A Great Blog

2011-09-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 14

We turned from William Bradford's account of peacemaking with the Native Americans to Mary Rowlandson's narrative of her as a prisoner of the Indians during King Philip's War. As background and transition we traced the history of Squanto, the plague which devastated the native population before and after the colonists arrived -- and the Puritans' gratitude to God for this "miraculous" development -- and Metacomet's (King Philip's) account of why he went to war.

HW due Thursday:
Finish the biography of Rowlandson on p. 38 of the textbook and the selections from her Narrative on pages 40-45. Students will be expected to provide details from the text to demonstrate that they have read the assigned pages.

2011-09-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 13

We read the section on Indian Relations from Chapter 11 of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, then addressed the questions assigned as homework: were the terms of the Puritans' treaty with the Wampanoag equally favorable to both sides? what does Bradford seem to think about the native population in general?

As part of the process we looked at certain students' papers (mostly from other classes) under the document camera and examined both their views and how well those views were expressed and supported.

HW due Thursday:
Read pp. 38-45 in the textbook (including a biography of Mary Rowlandson and selections from her Narrative of the Captivity).

2011-09-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 12

Dr. P announced that he had located enough books for a class set and that students should therefore leave their textbooks (Elements of Literature, 5th Course) at home wherever they do their homework. We will use the classroom set in class.

We turned to the Puritans, starting with the cover of our textbook, based on the famous quotation from John Winthrop, "We shall be as a city on a hill." We discussed (reviewed) briefly who the Puritans were and why they came to the new world, and then began the selections in EOL from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, stressing how the Puritans saw God's Providence everywhere at work in the world.

HW due Tuesday:
Read pp. 126-133 in the textbook, then type a response to question #3 on p. 135.

2011-09-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 9

Students turned in their Timelines of American History.

We returned to the ambivalence with which European-Americans have historically regarded Native Americans, using as illustrations the Pioneer Square totem pole, artifacts of the Makah Tribe, and the photographs of Edward S. and Asahel Curtis.

2011-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 8

We picked up on the theme of racial profiling in "The Lone Ranger and Tonto . . ." by listening to a short segment from a National Public Radio segment (from this morning) about counter-terrorist surveilance at the Mall of America in Minnesota, where statistics indicate that non-white minorities are subjected to questioning regarding "suspicious activities" ouut of all proportion to their numbers.

The perspective of those who "do not fit the profile of the country" (to quote Alexie's narrator) -- and specifically of Native Americans -- was localized through the history of the Pioneer Square totem pole pictured on the back wall of the classroom.

HW due Friday:
Timeline of American Literature. See yesterday's entry and Documents page.

2011-09-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 7

Students checked out copies of the textbook for the year (Elements of Literature, 5th Course), an anthology of American literature.

Students also received a copy of a 400-year timeline to which they are to add the names and dates of forty American authors, along with the name of one work by each.

We continued our discussion of "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," and in some sections critiqued a further example of student writing about the story.

HW due Friday:
Complete the timeline (see Documents page).

2011-09-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 6

(1) We put student papers under the document camera and critiqued them, commenting on matters small and large, from MLA format to clarity of expression; then
(2) we used the papers to initiate a discussion of the story's meaning and techniques.

Students turned in their papers.

2011-09-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 2
We watched parts of an old episode of The Lone Ranger to clue students in on who the heck the Lone Ranger and Tonto are (were?) and what a violation of everything sacred it is to suggest that the two would ever fight, in heaven or elsewhere.

We returned to yesterday's Native American stories, read "The First Ship" aloud, and discussed why students felt it was outside the mould for stereotypical Indian tales. That it is historical rather than mythological was an important reason given in each class. Dr. P suggested that our preference for the mythological in Native culture reflects our inclination to relegate Indians to a distant, pre-industrial past for which we feel great nostalgia. The assigned story by Sherman Alexie will testify that Native Americans are still very much a part of our modern world.

HW due Tuesday:
Read "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" closely, sensitively, and repeatedly and TYPE a solid paragraph or two of your best writing explaining why the story is named what it is. I am not looking for a single right answer. I want your ideas, well explained and supported with details from the text.

2011-09-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 1

We compared the four Native American stories students read last evening, discussing which stories conformed most closely to our preconceptions of what such stories are like ("How Mosquitos Came to Be," "Raven,"); which conformed the least ("Iktome," "The First Ship"); and why. Students received copies of Sherman Alexie's short story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven."

HW due Tuesday, Sept. 6:
Read the Alexie story closely, sensitively, and repeatedly and TYPE a solid paragraph or two of your best writing explaining why the story is named what it is. I am not looking for a single right answer. I want your ideas, well explained and supported with details from the text.

2011-08-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 31

Students took a 15-question "open book" quiz over the course syllabus, and we graded it in class, using that means to review the procedures and expectations for the class.

Students turned in signed forms from parents & guardians.

Dr. P handed out copies of a slim packet containing several Native American stories.

HW due Thursday:
Read the packet of stories and prepare to answer questions over it.
Signed forms from parents/guardians are due Friday at the latest.

2011-08-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 30

Students received copies of the syllabus and a letter addressed to parents & guardians. Students need to read both documents and show them both to their folks. The letter (or the bottom section) needs to be signed & returned by the end of the week. The syllabus will be the subject of a quiz on Wednesday.

