Civil Disobedience- Looking at examples.

These four articles all deal with recent examples of Civil Disobedience.  In a way they have all been successful because they brought enough attention to their cause to make the news, but some are more likely to create real change than others.

Read through the articles. Think about what you know now about Civil Disobedience. Evaluate which of these cases is the most likely to result in real changes.

Write an entry in your English Journal to explain which case of Civil Disobedience is the most likely to result in change and why you think that.

UC Fee Hikes
Cindy Sheehan
Nuns Arrested
Blue Shield

Stride Toward Freedom -King

 We have seen how Thoreau's ideas on civil disobedience influenced Gandhi. Today we will see how those ideas were used during the American civil rights movement.

"Prior to reading Gandhi, I had about concluded that the ethics of Jesus were only effective in individual relationships. The "turn the other cheek" philosophy and the "love your enemies" philosophy were only valid, I felt, when individuals were in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and nations were in conflict a more realistic approach seemed necessary. But after reading Gandhi, I saw how utterly mistaken I was."  -MLK

We will read an excerpt from Stride Toward Freedom by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You will work with a partner to read the text and answer the questions on this form about what you read.

Following the train of thought...

  If you've been with us you should know by now what Emerson said in "Self Reliance", and what Thoreau said in "Civil Disobedience". Today we will see their thinking magnified by Mohandas K. Gandhi.

 You know that America was once one of many British colonies. India was also a British colony. In the 1930's Gandhi used his ideas about civil disobedience, his word was satyagraha, to help free India from British rule.

Today we will read a short excerpt from his speech on Civil Disobedience if you would like to read the full text you can find it here.

There is a copy of the text in your shared folder to read with your group. Only use the link above if for some reason you can not access the text in docs.

Discussing "Civil Disobedience"

Good morning,

You've been doing an excellent job discussing Emerson (Self Reliance) with your group in an on-line chat. Today I want to let you talk to each other face to face again.  We are going to look at the writing of one of Emerson's friends, Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau wrote an essay called "Civil Disobedience"  We are going to read parts of it. This is what Gandhi said about "Civil Disobedience".

"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi

We are going to read excerpts of "Civil Disobedience". Between each paragraph I will give you a few minutes to discuss the text with your group. Remember what you have learned about discussing literature from your on-line discussions.

Writing about "Self Reliance"

So we spent two days reading and "discussing" Emerson in groups. Today you are on your own. You will probably need to open your copy of Self Reliance in Google docs, but do not use the chat window today. (I'll be watching.)

Open in docs:

• Your English Journal
• Your copy of Self Reliance (Do not open the chat window. Yes, I am repeating myself.)

Then do all six below. Work quickly, but be sure to explain your choices well.

1. Choose your favorite line from Self Reliance. Paste it into your EJ and write about what it means and why it is your favorite.
2. Chose a line from Self Reliance that you would quote while arguing with someone. Paste it into your EJ and write about what it means and why you would use it.
3. Choose a line from Self Reliance that you think people should pay attention to today. Paste it into your EJ and write about what it means and why people should pay attention to it today.
4. Choose a line from Self Reliance that you think is the most poetic. Paste it into your EJ and write about what it means and why you think it is poetic.
5. Choose a line from Self Reliance that you disagree with. Paste it into your EJ and write about what it means and why you disagree.
6. Explain in your own words what Emerson's point is in his essay. What are his big ideas? What is his advice to people?

Chatting about theme and evidence

So today we read a new story called "Passing Days". If you weren't in class you can find it in the shared folder for your writing group. Each group read the story on their own and then 'chatted' about it in the chat window on the doc. I didn't let them talk or sit together they had to type all their comments and communicate about the theme and evidence only through the chat window. Most groups did a great job and liked working this way. If you missed class you missed out.

PS This is my first post to the blog from an iPad.

Still looking for THEME and EVIDENCE

Good morning,

Your homework last night was to read "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Today you will work with your writing group to read it again. I put a copy of it in your writing group shared folder. Open docs and go to your shared writing group folder.

Work together to:

1. Find the theme of the story (try to agree on one)
2. Highlight evidence from the text to support your opinion.
3. Insert comments about the things you highlight to explain why you think those parts are evidence.
4. In your own English journal write a paragraph to explain the theme and the evidence you found to support it. (Your group can work together on the thesis.)

Finding Theme

Good morning,
 We are still working on figuring out what a story says about life. Just to recap we have looked at three short stories so far to help us with this task.
The Flowers
The Masque of the Red Death 
and On the Bridge (You read this one on paper while I was gone.)

You are now quite good at having an opinion about what the story says about life, but can you back it up?
Can you give me evidence from the story to prove your point?
View this page as we work on it together.

Continuing Theme

Monday I shared a folder with you and we read The Flowers by Alice Walker. We used that story to practice our knowledge of the plot graph and character motivation. We learned that understanding character motivation is an important step to figuring out the theme.

Tuesday we used our shared folder again and you made your own copy of "The Masque of the Red Death". We are reading it together and you are adding annotations to yours as we go. Links to my version of the document are below. You can look at mine, but you need to do your own notes on your own copy.
3__ __ Masque of the Red Death
4__ __ Masque of the Red Death

We already know that the main character is Prince Prospero and that his motivation is to escape the Red Death while having fun with his friends. Today we will read more.

Thursday and Friday I will be gone to the BIG English teacher convention in Florida. Ms. Creighton will be here with you. You'll have more stories to read and questions to answer about theme. Use the steps on our chart in class to figure out the theme.

Getting Started with Theme

Good morning,

We need to do some work in docs this week and I need to share a folder with you all. You will only be able to view the documents in the folder and then make your own copy to write on.

I need an updated list of your e-mail addresses that you use with Google Docs. Please use this form to submit your e-mail address.  Thanks.

The Week Ahead

I know you won't forget that your Crucible Project is due on Wednesday. Remember the library is open after school if you need a computer to work on.

CAHSEE is Tuesday and Wednesday. A third of my students need to take the English or Math section or both. Please make sure to be on time and bring your ID.

Don't forget to change your Facebook privacy settings and LIKE the Mrs. Roberts Class page. I won't be able to see your status updates IF you have your privacy settings set correctly to "Friends Only". Parents can LIKE the page too if they want to know what's happening in our class.

Thursday there is no school, and Friday I thought might be the perfect day to show you the last part of The Crucible film.

