6th Term Blueprint

Dear students,

The end of the year will be upon us before we know it. This post will be a general guide to help you navigate what is coming.

We have, including this upcoming week of May 16 – 20 (week 14) SIX weeks before the end. I will be leaving a bit early for a trip to Italy, so we must wrap things up before then.

1       Week 14 (May 16 – 20) read first quarter of your book

2       Week 15 (May 23 – 27) quiz on first quarter, read second quarter, autobiographical writing, part one

3       Week 16 (May 30 – June 3) quiz on second quarter, read third quarter, autobiographical writing, part two

4       Week 17 (June 7 – June 10) (Monday June 6^th is off for Dragon Boat festival) quiz on third quarter, read 4^th quarter, autobiographical writing, first draft

5       Week 18 (June 13 – June 17) quiz on 4^th quarter, hand in autobiographical writing final draft

6       Week 19 (June 20 – June 22) (I leave Thursday June 23^rd) Final exam on book (formal assessment)

You can expect to address all of the standards shown in our course syllabus. Notice that in addition to writing an autobiographical narrative, you will be speaking about it. We will also have a homework assignment on writing a business letter. Otherwise, I feel homework will be limited to answering questions about the assigned reading, with possibly an article reaction put in there, and one or two graded blog assignments in which your reflections and comments will be considered.

PLEASE NOTE, that at this point, some students have not turned in all of the work for the second marking period (5^th term) and must do so by 10 P.M. Tuesday night or risk getting a zero for that assignment. I will attempt to email students to let them know if I feel they have something missing Sunday night (today).

Regards,

Mr. Catlin

End of Term 5 Notes

Hi there! I hope you enjoyed your mother's day.

I'd just like to put three things here now: 1) the calendar information concerning upcoming assignments for the next week or so exactly as it appears on e-learning, 2) general comments about term 6 (3rd marking period), and 3) mid-semester survey results and comments later when I have time to update it.

calendar information

Monday 5/9 Group presentations

Group presentations for Macbeth and King Lear. Each group will get a group grade - all the same, for one half of the presentation grade. And each individual in the group will receive an individual grade based on how he or she did on the presentation, also for on half of the presentation grade.

Tuesday 5/10 Group Presentations

Group presentations for Romeo and Juliet and General Shakespeare. Each group will get a group grade - all the same, for one half of the presentation grade. And each individual in the group will receive an individual grade based on how he or she did on the presentation, also for on half of the presentation grade.

Friday 5/13

Reflective posts HW12 by 2 P.M.

This should be the fourth Friday reflective post after you created your blog (that was HW9). So I will be looking for at least four posts to collect into a final HW assignment for this marking period. They should have included what went through your mind when you were reading our class materials or having class discussions, or what you learned or felt about that learning. You should have included something about a favorite author, the two weeks away from school, and this week put also write about a book you would like to recommend. You could also write about your interests or other things you are reading personally or even in other classes. Fix "blog creation" mistakes. Points added for excellent or deep writing and wonderful templates. MUST BE DONE BY 2 P.M. because grade 9 scores are due that day!

Friday 5/13

Extra credit due by 2 P.M.

This is the last possible day I can accept any extra credit! There is the Times of Upheaval article and When We Hated Mom article. For the first one, you can do a 150-word summary and a 250-word reaction, and for the second only a 250-word reaction is possible. Each fifty (good) words gets you one or two bonus points on a homework assignment. That is up to 26 points available. Then I also offered to accept a short report (I said 250 words, but it can go up to 500) on your two weeks in Malaysia and Singapore. For this, you need to write: what you learned about yourself, your classmates, something special that happened, what you learned about Malaysia and Singapore, and being a global citizen. You could also add sustainability and cultural sensitivity as possible substitutes or additional topics. Each fifty-word block of good writing earns one or two points on a quiz or homework, wherever it is needed most.

General plans for the next marking period

Read Fahrenheit 451 – make sure you have your book this week.

Do Autobiographical writing – get started early writing memorable scenes from your early life.

Maintain the availability of good articles every week, but if they are required, make the time to go over them in class.

Increase speaking in class – warm-up discussion, group work, literature circles, mini-presentations, debates, speaking activities and games, speaking tests (practice and for a grade).

Please continue weekly posts on your blog every Friday – that should make for five more.

Watch one movie – book to literature, preferably something related to something we are reading. Honestly, this movie watching may take place after I leave for break, see below. I have a pretty good version of Romeo and Juliet we may want to watch.

