Stranger/No Exit Blogging Topics

Look for your group # and respond to that question for the date indicated.

For Friday 4/1
Often Existential themes in literature and film appear in the form of characters experiencing and "existential crisis" of some type.  These themes go way back, all the way back, to the earliest stories -- Gilgamesh when Enkidu dies; Achilles when he faces his own impending death; Hamlet when his father dies, his mother remarries, and he, himself, is denied the throne -- but they are even more prevalent in contemporary literature, and you'll quickly learn to see the influence in all kinds of pop culture, such as the darker versions of Batman, Daniel Craig's 007...anywhere, it would seem, where the protagonist is stripped of his or her most basic assumptions, faces the absurdity of existence, and asks "what's it all about?"

The following statements are from the packet.  First tell whether you agree with the statement or not, then thoroughly explain why.  (200-300 words--I'm giving you this word count because I know you did not have a lot of time to prepare for this and you have other homework tonight.  You are welcome to write more than this, but hopefully, this helps ease your mind a bit.)

Period 5
Group 1:  Whether or not God exists is irrelevant because of free will.
Group 2:  Day to day existence is filled with anxiety and fear.
Group 3:  Political philosophies, religious dogma, societal beliefs are irrelevant to me and do not define me.
Group 4:  The idea that I am born into a particular time, place, family, and economic environment is absurd.
Group 5:  Ultimately, I am alone in this world, alienated from everything that attempts to define me.

Period 7
Group 1:  When I am born, I am undefined without any prior essence or preconceived personality or soul.
Group 2:  In life, I must make choices regardless of what’s best for others. I can only choose what’s best for me.
Group 3:  Society cultivates deception and hypocrisy.
Group 4:  My most authentic moment in life is death.

____________________________________________________________
For Tuesday 4/5
Period 5
Group 1:  In what ways can Sisyphus be seen as a universal figure?
Group 2:  Camus uses the imperative, saying “We must imagine [Sisyphus] happy?” Why this word "must"? What implications does this suggest for human beings?
Group 3:  Why does Camus ultimately opt for defiance over self-sacrifice? How is this stance noble, even heroic?
Group 4:  How does man’s encounter with the absurd change his perspective?
Group 5: Why does Camus see philosophical suicide as undesirable, and can one possibly avoid it?

Period 7
Group 1:  Camus uses the imperative, saying “We must imagine [Sisyphus] happy?” Why this word "must"? What implications does this suggest for human beings?
Group 2:  Why does Camus ultimately opt for defiance over self-sacrifice? How is this stance noble, even heroic?
Group 3:  Why does Camus see philosophical suicide as undesirable, and can one possibly avoid it?
Group 4: In what ways can Sisyphus be seen as a universal figure?

____________________________________________________________
For Thursday 4/7

Period 5
Group 1:  Pick two characters, from Part 1, and discuss what are the various effects of isolation on these characters throughout this section?
Group 2:  Weather and its effect on the motivations of characters or foreshadowing plot events in Part 1.
Group 3:  What’s the difference between indifference and acceptance in Part 1 of the novel.
Group 4:  We see several relationships dominate Part I. Pick ONE such relationship (Salamano & his dog; Marie & Mersault; Raymond & Mersault, etc.) What ties these individuals together? Do you think this relationship is true or valid?
Group 5:  Absurdist philosophy—how does it play out in this portion of the novel? What other information from the "Founding Fathers of Existentialism" can you connect to the novel so far?

Period 7
Group 1:   Pick two characters, from Part 1, and discuss what are the various effects of isolation on these characters throughout this section?
Group 2:  Weather and its effect on the motivations of characters or foreshadowing plot events in Part 1.
Group 3:  What’s the difference between indifference and acceptance in Part 1 of the novel.
Group 4:  We see several relationships dominate Part I. Pick ONE such relationship (Salamano & his dog; Marie & Mersault; Raymond & Mersault, etc.) What ties these individuals together? Do you think this relationship is true or valid?

