Week 3 Syllabus: November 6-10

UNDERSTANDING A NOVEL WRITTEN DURING the rise of Nigerian independence, about the start of colonialism, requires that we have some background about British colonialism on the African continent. Achebe's novel does not explicitly address the history of the Igbo people. But Okonkwo, a man clearly inspired to lead his village, will come to encounter the forces of imperialism. Toward this end, we will watch clips of a Netflix documentary on the birth of Nigerian nationalism. Before that, we will wrap up our unit on short-stories, writing a SHORT essay that develops a claim, reasons, and textual evidence.

MONDAY, November 6

• Overview of parent/teacher conferences: What did they ask? What did I tell them?

• Discussion of “The Kind of Light that Shines in Texas.”

• Introduction to the Chinua Achebe and Things Fall Apart.

• HW: Finish writing your claim, reasons, and evidence for a paper on one of the last three short stories we’ve read over the last three weeks. I have emailed you a link to that google spreadsheet to your NT email account.

WEDNESDAY, November 8—BSAD

• Watching the first 25 minutes of the Nigeria documentary. Taking notes on larger trends/themes presented (i.e.: British slave trade starting in 15th century, the Guinea coin, diaspora).

• Reading the first 10 pages of Things Fall Apart. Circle vocab, write out “I wonder” questions.

• HW: Re-read pages 1-10. What does Achebe make clear about Igbo society via Okonkwo and his family's example? (Remember, the documentary provides the Euro-centric view of what's happening in colonial SW Africa, whereas the novel provides the Igbo perspective). 

Thursday, November 9

• Watching the end of part one, and the start of part two, of the Nigerian documentary. 

• What are the larger issues at work in respect to the British colonization of the Igbo people? 1) Exploitation of labor, 2) removal of wealth, 3) diminished national identity. Reviewing the Nigerian view of Christianity, commerce and civilization.

• Starting small group work on study guides for chapters 1-3

• HW: Read chapters 1-4 for homework. Pay attention to descriptions of Okonkwo, why he is considered great by the Igbo people and by his family.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

Here’s the audio for the story, read by podcaster of “Anything Ghost,” Lex:

And a link to the Bing Crosby film re-telling of the haunted tale:

Week 2 Syllabus: October 30-November 1

THIS IS AN ABBREVIATED WEEK BECAUSE OF PARENT/teacher conferences, which run Wednesday afternoon through Thursday night. We will begin a close reading analysis of our final short story, “The Kind of Light that Shines in Texas” in small groups, moving to a large group discussion. We will formally start our reading of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart on Monday, November 6. Please have your book in hand by then.

MONDAY, October 30 (anchor/BSAD day)

• Small group analysis of the story.

• HW: Complete the brainstorming for your paper on one of our past three short stories. I’ve sent a link to the google sheet to your NT email accounts; use it to draft a claim, reasons, and evidence.

TUESDAY, October 31

• Happy Halloween!

• We will continue our small group analysis of “Kind of Light” that we left off yesterday.

• Reading a canonical, American horror story, “ The Legend of Sleepy Hallow” by Washington Irving.

• HW: Type your answers to the study guide on “Kind of Light.” These, along with your annotations, are due Monday. THEY SHOULD BE PRINTED ON PAPER. We will discuss the story on Monday in class, and I’ll then introduce our novel, Things Fall Apart (TFA).

bring your humanity: NTED

Week 1 Syllabus: October 23-25

HOW DOES JACK’S VIEW OF HIS BI-RACIAL IDENTITY change over the course of Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie”? As we finish first quarter, we will review the reading, annotation, writing and discussion skills that we have practiced. NOTE: If you have an assignment marked “missing” or a grade that is an “F,” I expect that you will see me outside of class to make up that work. Only students who did NOT turn in an assignment would receive an “F” grade on an assignment. There is NO work that you shouldn’t make up or complete.

MONDAY, October 23

• Re-listening to the LeVar Burton reading of our current story.

• Then, using a google spreadsheet to analyze the short story, “The Paper Menagerie.”

• Examining an article about the mail-order bride business from a 1986 NYT article. Why do individuals get involved in this business? What are the advantages and disadvantages, according to the article?

• HW: Finish your reading of the article. If anything is missing on your spreadsheet, please complete it.