Thesis Statement Frames

This was the presentation I showed you today about ways you can write your thesis statement.

Thesis statement practice

Recently, looking at your drafts I found we have an unexpected problem. Similar to the great run-on sentence crisis we had with our Orgins stories, we now have a crisis of Thesis Statements. Despite all the talk I hear from 9th grade teachers about teaching thesis statement, you, my students, still do not know what they are, how to create them or what to do with them. (There is plenty of evidence for this in your drafts.)

Today in class we looked at 11 statements.  I asked you to respond to each one by writing, "This is/is not a thesis statement because." All of the statements I showed you came from your drafts. At the end we reviewed them and then you wrote your own thesis statement.

Google Books

Good morning,
 Yesterday our work was focused on those of you needing to add evidence to your essays. We looked at how quoted evidence makes your argument stronger and also at some of the sentence starters you can use to follow a quote.

Today I want to give a little help to those of you working on project option 1, but the rest of you will also likely find some time soon when this will be helpful to you. We are going to look at Google Books.

With Google Books you can search by title or topic. And then, once you have found the book you can even search INSIDE the book. Try it. Search for "salem witch trials", pick a book and then use the search box on the left that says "search in this book". Try typing in the name of a person you are interested in, Proctor for example.

Why would it be helpful to be able to find a book like this on-line? Why would it be helpful to be able to search inside the book? How would you cite your source? Is this a primary or secondary source? (trick question)

A few of you still need to share your Crucible Project with me in Google Docs. Please make sure you do that today.  Your draft is due tomorrow.

Some questions and a poem to read...

First tell me about your Crucible Project.
Click on THIS FORM and answer the questions.

Then read the poem below. At the bottom of this post there is a link that says "comments" click the link and leave a comment about your thoughts on the poem.
What do you think the title might be? Who wrote it? Why? What does it mean?

Hint: After you click the comments link then open another tab and go to the blog again. That way you can go back and forth between the blog and your comment.


I DWELL in a lonely house I know
That vanished many a summer ago,
And left no trace but the cellar walls,
And a cellar in which the daylight falls,
And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow.

O'er ruined fences the grape-vines shield
The woods come back to the mowing field;
The orchard tree has grown one copse
Of new wood and old where the woodpecker chops;
The footpath down to the well is healed.

I dwell with a strangely aching heart
In that vanished abode there far apart
On that disused and forgotten road
That has no dust-bath now for the toad.
Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart;

The whippoorwill is coming to shout
And hush and cluck and flutter about:
I hear him begin far enough away
Full many a time to say his say
Before he arrives to say it out.

It is under the small, dim, summer star.
I know not who these mute folk are
Who share the unlit place with me--
Those stones out under the low-limbed tree
Doubtless bear names that the mosses mar.

They are tireless folk, but slow and sad,
Though two, close-keeping, are lass and lad,--
With none among them that ever sings,
And yet, in view of how many things,
As sweet companions as might be had.

Going Public

Many of you are ready to publish your Origin Story to the web. Today I'll show you how to do that in Google Docs.  I highly recommend you take your last name OFF your story BEFORE you publish it.

AFTER you publish your story THEN you can visit this form to publish it to the web. The form will fill up a spread sheet and I will publish the spread sheet shortly.

Read published stories here.

The Crucible: Project Phase

Good morning,
  You've read The Crucible, most of it anyway. You are ready to take it to the next level. It's time for a project.
Check out this page of Crucible Project Options. Choose your project carefully. We will use the Source From to help each other with sources. View Sources Here!

The Crucible Act III Quiz and English Journal Entry

Good morning,
Are you ready for the Act III quiz?  Sure you are. Some of your classmates are probably already taking the quiz. You're not because you know that sometimes I hide hints and clues and secret words up here in the introductory text. So you are reading this hoping for something that will help you with an extra point or two. I'll tell you this. You can find at least 1-2 right answers by looking at the vocabulary list for Act III.

TAKE ACT III QUIZ HERE

ENGLISH JOURNAL WORK:

After you finish the quiz please open your English Journal and add another character diary entry. You are not writing ABOUT the character. You are writing like YOU ARE the character. Show what he or she would be thinking at this point. Remember what motivates your character. Include what he or she might be thinking about the OTHER characters in the play.

Also try Recomending a Book to the class. Hint Look for the  "Submit a suggestion" button at the bottom of the page.

Dramatic Irony- I know something you don't know...

Hello,
  If you were here today you know we watched a short video. It's from you-tube so you won't be able to view it again at school, but if you are at home you can take another look. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP-1kt92vqY
(Insert big lecture about why smoking is very bad for you and the people you love.)

The point of watching that was to learn about dramatic irony.  Dramatic irony, as we discovered in class, is when the audience knows something that one of the characters does not. In this case the woman did not know that the can belonged to the man and the man did not know what she put in the can.

We are looking for examples of dramatic irony in The Crucible, especially in Act III.
And you have homework, so be sure to check the homework link on the right.

A cinematic experience...

Today was the close of the grading period. Most of you got to watch the first 45 minutes of The Crucible film while I met individually with people I needed to talk to.

Some things I hope you noticed:

• The film is able to show the story in several more settings than the play can.
• The filmmakers chose to mix together information and events from Act I and Act II.
• And you saw what John Proctor was holding the first time he appeared on screen right?

Open House 2010

Welcome!


Our class is a little different. Every student uses a computer and most of our work and reading is on-line.
Things you need to know about are:

1. The Blog www.imdoingmyhomework.blogspot.com (You're already here.)
1. The Start Here section
2. Important Links
3. Polls
4. Wish List
5. Gradebook Explained
2. Having a computer with internet at home is helpful, but not required.
3. Google Docs You can get an account and have your student share their work with you too.
4. Recent and future learning opportunities.
   

The Plot Thickens...

Good morning,
 We finished Act II yesterday and we've been learning about that plot graph (see post below). Let's see what you know. We are going to take a quiz on Act II.  Once again I expect many of you are not actually reading this, so again I wish to reward those of you who are. I have a new secret word for you. It is prodigious. You must add it at the end of the first short answer question. I suggest making it all caps.

TAKE ACT II QUIZ HERE

Post-Quiz Priorties

1. English Journal- Make sure you have it complete, neat, dated in reverse etc. 
2. Origins Story- Make corrections if you need to. If you think it is perfect and I should print it let me know.

