Due Friday 2/27

Write a 1 to 1 1/2 page reflection on the play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell. Consider such things as symbolism, gender identity, character motivations, parallel themes, or whatever else strikes your fancy. There is no structure requirement, but maintain a formal academic voice, so no "I" or "you."

A link to the play is available here:

Mr. Wright (dead)
Mrs. Wright (in jail)
Mr. Henderson (attorney-Zach)
Mr. Hale (Farmer-Ashten)
Mr. Peters (Sheriff-Ethan)
Mrs. Peters (Kaitlin)
Mrs. Hale (Parisah)

Friday, February 20

Today in class we read and discussed the poems "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy". Your assignment is to write a paragraph that discusses how the author uses poetry devices in "Miniver Cheevy" to help convey a specific Realist theme. Follow the information provided in the previous post. This follows the same pattern as the Whitman paragraph, so see the previous post if you have questions. Here's the poem in case you don't have your book.

Miniver Cheevy



Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,

Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;

He wept that he was ever born,

And he had reasons.



Miniver loved the days of old

When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;

The vision of a warrior bold

Would set him dancing.



Miniver sighed for what was not,

And dreamed, and rested from his labors;

He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,

And Priam's neighbors.



Minever mourned the ripe renown

That made so many a name so fragrant;

He mourned Romance, now on the town,

And Art, a vagrant.



Minever loved the Medici,

Albeit he had never seen one;

He would have sinned incessantly

Could he have been one.



Miniver cursed the commonplace

And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;

He missed the mediæval grace

Of iron clothing.



Miniver scorned the gold he sought,

But sore annoyed was he without it;

Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,

And thought about it.



Miniver Cheevy, born too late,

Scratched his head and kept on thinking;

Miniver coughed, and called it fate,

And kept on drinking.



E.A. Robinson

Wednesday, February 18th

Today in class we took notes on how to make some stylistic improvements in our writing. Unfortunately, those notes are not currently availalbe to post online, so if you were absent, you may need to check with a friend.

Then we discussed the poem "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer" by Walt Whitman. Your assignment is to write a paragraph on the poem as explained below.

When I Heard the Learned Astronomer
by Walt Whitman



When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Directions:

Write a paragraph that analyzes how Walt Whitman uses different literary devices in order to advance Romantic themes in his poem. Consider such things as diction, syntax, imagery, sound devices, etc. You may also address how Whitman advances Romantic themes by creating contrast to those ideas. The topic sentence of each paragraph should include:

 Name of Poet
 Title of poem
 Poetry devices
 A specific Romantic theme


You must provide a quotation for each support, and follow all style guidelines. There should be three pieces of evidence per paragraph.

Due on Thursday.

Tuesday, February 17th

Today in class we discussed your course options in English for your senior year. If you were absent, you need to submit to me your course preference for next year. Based on this, I will make my recommendation for you next year.

Your core options:

AP English*
College Writing*
Honors British Literature
Senior Expos/Contemporary Literature

* The first two options can earn college credit.

Also, you should begin thinking about what you will want your importance component of your thesis to be.

Due Tuesday 2/17

1 Source Card (for Huck Finn)
10 Observation Cards (from Huck Finn)

Make sure to include your observation at the top of the page.

Please see the Research Paper Site for an Explanation of Virtual Note Cards.

Due Friday, Feb 13th...

Grammar Test!!!

For more practice exercises, go to the sentence structure pages of the Online Writing Center.

Simple and Compound Practice
Complex and Compound-Complex Practice

Also, make sure you have your 10 observation notecards done on Tuesday. For more information, see the Research Paper page.

Due Monday 2/9

Sentence Structure Practice. Please print and bring completed to class.

Due Friday, February 6

Practicing Phrases and Clauses worksheet.

Additional explanations and exercises are available on Lesson 3 at the Sprague Online Writing Center

Also due Wednesday

Don't forget to bring in your observation preference.

Also, please print the following worksheet and follow the directions at the top. Bring the completed worksheet to class on Wednesday.

If you are having a difficult time with parts of speech, you can find additional information and practice exercises on the parts of speech page of the Online Sprague Writing Center.

Due Wednesday

Submit "observation" topic for the Research Paper. Also, check out the research paper page. (link available on the left).