Welcome back for another school year

Welcome back to Branford High for a new year in English 10.

This year promises many exciting opportunities for learning. A big part of our classwork and learning will include the use of this blog. Here you will find regular assignments, important links, and opportunities to contribute ideas. In many instances this site will also serve as an extension of the reading, writing, and thinking we do in class. Using a blog like this allows us unique opportunity to publish our writing and maintain a record of our thinking and learning through the year.

You'll also notice that there is a calendar on the right of this page which lists upcoming due dates and other important announcements. Right below the calendar is a list of important links for this class. As the year goes on, I plan to add even more materials and information to help you learn in this class.

Good luck and enjoy the year.

Could you be a fairy? - Midsummer post #3

At the beginning of Act II, we get a glimpse of the kind of powers and duties the fairies have in the world of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Both Puck and and the unnamed fairy at the beginning of Act II describe ways that they interact with and affect the humans in the world.

What would you do if you were a fairy?

Go back to the beginning of Act II and re-read the exchanges between the fairies, including Puck. If these fairies existed in our world today, which power or duty do you find would have the most impact on the world? If you were a fairy how would you use one of the powers described to change something in our world today?

In your answer, make sure you clearly identify one of the powers or duties the fairies have (as described in the play). Make sure you clearly state where in the play the power or duty is described. Then imagine how that power or duty could be used today.

To help you, I posted the first comment which contains one way to start your response. You can use it as a model.

End of year assignments

The end of the year is fast upon us, which means it is important you keep track of the expectations and assignments for the 4th quarter and final exam. You should have completed all six blog entries for your novel - 1984 or Fahrenheit 451. That is spelled out here.

What I'm noticing as I read your entries is that many of you have spelling, grammatical, or mechanical mistakes in your postings. Treat your blogs like a final essay - proofread and edit. Even published items can be revised. Do it.

The following information should be helpful to you in keeping track what is expected of you to wrap up English 10 this year. All of this is also listed on the class calendar, which should be visible on the right side of this page.

4th quarter assignments:

• Six blog entries and four comments due now
• Dystopia reflective essay due Friday, June 1 - Here is the assignment in pdf format

Final exam assignments:

• End of year portfolio due Friday, June 8 - Here is the assignment in pdf format
• Grammar exam taken during 90-minute final exam period.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. Either leave a comment, send me an e-mail, or simply come up to me in class and talk to me.

Beginning a new venture to write online

As we begin our new unit with 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, we will also be undertaking a new venture to do more of our writing and responding to the texts online. In the past, we have used this blog as a way for me to post a prompt and for you to respond to it in the comment section. However, that method limited your ability to revise your writing and to comment on one another's ideas. That, to me, are two important components of an English classroom.

For this unit, you will create your own personal blog. You will be in charge of regularly posting ideas and thoughts related to the novels. This space - Miller's English 10 Homework blog - will become the area you will receive your assignments and information.

With a blog, you can post your thoughts and responses to the novels, allowing your classmates to read what you've written and to build on your ideas. Likewise, you will read the writing of your classmates and be able to connect to their thinking and ideas. On a more individual note, the blog will become the primary area where you will maintain a record of your thinking and writing. In a sense it will become an online notebook that will be graded, both for content and writing quality.

Like almost everything we've done this year, I ask you to keep an open mind. It may be foreign to you at first, but do not give up. One skill that's going to make you successful in this world is the ability to adapt and adjust to new situations. Maybe this is one of them.

To get started, click the "create blog" link in the upper right hand corner of this page. If you already have a Google log-in (for example if you have a g-mail account) use that to sign in and name your blog. If not, use your school e-mail address and create a free account. The name of your blog should be something you can remember and I can easily identify as yours.

Once you create your blog, cut and paste the address into the comment section of this post so I can begin compiling all the student blogs in one place. Good luck.

Literature Circles Post #1

This post is due before class starts on Thursday, Feb. 1.

Now that you've had a chance to get started on your book - either Frankenstein, Black Boy, or The Color of Water - you should be thinking about some of the important themes or big ideas that are starting to emerge.

1. Select one of the themes listed below, or identify your own.


2. Record that theme on your group's wiki page - click here to access the wiki.


3. Write about 100-120 words that explain how the theme is shown in the book so far, and point out an important event that helps illustrate this theme.


4. Remember to put your first name after your posting, so I can keep track of it.

Some possible themes:
racism, isolation, alienation, hunger, family, perseverance, the search for identity

To earn credit, evidence of your work needs to be on the class
wiki. If you have questions or problems, please use the comments section.

Pulling out a passage from the excerpts

This blog posting is due before class starts Monday, Jan. 8. Good luck...