If all of that is FABULOUS then you can check out these resources below related to the Salem Witch Trials.
John Proctor's Diary
Which Witch?
Secrets of the Dead

Reading Act II

This morning I drew two lines on the board and asked if any of you recognized them. Some of you did. (I wish more of you did.)

We eventually decided this was the plot graph commonly found in literature, plays, movies and even TV shows.

I told you that this graph applies to the four acts of The Crucible, but there is also a plot graph like this for each act. Then you read more of Act II with your group.  We are looking for the climax of Act II.

Let's take a quiz

Good morning,
 I know you're not really reading this. Most of you already clicked the link below for the quiz, but I'm going to write it anyway. If you are reading this I wish to reward you. Add the secret word, apple, at the very end of the written question on the quiz and I will give you an extra point. Don't tell or no one gets it.
TAKE ACT I QUIZ HERE

ENGLISH JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

On Monday night I asked you to write a diary entry showing the thoughts of ONE of the characters in Act I. At that point we had only read a bit of the play though, so you may not have known your character very well. Go now to your English Journal and write another diary entry showing the thoughts of ONE character at the end of Act I. You can write from the POV of the same character or a different one.

 Pointer News:  You need to know what's going on. Joint the Pointer news e-blast. Go to the school website and enter your e-mail address in the box near the upper left. Follow the directions.

Also read today's bulletin here!

The Crucible, Act I

 The presentation below follows the characters as they enter and leave the stage in Act I. If you were absent Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday please check the homework page.

The Run-On Epidemic of 2010

Good morning,

1. Go to THIS LINK
2. Copy the SECOND paragraph into your English Journal (date it today)
3. Correct it: periods, commas, capitals.
4. Open your Origins Story.
5. Correct it too. 

AFTER you have done the things above visit THIS SITE. Answer the questions below in your English Journal.

1. What did you find there?
2. What happened to "you"?
3. Why do you think this is relevant?

Analysis- Word choice in Of Plymouth Plantation

Good morning,
Over the past few days you have been reading a very challenging text, Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, who came to North America on The Mayflower in 1620.
What strategies did you use for reading a hard text like that?

Of Plymouth Plantation is an example of a PRIMARY SOURCE. Even though it was written down years after the events, the person writing it was actually there and tells about what happened in his own words.

Now that you know what Bradford said, it's time to look more deeply at HOW his said it. His choice of words and tone affect the way his story is perceived.

(This is part of the next standard we are going to be working on: RL 3.3  Analysis: Analyze the ways in which irony, tone, mood, the author's style, and the "sound" of language achieve specific rhetorical or aesthetic purposes or both)

Your task:

1. Select ONE of the HIGHLIGHTED phrases in the text.
2. Copy that phrase (and perhaps the whole sentence) into your ENGLISH JOURNAL.
3. Explain in your own words WHY you think Bradford used the words he did or included that phrase in his writing. What was the effect on his audience? What was he trying to make people think?

And you HAVE HOMEWORK tonight. I'll explain it in class and it will be posted on the homework page later.

Extension: If you finished explaining Bradford's word choices go read this. It was written in 1641.  What does it tell you about Puritan values, justice, and lifestyle?

And then came the Europeans

Good morning,
I'm going to go over this fast because I know you've also seen it in your American History classes, but there are a few points you must know:

• The Puritans arrived in Massachusetts in the fall of 1620. They meant to arrive in Virgina.
• They were searching for a place to practice their "pure" form of Christianity.
• Their leader was William Bradford. The ship, of course, was The Mayflower.

http://www.mbeinstitute.org/America/amerch2.html

Today you will read about the Puritan's first encounter with the Native Americans already settled in Massachusetts. Your task is to make sense of what happened when these two groups first met.
Excerpt from Of Plymouth Plantation

1. Read the text with a partner.
2. Stop and talk after each paragraph.
3. Agree on what happened and write 1-2 sentences in your English Journal.
4. Read the next paragraph.

Random words because I'm curious.  mesothelioma, treatment, cancer, mortgage, bankruptcy, new car, loan, 

Origins Story Reflection Survey<< Do this if you missed it Monday!

http://www.welt-atlas.de/map_of_east_coast_usa_7-245

"What did she say?"

Good morning,    

Your stories are looking great. I'm very impressed with the quality and quantity you've done this week. Today is the last day in class to work on your origins story.  One area of need I see for many of you is in correctly punctuating and formatting your dialog.

Our Dialog Plan:

1. I'll show you how to do it.
2. You can take a practice quiz (on your own or with someone very close to you, no moving today.)
3. You can edit the dialog in your own story.

Also make sure you have a title on your story. Center it. Make it larger etc.
Make sure you have a heading: Name, Date, Period (Left or right side is fine)

Additional Resources for Dialog: 
Dialog Punctuation
How to Use Proper Punctuation When Writing Dialogue
Punctuating Dialog 


Thought you might want to know that you had a chance to show mastery of at least EIGHT standards with this project:
Writing Strategies:
1.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the elements of discourse (e.g., purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing narrative, expository, persuasive, or descriptive writing assignments.
1.2 Use point of view, characterization, style (e.g., use of irony), and related elements for specific rhetorical and aesthetic purposes.
1.5 Use language in natural, fresh, and vivid ways to establish a specific tone.
1.9 Revise text to highlight the individual voice, improve sentence variety and style, and enhance subtlety of meaning and tone in ways that are consistent with the purpose, audience, and genre.
Writing Applications:
2.1 Write fictional, autobiographical, or biographical narratives:
a. Narrate a sequence of events and communicate their significance to the audience.
b. Locate scenes and incidents in specific places.
c. Describe with concrete sensory details the sights, sounds, and smells of a scene and the specific actions, movements, gestures, and feelings of the characters; use interior monologue to depict the characters’ feelings.
d. Pace the presentation of actions to accommodate temporal, spatial, and dramatic mood changes.
e. Make effective use of descriptions of appearance, images, shifting perspectives, and sensory details.
Writing Conventions:
1.1 Demonstrate control of grammar, diction, and paragraph and sentence structure and an understanding of English usage.
1.2 Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct punctuation and capitalization.
1.3 Reflect appropriate manuscript requirements in writing.

Great Job!

Best first day of writing groups EVER!

Fabulous job everybody!  I was so impressed with the quantity and quality of drafts today.  Sorry for the phone spam last night, but I do think it helped. (Yay, Blackboard Connect!)

