Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Final Project Of Mice and Men

milanareaschools.org/~growley/.../documents/Final%20Project.doc


Pickleweasel

Final Project

Of Mice and Men



Choose two of the following activities for your final project (no more worksheets, but options!).  All work must include good writing practices, must be typed and free of errors.



  1.  Write a newspaper article that would appear in the local newspaper the day after Lennie and Curley’s wife are killed.



  1. Write the conversation that George has with Slim over drinks after Lennie’s death.



  1. React to the novel by writing a poem.  Your speaker might be Lennie or George or another character – or you. 



  1. Rewrite a scene as it might have happened if another decision had been made or something else had happened.  For example:

a)    What if Candy had come in while Lennie was patting Curley’s wife’s head?

b)   What if Crooks hadn’t backed down when Curley’s wife turned nasty?

c)    What if the searchers had gotten to Lennie before George did?


  1. Add a short episode to the story in which you appear.  (You might be a worker at the ranch, someone George meets in town, a relative of one of the men etc.)  How would you participate in the story?


  1. Write a flashback scene to an earlier time that didn’t appear in the novel, but might have – such as Curley and his wife’s engagement or a scene from the days when Aunt Clara was taking care of George.


  1. Write a detailed description of a day on the ranch.  Write it as though you are one of workers, you can be a character already in the book or you can be yourself.  You may want to describe what it was like the day George and Lennie arrived or a typical day in the field with them.  You may also want to write about George and Lennie’s last day on the ranch.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Post Colonial

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott



 How is Marlow finding (grappling with) a dual identity in the wilderness?
EC: What do the rivets (or lack or rivets) represent?
"I was not surprised to see somebody sitting aft, on the deck, with his legs dangling over the mud. You see I rather chummed with the few mechanics there were in that station, whom the other pilgrims naturally despised -on account of their imperfect manners, I suppose. This was the foreman -a boiler-maker by trade -a good worker. He was a lank, bony, yellowfaced man, with big intense eyes. His aspect was worried, and his head was as bald as the palm of my hand; but his hair in falling seemed to have stuck to his chin, and had prospered in the new locality, for his beard hung down to his waist. He was a widower with six young children (he had left them in charge of a sister of his to come out there), and the passion of his life was pigeon-flying. He was an enthusiast and a connoisseur. He would rave about pigeons. After work hours he used sometimes to come over from his hut for a talk about his children and his pigeons; at work, when he had to crawl in the mud under the bottom of the steamboat, he would tie up that beard of his in a kind of white serviette he brought for the purpose. It had loops to go over his ears. In the evening he could be seen squatted on the bank rinsing that wrapper in the creek with great care, then spreading it solemnly on a bush to dry.

"I slapped him on the back and shouted, 'We shall have rivets!' He scrambled to his feet exclaiming, 'No! Rivets!' as though he couldn't believe his ears. Then in a low voice, 'You . . . eh?' I don't know why we behaved like lunatics. I put my finger to the side of my nose and nodded mysteriously. 'Good for you!' he cried, snapped his fingers above his head, lifting one foot. I tried a jig. We capered on the iron deck. A frightful clatter came out of that hulk, and the virgin forest on the other bank of the creek sent it back in a thundering roll upon the sleeping station. It must have made some of the pilgrims sit up in their hovels. A dark figure obscured the lighted doorway of the manager's hut, vanished, then, a second or so after, the doorway itself vanished, too. We stopped, and the silence driven away by the stamping of our feet flowed back again from the recesses of the land. The great wall of vegetation, an exuberant and entangled mass of trunks, branches, leaves, boughs, festoons, motionless in the moonlight, was like a rioting invasion of soundless life, a rolling wave of plants, piled up, crested, ready to topple over the creek, to sweep every little man of us out of his little existence. And it moved not. A deadened burst of mighty splashes and snorts reached us from afar, as though an ichthyosaurus had been taking a bath of glitter in the great river. 'After all,' said the boiler-maker in a reasonable tone, 'why shouldn't we get the rivets?' Why not, indeed! I did not know of any reason why we shouldn't. 'They'll come in three weeks,' I said, confidently.

