo and put it in Google doc in your Gothic Lit folder (you should have 4 entries, two of which have been graded).

2. Today is the deadline to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due today, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

3. Make sure you have entered your final speech topic on the sign-up sheet by this Friday, Nov 10. Don't worry if it's not too specific yet; look to your index cards, and work with one of the ideas you put on top when you ranked them in terms of personal interest.

6th hour: Click HERE to sign up.

4. Start preparing your one-minute speech for next Thursday, November 16. Use the rubric to guide your preparation.

Symbols in The Village: November 9, 2017

Focus: What symbols does The Village use, and to what purpose?

Reminder: I'm grading your Gothic journals; if you have anything you need to hand in, now is the time.

[If you were absent yesterday: Setting up our close reading of The Village

• Click HERE for the viewing guide.

• Make a copy and save it in your Gothic lit folder.

• This will turn into your Gothic unit assessment; please use the viewing guide thoughtfully and thoroughly.]

1. Selecting your one-minute speech topic for next Thursday, November 16; discussing your possible topics for your final speech

2. Brainstorming connotations of different symbols using the following: Your brain, research, the film

3. Watching The Village with a critical eye and wrapping up with new symbols and new takes on old symbols

HW:
1. Make sure your Gothic journals are shared with me; if you handwrote, take a photo and put it in Google doc in your Gothic Lit folder (you should have 4 entries, two of which have been graded).

2. Tomorrow is the deadline to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due this Friday, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

3. Decide on your speech topic and enter it on the sign-up sheet by this Friday, Nov 10. Don't worry if it's not too specific yet; look to your index cards, and work with one of the ideas you put on top when you ranked them in terms of personal interest.

4th Hour: Click HERE to enter your topic.

4. Start preparing your one-minute speech for next Thursday, November 16. Use the rubric to guide your preparation.

Entering the Village: November 8, 2017

Focus: What Gothic elements does The Village use, and to what purpose?

Reminder: I'm grading your Gothic journals; if you have anything you need to hand in, now is the time.

1. Setting up our close reading of The Village

• Click HERE for the viewing guide.

• Make a copy and save it in your Gothic lit folder.

• This will be a big part of your Gothic unit assessment; please use the viewing guide thoughtfully and thoroughly.

2. Watching The Village with a critical eye

3. Wrapping up with your viewing guide questions on the class blog

HW:
1. Make sure your Gothic journals are shared with me; if you handwrote, take a photo and put it in Google doc in your Gothic Lit folder (you should have 4 entries, one of which has been graded).

2. There is one week left to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due next Friday, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

3. Decide on your speech topic and enter it on the sign-up sheet by this Friday, Nov 10. Don't worry if it's not too specific yet; look to your index cards, and work with one of the ideas you put on top when you ranked them in terms of personal interest.

4th Hour: Click HERE to enter your topic.

What Are We Willing to Sacrifice? November 7, 2017

Focus: What larger ideas should we take from American Gothic literature?

1. Warming up with the reaping scene from The Hunger Games

• As you watch, try to make at least three specific connections to "The Lottery" (in your journal or in your notes--up to you).
• Why do you think the topic of catharsis of aggression is still so popular today?

2. Discussing "The Lottery" in grid groups:

• Pick any three of the discussion questions at the end of the story (or create your own). 
• Click HERE for the grid, make a copy, and save it inside your Gothic folder.

3. Creating a larger definition of American Gothic literature using art and quotations

• What ideas are Gothic authors interested in?
• What is a Gothic setting?
• What are Gothic characters like?
• What are some patterns you're noticing in Gothic lit?
• What is the tone of American Gothic lit? (Click here for some tone words.)
• What do you think the purpose of American Gothic literature is?

Texts to Review: 

• "The Lottery"
• Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" 
• "The Fall of the House of Usher"
• "The Tell-Tale Heart"
• "The Minister's Black Veil"
• The 4 Gothic Mysteries
• Google search "American Gothic Literature" for supplementary info

4. Setting up our close reading of The Village

• Click HERE for the viewing guide.
• Make a copy and save it in your Gothic lit folder.
• This will turn into your Gothic unit assessment; please use the viewing guide thoughtfully and thoroughly.

HW:
1. Make sure your Gothic journals are shared with me; you should have 4 entries, two of which have been graded). Click HERE if you'd like to check out the journal rubric.

2. There are a few days left to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due this Friday, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

3. Decide on your speech topic and enter it on the sign-up sheet by this Friday, Nov 10. Don't worry if it's not too specific yet; look to your index cards, and work with one of the ideas you put on top when you ranked them in terms of personal interest.

6th Hour: Click HERE to enter your topic.

Catharsis: November 6, 2017

Focus: What is catharsis, and how does it help us understand American literature?

1. Warming up with three good things and Grammar You Must Know: Lesson #2

• Please make a copy, save it in your grammar folder, and attack it!

2. Releasing Gothic Mystery #4: Catharsis

• Please make a copy, save it in your Gothic Lit folder, and explore it.
• If you're interested, click HERE for an article about the faulty psychology behind The Purge

3. Reading Jackson's "The Lottery" with a critical, cathartic eye

NOTE: WE ARE SKIPPING "A ROSE FOR EMILY" FOR NOW. 

READ "THE LOTTERY," which is the last story in your packet.

4. Selecting your one-minute speech topic

HW:
1. Finish reading "The Lottery" and complete your final Gothic journal entry for tomorrow!

2. There are 4 days left to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due next Friday, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

3. Decide on your speech topic and enter it on the sign-up sheet by next Friday, Nov 11. Don't worry if it's not too specific yet; look to your index cards, and work with one of the ideas you put on top when you ranked them in terms of personal interest.