Special mention to Google Docs for adding folder sharing to Docs. With a shared folder for each group, writing groups were able to get started so much faster than last year!

For the rest of the year when you need to share something with your writing group just add it to your group folder and your writing group members will be able to see it.

New Writing Project

Good afternoon.
 A late in the day post because it's been that kind of day. As you know you have a new writing assignment to write an origins story modeled on the Native American tales we have read. You NEED a complete draft by Wednesday!

There are a few things you may need to catch up on as well:

1. Finish reading The World on The Turtle's Back. You should have a summary of this in your English Journal.
2. You also should have read The Song of The Sky Loom (page 34) and answer the three questions at the bottom of the page. (This was homework. It should be on paper.)
3. You should have read Fox and Coyote and Whale as well as Coyote and Buffalo.

The World on the Turtle's Back

Good morning,
  This week you got your English Journal all set up. Today we begin to use it.

We've looked at several examples of Native American writings. Today we are going to tackle a longer piece. It is called The World on the Turtle's Back.

Your task today is to read through the text with one or two partners. As you read you'll see that the text is marked into segments with horizontal lines. Your group should stop at each of these breaks and write a short 3-4 sentence summary about that segment. You and your partners must have identical summaries. Talk about what you are going to write and help each other with spelling  and punctuation.

Note: Make sure you put this new work at the TOP of your English Journal. Make sure you include the date.

Just for fourth

Hello,  You're still a bit ahead of period three because of the assembly and the testing.

Read this story about Coyote and answer the questions below in your English Journal.

1. Was this Coyote similar or different from the one in the other stories?
2. What archetypes do you find in this story?
3. What did you find in the story that you were expecting or not expecting?

Then I believe we have several groups who wish to present their dialogs from last week.

Third Period Thursday

Hi Third Period,

If you were here yesterday you know what we did and you probably even remember the mission I gave you for today. The directions are in the post from yesterday, but I'm going to re-post them here.
If you were not here yesterday because you were testing or absent then find a partner who was here and get them to help you with the steps below.


Make a new Google Doc

1. Go to Docs.google.com
2. Sign in using your g-mail user name and password.
3. Click the "Create new" button and then pick "document"
4. This will give you a new blank Google Doc
5. Put your FULL Name and period at the top.

You will need to name this document.  

1. Click in the box that says "untitled document"
2. Important: Name your doc this way  3xxEnglish Journal  But instead of the xx's put your initials! (The 3 stands for period 3!)

Share your English Journal with us.

1. Click the "Share" button in the upper right corner.
2. In the box that says "Add people" type in my G-mail address. jrobertsplhs@gmail.com
3. Put a comma and add Ms. Smith also msmithplhs@gmail.com
4. Make sure it says "can edit" next to both of our names. This lets us add notes to you in your EJ and allows me to write in your grade.

Important:

1. Always put your new work ON TOP of the old work. Your most recent EJ entries will be at the top and work you did before will move lower.
2. Put the date on every entry.
3. Always keep your EJ neat. Use a consistent format for dates and titles. Use bold headings and color consistently.
4. Make sure you have all work completed in your English Journal.
5. Read the English Journal Scoring Guide to see how it will be graded.

First Questions for your EJ.  Copy and paste (ctrl-c = copy and ctrl-v = paste) these questions into your new EJ and answer them completely. 

1. Did the characters in the stories turn our to be what you expected based on their archetype? (explain)
2. How does knowing about archetypes help you as a reader? (explain)
3. Why do you think authors use archetypes in their writing? (yes, explain)

Just for fourth period... aren't you lucky.

Ok, many people are out taking a test which gives you some extra time.

Top Priority: Did you finish creating and sharing your English Journal yesterday?
Did you finish this:

First Questions for your EJ.  Copy and paste (ctrl-c = copy and ctrl-v = paste) these questions into your new EJ and answer them completely. 

1. Did the characters in the stories turn our to be what you expected based on their archetype? (explain)
2. How does knowing about archetypes help you as a reader? (explain)
3. Why do you think authors use archetypes in their writing? (yes, explain)

 If you are up to date on all of that, you have earned some independent reading time. Shut down your computer and get out your book. If you want to borrow a book from our classroom shelves please tell me. I can help you choose and I need to write down what you borrow.

And now for even more fun...

Good morning,
   Today's excitement is that all of my students in third and fourth period who are still classified as English Learners are out taking a test. 

  Third period students who are still here, you are going to set up your English Journal (EJ) in your Google Docs account, share it with me, and answer some questions based on the homework you had Monday night.


Make a new Google Doc

1. Go to Docs.google.com
2. Sign in using your g-mail user name and password.
3. Click the "Create new" button and then pick "document"
4. This will give you a new blank Google Doc
5. Put your FULL Name and period at the top.

You will need to name this document.  

1. Click in the box that says "untitled document"
2. Important: Name your doc this way  3xxEnglish Journal  But instead of the xx's put your initials! (The 3 stands for period 3!)

Share your English Journal with us.

1. Click the "Share" button in the upper right corner.
2. In the box that says "Add people" type in my G-mail address. jrobertsplhs@gmail.com
3. Put a comma and add Ms. Smith also msmithplhs@gmail.com
4. Make sure it says "can edit" next to both of our names. This lets us add notes to you in your EJ and allows me to write in your grade.

Important:

1. Always put your new work ON TOP of the old work. Your most recent EJ entries will be at the top and work you did before will move lower.
2. Put the date on every entry.
3. Always keep your EJ neat. Use a consistent format for dates and titles. Use bold headings and color consistently.
4. Make sure you have all work completed in your English Journal.
5. Read the English Journal Scoring Guide to see how it will be graded.

First Questions for your EJ.  Copy and paste (ctrl-c = copy and ctrl-v = paste) these questions into your new EJ and answer them completely. 

1. Did the characters in the stories turn our to be what you expected based on their archetype? (explain)
2. How does knowing about archetypes help you as a reader? (explain)
3. Why do you think authors use archetypes in their writing? (yes, explain)

One Crazy Day

Good morning,
   Today is crazy because third period needs to go to a grade level assembly and fourth period has our regular class. That means fourth period gets a bit ahead, making me a little crazy. (Yes, more than usual.)

  Fourth period, you are going to set up your English Journal (EJ) in your Google Docs account, share it with me and answer some questions based on the homework you had last night.


