I thought you might want to see my two babies -- Aslan & Paikea -- in their holiday sweaters. Hope you all have a happy & healthy holiday. Enjoy the time with your family, your friends, and a good book! P.S. Please finish reading The Good Earth for Monday, December 22.

Reading Due Dates:

Monday, December 15: Chapters 15-17 due

Wednesday, December 17: Chapters 18-21 due

Friday, December 19: Chapters 22-26 due

Monday, December 22: Finish the novel

Other Due Dates:
Tuesday, December 16: Thesis paper due! Please have your final paper, final outline, and final works cited page stapled together. You must also have your entire rough draft, rough outline, and rough works cited page stapled together. These both will be collected at the beginnning of class. Nobody will be able to leave class to print out their paper. It is your responsibility to take care of it before you come to class. If you are absent, you must still get me your paper. E-mail me a copy and then bring the printed out copy with rough draft the day you return to school.

Wednesday, December 17: Vocabulary packet due.

ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 8

The rough draft of the thesis paper is due on Monday, December 8. Please have the introduction, the three sections of the body, and the conclusion completed. I would like you to have your outline and works cited page attached to the rough draft. We will spend Monday doing peer evaluations and teacher-student conferencing. Let me know if you need me to stay after during the week to discuss any problems you might be having with the paper. Wednesday and Friday are the best two days for me. As of right now, the final draft of the thesis paper will be due Tuesday, December 16. This will include the revised outline, works cited page, and paper.

I hope you are enjoying The Good Earth. Below are the reading assignment due dates:

Chapters 10-14 of The Good Earth are due on Thursday, December 11. You will have a quote quiz on Friday, December 12.

Chapters 15-17 of The Good Earth are due Monday, December 15.


FYI...I found an interesting website on holiday traditions around the world. Take a look:
http://www.msichicago.org/scrapbook/scrapbook_exhibits/catw2004/holiday_traditions.html

Assignments for the Week of December 1

You will receive The Good Earth on Monday. You must read chapters 1-9 for Monday, Dec. 8. We will start the thesis paper on fate vs. free will on Tuesday, Dec. 2. We will be working on the thesis statement, outline, works cited page, and rough draft during the week. The due dates for each of these items will be given during the class. However, the entire rough draft will be due Monday, Dec. 8. You will need to hand in the outline and works cited page with the rough draft. Below is a website on the proper MLA format. Please refer to it as needed.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

The Weeks of November 17 & November 24

The Odyssey

Due Monday, November 17: Books 10 & 11

Due Tuesday, November 18: Book 12

Due Wednesday, November 19: Summaries for Books 13-20

Due Thursday, November 20: Books 21 & 22

Due Friday, November 21: Book 23 & Monster Writing Assignment & Book 24 Summary

Due Monday, November 24: Log Entry & Socratic Seminar Preparation

Tuesday, November 25: End Test for The Odyssey (this will include background information on the epic)

The Week of the November 10

The Odyssey

Monday, Nov. 10 -- You will be assigned one of the books from The Odyssey to read, research, and summarize to the rest of the class. If you are assigned Books 6, 7, & 8 you will present your summaries on Wednesday of this week. You will also receive the log entry assignment for the epic. This will not be due until Monday, November 24. All of you will need to read Book 1 of The Odyssey for tomorrow's class discussion.

Tuesday, Nov. 11 -- We will discuss Book 1 today. I will provide you with the summaries for Books 2, 3, and 4 in class. We will be doing an AP passage during class today. If we do not complete it in class, you must complete it for tomorrow. You are also to read Book 5 for homework tonight. Remember, the students in charge of Books 6, 7, & 8 must provide the class with their summaries tomorrow.

Wednesday, Nov. 12 -- We will discuss Book 5 in class today. Students will provide Books 6, 7, & 8 summaries. Read Book 9 for homework tonight.

Thursday, Nov. 13 -- We will discuss Book 9 in class today. We will also be listening to Elizabeth Vandiver's lecture on Guests and Hosts and connect it to The Odyssey. Please read Books 10 & 11 for Monday. Students in charge of the summaries for Books 13-20 should begin preparing for their class summary. These summary presentations will most likely begin next Tuesday.

Friday, Nov. 14 -- We will finish our discussion from yesterday. If time permits, we will watch some of the key scenes from the film version of The Odyssey.

Assignments for the Week of November 3

Greek Mythology

November 3: Today we will have our last mythology presentation. We will discuss the strengths of the presentations and the areas that need improvement. Please bring The Stranger , your mythology book, and the Sophocles book to class today.

Homer's The Odyssey

November 4 & 5: These two days will be dedicated to the background information needed to make the reading of The Odyssey an educational and pleasurable experience. You will also need to accomplish the following tasks at home during these two days: the Epic Hero Brainstorm Activity, the reading of "The Wooden Horse" and "The Trojan War."

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I hope you have a fantastic four day weekend. You have all worked extremely hard during the first marking period of your freshman year. You should be very proud of all that you have accomplished in such a short amount of time! I want you to know I am very pleased with your hard work and dedication to this class.