I am Joaquin

Diego Rivera
The Arsenal - Frida Kahlo Distributes Arms

I am Joaquin Link to Poem.

Read the poem carefully at least twice. This will take you some time because it is a long poem. Write a response to the poem in Google Docs and share your paper with me. Your response should be 4-6 paragraphs. I will be sharing your work with other teachers. Include these things in your analysis of the poem.

1. Title- When you first read the title what did you think the poem would be about?
2. Paraphrase- Quickly summarize the poem in your own words.
3. Connotation- What meaning does the poem have beyond what it says? What larger meaning is there?
4. Attitude- What is the tone of the speaker? What emotions is he or she feeling? How can you tell?
5. Shifts- Does the speaker change? Does the speaker's attitude / tone change? What other changes take place in the poem?
6. Title- Look at the title again. Does it now mean something more that what you first thought?
7. Theme- What do you think is the theme or themes of this poem? What is the poet saying? How does the tone, imagery and symbolism of the poem contribute to this theme?

Chapter 4 Questions...

Questions to consider as we read chapter 4:

1. Who is Klipspringer?
2. What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
3. What "matter" did Gatsby have Jordan Baker discuss with Nick?
4. Who is Wolfshiem?
5. What does Wolfshiem tell Nick about Gatsby?
6. What does Jordan tell Nick about Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom?

Gatsby Emerges...

Well guys and dolls we are approaching chapter three. Some of you are already deep into the Gatsby party scene. Keep up your notes and keep collecting useful quotes about these characters. Remember that The Great Gatsby is a novel rich in symbolism. You should know about Fitzgerald's use of the color green, and the eyes of Dr, T.J. Eckleburg.

Questions to consider as we read chapter 3:

What does not represent Gatsby's wealth?
What kind of people come to Gatsby's parties?
Why did Nick go to Gatsby's party?
How does Nick meet Gatsby?
What are all the stories about Gatsby?
How are some ways you might describe Gatsby?
Describe Nick's relationship with Jordan?

The Great Gatsby -- The beginning...

"The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece." These are the first lines of the preface of my edition of the book.

What does this mean?
Keep track of the characters as we read. We will chart this together in class.

Questions to consider as we read chapter one:
How does the narrator describe Gatsby?
From where does the narrator come and why?
Describe the narrator's house.
Describe the Buchanans' house.
How does Nick know Daisy and Tom?
Describe Tom. What is our impression of him in chapter 1.
What kind of person is Daisy?
What did Miss Baker tell Nick about Tom?
When asked about her daughter, what does Daisy say?
How is Gatsby introduced in the novel?


A map of Long Island:

Maya Angelou

Today is Maya Angelou's birthday. She is a famous poet, author, actress, director and general renaissance woman. One of her famous books you might know is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Today we are going to look at her poem On the Pulse of Morning. Ms. Angelou read this poem at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993. You can find a video of her reading it on youtube if you are off campus. After we read the poem please write your thoughts about it in your reader's journal.

Emily Dickinson

A mini-research project.

Part I
Do a Google search for Emily Dickinson. What can you find out about her, her life, her family, her poetry? After reading about her on several sites write about your findings in your reader's journal. (You created your reader's journal on Monday in Google Docs. Go back to it, start with today's date and add a new entry.)

Part II << If you did not finish part II today that is now your homework.
Emily Dickinson did not give her poems titles. Her poems are known by their first line. Below are the first lines of some of her poems. Paste several of these lines into your search box and read the poems you find. Then chose one of the poems you read to write about in your reader's journal. Make sure you state the first line of the poem so I know which one you are writing about.

This is my letter to the World
Hope is the thing with feathers
Success is counted sweetest
Much Madness is divinest sense
My life closed twice before its close
After a great pain a formal feeling comes
I heard a Fly Buzz--when I died
Because I could not stop for Death
As the Starved Malestrom laps the Navies