Things Fall Apart - Day 8

Today our focus will be on exploring the themes in the book up to this point by using social media. OK, so it will kind of be like using social media as we will be making our own versions of Tweets, Instagram posts, Snapchat stories, and Vines.

We'll first name some of the themes we've seen in parts 1 & 2 of the book - here are a few to get us started:

•  Customs, Traditions, and Rituals
• Following them
• Questioning them
• Power
• Physical strength
• Gender issues
• Titles - achievements
• Religion - spirituality
• Elders
• Respect for
• Questioning of
• Family
• Parent / child
• Siblings
• Proverbs - sayings
• People / groups from the outside presenting a challenge to established order

Then, you'll have the next 20 minutes to create as many different uses of social media as you like, and can leave the classroom if you'd like. Wander around the school - look for examples of these in our world - take pictures and videos. You'll send those back to me, I'll compile them, and tomorrow we will see what we've created!

• Send your photos / videos to me: nrigler@dist113.org
• Tag me in Twitter: MrRiglerEnglish

Things Fall Apart - Day 7

Here is the message I shared with you at the start of our time in the library today:

Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Ok, today is a big push through part 2 of Things Fall Apart, and a lot start to happen. Specifically, these chapters mark the arrival of the missionaries. Keep a close eye on who they are, what they hope to do, and how they do it. Up to this point we’ve discussed customs, traditions, and rituals, as well as different reason behind Okonkwo’s thoughts and actions. How do those factors appear in these pages? I recommend keeping track of your thoughts about these questions, and whatever else comes to mind, as annotations, notebooks entries, or whatever else you prefer. This will be especially helpful since we won’t fully talk or write about the book until after break. Do your best to stay focused today as you read through this section - I know this is a busy week and your mind is a million places between hearing from colleges and winter vacation. Mine is too! Spend an hour letting your mind travel…

Things Fall Apart - Day 6

Happy Monday! It's our last Monday of school for quite a while!

We'll start with a short in-class writing today. After that you can use the rest of the period to read. Tomorrow we will be back in the library for a reading day.

Remember - the goal is to get through the book during class time - and to have no homework over winter break!

Things Fall Apart - Day 5

Today we read the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, often referred to as "The Binding of Isaac." We first explored "gaps" in the story - moments where there seems to be something important going on but is not explicitly named in the text. One example is to think about what the conversation between Abraham and Isaac might have been on the way back down the mountain, or what happens to Abraham overnight between when he speaks with God and sets out on his journey.

• Here is a link to the story

We next made a list of "unheard voices" in the story - characters, animals, physical items, concepts, feelings - anything appearing in the story that somehow played a role. The list included characters present but not named (Sarah, Ishmael), emotions (fear, anger), locations (Mt. Moriah), and inanimate objects (fire, knife). Each of you selected one of these and wrote from its perspective (e.g. "I am the knife, and I feel..."). We shared these to add to our understanding of the story - and they were great!

Then we turned our attention back to the novel, to the scene of the killing of Ikemefuna starting on page 56. I read it aloud and invited you to consider ways in which this story is similar to / different from the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. Our discussion included how the book gave voice to Ikemefuna, which helped us to sympathize with him. We also talked about Okonkwo, and how his actions were self-focused and disrespectful of higher authority.

Over the weekend, please be sure to read through chapter 13, which will finish part 1 of the novel.

Things Fall Apart - Day 4

Watercolor painting day! Today you created an image based on a moment from one of the first 8 chapters of Things Fall Apart. Here are the paintings from 1st period (I'll post 2nd period after they dry!). By class tomorrow you should have read through chapter 10 - hopefully between in-class time and the library reading day you are caught up!

Things Fall Apart - Day 3

Library reading day!

I hope today gave you a chance to read and get into a good chunk of the novel. I know there are many parts of it that might not be clear, as you are learning about a culture and set of traditions quite different from what many of you know. If you have questions along the way, either about the traditions / rituals or the characters themselves, keep track of them in annotations or a journal entry. I am not formally assigning either of those, but I expect you will find some way of keeping track of your ideas along the way.

