Tuesday, Nov. 13: Grammar, etc.
* Open
* Review Grammar 21-1, review and begin extra sheets
Then work on the extra practice sheets for 21-1 that you will find on Focus (in the Grammar section)
* Let this week (you can work on it ahead of time) J11: Choose one Collins and one Frost poem. Length = 1 pg. or more.
* Review Grammar 21-1, review and begin extra sheets
- Schwager's classes then take essay notes
- Dwarves (vs. dwarfs) are ok...Tolkien made it so
- Write out numbers under 100
- A hobbit is not a dwarf, even though they are dwarish in size
- Hyphen vs. dash
- No contractions
- Quotes (no more than 80/20)
- The Hobbit vs. a hobbit
- Yes: The theme is that adventure stirs secret courage in the soul.
- No: The theme is "secret courage stirs the soul."
- Do not use: Just, Really, Very (generally)
* Let this week (you can work on it ahead of time) J11: Choose one Collins and one Frost poem. Length = 1 pg. or more.
- Frost: Locate a key image or images, and discuss how that image communicates an idea you enjoy.
- Collins: Locate a key image or images, and discuss how that image communicates an idea you enjoy.
- Compare the style, tone, and structure of Robert Frost and Billy Collins.
- (Schwager) Last day for the Political Essay
- (Reno) None
Quarter 2 CWP
Quarter 2 CWP Assignment: A Christmas Blessing
1. Choose a child to bless.
4. Make a map.
5. Hide the gift during Christmas break.
6. Present the legend and map to the child.
Extra Credit: Operation Christmas child is a lot like our quarter 2 CWP. If you make a box, write a good letter to the child, and bring it to school by Friday, we (Schwager and Reno) will mark down extra credit for your CWP FD (up to 100%).
8. Due: Thursday, Dec. 13 (or 14th if that is your block day)
9. Grade: 25 pts
1. Choose a child to bless.
- Ideal age: 4-10
- You may choose any other age
- Try to think like the child you will be blessing.
- Make it at least a page in length
- You will need a RD and FD.
- You may handwrite or type this; handwriting is cooler.
- For the FD, make it look old
- White paper (no lines)
- Write it out on your page
- Coffee OR Tea OR other
- Oven (low temp!) OR Blow dryer or as is
- If you have any heat or flame involved, please apply it under the direction of your parents.
4. Make a map.
- Make it awesome.
5. Hide the gift during Christmas break.
6. Present the legend and map to the child.
- Small child? Help them find the treasure!
Extra Credit: Operation Christmas child is a lot like our quarter 2 CWP. If you make a box, write a good letter to the child, and bring it to school by Friday, we (Schwager and Reno) will mark down extra credit for your CWP FD (up to 100%).
8. Due: Thursday, Dec. 13 (or 14th if that is your block day)
9. Grade: 25 pts
- up to 10 points for an awesome story or poem
- up to 5 points for perfect grammar
- up to 5 points for artful page work/decoration
- up to 5 points for an artful map
Monday, Nov. 12: Collins
* Open
* Note that the Lit to Go link is now on the right side of the blog with the other class books.
* Schwager: FD Essay Reviewed
If we have time:
* Review J10: Frost. What do we learn from these poems?
* Collins and Frost (keep on reading)
* J11: Choose one Collins and one Frost poem. Due block day. Length = 1 pg. or more.
HW:
* Note that the Lit to Go link is now on the right side of the blog with the other class books.
* Schwager: FD Essay Reviewed
- Some Requested that we Take on a Political Subject
- A good way to do this is to go back through the five common topics with a challenging subject.
- We will give this a shot in class.
- If you are absent, please get notes from a student who was in class.
If we have time:
* Review J10: Frost. What do we learn from these poems?
* Collins and Frost (keep on reading)
* J11: Choose one Collins and one Frost poem. Due block day. Length = 1 pg. or more.
- Frost: Locate a key image or images, and discuss how that image communicates an idea you enjoy.
- Collins: Locate a key image or images, and discuss how that image communicates an idea you enjoy.
