September 6-9, 2016 - Second Week of School!

Welcome back!  I hope everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend.  I enjoyed meeting you and I'm excited to venture deeper into the content of the class.  This week we'll continue with The Grapes of Wrath, discuss the independent reading, get an introduction to rhetorical analysis, and work on vocabulary and grammar. 

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Commit to one of the themes for the Independent Reading Project, share first impression of first book on the list.  Notes: definition of rhetoric, Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle.  Review of the simile, metaphor, personification (figurative language).

Dialects in Grapes of Wrath activity. Turn in Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 1 questions and discuss.  Read/act out Chapter 2 in class.

Note that there will be Grapes of Wrath reading questions from Chapters 1 and 5 on the Friday quiz as well as vocabulary, grammar, and summer reading questions.

Due:

Signature page of syllabus due by Tuesday, September 6. 

Turnitin.com permission form due back signed by September 7.

Sign up for TheWeek.com weekly e-mail blast (see sidebar for instructions).

Get supplies for class (notebook with tabs per syllabus).

Due Tuesday, September 6: read Chapter One of The Grapes of Wrath and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper: 1. Why does Steinbeck spend so much time talking about the wind? What impression are we supposed to have of the conditions the people lived in? 2. Do men and women still handle setbacks differently?  Explain your answer with an example (from history, current events, science, a personal example - something specific and concrete). 

Choose one of the ten themes from the Independent Reading Project list - choice due Tuesday.

Independent Reading: read the first 10 pages or so of the first book listed under the category you chose to get a feel for the book.  Be ready to talk about first impressions on Tuesday.

Homework: Read Grapes of Wrath Chapter 5, find and write down at least 3 examples of effective/original figurative language that you're ready to share next class.  (Similes, metaphors, personification.)  Find two more examples of figurative language that you read/hear outside of Grapes of Wrath and add them to your written list.

Study for quiz - Note that there will be Grapes of Wrath reading questions from Chapters 1 and 5 on the Friday quiz as well as vocabulary, grammar, and summer reading questions.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz.  Discuss Grapes Chapter five and share figurative language found in the chapter and outside of the book (from the homework).  Notes: Connotation, denotation - what is the difference?  Juxtaposition.  Finish reading Chapter 2 out loud in class.  Overview of Chapters 3,4, and 6.  Read Chapter 7 in class.

Due: Read Grapes of Wrath Chapter 5, find and write down at least 3 examples of effective/original figurative language that you're ready to share next class.  (Similes, metaphors, personification.)  Find two more examples of figurative language that you read/hear outside of Grapes of Wrath and add them to your written list.

Homework: Read Grapes, Chapter 7 and the first 10 pages of Chapter 8 (due Monday) and begin working on the Setting the Stage project that is due next Friday, September 16.

Independent Reading - be up to at least the first 20 pages and annotate.  Look for rhetorical techniques that the author is using to achieve their purpose.