Art time tomorrow!

Things Fall Apart - Day 2

Happy Monday!

We started the day with a discussion of these terms:

• Custom
• Tradition
• Ritual

For our purposes, a custom is an individual action you repeat, such as doing the same set of actions each time you play a sport or go on stage (my example was touching the outside of an airplane before I board and when I exit). A tradition is an action repeated over time, passed down from one generation to the next, like something your family does each year, or something a team or club does at the end of each season (an example is a special bonfire on the last night of the summer at a camp, along with certain songs / actions). A ritual is also a repeated action but one associated with a religion or ethnic group, such as a family lighting Channukah candles or going to church on Easter. You wrote about your own customs, traditions, and rituals, and we did a whip-around to share them.

Then we took time to read chapters 5 & 6, focusing on the Feast of the New Yam and the wrestling matches. I asked you to think about he customs, traditions, and rituals in the book, and what they are telling us about the Ibo. In what ways are their rituals similar to ones you know?

Tomorrow we will be meeting and reading in the library - see you there! (Oh, and I will be collecting your phones to help you concentrate on the book).

Things Fall Apart - Day 1

We'll start our look at Things Fall Apart with a discussion of proverbs, using this list:

• Proverbs

Then, after a look at the calendar, we'll start by reading the first two chapters.

• Things Fall Apart unit calendar

The Gods Must Be Crazy

To introduce the next unit, I showed the first section of The Gods Must Be Crazy in class today. We discussed life for the Kalahari bushmen, how they are different from "civilized man," and what happens when a Coke bottle appears in their lives. If you want to re-watch that section of the film, or check out the rest of the movie, here is a link to it:

• The Gods Must Be Crazy

Please don't forget to bring a copy of our next novel, Things Fall Apart, to class tomorrow!

Paradise Now - Discussion and Assignment

Last Thursday you finished watching Paradise Now. Over the weekend you responded to some questions about it in your journal - hopefully these pushed you toward figuring out what type of essay / project you will do to complete this unit.

Remember, your 4 choices (you will do each one once) for this semester are:

• Single-Text Analytic Essay
• Personal / Hybrid Essay
• Intertextual Essay
• Creative Project

The unit includes the film, the Ari Shavit article, the TED talk from Zak Ebrahim, our guest speakers, and the Google Slide presentation we made at the start.

• First period slide show
• Second period slide show

We will have two days at the start of next week (Monday and Tuesday) to work in class. Your assignment is due Wednesday,  Nov. 30th.

You will need a copy of our next book, Things Fall Apart, in class on Thursday.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Paradise Now - Weekend Journal Response

Over the weekend, please respond to these questions in your notebook. I will not be collecting these, but you will be using them as the jumping-off point of your essay about the film (and this unit).

• What effect is achieved by showing silent close ups of each important character at the end of Paradise Now, finishing with an extreme close up of Said’s eyes? How did it make you feel?
• What do you think Hany Abu-Assad, the film’s director, wants us to take away from the film? Explain this in detail, referring to specific moments / images from the film.
• By the time the film reaches its end, Abu-Assad has given us three characters—Said, Khaled, and Suha—in great detail. Which ONE of these characters do you find yourself most drawn to, intrigued by or wondering about? Which of these three characters do you find yourself thinking most about? Explain, focusing on not only a few specific moments in the film, but also a few thoughts or experiences of your own to further elaborate.
• Identify a few ways Paradise Now is in dialogue with Antigone and/or Hamlet. What concerns and questions does Abu-Assad seem interested in that Sophocles and Shakespeare were also exploring in, respectively, Antigone and Hamlet? Explain, referring to specifics in both the film and the two plays.

