Here are the prospective schedules for the week, by class:
Gifted English II (Sophys):
Monday, September 14: Author of the Day is Louise Erdrich, after which we will sojourn to the Media Center to pick up copies of The Count of Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. If you already have your own copy, you're good to go, but please be sure you are reading the abridged version and not the unwieldy unabridged (twice the countryside, half the action.) Afterwards--an award-winning (kidding) lecture on the elements of literature leading into Greek drama.
Tuesday, September 15: Author of the Day is Nathaniel Hawthorne, after which I need to share some information specific to our in-class literary assignment--Antigone by Sophocles. HW: Define vocab words #61-80. We will go over examples in class tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 16: Author of the Day is Jorge Luis Borges, after which we will quickly review relevant examples to the vocabulary list and begin Antigone in class. (This play is in our textbook.)
Thursday, September 17: Author of the Day is JK Rowling (yes, really) and we will continue with Antigone, along with a brief grammar lesson connected to the play.
Friday September 18: Author of the Day is Louisa May Alcott, after which we are taking our fourth vocab quiz and further analyzing Antigone.
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition (APees):
Monday, September 14: You need your lit anthology; we will be reading "On the Road to Delphi" by the recently deceased John Updike and analyzing its form and structure via TP-CASTT. If we have time, we will also do a double-entry on ORex.
Tuesday, September 15: Peer Edit for ORex focus paper, which should take all period. If we finish early, we might look at "Myth" by Muriel Rukeyser, another poem inspired by ORex, but frankly I'd rather read poems YOU write about it than this one. With all due respect to Ms. Rukeyser, this one is pretty weak. Let me know what you think.
Wednesday, September 16: Timed Writing on "Two Views of a Cadaver Room"--this one is challenging, but it is so, so good. I love this prompt and have written on it myself twice. Vitamin TW--good for you, APees!
Thursday, September 17: Tragedy as the thread of continuity--today is the intro to the MacPlay, the title of which we will NOT be saying in class due to the urban-legend-level of superstition surrounding it. We say, "The Scottish Play," or "MacB," or "Heinous Tragic Play." Here is my bias--I LOVE this play so much that it makes me stupid. If I could harness the abilities of Thespis et al and get up on stage (which I haven't done since third grade, when I played a tooth in a school play--well, I also played a psychotic librarian in an independent film in 2002, but that doesn't count at all, for anything) then I would play Lady Macbeth. BEST CHARACTER SHAKESPEARE EVER INVENTED. She is the ultimate psycho-hose-beast, BA to the nth degree, a black belt in evil. I hope you like this play as much as I do. It is all kinds of awesome. If you are allergic to Shakespearean iambic pentameter, feel free to pick up a five-dollar copy of No Fear Shakespeare from Barnes or Amazon.com and read the translations.
Friday September 18: ORex focus paper due by 3 p.m. today, and by midnight tonight on www.turnitin.com. In class--more Scottish woe. Woe, woe, woe. Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts/Unsex me here. . .
NOTES FOR FUTURE PLANNING: Seniors, Guidance will be in my class on Monday, September 21 to disseminate SAIR forms and go over your graduation requirements. BE HERE. Quelle importante. Also, if anyone is interested in joining Project X-Mas, to help out the custodians, come to 313 after school on Tuesday, September 15 for community service opportunities with this organization. Finally, we need some consultants for the Writing Center B Lunch. A Lunch is swimming along beautifully, but we have had clients with no consultants during B, so please join us if you are so inclined.
