Video Resources on Race

Who is Kwame Rose? And why is he angry at Geraldo Rivera? This video from 2015 is a good introduction to the questions Wes Moore asks in his autobiography/biography: What is American life like for a person of color today?

The above documentary provides some historical context for Wes Moore’s family’s experience. Why have Black Americans struggled at the hands of white Americans? This episode covers late 19th and early 20th century history.

How does violence against Black Americans affect children of color? Young Americans were interviewed by the BBC, wherein they explain their experience.

How does one talk about race in a multi-racial community? Eric Deggans describes his approach during a TED talk that was used during New Trier’s seminar day on race, a video all students watched during advisery in 2016.

What does it mean to be Black in America? This sociological documentary takes a look at the mid 20th century to help us better understand why the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s.

three versions of macbeth

2015 Fassbender Macbeth

A classic telling of the Scottish Play that is filmed on location in Scotland, in gritty yet stunningly filmed production.

Fleetwood/Stewart’s Macbeth

Kate Fleetwood steals the show in a stellar performance as Lady Macbeth. Stewart is equally solid. This version is set in a fictional post-WWII Soviet-style “Scotland.” This was a live staged version before the stylized film.

Two Rivers Theater’s Macbeth

This version, produced by Teller of Pen & Teller fame, created this live production using magic to augment the play’s special effects. Filmed as it was performed live, and is the one most like seeing the play performed live.

The Last Syllabus

WE WILL END SOPHOMORE ENGLISH BY briefly examining Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s a tale of one man and one woman’s descent into madness, driven to suicide and self-destruction by greed and dreams of power and grandeur. In it, Shakespeare sets the action in Medieval Scotland—just as he sets Romeo & Juliet during the Italian Renaissance—as a deft political nod to the British monarchy. In the play a lower member of the Scottish aristocracy is tempted by a supernatural prophecy that he will rise to the position of king. Do the weird sisters cause Macbeth to murder his king, tempting a good man to evil acts, or do they merely prophesize the blind ambition that is an inherent part of Macbeth’s persona? In other words, using Lord of the Flies as analogy, is Macbeth like Ralph, persuaded to act like Jack, or is he like Jack who only pretends to be loyal, like Ralph?

MONDAY: GREY DAY/OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm. Check Canvas for the link to Zoom.

Thursday, May 28

• Starting with a Zoom meeting. Fifth period will meet at 9:00 am, and second period at 10:10. Links are posted on the Canvas syllabus.

• We will take an online course survey.

• I’ll present the summer reading.

• We will watch a final episode of Victorian Slum House to wrap up our work with Dickens.

• HW: I will share out a graphic version of Shakespeare’s play for students to explore (with Elizabethan script—it’s a great comic book!)

Monday, June 1

• No Zoom class today.

• Students are watching a film version of Shakespeare’s play, linked on the Canvas syllabus.

Wednesday, June 3

• Starting with a Zoom meeting. Check the syllabus on Canvas for a link.

• Q&A on the film version of Macbeth

• HW. Submit your revision of Great Expectations paper to shared google drive. A link is located on the Canvas syllabus.

Friday, June 5

• Official last day of school.

• Individual conferences with students, but only as required (for missing or incomplete work)

Syllabus starting May 18

WE WILL HOLD INDIVIDUAL conferences this week, reviewing the rough draft of the Dickens paper. Sign up for these via the google link I sent to your school email address. I will hold these meetings via my Zoom meeting link; make sure to enter the meeting five minutes prior to our start time; the link will place you into a waiting room while I’m finishing other conferences. You will want to have and be able to share access to your rough draft via a google document. We will also start some background information on Shakespeare’s Macbeth—a play he wrote while on home quarantine during a plague, as it happens!

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas announcements for the link to Zoom.
  

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• This week we will begin writing and revising a paper on Great Expectations. 

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• 5th period meets at 9 am; 6th period meets at 10:10 am. Links are on Canvas.

• We will share and discuss the claims that you’ve written for the Dickens paper, and discuss how to improve them as you write your first draft.

• Make sure to sign up for a conference; these should be conducted before our next class, which is one week from today.

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• If you did NOT finish posting your individual chapter questions to the GE google sheet, please do that.