6th Hour: Click HERE to enter your topic.

4. Start practicing your one-minute speech; you will deliver this on Friday, November 17. Click HERE for the rubric and use it to guide your preparation.

What Will Your Verse Be? November 3, 2017

Focus: What will your verse be?

1. Warming up with delivering lines/paragraphs from your memoir

"That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."

From Walt Whitman's "Oh Me! Oh Life!"

2. Brainstorming possible topics for your speeches on ideal visions of America

• As you peruse the links below, take out one index card for each commercial. 

• Jot down the specific vision of America that each offers. 

• Another way of thinking about it: What do we, as Americans, value? What do we want our country to be?

Michael Phelps/Rule Yourself
Women's Gymnastics/Rule Yourself
Jeep: Free To Be
Jeep Superbowl: Portraits
Liberty Mutual
Nike: The Jogger
Nike: Excuses
Nike: Extra Time
Go Army
iPhone/FIFA
iPhone/Olympics 2016
Dicks Sporting Goods: Gold in US
Visa Go World
Dove: How Our Girls See Themselves
Be Brave
Michael Jordan: Failure
Subaru: Daughter
Ram Trucks: Farmer
Ram Trucks: The Courage Inside
Still I Rise: University of Phoenix
Panera: Eat Clean
What Will Your Verse Be?

If you can think of other ads/short videos that focus on ideal visions of America, please e-mail them to me right away & I'll add them to this list.

3. Collecting, ranking, and specifying your ideals by personal interest and importance

6th Hour: Click HERE to enter your topic.

4. Starting the research process (if time allows and you're ready)

• New folder: Speeches
• New doc inside that folder: Research
• Speed-browsing for possible articles/sites that you could help you answer the following questions:
• What is your personal interest in / history with this topic?
• What is the history of this topic in the United States?
• What is the current status of this topic in the United States?
• What are the possible futures for this topic in the United States?

HW:
1. There is one week left to revise/redo any assignments from the past six weeks. This includes cultural hysteria essays, missed fishbowls, ELIC journals, Gothic journals, grammar fixes, and anything else in IC that doesn't accurately reflect your learning. 

All revisions/redos/make-up work due next Friday, November 10.

Reminders:

(1) If you're revising your cultural hysteria essay, you must conference with me before Friday.

(2) If you add to a journal or any other assignment, please e-mail me.

2. Decide on your speech topic and enter it on the sign-up sheet by next Friday, Nov 10.

Unveiling Mr. Hooper: November 2, 2017

Focus: Why does Mr. Hooper wear the veil?

1. Warming up with a row by row recap: Who? What? When & Where? Why?

2. Creating Level 1, 2 and 3 questions in small groups:

Level 1: Questions about plot (focus on the parts that genuinely confuse you)

• What is a parson?
• How does the community react to Mr. Hooper when he first starts wearing the veil?

Level 2: Questions about characterization, symbols, motifs, and other literary elements inside the text

• Why is it significant that the veil is black?
• What does Hawthorne mean on page 20 when he writes, "the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil"?

Level 3: Deeper thinking, philosophical questions about themes and topics that can be applied to other situations outside the text

• How does American society tend to react to things they don't understand?

3. Enjoying a silent Socratic on "The Minister's Black Veil"

4. Wrapping up with your take-away's from today's Socratic:

• How would you respond to today's focus question?
• What did somebody say/type today that really got you thinking?
• What are you still wondering?

HW:

1. FOR TOMORROW: Bring index cards to class on Friday; also, be prepared to share something from your memoir (anywhere between one line and one paragraph).

2. If you'd like to add anything to your journal entry for "The Minister's Black Veil," please do so tonight.

3. If you wish to revise the content of your cultural hysteria essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. 

All revisions and make-up work must be submitted by November 10 (next Fri).

We Wear the Mask: November 1, 2017

Focus: What does it mean to wear a mask?

1. Warming up with a three-minute mini-write: "We wear the mask."

2. Group readings of Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask":

Round 1 (Vocabulary): Footnote the words you don't know.

Round 2 (Coding): Highlight the words and phrases that you associate with "the mask" in one color. Then, highlight the words and phrases you associate with what's really underneath the mask in a different color. 

Round 3 (Motifs): In the margins, explain what patterns you notice among words associated with the mask. Then, explain what patterns you notice among words associated with what's underneath the mask.

Round 4 (Tone): Skim back through our tone words (linked HERE). Which word best captures Dunbar's tone? Support your thoughts with three words or phrases from the poem.

Round 5 (Context): Take a moment to look up our author, Paul Laurence Dunbar. What aspects of his life might connect to this poem? Write them down underneath the poem (if you need help, check out the image at the top of today's blog).

Round 6 (Theme): What do you think Dunbar wants us to understand better or differently after reading "We Wear the Mask"?

3. Reading and journalling "The Minister's Black Veil"; you may use the Gothic journal or your own journal (due tomorrow).

• Try incorporating today's ideas about wearing the mask, and/or... 
• Try bringing in yesterday's ideas about the uncanny (what's both familiar and unfamiliar about the minister, and what disturbance does this create?).
• Click HERE if you'd like a vocabulary list for this story.

HW:

1. BY THURSDAY: Please finish "The Minister's Black Veil" with a journal entry (you can use the Gothic journal entry or go back to your ELIC journal--pick the one that helps you the most out of the story). 

2. BY FRIDAY: 

• Prepare to share a part of your of memoir (somewhere between a sentence and a paragraph).

• Bring index cards to class on Friday; we will do some brainstorming for your big speech and develop some itty bitty warm-ups.

3. If you wish to revise the content of your cultural hysteria essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. 

All revisions must be submitted by November 10, which is the end of 12 weeks.