The Man Who Was Almost A Man - by Richard Wright - A and J Bands

May 8, 2015
Watch and listen to the following New York Times Documentaries and write a reaction.

‘A Conversation About Growing Up Black’

‘A Conversation With My Black Son’

AIM: Where do you think Dave is headed and what's the first thing he will have to learn to do once he gets there?

May 7, 2015 - A Band and J Band
13 Silent Short Sweet Writing Minutes
Assignment #3 
Looking ahead to the year 2045.  

Write a letter to yourself that you will receive in 30 years.  In it, list, define, and explain four signs that will prove to you, (obviously when you are much older), that your life has had purpose.  What are those four things?  (possessions, events, adventures, accomplishments)  Why are they important?  

AIM: What, according to the people around Dave, is Dave's purpose in life?  What shows us that Dave is in rebellion against their sense of what his purpose is?

Film: Family Conversation scene.  
Text: Dave gets the gun.

May 6, 2015 A-Band
10 Silent Short Sweet Writing Minutes
Assignment #2

Is "The United States of America" a place or an idea of a way to live?

AIM: Why does Dave get his identity mixed up with Jenny's?  

Homework Writing Assignment: 
Read the following poem and listen to the song "America" by Simon & Garfunkel.

Explain what the song is trying to say about "looking for America."

"America" by   SIMON & GARFUNKEL

"Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together"
"I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And we walked off to look for America

"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've come to look for America

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all gone to look for America
All gone to look for America
All gone to look for America

May 6, 2015 J-Band

Silent Short Sweet Writing Assignment #2
Is a gun in the hand of a bully more or less dangerous than a gun in the hand of someone who gets bullied?

AIM: How is Dave treated by his peers and his parents?
Film: A glimpse at Dave's world: hard work, little encouragement
http://www.amazon.com/Almos-Man-Henry-Fonda/dp/B00UZK4RPO/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1430909070&sr=1-1&keywords=almos+a+man

Extra Credit: How many different "Englishes" are there in the story and why does the author use more than one kind of English?

Rules of the Game

Young Goodman Brown

• "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Essential Questions

What is Certainty?

Aside from examples from mathematics, list five things about which you are absolutely certain.

What does the phrase, "beyond the shadow of a doubt" mean to you?

People were once certain that the earth was flat.  Does that suggest that all certainties might free from doubt?

People once believed that matter was solid, not composed mostly of empty space.  Does that make anything about which we think we are certain, a little doubtful?

• Do you think the soul is stained with a mark each time a person goes against the voice of his or her conscience?

• Do you believe everyone should have a conscience?

• Give an example of how the conscience works to help us define what the conscience is.

• Could we have a civilized society if there was nobody with a conscience?

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• Give a short explanation of the differences among and similarities between doubt and faith.

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• Is doubt more honest than faith?

• Is faith more virtuous (strong and reliable) than doubt?

• Which outlives the other: does faith outlive doubt, or does doubt outlive faith?

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• Is it honest and natural to live without doubts?  Is it natural and honest to live dependent upon faith?

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• If a person is brought up to believe in the absolute goodness of faith and to regard doubt as a sign of evil, what would happen if, by accident, a little doubt got into his or her mind?  Would it spread its stain into the soul?  And once stained, is there any guarantee it won't remain there like a bad mark, all the way to the judgment day?

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• Young Mr. Brown ("Goodman is an old fashioned title that means 'mister,' as "Goodie" is the old fashioned title for 'missus.') has recently gotten married.  His wife's name is Faith.  Instead of going home, one evening, Young Goodman Brown decides to take a walk into a forest that leads to the outskirts of the village.  There, in the company of a guide, he witnesses things that causes him to realize that faith is only a half-truth in life's story.  He does not wish to be corrupted by doubts about human nature, especially about his neighbors' and his own parents' nature, so he tries to get back to Faith as fast as he can.  But does he get back to his old life unscathed and untarnished?

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• Is even just thinking an evil thought an irreversible stain upon the individual's soul?

• YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

The Black Cat - Edgar Allan Poe

Pre-reading.
"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe
In this unit we will read and listen to a short story and then discuss and write responses to some questions.
Additionally, we will use the story to help us develop our working vocabulary.  Many of the words Poe uses in his stories appear on the SAT and other college exams.

Do Now: Write answers in full sentences to each of the following questions.  

Your writing can be based on either real or imaginary events.  

If imaginary, try not to include ANYTHING truthful so we can let the class guess about whether your account is totally true or totally made up.

1. Did you ever tell someone that it wasn't your fault, when it was?  Or blame someone else when you did the thing that could have gotten you into trouble?  
2. Did blaming someone else actually get you into more trouble than if you'd just been honest from the start?
3. Did you ever something, like the weather, when things didn't go right for you?
4. Did you ever blame the sidewalk when you tripped?  Or a stone, when you hit your toe?

