No email!

 Just in case any of you are trying to email me this weekend, the district is doing something with our email and it is not available.  You could always post a comment here if you wanted to ask me a question or comment on how beautiful the morning is.  I am looking out my window and there is just a slight hint of mist over the inlet and the trees are almost golden in the early morning sun.  Think it's time for a walk!

Oral Book Report instructions for English 11

 1.  Bring your book and show it to the class.  (Have a reasonable facsimile if you don't have a copy.)

2.  Tell us the title and the name of the author.  Tell us something interesting about the author.

3.  Summarize (briefly) the plot of the book, including the characters' names.

4.  Did you like the book?  Explain why or why not.

5.  Would you recommend the book?  To whom?  Why or why not?

6.  You may read a selection from the book.

You may use notes if you like.  You should make eye contact with the class.  You need to speak clearly and confidently.

You should be prepared to answer questions about the book.

We will see several reports each day.

DON'T FORGET TO REWRITE YOUR PRECIS AND HAND IT IN ON MONDAY!  ATTACH YOUR ROUGH DRAFT WITH MY NOTES ON IT.

PLT Information

I have not received the answers to any of the questions you posed at our homeroom this morning so I can't give you any information about what is expected for tomorrow's PLT.  Hopefully, you've heard from people who were able to access the presentation and know how to proceed.  Sorry, everyone.  

I am sure things will go more smoothly as we get used to this new way of doing things.

Drama 9/10:  Practice "speak the speech" out loud!  You will get time on Monday to work on your heritage story before you present.

Drama 8:  We will work on the story tableaus on Monday.

I hope you all have a great weekend.   Enjoy these first days of autumn (it is the Mid-Autumn Festival in many places in Asia, so have a moon cake!)

 Remember, Friday is a professional day!  

English 11 - September 22

Great tableaus today!  See how one picture saves 1,000 words?

I hope you were able to pick up a yellow Short Story Project handout today on your way out.  We will discuss a due date for the whole thing on Thursday.  It is probably a good idea to start reading the stories.  They are entertaining and engaging stories, so it shouldn't be a chore.  You can also start thinking about a short story idea for your own story.

Remember, we will have homeroom tomorrow at 9:20 to discuss PLT and what we can do with that "unstructured" time.

English 11 -- September 20

Write your precis tonight if you didn't get finished in class.  DO NOT GIVE YOUR OPINION.  Just summarize what Laura Spinney tells us in the article.  Follow her structure and evidence.  It should be APPROXIMATELY 1/4 the length of the original article.  Give your precis a name.

Journals for Drama for September 17

 Drama 8:

Do you work well with other people?  Rate yourself (between 1 and 5) as a group member -- with 5 being terrific and 1 being very poor.  Explain why you rate yourself in that way.  Are you a good leader?  Explain.  What qualities does a person need to have to be a good group member?  A good leader?  Write about a time you worked in a group and explain what you learned from the experience (it doesn't have to be a good experience.)

Drama 9/10:

Are you interested in history?  What do you know about the history of Canada?  (Try to come up with three things, at least.)  What do you know about your country of origin (the place you wrote about last week)?  (Try to come up with at least three things.)  When we are working on our heritage stories, we will have to know things about history -- like what caused different wars or why people left their home countries to come to Canada.)

For example -- I know that my home country, Ukraine, was always being taken over by other powerful nations -- like Poland and Russia.  I also know that the place where my grandfather came from is very much like Saskatchewan in terms of topography.  During the 1930's, Stalin's Soviet government deported many Ukrainians to Siberia and there was a horrible famine in which many Ukrainians died.  It is called "Holodomor" (which means "death by hunger" in Ukrainian).  Luckily for me, my grandparents had left Ukraine long before that terrible time.

Senior Drama:

Actors/Directed Studies:  Provide the backstory for Trevor and Melissa.  What motivates them to act the way they do?

Theatre Production:  Describe three locations in the school that would be good for us to use in our interactive Hallowe'en drama.  Explain what could happen there.

Director/Scriptwriters:  Write a scene in which Melissa and two friends (give them believable names) arrive at Trevor's Haunted House.  The scene should be at least a page long.

Directed Studies:  What do you want to get out of your drama class this semester?  Give me an overview of the kinds of things you are interested in doing.

It's Always Something!

 English 11:

The print function on the school's photocopiers isn't working so I haven't been able to print the questions I want you to think about for the short story, "The Lottery".  I hope you enjoyed reading it.  I remember when I first read it in high school, I really enjoyed it.  I loved how it shifted from this idyllic little village to the shocking conclusion!

Here are the questions:

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

 This story was first published in the New Yorker magazine in 1948.  The New Yorker “received a torrent of letters”, the most it had ever received for a work of fiction.

 Jackson talked about the response in a lecture:  One of the most terrifying aspects of publishing stories and books is the realization that they are going to be read, and read by strangers. I had never fully realized this before, although I had of course in my imagination dwelt lovingly upon the thought of the millions and millions of people who were going to be uplifted and enriched and delighted by the stories I wrote. It had simply never occurred to me that these millions and millions of people might be so far from being uplifted that they would sit down and write me letters I was downright scared to open; of the three-hundred-odd letters that I received that summer I can count only thirteen that spoke kindly to me, and they were mostly from friends. Even my mother scolded me: "Dad and I did not care at all for your story in The New Yorker", she wrote sternly; "it does seem, dear, that this gloomy kind of story is what all you young people think about these days. Why don't you write something to cheer people up?"

 Are young people still thinking about “gloomy kind[s] of [stories]”?

 Most people who wrote were angry and outraged.   What about the story bothered them, in your opinion?  Did you find it shocking?  Did you expect the ending?  What foreshadowed the ending?

 What is a scapegoat?  Explain how that idea relates to the story.

 Do you adhere to any traditions?  Do you know why you might follow those traditions?  Do you know the meaning of the traditions you and your family observe?  Write about one with which you are familiar.   (I always have a Christmas tree, for example.  Pagan traditions often used evergreens as decorations for the winter solstice; the branches were symbols of life going on even in winter.  The use of a Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas was started in Germany.)

 What is ironic about the story?

Senior Drama:

We can't print stuff, so here is a short scene I want you to grapple with!

Scary scene:

 Melissa:  Trevor, why do your pants look so stupid?

 Trevor:  (silence)

 Melissa:  Trevor, are you ignoring me?

 Trevor:  No.

 Melissa:  Then answer my question.

 Trevor:  I didn’t hear it.

 Melissa:  That’s your problem.  You NEVER listen.  You’re a subhuman.

 Trevor:  You don’t need to tell me that.

 

 Trevor:  I’m having a Hallowe’en party.  Want to come?

 Melissa:  What are YOU having a party for?

 Trevor:  I think it’ll be fun.  I’m trying to change my spots.

 Melissa:  What are you talking about?  You’re so weird.

 Trevor:  They say a leopard can’t change its spots.  It can.

 Melissa:  Okay, then.  But why would you think I’d come to your lame party?

 Trevor:  Aren’t you curious?