- Compare the style, tone, and structure of Robert Frost and Billy Collins.
HW:
- (Schwager) Keep Reading Robert Frost and Billy Collins from your text or the Poetry Foundation (or...books =)
- (Reno) If you've finished the LTOW worksheets on parallelism, then take a rest; if not, work!
Block Day, Week 12: FD, Grammar, Poetry
* Open
* (Schwager) FD Collection
* Grammar
* (Schwager) Billy Collins (if you have the Bedford Lit to Go online text)
* (Schwager) Billy Collins (if you don't have the text; no problema)
* Done early? Please write something kind for Mrs. Martha Price.
HW:
- Mrs. Price's Birthday is this Saturday. Write a card if you get done early today.
- Veteran's Day is on Sunday the 11th. Honor veterans among your family and friends.
 |
| Mrs. Price is the Second from the Left |
* (Schwager) FD Collection
- Please underline your thesis
- Be sure works cited is attached
- Staple nicely (only FD, not RD or outline)
- Place on the center table
- Do you actually cite anything in the essay that makes the Works Cited necessary? You should have two different sources, at least, cited.
- Turn in window: I will accept this essay until Wed., Nov. 14. with no points deducted for timing. You will score 50% or lower if turned in after class on Wed.
* Grammar
- See the link on the right side for Grammar: Bedford.
- Do Ex. 21-2 (Grammatical Sentences, Agreement...at the end of section K)
- You already have the notes on this from last week in your binder...just review them and exercise 21-1.
- You need to write out the sentence to correct it if it is not correct
- You write "correct" if it is ok
- You don't write correct when in doubt because you are lazy
- Do all letters and numbers
* (Schwager) Billy Collins (if you have the Bedford Lit to Go online text)
 |
| Portrait of Billy Collins by Seamus Berkeley |
- Remember, you had a user name and pass code from the business office...ages ago. You may have to dig into your inbox a bit. If you can't find the info., it's ok (see below).
- Go to chapter 20: Poetry in Depth: Billy Collins
- Read "Introduction to Poetry" Text pg. 364
- More with Collins: Text Pg. 525 ff.
- Read at least three poems and commentary.
- From a computer at home: Action Poetry
* (Schwager) Billy Collins (if you don't have the text; no problema)
- Intro. 1: Text
- Intro. 2: An Audio Intro.
- "Introduction to Poetry"
- List of Poems: read at least five (choose ones that do not have a P next to them as they load better/faster)
- From a computer at home: Action Poetry
- Check A Guide to Sorting (pgs. 13-15)
- Fill out The Introductory Persuasive Essay Worksheet (pgs. 16-17)
- Do all pages of Scheme 1: Parallelism (pgs. 19-24)
* Done early? Please write something kind for Mrs. Martha Price.
HW:
- (Reno)
- Grammar- Bedford 21-2
- Fill out The Introductory Persuasive Essay Worksheet (pgs. 16-17)
- Do all pages of Scheme 1: Parallelism (pgs. 19-24)
- (Schwager)
- Grammar- Bedford 21-2
- Read at least three poems and the commentary by Billy Collins
Schwager's Chapel Group: My Sister, My Bride (Song of Solomon 4:12)
Question: How am I to relate to young ladies now? And when I wish to pursue marriage?
Personal Perspective
* Home and School
* Stories
What do you already know of sisters and brides?
Original Perspective
* Stories
What do you already know of sisters and brides?
Original Perspective
- Dragon in the Garden. What Adam should have been: defender, protector, tender, watchful. The Bible uses words like "cherish, nourish, provide, bless" for actions a husband should have toward his wife.
- Abraham: Genesis 18:19 ff. He will teach his children to keep the way of the Lord.
- Samson, David, etc.
- Proverbial Reminders. Bad advice is bad company and corrupts good character. Prov. 4; Prov. 5. Keep strength, honor, money, and authority.
- You are building your future today. You family is your future, much more than your work. Think on examples (the artistic complex, Cupid syndrome, etc.).
- What is the difference between a boy and a man? A man takes responsibility for himself and others.