WEDNESDAY (anchor day)

• Small group sharing of annotations on the NYT article.

• Reviewing and discussing your A-B-C-D answers on the spreadsheet from Monday.

• HW: Revisit your annotations in the short story. Do your notes reflect the reader’s dialogue with the text about meaning?

THURSDAY, October 26

• Discussion of “The Paper Menagerie.”

• Introduction to our next short story, “The Kind of Light That Shines in Texas.”

• HW: Read and annotate this story, keeping marginal notes on how racism emerges in the characters and in the plot.

Week 9 Syllabus: End of 1st Quarter

W WILL FINISH OUR INTRODUCTORY UNIT ON SHORT stories by reading, annotating, discussing a series of “shorter” stories on the theme of the individual in conflict—with self, others, society. I will collect the work on each and grade these as a group homework / annotation / discussion assignment. After wrapping up “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas,” we will start and finish “Vaccine Season,” and then will read “The Paper Menagerie” over the weekend.

TUESDAY, October 17

• Discussion of Le Guin’s “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas.”

• Watching a film clip about Le Guin’s life and work, about her compassion for humanity and the theme of power and powerlessness.

• After collecting your pre-discussion study guide questions, your discussion notes, and your annotations of Omelas, we will begin reading “Vaccine Season.”

• HW: Finish reading “Vaccine Season.” For annotations—in addition to circling vocabulary, writing our the reader’s questions—keep notes on the difference between what is good, and what is bad. Audio for the story is below:

THURSDAY, October 19

• Starting by reading, annotating, and discussing a poem about power. Then reading this essay bout the poem.

• Small group worksheet on “Vaccine Season.”

• In class discussion of the story. When done, students will hand in annotations, the Q&A worksheet from today’s class, and their discussion notes.

• Time permitting, we will begin reading “Paper Menagerie.”

• HW: Finish reading and annotating the story for class on Monday.

documentary on ursula k. le guin, audio to "Omelas"

Click on the author’s image above to access the documentary, “The Worlds of Ursual K. Le Guin”

Week 8 Syllabus: October 9-12

WE WILL BEGIN SHIFTING OUR FOCUS ON WRITING and some stylistic issues in our paragraph writing. For example, the feedback on the journal assignment on machines and the Canvas “discussion” entry on the Atlantic article will be focused on some areas of weakness in your writing style. For many of you, these will focus on vague language (overuse of indefinite pronouns: they, some, many, thing, people) and simplistic signal language connected to structure: “In this paragraph I will…” “An example of this is when…” “This quote shows that…”

MONDAY, October 9

• Annotating the portion of “Chelkash” that describes a blue sword that—much like the sword of Damocles—hangs over the heads of Chelkash and Gabriel.

• Using these marginal notes to draft an analysis of this pivotal symbol.

• In class discussion of “Chelkash,” focusing on the theme of greed and innocence, and discussing the story’s ending.

• Re-collecting any ungraded annotations.

• HW: Spend 30 minutes working on the “Chelkash” crossword. We will be re-reading “Those Who Walk Away from Omelas” in class on Wednesday. If you haven’t done so, read this once before class.

WEDNESDAY (anchor day—during the day)

• Guide to the parts of speech, online here.

• Reviewing parts of speech, focusing on the “to be” helping/linking verb forms, as well as active verbs.

• Reading “Those Who Walk Away from Omelas.”

• HW: re-read “Omelas,” picking out a) physical descriptions of the people, b) physical descriptions of the city, c) descriptions of their culture, and d) specific, concrete nouns or active verbs that LeGuin uses to create this imaginary world.

THURSDAY (anchor day—Back to School Night with parents)

• I will briefly introduce myself, tell parents the importance of meeting with me outside of class (to work on writing, annotation, interpretation of literature), and show your Uncle Buck how to find the syllabus on Squarespace.

• You will use your iPads to pull up your “blue sword” entry on Canvas, and with the help of a parent, identify your predicates and replacing any examples of: is, am, are, was, were, have, has, had, should, could, would, be, being, been, do, doing, does with active verbs.

• HW: On Tuesday, we will compare answers on the “Omelas” study guide. Re-reread the story and answer these questions.

