Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Words We Love {English 12}

The following words will appear on your vocabulary final. The words with with an asterisk (*) are from week eight or nine---we did not test on these weeks I know, but you do have the definitions so study them as well.

accolade        affable     affinity      brusque     apocryphal      assuage *      brevity      brusque      appall

cacophony*   coalesce  clemency  blasphemy*  commiserate   diatribe*    duplicity   edifice*   equivocal  

garbled     gravity*     heretic*    incite*     infraction*   irascible   kindle    ludicrous  peruse*  recapitulate

recluse*   renounce   rescind  scrutinize   untenable   vilify    censure*   clamor   cognizant   contract  

desultory  enmity*  erroneous  expedient  garner hindrance  irresolute   languish*   lavish  loquacious

negligent  obtuse    opaque   paucity  profane*  somber*   stagnant  uniform  copious  dearth

dispassionate   effervescent      exuberance   frivolous  hackneyed     insolvent    meander

morose    opulence     parsimonious    peripheral  prodigal   proximity   sagacious    surreptitious

 torpor   unassailable   unobtrusive   unscathed  voluminous    decade   eloquent   exemplary

fledgling   heist incessant  incidental  substantiate  supplant  vacillate   voracious writhe

indefatigable    jargon   lampoon   levity   misanthrope  nonchalance   progeny   querulous    reproach

respite    stoic

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Article of the Week #2: Literary Artifacts: the quixotic serach for Cervantes's bones


Miguel Cervantes

It turns out that even in death if you are {or in this case were} a celebrity many people won't leave your bones alone--literally, figuratively or  metaphorically. This is the case with Miguel Cervantes--you should know this name even if you haven't read one of the greatest stories ever. Mr. Cervantes wrote Don Quixote the first modern novel...like 400 years ago. That's right I said 400.




Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

You may wonder how modern society is still influenced by Don Quixote, but would you be surprised to find out that the main characters of the novel appear in It's a Small World at our very own Disneyland? Go ahead Google it if you don't trust my picture.   I'll wait. 


So, AOTW #2 is about how far one person will go to uncover the bones {literally} of one of the greatest authors in order to unearth hypothetical theories about how the man may or may not have lived and died.
Please enjoy the following blog article: Literary Artifacts: the quixotic search for Cervantes's bones.

Directions: Read the blog article and write a one page reflection about why people {in your opinion} feel the need to unearth details about people of importance. Also, include how you feel about how this type of behavior contributes or destroys modern society. Lastly, would you opt to leave Cervantes's bones alone or would you continue to search them?

Please post your papers to Turnitin.com under the assignment title "Article of the Week #2".

Periods one and three due: Wednesday, January 25th by 8 a.m
Periods: two, four and six due: Thursday, January 26th, by 8 a.m.

Please, be prepared to discuss the article in class on the day your papers are due. You will NOT turn in a hard copy of your reflection. Your grade will be posted on TII.com by Friday, January 27th.
Happy Reading

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Article of the Week: Five Myths About Healthy Eating {English 11 & 12}

Image Detail

In order to increase understanding of the textbook/novel readings in our class we need to continuously build background knowledge. We will do this by reading current event articles. The first article is entitled  "Five Myths About Eating Healthy"; from the Washington Post. Be prepared to share your response to this article on Tuesday, January 17th.



Directions:
1.  Show evidence of a close reading. Print out and mark up the text with questions and/or comments.
2. Mark your confusion. {what was unclear or not easily explained in the article}
3. Write a one-page reflection on your own sheet of paper.

When writing your one-page reflection consider the following:
 What prevents you from eating a healthier diet? Do you agree with all points made by this writer? Are there points in which you Evaluate the healthiness of the school’s food. What do you eat? What should you eat?
disagree? What is left unsaid?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Goodbye Mr. Chaucer--Hello Renaissance Period {Eng. 12}

Saying goodbye is sometimes hard to do especially when  you love the middle ages and those that lived during that time period. I know as teenagers you'll never admit that Mr. Chaucer {original TMZ reporter} was one of your favorites, but we must say goodbye. I know you'll be sad, but work through your pain just pretend you're tearing off a band-aid quickly so the pain isn't too bad.

What? You weren't sad to see the middle ages go? Hmmm. I'm flummoxed, perplexed even.

Together we will travel through the Renaissance period looking at different significant literary works reading, discussing and writing responses in and out of class.  I started the Renaissance period off by sharing a Renaissance power point, but we stopped at the summary of the Renaissance. Also, you will be responsible for taking notes at the beginning of chapter two {pp 192-211}. There will be a quiz on Friday, January 6th on the introduction of chapter two.