The Awakening Seminar 2 Today!

Today we will have our second seminar about "The Awakening." You should now have read through the end of chapter 12 and also taken extensive notes (which I will collect).

Tomorrow (Friday) please bring your Outside Reading book. You will get points for having the book in hand and for reading throughout the hour.

Weekend Homework

Please be sure you are read through the end of chapter 8 of the Awakening and that you have taken careful notes. If you have already done this, you have no homework!

You also need a physical copy of your outside reading book on Monday.

The Awakening Calendar & Digital Text Copy

HERE is a PDF version of Kate Chopin's The Awakening should you need it on the go!

HERE is our unit calendar.

I will be out of the classroom Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. You job is to read chapters 2-8 by Thursday. You should also take careful notes using THIS notetaker.

On Thursday (March 24th) we will have a seminar discussion. Your notes and deep thinking will help ensure a productive and interesting conversation!

DON'T FORGET! You need to bring your permission slip and $10 by Thursday. You also need a copy of your Outside Reading Book this Thursday.

Today: Women's Rights & Naturalism

We began today by discussing the advice columns to young ladies of the early 20th Century, written by Dorothy Dix.

Then you had a little mini-lecture from me about Naturalism (our next literary period).

HERE are the slides from today. Please study these and understand the key differences between the Romanticism and Naturalism literary movements!

HERE is more great information about American Naturalism.

The great news: NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEKEND! Get a copy of your outside reading book. You must bring a copy next Friday.

yes, I'm going to keep posting pictures of suffragettes

The Women's Movement

Your homework for Friday is to read the advice columns by Dorothy Dix (see handouts from class).

Come tomorrow ready to talk about women and women's rights in American (yipee)!

Story of an Hour

Today we broke into groups to talk about "Story of an Hour." We look specifically for patterns related to:

1.     Language of dependency and weakness

2.     Language of grief

3.     Language of ownership/repression

4.     Language of independence, joy, freedom

5.     Symbolism of nature

6.     Language of death, ghosts, possession

Kate Chopin and "Story of an Hour"

HERE is a digital copy of "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

Your homework is to read this very short story twice. Annotate it fully for discussion tomorrow. Leave no stone unturned! This is full of symbolism and pattern!

Outside Reading Choices

This Friday you must choose your book for our Outside Reading. HERE are the requirements. I want you to choose an award winning book that critics agree is valuable literature.

You can read a book by yourself or choose a book with a group of friends!

T-Shirt Orders DUE MONDAY!

Here is our shirt design! I hope you will order one. The cost is just $5.50! Orders and money are due by Monday, March 14th. Use the Google Form below to place your order!

Punny

Thanks Aayaam for this great pun!

(It's Heathcliff on a Heath-cliff)

LOL

Essays Due Monday

Don't forget to work on your Wuthering Heights essays (due Monday). Spend time really organizing your ideas and editing your writing. Tomorrow will be an in-class workday.

T-Shirt Orders!

Here is our shirt design! I hope you will order one. The cost is just $5.50! Orders and money are due by Monday, March 14th. Use the Google Form below to place your order!

The Poison Tree

Today we read and discussed "The Poison Tree" by William Blake. We thought about connections to Wuthering Heights.

Please finish the book tonight and start work on your essay. It is due next Monday!

Free Reading Assignment

This semester you will choose 1 book from a list of award winners. Here are some suggested titles. If you would like to do something that is not on this list (but is still an award winner), you can get it approved by me by March 15th.

You will sign up for your chosen book next Friday, March 18th. Spend time thinking about this and choose wisely!

This week's calendar & Sonnet 138

Here are our plans for the next week!

Today we started with Shakespeare's Sonnet 138. This is a difficult poem because Shakespeare seems to suggest so many contradictory things about love. As readers we are left wondering: How can love exist separate from trust and honesty? These are the same questions we should ask in Wuthering Heights.

SONNET 138

When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
   Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
   And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.

Homework Due Monday, March 7

This weekend please read Wuthering Heights through the end of chapter 29.

You should also start brainstorming and planning your essay. HERE are the prompts. Remember that your first step is to narrow your topic to something manageable in 5-7 pages.

The final draft of your essay is due Monday, March 14th.

Tomorrow (Friday) is an in-class workday. Use this time to catch up on your reading or begin planning your essay.

Homework Tonight

Read Wuthering Heights chapters 20-21