Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Happy Chanakuh

Super Solstice

Happy Holidays

Be warm. Be safe. I'll annoy your newsfeeds sometime next week. Haha.

Hamlet, I.v / "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" by Shakespeare

Grade 12

• Finished scene 5. Discussed Hamlet's behavior with special attention to lines 189 - 192:

"Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself—(190)
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
To put an antic disposition on— "

• Summary and analysis in notebooks.
• Will watch Act I after the break.
• Began Christmas episode of Sherlock Holmes, "The Blue Carbuncle." Will finish tomorrow

Grade 10

• Review poem; read aloud.
• Summarize/translate in notebook.
• Discuss, modify summaries
• Began Christmas episode of Sherlock Holmes, "The Blue Carbuncle." Will finish tomorrow

Hamlet, I.iv-v / "The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man" by Emily Dickinson

Grade 12

• PSA: It is my experience that January starts the crash and burn season for some seniors. Stay focused, renew your determination. The second marking period ends January 27th which will arrive in the blink of an eye. Your senior year will then be half over. Keep your eyes on the prize, people.
• Read Act I, scene iv and scene v up to line 119.

Grade 10

• Journal: What is the tone, mood or feeling of "The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man"? How do you know?
• Discuss
• If time, start "Shall I Love Thee..."

Hamlet, I,ii & iii / "The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man" by Emily Dickinson

Grade 12

• Finished scenes ii (starting at line 204) & iii. (Scene 2, Scene 3)
• Summaraies and analyses in notebooks. What is learned about all three characters (Laertes, Ophelia and Polonius)?
• Collected group B journals.
• Extra Credit Opportunity! Memorize a minimum of any 15 lines from the play and do a class presentation for a major grade!

Grade 10

• Journal: personal entry
• Check for back work.
• Collect analysis of "Metaphor"
• Read, annotate and discuss in groups, "The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man" by Emily Dickinson

Hamlet I.ii / "Metaphor" by Eve Merriam

Grade 12

• Act 1, scene ii lines 1-204 (Read translation HERE.)
• Group B journals due tomorrow
• Note: Group A journals will be due the day we get back from break. (1/3)

Grade 10

• Finish revising summary for "Miss Rosie" based on Friday's discussion.
• Read, annotate, sumarize "Metaphor" by Eve Merriam.
• Begin analysis. Finish for hw.

Computer Lab / "Miss Rosie" II

Grade 12

• Computer lab working on Monday's project.
• Checked creation myth annotations for a minor grade.
• Group B journals due on Tuesday!

Grade 10

• Journal: write from Miss Rosie's point of view.
• Discuss the poem, add to annotations, modify summary.

Hamlet, Act I, scene 1 / "Miss Rosie" by Lucille Clifton

Grade 12

• Continue intro. Read "Shakespeare's Hamlet" (pg. xiii in text) Briefly discuss.
• Read Act I, scene 1. (See tranlsation HERE.) Discuss as needed.
• Write summary and analysis in notebook.
• Note: Being in class and on time is critical for this unit. If you are absent, you are responsible for keeping up by reading the play (translation is fine) and writing the summary and analysis of that day's reading. These will be graded at the end of each act. Enotes has a decent translation HERE. Open the appropriate link on the left side of the page.

Grade 10

• Journal: personal writing
• Check practice analysis for "One Perfect Rose."
• Read, annotate "Miss Rosie" by Lucille Clifton
• Read aloud. Discuss in groups, tranlsate in notebooks.

Genesis 4, Cain and Abel / "One Perfect Rose" by Dorothy Parker II

Grade 12

• Discussed projects due Monday.
• 10 minutes in groups discussing the story. Each student was to generate at least one question.
• Large group discussion: Why did God reject Cain's offering? What is Cain's nature? What are the values implicit in this story?
• Analysis due tomorrow

Grade 10

• Group discussion of "One perfect Rose."
• Tomorrow, modify summaries, start practice analysis.

Genesis 4, Cain and Abel / "One Perfect Rose" by Dorothy Parker

Grade 12

• Review on the development of myth and the historical perspective of Genesis
• Read and annotate Gen 4
• Group discussion
• Large group discussion tomorrow.
• Analysis due Wednesday.
• Unit project distributed. Due Monday. See below:

Creation Myth UnitProject Options
Due date: 12/19

Maximum: Min 600 – Max 1000 words (Choose 1)

1. Write your own myth. This option should include expected elements; the creation of the world, cosmological structure, introduction of duality, etc. Consider the environment of the culture that would generate such a story. Sociological, psychological and cosmological implications should be implicit in the story.

