Finals

Students Final exams have two parts:
 

1) Final check and self evaluation of Macbeth paper.

A)Check they essay that is due. Ensure that the title of the play is in italics or underlined.

B) Double special check the embedding of quotes in their paper. For a treat ask them to chant the “quote pattern chant” to you five times. You can also put the rubric under the document camera as a reminder of the editing details involved.

C) On the back of their paper have them hand write a self-evaluation that speaks to the quality of their paper given the assignment and the amount of effort they put into the paper.

Turn in essay.

West White Board Red Ink

2) Viewing and note taking on Throne of Blood.

A) Understand that the film IS the story of Macbeth, though not the plot, or words. (it’s a retelling using Japanese Samurai.)

B) Students will view the second part of the film on Tuesday, and then write an in-class essay on Thursday of next week that responds to the following questions:

C) In what ways are Throne of Blood and Macbeth thematically similar. IN what ways are they thematically dissimilar?  How does the film’s style (visuals, sound design, acting, etc,) contribute to showing the theme Kurosawa wanted to show?

 In class we discussed:

You should help students discuss and understand the differences between theme and plot. Then help students think about “style” means in terms of direction.  You may prompt them that in terms of style the first thing they will note is that the music accompanying the titles will grate on their nerves and set a disturbing tone. Then there will be fog, and fog will suggest mystery…. Be sure that students take notes. 

Monday-Tuesday, 24-25 January

 In class on Monday we divided Macbeth into acts and searched for passages that reflected the chain of being and for passages that seemed to relate to the four suggested topics for the essay.

Macbeth essays are due at the beginning of the final exam period. Students will have a self-evaluation activity on the essay, and an activity to extend the study of Macbeth: viewing Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.

Memoir Day, 21 January, 2011

Writer's turned in their drafts. Periods 3&4 should have printed an extra draft for Mr. Zartler (in addition to the one for Karen Karbo.)

Some final thoughts:

The first draft is for you to tell yourself the story. The next drafts are for you to tell the story to someone else.

Whatever writing assignment you have: Find the place where you have an emotional engagement with the topic.

Give yourself some time; some space; thus the "soft deadline" preceded the "Dead-deadline" by a week.

18-19 January

We viewed Polanski's Macbeth. We reviewed these handouts for the Macbeth essay.

Memoir are due tomorrow!

Memoir Day -- Tuesday, 18 January

1,000 Words due Friday, 21 January!

Extra Credit -- a bit is available to any students who attend the WITS Reading at Broadway books, tomorrow, Wednesday, 19 January at 7 pm. Broadway Books is located at 1714 NE Broadway.

Media Training : Follow these three rules for success:

1) You don't have to talk to the media.

2) Stop and think before you answer

3) If you mess up, ask for a "do-over." The reporter will almost always say, "sure!"

Revising is not editing

First Look at the First Sentence:

Make your opening an "Away We Go" sentence; it should be powerful and seductive. Make sure the verbs are "action verbs." Try to make the content unusual or surprising.

Famous First Sentences:

"Call me Ishmael." -- Moby Dick

"It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." -- 1984

"The King was pregnant." The Left Hand of Darkness.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -- Tale of Two Cities

Eliminate these useless words: actually; totally; completely; exactly; very; in fact; kind of; of course. (These words may belong in dialogue, but in your writing just get rid of them if they are not a direct quote.)

No L33T speak! Don't write it the way you would text it.

No Adverbs. Cut them. These words are flabby and weaken the writing (or are a sign that you haven't down the "showing" that they substitute for.

Don't repeat yourself. Don't say the same things twice in a row: See? It's redundant. It's repetitive.

Tuesday, 11 January

MEMOIR DAY

Wednesday, January 19th is the reading at Broadway Books. Students in Periods 3 & 4 can earn a small amount of extra credit if they finish their piece in time and read it at Broadway books.

Word Processed document due IN CLASS.

Where to start (A GREAT RULE OF THUMB): In Media Res : This is Latin for "in the middle of things". It is a great place to start. Skip the background and explanations, just get to when things are going.... Start as late in the story as possible..... Begin with dialogue in the middle of a conversation .... Begin with action and / or conflict .....


January, 14th you must bring a printed (computed / typed) copy!