____________________________________________________________
For
Period 5
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Group 4:
Group 5:

Period 7
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Group 4:

Stranger Danger

You guys, I'm so sorry that I don't have the blog groups ready yet.  I'll have it ready by tomorrow (3/31) in the morning!  Be patient with me.
xoxo
Mrs. M

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Chronicle of a Death Foretold TASKS

1. Kitty Genovese Activity—In your journals, write three questions using the following parameters: WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THESE IN CLASS!

a)     CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION:  Write a question about the text that will help everyone in the class come to an agreement about events or characters in the articles.  This type of question usually has a “correct” answer.

b)    OPEN-ENDED QUESTION:  Write an insightful question about the articles that will require proof and group discussion and “construction of logic” to discover or explore the answer to the question.

c)     WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION:  Write a question connecting these news stories to your world.  (How does this affect the way you see the world, how you might react, how you look at other events you read and experience?)

2. Magical Realism:  Write a paragraph of what you understand magical realism to be.  What’s the definition?  Why is it used?  What’s its history?  Also, add any questions you still may have after reading the article.

3. Make a collection of cryptic quotes (quotes that have more than one possible interpretation.) Find at least 2 from each chapter, and provide your best interpretation with each one.  You can do this through post-in noting if you’d like, but be able to get to them quickly for discussion!

BLOGGING:

Because we want you to be ready to actively participate in each group’s chapter presentation, you’ll need to be finished re-reading the book by the day each group presents.  Thus, you’ll see on the calendar that there are some days you are required to blog on TWO chapters.  As a result, we moved the blog COMMENTING until the end.  Some days you will have two posts—but you will not ALSO have to comment those days.  The total count is this: five blog posts—one per chapter—and TWO replies (to be done after you’ve re-read the entire book)=SEVEN TOTAL ENTRIES (to be completed on time, of course).

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Blog Groups, Blogging, Journaling, and Calendar! 

For our discussion/reading of A Doll’s House, you will be reading the play in small groups.  As you read, you will be post-it-noting, discussing, and analyzing.  Doing well with that part will help with your blogging and journals immensely!  We will also be having small and large group discussions—as always! J

For Doll’s House blogging, you have specific instructions each night!  Please refer to your calendar.  You will blog WITH your reading group.  To keep your “finger on the pulse of the class,” you will reply ONLY to posts from OTHER groups in your same class period. This will allow you to pay attention to reading the comments from people who are NOT in your reading group.  Are they talking about the same things your group is talking about?  Find interesting things to bring up with YOUR group the next day.

Post-it noting: make sure you STOP at the end of every few pages and mark down things which you think are worth of post-it-noting!

The groups are as follows:

PERIOD 5

GROUP 1: Morgan, Cullen, Jack, Bella

GROUP 2: Al, Katja, Emily, Felix

GROUP 3: Maleane, Hajir, Elicia, Rishi

GROUP 4: Dante, Eirik, Brittany, Katie

GROUP 5:, Adam, Sarah G., Nam, Cyan

GROUP 6: Kaelin, Nick, Abhi, Esther

GROUP 7: Noah, Justin, Kaleelah, Gabrielle , Dan

GROUP 8: Isaac, Issabell, McKenna P., Ariel

GROUP 9: Sarah P., Zeyad, Jared, Avery

 PERIOD 7

GROUP 1: Karim, Andrea, Ana, Rebekah

GROUP 2: Jessica, Brady, Diana, Chris

GROUP 3: Kelly, Kylie, Delfina, Sophia, Jin

GROUP 4: Maya, Kaylee, Thomas, Molly

 GROUP 5: Alicia, Casey, Amber, Kris

GROUP 6: Holly, Nathan, Gabriela, Rachel

GROUP 7: Elise, Laurel, Elliot, McKenna Z.

