Friday, 29 October

Students turned in their Mind Maps on a topic that they are interested in writing about concerning the symbolism in Lord of the Flies.

(Some students were advised to redo work; properly labeled connections are important).

The class watched and briefly analyzed a parody of Lord of the Flies: "Das Bus" an episode of The Simpsons.

Wednesday-Thursday, 27-28 October

Students presented their projects. I'll try to see about posting some images.

In some classes, students wrote about what they learned from the room projects.

Students were reminded to turn in favorite book interviews if they had not already.

Students had a lesson on developing thesis statements through the use of a a "mind-map."

HOMEWORK:
A detailed mind-map, with labeled connections is due on Friday for the topic each student is considering for their paper.

Tuesday, 26 October

In class students touched base with their groups on the room project.

Students received current grade printout.

Anyone who has missing work needs to see Mr. Zartler during conference period this week to catch up.

The Lord of the Flies Essay due date is: Wednesday, 9 November.

Room projects are due next class.

Monday, 25 October

Today in class we reviewed the requirement for the "Boys Rooms Project."

The requirements are: Show the room that your character lived in before their experience on the island AND show the room that your character lived in after their experience on the island. The primary focus of the two rooms is to show how the character was changed by their experience on the island.

You may make a diorama, illustration, collage, use technology, etc.

Suggested method for working through the project is:

Decide who the character was before the island.

Decide what the character is like after the island.

Decide what their room before the war would have looked like in terms of reflecting their personality.

Think about how they changed

Decide what their room looks like after the war.

You will have about 15 minutes on Tuesday to check in with your group. On Wednesday/ Thursday your group will have about 25 minutes for final assembly, and preparation of your short presentation.

Any student absent today, Monday, 25 October, is to complete the project as an individual assignment.

Friday, 22 October

Today I lectured on the Freudian concept of the Id, Super Ego, and Ego, and how this theory of mind relates to Jack, Piggy, and Ralph. Here is one handout. Here is a copy of notes I put on the board.

Then we discussed the main characters in Lord of the Flies, and what their rooms back home in England would have looked like before the war, and then, after their experience on the island, back home after the war. Creating models, diagrams, or illustrations of these rooms will be a major project next week. The project will be due on Wednesday or Thursday.

Here you can see the notes from the lecture.

Wednesday-Thursday, 20-21 October

Homework:
Each student is to do research by gathering the following data from six (6) adults the following questions:
What is the title of your favorite book?
Who is the author?
What is the author's gender?
What genre is the book?
About when was the book written?
Age of the adult interviewed (It may be appropriate to simply approximate.)
The adult's gender.

This data is due on Tuesday, 26 October.

There is an additional homework assignment at the end of this post that is based in Lord of the Flies and is due on Friday.

In class we took time to think about and write about these questions:

Now that you have read the entire novel, take 15 minutes to write your impressions of the book. The following are some questions you can use to guide your writing. Don’t stop with simple answers to these questions. Use the whole time allotted to think and write about these questions. There are no wrong answers. For each question you think and write about be sure to provide reasons why or why not!

What morals or messages do you get from the story? Do you generally agree with the view of the world that Golding presents in the book, why or why not?

How does the book make you feel about people in general? How does it make you feel about yourself as a person?

Do you think Lord of the Flies is a good book?

What symbol seems most important to you? What does this symbol make clear to you?

Which character on the island do you think you are most like? The most dissimilar from?

We discussed these questions.

Then we did a close reading of Chapter 11. We looked for information (quotes) that seemed to indicate significant changes among the boys.

For homework for Friday students are to identify and record the six most significant quotes from Chapter 12.

Monday-Tuesday, 18-19 October

In class students reported on the authors for whom they were assigned an oral report.

Tuesday there was a quiz on the end of the Lord of the Flies.

Friday, 15 October

Author Reports are due on Monday.

In class students shared their interior monologues with others who wrote from the same characters perspective. These groups analyzed the monologues in terms of those words, phrases and ideas that gave a "voice" to the piece.

Students also analyzed the monologues for key points that portrayed the unique perspective or point of view of the character and for key issues that each character is struggling with.

Students received an handout of an article by Spangler arguing that Simon is a Christ figure. A thorough analytical reading of this piece is due on Tuesday.

The final chapters of Lord of the Flies should be read by Tuesday as well.

Have a good weekend,
Mr. Z

Tuesday, 14 October

In class we reviewed due dates:

Monday, 18 October Author Research Project Due

Tuesday, 19 October Chapters 11-12 (the end) of Lord of the Flies is due.

Tomorrow: 15 October Interior Monologue Project Due. For whichever character you are focusing on in Lord of the Flies, write an "Interior Monologue," for your character that occurs either during or at the end of Chapter 10. Interior Monologue is "just the words" that a character thinks to themselves. About a page long.

In class we also reviewed the LoF first half tests. Students got back an in-class essay, and learned about editing marks. Here is a copy of the editing mark notes.

Tuesday, 12 October

Students worked in the library using the 'LCs in hard cover and online to research authors. The reports -- oral and written -- are due on Monday the 18th.

Tomorrow is PSAT testing beginning at 9:20.

Conference period in the PM.

Monday, 11 October

Class today reviewed the PSAT testing that will take place on Wednesday beginning at 9:20.

We reviewed the procedures for access Gale Group Literary Criticism via Multnomah Co. Library. Click "research" then "databases" then "Gale Virtual Reference Library" then on the sidebar on the right choose "Literature Resource Center".

We discussed Chapter 9 and the death of Simon. We created chants for each of the four main characters we are following.

Class will meet in the library on Tuesday.

Wednesday/ Thursday 6 & 7 October

We met in the library today to begin our Author Research project. Each student as been assigned one of the authors from this list. Each student will follow the directions on the sheet to report on that author and two additional authors. These reports are due Monday, 18 October.

Students should bring Multnomah Co. Library cards to class next Tuesday, 12 October if possible.

Homework:

Chapter 10 of Lord of the Flies is due for Monday.

Tuesday, 5 October

First Counselors presented information on the PSAT s which all Sophomores will take next Wednesday. (Make some time to look over the materials and take the practice test.)

Mr. Zartler then asked students to meet on Wednesday/ Thursday in the library. The class will begin their year long Author Research project then. Class will meet in the library again on Tuesday of next week.

In class expert character groups met. These groups choose two or three key observations about what has or is happening to their characters so far in the book. Each group provided these observations and textual evidence to support their thinking.

Monday, 4 October

In class we finished a careful reading of Chapter 8. While reading each student focused on their focus character and looked for what happens to that character. We considered literal and metaphorical aspects of the character and looked for evidence of both internal and external changes.

Expert groups met to discuss preliminary conclusions.