Week 7 Syllabus: October 2-6

MARGINAL ANNOTATONS SHOULD REFLECT THE READERS dialogue with the text about meaning. For narrative works, that includes your questions about what you’re reading: questions of clarification and questions that develop your thinking. Readers should write out their observations about the theme within the story, identifying and explaining a passage’s importance—be that a character conflict, a symbolic description, or an extended metaphor that develops the writer’s theme. There are lots of ways to annotate. Most importantly, you should practice engaging your reading in a dialogue. What do you notice? What is the writer doing? What would good readers notice, and what do they think it means?

MONDAY, October 2

• Wordplay. Starting with a “Chelkash” crossword for the first 30 minutes, with partners.

• Lecture on annotation. Returning student’s “The Machine Stops” and discussing feedback and grading system for the 25% of your grade made up of annotations.

• Reading part three together in class.

• HW: Answer question #6 in the part one worksheet. Check your annotations in “Chelkash,” based upon the feedback you’ve just gotten about the last assignment.

WEDNESDAY (anchor day)

• STAR reports that include Lexile scores and reading recommendations.

• Small group work on plot lines for parts two and three.

• HW: Finish and staple together the three guides (intro, part one, and parts two-and-three). Due in class tomorrow.

THURSDAY, October 5

• Returning to small groups to finish your plot lines on parts two and three.

• The sub will collect part one (setting), part two (character) and part three (plot) worksheets mentioned above. Sub will also collect your annotations.

• HW: On Monday, we will hold our discussion on “Chelkash”. Do preview our next story, “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin—it’s short, but powerful. We will re-read it at least twice.

Week 6 Syllabus: September26-29

DO MACHINES CONTROL US, OR DO WE CONTROL THEM? This week we will wrap up our study of Forster’s short story, “The Machine Stops” by writing about how we interact with technology. Does technology serve us and help us live better lives? Or does technology control our behavior and change us for the worse? Who is the master, and who is the servant? We will then transition to a new short story that examines an ethical dilema as humans struggle to survive,

TUESDAY, September 26

• Finishing the selection from Modern Times, written, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin.

• Do we control machines, or do they control us? Using the various sources we’ve studied to complete a journal that connects all the dots.

• Second half of class, reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading the introduction to the Maxim Gorky short story, “Chelkash".” Annotating for language that describes nature, objects, and people respectively, each reading.

• HW: Complete the worksheet on the introduction to “Chelkash”

THURSDAY, September 28

• Continuing our analysis of “Chelkash,” reading part one and writing a character analysis of the main character, the roguish thief and titular character.

• HW: Complete the worksheets on the introduction and part one. Read part two and complete the worksheet on part two.

Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" (edited)

Week 5 Syllabus: September 18-22

HOW DOES VASHTI’S EXPERIENCE ALLIGN WITH CAMPBELL’S hero journey? And her son’s, Kuno’s experience? There may be within any story multiple heroes, and multiple journeys which do or do not conform the the monomyth in varying degrees. Both Vashti and Kuno experience clear departure’s from the known world, moving into the unknown. Likewise, both experience a symbolic death-and-rebirth in a cave/tunnel like darkness—Vashti in the airship, travelling to see her son, and Kuno in the air-tubes that lead to Earth’s surface. However, neither return to the known world with an “elixer,” or new knowledge that saves either society or humanity. In fact, everyone dies! What, then, should we learn from this story without final truth?

MONDAY, September 19

• Shortened day due to late start today.

• Collecting the Campbell notes from the video, “The Power of Myth” and the hero-journey map that you created for Haroun.

• Reading and annotating a New Yorker essay by Oliver Sacks, “The Machine Stops.” What argument is Sacks making about technology?

• Writing a discussion response in Canvas using direct and indirect evidence.

• HW: Finish writing your discussion response if you have not done so. Also, read through other classmate’s responses. What did they capture that you missed? What did you add to the conversation that they missed?

• Read and annotate Brautigan’s poem, “All Watched Over By Machine's of Loving Grace” and annotate it in the same way you took notes on Sacks. What argument does Brautigan make about technology?

WEDNESDAY (anchor day)

• Taking the nationally-normed STAR reading assessment. These results will be shared with students. Taking the exam is counted in our “non-graded” category in Canvas.

