river oaks [english]

Your summer reading assignment will be enclosed in your report cards, which you can pick up Friday at the front office.  The assignment is also linked below and on the River Oaks website: SUMMER READING Have a great summer, everyone! 

I'll see 1st period tomorrow morning and the rest of you on Wednesday... STUDY between now and then!

The following is not required (and therefore probably will not be read by many of you), but if you'd like a good laugh (some will now accept this as a challenge, if only to come to class exclaiming that this isn't funny at all and that I've wasted their time) about how we Americans often view England, then read this piece for The Guardian by American writer George Saunders: Just who is this Magna Carta fellow? No, you will not be tested on this (more people have just decided not to read it, yet some have just decided to, based solely on the fact that they want to prove me wrong about them not reading it). Enjoy.

You have two stories to read this week, and I've given you copies of each. The first, by Paul Theroux, is called "Our Raccoon Year" and was published in the May 2012 edition of Harper's . The second story, "Endurance," was written by James Katowich and was published in the Fall 2003 edition of Turnrow . You are responsible for both stories, but I will not quiz you on them. Instead, you have the option of completing homework for credit by Wednesday . Your homework is to write a one-page typed response to one or both of the stories. DO NOT simply summarize the story. Respond critically - based on the character development, setting, tone, voice, theme, etc. We will review on Thursday , and the honors essay will be written in class on Friday .

By Wednesday, have the following (for points): Homework on the Seamus Heaney Nobel Lecture (#1-7 in the margins) Homework on "At the Pitt-Rivers " (CC, #2-6) If by Friday , you create an outline of the stuff we've read, including major periods and authors and titles and themes (in other words, a fully-developed study guide based on my skeletal study guide), then I'll give you homework credit. And, yes, you should be studying for your final.

Start looking at this and ask questions next week. We will also read one or two more (recent) short stories, and I will post those as soon as I decide.  I highly recommend you get started this weekend - for the finals in ALL of your classes. Finals count as 20% of your semester average. Mark Twain Life and Times From The Autobiography of Mark Twain (658) From Life on the Mississippi (669) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Study Guide) Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives Introduction to Unit (742-44) Willa Cather “A Wagner Matinee” (688) Emily Dickinson Author Study, including all poems (746-759) Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” (765) Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour” (783) Tillie Olsen “I Stand Here Ironing” (806) The American Dream Historical Background (820) Carl Sandburg “Chicago” Edgar Lee Masters “Lucinda Matlock” Edwin Arlington Robinson “Richard Cory” & “Miniver Cheevy” Paul Laurence D

During this last week of classes, we will discuss Penelope Lively's story, "At the Pitt-Rivers ," Seamus Heaney's Nobel Lecture (the shortened version in your textbook), and the final exam. Hard copies of the final exam review are in my room, and the list is below.  Although I have tried to make the list comprehensive, it is always possible I have left something off. If I have, please let me know for the benefit of the other students: Research Process MLA Format – what it is and how it looks   Using the subscription databases  (i.e. EBSCO, JSTOR) Evaluating sources (Relevance and Reliability ) & Using sources (Introduce and Integrate)   Parenthetical Citation, Formatting block quotes, Works Cited (expect at least to know the form for an article from a subscription database)   Romantic Period   Introduction to the period (620-638)   Gothic Literature &  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein   (study guide)

Juniors Please finish reading Nineteen Eighty-Four by Monday. Your last homework is due then, and we will discuss part three. The exam, including vocabulary, will be on Tuesday, May 8th . You will write in-class essays on the novel on  Friday, May 11th . I've given 6th period copies of the prompt(s), and 1st period students can get a copy from Mrs. D in the morning. You should bring your books and a brief outline but NO prewritten drafts. Sophomores (update!) Homework for Fahrenheit 451 is due on Wednesday. We will discuss the 2nd half of the book Monday and Tuesday, and the exam as been moved from Wednesday to Friday, May 11th . I will be out on Tuesday, and we have the ring ceremony on Thursday, so we will review on Wednesday. Note to parents: All of the homework for the final nine weeks is optional ; therefore, incomplete or late homework will not be accepted and will not negatively affect grades.

Your finals are Monday and Tuesday of next week. Anyone who is taking the AP exam, or who has an A for the year, is exempt. The final will consist of vocabulary from the rhetorical terms handout, as well as an in-class essay. The exam lasts for one hour and takes place during your normally scheduled class; if you'd like to take it at another time, please let me know. The exam counts for 20% of your semester grade.

Seniors Memory Books due Friday, May 4 . Yes, you are supposed to come to class even though the ring ceremony has been changed to the 10th. Juniors Quiz on Part Two of 1984 - 1st period on Thursday, 6th period on Wednesday. Continue to read through the rest of this week and weekend. The EXAM on the novel (including vocabulary) is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8th . Sophomores Quiz on Part One of Fahrenheit 451 on Wednesday. Read through Part Two for Monday, May 7th . Complete the study guide for Wednesday, May 9th (50 point homework grade, optional).