Pygmalion Review

Here are the topics and categories that we addressed in class when reviewing Pygmalion.

Click Here for the PDF of the in-class outline

Click here for the Link to the site about currency

This is the outline as completed during sixth and seventh bell on Wednesday. The essay test is Thursday, and the objective test is Friday.

Story Blog #5

Story Blog #5

This is your final story blog for 2012. It's been fun.

I have one additional requirement for this blog: It needs to take place five years into the future... You should be the main character.

It's been a pleasure to read your blogs this year :)

Story Blog #4

Story Blog #4

This is the fourth story blog. You should be sure to do the same things that you've done on all the others. This time, please be careful to include a conflict that needs resolved in the course of the story (plot).

I'm looking for these:

• PLOT
• SETTING
• CHARACTER
• THEME

Otherwise, be creative and have some fun! This blog is due on Wednesday, May 9th.

Story Blog #3

Story Blog #3

This is the third story blog.

You should write your third story about the picture which appears to the left.
There is one action cube in this story's requirements. It is labeled.
Please remember to make bold the portions of your story which fulfill the cubes' requirements.
Have fun and enjoy!

Burns and Blake

The Rabbie Burns Biography... Done animation style...

This video is a pretty good capsulation of his life. ^ This guy is one of the pre-romantic poets, along with William Blake.

^ This guy was pretty formative, too.

Story Blog #2

This story is to be known as story number two. The writing assignment is due on Wednesday, April 18th, and should, again, include PLOT, CHARACTERS, SETTING, and  a THEME. The Bonus comes with if you can make it relate to a theme or topic of the Romantic Poets (Poetry is not required, though).

By the way, the three blocks on the right are "Actions" that must be part of your story in some way. The six on the left are still "Things" which need to be in your tale.

Good Luck!

Story Blog #1

Story Cubes are Fun!

This is the first blog assignment for the fourth quarter of 2011-12. The nine cubes that you see at the right are the nine elements that you need to use in a story of your own design. Your story should include PLOT, SETTING, CHARACTERS, and a THEME. It should also be better than my third grade daughters can produce, seeing as you have read considerably more stories than they have (I hope).

These stories are due no later than Wednesday, April 11th, 2012. They should only appear on your blog, and nowhere else should they arrive in my classroom.

Each element (each cube) should be pointed out in your blog post via boldface type.

Good Luck, and have fun!

Mr. B

PS - I believe that one in the bottom middle is a skyscraper or high-rise building.

A Modest Proposal

This is the smartboard screenshot of the questions from class:

Good Luck! Enjoy the Satire!

The SRP scoring rubric is attached here!

Good Luck!

Mr. B

This is the video for instructions about how to make your paper look correct for MLA format. This includes importing your works cited from Noodletools...



Here is the link, in case the video above didn't work.

MacBeth Video

In case you miss a day during school when we watch Macbeth, here is the PBS video which you can watch on your own.

Watch Macbeth on PBS. See more from Great Performances.

Poetry Intro Day Project

The Renaissance Poetry Packet
This is the poetry packet. (a Google Doc)

Did You Know?

The five poems on the first page of the packet are all related in some way. 

BLOG ASSIGNMENT: 

Write one paragraph that tells the “untold” story behind the 5 poems on page 1 of packet.

(6-8 sentences)
In your paragraph, be sure to use at least three words or phrases from the poem. Put quotes around and highlight the words/phrases used.

I [Mr. Becksfort] am looking for interesting, imaginative, and clever responses.

English Renaissance

View more PowerPoint from Judy Hale

The President's State of the Union!

This Wordle was creating with the full text of the president's State of the Union Speech, 2012. The words are sized so that the more a word was used, the larger it appears. This is an interesting study, don't you think?

Book Notes for the SRP

This is a link to a PDF of the information that you need in your book notes. I will be looking for well organized, thoughtful notes about your SRP book for each notes check (50% and 100%). As you read, you should be paying attention to these things. Remember that you are not reading this book for pleasure; You are reading this book to Analyze it or Critique it.

I am also linking to a Google Doc which you can save a copy of if you wish to keep your notes in your Google Docs.

Deadlines for Book Notes are:

• 50% due on Monday, November 28th (100 points)
• 100% due on Monday, December 12th (1/4 of your Semester 1 exam grade)

Pleasant reading!
-Mr. Becksfort

Second Quarter Blog Assignment

Welcome, bloggers!

For the remainder of this quarter, you will be blogging regularly. The goal of this assignment is that you will, once a week, go outside of class assignment and read a news article (of your choosing) and write a brief review of it.

Click here for the full assignment.

This is an example of what that might look like.

Also, use of the appropriate unit's vocabulary is nearly always an added bonus (hint, hint).

Please see me if you have any questions.

SRP Book List Assignment

Frankenstein Blog #4: The final blog-down.

Victor never did get a final showdown with his monster. That has always bummed me out a little. What I would like to see on the final blog post for Frankenstein (which I keep typing 'ie' instead of 'ei') is your impression, desire, or whim constructed into a storyline of a rewrite for the last chapter.

Please don't get me wrong; I am not asking you to write a chapter. I am asking you to give me a storyline for a chapter (also called a plot).

I really like dictionary.com :)

Just the high points of how you would have ended the story is all you need. How's that for a fun excercise to prepare for the test Friday?

Good Luck, and Good Writing!

Frankenstein Blog Post #3 Assignment

Hey there, everyone!

The blog post assignment for the third section of the book is, as I discussed in class today, due on Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Here is the assignment description:

Victor Frankenstein did some pretty amazing things using science. However, he didn't seem to have much regard for the potential outcome of his work. Do you think, considering either all of the things that happened to him in the story or just the end, that he received his comeuppance?

From dictionary.com

Or rather, do you think that his pain and suffering was beyond the reasonable consequences you would give him (if you were the author)?

That's it, but heads up: there will be one more blog post after this about Frankenstein.

Frankenstein Blog Post #2

In a similar vein to the last post, this one will look at the second section of the book (chapters 9-17) and you will be finding three connections (just like last time).

Identify three connections between nature and a character in this second section of the text. Use those connections to help identify some philosophical belief the author may have held toward nature and the natural world.

Be sure you make that philosophical connection, as that is the point of discussing these types of detailed interactions in the story.

Blog Assignment 1 for Frankenstein

The first section of the book (the letters through chapter eight) is riddled with connections between the mood and the setting. Find three examples of how Mary Shelley's use of setting affects the mood of a particular portion of the story and describe how the mood is established. Use only what you read up through chapter eight.
Note: this type of view of the literary elements of the story could closely be associated with a Literary Critique of the novel, and will be a skill that is beneficial when we begin working on the SRP.