American Literature

1. American Literature Ms. Chaga Spring 2014

2. 28 January 2014 • Welcome to Ms. Chaga’s English class! • Daily Question (#1): If you had to lose one of your senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, hearing), which would you choose? Why? • Vocab (#2) • Syllabus (#3) • Letter of Introduction (#4) • Summer Reading Reflection (#5) • Chaga Cup Quizzo (+5 to winning team) • HOMEWORK: 1. Letter of Intro due TOMORROW 2. Syllabus, binder due FRIDAY 3. Summer Reading Reflection due on Google Drive (invite coming) for MONDAY

3. 29 January 2014 • Daily Question: How do you think human beings form their identities? Explain. • Vocab • Business items: Seats, Letters, Summer Reading questions? • Finish Quizzo • Themes Practice and Discussion (#6)– Pulse app or www.Pulse.me • HOMEWORK: 1. Syllabus, Binder due FRIDAY 2. Summer Reading Reflection (and summary/signature) due MONDAY (on Google Drive)

4. 30 January 2014 • Daily Question: Which of the course themes is most applicable to your life? Why? • Vocab • Themes Practice/Discussion (cont.) (#6) • Minority Literature Circles (SSR): Pre-Reading Activity (#7) • Glossing (#8) • “Story of an Hour” (#9) • HOMEWORK: 1. Syllabus and Binder due TOMORROW 2. Summer Reading due MONDAY

5. 31 January 2014 • Daily Question: Why do you think we “gloss” readings? (other than your teachers force you in an attempt to ruin your lives ;) Explain. • Vocab • Check syllabus/binder • Minority Lit SSR Pre-Reading/Choices (#7) • SSR– 15 minutes • Keystone Terms (#8)– (+) for KNOW, Circlefor NO IDEA, and (*) for MAYBE KNOW • Glossing (#9) • “Story of an Hour” (#10) • HOMEWORK: 1. Summer Reading paragraph w/ signature and reflection due MONDAY

6. 4 February 2014 • Daily Question: Do you believe Mrs. Mallard (from “Story of an Hour”– Friday’s reading) was happy that her husband was dead? Explain with evidence from the story. • Vocab • Business: Summer Reading Paragraph/Signature + Summer Reading Reflection (?) **I will check Google Drive tonight at 7. After that it is late. • Re-read/gloss “Story of an Hour” (#10) with focus • “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (#11) read aloud • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” for TOMORROW 2. SSR TOMORROW 3. “Story of an Hour” OSCAR quiz FRIDAY

7. “Story of an Hour” • Gloss with focus on… • POINT OF VIEW (1st, 2nd, 3rd limited, 3rd omniscient) • MOOD • SYMBOLISM • CONNOTATION/DICTION (word choice) • AUTHOR’S PURPOSE • IRONY • TONE

8. 6 February 2014 • SSR (make-up)– 30 minutes • LOG= 1. Date 2. Pages read 3. summary (3-4 sentences) 4. Choose one literary element on which to focus (example: point of view, tone, character development, conflict, diction…etc.) • Daily Question: Reread page 1 of “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Describe the grandmother using ONE adjective and justify that description using details from the story. • Vocab • Finish reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (#11) • “AGMIHTF” Questions with partner (#12) • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish questions for TOMORROW 2. SSR TOMORROW 3. Practice quiz 4. Oscar Quiz *changed* to MONDAY!

9. 7 February 2014 • SSR (make-up)– 30 minutes • LOG= 1. Date 2. Pages read 3. summary (3-4 sentences) 4. Choose one literary element on which to focus (example: point of view, tone, character development, conflict, diction…etc.) • Daily Question: What is the comment that the author is trying to make about human nature in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”? Explain. • Vocab • Finish working with partner on AGMIHTF Questions (#12) • AGMIHTF Literary Elements Quiz • HOMEWORK: 1. Literary Elements Common (80%) Quiz MONDAY (#2 pencil needed!)