Note –I will likely be leaving for Italy some days early, and this will not affect our formal assessment, which will happen on 6/21. The writing portion must be completed early, by 6/17, I think.

Welcome back!

Update on Wednesday May 4


Besides the more obvious goals of this project, including improving research, presentation, and getting more personal with the content, I hope you understand there are other goals. It is my hope that you will have had a chance to connect with the community, either local or global, though doing this project. One way of accomplishing this is by posting some of your information on one of our blogs. A blog allows you to have an authentic audience, which means readers beyond your usual teacher. This could include other students at our school, people in your family or community, our country, or other countries.

It’s my intention to ask you to put your writing and/or Power Point information on to one of the blogs. I feel others should see the results of your hard work. Please let me know if there is any reason not to do this. With that in mind, things in the individual papers would be more likely to be things not posted online, I’d expect. Let’s assume for now that the papers will not be posted unless I specifically ask, and the information in the Power Points will be unless you say not to.

Here is cool website called "Bibme" http://www.bibme.org/ It is awesome, because you just set it to MLA format and type in the title of the book, and it does the rest. It will spit out a bibliography for you!

What you create is yours. It is your choice if it is put on a public forum such as a blog or not. I am encouraging you to do it, though, because I feel your work is praiseworthy, from what I can see of it. However, I do want to see the Power Points, for example, before they are posted. I hope you will get a good feel for the "authenticity" of it after more experience using the medium.

If you have worries about the schedule, or trouble accessing the school's e-learning platform, please let me know. Enjoy your upcoming days!

Posted on Sunday 1 May

We have material to cover in our readers this week, and quizzes and homework to go over from before the two week you were gone. And this week you must hand in your writing for the projects. For that I said I want one or two pages of writing with at least one reference. Now, to be more specific, I want MLA format. Use default margins, Calibri 12 point, and single spaced papers. You need at least 600 words.

The presentations themselves will take place next week. Follow the guidelines given before or email me with any questions, or ask in class this week. I am looking forward to seeing the results of your work!

Also, after you have prepared videos or Power Points for your projects, I would like to have access to them, meaning I would like the files transferred to the computer in our classroom. This part is for viewing and assessment purposes. Please discuss it among your group if it is OK to share it with future students, teachers, or on the Kang Chiao Creates blog, if worthy. I encourage you to post group efforts such as movies and Power Points to your personal blogs. When making such productions, keep in mind your global audience, and ask yourself what you have to say to them about what you have learned and can now do.

Project ideas

9F Shakespeare

 

May 1 update about 9:30 P.M.
Wow, that took a while. I went through Brush up your Shakespeare again and made a list of the phrases possible for each group. When possible, I hope each person can present two meaningful phrases (or more). Please look at the links on the right side of this page. Also, the e-learning site has the schedule for the next two weeks for our class and which group is presenting first. The groups who are going on Monday should get the copies they need first. Macbeth had the most phrases made by Shakespeare in that play that are famous or still used today, and the least was King Lear, I think, of these three. Looking through the book, Hamlet clearly had the most (which we are not doing this year, of course)! OK, I hope it helps!

May 1 update before 6 P.M.

A very unwelcome discovery:

Well, I DID find my treasured book called “Brush up your Shakespeare,” which seems to be out of print at the moment. It took a couple of hours of searching through my shelves, where it hidden behind some innocent-looking volumes. Then, I made a great effort to search through pages 1 – 192, “The Quotable and Notable (Famous Phrases from Shakespeare)” making lists for Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear, and also the section, pages 204 – 211, titled “Faux Shakespeare (Phrases often misattributed to Shakespeare)” for the “general Shakespeare” group. What a nice list it was! I had, maybe between 12 and 20 words for each group. However, the list is not to be found tonight. Blast! It must be at school. Well, I have the book, so I can try to put the phrases here on the blog later. I hope to get the copies to each group no later than Tuesday so you can incorporate them into your Power Points and presentations. We can discuss it together after you see the material, but it seems to me each person must do at least two phrases, but up to four or five is fine. Don’t just present the phrases quickly without understanding, though! It is better to just do a couple and know what it means (and enjoy it!) than go for quantity. It was fun looking through the book, and I hope you feel the same way when you see the material. OK, please check back later tonight for the lists, or link, and wait for the copies you will receive soon in class.