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• No class Zoom meeting today. Students are signing up for individual conferences this week.

• HW: Once we have met to discuss your first draft, begin revising your essay on Dickens. You will want to complete that between Wednesday, May 27 and Wednesday, June 3.

writing a claim for paper on GE

Use the following template to write your debatable thesis statement for the paper. Remember to use the “Yes, and?” question to hone your claim, making it more debatable, getting to the root of your idea:

After reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, we realize that the most significant, least obvious lesson for the reader is that_________________________________________. (specific to novel)

Knowing this, we further realize that_______________________________________. (more general lesson about life)

Film version of Great Expectations

Part one is here.

Part two can be viewed here.

Remote Learning Feedback

I want to invite all scholars from 1st and 2nd period to write about their experience with remote learning. What has worked well? What hasn’t worked well? What ideas do you have to improve remote learning?

As New Trier plans for next year’s classes, we would like student input on this experiment we’ve undertaken.

And as Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is prone to say, “Pray, be precise as to the details.”

Syllabus starting May 11

DICKENS’S NOVEL COVERS A LOT of ground, in respect to themes. There’s quite a bit of social commentary, about the stark class divisions, lack of educational opportunity or work for London’s poor, or about the failure of the judicial system to protect society from a criminal class. The novel touches on the personal topics of what makes for a healthy marriage and a successful family, and Dickens clearly discusses what makes for a positive father-son, mentor-mentee relationship. Why does it matter so much that Pip—or we—have “prospects”? Why does it matter, that we have some type of “great” expectation in our lives? Why do we seek to improve our status, be that economic, social, or even religious in nature?

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas announcements for the link to Zoom.
  

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• This week we will finish reading Great Expectations.

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• 5th period meets at 9 am; 6th period meets at 10:10 am. Links are on Canvas.

• We will either discuss the exciting capture of Magwitch, and the loss of Pip’s “great expectations”…or does he lose them?

• Finish reading the novel, chapters 57-End (412-433)

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• Post your questions for the remaining chapters on our shared google document.

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• Today’s zoom meeting, like Wednesday’s, is linked from the syllabus on Canvas.

• 9 am start time for 5th period; 10:10 start time for 6th period.

• Discussing Pip’s last scene with Estella. Does this ending make sense, in respect to Pip? Does it make sense, in respect to Dickens?

• HW: Begin work on a 2 page paper on the novel. Criteria will be discussed in class.

Syllabus starting May 4

THE URGENCY TO PROTECT UNCLE PROVIS FROM Covington becomes the primary focus of our tale at this point. Increasingly, Covington makes his presence known, though he remains an enigma to both Pip and the reader. Our reading last week has begun to unravel the mystery around Mrs. Havisham, Jaggers, Molly, and Magwitch. What inspires Jaggers to liberate Molly’s child? What prompts Pip to forgive Mrs. Havisham for toying with him, a mere child? What fuels Covington’s pursuit of Magwitch, and why doesn’t Magwitch leave London immediately, saving himself from a potential death penalty? All will soon be revealed…

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas announcements for the link to Zoom.
  

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• Our activities in class tomorrow will be contingent upon more students completing their questions in the shared google sheet, “Great Expectations questions Part 2.” By class tomorrow, students should have read and posted one question per chapter, up to chapter 52.

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• I have triple checked the zoom links this week. The link didn’t work because Canvas added a “%20” marker in front of the HTML link. I’ve manually corrected that, and class should run smoothly this week.

• 5th period meets at 9 am; 6th period meets at 10:10 am. Links are on Canvas.

• We will either discuss the revelation about Mrs. Havisham’s adoption of Estella and the implications it has for Pip’s relationship with Magwitch, OR we will read paragraphs that were posted last week, “poking holes” in arguments, ensuring our claims are a) debatable; b) insightful; c) address opposing points-of-view. I will point our lingering stylistic issues.

• Chapter 53 (376-387)

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• Post your question for chapter 53 on the shared google document.

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• Today’s zoom meeting, like Wednesday’s, is linked from the syllabus on Canvas.

• 9 am start time for 5th period; 10:10 start time for 6th period.