If you are interested, here are some resources:

• Script of the film (not beautifully formatted, but complete)
• Press Kit, including interviews

Paradise Now

Happy Monday!
Today in class you wrote a short rhetorical analysis of either Ari Shavit's introduction to his book, or Zak Ibrahim's TED talk.

For the rest of the week, we will be in E114 watching Paradise Now.  If you 'd like to have a preview of the film, here is a link to a review of it:

• Paradise Now review

The day after election day - and moving ahead

Here is a link to the transcript of Trump's speech from last night.

Here is a link to a video I had planned to show today, and we will watch during the second half of class.

Here is a link to a transcript of the video.

On Monday you will write, by hand, a brief rhetorical analysis essay. The purpose of this essay is to argue for a specific interpretation of either Ari Shavit’s Introduction to his My Promised Land or Zak Ebrahim’s TED Talk: “I am the Son of a Terrorist: Here’s How I Chose Peace,” through analyzing the writer’s/speakers rhetoric.

In preparing for this essay, carefully consider the rhetorical devices that most contribute to the message or ideas explored within the piece. 

Come in with 5 different devices (italicized on document) prepared, per piece.

Rhetoric - guest speakers and Ari Shavit

Yesterday we heard two guest speakers from the Parents Circle - Family Forum. We'll start the day by sharing thoughts about their presentation.

Next, I'll introduce rhetorical analysis - a way of looking at language that should be pretty familiar.

After that, we'll turn our attention to the Ari Shavit article you read over the weekend.

Words and Images collage - 1st period
Words and Images collage - 2nd period

Introduction to rhetorical analysis

Ari Shavit - introduction to My Promised Land

Background information about Israeli / Palestinian conflict

Here is a link to a document with background information on the conflict from both perspectives.

Here is a link to the different rhetorical devices we will use in our discussion, and in this unit.

Guest speakers

This morning we heard from two fathers, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, who shared their stories of loss and hope. Both of them lost daughters to the conflict, and both of them turned their energies toward reconciliation and understanding.  We'll talk about the presentation tomorrow, but if you want more information please check here:

• Parents Circle - Family Forum

Words

Google Slides - Words

• 1st period
• 2nd period

I'll assign you a number. Go to that slide - there is a word on it. Spend the next ten minutes collecting images that somehow illustrate your word - whatever you want to use will be fine. Design the slide however you want (please do not change the settings for the whole slide show) by do be sure to include the word.

After we made the slideshow, I asked you to identify one slide that affirms your prior thinking about that term, and one slide that challenges or complicates your understanding of it. Describe what it is about these images that made you put it in one of those categories - do this in your notebook.

For homework, please read this article - it is by Ari Shavit, an Israeli author and politician. It is the introduction to his recent book, My Promised Land. Just read the article and be prepared to talk about it / work with it on Monday. Feel free to print it out, but realize there are blank pages in there.

• Introduction to My Promised Land

Hamlet work days - revised due date

For the past two days we've had work time in class - hopefully you are feeling like your paper / project is in a good place.

I just sent an email updated the due date - papers are now due on Friday instead of Thursday, in honor of the Cubs playing in game 7 of the World Series tonight.

*If you are doing a creative project, the project part of it is still due tomorrow, since that is the time set aside to share them in class. The written part of the creative project is due Friday.

Hamlet - Day 20

For today's short class you have two tasks:

1. STAR testing. Please click on the link and spend time taking the reading test. Remember, even though it will not change your grade, I will be recording your growth in Infinite Campus. The goal of this testing is for me to better know how to help you improve your skills, and for both of us to track the results (at least as far as this test measures.
1. For your username, use the same name you are logging into the Chromebooks and computers with.  
2. Your password is your student ID number - but ONLY the number  - i.e. 120XXXX - if you are unable to gain access after TWO tries, please ask for help before trying a third time. 
3. You will be presented with two choices - select STAR Reading 
4. Sometimes, the system will request a “Monitor Password.” If this happens to you, the password is “admin” 
5. If you are presented with a list of teachers, please select “Rigler”
2. Skills and Habits reflection. This will complete your work for first quarter. If you do not finish it during class today, please take the time to do so tonight.