May 1 update (intital, around 1 P.M.)
I hope to come back later this afternoon with more details, but since I have emailed a student in the class, I thought I would share that info with everyone. I hope to come back between 3 and 4 and put more details here and the main blog about next week.

The basics of the presentations:

One famous scene with handout of original language: for this you can act it out or you YouTube

Then present the basic details of the plot (perhaps remind them, but touch on what was not shown in your book), the themes, facts not commonly known about your play, and words made by Shakespeare that appeared first in your play (I have a list now, which I will post on the blog this afternoon, and give handouts to the groups Monday). All of this should be in a PowerPoint.

Then choose a scene (or two) you like and act it out OR do a game (that reviews the info you just presented).

You also need to each give me a written report - only two pages with one reference - but original ideas, please! This part is graded separately. Also, and I did not announce this yet, the project part above will have a 50-50 group grade and individual grade based on my perception of your performance that day during your presentation.

More on the writing part, due this week:

I said the written reports have to be done this coming week. So for your class, please hand it in by Wednesday.

You should choose a character, perhaps, and describe how Shakespeare treats and develops this character. It does not have to be limited to a character, this is just one idea. Actually, you were supposed to tell me what you were doing about a week before your trip. So just choose an aspect of your play you want to write about, make sure none of your team-mates are doing the same thing, and make sure it does not overlap with something else your group is presenting.

MLA format is fine. I want default margins, Calibri 12 point single, spaced. No less than one full page (600 words minimum).

I had intended to put your proposals up here for you to see, but have decided against it. For one thing, one of the groups did not send me their proposal (Anthony's, doing Romeo and Juliet). Then there were some problems with the other groups. Lucya's group did send the proposal, but it was in white, so I asked for a resend but did not get it. White letters cannot be copied and pasted and I did not want to retype your email! Ann's group (doing Macbeth) had pretty good details, but selected four scenes from the play and left some doubt as to who would be doing what role. Vivian's group doing general Shakespeare things has some good ideas too, but it looks like they are planning to read that whole book I gave them, which was NOT what I suggested (see below) and I need the titles of the chapters each person will be doing, etc.

OK, so Monday, 4/11, we will need to spend more time on this. Here is what we need:

Give a brief outline of what happens in each Act of the play. Then, identify one (or two) scene(s) from your play for which you will provide handouts with original language. Then say how you will teach this scene to the class - using role play, YouTube, or another way.

Then, discuss the themes of this play. Identify any famous quotes, words coined by Shakespeare in this play, or things not commonly known about this play. Explain which person in your group is going to do which of these things, and some research on your part is needed because you can't have someone get up and say "OK, no famous quotes from this play" and sit down!

Finally, your group should have a role play of one scene you like (involving all members of the group) or a game about your play.

In addition, each member of the group needs to write about two pages on some aspect of the play - probably a character analysis - that includes at least one reference. Make sure your ideas here are original, and not simply a rewording of something you found online. This will be graded individually, and I need to know what each group member is doing for this part for the project proposal to be complete.

This proposal must be done by Monday! We have a quiz on Tuesday 4/12 on all three plays, so we will need to at least go over King Lear on Monday and review the other two plays.

Remember to also do a reflective post again this coming Friday. See the main blog for the weekly agenda - there is an article this week as well.

Previously posted:
Our class will focus on Shakespeare. You are ambitious! His plays do contain basic human elements which seem to appeal to all generations. We need to capture that appeal, and the wonderful original language, and have fun with our presentations and learning. Within this umbrella topic, there are a lot of possibilities for each group, so please read on and see what you would like. Your ideas may not be limited to what I have here! I expect the groups to have a clear proposal for me, and for now I will put the person with his or her name closest to the group letter at the bottom of this post in charge of this group. So, for example, Lucya is in charge of group A. Please collect ideas and get me your group's proposal!

For your class, I want the groups to have their projects finalized by Wednesday, April 6th. Each group should know what it is doing, and by the end of that class, each group member should have a clear idea of what he or she is doing within the group. Please be in touch with each other after reading this post and before Wednesday’s class.