"But they didn't. Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, a visitation. It came in sections during the next three weeks, each section headed by a donkey carrying a white man in new clothes and tan shoes, bowing from that elevation right and left to the impressed pilgrims. A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trod on the heels of the donkey; a lot of tents, campstools, tin boxes, white cases, brown bales would be shot down in the court-yard, and the air of mystery would deepen a little over the muddle of the station. Five such installments came, with their absurd air of disorderly flight with the loot of innumerable outfit shops and provision stores, that, one would think, they were lugging, after a raid, into the wilderness for equitable division. It was an inextricable mess of things decent in themselves but that human folly made look like the spoils of thieving.

"This devoted band called itself the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, and I believe they were sworn to secrecy. Their talk, however, was the talk of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe. Who paid the expenses of the noble enterprise I don't know; but the uncle of our manager was leader of that lot . . .

"I had given up worrying myself about the rivets. One's capacity for that kind of folly is more limited than you would suppose. I said Hang! -and let things slide. I had plenty of time for meditation, and now and then I would give some thought to Kurtz. I wasn't very interested in him. No. Still, I was curious to see whether this man, who had come out equipped with moral ideas of some sort, would climb to the top after all and how he would set about his work when there."

 
Vocabulary: Ethnocentrism
Exotic
Other
Othering
Dual Identity

Friday, March 23, 2012

Heart of Darkness Feminist Analysis

Read the following excerpt from Heart of Darkness very carefully. Consider the notes you took on feminism yesterday; what would this sort of critic look for? Why?

"Finally I descended the hill, obliquely, towards the trees I had seen.

"I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope, the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine. It wasn't a quarry or a sandpit, anyhow. It was just a hole. It might have been connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do. I don't know. Then I nearly fell into a very narrow ravine, almost no more than a scar in the hillside. I discovered that a lot of imported drainage-pipes for the settlement had been tumbled in there. There wasn't one that was not broken. It was a wanton smash-up. At last I got under the trees. My purpose was to stroll into the shade for a moment; but no sooner within than it seemed to me I had stepped into the gloomy circle of some Inferno. The rapids were near, and an uninterrupted, uniform, headlong, rushing noise filled the mournful stillness of the grove, where not a breath stirred, not a leaf moved, with a mysterious sound -as though the tearing pace of the launched earth had suddenly become audible.

"Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair. Another mine on the cliff went off, followed by a slight shudder of the soil under my feet. The work was going on. The work! And this was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die.

"They were dying slowly -it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now -nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest. These moribund shapes were free as air -and nearly as thin. I began to distinguish the gleam of the eyes under the trees. Then, glancing down, I saw a face near my hand. The black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant, a kind of blind, white flicker in the depths of the orbs, which died out slowly. The man seemed young -almost a boy -but you know with them it's hard to tell. I found nothing else to do but to offer him one of my good Swede's ship's biscuits I had in my pocket. The fingers closed slowly on it and held -there was no other movement and no other glance. He had tied a bit of white worsted round his neck -Why? Where did he get it? Was it a badge -an ornament -charm -a propitiatory act? Was there any idea at all connected with it? It looked startling round his black neck, this bit of white thread from beyond the seas.

"Near the same tree two more bundles of acute angles sat with their legs drawn up. One, with his chin propped on his knees, stared at nothing, in an intolerable and appalling manner: his brother phantom rested its forehead, as if overcome with a great weariness; and all about others were scattered in every pose of contorted collapse, as in some picture of a massacre or a pestilence. While I stood horrorstruck, one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink. He lapped out of his hand, then sat up in the sunlight, crossing his shins in front of him, and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone. "I didn't want any more loitering in the shade, and I made haste towards the station. When near the buildings I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of getup that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision. I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clean necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand. He was amazing, and had a penholder behind his ear.