Doll’s House Calendar—Ballard/Murai—IB English HL I—2016                                                                                           ODD DAY CALENDAR

2/1 Semester Two Expectations Receive Vocab List #7 Begin A Doll’s House: Ibsen Intro & Victorian Era Discussion “Dressing the Scene” Calendar/Blog Requirements HW: Finish “Dressing the Scene”	2/2 (ext ½)	2/3 Share “Dressing the scene” Finish PPT Victorian Period Begin reading groups HW: Blog on something you found interesting while reading/discussing today from ACT I AND comment on a post from another group (in your class period)	2/4 (ext 3/adv)	2/5 Continue Reading A Doll’s House in groups Act One Questions HW: Post on something interesting you discussed/ read in class today from Act I or II AND comment on a post from another group (in your class period).
2/8 (ext 4/5) 5th Extended:  Receive College Presentation information	2/9 Vocab Test 7 New Vocab List Whip Continue Reading in groups HW: Choose a specific QUOTE you found interesting from ACT II and post on that quote.  What made it so interesting?  Why is it important to the play?  Don’t neglect literary devices! AND comment on a post from another group (in your class period)	2/10 (ext 6/7) 7th Extended:  Receive College Presentation information	2/11 Continue A Doll’s House Should be reading ACT II – III by now in groups Beginning of Act Three discussion questions HW: Post on something interesting you talked about today in your group from Act III AND comment on a post from another group (in your class period)	2/12 (Advisory 90)
2/15 NO SCHOOL PRESIDENT’S DAY HOLIDAY! J	2/16 Cont. reading the play.  You should be close to being done! HW: Post on something you found interesting from the play AND comment on a post from another group (in your class period). ALSO work on the TWO paper journal responses. Prepare for fishbowl!	2/17 (ext ½)	2/18 FISHBOWL HW: Prepare for the test/reflective statement	2/19 (ext 3/cram the cage)
2/22 DOLL’S HOUSE TEST HW: prepare for supervised write	2/23 (ext 4/5) Extended 5th:  Counselor Visit?	2/24 Doll’s House Supervised Write REFLECTIVE STATEMENT DUE	2/25 (ext 6/7)	2/26
2/29 (ext ½) Start Chronicle of  Death Foretold	3/1  Counselor Visit?	3/2 (advisory 90)	3/3	3/4

CHOOSE TWO OF THE FOLLOWING AND RESPOND TO THEM IN YOUR PAPER JOURNAL.  EACH SHOULD BE ROUGHLY ONE PAGE HAND-WRITTEN:

1.       Many readers find Nora an admirable character for having the courage to make a radical change in her life. However, one question that must be considered in evaluating her character is this one: Was she right to abandon her children? 

2. Research the life of Ibsen, then discuss whether he would defend male preeminence in in the home or advocate equality between spouses. You might be surprised by what your research turns up. 

3. Why did Ibsen include Dr. Rank in the play? What purpose does he serve?

4. Does Torvald have any redeeming qualities?

Interactive Oral and Supervised Writing

Remember, the Interactive Oral is a discussion that will be graded on participation that the whole class will have at the end of the unit.  We will structure it in a way that allows everyone the opportunity to participate. After the Interactive Oral will be the “Supervised Write.”  This is an in-class writing that will be based upon the Interactive Oral and all the information and insights you glean from discussion. 

Later in the semester, you will be writing the “Written Assignment” based on at one of the works we read this semester.  The topic for this paper MUST come from the Supervised Writings you do.  If you are not in class for the Interactive Oral, you cannot use that particular work for the Written Assignment. I’m telling you this now so that you realize how important your attendance is (if you already didn’t know! J).  Plus, making up an “interactive oral” is very difficult, if not impossible.  So it’s not great for your grade, either!

Blog Groups for Taming of the Shrew

Sorry I took so long putting this on the blog!  Thank you to Rebekah and Laurel for helping me remember to do this!  I appreciate you all!  You are the best!

Period 5
Group 1:  Mckenna Z., Esther, Gabrielle, Avery, Abhi, Katie, Ariel and Jared
Group 2:  Ariel, Zeyad, McKenna P., Ellie, Cyan, Sarah, and Nam
Group 3:  Ethan, Kaleelah, Chris, Issabell, Sam, Elicia, and Issac
Group 4:  Justin, Sophia, Casey, Noah, Kaelin, Brittany, and Emily
Group 5:  Hajir, Eirik, Dante, Maleane, Brady, Katja, Al, and Morgan

ŸPeriod 7
Group 1:  Felix, Bella, Laurel, Elliot, Rebekah, Nick, and Rishi
Group 2:  Gabriela, Delfina, Rachel, Kris, Jack, Molly and Ana
Group 3:  Amber, Nathan, Holly, Kaylee, Jin, Stephan, and Thomas
Group 4:  Alica, Sarah, Maya, Adam, Kylie, Kelly and Kaiden
Group 5:  Diana, Jessica, Andrea, Dan, Karim, and Cullen

