I hope everyone had a good year in English 10 this year. I certainly enjoyed all the work we did together, from our short story unit to our iSearch papers. Reading your final portfolios, I witnessed a lot of growth in your writing throughout the year.
This is the 6th posting for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is due before the end of the day on Wednesday, April 22.
Throughout Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, we've seen a variety of characters acting in some foolish ways, mostly as a result of their emotions. Such behavior mirrors many of the same foolish behaviors you probably experience almost everyday. In an earlier post, you were asked to respond which character acted the most foolish. This response requires you to provide an example of some real-life love-inspired foolish behavior you've experienced.
What is an example of some real-life foolish behavior caused by love? How have people you know acted like a "fool" in love? What happened? How is the behavior you've seen typical of human behavior? How does it connect to A Midsummer Night's Dream? What is it that we can learn about human nature from such behavior?
To earn full credit, your response should fully answer the prompt questions and be relatively free of sloppy mechanical and grammatical errors. Proofread what you write before you post.
This is the 5th and final posting for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is due before the end of the day on Friday, April 10.
This will be a longer, more formal answer so make sure it's written with minimal errors and you fully answer all parts of the prompt.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents us with an unusual and fantastic series of events as fairies and mortals mix in the mysterious woods just outside Athens. The four lovers and Nick Bottom each undergo their own experience with the fairy world. However, different characters provide varying takes on the night's strange happenings. Consider the following three reactions/explanations by different characters:
Of the three reactions/explanations, choose one that you believe the most significant or closest to how you might try to explain what happened in the woods. Whom do you believe the most? Bottom, Theseus, or Puck? What is it about their explanation that makes sense to you? Why? Point to specific lines from the play to help make your point.
This is the fourth Midsummer post and is due before class starts on Tuesday, April 7.
This is the third Midsummer blog response and is due before class starts Friday, April 3.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy, which is something that today's television viewers should know a little something about. According to Scholastic Scope magazine, Shakespeare included three kinds of classic mix-ups to help generate some comedy: 1) mistaken identity, 2) love triangles, and 3) strange coincidences. Each of these classic mix-ups are staples on 21st Century comedy shows, or sitcoms. The next time you watch your favorite sitcom or re-run, look for one of those classic mix-ups involving the characters.
Assignment: Select one (1) of the classic mix-ups from above and find an example of it from a popular sitcom you watch. First, describe the mix-up from the sitcom, and then explain how the humor of the mixed-up situation helps increase your enjoyment and appreciation of the show. What makes it so funny?
As with all of these assignments, it is a good practice to write your response in a word processing program so you can better edit and proofread your entry before submitting it. Take heed, this is formal writing and should be treated as such. Don't spurn the capital letter or ignore the necessary punctuation. Be thoughtful of your friend the complete sentence.
Good luck and enjoy!
Finally, if you complete this assignment using something besides a desktop or laptop computer, (say an Itouch or other handheld device) let me know! Announce it at the end of your entry.
This is the second Midsummer blog response and is due before class starts on April 1.
There are many memorable and interesting characters in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. From the love-crazed antics of the young Athenians to the meddling of the magical fairies, Shakespeare has created a fascinating cast of characters.
Who is the one character that interests you the most? What makes him or her interesting? If you had the opportunity to talk to the character, what would you talk about and why? Your blog response should answer these questions in a well-crafted paragraph that makes direct references to events and quotes from the play.
Like with all our blog responses, your response should be of published quality work with minimal errors and all the conventions of formal English. Use full sentences. Capitalize the beginnings of sentences. Avoid the informal language you might use in e-mail, on IM or Facebook.
This is the first Midsummer blog response assignment. It is due before class starts on Thursday, March 26.
We are starting A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is a complex, fanciful play that lays bare the humor and foibles of young love.
To get us started, we tackled the twisted, complex plot. You have been given a basic summary of the storyline of the play, (titled "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"), which covers the play up to the end of Act III. For your reference, there is a version of the summary here.Your assignment now is to take this mixed-up love mess and bring it to a conclusion with a happy ending. As it stands right now, everything is messed up and needs resolution. Assume the role of a narrator and finish the story. This is your chance to control how this all turns out before we see Shakespeare's version in the play.
A couple things to remember before completing your posting: 1) your story must have a happy ending, just like a Shakespearean comedy would. 2) you must come up with a way to solve the problems of a majority of the characters. 3) your creative ending must be in the form of a story, continuing the storyline you've been given. Try to be creative and come up with an original, even outrageous, way to wrap up this storyline. As with all entries, you might consider writing on a word processing program first so you can proofread, edit, and continuously save before your final posting. Saving it in a word processing program will also cover you in case there's a problem posting.