"I shook hands with this miracle, and I learned he was the Company's chief accountant, and that all the bookkeeping was done at this station. He had come out for a moment, he said, 'to get a breath of fresh air.' The expression sounded wonderfully odd, with its suggestion of sedentary desk-life. I wouldn't have mentioned the fellow to you at all, only it was from his lips that I first heard the name of the man who is so indissolubly connected with the memories of that time. Moreover, I respected the fellow. Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser's dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone. His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character. He had been out nearly three years; and later, I could not help asking him how he managed to sport such linen. He had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, 'I've been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.' Thus this man had verily accomplished something. And he was devoted to his books, which were in apple-pie order
"Everything else in the station was in a muddle -heads, things, buildings. Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed; a stream of manufactured goods, rubbishy cottons, beads, and brass wire set into the depths of darkness, and in return came a precious trickle of ivory . . .


"One day he remarked, without lifting his head, 'In the interior you will no doubt meet Mr. Kurtz.' On my asking who Mr. Kurtz was, he said he was a first-class agent; and seeing my disappointment at this information, he added slowly, laying down his pen, 'He is a very remarkable person.' Further questions elicited from him that Mr. Kurtz was at present in charge of a trading-post, a very important one, in the true ivory-country, at 'the very bottom of there. Sends in as much ivory as all the others put together . . .' He began to write again. The sick man was too ill to groan. The flies buzzed in a great peace.


<><> <><>

MAN (masculine)
Accountant
ANIMAL (emasculated)
Natives
Strong
Weak/skinny/thin
Muscular
Dying
Simple (not complex, not dramatic)
Figures with no personalities, in mass
Leaders
BOYS (never mature)
NOT
·         Whiney
·         Artistic
·         Weak
·         Sensitive

Promiscuous
·         Lots of women
·         Studs/not attached
·         Persuasive socially
·         Accountant uses women to clean his clothing/keep him manly according to this definition
Too sick, hungry overworked
In control
Powerless

This is the chart we came up with in class to guide writing.

Book/movie comparison

Name: ______________________________
Frankenstein: Comparing the Book to the Movie
This sheet is to help you PLAN a comparison/contrast paper (2 pages).  Fill it out as you watch the movie.

Book Only
Similarities
Movie Only



























































Senior Research

Thank you, Karen Brandl, for this great idea!!!

Create a handout or visual presentation about an author using online and print sources. Don’t use Wikipedia or any source that seems to come from a blog—go to literary sources or universities.  Also, for every (and I do mean EVERY) fact you gather, you must cite a source.  That is, you have to tell me where you found your facts.  AND, you must use at least two different online sources in addition to the text you read and one other print source (maybe a different work by the same author?).  Copy links as footnotes while you work, but you will create a bibliography for this assignment too.  We will be in the library Wednesday and Thursday listening to a presentation about citing sources and plagiarism (DO the first, DON’T DO the second).

All of this information must fit onto two pages double spaced and into a presentation of 4 minutes or less.  My suggestion would be to worry about that after you’ve found your facts. 

This is the minimum expectation: (you know, a ‘C’)


  1. Name
  2. Place of birth
  3. Education
  4. Literary significance
  5. 3 little known facts  
  6. Three important quotes (worked into the text)
  7. Cause of death (if applicable)
  8. Place of burial (if applicable)
  9. Influenced by
  10. Influenced…




And do the following for a ‘B’:

Create a bibliography of at least four sources that you consulted for this project. 

You may want to use an automatic bibliography maker such as easybib.com or killerbib.com.  There’s also a pretty nifty tool for this in Microsoft Word.  MLA style, please.



Add two of the following after you have completed the work above: (‘A’ level)

ü  An example of an allusion to your author or to one of the works your read that you found in contemporary music, a movie, or literature.  Explain the allusion in a sentence or two (add to the other information above) and then cite the original source in your bibliography.

ü  Share a contemporary reference to your author or one of his or her works by playing a song, showing a video, or whatever for the class.  Explain the reference. 