Each group can give a brief outline of the play, and then focus on one or two famous scenes. How the famous scene is presented is up to the group, but I want the class to see the original language, perhaps with an easier “translation” or explanation. Make it easy for them to understand by using handouts, YouTube videos, or role plays. Then explain the major themes or ideas of the play, and what you have learned from it. Present some facts about the play that a lot of people don’t know and maybe some words, famous quotes, or ideas that came from the play. Each group member must write something related to the play – perhaps analyzing one of the characters – and that will be a separately graded writing part that will be combined with the other group members into the Power Point presentation. A video could also be made. The last requirement is to either do a dramatization (separate from and in addition to the famous scene) or a game. One example of a fun game I thought of, which I will tell that group on Wednesday, is “ Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (aka Who is the REAL Romeo?).

For group D, after looking in the contents of No Fear Shakespeare Companion, I suggest each student take one of the chapters from part one of the book (there are 12), and then the whole group include information from two or three other chapters in their presentation as well. For individuals to concentrate on, here are four chapters: 8: Where Did Shakespeare Get His Ideas?, 9: Shakespeare's World, 10: Shakespeare's Theater, and 11: Shakespeare's Language. Other chapters that have useful information to include in the presentation may be 1: What's so Great about Shakespeare?, 3: How Did Shakespeare Get so Smart?, and 12: The Five Greatest Shakespeare Characters (including Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth). This group will not easily do a role play, but will still need to either do a game or some other interesting part of their presentation, such as have a slide show of Shakespeare's theater and famous Shakespeare actors, and perhaps Youtube clips of famous plays (not the ones the other groups are doing) done by excellent actors. I suggest getting the No Fear Shakespeare Companion at Page One, if possible, one for each group member.

Here are some other ideas from Mr. Avni, which I handed out to you with some others before, but which I will put here again for you to consider:

A travel brochure - involves writing short descriptive paragraphs and adding pictures from the location.

Historical analysis - research into the history of the time the text was written and connect it with the text.

Compare/Contrast - Use another short text (poem, excerpt from a story) by the same writer and show similarities and differences.

Dramatization - Can be serious or comical.

Using the language of the writer (sentences and/or words the student chooses) to write a poem.

Literary analysis and metaphors - analyzing tone, mood, figurative language, sensory language, themes, or any other literary analysis taught in class and representing the analysis with symbols the student creates.

Remember, the project must have creative, presentation, and writing components. I expect that each student will produce a short written part and that the group will make a power point or a video and then have a presentation together. It is my strong wish that each group also have either a dramatization or a game for the class to enjoy as part of their presentation. You must at least do reflective posts on your individual blogs about your projects (perhaps multiple times), but if there is a Power Point or video, I hope you will link it to your blogs as well. Grading will be discussed clarified later, but expect an individual grade for your writing and a group grade for group effort. There may be some self and/or peer evaluation involved.

A Lucya, Cathy, Jenny (3) King Lear

B Nancy, Ann, Pauline, Joanne (4) Macbeth

C Anthony, Johnson, Henry, Ryan (4) Romeo and Juliet

D Paul, Jeffery, Tony, Vivian (4) Shakespeare in general

About Homework

Students always have access to their homework through blogs. The main blog should be checked over the weekend for the upcoming weekly agenda, which contains a reminder of the reading assignment, as well as any homework assignments or announcements common to all classes I teach. However, this class blog for the 9F class, that I call 9MLit34, will have much information right here. Homework will be abbreviated as "HW" below.

HW1 - a two-part writing assignment about your reading habits and how you spend your personal time, available on the main blog.

HW2 - a response to the updated questions to the article handed out during week one called Planets Galore, a link to which you can find below in the article post.

HW3 - About section one (pages 3 to 46) of Night. 1. describe a scene (setting or location) you read about in this part of the book. It should be about one paragraph long and include sensory details and how you feel about it. 2. Look at page 7 again where Moishe the Beadle is pleading with the Jews in the synagogue to leave. If you were there, would you have listened to him? Why or why not?

HW4 - This homework is about Night section two (pages 47 – 84), and is due on Wednesday, 2 March 2011.

1.      Describe what happened between the dentist and the author. What ended up happening to the dentist?

2.      There was a young French woman working in the warehouse who surprised him by comforting him in German after he was beaten. What reason did she later give for doing this? Where did they later meet? Why had she not been sent to a concentration camp?

3.      One day the author saw something his work leader did not like. To make sure he’d be quiet, what did the work leader do? For how long was the author quiet about it?

4.      There were times when the author was forced to look directly at other prisoners who had been hanged for breaking rules right after they had been hung. One time it was particularly upsetting. Why?

