BESIDES COMPLETING JUNIOR THEME, we will study Transcendentalism, Americans' view of nature and wilderness, poetry during times of war, and race and class divisions through history to present day. Besides reading your independent novel during your research, we will also read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

MONDAY

Today's class is shortened to accommodate schedule changes. I will pass out grade reports and the finals. We will discuss the feedback I gathered on semester one.
HW: Revisit your annotations of Thoreau's chapter in Walden, "Economy." Besides marking words and writing questions, you should have marked aphorisms relating to the independent American spirit. You will want to bring a charged ipad so that you can type your final essays in class tomorrow.

TUESDAY

Typing the final essay verbatim. I will also pass out revised grade reports that include a %.
HW: You will want to begin revising your final essay for wording. Use the following notes as a guide. Remember, the google doc version of Word will not have track changes. So you may have to write out changes on paper, then enter them using a desktop version of Word here at school (or a full version you have at home / in the library).

Eliminate vague language, passive verbs, and indefinite pronouns. Add vocabulary that fits with your paragraphs intended connotative tone.

WEDNESDAY

Today we begin our study of American transcendentalism in earnest. We will choose two aphorisms from HDT's "Economy" and search for answers to our questions.
HW: Have you forgotten, over break, why we were studying transcendentalism? Go back and re-watch this video, a student project that provides one definition. Read the introduction to Emerson's "Self-Reliance," by Ann Woodlief...it proceeds the essay itself in the packet.

THURSDAY

Reading aloud and carefully through Emerson.
Read up through and including page 3 of Emerson's essay. Also, by Monday I want you to have watched and taken notes on the following lecture by Dr. Richard Geldard. It's about an hour long.

FRIDAY

We will continue reading Emerson in class.
Read up through and including page 7 for class on Monday.