The Bard is beyond me!

Don't get what we're reading in class? Try these helpful links.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/quotes.html


http://shakespearenet.net/jcaesar/jcbreak.htm


http://shakespearehigh.com/

Btw-the Bard is a nickname for Shakespeare.

Extra Credit!

We are entering the last six weeks of the semester. Here are a couple of extra credit options.
The Olive Garden writing contest offers real cash prizes and a trip to New York. Entering the contest is worth 10 points on a test. Follow the link for the official rules.

http://www.olivegarden.com/company/community/pasta_tales_rules.asp

The YouTube Shakespeare Movie is worth 10 points on your third six weeks average.

I want to be Steven Spielberg when I grow up.
Shakespeare YouTube Extra Credit Movie

Worth: 10 points on your six weeks average-an amazing amount!
Due: no later than Friday Jan. 8.
Turn it in early if you want, but I don’t care who’s in the hospital, do not bring it in after Jan. 8.
Basic Requirements:
• An original movie created by DHS students including yourself
• You must be a primary contributor to receive credit, more than one person may receive credit per project if they are equal contributors
• Between 5 and 12 minutes long
• Based on either Shakespeare play “Julius Caesar” or “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Must be suitable for school, Mr. Chrietzberg and your mom
• May be a single extended and pivotal (really important) scene , an act or a synopsis of the entire play (synopsis=cut to the chase version)
• Should be true to the story, but the dialogue may be updated
• Costumes, sets, and props are optional but encouraged. You may even update to a more modern setting for the story.
• Could potentially be claymation or original animation if you have the skills
• Editing can be rough but should be a continuous story for the time limit.
• Burned to a dvd, cd or vhs tape, optional-post to YouTube
• I have to know the names of all the people involved in the production.

What you need:
• A video camera (No, I don’t have one to lend you.)
• At least one other DHS student (realistically several) to act as crew, staff, actors, gofers (go get this, go fix that, hold this, bring me a latte’)
• A basic understanding of the play you are producing
• A plan and a time commitment

Suggestions to improve your success:
• Watch the movie adaptation on your own time
• Watch some YouTube student produced school assigned videos
• Read the SparkNotes version of the play you choose
• Take it seriously if you are going to attempt it
• Find helpers that are as reliable as possible
• Set out a timeline for completion

Research Project Due Nov. 20

1. Select a person, living or dead, who would be viewed by the general public as a legend. You must have your person approved by Mrs. Hensley no later than Monday Nov. 2.

2. You must be able to find facts about the person from at least 3 sources and record the MLA information correctly from each source. No Wikipedia.

3. You will need 2 visual aids including a portrait.

4. You will fill out at least 20 notecards with facts or direct quotes about the person along with the source of information in MLA format.

5. You will fill out an outline that includes the following key information:
• Reason for legendary status
• Birth place and date
• If/how early childhood influences later life by affecting choices or decisions that led to status as a legend
• Educational background
• Career information
• Key influences in the person’s life
• How this person has influenced society and which group if any is more influenced than others
• 2 Direct quotes by the person
• 2 Direct quotes about the person from a published source
• Death information if applicable

6. After completion of the outline, you will write a 500 word research style paper using your own words except when using direct quotes. Direct quotes and key information will be annotated. You may rearrange the information from the outline as you see fit when writing the final draft of the paper. Include a bibliography using correct MLA format.

7. Grades are given for steps along the way. The final paper is worth 2 Test Grades.

Deadlines:
Topic Selection Nov. 2 (may only change topics once with approval)
Library Research Nov. 6, November 10 & 12
Notecards Due November 16
Outline Due November 18
Finished Paper Due November 20

Prepping for 9 weeks test

Our 9 weeks test will be Tuesday Oct. 27 during class. The priorities for this will be non-fiction, determining the writer's purpose, phrases-which we will focus on next week, gathering meaning of vocabulary from text, and general short story terminology. I think we are good on everything and will have covered phrases before the test.