Make a new Google Doc

1. Go to Docs.google.com
2. Sign in using your g-mail user name and password.
3. Click the "Create new" button and then pick "document"
4. This will give you a new blank Google Doc
5. Put your FULL Name and period at the top.

You will need to name this document.  

1. Click in the box that says "untitled document"
2. Important: Name your doc this way  4xxEnglish Journal  But instead of the xx's put your initials! (the 4 stands for period 4)

Share your English Journal with us.

1. Click the "Share" button in the upper right corner.
2. In the box that says "Add people" type in my G-mail address. jrobertsplhs@gmail.com
3. Put a comma and add Ms. Smith also msmithplhs@gmail.com
4. Make sure it says "can edit" next to both of our names. This lets us add notes to you in your EJ and allows me to write in your grade.

Important:

1. Always put your new work ON TOP of the old work. Your most recent EJ entries will be at the top and work you did before will move lower.
2. Put the date on every entry.
3. Always keep your EJ neat. Use a consistent format for dates and titles. Use bold headings and color consistently.
4. Make sure you have all work completed in your English Journal.
5. Read the English Journal Scoring Guide to see how it will be graded.

First Questions for your EJ.  Copy and paste (ctrl-c = copy and ctrl-v = paste) these questions into your new EJ and answer them completely. 

1. Did the characters in the stories turn our to be what you expected based on their archetype? (explain)
2. How does knowing about archetypes help you as a reader? (explain)
3. Why do you think authors use archetypes in their writing? (yes, explain)

Let's look at archetypes

Good morning,
    Today we are going to learn about archetypes. You actually already know a lot about this, but you don't know you know it, so I'm going to show you.
    We are going to read a Native American story called Fox and Coyote and Whale. This story comes from the Pacific Northwest and was written down by Mourning Dove. (If the story has footprints on the right that cover the text try making your browser window smaller.)
    You have a graphic organizer you will use before, during and after our reading. You will use the back side of it for your homework. You will need your textbook at home OR internet access to do your homework. Coyote and Buffalo

Visitors Welcome

I want to say thank you and welcome to the large number of American and international visitors who have come to this blog this weekend.  I hope you found something useful or interesting. This is a blog I keep for my class, but it also provides me and other teachers with an archive of things I've done with my students. I would encourage you to use a blog for a similar purpose in your own classroom. After three years I have a great searchable archive of lesson plans for inspiration. I also find it often saves me time. Thanks for visiting.
Jen

Facebook Dialog

Remember the article we read on Tuesday? It was about the student who got expelled for making a threat on Facebook. Get that out.


You will work with one or two partners to write a dialog based on that article. Imagine a scene between that student and his parents, or that student and one of his friends. You create the situation.
Everyone in your group needs an exact copy of the whole dialog. It should be 10-20 sentences.


At the end of the period we are going to the library for textbook checkout.
This is the poem, Privacy, that you need for your homework.

Second Day

Good morning,
  If you are reading this then you must have done your homework. Good. Did you get it all done? Do you have a G-mail account? Did you complete the Student Data form? Have you read the course syllabus? If you have any of that to still take care of please do that first. (If you don't have a g-mail yet you might not be able to do that from school.)

  Now we have a problem. While some people are busy catching up on what they should have done for homework, you have some extra time with this laptop. (Implicit lesson made explicit: always do your homework. It is often your ticket to your laptop.)

But really, if you have really done EVERYTHING you needed to do then you get to play with some of the fun sites I'm going to show you.
Free Rice is a site where you answer questions and each correct answer earns a rice donation to the world food program. You can answer questions about vocabulary, math, languages etc.
Quizlet is a site where you can make (or find) flashcards for anything you need to learn. I'm sending you to a quizlet about poetry terms, but you can play around on the site for any subject you like.
Shmoop is a site that gives you background information about anything you might be studying. It's like a giant stack of cliff notes. Take a look at what it says about a certain book you read last year. (Notice the tabs for different parts.)
What Should I Read Next is a site that will help you pick your next book. Type in the title of the last book you read that you liked and the site will recommend a bunch of books you might also like.
 
We are going to the library to checkout textbooks on Thursday. Please make sure you have your ID and your schedule. Having your schedule with you really helps the librarians to make sure you have the correct books.

Welcome Back

Greetings new students,
    Welcome to the first day of school. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you. We have a lot to do this week to get us started. Below is a list of some of what we need to accomplish.

1. You need to write me a letter about yourself, read the syllabus and complete the student data form on the right.
2. You need to meet a lot of your classmates and get to know them.
3. You need to get a serious G-mail account based on your name. (Twitter is also helpful. Goodreads will be coming soon.)
4. I get to teach you about Google Docs. (You'll love it.)
5. We need to go to the library for textbook checkout. (Once you get your book for this class you can take it home. You'll need it there for some homework readings, but we will use the laptops in class.)
6. You will get your laptop assigned, learn to treat it with care, and use it for a quick project.

 Last Word Protocol

If we have time we will be Passing Notes

Click the word "comments" below to ask me questions. (Your question will be e-mailed to me before it appears on the blog.)

Blog Workshop (For teachers who already have a blog.)

One of the things people really like to add to their blogs is a traffic feed so you can see who has been visiting your blog and where they come from.  Mine is way down on the right sidebar (keep scrolling). If you look at it you'll see that my blog gets visitors from all over the world.

To add a traffic feed you'll need to add an HTML gadget to your blog. I'm going to walk you through it.
Live Traffic Feed

Getting ready for school...

If July was the month of travel then August is the month of training.  I spent four days last week in a training called QTEL, Quality Teaching of English Learners.  But, when I turned QTEL into a hashtag on twitter I learned that in the Arab world QTEL stands for something very different. (No I'm not telling. Google it.)
This week many of the PLHS English teachers have been gathering at my house to write benchmark assessments  for next year. Next week I go to several technology trainings and the week after that I am back at school for meetings. Before you know it I'll be meeting my new  students on the first day of school.

I also get to travel...