• We will continue reading through paragraphs, poking holes in arguments, and addressing stylistic issues in your writing.

• Time permitting, we will discuss the revelations in chapter 53.

• HW: Read chapters 54-56 (387-412) Remember to add your reader’s questions to the google sheet as you make progress.

Syllabus starting April 27

PIP’S WORLD COLLAPSES AS HE DISCOVERS his benefactor is NOT Mrs. Havisham, and Estella is NOT destined to become his wife, and what seemed like “great expectations” for a wealthy and wonderful future dissolve. Nonetheless, he endeavors to help his friend Herbert Pocket with the 500 £ he receives from his benefactor. And what should we make of his visit to Wemmick’s Walworth residence and his relationship with Miss Skiffins? How is their relationship juxtaposed to Pip and Estella’s? What does his benefactor—his “Uncle Provis”—risk a death sentence to meet Pip? And why does Pip help his benefactor, when he seems so repulsed by him? And what does Magwitch mean by repeating, “I ain’t gonna be low,” again, and again?

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas announcements for the link to Zoom.
  

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• We will be adding to the reader’s questions on the shared google sheet, So stop in and post questions up through chapter 45.

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• There was some confusion last week about the Zoom link, and that was on me. This week we are meeting at both Wednesday and Friday. The Zoom link will be on the Canvas syllabus.

• 5th period meets at 9:10 am; 6th period meets at 10:20 am. I usually open the meeting 5 minutes early to help those who encounter technology issues.

• We will address any pressing questions about the Dickens reading over the weekend, likely talking about Miss Skiffins and Estella’s treatment of Mrs. Havisham.

• We will move on to reading paragraphs aloud and “poking holes” in one another’s arguments, ensuring our stated claims are a) debatable; b) insightful; c) address opposing points-of-view. As necessary, I will point our lingering stylistic issues.

• Read chapters 46-47 (333-346)

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• Those that haven’t posted one question per chapter or submitted the paragraph on GE should get that posted no later than class on Friday.

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• Today’s zoom meeting, like Wednesday’s, is linked from the syllabus on Canvas.

• As with Wednesday, we will start with pressing questions about the reading. We will likely talk more specifically about why Magwitch comes back to England, and why Pip tries to protect Macwitch.

• We will continue reading through paragraphs, poking holes in arguments, and addressing stylistic issues in your writing.

• HW: Chapters 48-52 (346-376) Remember to add your reader’s questions to the google sheet as you make progress.

VICTORIAN MUGSHOTS & CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The faces of nineteenth century criminals can be seen in some of the earliest surviving police mugshots in Britain.

Examples from what is thought to be the last surviving album of Victorian criminal photographs from the Newcastle area have been published online by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.

Inmates of all ages, from ragamuffin children to the elderly and infirm, can be seen peering out of sepia images taken at Newcastle City Gaol and House of Correction Collection between December 1871 and December 1873.

Click here or on “View Gallery” for more pictures

John Divine was imprisoned at Newcastle City Gaol for 6 months after stealing money from another person. He was a carver and guilder, born in Ireland, and was aged 17 upon his discharge from jail.

Dickens Paragraph: Part 2

Answer one of the following two questions, using body paragraph structure and argumentative style. In short, write a one paragraph answer using a claim and both direct and indirect evidence to support your response. After writing your answer elsewhere, copy and paste your paragraph here as a comment to this post. Answer one OR the other of these choices;

Choice A: What does Dickens want his reader to realize about society and the prison system via Pip and Wemmick’s visit to Newgate Prison in chapter 33?

Choice B: What does Dickens want his reader to realize about society via Pip and Herbert’s membership in the Finches of the Grove and the influence of Pip’s spending habits on Herbert in chapter 34?

Syllabus starting April 20

WE FINISH PART TWO of Great Expectations this week. What do you suppose Dickens says about social class through Pip's education and experiences in London? Is, as Pip seems to think, Estella destined to become his wife? And if so, what awaits them in marriage: blissful family life akin to the social-climbing Pockets or the laboring day-to-day survival of the Gargarys? 

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas for the link to Zoom.
  

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• We will be adding to the reader’s questions on the shared google sheet, So stop in and post questions for chapters

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• Brief check in on zoom.