Hamlet - Day 19

For class on Thursday, you selected an 8-10 line passage from Hamlet - one you plan on using for your essay / project. It could be one you already have a lot to say about or one you have a general sense of and want to explore further.

We started by having a series of one-on-one conversations, rotating through different partners to discuss your chosen passage. After that, you continued to rotate through new partners, this time having a general brainstorming conversation about your essay / project. The goal was to find other sections of the text to interpret.

Lastly, we discussed several of these passages as a whole class. We worked our way through all five acts, revisiting parts of the play we hadn't discussed in nearly a month.

Hopefully you finished today with a solid sense of which parts of the play you'll use in your individual work!

Hamlet - Day 18

I've responded to your proposals - please look in turnitin.com to see them. If you have questions or would like to conference further with me, please let me know.

I'm changing the schedule for the next two weeks, including extending the due date for the Hamlet assignment. 

10-24 Proposals	10-25 NPR show	10-26 Discuss Act V	10-27 Discuss selected passages	10-28 (no class)
10-31 STAR test and work time	11-1 Work time	11-2 Work time	11-3 Hamlet paper or project due	11-4 (no class)

Tonight for homework please select a passage you are considering using in your paper / project. Just identify it and be prepared to share an initial observation / question about it.

Hamlet - Day 17 - Radio Show

Today we will spend the entire period listening to a radio broadcast about Hamlet. It is a fascinating and powerful story, and I think you will enjoy it and it will expand your understanding of the play.

• Here is a link to the broadcast.
• Here is a link the handout I shared at the start of class.

Hamlet - Day 16

Happy Monday!
For today, we will start by looking through the list of potential discussion questions I shared, and then I will give you time to complete this Hamlet assignment proposal form. Please submit it to me through turnitin.com by the end of the period.

Hamlet - Day 15

We'll work in groups today to examine Act V.  We will work together to create Grande Tableaux of the funeral in Act V, Scene 1, the sword fight in V.2, and the final scene. Each group will be assigned a character, and work to select a line, develop a pose, and determine the character's inner thoughts. In hearing from each group, we examined the relationships between characters, as well as how the characters and their relationships have evolved. We'll also generate a list of themes / topics relating to this act and the play overall.

Then, in an individual piece of writing, you'll spend 10 or so minutes writing a response to this question:

• Which of these characters, in which of these moments, best offers you a "window" into Hamlet? Which character do you personally connect with / disagree with, how so?

We'll then move to look at this list of questions as the starting point for our final discussion.

• Hamlet questions

At the end I'll share this proposal form with you - it is not due until Monday at the end of class, but I imagine many of you will want to complete it sooner.

• Hamlet essay / project proposal form

Hamlet - Day 14

Tuesday we watched the final section of the film in E114.
I hope you found the film to be helpful and engaging!

Hamlet - Day 13

Today we met in E114 to watch Act IV of the film.  We briefly discussed the role of the two female characters in the play, Ophelia and Gertrude, and how they are the focus of a lot of this act.  We also spoke about some more of the parallels in the play, including characters who lose their fathers and descend into madness, if in fact they do.

Be sure to complete your reading of the play for class tomorrow.

Also, check out your found poems from Act III, hanging around the classroom and posted here.

Hamlet - Day 12

Re-read Hamlet's soliloquy in IV.4 - name the different ideas / topics he covers and what he says about them.
Look back at his previous soliloquies:

• I.2.133-164 ("O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt")
• I.5.99-116 ("O all you host of heaven!")
• II.2.575-635 ("O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!")
• III.1.64-96 ("To be or not to be - that is the question")

Select lines corresponding to one of your chosen themes - at least two lines from each of the previous soliloquies. You're going to turn them into a found poem!