Tuesday, Nov. 6: Essay Work
HW:
- Rough Draft (Schwager)
- (Reno) - Make an ANI chart using the information from your 5 Common Topics worksheet (you must have between 12-15 details for each column)
Sophocles' Background by Michael J. Cummings
Source: Michael J. Cummings
Sophocles' handling of human tragedy was influenced, in part, by the tragedies of war. During his lifetime he had witnessed the devastating Persian and Peloponnesian wars and even participated in a war when he served as a general with Pericles to quell rebellion on Samos, an Aegean island.
Although Sophocles (496--406 B.C.) died more than twenty-four centuries ago,
he continues to live today in his plays as one of history's greatest writers.
Only seven of his one hundred twenty-three dramas survive intact, but they are
enough to prompt his admirers to regard him as the equal of Shakespeare, or
nearly so. One can only wonder how Sophocles would rank if all of his plays had
survived.
His themes–justice, pride, obstinacy, flawed humanity, and
the struggle between destiny and free will–are as timely today as they were in
his own time. Aristotle lauded Sophocles as the supreme dramatist, maintaining
that Oedipus the King was a model for all playwrights to imitate.
Sophocles was born a mile northwest of Athens in the deme
(township) of Colonus between 497 and 495 B.C. Because his father, Sophillus,
shared in the profits of a successful family weapons and armor manufactory,
Sophocles was a child of advantage, enjoying the comforts of the privileged and
receiving an education that undergirded his natural talents. He studied poetry,
dance, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, law, athletics, and military
tactics. He also studied music and became accomplished at playing the cithara,
a stringed instrument resembling the lyre of the harp family.
In spite of his aristocratic background and entitlements,
Sophocles was a man of the people: kindly, generous, popular. Fellow Athenians
esteemed him highly throughout his life. That he was quite handsome may have
helped bolster his popularity.
Sophocles earned his entry into the Athenian literary world
with a play entitled Triptolemus, which does not survive. He used it in 468 to
defeat another outstanding dramatist, Aeschylus, in a writing competition.
Competing plays were performed in a theater dedicated to Dionysus, the god of
wine and revelry. Sophocles went on to win about two dozen more drama awards
against Aeschylus and other extraordinary writers. It is said that he sometimes
acted in plays. On one occasion, he reportedly presented a juggling act that
dazzled the audience.
Sophocles' Innovations
Until Sophocles' time, dramatists wrote tragedies three at a
time. The second play continued the action of the first, and the third play
continued the action of the second. The entire three-play series of tragedies
was called a trilogy. Sophocles broke with tradition by writing single plays
that stood alone as dramatic units. Ajax is an example of a stand-alone
Sophocles play. The Oedipus series of plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at
Colonus and Antigone) is not technically a trilogy (although sometimes referred
to as one) because the plays were written years apart as single units.
Sophocles also emphasized people more than his predecessors,
taking characters in well-known plots from mythology and dressing them up as
real human beings with noble but complex personalities vulnerable to pride and
flawed judgment. Audiences in ancient Athens did not go to a Sophocles play to
be entertained by a plot with a surprise ending. They already knew the ending.
They went to a Sophocles play to see how the characters reacted to the forces
working for or against them--mostly against. Thus, Sophocles' plays required
superb writing and characterization to hold the interest of the audience.
In portraying his characters, Sophocles raised irony to high
art, making the characters unwitting victims of fate or their own shortcomings.
The irony was both verbal (with characters speaking words laden with meaning
uknown to them) and dramatic (with characters ensnaring themselves in
predicaments charged with danger that they do not recognize but that the
audience well knows will lead to disaster). The audience knew, for example,
what Oedipus did not know (until the end of Oedipus the King): that the man he
killed and the woman he married were his father and mother. This type of
dramatic irony occurs often in Sophocles' plays, allowing the audience to
become engrossed with a character's response to a situation rather than the
eventual outcome of the situation.