10. 10 February 2014 • Daily Question: What adjectives (try to come up with at least 2) best describe the tone of the note? Use evidence to support your choices. • Vocab • Partner Practice Lit Terms • Literary Terms Common Quiz *use “Story of an Hour” (#10) • Gatsby Anticipation Guide (#13) *finish for HW if not finished in class • HOMEWORK: 1. NONE!

11. Gentlemen: I received your letter today by post, in regard to the ransom you ask for the return of my son. I think you are a little high in your demands, and I hereby make you a counter proposition, which I am inclined to believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, I agree to take him off your hands. You had better come at night, for the neighbors believe he is lost, and I couldn’t be responsible for what they would do to anyone they saw bringing him back. Very respectfully, EBENEZER DORSET

12. Terms to Understand • Author’s Purpose • Characterization • Climax • Connotation • Diction • Inference • Irony • Mood • Point of View • Symbol/symbolism • Theme • Tone

13. DIRECTIONS: • In partners… • DEFINE YOUR TERM (ex: Protagonist—The main character in a literary work that the reader empathizes with.) • INCLUDE AN EXAMPLE (ex: Peekay is the protagonist of The Power of One) • CREATE AN IMAGE to help us remember! • Be ready to explain!

14. 11 February 2014 • Daily Question: Take out your cell phones! Write 1-2 appropriate, substantial text messages you have received recently. When you are finished, raise your hand to show them to me; I may ask you to write one of your examples on the board. • Vocab • What skills do critical readers use to make inferences? • Discuss Gatsby Anticipation Guide (#13) • Begin Chapter 1 • Gatsby Packet (#14) • HOMEWORK: 1.Finish Ch. 1 reading and questions for TOMORROW 2. SSR TOMORROW

15. 12 February 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes • Daily Question: What is the relationship between Nick and Daisy and Tom Buchanan? Why is it an oxymoron that Nick calls them friends “whom [he] scarcely knew at all”? • Vocab • Finish Ch. 1/questions • HOMEWORK: Chapter 2 + questions due Friday (or Tuesday…whenever we’re here next)

16. 18 February 2014 • Daily Question: Write EVERYTHING you remember about the novel so far. • Vocab • Review/read chapter 2 • Hidden Rules of Social Class  #15 • Begin Gatsby film (if time) • HOMEWORK: 1. Chapter 3 with questions due THURSDAY (reading quiz) 2. Vocab quiz MONDAY

17. 19 February 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes (LOG: date, pages read, summary, and analyze a lit term from the reading. Possibly tone, mood, diction, setting..etc. WHY did the author choose it? What purpose does it serve?) • Daily Question: What methods of character development (direct/indirect) does Fitzgerald use to develop the character of Myrtle? How? Explain. • *No vocab. Quiz Monday. • “People Like Us” Day One (#16) • HOMEWORK: 1. Chapter 3 reading due TOMORROW *You will have a quiz! *Questions are optional but you will be able to use on the quiz! 2. “People Like Us” Reactions due FRIDAY 3. Vocab quiz MONDAY

18. 20 February 2014 • MS. CHAGA @ Model UN • Gatsby Chapter 3 Quiz • Daily Question: Do you think that people’s names affect them? Why or why not? What do you think are some of the associations with your name (first and last)? Do they fit you? • Gatsby Parties (#17) • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish “Gatsby Parties” 2. Vocab Quiz MONDAY

19. 21 February 2014 • MS. CHAGA @ Model UN • SSR– 30 minutes • Daily Question: Go back to your “Gatsby Parties” assignment. Considering the work you did, what do you make of the associations and connotations of the main characters’ names? Explain (Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, Jordan Baker, George Wilson, Myrtle Wilson) • Marxism and Gatsby (#18) • HOMEWORK: 1. Vocab Quiz MONDAY

20. 24 February 2014 • Vocab Quiz • Daily Question: Nick comments that the people at Gatsby’s party conduct “themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park.” What does he mean by this? • Review Ch. 3, Gatsby Names, and Marxism • Gallery Walk Discussion of “People Like Us” • REACT to the first part of the documentary. Use specifics. • Begin Ch. 4 • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish Chapter 4 and reading questions for WEDNESDAY