Hamlet - Day 11

Welcome back!
I hope you enjoyed your long weekend, whether it included being with family on the holiday, visiting colleges, catching up on sleep, or just doing whatever.
For the next two days we'll take a close look at the action in the play, focusing on the developments in Act IV. We'll focus on the link between thought and action, an issue Hamlet raises several times, as well as what those actions communicate to others, especially you, the audience.

We'll get into groups to examine these moments from recent scenes we've read:

• What do they say / do? What does it tell us about the character?

1. Gertrude speaking to Claudius at the start of IV.1
2. Claudius’s response to Gertrude’s news
3. Claudius’s plan for Hamlet (in IV.1)
4. Hamlet’s action at the start of III.4
5. Hamlet’s thoughts and actions in IV.2
6. Hamlet speaking with Claudius in IV.3
7. Hamlet’s soliloquy in IV.4

Hamlet - Day 10

For the first part of class you'll work with your group to examine four relationships and how they change (or don't) over the course of the first three acts of the play:

• Hamlet and Gertrude - I.2 / III.4
• Hamlet and Claudius - I.2 / III.2 & III.3
• Hamlet and Horatio - I.2 / III.2
• Hamlet and Ophelia - I.3 / II.1 / II.2 / III.1

Instead of discussing them or writing about them, you'll create a series of tableaux - silent freeze-frames to convey the feelings, attitudes, and motivations of the characters in these scenes. While two of you pose (create the tableau), other people in your group read the line(s).

I'll be taking pictures of these and posting them - both for fun and reference!

Be sure to take good notes during class  - keep track of these details!

For the second part of class, you'll be writing a short reflection on characters who appear in scenes 3 and 4 of Act III. It will be posted here by the end of the period.

Hamlet - Day 9

We spent the day in E114 watching Act III of the film version.

Here is a link to it.

I asked you to be sure to be caught up with the reading for tomorrow's group and writing activities.

Hamlet - Day 8

Happy Monday, aka Tuesday - and happy October!

Today we'll turn our attention to Hamlet's famous soliloquy in Act III, Scene 1. Even though these are some of the most famous lines ever written, our job is not to just pay respect to them but rather to explore them in terms of the ideas Hamlet raises, how he speaks of them, and how they potentially connect to some of our own concerns. The writing activity we did with them is called an "exploded imagery" - each of you selected a line or phrase and used it as a first line of a new piece of writing. We shared all of these out loud, inserting them into a read-through of the speech. Sound complicated? Cool? It sounded fantastic in class!

Hamlet - Day 7

Today (Thursday, Sep. 29th) we watched the next part of the film (Act II) in E114.

Here is a link to it.

Hamlet - Day 6

Today we will start with a short review of key scenes from Act I, using both the film and the group work you did in class on Monday.

Next, you will work in groups to explore the complexities of the plot in Act II.
Please use this handout with your group, and remember to share your document with me.

Hamlet - Day 5

Today we met in E114 to watch the Act I of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet

In case you missed it or would like to see it again, here is a link to the part we watched today.

Hamlet - Day 4

Greetings! Happy Monday! I'm on a field trip with my American Studies class today, so I won't be with you this morning.

Please get into your groups and follow these directions:

Today’s theme is “Asking / Telling another person what to do, and why.” 

Your group will discuss Act 1, scenes 3-5. In those scenes, several characters fit into today’s topic:

• Laertes talking to Ophelia
• Ophelia talking to Laertes
• Polonius talking to Ophelia
• Horatio talking to Hamlet
• The Ghost talking to Hamlet

After you talk through these scenes to recap what happens, your group will explore these five examples of one person “asking / telling another person what to do, and why.”

In a Google Doc you will share with me (and everyone in your group - be sure to list everyone’s names) you will list for each example:

• A quotation
• Commentary explaining what the person is asking / telling the other person to do, and why
• A sentence or two considering what this adds to your understanding of the characters involved or of the play overall

Tomorrow we will meet in E114 to watch the film version of Act I!