• HERE’S THE LINK TO THE STAR reading assessment. You will take this online. Your user ID is your NT id number. Your password is your birthdate (8 digits, month/day/year).

• https://global-zone50.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/737639

• HW: If not done, turn in your answers to the thinking questions on Forster’s “The Machine Stops” into Canvas. You are uploading that as a pdf (answers must be typed). Due before class on Tuesday.

THURSDAY, September 22

• Discussion of the Forster short story.

• Second half of class, watching Charlie Chaplain’s epic quasi-silent film, Modern Times.

• Reading a poem, “Poem 114: Machines” by Michael Donaghy.

• HW: Finish your annotations and the Q&A on “The Machine Stops” for class on Tuesday.

Audio for the E.M. Forster story, "The Machine Stops"

Joseph Campbell's "Hero Journey"

Joseph Campbell, seen below in the 1950s, breaks reporter Bill Moyer’s brain in an interview about his “hero journey” concept. In class we watched the video linked below, and took notes on Haroun’s experiences, and how they fit into Campbell’s concept, the “monomyth.”

Week 4 Syllabus: September 11-15

HOW DOES HAROUN EXPERIENCE CAMPBELL’S hero journey? We will start the week by mapping out that journey, after watching a few selected examples of the hero’s stages—the call to adventure, crossing the threshold, descent/resurrection (death & rebirth), final battle. We will practice writing an analytical paragraph using argument for our organization, and will share that on Squarespace. And then we’ll move into our first unit of study, a selection of short stories that fall neatly into Campbell’s monomyth.

MONDAY, September 11

• Reading assessment for 3 level English. All sections are taking this, and today it’s our turn.

• Examining a few different film examples of hero journey stages: call to adventure, crossing threshold, rebirth (combined with departure)

• Small group work on an illustration of Haroun’s hero journey, similar to those presented in class on Thursday.

• HW: Watch this SHORT three minute video about visiting the NF library.

• Create your illustration of Haroun’s hero journey on the BACK of the large, 11”x17” note sheet on Campbell’s hero journey. Use words. Use visuals. Make it your own interpretation of his journey! Due Wedensday, in class, on paper.

WEDNESDAY (anchor day)

• Writing your paragraph about Haroun’s “monomyth” for class on Wednesday. You will want to have this PRINTED ON PAPER—TYPED that is, so that it can be passed around and read aloud by someone other than yourself.

• Check for author-type-title in opening sentence, quote integration, vague language.

• HW: Finish your draft of the paragraph and submit it into a text box in Canvas before class tomorrow.

THURSDAY, September 14

• Read part one of “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forrest for class on Thursday. In case you are absent, here’s the story.

• We will listen to it and analyze the nature imagery in part one in small groups.

• HW: Read parts two AND three of the story, using the questions distributed in class as a guide for your annotations.

Week 3 Syllabus: September 4-8

NOW THAT WE HAVE PRACTICED MOST of our classroom routines—annotation, discussion notes, publishing and discussing writing assignments on Squarespace, submitting homework on Canvas/Squarespace, and in class—we will begin digging into our curriculum. This week we will review Joseph Campbell’s hero journey (monomyth) and apply that overview to the summer reading. This will become particularly important as we consider the other readings we do in class, including Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Homer’s Odyssey, and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

TUESDAY, September 5

• Defining “myth.”

• Overview of Campbell’s “monomyth.”

• Watching (and keeping notes on how the hero journey applies to Haroun) a documentary/interview between Campbell and Bill Moyers.

• Ending by reviewing feedback for annotations (submitting chapter three in class on Thursday).

• HW: Spend 15-20 minutes researching the “hero journey” as defined by Joseph Campbell, using both the internet (google) and NTHS library’s database. IF you haven’t finished annotating chapter three, review and complete those marginal notes.

THURSDAY, September 7

• Finishing the documentary/interview by J. Campbell.

• Shared reading on J. Campbell’s hero journey, in small groups.

• Time permitting, starting hero journey map of Haroun’s hero journey.

• HW: Finish your notes on the hero journey for Haroun. Do that on the large, 11x17 note sheet that we used in class on Thursday.. 

• If you have NOT finished reading Haroun, or missed part of the Campbell interview, get both done this weekend. 

