Hello,

Your college essays are due Monday.

Read through the end of Chapter 14 in Huck Finn.  We'll have a quiz on Friday. 

Take care,
Mrs. Garstka

Hi All,

Just a reminder, we changed the due date for your typed draft to Tuesday and the reading -Chapters 1-7 - to Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Garstka

We all agreed to finish Grapes over the weekend.  Be prepared for a rather unusual ending, one you might consider "icky."  But think about it in the context of what we've been discussing these past weeks, and I'm sure you will understand what Steinbeck was doing. 

On Tuesday we'll go to the computer lab to prepare for writing the college essay.  What I want you to do beforehand is to make a list of your personal strengths and characteristics.  Then figure out what you'll use as evidence that you do indeed have these strengths/characteristics.  Ask parents, friends, etc.  what traits they think you exhibit.

See you on Monday.

Mrs. Garstka

Hi!

Your papers are due Monday.  We'll go over vocab and have a quiz on Tuesday.  Bring The Grapes of Wrath with you on Tuesday.

Be good, Mrs. Garstka

Hello Everyone,

Choose a few paper topics and spend time with the text to find the information you will use to support and illustrate your argument.  For those who were absent, the list follows this announcement.

Read-around on Wednesday.  Due date: Friday.

Monday we'll discuss the beginning pages and the last pages to see how the novel is structured and how Nick's words relate to what happened during those three months of summer.  We'll also do some close reading in the novel, observing style, tone, imagery, dialog, etc.

Take care, Mrs. Garstka

ENGLISH 131/2-3 Page Paper

The Great Gatsby

 1.  What is the American Dream today?  Is it attainable?  Why?  Why not?

 2.  How is Gatsby different from all the others in the novel?

 3.  Is Nick better than Tom and Daisy?

 4.  How does The Great Gatsby reflect American values today?

 5.  What are the major symbols of the text and how do they function in terms of the novel’s meaning?

 6.  Compare and contrast the women of the text.

7.  How is Nick involved in and separate from the action of the novel?

 8.  How is the novel a mirror of present times and what lessons does it teach us about these times?

9.  Is Nick as narrator like you and me – or is he flawed?

 10. What elements of life does Nick reflect on re: his life in the West and how do these reflections compare with life in the East?

 11. How does the last sentence of the novel refer to all of us?

 12. How is the Valley of the Ashes a reflection of American society?

 13. How is Gatsby different from the idle rich he wishes to emulate?

 14. How is the novel’s title relevant to the story?

 15. How does Gatsby’s “incorruptible dream” cancel out his business activities?

 16. Since Gatsby and Wilson both lose the women they love to Tom, they die together.  What does Tom’s victory represent?

 17. The novel is as much about Nick Carraway as it is about Gatsby.  In what way does Nick experience life and change as a result of his experience in the East?  Is he admirable?  Not admirable?  Explain

 18. Why are George and Myrtle Wilson integral to the meaning of the novel?

 19.  What is the novel about?

20. A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us.  How is this true of The Great Gatsby?

 21. The high school social scene is rife with drama. Who's out? Who's in? What's cool? What's not? Behind many of the questions is a burning desire to belong. To assert their status in a crowd, students must learn the unwritten and unspoken codes of behavior.  How is TGG a reflection of this same scene?

 

Hi!

Keep reading Gatsby.  Be sure to track images, colors, references to time/past, further info about characters, any significant quotes, etc.  Include questions you want answered - either by me in class or by the text.

And your 10 vocabulary words:  adept, eschew, aplomb, macabre, onus, kismet, mawkish, lachrymose, incendiary, chagrin

See you on Monday - Mrs. Garstka

Hi Everyone,

You have been assigned the first chapter of Gatsby and the study questions that follow.  We can talk while we are enjoying our food, right? 
Feel free to read ahead, but always be sure you reread every chapter as it is assigned for HW. 
See you in a few hours. 

Mrs. Garstka

Wednesday:  Quiz on Franklin Material
                    Intro to The Great Gatsby
                    HW for Thursday:  Chapter 1 of TGG with annotation in your binder. 

Tuesday:  We'll finish Vocabulary, talk about one or two essays from Teen Ink, and continue brainstorming your essay topics.  A typed first draft is due on Wednesday.  On Friday we'll do a read-around - as we've done before. 

Short Story and Vocabulary Test
Bring the notes you completed on each story (as done on the board earlier this week)

We'll go over the vocab and continue "The Cask . . ." tomorrow. 

The Short Story test is on Monday.

Take care, Mrs.  Garstka

For Monday:  Read the two essays on "A Rose . . ."  Be ready to discuss in class.  For those who were absent on Friday, scroll down to files and open/print the essays.