Another of Sophocles' innovations was an increase in the
number of actors in plays from two to three, presenting more opportunities to
contrast characters and create foils. He also introduced painted scenery,
enhanced costuming, and fixed the number of persons in the chorus at 15. The
chorus also diminished in importance; it was the actors who mattered.
"The key to his work was provided by Matthew Arnold in
the phrase to the effect that Sophocles possessed an 'even-balanced soul,'
" drama critic John Gassner wrote in Masters of the Drama (New York: Random
House, 1954, Page 42). "He comprehended both the joy and grief of living,
its beauty and ugliness, its moments of peace and its basic uncertainty so
concisely expressed by his line 'Human life, even in its utmost splendor and
struggle, hangs on the edge of an abyss.' "
Sophocles' handling of human tragedy was influenced, in part, by the tragedies of war. During his lifetime he had witnessed the devastating Persian and Peloponnesian wars and even participated in a war when he served as a general with Pericles to quell rebellion on Samos, an Aegean island.
Besides military duty, Sophocles served as a city treasurer,
helping to control the money of the Delian Confederacy of states. He also
served as member of a governing council and as a priest in the service of
Asclepius, the god of medicine, to whom he was especially devoted. Well into
old age, he remained productive in civic activities and writing. He wrote
Oedipus at Colonus, for example, when he was over 90. It was that play which
saved him from a charge of mental incompetency brought by his sons. According
to ancient accounts by Cicero and Plutarch, when Sophocles appeared in court,
he read from Oedipus at Colonus, which he was working on at that time. So
impressed were the members of the jury that they acquitted him, apparently
realizing that only a man fully in charge of his faculties could write such
beautiful words. Sophocles died about 405. He and his wife, Nicostrate, had a
son, Iophon, who was also a tragedian. Sophocles and his mistress, Theoris of
Sicyon, had a child named Agathon. Agathon was the father of Sophocles the
Younger, also a writer.
Antigone by Sophocles
The Tragedy
- Online Text
- 1961 Video with English Subtitles (oh, yeah!)
- On Sophocles (our playwright)
- What are the approximate years of Sophocles' life?
- What did Sophocles do differently than other playwrights of his day (as well as those that preceded him)?
- What makes Sophocles deeper than and richer than many other playwrights?
- Terms (please define the terms section of your composition book):
- 1. Please copy down Aristotle's definition of a tragedy here.
- 2. Now read this lecture in groups. You will find definitions for the following terms.
- catharsis
- hubris
- peripeteia
- anagnorisis
- ataxia
- 3. Finally, review a short definition of tragedy and define catastrophe here.
- Video
- BBC: Ancient Drama and Democracy (59 min.)
Journal : Antigone (BG&T Condensed):Grab a book (horror of horrors!) or use this online text
- 1. Context: Who wrote it? Where? When?
2. Tradition: Name a specific story from the Bible that Creon or Tiresias or Antigone's character and actions reminds you of (consider Esther, David and Nathan the Prophet, Pharaoh). Explain the relationship briefly, and quote and cite from the Bible.
3. Composition: Copy down your favorite line from the piece. Describe the grammar, syntax, and compositional structure of this translation of Sophocles (Shorter, simpler sentences compared to other books you've read? Longer, more complicated or complex sententences compared to what you've read? Dialogue style? Seriousness?).
4. Distinction: What are the key images of the work? Which one is the most memorable? Why (please don't answer that "the reader could just see and feel it so clearly because of the way it was written"; a key image should be powerful and reinforce an important theme)?
5. Understanding:- A. Discuss Antigone as the protagonist and Creon as her antagonist. Use all of the applicable tragic terms to discuss them (see the notes you took in the background above). At least one term will best apply to Creon.
- B. What kind of view of life and world is assumed in Antigone? What creates the tragic tension? What would need to change for a positive conclusion to be possible?
6. Judgment:- A. What is a central, important truth that this play teaches high school students today? Include at least one quote from the play as you explain your answer.
- B. Provide at least two good reasons that this tragic drama has sailed through over 2,000 years of opinion, 7,772 miles, to beach in an obscure classroom in Watsonville, Ca, OR identify a text that should replace Antigone in our course and provide at least two reasons to support your replacement. Either way, defend your answer.