And if you actually read this far, go check out today's video - it's Radiohead covering a great Neil Young song that fits into today's theme: "Tell Me Why"

Hamlet - Day 3

Group work continues!

Your group will focus on these lines from Act I, scene 2:

1- Lines 1-40
2- Lines 41-66
3- Lines 67-89
4- Lines 41-66
5- Lines 1-40
6- Lines 67-89

PLUS, all groups will look at lines 90-132

Answer these questions / Do these things:

• What is being said? (Plot)
• How is it said? (Literary features)
• Identify a key quotation
• Create a tableau to show the key quotation

Then, we will all read and discuss Hamlet's first soliloquy together, lines 133-164

Hamlet - Day 2

Today we will start in groups, looking at the ways in which Shakespeare uses language:

Groups 1 & 2 - Imagery
Groups 3 & 4 - Figurative language (metaphor, simile)
Groups 5 & 6 - Wordplay - inversions and rhymes

We'll find and share example of these uses of language from some of your favorite songs, and then check out how the Bard himself puts them to use in the opening scene of Hamlet.

1 Sara Nicole Jacob Tyler	2 Halle Ilana Zach Matt	3 Casey Erin Maddie Jonas Eddie
4 Caitlin Kat Eli Max	5 Becky Bella Hannah Josh	6 Eliana Lizzie Garret James

1 Kylie Alan Marli Michael	2 Josh Missy Justin L Audrey	3 Erika Claire Jacob Conor
4 Judd Skyler Caitlin Cam	5 Camille Ellie Dan David	6 Justin G Maddie Aiden Harry

Hamlet - Day 1

We started the day in the courtyard with an activity based on lines from Hamlet. Each person received a line, said it in different ways, and created brief scenes with one or two other people. We'll be getting the play up on its feet as much as possible during this unit! When we got back to the classroom you copied your line down into your notebook and write a brief reflection.

After a look through the book, we turned our attention to the list of characters. The first one is "the Ghost." So, we did a little writing about ghosts - what are they? when and where do they appear? what is their purpose? We shared a few ghost stories too!

Link to unit calendar

College Essay workshop #1

On Monday, September 19th, we will have a short workshop on writing college essays.

(You do not have time to work on your Antigone essay during class. The essay is due on Tuesday by midnight.)

For our activity, you will read through these four essays:

• Essay #1
• Essay #2
• Essay #3
• Essay #5

Helpful handouts:

• Keyhole / Detail focus
• Overview
• Sample College Essays

Antigone - Day 6 - Planning your essay

The bulk of today is set aside for you to use as personal time to prepare / write your essay.

Not sure where to get started? Need some food for thought? Want feedback from me?

• Use this Antigone essay prep worksheet. Make a copy and save it in your folder.

Although I am not requiring it, I highly recommend it as a way to get your head around your essay. Also, if you would like feedback from me, please complete as much of the worksheet as you'd like then share it with me.

Antigone - Day 5 - Structuring an essay

The main focus of today is to review the structure of the single-text analytic and personal / hybrid essays. Remember, you can find full details about them under the "General Handouts" tab in the "Notes on Essay Options" handout.

Here are the main points I shared:

Single-Text Analytic Essay

• Introduction
• No "attention grabber" (rhetorical question, definition, random quote)
• Name the text and author
• Preview your main point (which means you need to know what they will be!)
• State your thesis
• Body paragraphs
• Start with a topic sentence, clarifying the focus of the paragraph
• Supports all claims with well-chosen evidence
• All evidence is introduced (set context) and interpreted.
• Use the methods we developed in our work on explications (see the handout under the Oedipus / Antigone tab)
• Paragraph ends with a link back to the thesis
• Conclusion
• Restates thesis and recaps main points
• Considers how your topic fits in with the play overall 
•  
• Overall structure - here are some possible ways to divide up the sections of the paper - choose the one that fits what you are trying to prove
• Chronology - Before / During / After - Follows the progression of the story / particular events
• Examples - perhaps one paragraph per character, but then also needs to compare / contrast
• Reasons - Name one reason per paragraph - in our example, we named different reasons why characters in the play might take their own lives, so perhaps a paragraph on despair, on loss of power, and on loss of faith
• Cause / Effect - or one of these related divisions:
• Challenge / Action / Results
• Intention / Action / Impact
• Cause / Impact on others / Results

