Homework for 1/24 and 1/25

And with that we get right back into the swing of things.  Below are your announcements and reminders for tonight.

AP English III:

I really hope that all of you enjoyed our musical exploration this morning.  I really want you all to keep coming back to a lot of these ideas as we work our way into Invisible Man - especially this idea of the natural/unnatural that we began to see.  For tonight I would like for you to read Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How it Feels to be Colored Me" which can be found in 50 Essays or at the following link.  Please make sure that whatever version you read that you annotate your text heavily.  Look for the way that Hurston builds on the idea of jazz and blues music and the way that it connects to her identity.  Also be sure that you are thinking about her style and her use of language, like the good AP students that you are.

Finally, if you haven't yet got yourself a copy of Invisible Man or started reading it yet, I would recommend that you do ASAP.  This is the type of book where you can easily fall behind.  Don't let that be you.

English I:

Today we've begun our study of William Shakespeare and one of his most famous plays Romeo and Juliet.  After today's lesson I'm hoping that you all are a bit more proficient at understanding some of the literary devices used in the play as well as some of the language that Shakespeare is using.

For tonight I would like for you all to finish reading Act I, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet.  This will take you to page 795 in the textbook.  There are three parts to scene 1.  Part one is what we studied in class.  Part two concerns the Prince's speech to the exit of Lord and Lady Montague.  Part three goes from Benvolio's line "Good morrow, cousin" to the end of the scene.  What you need to do for tonight's homework is two things.

1. Read the rest of the scene and take your Who, When, Where, What notes on each part of scene one.  Keep your notes in your notebooks.  I will be checking notebooks throughout this unit, consider this your warning.  We will discuss the Why/How in class.
2. After you read, answer the following questions in complete sentences/paragraphs and submit your answers to the homework box no later than Thursday (A)/Friday (B) morning at 7:30 am.

QUESTIONS:

1.  Look at the Prince’s speech really carefully. What is the Prince’s tone toward the Capulet and Montague families? Pull out three or four examples of diction (word choice) that support your idea. Honors students, explain how three of the words support your tone selection. Standard students, explain one word to explain your choice.

2. Look at the interaction between Benvolio, Lord and Lady Montague and Romeo. What is their family dynamic? Do they seem like a strong family or a weak one? Why?

3. Romeo finally comes on stage and makes his first impression to the audience. What is that impression that he makes? Look carefully at his speech from lines 168 to 192. What is the topic that he is discussing here? What is his tone toward this topic? How do you know? How does Romeo use oxy morons (opposites) in his speech?
4. Play a bit with Romeo and Benvolio’s final discussion. Notice the use of wordplay or pun on the word “hit” - there’s a hidden meaning these two are playing with. Try to figure it out, use the footnotes in Romeo’s speech from 205 to 213 to help you out. Let your brain be dirty.  What is Romeo's meaning?  How does Benvolio react to Romeo's speech?  What does this show about the relationship between the two boys?


All of you will be getting work and papers returned on Thursday/Friday.  We'll reflect on our first semester, and then keep moving together as a group forward to our next nine weeks.  Only nineteen more weeks of school, including exams, not Spring Break.