ü  Theme statement of one of the works you read.  Make it good. Follow the directions you were given on the handout.  You may add this to the original assignment or make a poster.  You could also use glogster (online poster maker) or something like that. 

ü  Interview an older person (someone out of high school) about reading the author you chose and share what you learn with the class.









Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Any other author you’re interested in… just let me know who it is first.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Freshmen Art (Due Tomorrow)

Names:

Frankenstein ART PROJECT

Create an original mixed media poster showing Victor Frankenstein’s life progression.  You can work alone, or with ONE partner.  I will give you a piece of tag board for this purpose.

·         Make visual representations or each of the things he has lost since the completion of his monster.  Include both tangible and intangible things.

·         Include three valid quotes from the monster’s final speech at the end of the book.  At what points do the monster and Victor Frankenstein sound remarkably similar?

·         Make it visually appealing!  You will be graded on the amount of thought and work you put into this project.

I entered the cabin where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe; gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the coffin his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy. When he heard the sound of my approach he ceased to utter exclamations of grief and horror and sprung towards the window. Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay.

He paused, looking on me with wonder; and, again turning towards the lifeless form of his creator, he seemed to forget my presence, and every feature and gesture seemed instigated by the wildest rage of some uncontrollable passion.

"That is also my victim!" he exclaimed: "in his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close! Oh, Frankenstein! generous and self-devoted being! what does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovest. Alas! he is cold, he cannot answer me."

"You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But in the detail which he gave you of them he could not sum up the hours and months of misery which I endured, wasting in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were for ever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned. Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal when all human kind sinned against me? Why do you not hate Felix who drove his friend from his door with contumely? Why do you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the saviour of his child? Nay, these are virtuous and immaculate beings! I, the miserable and abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned, and kicked at, and trampled on. Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice.

"But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept, and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing. I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin. There he lies, white and cold in death. You hate me; but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself I look on the hands which executed the deed; think on the heart in which the imagination of it was conceived, and long for the moment when these hands will meet my eyes, when that imagination will haunt my thoughts no more.

"Fear not that I shall be the instrument of future mischief. My work is nearly complete. Neither yours nor any man's death is needed to consummate the series of my being, and accomplish that which must be done; but it requires my own. Do not think that I shall be slow to perform this sacrifice. I shall quit your vessel on the ice-raft which brought me thither, and shall seek the most northern extremity of the globe; I shall collect my funeral pile and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch who would create such another as I have been. I shall die. I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me, or be the prey of feelings unsatisfied, yet unquenched. He is dead who called me into being; and when I shall be no more the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish. I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness. Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation. Polluted by crimes, and tom by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?

"Farewell! I leave you, and in you the last of human kind whom these eyes will ever behold. Farewell, Frankenstein! If thou wert yet alive, and yet cherished a desire of revenge against me, it would be better satiated in my life than in my destruction. But it was not so; thou didst seek my extinction that I might not cause greater wretchedness; and if yet, in some mode unknown to me, thou hast not ceased to think and feel, thou wouldst not desire against me a vengeance greater than that which I feel. Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to thine; for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them for ever.

"But soon," he cried, with sad and solemn enthusiasm, "I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell."

He sprung from the cabin-window, as he said this, upon the ice-raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.


3/19 Back from Break!

1: Missing a lot of people from first hour.   Complete the 5-6 Study Guide.  Make sure you read!  If you answer the questions without reading, I can tell.

2: Started talking about Feminism today.
You had some interesting interpretations of this poem! 
  • It says she and he. I think it means that a woman can't really be a woman without a man behind her.  Like th man makes the woman, who she is and she's nothing without him.
  • Women surround males: the men in society may be unaware of this and women's influence.
  • It has three letters and two words, the only ones that make sense are "she" and "he."
  • It means love because it spells out she and he and the S connects both of them.
  • Females rule males because the "he is encompassed by the "she."  Therefore, women are rulers of men, apparently.
  • She.  Female.  Perhaps a representation of feminism...?
  • He is smaller than she.
  • She is thinking of him and he is thinking of her.
  • It means that inorder to have women you need men. She has the word he insdie, showing tha they're somewhat equal.
  • Tranvestites are on the run.  (I didn't understand this interpretation at first, but it totally makes sense).
I would like you to work on reading The Yellow Wallpaper and writing traditional statements... then rewriting them into feminist statements.  We will have tomorrow to do and talk about this.

