All Students: APees and Sophys

Dear Students,

We will be utilizing www.turnitin.com this year to form an online writing folder for each of you, and to prevent accidental plagiarism (and its evil cousin, intentional/desperate plagiarism). Some of you may already have an account on this website, but you will still need to register for one of the following classes on the website by Friday, August 27, to earn five points. (Notably, AP students who don't register in time not only lose the five points, but also get a late grade on their first focus paper, and nobody wants that!)

The instructions are fairly simple; if you find that you can't enroll for whatever reason, see me before Thursday and I will do it for you with no penalty. (Waiting until Friday is just futile.)

If you are in AP Lit and Comp, Hilley, you need to go to www.turnitin.com to register:

Course Number: 3402309

Password: Classof2011

(You will then make your own password.)

If you are in Gifted English II, Hilley, you need to go to www.turnitin.com to register:

Course Number: 3402315

Password: Classof2013

(You will then make your own password.)

For both groups: Please use the e-mail address you check most frequently, since I send mass e-mails reminding you of announcements, assignments, and deadlines through this forum. Thank you and if you have any questions, leave a comment here or e-mail me at jennifer.hilley@ocps.net.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tonight is PTSA Parent Night. You are welcome to attend with your parents. Please don't forget to bring home the form you received today in either first period or your English class (mine) that lists your schedule and has a helpful map of the school for your parents to navigate. And hopefully it won't rain this time!

Gifted English II: Author of the Day is Shel Silverstein, after which we have a vocabulary quiz for the final list of literary terms. We will be transitioning into SAT/ACT vocabulary words forthwith, but we needed to start with 120 literary terms so that you have the necessary diction for literary analysis this year. After the quiz, I will distribute the take-home Antigone essay test and go over the expectations for it. We will have an in-class objective test on the same play on Thursday, complete with clip art and festive multiple choice questions, but the take-home is your opportunity to express yourself in written form. THE TAKE-HOME TEST MUST BE POSTED ON TURNITIN.COM SO IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ACCOUNT YET (AFTER ALL THIS TIME--OY) SEE ME ASAP.

APees: MacScavenger Hunt, followed by more Macgoodness. And if you thought you escaped the necessity of a Macpaper, well. . .

Here is my favorite, favorite speech from the entire play. A dear friend of mine e-mailed it to me last week as inspiration, and I was struck again by how eternally evocative these few words are, even today:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Macbeth, Act V, scene v.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Mr Bailey will be your sub today, so be super-nice to him!!! He's a Gator!

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar Unit test, and content vocabulary for Othello. Use the dictionaries in the room to identify as many words as you can, although some are archaic and must be defined in context. IF YOU HAVE A COPY OF NO FEAR OTHELLO, BRING IT TOMORROW.

APees: "Ode to the West Wind" and TP-CASTT. Quick reminder (which will be posted on the board, btw): TP-CASTT is a College Board-recommended mnemonic device for analyzing tricky poems. Since "Ode" is in a complicated set of terza rima sonnets, this format will help you deconstruct what Shelley is attempting to convey about autumn, grieving, and the creative process (among other things.)

Title
Paraphrase
Connotation (figurative language, essentially)
Attitude/tone
Shifts
Title, again--symbolic interpretation, perhaps?
THEME

Also, also, also: www.turnitin.com is NOT an option. BOTH CLASSES will need to post their focus papers on this website by Friday, January 30 at midnight, or e-mail it to jennifer.hilley@ocps.net by the same time deadline to receive full credit for the paper. Each late day will cost you five points. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

REMINDER: Sophomore assembly during third period in the auditorium today. Report to your third period class first, then await dismissal.

Gifted English II: Collect HW questions for assessment. Check-reading quiz on The Stranger and Death of a Salesman. New students to the course will be reading silently during this time--you will have three weeks to catch up on this particular assignment. Afterwards, I will go over the other ten words on your first vocabulary list. Author of the Day today is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rough draft of your paper on The Stranger is due Friday for peer review. The vocabulary quiz will be postponed until next week due to Semi-Hurricane Fay.

APees: After we take our short quizlet on The Awakening, we are going to start our discussion of Flaubert and Chopin's writing styles. Your focus paper is due tomorrow night by midnight on www.turnitin.com. See me if you have further existential crises related to this website--it isn't perfect, but I can troubleshoot problems for you.

Also--remember that I will be hosting office hours tomorrow morning for college application conversations. We are going to see Mrs. Cadman tomorrow in College and Career during class to further shed light on your application process.