river oaks [english]

Seniors Answer the bulleted questions on p37 in response to the short excerpt from the New York Times on p36. Use complete sentences, quoting words and phrases from the passage in your answers. Sophomores Study your notes, and come prepared to take more notes tomorrow. We will have at least one quiz this week on Chaucer's "General Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales .

Your first argument essay concerns the underage drinking that occurs at some high school functions. Your task is to craft a persuasive essay in favor of one particular solution. Employ the rhetorical appeals from your book, as well as the classical model for organization (13-14): Introduction Narration (establish the problem) Confirmation (provide reasoning) Refutation (recognize opposition) Conclusion Although you will have several suggestions for solving the problem, focus on your strongest argument. You will have an opportunity to revise this paper at a later date, but I would like a copy of what you type in class. Save and print at the end of class.

In honor of homecoming week, and our study of the Medieval Period, we are watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail . Although I certainly believe this is relevant and a valuable addition to your knowledge of British literature and culture, I understand some do not. To them I say "Ni." Here's the script: Monty Python and the Holy Grail  We will resume readings and lectures next week with our study of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales . Our last exam of the quarter will follow.

For those of you who want to nerd out a bit on your own, you could do worse than this documentary from the BBC. It is hosted by the most recent translator of the poem, Simon Armitage.

Seniors While you are working on your revisions, I've given you some ACT assignments in preparation for the test this weekend. Please turn in the answers for the English section tomorrow. Transfer the answers from the booklet to a piece of paper, and grade yourself. Put your raw score and scale at the top. The ACT mentioned in class can be found at the Test Prep section of the ACT site. Sophomores We are talking about Arthurian literature this week, including "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Read the Gawain poem for class tomorrow, and we will do some homework in class. We'll talk about Death of Arthur on Thursday, and your exam is on MONDAY .

On Thursday, bring your merged, completed draft of the entire paper, including the following sections: TITLE PAGE – with abstract at bottom INTRO (from your first paper) CAREER PROBLEM SOLUTION CONCLUSION (from your last paper) WORKS CITED To merge documents, copy and paste into one file and then number in sequence. You should include a word count after the conclusion of your paper. You are required to submit an electronic copy of your paper on Friday, in addition to your printed copy, so please include your own name in the file name. 

Your title page, including a descriptive abstract , is due tomorrow. An abstract is summary of the entire paper, including the three main parts. It can be 3-4 sentences for this assignment, and I'd like it single-spaced at the bottom of your title page. The title page should include the following: A title which communicates the main subject of the paper  Your name My name The course (i.e. English IV-DE) The date Abstract at bottom There are thousands of examples online, but HERE is the one referenced in class.

Now that your "solutions" draft has been started, we can move on to the overall revision. The final draft is due on FRIDAY 9/20. Here is your schedule for the next week: MONDAY - *ACT, Interview Letter & Annotated Bibliography (50 pts each) TUESDAY - *ACT, Title Page with Abstract  (10 pts) WEDNESDAY - *ACT THURSDAY - Combined Draft Workshop (20 pts) FRIDAY - *ACT *ACT Prep next week will involve in-class assignments and optional homework assignments. Your combined draft will consist of the following parts: Title page with 150-word single-spaced abstract at bottom All three completed essays - career, problem & solutions - merged with headings for each section, numbered in sequence (1500-2000 words total) Works cited page - the last page of your report, numbered in sequence, with annotations removed Hang on to all sources, as you will need to include them in your folder 

A couple of things to share: First, here's AN ARTICLE explaining why the unicorn is the national symbol for Scotland.  Second, it's time for the honors students to earn their four quality points .  This assignment is the first of several article summaries , which requires honors students to accurately and precisely report the main points of an article that I provide. I have linked a handout on writing summaries on your Edline page under "Assignments." The paper should include the following: MLA format a citation for the source in place of a title - forms found HERE (#39 for this first one) a 250-word summary of the main points of the article (please keep it to one page) NOT your opinion, only summary Your article for this week is on the recovery of the bones of Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet dynasty: "Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III" from the New York Times . The summary is due on TUESDAY, September 17th .

Sophomores We started talking about the medieval period today in class, and I thought some links might help you better understand some of the notes. First, although history books mark the beginning of the Middle Ages with the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, in medieval literature we typically think of the period between two wars -- the Norman Conquest (because of the changes in culture and language) and the War of the Roses (because of the shift in politics and religion) -- or 1066 to 1485. The Bayeux Tapestry mentioned in class is a 250-foot long embroidered history of the Norman Conquest. The tapestry makes some of the legends concrete, including the appearance of Halley's Comet and the arrow-to-the-eye death of King Harold. It should be noted that the tapestry tells the story from the point of view of the conquerors, not the conquered: The Official Site The Tapestry

The third stage of your research paper is the solutions paper, in which you evaluate the most common solutions to the problem described in your last paper. The solutions paper should not only include the methods/solutions themselves but the criteria used to compare them (i.e. cost, effectiveness, time, etc.). This paper will be written in class on Friday. In the meantime, you are continuing to revise your first two drafts, as well as compiling a list of works cited. The forms for citation can be found at Diana Hacker's site: Research and Documentation Online Your annotated bibliography and interview letter are both due on Monday, September 16th. Those assignments are described below: Annotated Bibliography - an MLA citation for each source used in your paper (at least five required), along with a short (50-100 word) summary of each source's reliability and relevance. SAMPLE . I nterview Letter - a full block one-page letter detailing the information obtained in the ...

The next stage in the research project, as we have been discussing in class, is the PROBLEM paper. This problem is something that you will encounter (and seek to solve) in your profession. For example, if you are a nurse, you see a variety of illnesses on the job - i.e. the flu - so you would research the flu. Find out as much as you can about the problem first, so that you can better understand how a professional approaches the solution(s). Again, one of the primary purposes of this paper is to immerse you in your potential future career. Your interview subject could be an excellent resource for real world information about both your education and experience in the field. Another equally important purpose for this research project is to walk you through writing a paper of this length. With that in mind, remember that this essay is concerned with the problem ONLY, and we will address the solutions in next week's paper.

Sophomores Answer questions #1-4 on the handout "The Seafarer." Use complete sentences and cite the text! Seniors Bring your sources to class because you will need them for your in-class essay. Those of you who want to use the computers need to bring your USB flash drives to save your work for revision.

Your Beowulf exam is on Wednesday. We will review on Tuesday, so come with questions!