Non-fiction unit

We started our non-fiction unit with an interview with the Texas writer Cormac McCarthy. You will most likely know him as the author of the book on which the movie "No Country for Old Men" was based. You can link to the "New York Times" newspaper interview here:
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/19/books/mccarthy-venomous.html
Our next non-fiction work is from the book Lost Moon by astronauts Jim Lovell and Jeffry Kluger talking about the Apollo 13 mission.
We continue with an excerpt from The Diary of Anne Frank, a letter written from jail by Nelson Mandela and a study of the truth behind a Mexican folk song.
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/EE/xee2_print.html
http://www.annefrank.com/
http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php

"The Masque of the Red Death" project choices-due 9/25

-Write a one page report on Edgar Allen Poe/include the death of his wife/don’t just copy and paste-must be in your own words
-Write an essay on the symbolism in the story/must be in your own words/1 page
-Make a 3D representation of one of the rooms
-Draw a scene from the story
-Make a mask to represent an element of the story-examples-wealth; death; horror; time

Extra Credit Poem-Deadline extended to 9/25

Write a ballad and bring it to class or post it on the blog by Monday
Must be suitable for school and an original work by you
May borrow loosely from a traditional story such as “Star Wars”
Needs to be at least 20 lines long and tell a complete story with emphasis on a hero or heroine who overcomes a conflict
May be rhymed or unrhymed
May use any rhythmic pattern you choose, but should have a recognizable rhythm

Short Story links

"The Bridegroom"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081005181346AAKrYgu
"Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket"
http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/20302005/Deadman.htm
"The Monkey's Paw"
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/mnkyspaw.htm
"The Masque of the Red Death"
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/

New grandbaby

Where the Wild Things Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOEFnppm_A&feature=related

(YouTube reading of book)
After reading the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are," we are using the questions as guidelines to write a one and a half page essay. Tie the ideas together without actually writing the questions. You may alter the order. Due Friday.
Where the Wild Things Are
Use the following questions to help build a one and a half page essay. Do not write the actual question, but be sure to include the answer to each.
1. Describe Max.
2. Describe Max’s mother.
3. Why did Max’s mother punish him?
4. Was she right to do so? Why or why not?
5. Explain how the punishment suited the problem.
6. How did Max pass the time while in his room?
7. Where do you think he might have learned the trick for taming the wild things by staring into their eyes without blinking?
8. Why did they make him “king of the wild things”?
9. What do you think Max did during the “rumpus”?
10. What lesson did Max learn when he returned to a hot supper?
11. How do you think he will behave the next morning? Why?
12. What lesson do you think the author was trying to tell with the story?
13. Include a personal experience about when you were punished by being sent to your room. What did you do?
14. Include a personal experience where you used your imagination to help you through a challenging experience.

"I am..." poem

http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/iampoem.htm
is a link to the form for the poem. We learned that the first two words are adjectives that describe you. These same two descriptive words are repeated every time the poem says "I am..."
Mrs. Hensley's example

I am driven and artistic.
I wonder how to capture life's precious moments.
I hear the clock of time ticking.
I see the faces of my future grandchildren.
I want my photography to be appreciated.
I am driven and artistic.
I pretend I will travel the world.
I feel like I can catch sunlight.
I touch moonbeams.
I worry about incorrect exposures.
I cry when beauty overwhelms me.
I am driven and artistic.
I understand the nuances of light.
I say do the best you can with what you've got.
I dream about my life when school is over for good.
I try to show a person's inner truth.
I hope to create a lasting memory.
I am driven and artistic.

Both the poem and the cut and paste are due Monday.

Welcome to sophomore English

Day 1

We did a quick write telling about your history in English classes-what you like and don't especially like about English classes so far. Then we began work on a photographic presentation about you-your likes, dreams, goals. Both templates are posted in the English Class Work folder at http://www.duncanville.k12.tx.us/chensley/

See Mrs. Hensley's I am example above.