Personal / Hybrid Essay

• Goal of this essay is to see how your personal connection helps you to understand the text, and how the text helps you to think about your personal connection
• By "personal connection," I do not necessarily mean your own life - it can be whatever comes to mind as you read the text. Maybe a movie, current event, other book, etc.
• Do not organize this essay by writing separate sections on your personal connection and the text - the two need to be integrated into each point.
• You still need to use details from the text, and from your personal connection, to make your points.
• Refer to the "overall structure" section above to think about how you can organize your essay

Creative Project

• Refer to details in the handout
• Be sure to read and answer the questions in the required accompanying write-up

Antigone - Day 4 (Monday)

We started the day by naming some of the key events from the final section of the play:

• Creon changing his mind
• Antigone's suicide
• Haemon's suicide
• Eurydice's suicide
• Creon's realizations / reflections
• The final words of the Chorus

We discussed some questions stemming from these events:

• Why does Creon change his mind?
• Why do different characters commit suicide?
• What is the meaning of the last lines of the play? To whom does it refer?
• How do the earlier conflicts in the play link to the tragedies at the end?

Antigone - Day 3 - New issues and challenges

We started the day with a brief look at the posters we made yesterday, naming national issues and the different factors influencing people's perspectives. We circled back to our question: What do we do when different values come into conflict with each other?

Next we returned to the play and read through the conversation between Creon and Haemon starting on line 649. What are their different reasons behind their actions and beliefs? What new factors appear in this section?

Lastly, we read Antigone's speech, focusing on lines 883-887 - what is she asking here? Our discussion explored the ways in which this seems to be a crisis of faith.

I gave you your assignment to conclude our work with Antigone, which will continue next week. Please be sure to check the calendar and read through the "Notes on Essay Options" under the "General Handouts" tab for more details.

Antigone Day 2 - Competing Values

The day started with some personal writing, naming the different factors that might influence your decision-making - this could be anything from a minor daily decision to major life events. Some of the factors we named included: Parents, the law, Religion / God, Money, Time, Personal goals, social pressure, transportation, and many more. Then, I asked you to think of a time in your life when two (or more) of these factors came into conflict. You briefly described the situation, and then write about how you tried to resolve it. Did you choose one side? Why? What are the ways in which you tried to figure out what to do?

We then turned our attention to national / societal issues. With a group you named an issue and the factors that potentially inform a person's feelings / beliefs about it. For example, we talked about abortion and named these issues: fear, law, religion, health, future plans, crime, money, access, and more.

Tomorrow in class we'll share our findings and then bring those ideas back into our discussion of the play, specifically to the actions of Creon and Antigone.

Antigone - Day 1

Happy Tuesday! Hope you had a great weekend!

Today you worked with a partner to read and study the first section of the play. I gave you some background information about Polyneices and Eteocles, the two brothers, sons of Oedipus, who killed each other in battle.  You read the first 101 lines - a dialogue between Antigone and Ismene.  I asked you to keep track of these factors for the two sisters:

• Beliefs
• Actions
• Reasons

We shared these and had a brief discussion about the ways in which they are addressing the competing values that inform their beliefs and actions.  We then turned our attention to Creon and the speech he gives on lines 156-204. I asked you to keep track of the same factors as you did for the sisters above.

Final look at Oedipus (for now)

Today we'll continue the small group work we did yesterday, exploring the final pages of the play.

I'll hand back the explications you submitted earlier in the week, and will assign the Oedipus final explication, due Tuesday.