HW5 - This will be on section three of Night (pages 85 - 115). Follow this link or go to the e-learning platform. There are 8 questions with 25 answers and it is due on Tuesday, 3/8.
HW6 - Article - When Rich People Do Stupid Things. Attached questions due 3/14.

HW7 - This descriptive writing task is on the main blog and e-learning platform: due 3/14.

Second Marking Period (term 5 of this academic year)
HW8 - article: One Hundred Years of Multitude due 3/31 (questions attached, see link below)
HW9 - blog creation: blog up using blogger.com with link to main class blog (this one) and one other link (first gadget), two other gadgets, a welcome post, and one reflective post for the homework that week. Every Friday after that there must be at least one additional reflective post saying what you learned or what went through your mind while you were reading something for our class that week.
HW10 4/12 Article: Lady Gaga Gets Garbled on Malaysian Radio
HW11 5/6 Article: 10 Natural Wonders of the World to See Before They Disappear Reaction only: 250 words
HW12 5/13 Reflective posts on your blog 


Third Marking Period
HW13 6/2 Reflective posts on blog (need parts 1 and 2 of Fahrenheit 451)
HW14 6/3 Reflective post on your blog on part 3 of Fahrenheit 451 
HW15 6/8 autobiographical writing - 4 scenes from your life; 300-600 words each (25% each) - these were due over the last 2 weeks (2 early life scenes 2 weeks ago and 2 recent life scenes last week) and please choose 1 scene and revise it. It is due 6/10 as your formal assessment (exam writing) - extendable by individual request.
HW16 6/13 Business letter can be turned in Monday (available on blog and e-learning over weekend) or done in class Monday for 20 minutes.
HW17 6/15 D-day article (250-word reaction only)


Have a great summer! You deserve it.

Class Notes

Week Four

We went over descriptive writing using a Power Point and I should have given some advice about using sensory language, interesting adjectives, and complex sentences. As to Night, there will be no posting of new vocabulary from the third section of the book. Please review the vocabulary from the previous two sections for synonyms, and expect that other words from section three will be shown with the original sentence, and that you should be able to explain the meaning of the word from context. Key passages have been alluded to in HW5, but any others you should find from your own critical thinking and our class discussion during week five.

Week Three

To study for your quiz on section two of the book, learn these words:

Linger (47), altruistic (48), quarantine (48), pittance (48), conscientious (48), cynical (49), evoking (50), sanctity (50), infirmary (51), famished (52), defiance (53), imprudent (54), credible (60), dissipated (60), manacled (62), stifled (67), lament (68), transparent (78), amputated (78), deluded(80)

More key passages:

Page 49 – “He complained that they would not allow him to play Beethoven; Jews were not allowed to play German music.” A violinist.

Page 52 – “All right, son. Come back to see me when you feel better.” The dentist.

Page 53 – “He threw himself on me like a wild beast…” and the young French woman’s reaction.

Page 55 – “Look at the little officer, teaching the old man to march…” Why was he doing that? Did it work?

Page 58 – “I nodded once, ten times, endlessly. As if my head had decided to say yes for all eternity.” What kind of literary device is this? And why did the author say yes?

Page 60 – “Falling to the ground, his face stained by soup, the man writhed a few seconds at the base of the cauldron, and then he was still.”

Page 65 – “And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes.”

Page 67 – “Thousands of lips repeated the benediction, bent over like trees in a storm. Blessed be God’s name?”

Page 68 – “Each of us recited Kaddish for his parents, for his children, and for himself.”

Page 69 – “Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. Should we fast?” “I nibbled on my crust of bread. Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening.”

Page 72 – “I began to laugh. I was happy. I felt like kissing him. At that moment, the others did not matter! They had not written me down.”

Page 75 – “Then he began to run, to try to catch up with us. Perhaps he had forgotten to tell me something…But we were marching too fast…Left, right!”

Page 77 – “There followed terrible days. We received more blows than food. The work was crushing. And three days after he left, we forgot to say Kaddish.”

Page 81 – “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.”

Page 82 – “After the war, I learned the fate of those who had remained at the infirmary. They were, quite simply, liberated by the Russians, two days after the evacuation.”

Page 83 – “’Try to sleep. Gather your strength for the journey.’ It reminded me of my mother’s last recommendations in the ghetto.” What literary device is this?

Page 84 – “So we were men after all? The block was cleaned from top to bottom.”