• We will start with your questions about Pip’s increasingly difficult financial position, as well as the death of Mrs. Joe and his return home. Revising the class divides suggested by Victorian Slum House. Apart from his connection to Newcastle Gaol and Mr. Jaggers's profession as lawyer, Pip would be insulated from the lower-class plebeian life of London's East-End. Is Pip being educated for something better? Or for something more exclusive?

• We will also review the reader’s questions posted on the google sheet. We will have a second question sheet for second half of the novel.

• Read chapter 39 (to the end of part two…pages 280-291)

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• Is the good fortune which has befallen Pip actually good fortune? Class discussion on the revelation of Pip's true benefactor. How does this change our view of Pip's fortune yesterday? How does the benefactor's identity change the story? How does that change Dickens's readers' experience?

• HW: (Starting part three) Chapters 40-45 (291-333). Remember to add your reader’s questions to the google sheet as you make progress.

Syllabus starting April 13

JUST WHEN PIP BECOMES ACCLIMATED to the lifestyle of a gentleman scholar in London, he is brought back to his home town by a surprise visit (Joe) and request (by Mrs. Havisham) to see Estella. We see Pip re-enter his childhood home as a new man, yet he is haunted by the spectre of his impoverished childhood. What is Dickens’s commentary on social class, and Pip’s unexpected wealth and “great expectations” for a better future? How are wealth and family intertwined? Will Pip be able to escape his upbringing and become better than what his prospects were certainly destined to be?

MONDAY / GREY DAY—OFFICE HOURS

• Today is a grey day, and you can meet with me during Zoom office hours 12:50 and 1:50 pm.

• Check Canvas for the link to Zoom.

• HW: I do want you to read chapters 30 and 31 tonight. That’s 1/2 an hour of reading, approx.

TUESDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

• We will be adding to the reader’s questions on the shared google sheet, So stop in and post questions for chapters 30-31.

WEDNESDAY / GREEN DAY

• Brief check in on zoom.

• We will start with your questions about Pip’s experience in London, though we will likely cover Mr. Jagger’s professional life—as well as Pip and his friends’ visit to his home, Mr. Wemmick and his home, and the three boys which Pip now spends some time with via his tutor, Mr. Pocket.

• We will also review the reader’s questions posted on the google sheet.

• Reading chapters 32-33 (231-243)…less than 1/2 hour of reading using audio)

THURSDAY / BLUE DAY (NO CLASS)

FRIDAY: / GREEN DAY

• Using class time today to watch Victorian Slum House: 1870s and keep notes on the connections between their experience and Pip’s experience in the novel. These will be due in the middle of next week—so no rush. Just want it to be on your plate. The link is here.

• HW: Reading chapters 34-38 (243-280). Remember to add your reader’s questions to the google sheet as you make progress.

Syllabus starting April 6

CHARLES DICKENS IS BEST KNOWN for his character development. We have met the stand-offish Mr. Jaggers the lawyer, and his employee Mr. Wemmick the clerk. We meet again the light-haired boy, whom we now know if Matthew Pocket. How does Dickens use these characters to develop his social criticism? For example, what are we to think of Mr. Jagger’s and the criminal class given Dickens’s depiction of the clientele that plea to him for legal assistance? How does Dickens sarcastically describe London and its surrounding neighborhoods?

MONDAY / BLUE (NO CLASS)

• You are reading books 20 through 22 before class tomorrow.

• Please make sure you have finished watching the 1860 episode of Victorian Slum House. Turn in these notes on Canvas.
  

TUESDAY / GREEN

• Brief check in on zoom. Check the syllabus on Canvas for links. I will lecture on Dickens characterization, his social commentary on prisons and the court system, and quickly review “the pale, blonde boy’s” revelations about Mrs. H.

• HW: Reading chapters 23 and 24 (168-181…approx 1/2 hour of reading using audio)
  

WEDNESDAY / BLUE (NO CLASS)

• There will be no homework over the weekend, so plan your time accordingly.

• You should have read up through and including chapter 29 by Monday. That is approximately 1.5 hours of reading (using the audio as measure). Most of you can likely do that more quickly…but do use the audio. I think hearing the inflection, starts, stops and emphasis can help quite a bit when reading Dickens.
  