I've covered a lot of miles this summer. "The Big Trip" began in early July when my youngest son and I drove up to LA. We were in LA for about 20 minutes. The time it took to move our things from my car to my parents' RV. That was the beginning of a trip to Portland. We camped two nights on the way up, spent four nights at my Aunt's house in Portland and camped three nights on the way back down. The return trip included the Oregon coast, absolutely stunning, and we were there on the sunny day. When we got back to LA we spent one night there and then headed to my parents' place in Three Rivers. My husband, Kris, and my older son joined us there. The next day Kris and I left for the coast. (It was 105* in Three Rivers, can you blame us?) We spent one night in San Luis Obisbo, where we saw Inception, and then drove highway 1 up to San Francisco. We spent one night in San Francisco and then drove up to Bodega Bay. We spent two nights at a great hotel about 20 miles north of Bodega Bay right on the ocean. We even took a day trip as far north as Mendocino.
   Today we drove south past San Francisco to Carmel. Tomorrow we drive highway 1 again through Big Sur and then back to Three Rivers. There we will spend a record five nights in one place before we head south again. But we have one more stop to make before returning to San Diego. Yes, Anaheim, our Disneyland tickets will expire soon. Can we do it? Yes, we can!

I finaly get to read...

During the school year it takes me weeks to finish a book. Or the book is so good I finish it fast, but fall behind on a number of other things. A true sign of summer for me means getting time to read at least one or more books per week. I'm going to keep a list on the right of books I've read this summer.  So far it would say Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Island Beneath the Sea, all amazing so far. The best part is I have a lot more books I'm really looking forward to. Let me know what you're reading.

Highlights from the final...

Good evening,

  I've been reading your final essays all weekend. I'm so impressed. Either you have all really mastered the art of sucking up (and I should be taking lessons from you) or you learned a tremendous amount this year, much more than I even realized I was teaching you. You reminded me that the things I teach implicitly are often much more important than what I teach you explicitly. That means that what I teach you about yourselves and about life matters more than what I teach you about books.

I promised you I would put my favorite quotes on the blog, but when I typed them up it came to five pages so I'm giving it to you as a link. You said amazing things. Read through this list and be proud of yourselves yet again. Highlights from Period 3 Finals

The Final

Good morning,
   If you are reading this then you are done with your essay. Thank you.  I look forward to posting quotes from your essays.
   The second part of your final is on-line. Read the directions at the top of the form! FINAL PART II.

Thank you for a great year. I'm so glad we were able to learn so much together.

I forgot to show you this. The School Library Journal did an article about the Google block. It's mostly about our class! Read it.

Finals are coming... Friday!

Good morning,
  Yesterday you worked with your group to create study guides about the material we have covered second semester. I copied your work into a Google doc and published it so you can get to it easily again.
Second Semester Study Guide

Now is the time to go through that study guide and re-visit the readings and ideas we learned about this semester. You might even want to go back and look again at some of the things from your First Semester Study Guide.

Almost there...

Great job going on with the boards in the hallway everybody. Today is your last day for that. You ALL need more articles and information so keep printing. Don't forget to properly cite your sources. (Yes, blue group even you. And, no, I don't believe Zac Efron wrote one of your articles.)

Saw this yesterday via Twitter. It's about copyright law. You should read it.
If they were real, the kids on Glee would owe millions in copyright violation fines.
Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

Voice of San Diego article about the Google block. (Includes quote from me and info about the impact at PLHS.)
  

Go team....

Good morning Red, White and Blue,
  You'll be working in your teams today to complete your project. I'll check in with each team, but is general you need to be finding articles and getting them printed IF they are good! Only computers numbered 1-20+22+35 will print, so check your number before you try.
  Your goal today is to get things up on your board. You can take down, rearrange or change things later, but get something out there now.
   Team leaders make sure you have a second in command who can fill in for you if you are gone.

Over and out...

And Blogger does NOT work again...(on campus)

Shall I tell you how I really feel about the security change that Google made resulting in a complete block of all secure Google pages in the district?  #*%&!!! (But you probably knew that.)

So yesterday you learned about Snopes.com and now you won't be fooled by strange e-mail chain letters, general scams, Nigerians who need cash fast, and outrageous urban legends.

Today let's explore some other useful NON-GOOGLE web-sites.  Delicious.com is a bookmarking site. It allows you to save all the things you'd like to bookmark in one place and access them from any computer. You can also add key words, called tags, to the links you save to make them easier to find later. Make yourself a Delicious account and play with what you can do there. Visit several websites you like and add their links to your Delicious collection. Bonus points: Share some of your delicious links with me or a classmate. (Then teach me how you did it. I haven't tried that part yet.)

Visit TeenReads.com and find books you could read this summer. (No, really, this site is cool, just like graduating is cool.)

Check out the T-shirts I made on Zazzle. Then make yourself a Zazzle account and make your own stuff.

After you've done all that go to your English Journal and write an entry about what you found and learned today. Ha! That was a joke! Did you get it? Go to your English Journal? Ha ha ha. (I crack myself up.)

And Blogger works again...

Welcome back,
    Today I want you to make sure you have a post on your blog that explains a bit about who you are and why you are writing your blog. Take a look at the one Dolphin wrote a few days ago. He did a great job with this. DO NOT include personally identifying info!
    Also read Top 10 Tips For Beginning Bloggers. This is a different set of tips from the ones I sent you to last week. There are dozens of sites with tips for new bloggers. You should check out several.

Advice for new bloggers...

Good morning,
     Before you dive into working on your blog you MUST READ THIS. It is really good advice. Read it carefully! When you finish reading write a blog post about which of that advice you found most valuable, or you can write about your blog topic.
     I have 10 blogs shared with me. If you have not added me as an author please do that today. If you had trouble creating your blog yesterday we will try again today.
     If you have time check out A Student's Perspective on Leadership. A blog post written by a student in New Jersey.

The Blog Genre Study

Good morning,
    Today you and your partner get to start your blog. Make sure you pick an APPROPRIATE title, add me as an author (I'll show you how), and e-mail me a link to your blog so I can add you to our list.

Turning art into art...

Good morning,
    Gatsby projects are due today.  Please visit the Gatsby Project Self-Evaluation Form now.  Also you may wish to 'un-share' your paper with your writing group. I think most of you know how to do that, but ask me if you want help.
     Fun part (yes, for you). Visit Tagxedo.com. Select "Load..." paste in the entire text of YOUR Gatsby project. What you will get is a word cloud of YOUR words.  The words you used the most will be the largest. I did this with one of your papers. (No, I'm not telling you whose.)  Then if you want you can play with the font, colors, shape etc. You can even save the image you create and then insert it at the end of your Gatsby project.

