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.

Tuesday, 14 December

Memoir Day!

Holiday based writing prompt.

Creative Writing is based in emotion. The best writing elicits emotion in the reader. So in any drama there are two (2) sets of emotion going on. The reader's AND the writer's. The cliche, "It was a dark and stormy night" is not a weather report, it's a statement about mood. A good example is when a character in a horror movie goes back into the house to rescue their cat: they are thinking, "I've got to save my lovely kitty," the movie viewer is thinking, "Do that and die stupid!"

Prompt: 12/24 4:30 pm. You haven't gotten gifts for the people on your list yet. Everyone is going to use this as the prompt for their writing today.

There is a burning barn. Describe it from the point of view of a boy who has just lost his father. AND Describe it from the point of view of someone who has just won the lottery. (Two VERY different POVs).

Everyone will get from Karen an emotional state to use for the above prompt. You will use this emotional point of view. YOU CAN'T EVER SAY IT; you must SHOW it in your writing.

Note: Any Lord of the Flies room projects still in the room Thursday afternoon may be recycled. Claim your materials before then please.

Monday, 13 December

In class we studied I.vi. We identified irony (Duncan not realizing the doom that awaits him in Inverness.)

We considered what sort of King Duncan was, and viewed at least one video version of the play.

1st period also viewed another version and compared the portrayal of Duncan in the two. 1st period looked at I.vii and considered how how much influence Lady Macbeth has on her husband.

Friday, 10 December

Students are scheduled for a counseling lesson in Computer Lab Room #16.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday / Thursday 8-9 December

In class students reviewed concepts of connotation, denotation, inflection and stress. Students read I.iii-I.vi.

Students learned about the concept of a "word trace;" see teacher for a handout.

Students may have worked in groups tracing the word blood in Act I. (I'm writing this ahead of time....)

Tomorrow students will be in the Computer Lab Room #16 for a counseling lesson.

Tuesday, 7 December, 2010

Homework Reminder: Act I & II of Macb_th is due for next class.

Memoir Day

First we talked about the concept:

The Suspension of Disbelief: Authority in the voice of the author helps us "let go," suspend disbelief and "go with" the story. This suspension of disbelief happens in all kinds of writing (and is famously talked about in terms of the theater).

We then read a section from the memoir A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel was shared.

We noted... sometimes sophisticated images can be "slipped in" if there are simple words express complicated or adult P.O.V. ideas. Long loopy hair that only an ungrateful man gets -- is an example of an adult perspective, but presented in a simple way that allows it to be part of a narrative from a child's perspective.

Today's prompt: "Something that has been with you over time." Anything on your bodies. Things in your environment. Anything that has been in or a part of your life over time. So, not a scene. This is different, the writing is about a topic.