AIM: Is the narrator totally reasonable?  Totally credible?  Totally trustworthy?  Or a little of each?

http://coursesmrhedges2013.blogspot.com/

Vocabulary

http://www.vocabulary.com/lists/198768#view=notes

Discussion Questions for The Black Cat

1. Discuss the significance of the following quote: 'There is something unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of man."

2. What is the significance of the cat's name, Pluto?

3. Why did the narrator initially restrain himself from maltreating the cat while maltreating the other animals?

4. Why does he eventually mistreat the cat.

5. Describe the narrator's feelings after abusing the cat. why is that significant?

6. How does the narrator define "perverseness"? Do you agree with his definition? Do you agree that it is human nature?

7. Discuss the significance if the following quote: "[I] hung it because i knew that it had loved me, and because i felt it had given me no reason of offense; because i knew that in doing so i was committing a sin."

Where are you going? Where have you been?

April 13, 2015
Write a summary of the story, "Where are you going, where have you been?"

Show, using evidence from the story, how religion is a recurring motif in the story.  For example, explain how certain key words (e.g., church, hell, music, goat, guilt) are woven into the story. 

The title of the story suggests a journey.  What kind of a journey did Connie take?  For example, how does Connie see herself and her mother, at the beginning of the story?  How does her view of things change by the story's end?  What accounts for that change?

The Last Leaf A and G Band

April 13, 2015
Essay question: Did Old Behrman sacrifice his life for Johnsy or for art?



March 23, 2015

Review "The Last Leaf" - Test on the Story Today.

March 20, 2015

Do Now: Can a person's mood influence his or her attitude?

Can a person's attitude influence the way life treats them?

AIM: What lesson does the doctor think Johnsy must learn in order for her to get well?

What prediction is Johnsy making about her future?

Do you Understand the Story?  

1. Why did artists select Greenwich Village to live?
2. Who was Old Behrman?
3. Why did Sue cry a Japanese napkin into pulp?  What does that mean?
4. What did Sue bring with her into Johnsy's room?  Why?  What message is Sue sending and is hoping Johnsy's will receive?
5. Art sends messages, do we always take the time to receive them?
6. Give an example of Personification from the story.
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8. Why was Johnsy counting backwards?  What does that show us about Johnsy's attitude and mood?
9. Was Old Behrman a successful artist?
10. The Doctor says Johnsy must want to live but does not give her hope.  What will Old Behrman do?
11. What does Johnsy see through the frame of the window and what meaning does it have for her?
12. Even in windy rainy weather, why won't the leaf leave the vine?
13. What does the enduring leaf teach Johnsy?
14. At the end of the story we are surprised!  Explain how art, not science, cured Johnsy and chased Mr. Pneumonia away?
15. A houseplant is dying.  Tell it why it must live by telling it the moral or theme of O. Henry's short story, "The Last Leaf."

Homework: Write a poem with this in mind:

"Using your eyes as a camera, take a picture of something that you can always remember and which will give you hope when you need it."

Grades and Expectations

February 3, 4, 5, 6
A, D, E, G, J Bands

Do Now: Define what the word Expectations means and write three sentences using the word.

AIM: Can expectations affect outcome?

ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘defer action, wait’): from Latin exspectare ‘look out for,’ from ex- ‘out’ + spectare ‘to look’ (frequentative of specere ‘see’).

PLEASE NOTE: THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IS NOT ALLOWED DURING CLASS WITHOUT PERMISSION

Assignment #1 “The Grade-Check List”  

At the end of the Marking Period, ten points are deducted from your grade if you break rules 1-10.  (Ex. a 90 becomes an 80, 70 to 60, etc.)

The “E-Students” 

Arrive on time, always, and are rarely absent

Never cut class

Have their notebooks open within the first minute of class

Never call out, but raise their hands and wait to be called on

Never talk over others 

Are prepared for class with pen, pencil, paper, and homework assignment

Do not lose photocopies

Copy the board work right away or wait quietly for it to be posted

Always write in complete sentences and revise them when they need it
Take pride in their work, clean up, push in chairs when class is over

Complete the marking period with an average grade of 90 or above

The “G-Students”

Arrive on time, always, and are rarely absent

Never cut class

Have their notebooks open within the first minute of class

Never call out, but raise their hands and wait to be called on

Never talk over others 

Are prepared for class with pen, pencil, paper, and homework assignment

Do not lose photocopies

Copy the board work right away or wait quietly for it to be posted

Always write in complete sentences and revise them when they need it
Take pride in their work, clean up, push in chairs when class is over

Complete the marking period with an average grade of 66-89

The “S-Students”

Arrive on time, always, and are rarely absent

Never cut class

Have their notebooks open within the first minute of class

Never call out, but raise their hands and wait to be called on

Never talk over others 

Are prepared for class with pen, pencil, paper, and homework assignment

Do not lose photocopies

Copy the board work right away or wait quietly for it to be posted

Always write in complete sentences and revise them when they need it
Take pride in their work, clean up, push in chairs when class is over

Completes the marking period with at least a 65

The “U-Student” (There's almost always at least one.  Will it be you?)  ends the marking period with less than a 65  (Oh well!)