river oaks [english]

Sophomores You are writing your paper in class tomorrow. Please bring your book, marked for content.  The essay itself should be around 500 words in length, formatted according to MLA. Seniors Your job for tonight is to locate and print a source on the topic of illegal immigration . The question you will answer in your paper on Thursday is the following: "What is the best solution to the problem of illegal immigration?"    Possibilities include (but are not limited to) increased border security, increased crackdown on unlawful employment, deportation, laws like Arizona's that make it easier for INS to find illegals, improved and/or quicker path towards naturalization, and amnesty for tax-paying illegal residents. You could focus your research on statistics, stereotyping/profiling, existing laws, proposed laws (i.e. Dream Act), or a candidate's platform, for example.

Your assignment for tomorrow is to propose your topic in a letter - full block style . Please make the body of letter at least 100 words in length, including the following: Your topic - stated specifically, including your purpose Your thesis - the answer to your "thesis question" Your support - an outline, or listing, of your main points only  Please sign your letter: this locks you in to your topic. You will write your first of the essay tomorrow in class, so bring your book - marked for content using sticky notes or some other method. You'll want to include lots of examples from the text in this initial draft. The draft itself should be around 500 words in length, formatted according to MLA.

Your essay for this week is to defend, challenge, or qualify Denby's assertion that teen films speak to our collective trauma and/or our social and romantic fantasies. Do you believe this assertion is true? Why are these films so popular? What is it specifically that makes these films resonate with both teens and adults? Consider his discussion of stereotypes or "stock characters" and plots, as well as his examples from film and TV. In addition, you are required to include specific support for your position taken from at least one film of your own choosing. DO NOT merely summarize the plot of the film! Your essay should be at least 500 words, formatted according to MLA, and it must refer directly and indirectly to Denby's text.

The vocabulary for the Frankenstein test is on the study guide - handed out in pieces to avoid spoiling the ending.  Also in the study guide are "Analyzing Literature" questions for each chapter range. If you answer these questions and hand in the study guide on Monday, I will give you a 20-point homework grade. This homework assignment is optional and will noted as such on Edline.

The Importance of Being Earnest is playing this weekend ONLY at the Strauss Theater in Monroe.  If you'd like some extra points, then go see the play and get Mrs. Donna at the theater to sign your playbill after the performance. Go to the play and behave yourself and enjoy.  The cast is made up of some very talented, mostly high school students. Information about the play and tickets is available below: Strauss Theater Center

Seniors Tonight's essay is David Denby's "High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies" (709-14). Please read the essay and come tomorrow prepared to talk about it. Your homework for Thursday is #4-6 and #1-3, 6-7, 11-12. Be specific and use examples from the text. You will write an essay in class on Friday that defends, challenges or qualifies Denby's opinion.  In addition to citing the article, you will need to cite examples from at least one "teen" genre film in your essay.  Pick one and re-watch it before Friday. Juniors You should be finished reading Frankenstein by Friday.  We will continue to discuss the novel this week and have a vocabulary test on Friday.  The exam on the novel will be Monday, January 30th. We will discuss paper topics on Tuesday. Sophomores You should be finished reading Huck Finn by Friday. Your vocabulary test is this Friday, and your novel exam is on Monday, January 30th.

Sophomores You should be reading Huck Finn up through ch 31 right now and working on the study guide.  All students need to turn this in Monday for points. Your Honors assignment is to read the following essay on the various depictions of Jim throughout the years. "Which artist's work most faithfully illustrates the novel's text? How do Mark Twain's words represent Jim -- as a character or a caricature?" Pictures of Jim Juniors You should be reading Frankenstein through ch 16 (XVI) right now. Your Honors assignment is to read the following essay and to write a summary/response for Monday.  Summarize the article, and connect the controversy to Frankenstein : Scientists Create "Synthetic Life" Seniors No homework.  If you missed on Friday, you missed a synthesis essay on media disaster coverage .  See me to make it up! We will go over the second half of the practice AP exam on Monday.

