river oaks [english]

Updated Schedule: The talent show has thrown off our schedule a bit, so your MAUS exam is Wednesday.  Thursday is the awards ceremony, followed by the banquet. We will resume on Friday with an introduction to your next book: Fahrenheit 451 . Please purchase the book by Monday, May 6th.  

We are in the middle of  MAUS , and here are the next few days: Thursday - Read through Ch 4, turn in homework for Ch 3 & 4, take a QUIZ Friday - Read Ch 5 & 6 over the weekend Monday - Discuss the end of the book and review Tuesday - EXAM LINK to the documentary we viewed in class.

Seniors, the end is near, and there are a few assignments left to schedule. Here is a list of everything due in the next two weeks: Career Update - a one-page addendum to your research paper, updating your plans for college and beyond. Be sure to include what you originally planned and if that's changed. Whether plans have changed or not, please explain why and what steps you've taken towards reaching your goal -- i.e. where you've decided to attend and what major you've declared. This is due WEDNESDAY 4/24. Letter to Future Self - this is an OPTIONAL assignment, but I encourage you to take it seriously. As discussed in class, this letter will be sent to you in about five years. Think about what you'd like to tell yourself five years from now. For example, maybe it would be interesting to reflect on your plans at the time, what values you held dear, what you wanted to remember. In addition, you might think about your current likes/dislikes related to pop cultur...

As you know, I will be traveling to the state tournament in Jackson with the quiz bowl team tomorrow, so you will have a sub. Here's what will be happening: Sophomores will be taking a quiz on Frost and Hemingway. Afterwards, please read the handout from Scott McCloud's  Understanding Comics . Bring your copy of MAUS on Monday. Seniors will be writing the last in-class essay of the year! Bring your prompt and optional pre-written introduction and/or outline. No completed drafts allowed. See you Monday.

We will be reading poems by Frost and stories by Hemingway this week. You should have MAUS (Speigelman) on order; of not, there are copies available at Books-A-Million.

Please remember to turn in your typed draft of the analysis for submission!

Seniors You will write an in-class synthesis essay tomorrow. On Friday, we have a guest speaker who will talk about post-graduation plans and resumes. Sophomores Tonight read "How It Feels To Be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston. We will have a quiz Friday on the Harlem Renaissance.

Sophomores You will have your EXAM on The Great Gatsby,  and all questions and definitions due are (optional credit). Seniors Your REVISION is due, with original attached, including a works cited page if sources are used.

I will be in and out with quiz bowl all day, so here is what you will be doing in class: Sophomores Turn in questions for ch 3-5 Take the QUIZ on ch 3-5 Read and work on questions for ch 6 Seniors Bring your annotated article! Write the rhetorical analysis essay in class

Sophomores You should be reading through chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby for Monday. The questions for ch 3-5 are due on Wednesday. Seniors Your essay revisions are due on Monday. Please include a works cited page and all previous drafts. The original page for the President's proposal is linked below: Fact Sheet: The President's Proposal to Reward Work by Raising the Minimum Wage

Sophomores The following are due tomorrow : Study questions for Ch 1-2 of GG Extra point assignment - one page, typed, with citation Seniors Optional grammar and mechanics worksheets are due, and we will have part two of the grammar exam. Your revision of the synthesis paper is due on Monday . Include all drafts with your final copy.

Sophomores By Friday, read through Ch 3 of  The Great Gatsby,  answer the questions, and define the vocabulary terms We will go over questions in class, and all definitions should come from Merriam-Webster . Expect a reading quiz... Seniors You will write a synthesis essay on Wednesday using the following sources: The president's proposal to raise minimum wage to $9.00 The article you summarized on Friday Ehrenreich's essay "Serving in Florida" (179-86) Your essay should cite all three sources and "synthesize" the information, making connections between the articles as well as supporting your thesis.

Sophomores If anyone would like to earn extra points by the end of the nine weeks, complete the following assignment by Friday, March 15th: Article Summary : Locate an article from a credible source on a topic related to the study of The Great Gatsby . Type a one-page summary of the article, formatted according to MLA (and including a citation for the article ). Sample topics include Fitzgerald, jazz in the 20's, prohibition, flappers, and the19th amendment.

Sophomores Answer #1-4 on p826 and define the following terms: husky, brawling, luring, wanton, coarse, cunning, and pitted. Read ahead, as we will be talking about the following poems tomorrow (and possibly Friday): "Lucinda Matlock" by Edgar Lee Masters "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy" by Edwin Arlington Robinson "We Wear the Mask" and "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar Seniors Print and bring an EDITORIAL on the issue of the proposed minimum wage increase. This is the basis for your essay on Friday, which will be a summary. Next week, we are reading an excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed .

Don't forget to buy a copy of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby before Monday. We will start reading and studying the novel next week.

Honors students have a response paper due on Friday, March 8th. The topic is Defining the American Dream . Use the following article from the Library of Congress as the basis for the response: What is the American Dream? Everyone needs to read "The American Dream: Reality or Illusion?" beginning on 820 in your textbook. You may also want to look at the article on Jacob Riis and his book How The Other Life Lives: Jacob Riis: Shedding Light on NYC's "Other Half" Expect a QUIZ on Friday , and the Honors students will write their independent reading essays in class on Monday .

This week we are talking about the minimum wage in America. The central questions revolves around President Obama's move to raise the federal level to $9.00 per hour. Is this justified, given the amount of employed people living in poverty? Or would a raise in the minimum wage actually lead to higher rates of employment, as business owners are forced to lay off workers in order to keep profits up? Linked is the study mentioned in class, a Living Wage Calculator from MIT. Your assignment for Wednesday is to bring a recent editorial to class concerning the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour.

Sophomores Read pages 746-60 in your textbook - introduction to Emily Dickinson and a short anthology Answer the Comprehension Check and #2-6 for Wednesday We will have an EXAM on Thursday on the three stories and Dickinson poems Seniors Read "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" in your textbook (665)  Answer questions #1-7 on p671 You also have an article due on Wednesday AP students have a practice test due on Thursday Also, here's the video on the "uncanny valley" I showed in class: Try the following links for recent articles on the subject of robotics: TheWeek Gizmag PopSci

Sophomores For optional homework credit, write a response to Chopin's "Story of an Hour." Seniors We will start a new (but related) topic this week, with an in-class essay scheduled for Thursday. For a preview, follow the links below: MIT: Personal Robotics Group Carnagie Mellon: The Robotics Institute Willow Garage: PR2 Double Robotics ROBOY As the last essay before break, we will talk about the positives and negatives of "living better with robots," the stated mission of many of our nation's top engineers. Topics will include the rise of the personal robot, drone aircraft, nano-technology, industrial manufacturing, medicine, the future of toys, and the uncanny valley.