river oaks [english]

Sophomores Your PowerPoint lecture from the last two days is available on the Edline site under "Class Info." Your test on Renaissance Drama will be Tuesday. You should have your book on Monday. Seniors Your in-class essay this week is in response to the president's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 by the end of 2015. The question posed to you is whether or not Louisiana should adopt this increase, and why. You MUST refer to "Serving in Florida," and you MUST include citations from at least TWO other sources. You may use anything I have provided, the president's proposal, or your own (credible) article. Please print the following and bring to class: The President's Plan

Sophomores Complete the study guide and turn in Thursday. Read the Renaissance Drama handout. Seniors Print out and bring a credible article on the minimum wage debate. Due Thursday.

Sophomores Expect an open-note quiz tomorrow on the Intro to the Renaissance. We will also talk about Renaissance Theater and Shakespeare. Seniors Please read "Serving in Florida" in your textbook. This essay is a chapter from the non-fiction book Nickel and Dimed , by Barbara Ehrenreich. Answer #1-5 on p186 for class on Wednesday. 

Your money for Frankenstein is due Monday. $10 covers the ticket and the bus. Also, please buy your copy of Macbeth next week. Bring it to class on Monday, Nov. 4th. I will be using the following edition in class:

Celebrated performer Benjamin Bagby is bringing his one-man production of Beowulf to Monroe. He will be playing/singing/reciting the famous poem on Tuesday evening at 7:30 at Biedenharn Recital Hall on ULM campus. The event is FREE of charge. Benjamin Bagby's Beowulf

Sophomores Your exam on "The Wife of Bath's Tale," "The Parndoner's Tale," and "Frederigo's Falcon" is on Wednesday, October 23rd. The vocabulary from the these three stories will also be on the exam. Seniors Your final rhetorical terms quiz will be on Friday, October 25th.

Sophomores We will discuss "Wife of Bath's Tale" on Monday and review/write on Tuesday. The exam on "Wife of Bath's Tale," "Pardoner's Tale," and "Frederigo's Falcon" is on Wednesday. Vocabulary is included. Seniors We are analyzing advertising next week, so please bring a magazine from home. Anything that's school appropriate is fine. You will work in groups to produce a comparison/contrast essay by the end of the week.

Sophomores Read "Wife of Bath's Tale" -- optional homework is Comp Check and #1-3. Expect a quiz tomorrow on "Pardoner's Tale." Seniors The final draft of your revision is due at the beginning of class tomorrow. The draft should be around 500 words, typed and formatted according to MLA. You must include your original draft with your final copy, or you will incur a 20-point penalty . Also, don't forget to prepare for the vocabulary quiz on rhetorical terms E-O.

Sophomores Your homework for tonight is to read " The Pardoner's Tale ." The questions on p152 are optional: comprehension check and #2-6. We will resume on Thursday following the PSAT. For preparation help, go to the PSAT website from College Board, which gives you some sample questions . Seniors This week's assignments revolve around REVISION. You will select one of your three in-class essays and revise for Friday. Argument: Underage Drinking Analysis: JFK Inaugural Address (bottom p57) Synthesis: American High Schools (#2 or #3 on p164-165) First, read all three essays to see which one is most successful in addressing the prompt. Second, make sure the essay you've selected has organized evidence and examples in support of a clear thesis. Much of your revision will comprise of adding, removing, replacing and re-arranging evidence. Proofreading is a separate, but vital, step before turning in your paper. Exercise #3 on p171-172 in your textbook is d

Sophomores Your recitation assignment is tomorrow. You will have the option to write out or to recite the first 18 lines of "The General Prologue." Note that this is required for honors students, while it is an extra point opportunity for non-honors students. Honors essays are due on Friday. Seniors We are reading selections from the "Conversation" in Chapter Four of your textbook (150-64). Please read these selections in preparation for this Friday's synthesis essay. Optional homework for Thursday is to answer questions on pages 157-8 and 160. AP essays are due on Friday.

Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey, where Chaucer is buried, along with many other greats of British Literature. Click on the photo for a link.

This week, we are talking about synthesis essays -- arguments supported by sources -- and working towards writing one at the end of the week. To that end, your assignment is to read the "Conversation" section in Chapter Three of your textbook. I also previewed the AP Course Description in class today. AP students will start the second quarter with an assignment from this handout.

To hopefully clear up some confusion, here is a list of this week's assignments/plans: Monday - Hand out honors essay prompts, lecture on "Prologue" Tuesday - Lecture on "Prologue," review for exam Wednesday - Exam on "The General Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales Thursday - Recitations of first 18 lines of "Prologue" in Middle English (required for honors, optional for non-honors) Friday - Honors essays due, begin "Wife of Bath's Tale" As always, if you have any questions, please ask.

Seniors Please work on the questions on p55-56; the answers will help you gather information for your analysis essays on Friday. The questions are due at the end of class tomorrow. Don't forget to study for the vocabulary quiz on rhetorical terms (A-D). Sophomores Continue reading the "General Prologue." Expect a quiz on Friday.

As noted in class, the pilgrims are roughly divided into the three acknowledged categories of feudal society - the three "estates" - with the church at the top, followed by nobility, and finally peasantry. By Chaucer's time period, with the breakdown of the feudal order, this third classification was broadening to include the new merchant (or "middle") class. Fittingly, many of the pilgrims do not fit neatly into any of the three categories, and the two women reveal their inability to conform to their expected roles, as well. Furthermore, Chaucer saw corruption within the church, especially, so he used the Tales as a way to satirize some of the more "religious" pilgrims. As Chaucer himself benefited from the patronage of the nobility or upper class, it follows that his portraits of the knight and gentry are more positive in tone. In short, the Prologue introduces us to medieval society at a time when it was rapidly changing - due to religion, po

Sophomores We will start discussing "General Prologue" tomorrow in class, so please read tonight. Your recitation of the first 18 lines in Middle English will be next week, so start memorizing now: The Prologue read with a pronunciation guide The Prologue Rap Seniors Your homework for tomorrow is to read JFK's inaugural address. We will answer questions in class tomorrow and write an analysis essay on Friday. Your first quiz on rhetorical terms (A-D) will be next Wednesday, October 9th.