Sophomores Turn in the worksheet on ch1-15 at the end of class (extras on my desk), and read through ch24 for Tuesday. Juniors You have a matching quiz on the six romantic poets and their works .  Please get your copy of Frankenstein fromt he sub if you haven't already, and read through page 39 for Tuesday.  Get your copy of the study guide, and be ready to answer questions when we return. Seniors Don't forget to get your essay from the substitute if you haven't already.  Your revisions are due on Tuesday when we return.  Please include a works cited page. Your prompt for tomorrow is the following: With the advent of cell phones and social networking, people are communicating with each other more than ever – through texting and Facebook – but are they as “connected” as ever? Are we experiencing what Birkerts calls “language erosion,” losing the ability to communicate effectively even though it’s easier now than ever? Are we losing our sense of historical pe

Sophomores You need to have read ch 1-12 by tomorrow of Huck Finn .  Expect a reading QUIZ tomorrow. Juniors Your Frankenstein books have been shipped, and I'll have them in class Thursday. In order to catch up, make sure you have read all Wordsworth and Coleridge selections. The homework due tomorrow is CC, #2-6 on 766. Seniors Out topic for this week is communication in the electronic age. We will examine how social media and digital communication have affected us -- our language, our culture, our inter-personal relationships. Your first article is in your textbook on p647, "Into the Electronic Millennium." Please read it so we can discuss it. Questions #1-9 are due on Thursday.

The artist in your book's version of Rime of the Ancient Mariner is Gustave Dore -- a French illustrator, sculptor and engraver from the 19th century.  He was commissioned to illustrate many literary classics, including Paradise Lost , Don Quixote , The Divine Comedy , and of course Coleridge's poem. Click on the picture below to see a collection of his images from the 1876 edition of the poem .

Here's the link to the electronic edition , separated by chapters for easy printing and searching.  Remember that you can press CTRL-F to find a word or phrase.

Honors students, your article for this week is on the controversy surrounding a (relatively) new edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that replaces the "N" word with "slave." Your assignment is to summarize and comment on the article in a 250-word typed response. This is due Monday, January 9th.  The article is linked below: Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-word Controversy

You are writing  an essay on Monday, January 9th concerning the role of robotics and/or artificial intelligence in our daily lives. What impact, both positive and negative, are these new technologies having on our lives? What do you believe will happen in the next few years in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, and more importantly, how will those developments affect humans and their humanity? In order to prepare for this essay, we have read a short story, watched film clips (also below ) and discussed the issue at length in class.  In addition to the information gathered so far, you are required to bring and use ONE recent news article on the subject on Monday. The article can be about anything we've discussed, including artificial intelligence and robotics -- in the workplace (i.e. assembly lines, or the da Vinci surgery system), in the military (i.e. drone aircraft), and in the home. You will also be required to reference the short story in your paper.

In English IV, we've been talking about science fiction and "future" technology and what it means to us. In other words, how are these technologies - telecommunications, bio-medical advances, robotics, artificial intelligence - both good and bad.  How might they benefit us, and how might they potentially "de-humanize" us? Stephen Spielberg's movie AI was based a short story written by Brian Aldiss, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long," which is about an an artificially intelligent robotic (or, android) boy and a mother's loneliness. Two examples of advancement in artificial intelligence are Apple's Siri and IBM's Watson computer. Below is a short history of Watson's development: And here's the video on the "uncanny valley" we watched in class:

Juniors Read p722-35 on William Wordsworth and answer the following: 2,3 on 731 all on 733 all on 737 CC and 2,3 on 738 Sophomores Read the selection from Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" and answer the CC, 2 & 3 on 676

Seniors Read "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" and answer #1-8 on 671. Juniors Read all selections by William Blake and answer the following questions: #1-3 on 711 #2-4 on 715 Sophomores Read "Autobiography of Mark Twain" and answer CC and #2-5.  Also, ALL English II students need to buy a copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  Although any edition will suffice, I'll be using the Modern Library edition in class.