THURSDAY / GREEN DAY

• You will use the second part of “classtime” to continue reading chapters 25-29 by Monday. Students should check in by posting questions about these chapters on our “GE Questions” google sheet.

• HW: Reading from the book. We will watch the second episode of Victorian Slum House next week.
  

FRIDAY: Second Grey Day

• No class for Good Friday and other religious holidays.

Office Hours on Zoom

ON GREY DAYS, my office hours are 12:50-1:50 pm. When you use the following zoom link, you will be added into a waiting room, and I will meet with students individually. Generally, we can talk as long as you like, but if there is another student waiting, I will attempt to limit conferences to five minutes. 

You can access the Zoom meeting by checking announcements in our canvas course. As always, I will NOT publish these zoom links publicly.

Zoom meetings

Need help connecting to zoom? Here’s a link to New Trier IT department’s student guide.

Looking for the link to the Zoom meeting? It’s in your school email, AND also appears on the Canvas syllabus.

As a matter of course, I will NOT publish links to our classroom zoom meetings on my public, squarespace syllabus. I WILL send links via your school email, and I WILL add them to the syllabus on Canvas. Please know that those meetings will only be accessible during the published times, usually about 10 minutes before the listed start time.

Looking forward to seeing your faces! And remember—this will be an extension of our classroom. All comments and images shared via Zoom must be classroom appropriate, and are subject to NTHS disciplinary code.

BBC's Victorian Slum House: Not Today!

The excellent “reality show” takes ordinary Londoners and drops them into a social re-creation of life in Dickens’ London. When you take notes, focus on two ideas: 1) how are the desire for compassion balanced with the need for survival; and 2) where do you see similarities in what’s portrayed in this show with Dickens’ depiction of life for Pip in the novel Great Expectations? These notes will be due Tuesday before class, on Canvas.

You will remember that we have already studied Victorian England in early March. As we move into some of the deeper social commentary that Dickens makes about life during this time, it might be good to review these articles that you should have already have read.

• Rise of the Victorian Middle Class

• Crime and the Victorians

• London: A Modern Babylon

• Overview of Victorian England: 1831-1901

Syllabus starting March 30

GREETINGS, ONLINE SCHOLARS! Our administration is attempting to make online learning more manageable for all of us, creating a split-day schedule. In a typical week, our English class falls on GREEN days, and except for shortened weeks, we will run class twice a week. BLUE days are when your other classes meet. And GREY days are set aside for longer term projects, and office hours where you can communicate with teachers (via email, phone, video-conferencing). To help you manage this schedule, I will keep our calendar as it has been both here on Squarespace and on Canvas. I hope this well help you better manage your time, and give you more time to focus in the weeks to come.

MONDAY: NO CLASSES

• No classes will meet today. Teachers are conferencing with the Administration and making adjustments to their courses to fit with the new schedule the Administration has created.

• I should have the new syllabus up by seven pm on Monday night.
  

TUESDAY: OUR FIRST GREY DAY

• Students should check the syllabus for week-long assignments and activities . You have this entire day to plan for your own learning.

• The English Department will keep office hours on GREY days from 12:50-1:50. I will either be responding to email live, or be hosting a live Q&A via Zoom, or possibly both.

• Teachers are using this day for planning the week and grading materials.

• HW: You should have read chapter 18 already in GE. Review it before we meet for class today. In the chapter, Pip meets the mysterious Mr. Jaggers who had an astounding proposal for Pip, who discovers “a liberal benfactor” who wants a better life for Pip. What impact will this “new life” have on Pip and what he has learned from Joe? Speaking of which…what has Joe taught Pip so far? What is Pip’s value system, so far as we know it?
  

WEDNESDAY: OUR FIRST BLUE DAY (Periods EB-4)

• On Blue Days, you will working primarily working on Early Bird through periods four.

• There will NOT be additional homework assignments on these days. Neither will we have planned, classroom activities.

• You MAY work on assignments from your other classes on these days, but that’s up to you. Schedule your day as it works best for you.
  

