Week of December 3-7

Monday - Discuss Emerson paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 7.

Homework - Finish reading Emerson's excerpts from "Self-Reliance" for tomorrow and answer this question (typed and double-spaced) on a sheet of paper and be ready to hand in: "What one sentence from Emerson's essay speaks most to you where you are in your life right now?  Why?  Quote the sentence and explain why it speaks to you.  It might speak to you because it offers good advice, or because it's an idea you agree with, or any other reason."

Tuesday - Discuss the rest of Emerson's "Self-Reliance."

Homework - Read the excerpts from Emerson's "Nature" and "The American Scholar" for Thursday and answer this question (typed and double-spaced) on a sheet of paper and be ready to hand in: "What's one sentence that you found particularly challenging in the reading?  Quote it, explain why it challenged you, and give your best interpretation of what the sentence might mean.  Don't worry about making your interpretation right -- just try!"  Be ready to share in class Thursday.

Wednesday - Reading day.

Homework - Read the excerpts from Emerson's "Nature" and "The American Scholar" for Thursday and answer this question (typed and double-spaced) on a sheet of paper and be ready to hand in: "What's one sentence that you found particularly challenging in the reading?  Quote it, explain why it challenged you, and give your best interpretation of what the sentence might mean.  Don't worry about making your interpretation right -- just try!"  Be ready to share in class Thursday.

Thursday - Discuss "Nature" and "The American Scholar" and intro to Walden.

Homework - Read "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" for tomorrow and answer one of the questions at the end of the piece either from "Questions for Discussion" or "Questions on Rhetoric and Style."  The question you choose to answer is up to you.  Be ready to share in class tomorrow. 

Friday - Discuss "Where I Lived and What I Lived For."

Homework - 1.) Purchase your copy of O Pioneers! from the bookstore for Monday.  2.) Complete the vocab.com list for O Pioneers! for Monday.  3.) Unit 2 essay first step due Tuesday.

NO MORE BLOGGING UNTIL 3RD QUARTER.

American Literary Romanticism in Painting

CLICK HERE for the slide show.

Witches Among Us . . .

One thing The Crucible teaches us is how common the expression "witch hunt" is in our American vernacular.  My guess is you'll hear this expression for the rest of your lives, and my hope is that every time you hear this expression you'll also remember this play and how it encourages us to think about the many layers of meaning in this expression.

When people typically use the phrase "witch hunt" they're suggesting -- similar to the events of The Crucible -- that there's an unjustified prosecution or attack on an individual or group.  President Trump is especially fond of this expression.  This New York Times editorial tracks the number of times Mr. Trump has used the expression "witch hunt" in his Tweets when describing the Justice Department's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.  By referring to this investigation as a "witch hunt", Mr. Trump is clearly trying to undermine the investigation in the mind of the public.

So here's one of my big questions about this phrase: how do we know if some kind of investigation is legitimate, and how do we know if it's an unfair "witch hunt"?  The article you're reading for tomorrow ("Watch What You Say") is an interesting test case because it's not obvious whether or not
Mr. Frisch is being unfairly labeled as a "witch" or if he legitimately should be punished for what he did, and that's where we'll start our conversation on this article.

For tomorrow, comment on this blog post by responding to this question: "Should Mr. Frisch have been fired for his mistake, or is he an unfair victim of a school community being too sensitive in trying to create a safe learning environment?"  You may respond to the question above or reply to a classmate's comment.

Week of November 26-30

Monday - Snow day!

Homework - Play in the snow and shovel the driveway.

Tuesday - The Crucible film and intro to Hawthorne stories.

Homework - Read "The Minister's Black Veil" and complete the response in the packet.  Be ready to share in class discussion tomorrow.

Wednesday - Discuss "The Minister's Black Veil."

Homework - Read the article, "Watch What You Say" and comment on Mr. Lawler's blog post by the time we start class tomorrow.

Thursday - Discuss "Watch What You Say."

Homework - None.

Friday - Intro to Transcendentalism.

Homework - Read the excerpts from Emerson's "Self-Reliance" (paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7) for Monday.  Annotate carefully and complete the "summary of main idea" sections.

Final blog post of the semester is due Friday, December 14th.

Week of November 19-23

Monday - The Crucible discussion -- Act III.

Homework - Finish The Crucible for tomorrow.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

Tuesday - The Crucible discussion -- Act IV.

Homework - None!

Wednesday - No class.

Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday - No class.

Week of November 12-16

Monday - The Crucible discussion -- first 1/2 of Act I.

Homework - 1.) Finish Act I in The Crucible for tomorrow.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.  2.) Final draft of Unit 1 poem due Thursday.

Tuesday - The Crucible Act I discussion.

Homework - 1.) Read Act II in The Crucible for Thursday.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.  2.) Final draft of Unit 1 poem due Thursday.

Wednesday - The Crucible film.

Homework - 1.) Read Act II in The Crucible for tomorrow.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.  2.) Final draft of Unit 1 poem due Thursday.

Thursday - The Crucible Act II discussion.

Homework - 1.) Blog post and comment due Friday.  2.) Read Act III in The Crucible for Monday.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

Friday - Reading day.

Homework - Read Act III in The Crucible for Monday.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

NEXT BLOG POST AND COMMENT DUE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH.  MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BLOG POST FOR THIS DATE IS ABOUT A CURRENT EVENTS TOPIC THAT HAS SOME KIND OF CONNECTION TO DISSENT AND/OR FREE SPEECH.  THINK OF THE BLOG POST AS RESPONDING TO THIS QUESTION: "WHERE IS DISSENT AND FREE SPEECH BEING DEBATED/DISCUSSED IN AMERICA TODAY?"

Links for Junior Theme Topics Google Doc

CLICK HERE if you're in period 7.

CLICK HERE if you're in period 8.

Week of November 5-9

Monday - The Crucible.

Homework - Read pages 3-23 in The Crucible for Monday, November 12.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

Tuesday - Meet in the library.

Homework - Read pages 3-23 in The Crucible for Monday, November 12.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

Wednesday - Meet in the library.

Homework - Read pages 3-23 in The Crucible for Monday, November 12.  Complete the reading guide and be ready for a quiz.

Thursday - No class.

Friday - No class.

NEXT BLOG POST DUE DATE IS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH.  MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BLOG POST FOR THIS DATE IS ABOUT A CURRENT EVENTS TOPIC THAT HAS SOME KIND OF CONNECTION TO DISSENT AND/OR FREE SPEECH.  THINK OF THE BLOG POST AS RESPONDING TO THIS QUESTION: "WHERE IS DISSENT AND FREE SPEECH BEING DEBATED/DISCUSSED IN AMERICA TODAY?"