Week Two

We discussed pages 6 to 11 of Night, why the headings were titled as they were, and what kinds of surprises there were in the text. I asked the class to think about why the author would have surprises like this in his writing, and why a Jew would write such as book as this.
Here is a list of words from this section of the book, with synonymns. Below, look for key passages that will help you with the quiz and formal assessment.

Here is a vocab list of words from pages 3 to 46, which is the first section of Night:

Utter (3), Penury (3), Chant (3), Fraught (4), Exterminate (8), Annihilate (8), Disperse (8), Emigrate (8), Liquidate (9) (13), Penetrate (9), Optimism (9), Anguish (9), Emblem (9), Billeted (9), Lodged (10), Jubilant (10), Sublime (10), Provoke (10), Edict (10), Prominent (11), Bleak (11), Lethal (11), Frequent (11), Apparatus (12), Delusion (12), Treatise (12), Anecdotes (12), Antechamber (13), Jest (15), Console (15), Rescind (15), Relic (15), Molten (16), Phylacteries (16), Indiscriminately (16), Surreptitiously (16), Convoy (16), Procession (17), Surreal (17), Captivity (17), Ridiculous (17), Hysteria (18), Inhabitants (20), Evidently (20), Conflagration (21), Extinguished (21), Civilian (21), Evacuated (21), Partisans (21), Farce (21), Shattered (22), Shredded (22), Horrendous (22), Strolled (22), Intolerable (23), Constraint (23), Inhibition (23), Caress (23), Irrevocable (24), Hermetically (24), Pious (24), Cling (25), Hallucinate (25), Bound (26), Gagged (26), Mute (26), Suffocate (26), Stench (28), Abruptly (28), Throng (29), Wielding (29), Holster (30), Tumult (30), Imperative (30), Interrogating (30), Inmate (30), Invective (30), Moron (30), Petrified (31), Monocle (31), Baton (31), Crematoria (32), Elude (32), Infernal (33), Hearse (33), Nocturnal (34), Condemned (34), Brutality (34), Interspersed (35), Numbed (36), Lucidity (36), Oblivion (36), Glacial (36), Colossus (37), Floundering (37), Devoured (37), Notion (37), Collapsed (38), Harangued (38), Convalescent (38), Abstraction (39), Remorse (39), Lulled (40), Fragrances (40), Muster (41), Liberation (41), Camaraderie (41), Prevailing (42), Veritable (44), Radiant (45), Grave (45)

Utter (3) – complete, Penury (3) – poverty, Fraught (4) – filled with, Exterminate (8) – kill ruthlessly, Annihilate (8) – wipe out, kill completely, Emigrate (8) – move permanently to another country, Liquidate (9) (13) – sell, empty out, Anguish (9) – suffering, Jubilant (10) – rejoicing, Provoke (10) – enrage, Edict (10) – decree, Lethal (11) – deadly, Frequent (11) – to visit often, Delusion (12) – false belief, Anecdote (12) – a short, amusing description of an event, Console (15) – comfort, Rescind (15) – revoke or cancel, Indiscriminate (16) – not done selectively, thoughtless, haphazard, Surreptitiously (16) – clandestine, obtained or done by stealth, unauthorized or secret actions, Surreal (17) – dreamlike, unreal, Hysteria (18) – an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, irrational laughter, weeping or screaming, Conflagration (21) – a huge, destructive fire, Extinguish (21) – put out (a fire, light), end or wipe out, Evacuate (21) – to remove people from a dangerous place, Horrendous (22) – horrible, shockingly dreadful, Stroll (22) – to walk leisurely, to ramble around, Intolerable (23) – unendurable, insufferable, Constraint (23) – limitation, restriction, Caress (23) – light stroking or touching to show affection, Irrevocable (24) – unalterable, unable to be repealed, Hermetically (24) – sealed, airtight, Pious (24) – religious, Cling (25) – hold on to tightly, Hallucinate (25) –to imagine or see things that are not there due to illness, drug-taking, or thirst, Bound (26) – tied up, Suffocate (26) – to die because of lack of air or inability to breathe, Stench (28) – terrible smell, Abruptly (28) – very suddenly, Throng (29) – a crowd of people, Wield (29) – to handle a weapon effectively, Interrogating (30) – questioning fiercely, Inmate (30) – prisoner, Petrified (31) – terrified, Elude (32) – escape

