Welcome back!
GIFTED ENGLISH II: Be warned, guys--we have TWO tests this week. Thursday is Edusoft Benchmark Testing, Part II, and we HAVE to show improvement over the last score or. . .dun dun dun. . .we have to do Mini Benchmark Activities in class instead of the AP-prep stuff I'd rather do with you. I'll go over the expectations in class tomorrow. Friday is an open-book assessment of Candide. I'll go over that tomorrow, too! Hope you fulfilled your moral obligation and read that book over the break. . .if not, find a good hour during the week and READ. It goes fast. Most chapters are three, four pages, tops. And it's HILARIOUS.
Today, though: Author of the Day review of dates for presentations; journal entry related to Candide and then a discussion; reiteration of satirical elements of the short stories/novel we are generating; review of the Monty Python paper revision, which is due WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1. As in WEDNESDAY.
AP LIT AND COMP: Before the break, I gave each of you a critical essay and asked you to read SOME of it. (It's plot-spoiler-y, so at some juncture you have to set it aside and wait for Acts IV and V to elapse. But the central motif of the critique, Hamlet's delay, is so central to our discussions this week that the essay is a necessary evil now. Wait until you see what T.S. Eliot thinks of the Melancholy Dane.) Today, we are generating Hamlet's resume, part I (on the board and in your notes), reviewing Act III, and then taking the Act III quiz if time permits. We have a lot to do this week, guys. . .moving onward and upward.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: We need help in the Writing Center, particularly during the A lunch shift. And we need help coordinating the Winter Party for the custodians, too. If you need service hours for NHS or Bright Futures see me.
Also, I am writing a grant to get copies of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the hilarious sequel to Hamlet written in 1967 by subversive playwright Tom Stoppard. We currently have 24 copies hanging out at Boone, so we could do it as a class set, but I'd rather have copies students can check out and take home. (Yes, the play is that good, and yes, I'm biased because I wrote my AP Lit FRQ on it in 1989 and got a 5, so I think it's a panacea.) Anyway, as mentioned in the course syllabus that none of you read, this is the ONLY expensive text of the year, but if you have to acquire your own copy for future purposes or if you need to write in the text, you can get a copy at this website for only 11.99. (Regular price ranges from 12.99-16.99 depending on the publisher.) www.prestwickhouse.com. Just FYI. I'm working on getting these outright for 313.
Three weeks until Winter Break!!! Can you believe it?