• BTW, here’s the four different ways of visualizing Campbell's hero journey we looked at in class. These might help you think about. how to take hero-journey notes for Haroun & the Sea of Stories.

Week 2 Syllabus: August 28-Septmeber 1

WE WILL FINISH GOING OVER some of the administriva of learning at New Trier this week. We will practice annotating by re-reading chapter three of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, “The Dull Lake.” We will vote on, discuss, and then rewrite the paragraphs on the poem, “Doors Opening, Closing.” We will also write our second paragraph, this one about Haroun and the hero journey. We will also review course expectations and discuss “academic integrity,” a phrase here which means, “cheating.”

MONDAY, August 28

• Voting on and selecting the three best paragraphs about the poem. Check your school email accounts for a link to the ballot.

• “Academic Integrity.” We will review the student handbook and talk about cheating. After, students will sign off on the official, “I know where the policy is” handouts.

• HW: Using your notes on what a) writers do well, and b) what writers could do to improve, revise your paragraph on the poem and post the new draft AS A COMMENT TO YOUR ORIGINAL PARAGRAPH.

Wednesday, Anchor Day

• Practice annotating. Students will listen to the audio from the novel (click here) while re-annotating chapter three of the novel. (Chapter three begins at 42:30 in the above track, and goes until 1:04:30)

• When annotating, students should a) circle vocabulary words—not just words you don’t know, but also words that Rushdie is carefully choosing for a purpose; b) write our questions that you have, as a reader, about what you’re reading—preferably about theme, not plot; and c) how Haroun responds to the coming adventure.

• Afterword, students will work on study guide questions on that chapter, writing answers on paper. You will work individually or in small groups, at substitute’s preference.

• HW: Spending an additional 20 minutes working on the study guide questions for chapter three.

THURSDAY, August 24

• Starting class by listening to an NPR interview about Salman Rushdie, the author of our summer novel. That story is here.

• Reading aloud a NYT article on the attack on Rushdie, practicing annotation technique. 

• HW: Finish writing your paragraph at the end of the article for class on Tuesday. Remember, include at least one quote from the article, and at least one from the novel.

Paragraph on "Doors Opening, Closing Upon Us..."

As a comment, post your entire paragraph about the aforementioned poem, one that explains what the poem means. Remember, your paragraph should include a direct quote! After posting, read other students’ paragraphs, selecting the three best paragraphs (IYO).

Week 1 Syllabus: August 21-27

WELCOME TO NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH. Each weekly syllabus will begin with a short paragraph that describes where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, where we’re headed, what’s coming next, and what’s the big picture. This week we will establish routines—how to annotate, how to participate in discussions, how to submit writing here on Squarespace or on Canvas. I will also include reminders—such as this: bring your copy of Haroun & the Sea of Stories to class starting this Thursday. If you haven’t finished it, get it read by next Monday, August 28.

MONDAY: Anchor Day Schedule

• Introduction to Canvas & Squarespace.

• How to read a poem.

• Reading and annotating, “Doors Opening, Closing.”

• HW: re-read the poem, and annotate for a) What do I notice? and b) What does it (the poem) mean?

TUESDAY, August 22

• Picture day!

• Reviewing poetry rules.

• Discussion of poem (practicing routines, pre-post discussion writing, note taking)

• Time permitting, writing your paragraph. (What does Marge Piercy want us to better understand about a) doors and b) life?

• HW: If you have not done so, finish reading Salman Rushdie’s novel by class on Monday.

• Finish writing your ¶ and have it typed for class on Thursday.

THURSDAY, August 24

• Reviewing course expectations, and posting your signed form into Canvas, as an assignment.

• Killer Kane and the growth mindset.

• How we share (and comment upon) writing, publicly: using Squarspace to submit your (and to read others’) writing.

• HW: Use “Genius Scan” after taking a picture of your signature of the Course Expectations, to submit the assignment into Canvas. More on “Genius Scan” and how to use it can be found here.

• Also, post your paragraph on “Doors Opening, Closing” onto Squarespace. Read ALL the paragraphs, and choose the three best (in your opinion—from either 1st or 4th period).

Audio for Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Click on the image above to access the audio files for the novel. If not already complete, you should have the summer reading finished by our first class next week.