Monday, 16 May

Today in class we discussed a number of issues.

We considered what the first sentences of each of the sections had in common.

We considered the importance and significance of the last line of the book, "It translated well."

We began a chart that helps analyze the process of translation

Who translates    |  What do they translate?         |  For whom?          |  To whom?

Maxine               |  Chinese Culture/Traditions    | Brave Orchid        | The pharmacist

Maxine               | Story of "No Name Woman" | No Name Woman | the reader

etc.

We discussed the following major assignment:                              

NEXT MAJOR ASSIGNMENT

Woman Warrior Multi-Media Investigation  May 2011

Due: Tuesday, May 24^th. (50 points)

The memoir The Woman Warrior has many interesting themes, and an unusual and challenging structure. I find it a very rich source for discussion and contemplation.

You will be writing an essay analyzing The Woman Warrior. However, there are many ways to reach understanding of the themes raised by the complex text of the book. What questions or idas raised by the text do you find most intriguing. What do you think is the best mode to investiage this / these ideas (besides analytical essay)? Choose any (not-traditional-analytical essay) means of inquiry and investigation – drama, film, interactive web page, power point, musical performance, dance, fiction, etc. to examine a question raised by our study of the work.

Your project should help illuminate at least on of the issues and ideas raised in The Woman Warrior: Memoir of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. Including: Themes; Symbols; Structure; Style & Use of Language; and Conflicts. The best projects – which could earn extra credit – will address multiple issues and ideas. In particular a superlative project would address how these various ideas and attributes of the story interact to create meaning.

Your project must convey understanding and demonstrate analysis and be well executed.

Tuesday 10 May

Only 3rd and 4th period met.

We observed that "At the Western Palace" is written in 3rd person objective point of view and considered what this point of view meant for analyzing the story.

Students should read "At the Western Palace" for next class.

Friday-Monday 6-9 May.

Over the course of these two days we developed timelines for events portrayed in Woman Warrior, and we created a family tree for Maxine.

Wednesday-Thursday 4-5 May, 2011

In class today students were responsible for two things.

1) Meeting with their counselor to forecast for classes next year.

2) The following assignment:
(NOTE: Papers are organized by class on shelves next to the file cabinets in the southwest corner of the room.)

Sophomore Self-Evaluation May, 2011

This year you have written at least four major pieces three essays and a memoir on the topics of: Lord of the Flies; Macbeth; Night; and of course you! You are to write a two page essay (handwritten) that fulfills the requirements of one of the assignments below. You will have today in class to work on it. It is due on Monday of next week at the start of class.

Writing can be a process of discovery. When asked about all of his failed experiments, Einstein responded, “Those weren’t failures. I learned what didn’t work each time.” Sometimes our writing “works,” other times it doesn’t. One of the purposes of a portfolio is to give you time to reflect on what you’ve learned about writing — either through your mistakes or your successes. When you figure out what makes you a successful writer and articulate that on paper or in dialogue, you are more likely to transfer that knowledge to your next writing project. Find your passion in this assignment. Find a way to make it meaningful to you.

First look back through writing. I want you to begin this activity by just reading through your papers.  Read all the papers. As you read, look at the kind of growth you’ve made over the year. Take some notes on the changes you’ve witnessed in your writing.   Identify a favorite piece of your writing, a least favorite, and some places where the revision process really made a paper better.

Portfolio Essay

Use lots of great examples from your work as evidence.  (As always, evidence in every body paragraph).

Option 1, Focus on multiple examples

___Type up a list of all of the things you’ve learned about writing, i.e.:

Concrete images; specific examples; integrated quotes with page number; catchy intro; varying sentence length; active verbs; evidence in every paragraph, So what? conclusion, or other things…

___Choose and indicate three items from your list above and evaluate your use of those items in 2 or more of the writings you have included.  Do this in the context of an essay.  Your evidence in this essay will be clearly-cited passages from your own writing.  Every single body paragraph must include 1 or more passages of your own writing as evidence that you will evaluate and discuss.  (Note English 3-4: This could be a simple comparison of your writing in the two main essays: the Patriotism and the Iran-Policy compare/contrast essay)

Option 2, Focus on one piece of Writing

            ___Imagine for a moment that you have been recognized as one of the year’s outstanding

writers.  Part of the award is a speech about one piece of your writing this year.  Write the speech you would give with lots of detailed examples from this piece of writing.

            ___Tell  how you “got” this piece and why you wrote this piece the way you did.

            ___Tell what several selections say about your ability to write—use of an effective

            introduction, development of a powerful argument, use of imagery and rhythm, etc.

            ___Note the changes you made during revision.  Mark them on your drafts, number

            your drafts and include passages in this discussion of your use of the revision

            process.   How do these changes reflect new knowledge about writing?

            ___Discuss the role your classmates played in improving your writing

            ___Discuss your observations about what good writing is by using examples from

            your work, the work of your peers, or the work of professional writers.

Every single body paragraph must include 1 or more passages of your own writing as evidence that you will evaluate and discuss.

Tuesday, 3 May

In class we considered the following issues, ideas, and questions in relation to "Shaman."

1)    In this section how does the narrator present her mother?  What is her tone?  Find and use quotes from the section to illustrate your point.  Describe what you take from the quotes and why.

2)    In what ways are the narrator’s mother’s experiences in China surprising considering her life in America.  Use quotes to illustrate your thinking.

3)    Describe the ghosts and spirits presented in this section.  How are they similar to and different from ghosts and spirits in previous chapters.  Be sure to use, and annotate quotes from each chapter.

4)    How can the To Keung School of Midewifery be seen as an example for the American born narrator?

May 2nd, 2011

In class today students were assigned new seats.

Students were reminded to remove "Millions Projects" and "Memorial Projects" that are not on display before the end of the week.

Students received grade printouts.

Students were reminded to bring to class for Tuesday (switched to Wednesday/ Thursday) any essays that they wrote this year that are not in class already.

Mr. Zartler will travel to Washington D.C. for the final time this week.

Students will be meeting with their counselors to forecast during block day this week.

In class we studied a critical essay on "Talk Story" see Mr. Zartler for a copy of the essay.

Thursday, 28 April

In class we considered ghosts, not only in our own experience, and in our popular culture, but in the text of The Woman Warrior.

The class was broken into small groups to analyze what it is that one learns about the narrator (Maxine) from the stories she tells about others. These analyses will be shared at the start of class Friday.