Huckarrific

Today we took a reading check quiz on the first half of Huck Finn. Sadly it looks like several people did not complete the reading again, although it was significantly better than TOTS. Please make sure you get caught up. It isn't very enjoyable to discuss a book you haven't read. I attempted to just give a few ideas about the novel but of course barely even touched on everything I wanted to say. So
here are some general notes to think about in regards to the novel. This would also be some good stuff to discuss Wednesday.
Violence—very graphic images, Tom’s games, feud, Boggs, Huck’s beatings (7 deaths by first half)
Religion hypocrisy—slave owners, praying, killing neighbors,
Romantic ideals—Tom’s schemes, Huck mimics with realism (fake death, robbers, feud, fake identity, prison break)
Education—Tom (imagination, formal) versus Huck (logic, street)
Portrayal of Jim—superstitious, takes care of Huck, loyal, logical (hairball, king solermun, French)
Power issues between Huck and Jim, does Huck care for Jim? (he seems to forget about him a lot)
Alcoholism—how many times does it show up
Portrayal of women—clever, discover Huck’s lies
Signs of Huck maturing—scene with Buck (p. 116), decision about Jim
Reliable narrator?—13 year old boy
Symbolism of the river
What is Twain’s purpose in writing this novel? Remember it was published in 1898
Role of identity—King and the Duke, Huck’s constant changes
Portrayal of slavery—is it realistic, romanticized?
Why would this book be banned? Are the reasons different in 1900 vs. 2000?


Ending—dues ex machine, cyclical, Bildingsroman

Key Passages
P. 35 Huck’s dad and voting
p. 91-92 Jim buying his family back and Huck’s guilt

Upcoming: Two questions for discussion on Wednesday.
TOTS Paper two copies due Friday--make sure your thesis answers the "so what" questions

Poetry Nibble

Today we had our first tiny taste of poetry. Now I know poetry scares a lot of people but you just have to give it a chance and be open to picking it apart.
You got your next set of vocab dealing with poetry and the test will be 12/11
Then we worked with a little love poetry. Remember the first tips for poetry: 1. Don't let it scare you. 2. Look for some type of contrasts. 3. Find something you do understand to start with

Upcoming: Multiple-choice tomorrow and read Huck 1-22 for Monday.
TOTS paper due 12/4 (bring two copies)

Vocab Test 4.1

Happy Friday!
We closed the easy week out with a lovely vocab test and then had a rare study period. It was good to see that at least some people took advantage of the time to read Huck Finn or brainstorm about their papers.
Next week we will move into the Civil War time period and begin some painless poetry.
Upcoming: TOTS Paper plan for Dec. 4th and read 20 pages of Huck a night.
Next Tuesday the first timed MC!

Battle of the APEs

Dang, I feel behind again. Monday we had our official discussion of Turn of the Screw. I thought all groups did pretty well. Remember if you get stuck it might be helpful to go back and look at some specific passages. That will give you something concrete to work with and discuss.
Today you all worked on a multiple-choice passage as a class and we will see tomorrow which class scored the highest. I know it's difficult to agree as a class but I do think that the debating back and forth is helpful in determining the right answer. You should have a fairly valid reason for why you are choosing your answers.
Upcoming: Vocab Test on Friday (make sure you are studying this one is tough)
Next week work on TOTS paper and timed MC on Tuesday.

Oh and congrats to Leif for being the first one to be a follower this year--you may claim your late voucher.

Work Day

Easy day today--you all just had work time with your groups. Remember this is the final thing to go in the grade book and it will go under discussion so make sure the presentations are spectacular. I should have the timed essays corrected by tomorrow so we'll spend about half the period going over them and then I will give you the rest of the period to finalize things with your group. (That means working not reading Ebony--Holly)
Upcoming: Presentations 11/13 and vocab test next Friday.
Crucible Paper due Thursday

Timed Write # 1

Sorry, I've been remiss about updating this lately. Today was the first in-class essay. Hopefully it went okay for everyone, at least the text was interesting (who doesn't love The Onion). I'm hoping to have these essays back to you by Tuesday but we'll see how my weekend goes.
To finish out the quarter then we will just be working on the TOTS presentations.
Upcoming: Crucible Final draft due 11/12
Presentations next Wednesday and Thursday

Don't forget to reread TOTS. I promise you will get a lot more out of it the second time around. I think I've read it ten times and I still get new stuff out of it.

New Vocab

Happy November!
Today we got new vocab words. Remember if the movie goes too fast all the words are on-line as well. The next vocab test will not be until the next quarter.
After the vocab, we spent some time looking at an argument prompt and some sample essays. The one issue I've seen with most of the outlines I've looked at is being specific with your evidence.
Upcoming: TOTS for Wednesday and Paper for Thursday