21. 26 February 2014 • SSR – 30 minutes (with log– 1. date 2. pages read 3. summary 4. reaction to lit elements) • Daily Question: Describe Wolfsheim. How does Fitzgerald indirectly and directly characterize him? • Vocab • Check characterization page (yesterday) (#19) • “People Like Us” Day Two (also #16) • HOMEWORK: 1. “People Like Us” Day Two Reaction Questions for TOMORROW 2. I will check Ch. 4 Questions TOMORROW

22. 27 February 2014 • Daily Question: What are the relationships between race or ethnicity and class in America? What is the conflict within the black community regarding class identity and racial identity (from yesterday’s viewing)? Your thoughts? • Great Gatsby Ch. 2-4 Small Group Discussion • Continue “People Like Us” Day 3 (#16) • HOMEWORK: 1. SSR TOMORROW! 2. Gatsby Ch. 5 and questions for MONDAY

23. 28 February 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes (log) • Daily Question: Is there a way to reconcile the push to “be all you can be” with the pull to “stay true to your roots”? Explain. • HOMEWORK: Chapter 5 and questions due MONDAY (if snow day, obviously they’re due Tuesday!)

24. 4 March 2014 • Daily Question: For the following quotation from the novel, identify the speaker, the context (who is speaking to whom, when), and the significance to the story: • “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart” (96). • Vocab • Choose two of the following symbols from chapter 5 to explain. First, say what it literally means, then explain what it represents • A. Gatsby’s outfit “white flannel suit, silver shirt…”(84) • B. The clock (86) • C. The weather (89) • D. Daisy’s reaction to Gatsby’s shirts (92) • E. The green light (finally explained!) (92) • F. The song that Klipspringer sings (95) • Gatsby Chapter 6 • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish questions for chapter 6 for TOMORROW

25. 5 March 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes and log • Daily Question: For the following quotation from the novel, identify the speaker, the context (who is speaking to whom, when), and the significance to the story: • “Can’t repeat the past? He cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” (110) • Vocab • Check Ch. 6 Questions • Gatsby Film • HOMEWORK: 1. We will be reading Chapter 7 in a Reader’s Theater tomorrow. • Pre-read if you get nervous reading out loud! Bring your book!

26. 6 March 2014 • Daily Question: Do you believe Nick is a reliable or trustworthy narrator? Is he more trustworthy than the other characters? Explain using specific evidence from the text. • Vocab (2 words– one from yesterday) • Chapter 7 Reader’s Theater • Nick’s Narration= Ms. Chaga • Nick = Shane (to 128 “By the way Mr. Gatsby…) Joe M. • Gatsby = Joe J. -- Ryan • Tom = Ed -- Mike • Daisy = Jess -- Camille • Wilson = Jarrett • Jordan = Morgan • Whose Truth is True? (in your Gatsby packet) • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish Whose Truth is True? for MONDAY 2. Chapter 8 due MONDAY

27. 7 March 2014 • Daily Question: For the following quotation from the novel, identify the speaker, the context (who is speaking to whom, when), and the significance to the story: • “Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don’t think he had ever really believed in its existence before” (117). • Gatsby Film Continued • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish Chapter 7 for MONDAY. DO IT! NO EXCUSES! It’s 10 pages. 2. Don’t worry about “Whose Truth is True?”

28. 10 March 2014 • Daily Question: What is the significance of the connotation of the word “Great” in the title, The Great Gatsby? Think how it might change if it were instead, “Gigantic,” or “Fantastic” or “Wonderful”? • Vocab • Chapter 7 Quiz • “Whose Truth is True?” (in packet) • HOMEWORK: 1. Chapter 8 with questions for TOMORROW 2. If “Whose Truth is True” is unfinished– due TOMORROW

29. 11 March 2014 • Daily Question: For the following quotation from the novel, identify the speaker, the context (who is speaking to whom, when), and the significance to the story: • “’You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end” (162). • Vocab • Finish Ch. 9 and questions • Gatsby Exam Review Sheet (#20) • Gatsby Film • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish Review Sheet for TOMORROW 2. SSR TOMORROW 3. Gatsby Exam THURSDAY