We previewed the concerns and content of the course, including issues of Eurocentrism and ethnic diversity/conflict which many of the course readings reflect. We looked at the class website.

HW due Wednesday:
Read the syllabus carefully; quiz to begin the class. Signed forms from parents/guardians need to be returned by Friday.

2011-08-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

2011-12

2011-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 17

Final examination, periods 3 & 4.

2011-06-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 16

Final Examination, Periods 1 and 2

2011-06-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 14

Students were reminded to post their Outside Reading assignments to turnitin.com. Any assignments not submitted to turnitin by 11:59 pm today will not be accepted.

Class ID codes:
Per. 1: 3622528
Per. 2: 3622529
Per. 3: 3622531
Per. 4: 3622532
password: room301

We reviewed what will be on the final exam and reviewed passages from Gatsby with an eye to how they might be handled on the exam.

Final examination

Pers. 1 & 2: Thursday

Pers. 3 & 4: Friday
Bring motif booklets and The Great Gatsby.

2011-06-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 13

Students were reminded to post their Outside Reading assignments to turnitin.com. Any assignments not submitted to turnitin by 11:59 pm Tuesday will not be accepted.

Also, remember to return all textbooks, outside reading books, and any other books checked out to you.

Students took a five-question quiz for extra credit over Chapters VIII and IX, after which we discussed Nick's final encounter with Tom Buchanan, examining the intersection of several strains of imagery (jewelry, careless driving, dust) and the resonance they give to Nick's final judgment on the Buchanans and their "rotten crowd."

HW due tomorrow:
Review -- at the least -- the final page of the novel and consider what it may have to say about "The American Dream."

Thursday/Friday
Final examination. Bring motif booklets and The Great Gatsby.

2011-06-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 10

Students took a twenty question/twenty point quiz over vocabulary in the second half of The Great Gatsby.

Afterwards,we returned briefly to the novel (Chapters VII and VIII) and to our motif booklets.

2011-06-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 9
We read aloud from, and listened to a recording of, the second half of Chapter VII of The Great Gatsby.

HW due Friday:
Fourth and final vocabulary assignment.
Second and final vocabulary quiz.

HW due Monday:
Ninth and final chapter of Gatsby.

Final examination:
Periods 1 & 2 on Thursday, June 16
Periods 3 & 4 on Friday, June 17

2011-06-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 8

Students supplied concrete details from The Great Gatsby, Chapter VII, after which we read from that chapter, focusing on the thematic significance of the summer heat and connecting it with other passages in the book (and in our booklets).

HW due Thursday:
Chapter VIII.

HW due Friday:
Fourth and final vocabulary assignment.
Second and final vocabulary quiz.

HW due Monday:
Ninth and final chapter.

2011-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 7
We began by examining the Platonic ladder of love at the end of Chapter VI of Gatsby (with the aid of Obsession by Calvin Klein) and moved on to (back to) Gatsby's birth in his Platonic conception of himself at the beginning of the chapter. We considered the problematic relationship in the novel between the material and the real, between the dream and the dream's embodiment.

HW due Wednesday: Chapter VII

HW due Thursday: Chapter VIII

HW due Friday: Final (4th) Gatsby vocabulary assignment and final (2nd) vocab quiz.

Students must submit outside reading papers to turnitin.com
Class ID codes:
Per. 1: 3622528
Per. 2: 3622529
Per. 3: 3622531
Per. 4: 3622532
password: room301

2011-06-06T14:44:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 6

Students submitted their third Gatsby vocabulary assignments and their outside reading papers.

We watched half an hour of a documentary about the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, then discussed connections between Fitzgerald's own story and the story of Nick, Daisy, Tom and Gatsby. Can we see aspects of Fitzgerald in both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway?

In two sections we read the first page or two of Chapter VI.

HW due Tuesday:
Chapter VI

HW due Wednesday:
Chapter VII

HW due Thursday:
Chapter VIII

HW due Friday:
Final (4th) Gatsby vocabulary assignment and final (2nd) vocab quiz.

Students must submit outside reading papers to turnitin.com

Class ID codes:

Per. 1: 3622528

Per. 2: 3622529

Per. 3: 3622531

Per. 4: 3622532

password: room301

2011-06-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 3

Last Blast -- no class.

HW due Monday:
Third Gatsby vocabulary assignment and
Outside Reading assignment

HW due Tuesday:
Read at least through Chapter VI of The Great Gatsby

2011-06-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Thursday, June 2

Students supplied CD's from Chapter V of The Great Gatsby, and we resumed reading the book, first finishing Chapter IV, then moving on to V, commenting as we read and adding images to the motif booklet.

HW due Monday:

Third Gatsby vocabulary assignment

Outside Reading assignment

2011-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 1

After students recorded concrete details froom Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby we resumed our reading of it.

HW due Thursday:
Read through Chapter 5 of Gatsby.

2011-05-31T14:31:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, May 31

Students took the first Gatsby vocabulary quiz (over Chapters 1-4).

Students received a calendar with all deadlines for the remainder of the term.

We then resumed reading and listening to The Great Gatsby, finishing Chapter 3 and beginning Chapter 4, with its satirical catalog of those who attended Gatsby's parties from East Egg. West Egg, and New York City.

HW due Wednesday:
Read Chapter 4 of Gatsby (at the least).

HW due Thursday:
Rean Chapter 5.