THURSDAY: OUR FIRST GREEN DAY (Periods EB, and 5-9)

• Complete the short writing assignment on Canvas. Though Pip lives in relative poverty (in comparison to our world experience), he hopes for a better life in a better world. How does Pip’s hopes for the world contrast with the harsh reality of the world he inhabits?

• From 9 am to 9:30 am, fifth period will meet for a Zoom, classroom wide discussion about communities in crisis.

• From 10:10 to 10:40 am, sixth period will meet for a similar large group discussion.

• In our Zoom meeting, I will cover expectations for using this software, and we will have general chaos sharing out our experiences so far, since we have last met. From there we will discuss Pip’s world. We will aim to make connections between Pip’s hope for a safer world and our own hopes for a safer world.

• You will use the second part of “classtime” to read chapter 19, the last in part one of GE.

• HW: Watch part one of documentary “Victorian Slum House,” keeping notes as indicated. Notes will be due on Canvas next week. You will also need to read chapters 20 -22 before class on Tuesday next week.
  

FRIDAY: Second Grey Day

• From 12:50 to 1:50 today I will be available to take any questions about 3rd quarter grades. You should only reach out for a conference if you see a missing assignment in the canvas gradebook AND if you believe your grade is lower than it should be.

• Next week, Monday and Wedensday are blue days, Tuesday and Thursday are green days. No school Friday for the religious holiday, so no grey days next week.

Syllabus starting March 16

WHEN READING GREAT EXPECTATIONS you should be certain to circle vocabulary, write your thematic based questions, and annotate for the theme of Pip's emerging identity. Remember that your notes in the margins should reflect the reader's dialogue with the narrative and what the author wants the audience to consider. I will collect and grade these. If you are having trouble with this text, please see me in room 330 to discuss. You can likewise use the RWC for help with your reading and annotations. 

Monday

• Check in: Submit your drawing of Satis House to Canvas. Generally, your picture should show who Ms. Havisham is and where she lives. So your illustration should capture the details of both the character and setting, should use color.

• For class: Watch the first half-hour of the following documentary on the life of Charles Dickens. You are to take notes on a) his life; b) how his life events shape his view of society, and c) the themes that emerge in his writing. Make sure to take notes, categorizing these notes around these areas.

• HW: Many of you have likely read both chapters 12 and 13 at last week’s end, prior to class being cancelled. If you had not, finish reading and annotating these two chapters. If already done, you should review your annotations: How is Pip increasingly falling for Estella, and yet aware of the social distance between them? How does it become increasingly apparent that Pip desires something more than being Joe’s apprentice, and yet his fate is to be “bound” to him in that trade?

Tuesday

• Check-in: Take five question quiz on chapters 12 and 13.

• For class: Watch the second half of yesterday’s documentary on Charles Dickens’s life. Remember, your notes should reflect the categories mentioned above. Not ALL information is equally important. Listen and take notes selectively.

• HW:  Reading chapter fourteen. Pip returns to his former life, now working at the forge with Joe.

Wednesday

• Check-in: Submit your notes to the Dickens biography as an assignment.

• For class: Listen to the audio and read/annotate chapter 15. Mrs. Joe is attached, and insomuch as she isn’t a very sympathetic character, it’s not so difficult to wonder why she might become a target, nor would it be hard to excuse Joe and Pip not feeling too remorseful about her condition. Joe, however, feels great sympathy and affection for his wife, despite her seemingly hard exterior. Why? What is Dickens saying about compassion?

• HW: Complete the first half of the GE crossword #1.

Thursday

• Check-in: As the A&E Biography made abundantly clear, Dickens grew up in a hostile world, one fraught with danger and cruelty. Where do you see that same world-view depicted in what we’ve read in Great Expectations so far? Write one paragraph and submit it by noon today.

• Read and annotate chapter 16. How does Biddy come to replace Estella in Pip’s heart?

• HW: Finish GE crossword #1, due tomorrow.

Friday

• Check-in: submit the crossword as an assignment.

• Reading chapter 17 today, following along with the audio.

• HW: No homework for Spring Break. I do ask that students send me an email with feedback on our remote-learning class. What other types of activities might we take advantage of? What ways might we improve this learning model in the weeks to come? Send your note to me via canvas.