Week 16

Choose one symbol that you have read about in PS3 (an object, a character, a place, a gesture, etc.) and write a sentence or two about what you think it stands for. 

Sample from Sartre's No Exit:

Sartre uses the bell that does not always work to illustrate the existentialist concept
that we are “condemned to be free.” The unreliable bell stands for the idea that seeking
help outside of ourselves is both unpredictable and ineffective, suggesting that we must
seek within when we need help.

Week 15

Please take out your copy of PS3/long-form fiction. Look over what you have read so far and mark at least two passages that you could journal about.

Week 14

Character comparisons: Please choose a major character from PS1, PS2, and PS3. Make a short list of how these characters are similar and how they are different. Think about names, backgrounds, traits, conflicts, "fates" (i.e., how they wind up at the end), etc.

Week 13

The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence. The writer is the man or woman who automatically takes a stance against his or her government. There are so many temptations for American writers to become part of the system and part of the structure that now, more than ever, we have to resist. American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous. Writers in repressive societies are considered dangerous. That's why so many of them are in jail.

--Don DeLillo, from the 1988 interview with Ann Arensberg

How have your novels spoken to you? Do they...

-expose society's flaws
-critique humanity's weaknesses
-explore and uncover mysteries of the human heart
-challenge preconceived notions or assumptions
-bring out the extraordinary from the ordinary
-suggest what's worth fighting for, etc.

Use one of the above phrases as a sentence starter and write about your author/topic.

For example: The books I read challenge assumptions about...

Week 12

Please look over your thesis journal. What tags show up most frequently? Find at least three (try to include both literary devices and big ideas). In the front cover of your PS3 book (or on a post-it note that you can place there), write down these labels and assign each one a symbol (e.g., if I had nature imagery for a label, then I might use a drawing of a tree or just the letters "NI" when marking such imagery). Look for these devices/ideas while you read PS3!

Week 11

For regular thesis students: Let me know if you're having trouble locating secondary sources. 

If you do not have a copy of PS3, then check in with me.

For capstone pilot students: Let me know if you're having trouble locating additional sources.

If you do not have a copy of your long-form fiction or non-fiction, then check in with me.

Week 10

"The study of literature is the study of language."

Some common literary devices (i.e., methods) to look for in quotations you've chosen from your primary sources: http://literary-devices.com/frontpage?page=6.

A quick link to the Gale databases available through the BHS library: http://www.galepages.com/mlin_m_belmonths.

We begin a new quarter today! Let's reflect on what went well and what we can improve upon from first quarter.

-reading and annotating
-journaling
-researching secondary sources
-thinking critically 
-making connections

Week 9

End of the quarter catch-up time!

Week 8

Do Now: Open your college essay draft or one of your thesis journals. Using the handout, change the beginnings of at least two sentences.

1) Varying Sentence Beginnings
2) College Essay Questions
3) Independent Work

Week 7

Anthony Burgess begins A Clockwork Orange with this hook

Do Now: Read over the sample hooks and think about how or why they might be considered effective.

1)Thesis questions?
2)College essay meetings
3)Independent work time

Week 6

Do Now: Are you keeping pace with your English assignments? Make a list of anything that you haven't yet finished.

1) College Essay Resources
2) Working on Secondary Sources or Reading PS2

Week 5

Do Now: Please tell me how I can help you make the best use of your time in 12T.

1. Try out at least two practice SAT questions.
2. Test-taking strategies
3. Independent Work

HW: Keep bringing your English materials and work to class!

Week 4

Here is a link to the prompts: 2018-2019 Common App Essay Prompts

Getting started...your story or the prompt? Consider the "backwards brainstorm."

Week 4

Do Now: Please complete the short survey.

1.Your Priorities
2.Thinking Ahead
3.Independent work time

HW: Find your upcoming due dates on reading journals and annotated books.

Need a break from reading and/or journaling? Try some practice SAT questions here: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sample-questions/writing/1

Week 3

Do Now: Please take out your reading calendar. How are you doing so far with developing a daily reading habit?

Agenda:
1. "On the Rainy River" practice
2. Observe / Connect / Conclude
3. September assignments
4. Independent work time

HW: Continue bringing your PS1 book and any other senior English work to class.

Week 2

Do Now: Annotating (i.e., actively reading and marking up a text) can be done in many different ways. How do you annotate something you have to read for English class?

1. Annotations
2. Modelling/Practice with "Waiting"
3. Independent work time and meetings

HW: Keep reading and bringing your materials to class.

Week 2

“A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”

1) Short survey

2) Making a plan for September (reading and journaling about PS1)

3) Work time and Conferencing 

HW: Bookmark our class page (reynolds12T.blogspot.com) and bring your PS1 book (i.e., your first thesis book).