Essay Prompt
 |
To be ignored at almost all costs:
- A. E. Housman's "Fragment of a Greek Tragedy" (satire)
Political Essay
Prompt: Convince the reader to vote in favor of or against a cause or candidate of your choice.
Context:
- This will be a handwritten practice essay assignment (25 pts).
- Thesis due Mon., Nov 4.
* Voter Guides (for more info.)
- California Ballot Initiatives
- District 17 Representative to Congress (Sam Farr, incumbent) vs. Jeff Taylor
- Jill Stein: Green Party
- Libertarian Party
- Mitt Romney
- Pres. Obama
- Fact Check
- CNN Opinion (more liberal)
- NY Times Opinion (more liberal)
- Washington Post Opinion (more liberal)
- Town Hall (more conservative)
- Fox News (more conservative)
- The Wall Street Journal (usually pretty fair)
Audience: Your teacher is your direct audience. American voters are your indirect audience.
Requirements:
- Follow the LTOW model for the THE (structure and parallelism)
- Follow all MLA guidelines.
- Use and cite a minimum of two sources. (See Bedford 55, 56, 57.)
- Include a properly formatted Works Cited page.
- Keep a third-person perspective (one, voter=good; I, you=bad)
- Use good sources (mom and dad's voter guide; mom and dad and grandparents; good web sources)
- Citing mom and dad and grandparents: Use MLA interview format for a "Personal Interview"
- Handwritten Outline due Tue., Nov. 6.
- Handwritten RD due Wed., Nov. 7.
- Handwritten in pen, FD with a handwritten works cited due Block Day.
- Citation basics
- Works Cited Page
- Example MLA Paper...but you will do this handwritten...oh yeah!
Citations
- This is an example, "Yes, an example" (Schwager 3).
- Here is one from the ".gov website" (California).
- The voter registrations says, "Vote for a vacuum" (California 10).
Works Cited
- Alphabetical
- Notice that the second line is indented (opposite of a normal paragraph)
- A key difference between print and online citations is that online citations go by date of access and print sources date of printing. Date of printing is a year; date of access is a day month year (6 November 2012).
- One change, you do not need the url for a website...as it changes so often and may be accessed from different url's.
Examples
Interview
Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2000.
Voter Guide
California. General Election Official Voter Guide for Tuesday,
November 6, 2012. Sacramento: Secretary of State, 2012. Print.
Voter Guide Online
California. General Election Official Voter Guide for Tuesday,
November 6, 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
Web Image or Cartoon
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Artchive. Web. 22 May 2006.
Website
Romney-Ryan. Official Mitt Romney Campaign Site. Romney for
President, Inc. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
FD Collection
- Please underline your thesis
- Be sure works cited is attached
- Staple nicely (only FD, not RD or outline)
- Place on the center table
- Do you actually cite anything in the essay that makes the Works Cited necessary? You should have two different sources, at least, cited.
- Turn in window: I will accept this essay until Wed., Nov. 14. with no points deducted for timing. You will score 50% or lower if turned in after class on Wed.
Collins: "Litany"
You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine...
-Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.
Collins: "Sonnet"
All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now,
and after this one just a dozen
to launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,
then only ten more left like rows of beans.
How easily it goes unless you get Elizabethan
and insist the iambic bongos must be played
and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,
one for every station of the cross.
But hang on here while we make the turn
into the final six where all will be resolved,
where longing and heartache will find an end,
where Laura will tell Petrarch to put down his pen,
take off those crazy medieval tights,
blow out the lights, and come at last to bed.
and after this one just a dozen
to launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,
then only ten more left like rows of beans.
How easily it goes unless you get Elizabethan
and insist the iambic bongos must be played
and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,
one for every station of the cross.
But hang on here while we make the turn
into the final six where all will be resolved,
where longing and heartache will find an end,
where Laura will tell Petrarch to put down his pen,
take off those crazy medieval tights,
blow out the lights, and come at last to bed.
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