Monday, 10 January

In class today we watched act II and the beginning of Act III of Macbeth.

Friday, 10 January -- MEMOIR DAY

1,000 Word Memoir Due: Friday, 21 January, 2011
Typed, proof-read, margins, title, etc.

Next Friday: "Soft-Deadline" Next weeks work will go home with you for final revision and editing.

(January 13/14 is an additional Memoir Day devoted to peer sharing and revision.)

Your piece should have : EMOTION (It will be better -- and easier to write if your memoir has emotion)
Strong emotions (those that include embedded conflict which is vital for a story) include:
Fear
Sadness
Anger
Misunderstood (a good topic is where you can tell your side of the story)
Nostalgia (which is a kind of sadness)

MEMOIR TOPIC Title: _______________________
1. What happens?

2. Change

3. Motivating emotion

4. Telling detail (or two) / elements
Telling Detail -- that moment, event, object, etc. that helps make the shift or the emotion clear and dramatic
Elements are those landmarks in the story that take you from moment to moment in the story.

Generally it's easier to write a piece where the shift happens in one event; not to write about a change that happens over a period of time.

Wednesday / Thursday 5-6 January

In class we finished reviewing tests on Act I and II of Macbeth.

Mr. Zartler lectured on the chain of being.

As a class we reviewed passages where the chain of being informed and enriched the metaphors.

HOMEWORK:
In 2.i and in 3.iv Macbeth sees a "bloody dagger" and the "gory locks" of Banquo's ghost. After reviewing the scenes and considering how you see Macbeth as a person write a 1-4 paragraph (rough) essay explain whether if you were directing a production of Macbeth you would create the scene so that the audience sees the dagger and / or the ghost or not. Explain why you make this choice. Due Monday.

Friday is Memoir day. By the end of class each writer should be committed to a topic.

Tuesday, 4 January, 2010 MEMOIR DAY

MEMOIR DEADLINE: 21 January, 2011 -- 1,000 words!

Periods 3&4 are invited to read at Broadway Books on the 19th of January, if they have finished their piece and worked with Karen to perfect it! All are invited to come hear their peers read!

Memoir: A story about oneself; some aspect of memory; non-fiction; that features CHANGE (a shift); writing from a place of emotion

We read a piece "Static" by last year Grant Senior Nellie Papsdorf. We listened for details of sensory details. For example ..... mother walking in; the smell of Marlboro's; smoke the color of sidewalks on different days;

We paid special attention to the way the story shows that the narrator (Nellie) changed. (America has a myth of "coming of age" stories that imply that one day we grow up. But, really, it is more honest to recognize that becoming an adult is the result of a series of (often subtle) shifts.

We began to shift from writing to a prompt towards writing that is more focused on showing something (e.g. the shifting towards adulthood). "Static" is a finished piece of writing. It is the result not only of responding to a prompt, but careful and focused revision.

The prompt today was to focus on a time when there was a shift in your life.

What contributes to change:
People come and go (pets are people, too)
you move
you are tortured at school
you realize you have a gift / you realize that you don't

The next three weeks: By Friday the 7th you need to know your subject. Soft deadline is January 14th. A "soft" deadline is an internal deadline. That is you need to have a rough draft, one that you have typed and printed a copy of for class.

We will be adding a "Memoir Day" next week. We will work on memoir on Wednesday / Thursday in addition to next Tuesday and Friday.

Another thing that was discussed today was tone. Some people are naturally funny. Not everyone is funny. People who focus on being funny are really SERIOUS about being funny. Don't push yourself to be funny if it doesn't come naturally (seriously) to you.

Monday, 3 January

Today we reviewed due dates:
Macbeth Act III due Wednesday the 5th Macbeth Act IV due Wednesday the 12th Macbeth Act V due Wednesday the 19th. An essay on Macbeth is due on the date of your final 3rd Period: 27th; 4th and 5th Period: 28th; 7th Period: the 28th. The first twenty papers turned in on the 25th will receive a few points extra credit.

Memoir is due Friday, 21 January.

We worked in four groups to complete practice tests on Act I and Act II. Completing assigned study items is HOMEWORK!

Happy New Year!

Here is the Pelican that I had the "encouter" with.