We read three novel excerpts - Frankenstein, The Color of Water, & Black Boy - and you've been asked to highlight passages that made you stop and think, and those that raised questions, and those that provoked a strong reaction. If you're reading carefully and thoughtfully you should have no problem encountering such passages.

Here's your chance to share one of them with your classmates. Your assignment is to post your passage - it should be at least a sentence and most likely a little more. Write a 100-150 word response about why you chose it, what ideas it may raise about the book, how you may connect it to something significant outside the text... or other related thoughts about it.

Cite your passage with the title of the novel and page number like so - "Words and sentences from the book, blah, blah, blah..." (Book title, 12)

Poetry Sound and Sense posting #2

This blog posting is due before class starts Wednesday, Dec. 20. Good luck...

What is your favorite poem from the packet? Was it the simplistic visual imagery of "The Red Wheelbarrow?" Or Poe's "The Bells," with its emphasis on sounds and rhythm? Share your thoughts on which poem you enjoyed the most and make sure you share exactly why. Use specific reasons, which means pointing out specific lines and/or examples of literary or sound devices. As in past posts, this should be about 150 to 200 words.

Poetry Sound and Sense posting #1

This blog posting is due before class starts Thursday, Dec. 14. Good luck...

In class, we've had a chance to talk about the characteristics of poetry. It can be difficult to pin down and as we've seen with the wikipedia entry, there is no one agreed upon definition. To help you better appreciate the poems we are reading in class, you should be thinking about your own definition. Post it here. How do you define a poem? What makes a poem a poem? Your response should be a well-developed paragraph with mention of specific characteristics as we've seen in the poetry packet.

Gamma Rays Post #5 - What type of mother is Beatrice?

This is the 5th, and final homework blog posting of Gamma Rays... Have you completed them all to earn full credit?

Now that we've gotten to see Mrs. Beatrice Hunsdorfer in the play, how would you categorize her as a mother? Go back and re-read the article on dysfunctional families that we studied in an earlier post. Using information from the article, decide what type of parent category Beatrice fits into. In what way will her parenting style affect her children, either now or in the future? Explain your reasoning by pointing to specific examples from the play.

Gamma Rays Post #4 - "A Dream Deferred" and Gamma Rays

This is the fourth homework blog posting...

Langston Hughes, the poet who wrote "Dreams" from an earlier post, also wrote "A Dream Deferred." In both poems Hughes address the power of dreams. Likewise, Zindel's play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds deals with the impact dreams have on human beings, both for the power they have to instill hope and the emotional havoc wrought by broken dreams. Now that we've read most of Gamma Rays, read "A Dream Deferred." Which character do you think this poem speaks to the most in the play? Hughes uses several evocative similes. What lines can you connect to incidents and events from the play? Explain your connections.

A Dream Deferred*

What happens to a dream deferred*?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

by Langston Hughes

* deferred = to put off action, to delay

Gamma Rays Post #3 - "Dreams" and Gamma Rays

This is the third homework blog posting... The calendar says it is due Friday, but we'll extend this one until Monday.

So far in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, we have been introduced to the Hunsdorfer family - Tillie, Beatrice, and Ruth. Tillie is working on a science project, which has gained her some attention at school. Read the following poem by Langston Hughes. Who in the play do you think this poem speaks to the most - Tillie, Beatrice, or Ruth? Who has dreams? What line or lines stand out that seem to speak directly to her situation? Explain your connections.

Dreams
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

- by Langston Hughes

Gamma Rays Post #2 - Marigolds and science experiments

This is the second homework blog posting... Did you already complete the post on good literature?

In The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Tillie conducts an unusual science project. She subjects three different batches of marigolds to the potentially damaging effects of gamma rays - a topic we addressed in a previous blog post. But why did the play's author, Paul Zindel, choose marigolds as the flower to use in the science experiment? Check out some information on marigolds at wikipedia and then post your ideas about the use of marigolds in the story. What makes marigolds different from other flowers? How might the characteristics or qualities of this particular flower be a symbol that connects to important ideas in the play? Why might have Zindel used marigolds as the flower?

Gamma Rays Post #1 - Define good literature

One of the most difficult questions you are asked in an English class is "What makes this a good piece of literature?" As we read The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, you can expect that question to come up again. However, before you can come up with a good answer, you should have a clear ideas for a definition of good literature. Let's do that here. Define the characteristics of good literature. Remember to avoid meaningless reasons like "it keeps me interested" or the like. Good literature, by definition, should keep you interested - you have to point out just what the author does to make it interesting. Think about the literary terms we have studied in the short stories. If possible, use some of them to help you craft a concise, clear definition. Once you have your definition, tell us your favorite piece of literature that we've read in class this year. Evaluate your selection using your criteria.