GREETINGS SCHOLARS and welcome to sophomore English class! This week we're starting our examination of the summer reading, the novel When the Emperor Was Divine. Bring that text with you everyday for the next two weeks. If you haven't finished reading it, do so. That should be your homework focus for this week and this weekend.

Monday

Introduction to our course via Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. Gang. How are your beliefs shaped, and how do you come to be the person that you are? What does it mean to be an individual in a world where the moral compass is compromised?
HW: No homework.

Tuesday

Practice reading and annotating, marking vocabulary words on an article about the four-freedoms flag, a WWII era flag that was used by the Allies's international forces to represent their common beliefs.
Hw: Finish reading the second article, "Here's the inside story on the most famous flag that you've never heard of," by John Kelly of the Washington Post.

Wednesday

Examining the following sentence: "Brooks Harding died in 1959 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where the snap of fabric in the breeze and the sound of halyard against flagpole is a constant reminder of sacrifice." What makes this an excellent sentence? Thinking about reading like a writer, and writing like a reader.
HW: Brainstorm a list of four beliefs/values for an essay about yourself, using the four-freedoms flag as a metaphor for who you are.

Thursday

Watching George Takai's TED talk, in which he describes how his experiences in a Misourri J-A internment camp, his conversations with his father, and the example of the American 442nd shaped his core value(s). Reviewing the academic integrity policy in the 2018 Student Guidebook.
HW: Select one of your core values, and begin brainstorming for a short essay explaining that core belief, how it came to be and what it means to you.

Friday

We're going to computer lab 377-N to work on writing a two-page essay that describes a) one core value/belief; b) what it means to you, and; c) how that value/belief came to be.
HW: The typed, two page essay (with title, printed single sided, 1" margins and 12 pt. font, your name-date-course title in upper right corner) due Tuesday.