Recent In-class Assignments

1. Find a poem that expresses “the human heart in conflict.” 2. Write down the book source, page number, title, and author. 3. How does the poem express “the human heart in conflict?” 4. What literary devices does the author use to express the theme? How? 5. Once you have found one poem and answered the questions above, find another poem—by a different poet— with a similar theme. Compare them. How do the poets use different techniques to express similar themes? • Find a pair of poems that expresses the human heart in conflict in a different sense than the poems you chose yesterday. For example, if your poems yesterday were about romantic love, your poems today could be about courage. • For each poem, identify the source, title, and author. Then, identify the theme(s) and literary elements. Analyze how the author uses literary techniques to express the theme. 1. Find a poem you have trouble understanding. It should be about 14 lines long (the traditional length of a sonnet). 2. Copy it into your notebook, but double-space it. 3. In the spaces between the lines, translate the poem, English to English. Substitute each noun, verb, adjective, or adverb with a word with another word with the same or similar meaning. Use a dictionary to define any words you do not know. 4. Now, look at your lines by themselves. What do they tell you about the poem? How do they help you understand? Look at the original poem again. Why did the poet choose the words he or she chose? 1. Find a partner and give him/her the information he/she needs to find the poem you studied yesterday. Do not give your partner your translated poem. 2. Once you have your new poem, do the same thing you did yesterday: perform an English to English translation/interpretation after you have copied the poem and skipped lines. 3. Write a short reflection on what you have learned about the poem by doing the translation. 4. When you have both finished, discuss the poems—the interpretations and the original— with your partner. What aspects of the interpretations do you have in common? What do you interpret differently? How and why? Find a poet whose work you enjoy reading. If you read more than one poem by a poet and do not enjoy them, move on to another poet. Find a poet you like. After reading his or her work, self-reflect. What do you like about the poet’s work? Why does it engage you? How did you find it? How can you find similar poets? Then, continue reading.

Poetry

We are continuing our mini-unit on poetry, and we are also keeping the quarterly theme of the human heart in conflict in mind.  Please see me for any assignments you may have missed due to absence. 

Marking Period One Essential Questions

Essential Questions:  Please answer these questions using examples from the stories we read last week. ("The Utterly Perfect Murder," "The Jockey," "The End of Something," "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn.")

1) What do we mean by this metaphor, the human heart?

2) Why does a human heart feel conflict?

3) What are the various conflicts the human heart feels?

4) How is the human heart affected by conflict?

5) How is resolution of conflict dealt with?

Please make sure you are finished reading your summer reading book.  We will write about the book on Wednesday.

Letter of Introduction Assignment

Please write me a thoughtful, well-developed letter of introduction.  Here are some topics to consider; you are not limited to these topics, however.

o   Your hobbies and extracurricular interests

o   Your academic interests

o   How you like to spend your free time

o   Your history as a reader

o   Your history as a learner: how do you learn best?  What are your strengths?  Weaknesses?

o   Your goals for the school year

o   How your friends would describe you

o   Your family

o   Your favorite things: books, movies, songs, albums, pets…

o   What is important to you

o   A random fact or two