Taming of the Shrew

IB English Classroom Blog

Blog Instructions:

Make sure you are following the directions on the Blog handout that is attached to your syllabus and the directions below:

Blog entries for each reading assignment are due the NIGHT BEFORE you have class.  For example, your first blog post will need to be completed Sunday night 9/19 since we have class on Monday 9/20.  You will earn a COMPLETION grade for these--only posts completed ON TIME will be counted.  Remember, the blog will "date and time stamp" your entries so I will know if your post was, in fact, completed on time.

At the end of the unit, you will pick two of your posts to be turned in at the end of the semester to be evaluated for a CONTENT grade.  Only posts completed ON TIME (see above) are eligible to be submitted.

For each reading assignment you will be expected to find and respond to ONE PASSAGE from the novel/play.  You need to include the passage (cite it correctly) and then write a 250-300 word analysis of the quote.  Go beyond the surface.  Discuss the significance of the passage to the chapter or novel as a whole, OR go in-depth and do a close-reading of the passage to discuss the techniques Hesse uses AND the effect these have on YOU, the reader!  Remember to use your DIDLS and SCASI notes to guide your analysis!

Also, you will be required to RESPOND to 2 of your group members’ posts.  Your responses should be 100-150 words in length.  In order to do this thoughtfully and well, we’d like you to try using these sentence starters to help get you started.  Here they are. . .

·       My idea is similar to (piggybacks on, is like, complements, etc) your idea.  For example. . .

·       We both think that ____________.  However, I also think _____________ . Evidence from the text to support this is . . .

·       You make a very good point about ______________ . However, I’d like to argue that . . . .

·       Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is __________ .  I think this because . . .

·       Your analysis is really interesting. It made me think about (another section of the book, another text, a movie, an experience I had, a story I heard on the news, the background presentation about _______) because. . .

·       I had a different reaction to this passage.  I think . . .

·       The other literary device/element/technique that I saw in this passage was __________.  It affected mood and tone . . .

You will be part of a blogging group--so it's easier to manage reading all those posts!  Remember your number when you receive it--that is where you'll blog! :)

Rita Dove Unit--Blog Groups

Period 5 Blog Groups Rita Dove

Group 1—Morgan Acoba, Eirik Haughbro, Casey Kunzat, Issabell Metz,  Cyan Perry, and Katie Stoehr

Group 2—Al Atieh, Hajir Hosseini, Sophia Lamothe, Chris Miyasako,  Ellie Poulin, and Abhi Swaminathan

Group 3—Katja Berger, Emily Howard, Justin Lim, Kaleelah Muhammad, McKenna Poulos, and Avery Turner

Group 4—Brady Boling, Brittany Hua, Isaac Livingston, Ethan Nguyen, Zeyad Shureih, and Gabrielle Werst

Group 5—Maleane Chine, Kaelin Immel, Elicia Manuel, Nam Nguyen, Jared Soo, and Esther Wang

Group 6—Dante DeSimone,  Noah Kremer, Sam Maxon, Sarah Pellicer, Ariel Spinks, and McKenna Zandecki

Period 7 Blog Groups Rita Dove

Group 1—Cullen Allard, Kaiden Cui, Alicia Holt, Nathan Maisonville, Rachel Neal, and Elliot Schloss

Group 2—Karim Amer, Kelly Do, Thomas Iversen, Amber Mao, Delfina Pastor, and Laurel Shepard

Group 3—Dan Asisa, Kylie Fernandez, Stephan Kaidan, Ana Mehrabad, Gabriela Pinto, and Bella Spagnuolo

Group 4—Andrea Badillo, Adam Fisher, Jin Kiatvongcharoen, Molly Morey, Rishi Purohit, and Felix Tubiera

Group 5—Jessica Barney, Maya Gonzalez-Hull, Kaylee Kitayama, Jack Morris,  and Nick Rex

Group 6—Diana Carey, Sarah Greenberg, Holly Laplante, Kris Murray, and Rebekah Rygh