And one fine morning---------

A retroactive blog post:

Today we finished reading The Great Gatsby. If you liked it please vote in the poll at the right. If you didn't like it that's okay, you don't need to vote. :)  (Poll ended and I removed it.)

We took the chapter 9 quiz. If you missed it please take it now!

Then we talked about your Gatsby Project Options. There are lots to choose from so start thinking about which one is right for you. Draft is due Thursday 5/13!

Gatsby believed in the green light...

Good afternoon!
    Ha! I almost never get to say that on this blog. But, due to testing, our class today is after lunch. If you are reading this then you must have done your homework. You get to take the quiz on-line.

Chapter 8 quiz!  Make sure your answers to the short answer questions aren't that short.

Things to notice in chapter 9:
Who is Henry C. Gatz?
What was Gatsby like as a very young man?
What happens with Nick and Jordan?
How does Nick feel about Tom in the end?

"You ought to go away." -Nick

Good morning,
   So Myrtle Wilson is dead. Daisy hit her while driving Gatsby's car. Tom thinks Gatsby did it. Gatsby thinks Daisy will still leave Tom. Daisy does not know that the woman she killed was Tom's mistress. And Nick is getting sick of all of them. Should make chapter 8 interesting.
   Some things to keep in mind as we read chapter 8. There are flashbacks and memories that go back and explain more about Daisy and Gatsby. Don't get confused about the time. Also pay attention to what people think about Myrtle and her actions. Watch Tom's actions. Why does he do what he does? What do you think about his actions?
  Ok, get yourself over to chapter 8.

"You never loved him." -Gatsby

Good morning,
   I do hope you read the 8 whole pages you had for homework. Did you notice which car Tom was driving and what happened when he stopped for gas? Did you notice where Myrtle was?
   The showdown is coming. Who are you betting on, Tom or Gatsby? Who will Daisy choose?

Things to notice as we read more of chapter 7:

1. What does Gatsby believe about Daisy's feelings toward Tom?
2. Why does Daisy need Gatsby? Why does she need Tom?
3. What happens on the way home from New York?

**Note: for some inexplicable reason this particular post gets a lot of visitors. I really can't figure out why. If you think you might know please leave me a comment. The curiosity is killing me.

"Who wants to go to town?" -Daisy

Good morning,
   Your homework was to finish the last bit of chapter 6 and write about the quote from page 116-117. Did you do that? Check the Homework Page if you didn't for more information.
   Time to take the Chapter 6 Quiz. This includes some short answers. Use your notes from your English Journal and you book if you need to. Note: Some of these questions are deeper thinking questions. Answer in complete sentences and show your thinking for full credit.
   Today we begin Chapter 7. I want you to notice a few things as we read.

1. What is Gatsby's reaction to Daisy's daughter?
2. What's going on with George and Myrtle Wilson?
3. Which car does Tom drive when they go into the city?

1. 
   

"I know your wife" -Gatsby

Good morning,
    Today we read almost all of the rest of chapter 6. Your homework is explained on the homework page (link on the right). Here are the slides we were writing from today. Don't forget to visit Our Awesome Class Forum (link above) and post a comment about Daisy's choice.

Chapter 5 and 6

Good morning,
   I hope you did your homework and read the end of chapter 5.
Take the Chapter 5 Quiz now.

Please notice that I added some links on the right. There is a link now to Homework which should help you keep that straight. There is a link to Gatsby Quizzes which has all of the quizzes we've done so far, except 5 which I will add next period. There is also a link now to the full text of the novel. Click that. Scroll down and click on chapter 6! Let's read.

Presenting Gatsby Characters

Good morning,
   Today you will present your work about the characters from The Great Gatsby. After you view each presentation please visit the form to grade what you saw.
Presentation Grades Form.

Thought you might enjoy this image of the New York City skyline from 1931. The large building in the left foreground is the Empire State Building, famous for being the tallest in the world when it was built.  Since September 11, 2001 it is again the tallest building in New York and the third tallest building in the United States.

Gatsby Characters

Good morning,
  To help you understand the characters in The Great gatsby better, today you will create a persentation (think power point) about One of the characters. A good teacher would let you choose your character, but we need to get all the characters in there so....

Slides

1. Title Characters name
2. Character's physical description
3. Character's personality
4. Something the character says (quote, include page number)
5. Something other people say about the character (quote, include page number)
6. An image of someone you think looks like your character

Finishing chapter 4

Good morning,
   Today we will finish reading chapter 4 and then take the chapter 4 quiz. (I'll give you a tinyURL for the quiz when we finish the reading, but I'll put a link to the quiz on the blog later for absent people.)

Chapter 4 
When you get to chapter 4 do a ctrl-F and search for the word "succulent". It will take you to the paragraph where we will resume.

Chapter Three Quiz

Good morning, Thank you for getting your homework done. You've done yourself a favor and now you get to take the chapter 3 quiz on line.

Chapter 3 Quiz
Read the Bulletin

When the people who chose not to do their homework catch up with their written quiz we will read the beginning of chapter 4.  Here are the chapter 4 questions:
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 Mr. Wolfshiem? What does Gatsby say he did?
5. What does Mr. Wolfshiem tell Nick about Gatsby?
6. What does Jordan tell Nick about Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom?

Link to Chapter 4

Note: I'm not planning to give you homework tonight. You will read the rest of chapter 4 in class on Wednesday. I say YOU because I will be at a meeting. Ms. Brandecker has agreed to cover your class for me so she will read it with you. She will tell you your homework for Wednesday night and the Chapter 4 quiz will be Thursday.

Gatsby Chapter 3- Let's Party!

Good morning,

Here is a cloud of words from chapter 3. Take a look at them and make a guess what might be happening in this chapter. Hint: The larger words appear most often in the text.



Questions for chapter 3. Copy them into your English Journal and answer them as you read.

1. Describe Gatsby's wealth. List some of the things that represent his wealth.
2. What kinds of people come to Gatsby's parties?
3. Why did Nick Carraway go to the party?
4. How does Nick meet Gatsby?
5. What are some of the stories about Gatsby?
6. Is Gatsby a "phony"
7. Describe Nick's relationship with Jordan?

Link to Chapter 3
Homework: Read the end of chapter 3, pages 54-64. Write 1/2 page about what you think Gatsby said to Jordan when they were alone. Chapter 3 quiz tomorrow.

