To watch the 2015 Fassbender version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, click the image above.
To view the Folger Theatre and the Two River Theater Company production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, click the above image.
In order to study for Monday's final, you can review your annotations in Macbeth, and should also review the study guide questions for each act. Finally, you can and should watch another version of the play. I would recommend either or both of the above versions.
Writer’s Reflection
The last portion of your final assessment is a compilation of one final reflection and two writing samples from this class. The portfolio should include the following:
--and any TWO of the following—
The writer’s reflection and growth plan will be written during the test time on Monday. It should answer two questions: a) How did you improve as a writer, and in what way? and b) What skills do you need to develop further during your junior year? This part of the portfolio should be written in paragraph form, should not include bullet points. It will be written in first person, present tense.
You WILL be allowed to bring in a ½ page outline. This can be handwritten or typed. It can only be one sided. Do NOT write out sentences. You CAN list main ideas and examples you would cite.
Finally, the two essays that you include should be one of the four listed above. Ideally, these writing samples will illustrate the issues addressed in your reflection. Ideally, they will show what you learned about writing. You do NOT need to revise these other two pieces. They are to be included as examples of the writing you have done throughout the year.
After writing your reflection, you will staple it on top of the other essays in the order listed above.
BLOOD CRIES OUT for blood in Shakespeare's Macbeth. This week we will finish the introductory activities and begin performing selected scenes from the tragedy, counterpointed with listening to audio of the play, paired with a film version of the play. Remember, there's audio resources and a graphic novel of the play available here.
WE WILL FINISH Sandra Cisneros's novella, The House on Mango Street, this week. This week we will begin studying Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth. For our reading you have several resources. They include audio for the play, a dramatic reading that will allow you to hear the speakers inflection. I've also added a graphic novel version of the play, one that includes Shakespeare's language in its entirety. You can find these resources here.
See more of the artist's work at The New York Times.
NOW THAT YOUR REVISION OF THE ELLEN FOSTER ESSAY is complete, we will turn our full attention to Sandra Cisneros's novella, The House on Mango Street. We have read about the author's background, familiarized ourselves with the history of Hispanic neighborhoods, even toured (via video) the National Hispanic Art Museum in Pilsen. You can find the audio to the book here (in two mp3 files--NOT broken up by chapter)
(WBEZ illustrations by Erik Nelson Rodriguez)
BESIDES WRITING A REVISION of your Ellen Foster characterization, we will spend two days revising sentences, eliminating the "to be" forms of helping verbs. These include: is, am, are, was, were, have, has, had, should, could, would, be, being, been, do, doing, does. I will also review the structure of body paragraphs, and how to integrate quotes. Your revision should include at least two core paragraphs. Your essential question is: Who is Ellen? You should answer that with one core idea.
OUR READING OF ELLEN Foster will continue through this week and into next week. Our next novel will be Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street. You will want to purchase that text this week, so that you have it early next week when we finish EF. We will be writing a comparison/contrast essay along the same lines as the one we wrote for Dead Poets Society and The Catcher in the Rye, comparing Ellen to the female protagonist in Mango Street.
These are the assignments. If for ANY reason you believe you need to change the individual you are researching, please see Mr. Easton outside of class. No changes will be allowed after Wednesday, March 14.
Here is a LINK to this document, so you can type in the proposal you wrote yesterday in class.
WE SPENT SOME LIBRARY TIME researching individuals who are in some way connected to the American civil rights movement, both those historically pro and con. Students have researched four persons of interest, and have narrowed that list down to one individual. This week we will research more about that individual in these three areas: a) biography of entire life, b) reasons for becoming involved in CRM and activity during 1954-1968, and c) what lesson or role model their activity provides for modern American activists.
HOW DOES THE VISUAL ASPECT of the graphic memoir enhance the audience's ability to experience history as it was lived by the participants described in the text?
Use the following link to report on what you have discovered to date. You should include the four individuals your researched, the one name you think is most promising for further research, and some details about that most promising individual. You have 20 minutes to complete this information. The link is here.
The above photo is featured on page 120 of our text, March 2. Just as we did in class with the Norman Rockwell painting, we will study the photography analytically taking notes on a) what you see, b) making interpretations, and c) writing questions for further research. After taking individual notes, we will discuss your notes as a class. What was the photographer's intention? What does this photo mean?
After this discussion, read the analysis Lyon's photography in the essay, "SNCC: Photography." While reading, circle vocabulary and write questions that you, as a reader, have about the essaay.
Finally, you will browse the Luminous-Lint PhV database of photography. Clicking on the image above will bring you to the artists civil rights era collection. Spend at least ten minutes in class browsing his images. Select ONE image, and complete a see-think-wonder analysis on that new image, taking notes just as you have with the photo above.
Those who missed any of the documentary should watch it from home this weekend, and add to your notes. Remember, you want to keep a list of names, people whom you otherwise might now know about, but can appreciate their experience and contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.
WE COMPLETE OUR VIEWING our viewing of the documentary Freedom Riders this week, and we will likewise finish reading the graphic novel March Book 2 by Monday. Next week, students will begin watching a documentary on the life on John Lewis which was just released, approximately two weeks ago. Additionally, we will be in the library completing a research project on an individual from the time period that you think is interesting, intriguing, or otherwise important.
Click on the image below to more carefully view parts of the painting.
This May 24, 1961, photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History shows the booking photos of civil rights activist James Farmer, who was arrested — along with many others — during the Freedom Rides. AP
Click on the image above for the long-form interview that we began listening to in class.
HAPPY SNOW DAY everyone. Here's hoping you had a restful day. We will pick up exactly where we left off, with a careful analysis of pages 16-25. Rather than keeping chapter notes using a similar template for each chapter, we will have different assignments with occasional writing journals throughout our reading. You will NOT keep annotations as we have, with novels, in the past.
