Week of 10/19

AP LIT:
- Essay on "The Road"
- Wednesday is PSAT testing so you'll be in the gym for 4 hours

English 4:
- Essay reviews
- Wednesday is PSAT testing so you'll be in the gym for 4 hours
- Shakespeare introduction
- Sonnets

Week after Hurricane

ENG 4:
- Socratic Seminars for your novel
- All annotations due
- Essay for your novel

AP LIT:
- Socratic Seminar (prep is below)
- All annotations due
- Essays for "The Road"

Complete a close reading of the last paragraph from the novel before answering these questions:

Cormac McCarthy has an unmistakable prose style. What do you see as the most distinctive features of that style? How is the writing in The Road in some ways more like poetry than narrative prose?

Why do you think Cormac has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of "the man" and "the boy" affect the way in which readers relate to them?

How is Cormac able to make the post-apocalyptic world of The Road seem so real and utterly terrifying? Which descriptive passages are especially vivid and visceral in their depiction of this blasted landscape? What do you find to be the most horrifying features of this world and the survivors who inhabit it?

Cormac doesn't make explicit what kind of catastrophe has ruined the earth and destroyed human civilization, but what might be suggested by the many descriptions of a scorched landscape covered in ash? What is implied by the father's statement that, "On this road there are no godspoke men. They are gone and I am left and they have taken with them the world," [p. 32]?

As the father is dying, he tells his son he must go on in order to "carry the fire." When the boy asks if the fire is real, the father says, "It's inside you. It was always there. I can see it" [p. 279]. What is this fire? Why is it so crucial that they not let it die?

Cormac envisions a post-apocalyptic world in which "murder was everywhere upon the land" and the earth would soon be "largely populated by men who would eat your children in front of your eyes" [p. 181]. How difficult or easy is it to imagine Cormac's nightmare vision actually happening? Do you think people would likely behave as they do in the novel, under the same circumstances? Does it now seem that human civilization is headed toward such an end?

The man and the boy think of themselves as the "good guys." In what ways are they like and unlike the "bad guys" they encounter? What do you think Cormac is suggesting in the scenes in which the boy begs his father to be merciful to the strangers they encounter on the road? How is the boy able to retain his compassion—to be, as one reviewer put it, "compassion incarnate"?

Week of 10/3/16

AP LIT:
- Continue your annotations for "The Road". 1 for every 25 pages
- By next Monday you should be done with the book and have all annotations ready to turn in.
- I will give you the preparation for the socratic seminar on Monday along with some Multiple Choice Practice

English 4:
- Socratic Seminar for the novel
- Have all annotations/presentations ready to turn in.
- An Essay will follow the class after the socratic seminar.
- Must have your progress report signed before turning in late work.

Below are the questions for the Seminar for each class:

Brave New World

Complete a close reading of last page. Analyze each line and what the text is doing on a thematic level.

           

Create a list of topics/themes that can be discussed in socratic seminar setting and find a few quotes for each one…you should have at least 5 topics or themes.

           

Analyze 3 Characters. Make sure to write about their:

            Characterization, appearance, dialogue/actions, and symbolism.

Prepare to have answers and supporting quotes for the following questions:

1. What is the significance of choosing Henry Ford as “God?”
2. Though Huxley’s brave new world seems less human in the way we are accustomed to living, explain the positive aspects of his society. What aspects would you particularly like and why?
3. Discuss Soma and its presence in the book.
4. What are the differences between Science and Technology? How do we use it vs. Brave New World?
5. What is the significance of taking away art, intelligence, and nature?
6. Make a list and briefly analyze John, Bernard, Lenina, Helmholtz, and Mond.
7. List and describe the ways the society in Brave New World mirrors and contrasts today’s society. Think of soma, sex, technology, religion, entertainment, consumerism, identity, etc.

Disgrace 

 This is to be completed by next class. This is your Socratic seminar preparation and will be turned in.

Find and mark down several quotes for each of the following topics. That means, for all 9 topics you should have quotes for each individual one:

Sex

Rape

Love

Hate

Violence

Suffering

Justice

Knowledge

Literature

Now, write 2 paragraphs for each of the following controversial discussions…that is 8 paragraphs total:

Good vs. Good Person

Just vs. Justified

What does it mean to be ethical and who decides?

Masculine (Academic) vs. Feminine (Personal) language       

Answer the question: Who in the novel lives in disgrace? Do they know, and who decided so?

Week of 9/30

AP LIT:
- "The Road" discussions
- M.C. Practice
- Be through page 129 by Friday morning.
- Remember your annotations every 25 pages.

English 4:
- For "Brave New World" be through chapter 14 by Wednesday and 16 by Friday. Have the book completed by Friday for A-day and first class next week for B-day.
- In class discussions for chapters 11-12 and 13-14.
- Remember your annotations for each chapter

- For "Disgrace" be through chapter 18 by Thursday. Have the book completed by the first class next week.
- In class discussions. Terms, topics, and annotations.
- 4 types of analysis for "Disgrace"

Homecoming Week

Make sure you are dressing up for the homecoming theme days!

English 4:
- Stay up to date on your annotations on the board
- All of them will be due Thursday/Friday
- Class discussions

For "Brave New World"
1. Bernard, Lenina, Helmholtz, Mond. Describe each character and their purpose and support it with a quote from the book.
2. Sex, Drugs, Identity, Science, Religion. Describe each topic's purpose in the novel and how the novel has answered the questions: Who are we? and How shall we live? (In relation to our society today)

For "Disgrace"
1. Describe David and Lucy and their purpose in the novel. Support it with a quote from the book.
2. Describe David's behavior during the trial. Do you agree with his point of view? Why or why not?
3. Compare and Contrast the 2 sexual assault incidents. What are David's two point of views, and how do they impact him as a character?


AP Lit:
-Begin Reading "The Road" and complete 1 annotation every 25 pages
- Essay from "Things They Carried"

Week of 9/12

AP LIT:
- Socratic Seminar and annotations due
- Bring Electronics for College Apps
- Acquire "The Road" by next week

English 4:
- Annotations for the novel being read
- Bring Electronics for College Apps
- By next week you should be at the following chapters for each novel.

"Disgrace" Through Chapter 11
"Brave New World" Through Chapter 8

Week of 9/7/16

AP LIT:
- You should have read each of the stories below and do one annotation for each.
- "How to tell a true war story" "The things they carried" "Love" "Spin" "Along the rainy river" "The man I killed" "Speaking of courage"
- Must be in class for credit for group discussions

ENG 4:
- Must have your books in class ready for close readings, and to participate in class discussions.
- 2nd and 5th Period "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
(Read and do an annotation for chapters 1-3)

- 6th Period "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee
(Read and do an annotation for chapters 1-5)