Journal Homework

This is your final entry before your journal check next class. The question is:

Now that we have seen more between Romeo and Juliet, how do you feel about Romeo's sincerity (openness, truthfulness)? Do you thik that his feelings are different than what he felt for Rosaline? Why?

Be sure that you're using clear examples and making your own ideas clear through your writing.

You will have a journal check in your next class. February 4th for A day and 5th for B day.

You should have ten journals, including warm-ups for this check. If you are short, come see me.

Quotes of the day:

• "You got cataracts?!?!" - Rahmir
• "Isosexy!" - Ebony

Upcoming events

For your Act I quiz you will need to know information about the major characters from the first act. Review your notes and know what family they are associated with, what the characters importance to the plot is and why the character is important in the play.

For Honors students you will have quotes - major quotes - from the first act. You will need to know where in the play the quote happened (context), who says the quote, and why is the quote important in the overall action of the play.

For Standard students, you will have two short answer questions. One question about the prologue and why it is interesting to the play and another question about love and the power it has over people. Also, you will have a graphic organizer that you need to complete about the movie versus the play (how are they different, and why was that change made.)

Also - don't forget that you need to revise (or, in some cases complete) your paragraphs about Romeo and Benvolio and turn in your originals and your revisions.

That is all.

23/24 January - Homework

Today in class we covered Act I, Scenes 3 and 4 - make sure that you have the notes.

For homework you need to answer one of the following questions in your journal:

1. Is Lady Capulet similar to a female figure in your house? In your family? In what ways?

2. How would you feel in Juliet's position? Why?

You should be pulling from Act I, Scene 3 to answer either of these two questions.

When we get back...

Hooray for two hour delays! I don't know about all of you, but I really enjoyed sleeping in a bit this morning.

Anyhoo...

Remember that when we get back it will be an A-day. I'm expecting that each of you will have your compare/contrast paragraphs about Benvolio and Romeo and their attitudes toward love. In these paragraphs I am looking for specific examples (quotes and examples). Also, you need to discuss these quotes to show me how you learned whatever you learned about Benvolio and Romeo from their quotes.

If you have any questions/want help/want to wire money into my Swiss bank account - just drop me an e-mail!

B day homework

With the crazy schedule I'm a bit off. This is the homework for when your class finishes Act I, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet.

How are Romeo and Benvolio different in their approaches to love? How does Romeo feel about love? How about Benvolio? Write one paragraph that summarizes Benvolio's attitude toward love and one paragraph that summarizes Romeo's attitude. Compare and contrast their views in two paragraphs. Remember to use quotes!

Homework

This weekend's homework question:

What are some parallels to the conflict in Romeo and Juliet and twenty-first century America? List three and tell why in your journal.


I'll check this homework assignment and your other assignment on Monday/Tuesday.

For your Shakespeare Quiz

You will need to study the following information for your Shakespeare quiz:

• The vocabulary from pages 781-782
• The notes from the powerpoint on Shakespeare and Literary Terms
• The handout on the Globe Theatre and the vocabulary words from that sheet.

In addition, you will have a book check for the next class. Remember to bring YOUR literature book. I will be checking the names to make sure that you match your book!

9/10 January - Homework and Stuff

Didn't we have fun today? Who'd have thought that "boom, boom, clap" would have a place in an English classroom talking about Shakespeare. Anyway, tonight for homework you need to answer the question on the board - that question is: "What are some stories that we, as Americans, have about teens falling in love? How do these stories end? Why do you think they end this way?" You can use movies, stories, music, television, et cetera for your sources.

In addition, you need to study pages 781-782 of your text book as well as your handout and notes for a quiz on Friday on Shakespeare.

Lastly, you should find a play for your project - see me if you need help on this.

Announcements 8 January

Hey everyone! Please bring your literature books to our next class. We will be starting Romeo and Juliet and I want everyone to be prepared. Also there is a lot of good information in your book that we will need to cover.

Don't forget that book projects are also due in your next class.

Sunday

It's a beautiful day everyone.  Get outside and do something fun today!

Be sure that you prepare for your benchmarks, and get your book projects done too!

Tips for those nasty revising questions

Remember that when you are asked to revise questions on the benchmark you can do a few things to make sure that you get the right answer:

1. Use your scrap paper to rewrite the sentence on your own. Then, you can compare your revision with the given answers and see which one (or ones) is (are) closest.
2. Another thing that you can do is that you can make sure that each possible answer keeps the same MAIN IDEA and the same IMPORTANT INFORMATION. On your scrap paper you may want to make a summary of the main idea of the sentence and then go on to make a list of the important information. You can use this list to check each of the possible answers.

Let's not forget the quote of the day: "Stupid 'A'...I mean 'E'!" - EVW

Agenda/Announcements 3/4 January

Alright.  We're halfway done.  You've got your benchmark coming up and you should definitely review your proofreading warm-ups (see, there is a reason why we do these things), and you should go over your literary terms to make sure that you're clear on everything.

• Remember that literature is always in the present tense.
• If you need to look up anything about grammar or punctuation you need to check out this site:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
• For literary terms - look in the back of your textbook to review.
• Finally, your book projects will be due on the 9th and 10th of January.  
  

If you need to ask anything about anything...just leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Benchmark and Prep

Our class will be taking Benchmark exams on the seventh and eighth of January.  To prepare for the Benchmarks we will be doing an in class review (Matchbox) on the third and fourth.  After we take the Benchmark we will begin our unit on Romeo and Juliet.  Prepare for the Shakespearean fun!