river oaks [english]

SENIORS Like the essay at the end of the last nine weeks, the AP independent reading essay will be a critical book review. Your thesis should determine the relative value of reading the book for your AP course. Of course, you must cite (and include) specific examples from the text. SOPHOMORES For each of the following assignments, please focus on critical issues rather than summary, and use specific examples from the text, citing them by page number. You should write around 500 words in response to the prompt you choose. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Read some excerpts from Henry David Thoreau's Walden; or, Life in the Woods, especially one or two passages in which he gives detailed accounts of his observations of nature. In terms of the amount of precise detail, how do his accounts compare with Dillard's? How would you compare the conclusions Thoreau and Dillard draw from their observations? Billy Budd (choose one) o        What role does i...

Seniors All revisions for English IV, DE, and AP are due on Friday. Be sure to include the original with your revision. AP & Honor Students English II-H and AP essays are due on Monday . They must be typed and formatted according to MLA.

The midterm will be objective, with multiple choice and matching sections.   The exam will be longer than normal because you have more time – an hour and a half, as opposed to fifty minutes.   Note that although the midterm could not possibly include everything we’ve covered so far, it will be comprehensive . Below is a list of everything we have read; however, the notes include the introductions to periods, as well as biographical information. Summer Reading – Red Badge of Courage Early American Native American Myth “The World on the Turtle’s Back” “Coyote and Buffalo,” & “Fox and Coyote and Whale” Non-Fiction – Historical Narrative La Relacion – Cabeza de Vaca The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano   The Puritans Of Plymouth Plantation – Bradford Anne Bradstreet “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “Upon The Burning of Our House” The Examination of Sarah Good Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God – Jonat...

Your assignment is to work in small groups to write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing the rhetorical strategies of two print advertisements and to present your analysis to the class. Although your paper will be written and presented as a group, you will type the draft for a grade. Please focus on the following: The audience - based on the "context" of the ad (where and when the ad appears) The purpose - beyond the product, what else (abstractly) is being sold? The use of appeals - ethos (establishes ethics/authority), pathos (abstract emotions of the consumer), and logos (a logical argument based on reason and evidence) The use of rhetorical strategies – i.e. juxtaposition, allusion, analogy The use of sensory imagery , d esign, and language - diction, informational data You MUST have a thesis and a clearly developed, well-organized analysis to meet the demands of the assignment. Your introduction should include a discussion of audi...

Seniors Bring a magazine to school tomorrow. It must be appropriate for school, obviously, and it must have advertising, preferably full-page color ads of familiar products. You will get into small groups and pick ONE ad to analyze as a group. Then, the group will write an analysis essay and present that essay to the class on Friday. Sophomores Finish reading "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" for tomorrow. Come prepared to discuss and to answer some questions in class.

Sophomores Your homework for Monday -- in case you weren't in class or didn't finish -- is to read pages 558-571, including a portion of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Answer the Comprehension Check and #2-6 to turn in.

The topic of this week's essay is social media. We are exploring the increasingly blurred line between online personae and "real life." Included in this discussion are questions about whether or not photos and comments made on social networking sites should be considered when reviewing applications for employment or admission to college. Should a person be fired for something he/she said on Facebook? At what point do private lives and public lives cease to be separate? Is the notion of privacy in social media an oxymoron? The essay will be written in class on Thursday .

Seniors Quiz Friday on rhetorical terms O-Z. Sophomores Quiz Thursday on Walt Whitman (and poems).

Seniors Your revision papers are DUE on Friday. Please include all drafts, including the original, hand-written version. In addition, don't forget about the rhetorical terms quiz #2. Sophomores Your one-page reflection papers are DUE on Friday. Even though I won't be able to verify your experience -- whether or not you spend a tech-free hour of solitude somewhere outside -- please write about your experience honestly . The goal here is to reflect on the relative silence and quiet of your yard. Even if you don't have some "revelation" or transcendent moment, write about what your senses detect. Thoreau and Emerson suggest that if you allow yourself to go beyond your senses, however, you will open yourself to ideas and inspiration. So try it. Jot down notes during your hour an any form you'd like, but the report itself needs to be written in complete sentences. Please attach your notes to the final typed copy of your report. This paper should be typed and ...

Sophomores Quiz on Walden on Thursday, including vocabulary.

Seniors Read through your essays and pick one to revise from the following: election position paper, fear, thanksgiving. Sophomores Read Thoreau's Walden and record at least TEN aphorisms that appeal to you. Come prepared to "translate" them for the class.

Seniors You have a revision essay due this Friday , December 2nd. Bring a typed on Thursday for peer review. In addition, you have a vocabulary quiz on Friday on "euphemism" through "oxymoron." Sophomores Your assignment for Friday , December 2nd is to spend one hour alone, outside, free from distractions (ipod, phone, computer, video games, etc.), and to write a one-page report on your experience. Your final paper should be typed and formatted according to MLA. To begin, you might make note of your sensory experience, but try to go beyond that and write about what you are thinking as well.

One more time, if you are a Sophomore...

Concerning our discussion on Wednesday, a comprehensive index of common usage errors can be found on the following website:

Sophomores Answer the following questions about "Civil Disobedience" (p370-376): Comprehension Check, #3-5 p378 #1-5 on p380 Quiz on Thursday on "Self-Reliance" and "Civil Disobedience," including vocabulary . Seniors You will write the "Thanksgiving" essay tomorrow in class. Your topic must be a person or group of people, and your essay should include the specific reason(s) you are thankful. Is it based on a single event or several? How has it affected you? What did you learn? How do you start this essay? Although there are several possibilities, consider the following: focus on naming the person, along with a brief statement about why you are thankful; focus on yourself, on how this person's influence has affected you; focus on a specific moment that is related to your gratitude. Your quiz on rhetorical terms A-D is on Friday.

Strauss Youth Academy for the Arts You are invited to attend the Strauss Youth Academy for the Arts production of Pride and Prejudice this Saturday, the 17th. Jane Austen's novel has been adapted for the stage and features local performers ranging in age from kids to adults, with the lead roles played by high school students. The show is at 2pm and costs $6 for students and $10 for adults. If you go, and bring back a program, and answer a few questions, you can earn a few extra points. Ask me for more information.

Sophomores Your homework for tonight is to finish reading "Self-Reliance" by Emerson and to answer the following questions: Comprehension Check, #2-4 on p367 #1-5 on p368

Have a good weekend, and GO MUSTANGS!

Seniors Your profile essay , typed and formatted according to MLA, is due on Friday, November 9th. The paper must be a minimum of 600 words in length. Sophomores Turn in "The Lottery" questions for optional credit. Your exam on Gothic short fiction is Thursday, November 8th.