English I (Pre-AP): House on Mango Street Open-Ended Question

After reading the excerpt of the story we read in class, please respond to the following prompt:

Does Cisneros' choice of name for the protagonist seem ironic? Explain (with embedded evidence from the text.

Do not leave your quoted evidence floating naked and alone.

For instance, in both cases, the quote is isolated from the analysis/commentary (poor form):

Esperanza is not an ironic name for the protagonist of House on Mango Street. "Quote from story." This helps the reader see that there is hope for her, which is the meaning of her name.

or

Esperanza is an ironic name choice for the lead character in House on Mango Street. "Different quote from story." Someone named after hope should have a positive outlook on life, and Esperanza doesn't.

Instead, the text evidence should be securely wrapped in the warmth and brilliance of your own words. These would be better (not great, but better):

Esperanza is not an ironic name for the protagonist of House on Mango Street. When Cisneros writes, "Quote from story," the reader can easily see that there is hope for her, which is the meaning of her name.

or

Esperanza is an ironic name choice for the lead character in House on Mango Street. For instance, in lines xx through yy, she says "'Different quote from story.'" Someone named after hope should have a positive outlook on life, and Esperanza's words show she doesn't.

Pre-AP English II: Pearl/Christmas Carol Socratic Seminar Questions

Be prepared to discuss these questions in class on Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. Remember to support your answers -- even the World Connection questions -- with evidence from the book.

If you missed the seminar, submit well-thought out written responses to two questions (100%; one question=80%). You may NOT answer a close-ended question.

If you were in class and did not respond twice, use the back of your remaining half-sheets ("buns") to respond to the questions. If you respond to a question discussed in class, your response must refer to the text and add to the conversation we had. (+20 points for the first, +10 points for the second)

WORLD CONNECTION QUESTIONS
How can "differences of opinion" about employment effect a relatinship?

Do you believe in supernatural visions and/or ghosts? Explain?

What effect does a song/Christmas Carol have on a person?

What effect does being cheated have on a person?


CLOSE-ENDED QUESTIONS
How does Coyotito die?

What is Marley bound by?


OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Why does Juana want to get rid of the pearl?

What differnces are there between what Kino loves most and what Bob Cratchit loves most?

Why is Scrooge so bitter?


UNIVERSAL THEME / CORE QUESTIONS
Why is the death of a child so troubling?

How does one keep money/materialism in perspective?


LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
How do the descriptions of what Kino sees in the pearl/the ghosts Scrooge encounters effect the mood of the chapter/stave?

If Kino had learned the Scrooge's lesson, how would The Pearl have been different?

How does the personification of "destroying [something] before it destroys [you] relate to the themes of The Pearl and A Christmas Carol?

Pre-AP English Students: Reading Assignments

English I: You need to have read through Chapter 19 of Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief. Better yet, finish the novel!

English II: You need to have finished all five staves (chapters) of A Christmas Carol. (You also have an IWA deadline and a Socratic Seminar to prepare for.)

You've got one week left of break. Plenty of time to enjoy yourself and complete your assignments.

Pre-AP English II: Pearl & Christmas Carol Socratic Seminar Questions

When we return from break, we'll have a Socratic Seminar for Pearl & Christmas Carol. If you were absent on the 21st (or didn't finish the assignment in class) please email me two examples of each of the following question types (answers not needed this time). Whenever possible, ask questions that could be answered with evidence from either book.:

WORLD CONNECTION QUESTIONS
How do you treat people who approach you to give to charity?

Do you believe in ghosts? Explain.


CLOSE-ENDED QUESTIONS
How are Juana and Juan Tomas related?

According to Marley, how did he obtain the chain he carries?


OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Why does Kino see the things he sees in the pearl?

Why does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge scenes from his youth?


UNIVERSAL THEME / CORE QUESTIONS
What does holding a grudge against others do to a person?

How does Marley’s ghost’s statement “humanity should [be our] business” apply to The Pearl and real life?


LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
How might Dickens have written The Pearl if the purpose was to convince the doctor to change his ways?

In Stave One, why does Dickens repeat that Marley is actually dead.

Pre-AP English II: IWA #2 (Better Late Than Never)

[Wasn't aware I hadn't posted this....]

Write a response to the following prompt:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Money often costs too much.” Both The Pearl and A Christmas Carol explore the paradox that wealth can carry a great cost to an individual, a family, and/or a community. In a well-developed essay explore the literary strategies Steinbeck or Dickens uses throughout his novella to communicate this idea to the reader.

Tips to success:

Focus on only one of the novellas. Focusing on both The Pearl and A Christmas Carol will immediately result in a REDO grade (no points). If you want to use A Christmas Carol, you must complete reading it in time to proceed through the IWA process.

Do not simply recount the plot or attributes of the characters. Extensive lack of focus on literary devices/technique will result in a REDO grade (no points), not a REWRITE (70 points).

The earlier you turn in a draft that you expect to earn an 85 (only revision is needed) the more likely you are to eventually receive an 85 (your idea of what is revision-only and my idea of what is revision-only may differ) or 100 (because you’ve made the necessary revision, or you refined your essay on your own before you turned it in).

This will be the last time a 70-point grade will be given on an IWA. Last year many students who had never bothered to rewrite an essay during the first semester had a very difficult time during the second semester when an 85 was required to avoid P.A. and/or IWA n.1.

This is also the last time IWAs may be turned in handwritten. Please see the note on the bonus in the next paragraph.

Paper should be about two-pages long, handwritten, or one-page long, typed, double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman (or Garamond, if you’re fancy). Five bonus points will be awarded to properly typed essays.


Daily P.A. for submitters not having achieved a 70 begins Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Drop-Dead (“For Reals”) Deadline: Tuesday, January 8, 2013.

IWA 2.1 and Daily P.A. will be assigned on to students who do not successfully complete this assignment begins Wednesday, January 9, 2013.

English I (Pre-AP): TPCASTT / "Theme for English B"

In class we began exploring Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" using the TPCASTT method of poetry analysis. Although I took up your papers before you left class, please continue working on your analysis.

Find an explanation of the TPCASTT method, here.

Find a copy of Hughes' poem, here.

English I (Pre-AP): Poem about Brueghel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

In class we discussed William Carlos Williams' poem "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," an ekphrastic poem (a poem written about another work of art) about Pieter Brueghel's painting of the same name.

Look at the painting below, and then write a poem about it. (It doesn't have to rhyme; it can be a haiku as long as it follows the 5-7-5 syllable rule.)

Click image for larger version