2. Compare/contrast three or more of the stories studied in class. Analyze the symbolic significance of the imagery and how the imagery differs or parallels the imagery in other stories. Discuss the sociological, psychological and cosmological functions of myth explicit

3. Treat any one of these stories as a personal dream. Relate the story, modifying it as necessary, and analyze it in terms of its application to your own life. Be specific. Be descriptive.


4. Be the Devil’s Advocate: The serpent in the Garden of Eden demands a trial. Be the serpent’s lawyer and argue his case before a court. You may introduce elements from some of the other stories in his defense.

5. Design a creative project of your own. May be done in a group, but must be signed off by me.

Grade 10

• Show an example of a ctitical analysis of Danny Deever with attention to structure. (See the back of the poetry packet for an outline.)
• Defined lyric poetry as poems meant to express personal feelings.
• Read, annotated and translated "One Perfect Rose" by Dorothy Parker.
• Discussed in groups, modified translations.

Genesis III / "Danny Deever" IV

Grade 12

• Reminded classes of the goal of these analyses: sociological and psychological interpretation of metaphor and symbol.
• Read Gen 3 aloud. (Annotate!)
• Discussed in peer groups.
• Began group discussion. Didn't get further than the first paragraph.
• Continue tomorrow.
• Gen III analysis due Monday.

Grade 10

• Journal: personal writing
• Reread poem so far.
• Review, finish summary for stanza 3
• Close reading of stanza 4:
• silent read, annotate
• Read aloud, summarize.
• Discuss/modify summaries.
• Tomorrow: Summaries and journals will be checked for a grade.

Genesis I and II / "Danny Deever" III

Grade 12

• Review Gen 1 and 2. Discuss images not coveres yesterday.
• HW: Read and annotate Gen 3, bearing in mind that this is, arguably, one of the most important stories in Western civilization.

Grade 10

• Journal: personal writing.
• Reread and Review stanzas 1 and 2 of "Danny Deever."
• Read stanza 3 silently, add to notations. Take questions.
• Read aloud and summarize.
• Discuss.
• HW: read and annotate stanza 4

Genesis I and II / "Danny Deever" II

Grade 12

• Peer group discussion on Gen 1 and 2.
• Analysis due Thursday.
• Group B journals collected.

Grade 10

• Read, annotated, discussed and summarized first two stanzas of "Danny Deever."
• HW: Finish summarizing the second stanza if not sone so in class.

Genesis I and II / Hesperus Finale and "Danny Deever" I

Grade 12

• Reviewed the process of writing these analyses: Simplify image to its essesnce (archetype), predict a cultural value then societal behavior.
• Distributed Genesis handout. Read and annotate CAREFULLY chapters 1 and 2. Look for interesting imagery, process, etc. Compare the two chapters, how do the differences change the story's impulse?
• We'll discuss tomorrow and begin analysis.

Grade 10

• Journal: State the theme of "The Wreck of the Hesperus" and prove it using literary elements and specific details from the story.
• Intro "Danny Deever" by Rudyard Kipling.
• Read and annotate for HW.

Greek Creation Story II / "Wreck of the Hesperus" by Longfellow IV

Grade 12

• Distribute "Prometheus and Pandora" addendum to Greek Creation Story.
• Read and annotate.
• In peer groups, share annotations. Discuss in large group
• Analysis due Monday.
• REMEMBER: These are analyses, not summaries. The purpose is to interprate the imagery and predict how the story will impact the world view and values of the culture. 

Grade 10

• Review lines 65 through 76, annotate
• Students asked questions for these lines.
• Read lines aloud and summarized.
• Discuss, guided questions
• modify, add to summaries
• read to end of poem, annotate.
• same routine as above.
• HW: complete summary of poem in notebook

Greek Creation Story I / "Wreck of the Hesperus" by Longfellow III

Grade 12

• Shared the following piece: Who Are You? Writing personal statements doesn’t end with college applications.
• Returned the first analysis paper, collected the second.
• Began reading and annotating the Greek creation story. This is to be finished for HW and ready to discuss in peer teams tomorrow.  This is a much more complex story than the Haudenosaunee and Chinese stories. Prioritize what you're going to analyze. Remember not to try to rationalize the story line, but look for themes we've discussed in class.

Grade 10

• Journal: Describe a moment spent with someone important to you.
• Went over "Two Tramps" homeowork from earlier in the week.
• Continued "Hesperus." Read and annotated through line 76. No HW.
• Note: Summaries and annotations for "Two Tramps in Mud Time" and "Wreck of the Hesperus" will be checked next week.