December 8 - 12, 2014

This week we will wrap up our unit over Dark Romantic/Gothic literature with a discussion from two classic Gothic works: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Pit and the Pendulum." As the week ends, we will start in on the four-day Semester Writing Exam. The exam will be based on Joyce Carol Oates' "Against Nature," pages 221-229 of our textbook.

• Mon: Discuss Frankenstein selection. Begin reading "The Pit and the Pendulum," pages 249-262.
• Tues: Finish reading "The Pit and the Pendulum." Begin completing the reading guide.
• Wed: Finish and hand in "The Pit and the Pendulum" reading guide by the end of the hour.
• Thurs: Semester Writing Exam
• Fri: Semester Writing Exam

December 1 - 5, 2014

This week we'll take a look at the darker side of Transcendentalism: American Romanticism. This branch of Transcendentalism looks at the rugged and darker beauty that we tend to gloss over--this perspective in turn leads to Gothic art and literature. We'll analyze this through two short stories. Our first, this week, will be Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil."

• Mon: Pass back and discuss current grades. Preview the week ahead prior to the final. Read, discuss, and take notes over American Romanticism, page 234.
• Tues: Begin reading and discussing "The Minister's Black Veil," pages 235-246. Finish reading the text on your own.
• Wed: Discuss "The Minister's Black Veil" performance task on page 247.
• Thurs: Complete and hand in "The Minister's Black Veil" reading guide. 
• Fri: Gothic and horror literature discussion. Preview "The Pit and the Pendulum."

November 24 - 28, 2014

During this short, two-day week we will do our final Close Read of the semester over a short argumentative essay, "Spoiling Walden." Following our Thanksgiving Break, we'll do a brief short story unit just prior to starting the in-class writing exam and going over the readings for the Semester Final. The end of the semester is near.

• Mon: Begin reading, discussing, and completing the activities for the "Spoiling Walden" Close Read.
• Tues: Finish and hand in the "Spoiling Walden" Close Read.
• Wed: No school - Thanksgiving Break
• Thurs: Happy Thanksgiving!
• Fri: No school - Thanksgiving Break

November 17 - 21, 2014

We will start this final full week before Thanksgiving by wrapping up our reading work over the selections from Thoreau's Walden. We will then move on to a short Close Read exercise over a few essay's from Thoreau's mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. We will wrap up the week with reading and discussion over another writer who touches on the themes of the individual and nature, Joyce Carol Oates' non-traditional essay "Against Nature." Students will want to pay close attention to the text as it will be one of our focal points for the writing exam at the end of the semester.

• Mon: Finish and hand in Walden analysis. Begin reading, discussing, and completing activities for a Close Read over Emerson.
• Tues: Finish and hand in Emerson Close Read.
• Wed: Begin reading and discussing "Against Nature," pages 221-229. Complete the reading guide as we read.
• Thurs: Continue reading and discussing "Against Nature," pages 221-229. Continue working on the reading guide.
• Fri: Brief discussion of the Collection 1 Objective and Writing Exams. Finish reading and discussing "Against Nature" - reading guide due to the appropriate box by the end of the hour.

November 10 - 14, 2014

This week we will finish our analysis of poems from Whitman's Song of Myself. Students will meet in the computer lab to create their individual slides. Students will then present their slides to their original group on Tuesday. We'll wrap up the analysis of the poems with some final questions on Wednesday. After Whitman, we'll continue our transcendental themes and analysis by turning to another American transcendentalist: Henry David Throeau, author of Walden. We'll complete the week by starting our reading of selections from his famous essay.

• Mon: Whitman analysis - meet in the library computer lab to create slides for your presentation.
• Tues: Whitman analysis - present slides to members of the group.
• Wed: Whitman analysis - complete and hand in the final questions in the packet.
• Thurs: Collection 3 vocabulary introduction. Introduction to Walden, pages 207-216. Begin reading and discussing the essay.
• Fri: Walden - continue reading and discussing the essay. Begin completing questions within the reading guide.

November 3 - 7, 2014

This week we will finally leave Collection 1 behind and move into in-depth readings and discussion for Collection 3. Unlike Collection 1, the readings of Collection 3 have a much more literary focus to them. We'll see this during the week as we spend the week analyzing poetry by acclaimed American Transcendentalist poet Walt Whitman.

Students who still have not completed the Collection I Essay Exam will need to complete the exam before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by Friday of this week. After Friday, 11/7, all Essay Exams will be regarded as complete and ready to be assessed for a final grade.

• Mon: Review Romanticism and Transcendentalism from last week. Begin Whitman Close Read analysis and discussion.
• Tues: Finish and turn in Whitman Close Read analysis and discussion. Time permitting: finish the Collection I Essay Exam.
• Wed: Whitman Poetry Analysis - read through and annotate the four poems. Annotations will be checked at the beginning of the hour on Thursday.
• Thurs: Whitman Poetry Analysis - discuss collaborative group assignment. Determine poem selection. Collaborate in secondary groups to discuss and analyze poem.
• Fri: Last day to complete work on the Collection I Writing Exam. Whitman Poetry Analysis - finish secondary group discussion and design the poem presentation slide.

October 27 - 31, 2014

This week we will finally wrap up our first Collection from the textbook. We will finish the Collection I Writing Exam on Wednesday. At that point, we will finally be free to start our next unit. The English 11 curriculum is arranged according to historical time periods. For our next unit, we will skip from the 1600s to the 1800s as we look at the development of American literature from 1810-1850. Although this might appear to be a bit dry at a glance, this is also the period when we see the first strong US poets, short story writers, and novelists. We'll have a preview of the unit on Thursday. We'll then wrap up the week with a trip to the library and an extra credit opportunity.

Students who have not finished the Collection I Reading Exam must complete it before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by the end of the day on Tuesday, Oct 28. Students who do not finish the Collection I Writing Exam by Wednesday will need to complete it before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by Wednesday, Nov 5.

• Mon: Collection I Writing Exam - write the rough draft.
• Tues: Collection I Writing Exam - revise and edit the rough draft. Create the final draft.
• Wed: Collection I Writing Exam - all drafts due by the end of the hour. Preview the 2nd Quarter Extra Credit Book Project.
• Thurs: Collection III preview. Summarize pages 175-176. Identify and analyze characteristics of Romanticism and Transcendentalism
• Fri: Meet in the classroom. Go to the library for a brief book talk. Check out a library book and read quietly for the rest of the hour.