Infernal (33) – hellish, annoying, Nocturnal (34) – done at night, Interspersed (35) – scattered

Lucidity (36) – lucid – clear, easily understood, Oblivion (36) – completely forgotten, Colossus (37) – anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful, Flounder (37) – to struggle clumsily, Devoured (37) – eat hungrily, Harangue (38) – scolding, intense verbal attack, Convalescent (38) – adj. form of convalescence - to rest, to recover (after illness), Remorse (39) – painful regret, Fragrances (40) – good smells, Liberation (41) – freedom, Veritable (44) – truly, Radiant (45) – glowing, Grave (45) – serious

Key passages:
A. Page 7 - Moishe pleading with the Jews in the synagogue for them to escape the Germans.
B. Top of page 21 - first paragraph titled "Night." The night, stars, and conflagration are all symbols. The last sentence, open to interpretation, probably means that at "night" without "stars" we'd be blind.
C. Pages 30 to 31 - two inmates, one telling them to lie about their ages, one asking them why they came to Auschwitz. Think about the motives of each inmate.
D. Page 34 - "Never Shall I forget..." Repeated seven times (alluding to Revelation): repetition is a literary device, usually used in poetry. There are also other kinds of figurative language used here (imagery, hyperbole, personification), so be able to say a style reason for this passage, and a practical reason - such as wanting to reach a larger audience than just Jews - Christians reading the book might respond to the allusion, and any reader will just remember!
E. Page 37 - "The night had passed completely." and the paragraph following it.
F. Page 39 - "It doesn't hurt." His father: the description before this sentence describes how the author reacts when his father is hit. What literary device or trick is this?
G. Page 41 - "Those were the first human words."
H. Pages 44 and 45 - the author lies to a relative about the well-being of his family.
I. Page 46 - "We pretended, for what if one of us still did believe?" The author and his father are pretending to believe their female family members are alive and well. Why?

New York Times articles

If the article is required, it will be handed out in class. If not required, please search for the title on the New York Times web site or follow the link below. Required articles often have special questions I've made for them. If there are no questions provided, I expect a 150-word minimum summary and a 250-minimum reaction to the article.

Here is a list of the articles we will do, which will be updated as we do them:

Week One: New York Times – Planets Galore questions amended!
Week Two: (not required) New York Times – Why Does College Cost So Much?
Week Three: (not required) New York Times – Absorbing the Pain
Week Four: Fool.com - When Rich People Do Stupid Things HW6 questions due 3/14
Week Five: (not required) New York Times - China's Winning Schools - 7 questions attached
Week Six: no article (testing week)
Week Seven: New York Times - One Hundred Years of Multitude - 5 question attached: HW8
Week Eight: Long weekend for tomb sweeping day: spend time with your family - no article.
Week Nine: New York Times (2 short articles): HW10: Lady Gaga Gets Garbled on Malaysian Radio and ArtScience Museum Opens in Singapore. You need to do a 150-word summary and a 250-word reaction that refers to both articles. Total number of words (minimum) is 400.
Weeks Ten and Week Eleven: You will be away on your trip to Malaysia and Singapore. There is a New York Times article for homework extra credit called Times of Upheaval for which you should provide the usual summary and reaction. I hope at some point you can put a reflection on your blog about your trip, perhaps with some photos. Be careful and enjoy!
Week Twelve: HW 11 Article: Due Friday 5/6 250 word reaction only for 10 Natural Wonders to See Before They Disappear
Week Thirteen: optional extra credit article: When We Hated Mom - due 5/13 250-word reaction only, worth up to +5 points on homework
Week Seventeen (due week Eighteen): HW17 - 250-word reaction only, due 6/15:

D-Day Veterans Recall World War II Turning Point

My main reasons for offering articles are:
To introduce some non-fiction into the curriculum. We do a lot of fiction in literature class, but as a reading class it is doing you a disservice to not let you read at least some non-fiction, which will be readily apparent in your lives both at university and work. It can also be useful and quite interesting.
To support the themes that are in our books, and provide more information about them, perhaps for projects or further research.
To tie-in with other courses or subjects you are studying now, or other book themes you have done in the past, or current events that shape our world, or for insight into other culture through those events or articles.
Finally, just to have interesting discussions or writing topics. It's good at times to get away for the usual things we do.To give you more examples of "authentic text," which are things written in English that are meant for native speakers, not for students. This gives you a real feel for the language, and a goal to shoot for.