30. Focus Skills • Identification of literary devices (metaphor, oxymoron, simile, hyperbole, personification…etc.) • Comprehension (inferencing) • Vocab in Context (strategy to figure it out?) • Tone

31. 12 March 2014 • SSR – 30 minutes **you have 6 SSR periods in class left before the midterm essay! • Daily Question: Describe Nick’s “fantastic dream” near the end of chapter 9 (176). What does it say about how he views the East at the end of his time there? (Hint: “In the foreground four solemn men…” • Vocab • Review for Exam (#20)/Discuss End of Book (#21) • Gatsby Film • HOMEWORK: 1. Gatsby Exam TOMORROW (Review sheet and chapter 7 quiz for format)

32. 13 March 2014 • Daily Question: Who is morally responsible for Gatsby’s death? Explain. • Vocab • Review End of Book (#21) • The Great Gatsby Exam– I will grade your multiple choice section during lunch. • HOMEWORK: 1. Permission slips due TOMORROW if you plan on attending the assembly on Tuesday!

33. 14 March 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes • Please don’t ask if we’re finishing Gatsby. We will on MONDAY! • Daily Question: What do you think Veteran’s and writers gain from telling stories of war? Explain. • Vocab • War Literature Unit Intro (#22) • War Lit Circles Calendar (#23) • Lit Circle Roles (#24) *Choose a role with your group for MONDAY’s Lit Circle. • Veteran’s Interview Project (#25) • HOMEWORK: 1. First Lit Circle MONDAY; complete your role! 2. Vet Project due April 6th!

34. Lone Survivor • DJ • Jarrett • Jess • Ryan • Eddie

35. No Easy Day • Joe M. • Jack • Morgan • Steve • GROUP 2 • Arden • Peter • Joe J. • Tyler

36. The Yellow Birds • Chris • Mike • Esther • Will? • Camille

37. The Things They Carried • Leah • Alisha • Alison • Camille

38. Slaughterhouse Five • Shane

39. 17 March 2014 • Ms. Chaga Out Sick • Daily Question: What are the rules of writing about war, and who should shape the story? Those who serve? Those who observe? Can a novelist ever tell us things a forward-deployed soldier cannot? • War Lit Reading Time • War Veteran’s Interview Project (DUE Friday, April 4th) (#25) • HOMEWORK: 1. Lit Circle #2 TOMORROW 2. Veteran’s Interview Project due FRIDAY, April 4th

40. 18 March 2014 • Ms. Chaga Out Sick • Daily Question: How do you think your war literature text’s author would reply to the following quotation about war? Explain. • “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” –Plato • “War Literature Article” (#26) • HOMEWORK: 1. War Lit Circle #3 THURSDAY (with 3rd role) 2. Veteran’s Interview Project due April 4th

41. 19 March 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes (if you are finished your SSR text, use this time for your War Lit novel) • Daily Question: Which of the course theme topics do you see being presented in your War Lit text? Explain your choice. (Conformity vs. Resistance, Identity Formation, Role of Morality/Religion, Perception of Truth) • Vocab • Check-in • Finish Gatsby Film • HOMEWORK: 1.Lit Circle #3 TOMORROW (with third role completed for the section) ** I will check that you have THREE AND I will check the article from yesterday!** 2. War Veteran’s Project due April 4th. • .

42. 20 March 2014 • Daily Question: Which of your five senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, or touch) do you think authors use the most in their imagery? Why? • Vocab • *Check all 3 lit circles AND “War Literature” Article (#26) • War Literature Unit: Concrete Details (#27) • EQ: What was the author’s purpose for writing this literature? • Review Veteran’s Interview Project (#25) and example • Veteran Contact Sheet (#28) • War Literature Circle #3 **Begin with the discussion director, have each person share after that. • HOMEWORK: 1. Lit Circle #4 on MONDAY 2. Vocab Quiz TUESDAY

43. The Things They Carried • “The draft notice arrived on June 17, 1968. It was a humid afternoon, I remember, cloudy and very quiet, and I’d just come in from a round of golf. My mother and father were having lunch out in the kitchen. I remember opening the letter, scanning the first few lines, feeling the blood go thick behind my eyes. I remember a sound in my head. It wasn’t thinking, just a silent howl” (39).