3: What commentary about young men and violence is made by Skud?  Create a multimedia poster with a quadrant illustrating the problems and final outcome for each character (you can divide the tagboard however you'd like).
  • Shane
  • Andy
  • Tommy
  • Brad
  1. Be sure to include at least one quote from the book for each section. 
  2. Show character development!  How does each character change throughout the course of the novel (both in terms of their situation, and maturity/mental growth). 
  3. The poster should be visually appealing-- I want it to look like something you worked on, not something you slapped together at the last minute.  Include words AND images, drawing AND magazine cutouts, blocks of color, textures, etc.
  4. You need to be able to explain how you picked all of the images. I will require you to present it to the class.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Reader Response

                                        Context

Reader -------------------> Meaning <--------------------------Text


Talking about this in Junior, Senior, and Freshman English using different texts.  I have enjoyed reading your statements so far... am interested to see what people came up with for the second half of Chapter 20.

Seniors-- we'll be reading Reunion by John Cheever today.
Sophomores-- continuing with True Grit!

19/20

Name: ____________________
Frankenstein 19 and 20

Draw a picture of Frankenstein’s new laboratory (don’t forget who he’s creating, and who’s leering at him through the window.





















What causes Frankenstein destroy his newest creation?  Why is this so ominous?




What horrible thing does the monster promise before he leaves?


How does Frankenstein respond to this (quote)?


What should Frankenstein do

·         With the body he’s been creating?


·         About the monster?


·         About Elizabeth?

What do you think the monster does?

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Movie Review SFoC (CREW)

1.) Be critical without being offensive.  Describe WHY you don't like it instead of simply saying something was bad.
2.) Pinpoint specific strengths
3.) Talk about visual aspects (if IS a film afterall)
4.) Maaaybe talk about actors you are familiar with, the casting of characters, etc.
5.) Tell PLOT witout giving away the ending (NO spoilers).  Highlight key themes.

Note to Freshmen

Hey Squad,
In the second half of chapter 15, Frankenstien and Clerval begin their travels toeterh.  They admire nature and continue their romantic (way of thinking, not kissing and nice dinners) observations.
Frankenstein (the broken frozen dude on the boat) breaks down when he thinks about his friend... reminding us of his current, terrible situation.
"And where does he now exist?  Is this lovely and gentle being lost forever?  [His] soul overflowed with ardent affections, and his friendship was of that devotes and wondrous nature that the worldy minded teach us to look for only in imagination."
SEE?  Frank's vows would be out of control music.  Please rewrite/turn them in on Monday.

Sub Notes 3/2

Good morning!  Thank you for being here for me!


Hour One:

Of Mice and Men
We just started reading this  novel.  Yesterday students were given a dialogue worksheet asking them to translate quotations into third person narration.  Please have them turn this in (in the 1 slot in the wooden contraption next to the chalk board). 
Have students read chapter two and answer the questions for the study guide.  Many of them prefer to read aloud with the teacher for class, but I usually give them the option of working independently if they’re on task.

Hour Two:
Heart of Darkness
Students should be reading chapter one and look for spots to analyze using their specific type of criticism.  It is dense and difficult—please read the summary below as a preview so they will have an easier time understand the text.  They’ll want to talk but should be strongly encouraged not to.  Some people have expressed a desire to go to the library for a quieter setting.  This should be fine.
Josh Jacobs was absent yesterday.  Please give him the copy of the novel with his name on it and tell him to turn his homework in (he can put it in the 2 slot in the wooden contraption next to the chalkboard). 

