For tomorrow 12/1.

 Don't forget tomorrow at 4:00 pm is the water and cheese party at the Van Andel followed by the speaker, J. Michael Bishop at 5:00.  Remember to dress appropriately.
Also,  I've been thinking a lot about how to get all of you thinking about Jekyll and Hyde.  So,tomorrow, you will write an argumentative type response to a given prompt. It should take you the whole hour.  For homework this week, you will also be doing some writing.  You should plan on about a half an hour or so each night.  Additionally, you may have a bit of multiple choice to get through and we have the final vocab quiz on Friday, 12/5.

If you were gone on 11/24

You need to make up the vocab quiz, finish up the crosswords and read the novel for 12/1.
Reading comprehension quiz on 12/1 when we return from break.

Today was the last day to sign up for the extra credit opportunity.

The bank of words that you will be quizzed on 12/5:

languidly
sedulously
capacious
mien
multifarious
succumb
exorbitant
obsequiously
turpitude
acquiescence
denizen
propensity
astute
disparity
inscrutable
insurgent
ruminate

bated
inveteretely
irrevocably
idiosyncratic
imperious
incipient
poignant
premonitory

11/21

Vocab Quiz 11/24: Dr. Jekyll Was Quite AT Ease and The Carew Murder Case
Finish the crosswords by 11/25.
Finish reading the novel by 12/2.  I will be checking for reading completion on that day.

11/20

Today, students turned in their context clues for Search for Hyde.
Additionally, they took both the vocabulary and reading quizzes for that section.

Students received the next set of vocabulary words today for which they are searching for context clues for tomorrow.  Students should also read both Dr. Jekyll Was Quite At Ease and The Carew Murder for tomorrow. A reading quiz will be given tomorrow and the vocab quiz will take place on Monday.

Any students wishing to attend the J Michael Bishop extra credit opportunity: http://vai.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=6821&em_id=2502.0&pgwrap=n
Please let me know by 11/24.  There is a sign up sheet in class, but you can also notify me by email, Facebook, etc.  You are responsible for your own transportation to and from.  A short written response will be required. It is worth 10 extra credit points.  If you are a student who would like to go, but cannot provide your own transportation, let me know and I will try to connect you to others who are going and are interested in carpooling.

J Michael Bishop worked with Harold Varmus  They won "the Nobel Peace Prize for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes in 1989" (Mukherjee, 363).  Varmus was the one who referenced Beowulf in his acceptance speech. It isn't every day you get to see a Nobel Peace Prize winner speak.  My understanding is that his lecture is directed toward the layperson (that is every day folks) not oncologists. I'm hoping we have a good turn out. Let me know if you want to go.  All the details are on the flyer at the above link.

The vocab words for today's crossword are accost, pedant, contrive, disposition, unobtrusive, assail, ferocity, disinter, lurid, odious, conflagration, insensate,

11/17/14

Today students took the vocabulary quiz for the "Story of the Door" section in Jekyll and Hyde.
Additionally, they received the next set of vocabulary words over which they will be quizzed on Wednesday, 11/19.

For homework tonight, students are searching for and recording context clues for the vocabulary words in "Search for Hyde."  The words are as follows: iniquity, disquietude, transpire, citadel, repose, concourse, benefactor, geniality.

Also, there will be a quiz over that section tomorrow, so read carefully and closely for detail.

11/14/14

Today in class, students completed a rhetorical analysis assignment based on the first chapter of Jekyll and Hyde.  

We also discussed the Living Like Weasels essay.

For Monday, read the essay She: Portrait of the Essay as a Warm Body and make a point comparison to the essay On Essays: Literature's Most Misunderstood Form.  You might use a tri-fold to organize your ideas.  On one side, write all of the points that are unique to the "She" essay, On the other side, write the points that are unique to the "Misunderstood" essay and then in the center write about the points they share in common.  You can find the "She" essay here:  http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/98sep/ozick.htm

Additionally, study for the 14 word narrative quiz that will take place on Monday.

11/13/14

Today in class, we shared our Pithy Quotations and discussed the verities of authentic essay writing.  Additionally, we discussed the rhetorical strategies in Joyas Voladoras as a model of an authentic essay.  Today, I distributed an essay titled Living Like Weasels by another of my literary favorites, Annie Dillard. Students are reading and annotating for homework.  What are the rhetorical tools that Dillard is using to convey her ideas?  What is her argument?  What are the notable moves that she is making  with syntax, imagery, figurative language, diction? Here's a link to the essay: http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG200-lad/dillard.htm

After all of this, we had a bit of time left to read Story of the Door from Jekyll and Hyde.  Whatever we did not finish is homework.

On Friday, we will do some rhetorical analysis with Story of the Door and the ways in which Stevenson sets up the idea of duality.

On Monday, we will take the first vocab quiz and you will receive the next crossword for the next section for which we will again explore context clues.  We will quiz on that one on Friday, 11/ 21.

Here's something to look forward to:  I don't like for any of us to have homework over Thanksgiving, Winter or Spring Breaks.  So, there will be none.