44. Purpose/Effect • O’Brien uses sight, sound and touch in this passage. The humidity is something that is both seen and felt, and the quiet atmosphere after a round of golf helps him to point out how ordinary the day was before his draft notice arrived. Following his opening the letter, the contrast is clear: the sounds and feelings he describes are his head howling and blood thickening behind his eyes to show his deep physical reaction to having to go to war.

45. 21 March 2014 • SSR– 30 minutes (no log needs to be handed in) **Remember– you have 4 more SSR days in class before the midterm) • Daily Question: Describe the last argument you had. Did you win? If yes, how did you go about doing that? If no, why not? • No new vocab– quiz TUESDAY • Rhetoric Notes – (#29) • View Ethos, Logos, Pathos Commercials • HOMEWORK: 1. Lit Circle #4 MONDAY 2. War Vet Project Due April 4th 3. Midterm Essay April 8th, Midterm April 9th

46. 24 March 2014 • Daily Question: How might Veterans today be different than those in past wars/conflicts? • No Vocab– quiz tomorrow • Midterm Essay Prep #1 (#30) • War Lit Circles (*your 4th) • “The Wounded Platoon” (#31) • HOMEWORK: 1. Lit Circle #5 TOMORROW 2. Vocab Quiz TOMORROW

47. 25 March 2014 • Vocab Quiz #2 • Daily Question: Write a reaction to the portion of the documentary (“The Wounded Platoon”) that we watched yesterday. *If you weren’t here, what do you know or want to know about PTSD? (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) • Vocab • Literature Circle #5 (I will check 4 and 5) • Midterm Prompt #2 Brainstorm • Write a thesis statement and think of 3 supports. • Continue film • HOMEWORK: 1. Lit Circle #6 THURSDAY 2. Veteran’s Project Due Friday, April 4th! 3. Midterm Essay

48. 26 March 2014 • Daily Question: In the documentary we saw yesterday, Col. David Clark says this in regards to David Nash’s cocaine use after his deployment in Iraq: • “The Army can’t cure all the ills of society. The Army has go to be the Army and the Army has got to train on and be ready to fight our country’s fights. You’ve still got a mission to do. You can’t do that with this guy. He came from society. He needs to go back to society. • What do you think of this response from the Colonel? • SSR– 30 minutes • War Lit Essay Prompt (Rhetorical Essay)  (#31) • HOMEWORK: 1. Finish the steps for the Rhetorical Essay prep 2. Lit Circle #6 due TOMORROW 3. Veteran’s Interview Project due April 4th

49. 27 March 2014 • Daily Question: Does your War Lit text use mostly Ethos, Logos, or Pathos as its main rhetorical strategy? Explain. • Vocab (new list) • Lit Circles and Rhetorical Essay Prep (#31) • Finish “The Wounded Platoon” • HOMEWORK: 1. LAST War Lit Circle due MONDAY 2. Veteran’s Interview Project due Friday, April 4th3. Midterm Essay and Notebook Check Tuesday, April 8th 4. Midterm Exam Wednesday, April 9th **FYI– ALL late work is due no later than Monday, April 7th.

50. 28 March 2014 • SSR– read your War Lit text and answer the DQ during your reading instead of a log. • Daily Question: WORK ON THE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OUTLINE– specifically finding QUOTES with page numbers. • Vocab • 2nd half of class we will meet in the library. You NEED to be productive todayand I do NOT want to see phones out. Type your thesis, start to document your points (quotations from the text) • HOMEWORK: 1. Last Lit Circle due MONDAY 2. Veteran’s Interview Project due FRIDAY 3. Rough Draft for TUESDAY!