The novel begins through Marlow’s being hired as a steamboat captain.
Summary Chapter One

At sundown, a pleasure ship called the Nellie lies anchored at the mouth of the Thames, waiting for the tide to go out. Five men relax on the deck of the ship: the Director of Companies, who is also the captain and host, the Lawyer, the Accountant, Marlow, and the unnamed Narrator. The five men, old friends held together by “the bond of the sea,” are restless yet meditative, as if waiting for something to happen. As darkness begins to fall, and the scene becomes “less brilliant but more profound,” the men recall the great men and ships that have set forth from the Thames on voyages of trade and exploration, frequently never to return. Suddenly Marlow remarks that this very spot was once “one of the dark places of the earth.” He notes that when the Romans first came to England, it was a great, savage wilderness to them. He imagines what it must have been like for a young Roman captain or soldier to come to a place so far from home and lacking in comforts.

This train of thought reminds Marlow of his sole experience as a “fresh-water sailor,” when as a young man he captained a steamship going up the Congo River. He recounts that he first got the idea when, after returning from a six-year voyage through Asia, he came across a map of Africa in a London shop window, which reinvigorated his childhood fantasies about the “blank spaces” on the map.

Marlow recounts how he obtained a job with the Belgian “Company” that trades on the Congo River (the Congo was then a Belgian territory) through the influence of an aunt who had friends in the Company’s administration. The Company was eager to send Marlow to Africa, because one of the Company’s steamer captains had recently been killed in a scuffle with the natives.

Hour Three:
SKUD
Yesterday students completed a worksheet about the function of dialogue within a text (there’s a copy of it here… it’s similar to what they did first hour). 
Ask them to pinpoint two short sections of dialogue in the book that they think are especially pertinent or meaningful.  Translate them into third person narration, and then write about what additional information the reader gains through reading the scene in a dialogue format.
When they are finished they should continue to read through page 84.
Jake is not allowed to say the book is “dumb” or “stupid.”  I am perfectly fine with him being critical but he needs to be specific and smart in his criticism.    

Hour Five:
True Grit (author research)
Please give students the article about Charles Portis and the sheet asking them to write his bio. They already have the first two articles.  Bios and article questions are due on Monday at the beginning of class.

Hour Seven:
Frankenstein Chapter 18 Part II
Please have students read what I wrote on the dry erase board.  I am asking Mikey to read the quote because I think he has a knack for drama.  Tell them that if their Frankenstein wedding vows that they wrote yesterday say things like “yup,” “I love you man,” and/or “err… there’s like something I need to tell you” they should rewrite them.  Frankenstein was one mushy, over-the-top romantic/emotional guy.  That’s what I am looking for.

Watch the Boris Karloff monster movie (Disc One) using the projector on the Smart Board from minute 2:03 (the beginning after the credits) to minute 43 when then monster escapes.
Ask the students to note any major differences that they see as they watch.  How is the monster different than he is portrayed in the book?

Hour Eight:
Snow Falling on Cedars Movie
We stopped at 1:22:44 yesterday.  I think the movie will take them through to the end of the hour.  I would like them to write a professional one page movie review over the weekend (guidelines are on the board). 

Frankenstien 18.5

Name:
Frankenstein Chapter 18 Part One

What does Frankenstein’s father propose at the beginning of the chapter?

Is this weird or troubling to you?  Why or why not?  List two reasons.
1.

2.

Assume Frankenstein’s plan goes off without a hitch; he leaves, makes a lady monster, He-Monster and She-monster run away to South America forever, and then he is set to marry Elizabeth.  Happily-ever-after… right?
Write Dr. Frankenstein and Elizabeth’s wedding vows (they have lots of meaningful things to say to each other).  Consider what plagues both of them, their past growing up together, and his secrets.  What crazy things might come out?

Frankenstein









Elizabeth
Frankenstein






Elizabeth




Frankenstein










Elizabeth

Frankenstein