Take care, Mrs. Garstka

Read "Girl" by Kincaid.  It's very different from what we've reading so far, and it reminds me in a way of "Where . . ." because of the mother-daughter element.  I've included a copy here in case you've been absent.

Girl

Image by MHBaker via Flickr
by Jamaica Kincaid

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharfflies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okrafar from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marblesyou are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowersyou might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread? 

Yes, that's it - the whole thing!  Mrs. G

Re:  Mid-Years

 You can bring into the exam room a 3x5 index card covered with information on both sides.  Anything larger than 3x5 will be burned.  What will be on the exam?  Here's a list.

1984, Dinner. . . (only in a general way - don't worry about all characters), Puritan Beliefs, A. Bradstree, J. Edwards, The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, the short stories we've done, and anything in your binder, including extra packets and/or notes.  Include info on characters, significance of setting, motifs, symbols, main ideas, etc.

Test Set-Up:  Quotes, Short Answers, Essays, new text to work with or write about.  No multiple choice, no vocab.



Be prepared for quote questions,

Read A & P TWICE.  Note characterization, tone, style, etc.  Are there symbols?  What's the main idea of the story?

Read and annotate Young Goodman Brown and Where Are You Going . . .
Look up some info on Oates - Try to find out the themes and concerns she addresses in her writings.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your families!
See you on the 4th of January, Mrs. Garstka

Monday:  Finish TC test
Tuesday through Friday we'll be working with short stories, so bring in your binders.

Hope you've enjoyed your day off!

Since I want to go over a few things to prepare you for the test, we'll have it on Friday - no matter what.  Please bring your binders to class with you tomorrow.

Mrs. Garstka

Monday - Quiz on Acts Two and Three

Finish Act Four for Wednesday.

Hello All,

Finish Act One of TC for Monday and Act Two for Tuesday.  Complete the text over Thanksgiving break.

Mrs. Garstka

Hello,

Your edited and revised paper is due on Wednesday.
Bring your binders and a copy of The Crucible to class Tuesday.  We'll discuss introductory material necessary to your understanding of the play and drama as a genre.
On Wednesday we'll start reading in class, and you'll finish Act One for Thursday. 

Hi Everyone,

You are brainstorming ideas for your TSL paper, an edited, typed version of which is due on Monday.
We'll do a read-around in class.  Your final version is due Wednesday, the 18th.

Tomorrow we'll go over the quizzes you created. 
Finish the novel for Thursday.
Be ready for a final quiz on Thursday.
No classes on Friday.
Vocab. quiz on Monday.
We will also discuss essay topics on TSL Monday.  You will be writing a 2-3 page paper.

Read through the end of Chapter 19 in The Scarlet Letter, using your binder questions as a guide.

We'll have a reading day on Friday and try to finish the novel by next Tuesday.

Tuesday we'll finish our discuss of the novel up through Chapter 9.

HW for Wednesday:  Read Chapters 10 and 11.  Use the questions in your binder as a guide for your reading.

Hi!

No new reading assignment.  Look closely at the descriptions of Dimmesdale and men in the balcony scene.  Do a close reading of 5 and 6.  Be prepared to blow me away with your discoveries!

Mrs. Garstka

Hi!

Read through the end of Chapter 4 in TSL, annotating as you read.  Quiz Time!

Take care, Mrs. Garstka

For Thursday:  Read pages 28-31 in your binder and study the vocab for Chapters 1-4 of TSL.  Sounds like a good time for a quiz!  Bring both your binder and TSL to class.

Take care, Mrs. Garstka

Hi All,

Come to class Tuesday with your typed parodies and the PSAT booklet (verbal section completed).
I'll give you a writing assignment on Tuesday, due Wednesday.  Prepare yourselves for lots of annotated reading.

Have a great weekend.

Hello!

A slight revision in plans.  Friday we'll finish the poems.  Monday we'll start Jonathan Edwards' sermon, finish it for homework, and discuss it on
Tuesday.  We'll have a quiz on notes and material covered on Wednesday.  Wait!  I just realized that we have shortened classes on Monday.  The quiz may have to be bumped up to Thursday. 

Mrs. Garstka

Wednesday:  First half of class:  discussion of the critical essays you got in class Tuesday.  Second half:  Vocab review  (Reminder: Vocab test on Monday).

Thursday:  Finish Vocab List.  We'll start the first section in your binder.  HW:  Depends on how much we accomplish in class.
 
Friday:  Continue with text in Binder.

Hello All,

Although we could spend several weeks on 1984, we don't have the time.  So let's try to pull together the most important points on Friday.  Bring your copies of 1984 and Dinner . . . and your Dinner. . . notes.  Be sure you have done the assignment for Dinner so we can have intelligent discussions about those aspects of the text. 

Rose for Emily Critical Essays