Check out this video:
https://www.facebook.com/ZBeats808/videos/1768545963389977/

Finishing the play - putting the pieces together

Please head to the "Oedipus and Antigone" tab at the top of the page, and then click on "In-class explication work" for a description of today's activity.

Do you believe in fate? Do you control your own future?

We began the day with a thought experiment - if I gave you an envelope with your name on it, and told you it contained an exact description of what your life will be like ten years from now, would you open it? What would you do? How would the contents of the letter shape your actions?

We continued that with a short discussion about making predictions and the people who do that each day, from meteorologists to doctors to economists to sports analysts to college admissions officers (!). Then we discussed the question of how much control we have over our lives, and the other forces that might, from other people to God to chance to fate.

Lots to talk about early in the morning!

When we turned our attention to the play we saw how these questions appear for both Jocasta and Oedipus, both of whom were told predictions about the future and both of whom took actions to avoid them coming true: Jocasta tossed her newborn child onto the trackless mountain, Odeipus left Corinth to avoid killing his father. Good plan? Good effort?  We'll see...

Monday - STAR Testing

We are going to take the STAR reading test today. Please do your best on this reading comprehension test. Again, this is so I can understand how you read and learn. Do your best.

• ·         Click here to go to the link for the test.
• ·         For your username, use the same name you are logging into the Chromebooks and computers with.
• ·         Your password is your student ID number - but ONLY the number  - i.e. 120XXXX - if you are unable to gain access after TWO tries, please ask for help before trying a third time.
• ·         You will be presented with two choices - select STAR Reading
• ·         Sometimes, the system will request a “Monitor Password.” If this happens to you, the password is “admin”
• ·         If you are presented with a list of teachers, please select “Rigler”
• ·         Take the test! Do the best you can! 

Explications - Small Groups

Today you'll work with a small group to explore a section of the text. After you discuss last night's reading in a general sense, turn your attention to your assigned section. Re-read it together - several times, if possible. Then, use this handout about explications to guide your work. Here are the different aspects of the language you should explore, with special emphasis on the highlighted ones:

1. Literal content: this should be done as succinctly as possible. Briefly describe the sketetal contents of the passage in one or two sentences. Answer the journalist's questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why?) in order to establish character/s, plot, and setting as it relates to this passage. What is the context for this passage?
2. Figurative Language. Examine the passage carefully for similes, images, metaphors, and symbols. Identify any and all. List implications and suggested meanings as well as denotations. What visual insights does each word give? Look for multiple meanings and overlapping of meaning. Look for repetitions, for oppositions.
3. Diction. Word choice.  Look at all the meanings of the key words. Look up the etymology of the words. Do not assume you know the depth or complexity of meaning at first glance. Use the dictionary.  Do dictionary meanings establish any new dynamic associations with other words? What is the etymology of these words? Develop and question the metaphoric, spatial sense of the words. Can you see what the metaphoric words are suggesting?
4. Structure. What is the significance of such a form? Does the form contribute to the meaning?
5. Style. Look for any significant aspects of style—parallel constructions, antithesis, etc. Look for patterns, polarities, and problems.
6. Characterization. What insight does this passage now give into specific characters as they develop through the work? Is there a persona in this passage?
7. Tone. What is the tone of the passage? How does it elucidate the entire passage? Is the tone one of irony? Sentimental? Serious? Humorous? Ironic?
8. Context: If your text is part of a larger whole, make brief reference to its position in the whole.
9. Theme: A theme is not to be confused with thesis; the theme or more properly themes of a work of literature is its broadest, most pervasive concern, and it is contained in a complex combination of elements. In contrast to a thesis, which is usually expressed in a single, argumentative, declarative sentence and is characteristic of expository prose rather than creative literature, a theme is not a statement; rather, it often is expressed in a single word or a phrase, such as "love," "illusion versus reality," or "the tyranny of circumstance." Generally, the theme of a work is never "right" or "wrong." There can be virtually as many themes as there are readers, for essentially the concept of theme refers to the emotion and insight which results from the experience of reading a work of literature.