Chapter Two Quiz: The Easy Way

Good morning,
   If you are reading this then you did your homework. Your diligence has earned you the right to take the chapter 2 quiz on line. Chapter 2 Quiz
   Once you have finished the quiz you will likely have some extra time. Here are some suggestions:

1. Is your homework and reading from chapter 1 complete?
2. Check your English Journal is it up to date?
3. Do you have revisions to make to your nature paper?
4. If those are all practically perfect in every way try reading the Wikipedia page about the novel for some interesting details.
5. I need images of polo players, a Georgian mansion and other pictures that relate to the novel. What can you find and send to me?

Chapter Two: Tom's got some woman in New York.

Good morning,
   By now you have turned in your homework and reviewed for the quiz. You have no more than 10 minutes to get it done. Chapter 1 Quiz

   Today we start Chapter 2. Either use the link our get your book ready. You also need your English Journal.
The questions for chapter 2 are:

1. What is the valley of ashes?
2. What are the "eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg"?
3. Who did Tom take Nick to meet?
4. Who are George and Myrtle Wilson?
5. What did Mrs. Wilson buy while she was out with Nick and Tom?
6. Where did they go? What was at 158th Street?
7. Who are Catherine and Mr. and Mrs. McKee?
8. What does Mr. McKee tell Nick about Gatsby?
9. What reason does Myrtle give for marrying George Wilson?
10. What did Tom do to Myrtle when she mentioned Daisy's name?

Homework: Read the end of chapter 2. (The more we read in class the less homework you have.) Then write a diary entry about the events of chapter 2 from another point of view. You can pretend you are any character but Nick. (Write on paper, or type and print.)


Link to Chapter 2

The Great Gatsby Chapter 1

The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920's in a part of New York known as Long Island and also Manhattan. The map above shows a detailed view of the area. The map is also in your book on page 206.

The text is accessible online. Please click this link to go to Chapter 1. I will also link to the whole book in the Important Links section on the right.

Open your English Journal now and copy and paste the questions below into it. We will answer them as we read chapter one.

1. How does the narrator describe Gatsby?
2. From where does the narrator come and why?
3. Describe the narrator's house.
4. Describe the Buchannans' house.
5. How does Nick know Tom and Daisy?
6. Describe Tom. What is our impression of him in chapter 1?

And for those of you working on your homework: 1. Good job checking the blog. 2. Here are the last four questions from chapter 1 for your quiz tomorrow.

7. What kind of person is Daisy?

8. What did Miss Baker tell Nick about Tom?

9. What did Daisy say about her daughter?

10. How is Gatsby introduced in the novel?

Pre-Gatsby Quiz and Book Check Out

Good morning,
   By now you should have your very own (checked out) copy of The Great Gatsby. You can keep that at home or bring it to class. The text is available on line, so you don't need your book, but some students prefer to read on paper.
   Before we start reading you need to assure me (and yourself) that you have sufficient background knowledge to tackle this book.
   Please take the Pre Gatsby Quiz.  This is an "open net" quiz, meaning that if you don't already know an answer I encourage you to go find out. There are a few tricks on the quiz so read the directions and the questions carefully.

Thinking Deeper

Welcome back. Before break we spent our class period answering some interesting questions. Those questions (and the pages with your answers) are posted in the back of the room. Please follow the directions below.

1. Choose one question that you have something to say about.
2. Open your English Journal.
3. Write a three paragraph answer to the question you chose. (200+ words)
4. Include examples, elaborate on your thinking.
5. If the question you are answering has more than one 'side' write about why the other 'side' is wrong.

After you finish the short essay above you need to find some information. I would like to you know more about F. Scott Fitzgerald before we being reading his most famous work. Please check the site below and make sure you can answer questions about him.

Fitzgerald. 
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the book we are about to read. Who was he? What was his life like? When and where did he writeThe Great Gatsby? take a look at his biography.http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html

For those of you who asked these are the questions you passed around in groups that are now posted on the back wall.

1. Which is more important, love or money? Explain why.

 2. Do you think you would continue to love someone if you found out that person had lied to you about their past?

3. Do rich people have a responsibility to the rest of society?

4. How much money would you need to be rich?

5. If your boyfriend or girlfriend cheats on you is it alright for you to cheat on them?

6. Have you ever wanted something that you could not have?  Explain.

7. How do rich people get rich?

 

 

A Rose For Emily

A Rose For Emily

Before we read more of the story today, open your English journal and make some notes about what you remember of the story from yesterday.

After we finish the story go back to your English Journal and write what you think now. What do you know and when did you know it? What clues were there? (That's called foreshadowing.)

Women of the 1920's -A Flappers's Appeal to Parents

Good morning, I have something very cool I want you to read today, but before we get to that I want you to talk. Specifically, I want you and a partner to discuss the questions below.


1. "Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new."  -Thoreau   What did Thoreau mean? What was he talking about? Is this only about clothing?

2. Look carefully at this picture of a woman. It was taken about 1900. Your discussion questions are below the woman.

What can you tell about her from her clothing and hairstyle? How old do you think she is? Would you say she follows the rules?  Flash forward 25 years; the woman has a daughter. What do you think her daughter would be like?

Reading: A Flapper's Appeal to Parents   Read on your own or take turns, but everyone needs to have their own answers in their English Journal.

1. What genre is this?

2. What is her point?

3. What advice does she give to parents?

4. What surprised you?

5. Can you make any personal connections to her point?

1919 World Series

Good morning everyone,

Last week we looked at a few pieces of literature from the Harlem Renaissance during the early part of the 20^th century. Today we are going to take a look at the 1919 World Series ‘fix’. I want you to keep in mind how this event is affected by the time period.

Look through the information on this website and answer the following questions in your English journal:

1. How did the White Sox get the nickname the Black Sox?

2. Who is Charles Comiskey? Describe two reasons why he was blamed for the Black Sox scandal?

3. What is the ‘reserve clause’ and how did it affect the Black Sox scandal?

4. Why was enthusiasm for baseball so high in America during 1919? How do you think this affected the Black Sox scandal?

5. Why would Comiskey post signs throughout the ballpark declaring, "No Betting Allowed In This Park?"

6. What part did Chick Gandil play in the ‘fix’?

7. What happened to the eight players, including ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series? What is one reason for this outcome?

***Make sure you use complete sentences and go into depth with your responses***