TODAY
Completion of "Sir Gawain"--homework handed in, review of three blows and the reasons, forgiveness and redemption (grace), some qualities of the ideal knight
And then we started "Becket"--a Hollywood classic that traces the friendship and falling out of Henry II and his best bud Thomas a Becket. Obviously this will connect with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales after break, but for now, just enjoy it.
The word HONOR, however, is worth noting each time it crops up. (No, you don't need to take notes, but do give it some thought.
FOR TOMORROW
No homework, and no books needed for class. We'll continue the film.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Questions for "Sir Gawain"
FOR TOMORROW:
Add several responses to the sheet we started yesterday--
Question 3: summarize the setting described in lines 262-286 by trying to characterize the mood or feel of the place. Use some key phrases as support.
Question 4: There are three "blows" of the ax--describe exactly what happens for each one, and then provide the explanation the Green Knight gives to Gawain for the manner of each blow
Question 5: Identify the three traits that you find most important for Sir Gawain, and briefly defend each choice.
Add several responses to the sheet we started yesterday--
Question 3: summarize the setting described in lines 262-286 by trying to characterize the mood or feel of the place. Use some key phrases as support.
Question 4: There are three "blows" of the ax--describe exactly what happens for each one, and then provide the explanation the Green Knight gives to Gawain for the manner of each blow
Question 5: Identify the three traits that you find most important for Sir Gawain, and briefly defend each choice.
Monday, December 13, 2010
TODAY
Short quiz after some study time. If you were absent, check back after six or so to see the study sheet I handed out today.
FOR TOMORROW
Finish reading "Sir Gawain." To second period--just finish it in your book, but have the hand-out with you in class. We'll look at a couple of comparison points.
We'll be talking about the poem's section as a whole--from the stand point of KNOWING how it ends. That's important. And don't let us be the spoilers in class. Finish the story!!
Short quiz after some study time. If you were absent, check back after six or so to see the study sheet I handed out today.
FOR TOMORROW
Finish reading "Sir Gawain." To second period--just finish it in your book, but have the hand-out with you in class. We'll look at a couple of comparison points.
We'll be talking about the poem's section as a whole--from the stand point of KNOWING how it ends. That's important. And don't let us be the spoilers in class. Finish the story!!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010
TODAY IN CLASS
Intro passages to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were read aloud as a prelude to where the story picks up in your textbook.
Some class time to work on reading for tomorrow.
FOR TOMORROW (one or the other of these should have been completed during class time today)"
1. The new hand-out on the Medieval Period.
2. Textbook reading: p. 162-169 of "Gawain" (you can stop when you get to the italics)
Intro passages to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were read aloud as a prelude to where the story picks up in your textbook.
Some class time to work on reading for tomorrow.
FOR TOMORROW (one or the other of these should have been completed during class time today)"
1. The new hand-out on the Medieval Period.
2. Textbook reading: p. 162-169 of "Gawain" (you can stop when you get to the italics)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Have you submitted your paper to www.turnitin.com ?
TODAY IN CLASS
Hard copies of the Beowulf essay were turned in.
Short intro to the connection between Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon warrior code to the next work we'll read: "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which reflects how the code of chivalry (brought to England via the Norman French and the ensuing internationalism) changed the concept of the heroic ideal.
FOR TOMORROW
Read the portions of the original introduction that pertain to the Medieval Period (1066-1485):
Hard copies of the Beowulf essay were turned in.
Short intro to the connection between Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon warrior code to the next work we'll read: "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which reflects how the code of chivalry (brought to England via the Norman French and the ensuing internationalism) changed the concept of the heroic ideal.
FOR TOMORROW
Read the portions of the original introduction that pertain to the Medieval Period (1066-1485):
- Page 5 (last paragraph re: the Norman Conquest)
- Pages 6-7 (history)
- Pages 9-10 (literature)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Beowulf Essay Due Wednesday
For real.
Hard copy due in class; submit to http://www.turnitin.com/
no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night.
Hard copy due in class; submit to http://www.turnitin.com/
no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Bulletin: Read This Post!
Your essays will be due on WEDNESDAY, with the turnitin.com deadline moved to Wednesday night at 11:59 p.m. Several people had to leave early, and for their sake as well as the rushed way in which we finished class, I want to do a better job of making sure you understand the use of slashes, that you see a few more examples of good quote integration, and that you have the material for the Works Cited so that you don't have to submit the additional page later. It will just be better to delay turning it in by a day.