The response to this blog posting is due before class starts on Friday, Jan. 16
Both 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are dystopian novels set in the future. However, one purpose of a dystopian novel is to warn readers about a flaw or problem in today's society today. Based on the first few pages of each novel, what flaw or problem do you think the author is trying to warn us about?
Select an example from one of the excerpts - either 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 - and use it to predict what you think the author is trying to warn us about. What is the problem in the futuristic society and how can it be connected to real problems that exist in our own world today? In your answer, you must use a specific passage or quote from the novel.
If it helps, think about the discussions we've had leading up to the novel about technology.
This assignment is due before class starts on Tuesday, Jan. 13
This assignment should be done after you have completed your Privacy Issues Mini-essay on Google documents. For this assignment, I am asking that you do the following to share your essay with the class and with others. Here is what you need to do:
This is the 5th - and final - homework blog response for the Gamma Rays unit... Have you completed them all to earn full credit? The calendar says Monday, but it is due before the end of the school day on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
Now that we've gotten to see the Hunsdorfer family in action, it's time to look back and analyze their behavior as a dysfunctional family.
You have an option of which of the following to which to respond:
Option A
This is the fourth blog response for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds and is due before class starts Thursday, Dec. 18.
This response is going to be a little different than the previous three. Instead of putting your response in the comments on this entry, I am asking that you edit your Gamma Rays character conflict chart that you have set up on Google documents. This will also help you complete the character chart, which is due Friday.
Remember, you access the chart by signing into Google Apps from the front of the district website. Or you can access it by clicking this link.
Once you sign in, go to "documents." You should see the document you created with your partner in class last week. Click on it and add to it according to the directions - put in a quote from Act I for a character, or start writing the paragraph connected to the characters.
To get credit for this assignment, you must make an edit or add to your document.
Make sure you save your work and remember your completed document is due Friday, Dec. 19.
This is the third homework blog posting... Did you already complete the post on Marigolds? Have you added to the Google document to gather quotes for each character?
So far in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds we’ve been introduced to the Hunsdorfer family – Beatrice, Ruth, and Tillie.
The Poet Langston Hughes wrote two poems about dreams which may relate to what we’re reading. Read both of the following poems – "Dreams" and "A Dream Deferred." Select the poem you think most speaks to the situation in the play. What is Hughes saying about dreams that can be applied to the larger ideas in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds? Explain your connections with direct references from the play. Remember, to earn full credit, each post must be between 150-200 words, written in standard conventional English, and satisfy the requirements of each prompt.
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
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
*to put off action, delay
This is the second homework blog posting... Did you already complete the post on Gamma Rays and Dysfunctional Families?
To prepare us for our reading of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, we spent some time talking about gamma rays and radiation and the different types of dysfunctional families. For your reference, the information brief on gamma rays can be found here and the information on dysfunctional families is here. Based on what you know of both and from what you've gleaned from the play so far, I'd like you to consider the following question: In what ways are the two seemingly unrelated topics - gamma rays & dysfunctional families - related? Where are there similarities that might help us better understand some of the significant ideas from the play? In what ways, might the author use these two ideas in his play to help explore a deeper understanding of a truth about life?
Remember, to earn full credit, your response must be between 150 and 200 words and conform to standard written English. Use full sentences, spell out your words correctly and include proper punctuation. By the way, this posting is 187 words.
For our purposes in class, I'd like to know your reactions to the activity and the use of the technology. In your answer, consider the following guiding questions: What was difficult about using Google documents? In what ways (if any) did the technology help make the process easier? How did it challenge you? How could collaborative tools like this one could be used in our English class? Give some specific examples. How do you imagine that Google docs tools will be used in your future as a college student or as a member of the work force? What do we need to know and understand to be able to effectively use digital tools like this in the future?
In class, we've begun studying the use of participles and participle phrases to help us write more descriptive, evocative sentences. You will also need to do this as part of the Vivid Vignette assignment.
As a way to practice, I'd like you to share an example of a sentence that includes a participle or participle phrase in it. Post your sentence in the comment section. I have posted the first one in the comments as a model ...
Here are the definitions to remind you:
Participle: An -ing word tagged onto the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence
Participle phrase: An -ing phrase tagged onto the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence
If you need help writing a grammatically correct sentence, refer to the following resource page to review the notes and definitions that we have used in class. And remember, if it is a participle or participle phrase, you will need commas to set it off from the base sentence.