HOWEVER, you should still be certain to have finished a polished written text that needs only some minor tweaking to be accurate and ready for printing.
Also, you need to have completed the reading you started in class. Some people DID finish, I believe, but others didn't. We will go ahead with that in class after we look at the hand-outs for tomorrow.
(Feel free to Facebook your friends about the extension.)
HOWEVER, you should still be certain to have finished a polished written text that needs only some minor tweaking to be accurate and ready for printing.
Also, you need to have completed the reading you started in class. Some people DID finish, I believe, but others didn't. We will go ahead with that in class after we look at the hand-outs for tomorrow.
(Feel free to Facebook your friends about the extension.)
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, Dec. 2
TODAY IN CLASS
Worksheet on commonly confused words/spelling issues. Then we began a short review of run-on sentences, complicated by the fact that I picked a worksheet page from a workbookthat categorized compound sentences with a missing comma (but the appropriate coordinate conjunction) as a run-on. We'll take another run at this in 2nd and just do it right in the first place in 4th.
MEANWHILE, FOR YOUR PAPER AND FOR HOMEWORK
1) Prepare the groundwork for some practice in integrating quotations in various ways: select TWO quotations you might want to use in your paper, and merely copy them down (or type them). Then, write one or two good sentences of commentary. In if you know you're good, don't embed or integrate as the homework--just get down the quote and the commentary. (The quotations don't have to connect to each other; in your final essay they might appear in different sections, or you might in fact decide not to use it at all.)
2) But this should take you too long. So the additional homework is simply to keep working on the essay--probably continuing to gather and organize support for your working thesis.
Worksheet on commonly confused words/spelling issues. Then we began a short review of run-on sentences, complicated by the fact that I picked a worksheet page from a workbookthat categorized compound sentences with a missing comma (but the appropriate coordinate conjunction) as a run-on. We'll take another run at this in 2nd and just do it right in the first place in 4th.
MEANWHILE, FOR YOUR PAPER AND FOR HOMEWORK
1) Prepare the groundwork for some practice in integrating quotations in various ways: select TWO quotations you might want to use in your paper, and merely copy them down (or type them). Then, write one or two good sentences of commentary. In if you know you're good, don't embed or integrate as the homework--just get down the quote and the commentary. (The quotations don't have to connect to each other; in your final essay they might appear in different sections, or you might in fact decide not to use it at all.)
2) But this should take you too long. So the additional homework is simply to keep working on the essay--probably continuing to gather and organize support for your working thesis.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
New Month: Back to More Regular Posting
TODAY IN CLASS
Specific discussion of the lateness policy as it applies to homework, longer-term papers or projects, and failure to submit to turnitin.com.
New essay topic: students were asked to consider all three and respond specifically to what aspects might seem easy, and what might be challenging.
FOR TOMORROW
Ponder the choices. Make a decision. Or ponder, try two, and THEN make a decision. Once you've decided, get started. No, don't start trying to "write." Simply have an idea of a working thesis (or even just some directions to pursue), and start collecting data. For literature papers, this means finding support in the text--specific kinds of language, or references, or examples of qualities, etc. that you will need to have the raw material and the EVIDENCE that you will then shape, find patterns, relevance, and meaning--and THEN finally decide on the exact thesis that you will be able to support.
That's not the process all teachers teach, and it's still your paper/your decision, but the strongest, most sophisticated, and richest thesis statements usually result from paying careful attention to what's actually in the text BEFORE you make the final claim.
So spend some time and make an honest start.
Specific discussion of the lateness policy as it applies to homework, longer-term papers or projects, and failure to submit to turnitin.com.
New essay topic: students were asked to consider all three and respond specifically to what aspects might seem easy, and what might be challenging.
FOR TOMORROW
Ponder the choices. Make a decision. Or ponder, try two, and THEN make a decision. Once you've decided, get started. No, don't start trying to "write." Simply have an idea of a working thesis (or even just some directions to pursue), and start collecting data. For literature papers, this means finding support in the text--specific kinds of language, or references, or examples of qualities, etc. that you will need to have the raw material and the EVIDENCE that you will then shape, find patterns, relevance, and meaning--and THEN finally decide on the exact thesis that you will be able to support.
That's not the process all teachers teach, and it's still your paper/your decision, but the strongest, most sophisticated, and richest thesis statements usually result from paying careful attention to what's actually in the text BEFORE you make the final claim.
So spend some time and make an honest start.
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