Announcement - Our class in China

Jonathan V. from first period has people in China checking out his blog !

See his visitor map:

http://jonathanvillamar.blogspot.com/index.html

Announcement - Interesting Thread and Extra Credit

When you get the chance, check out the very short exchange on Beth’s blog entitled “Isn’t it Ironic” on January 30^th . The issue about the utility of blogs won’t die and I’m glad it won’t because it is too important and interesting.

I like how Beth wrote something very short that is based on what we are doing, but not about a particular assignment. A simple sentence can get people thinking.

I hope somebody takes me up on the extra credit assignments for Fahrenheit 451 – See important documents. If you write a formal, longer essay, about 2 double spaced pages, you will get more points, BUT you will also earn extra credit points if you simply write a thoughtful blog entry. Just put “Extra Credit – Your Title -- Date” in the title of you blog and comment here to let me know.

Another question to consider: What would Bradbury have thought about blogging?

The purpose of all this is not to label a certain technological development as “good” or “bad” but to think about its potential to encourage or inhibit free and critical thought, and how it might, or might not, shape our lives in other ways.

The following links will take you to some interesting technology related articles. The first one, “Newspapers and After” is about the negative consequences that the internet has for newspapers and how that can damage democracy. This is the one that I quoted to you some time ago in class. The second one “Mirror, Mirror …” is about the culture of narcissism that develops on the internet.

You can blog about these for extra credit, just follow the procdures above so I can distinguish what is extra credit or not.

“Newspapers and After”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070129/nichols

“Mirror, Mirror on the Web”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070129/chaudry

Mr. J

Reminder for Friday 2/9

1. Fahrenheit 451 essays are due on Friday 2/9 - that's tomorrow

2. See my "important documents" if you have not already for the requirements. Don't forget that you need two hard copies and an electronic copy on turnitin.com. I have updated turnitin to indicate the new assignment.

Mr. J

DUE Friday 2/9 Descriptive Writing

DUE Friday 2/9 Descriptive Writing

1. Make a quick comment on last night’s blog assignment for everyone in your group. Quick means at least a couple of sentences, but of course write more if you feel compelled or see a reason to.

2. Re-write the descriptive paragraph that was looked at today in class (last night’s homework). Take into consideration the comments that were given in class (and on-line).

3. Post your rewrite on your blog with the following title " Revised D.P. 2/9"

PRINT OUT YOUR PARAGRAPH AND BRING IT TO SCHOOL.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

I. Descriptive Writing Assignment

Regarding the descriptive wrting assignment that is due THR, 2/8 ---

You must print out your paragraph with a proper heading and bring it to class. We will revise them in class. Don't forget to double space your paragraph. It will be much easier to edit and rewrite that way.


II. You do not have an Illiad assignment today so you should use the extra time to work on your Fahrenheit 451 essays, due Friday.

Mr. J

Quiz Reminder

You have a quick quiz on the Hesiod reading on Thursday 2/8. It will be short. I have placed a study quide for it in my "important documents." Be prepared to answer all of the questions, but I will not ask all of them. It's the document that starts with "Hesiod ... "

Mr. J

DUE THR, 2/8 Descriptive Writing Assignment

DUE THR, 2/8 Descriptive Writing Assignment

1. Find a scene in Fahrenheit 451 that had characters who were afraid. It can be any scene, like the one where Montag and the other firemen burned the old lady’s books (like you did for yesterday’s assignment.

2. Take one of the characters in the scene and rewrite it (or something similar) from that person’s perspective. For example, if you go with the old lady I mentioned above you could start with something like, “I heard the wail of the fire engines and the screeching of the tires. My heart stopped like a dead weight because it could only mean one thing: They arrived! My books will be destroyed …..”

3. I’m not so concerned about how closely you stick to the book. If you want to create a scene that was not in the book, but which could have happened at some point you can. For example, Faber hiding books from the authorities before he met Montag.

4. What I am concerned about is seeing you use descriptive language and creating a mood/feeling.

• Remember descriptive language uses effective adjectives and verbs (also adverbs and nouns but we have not focused on those this time).

• It also uses metaphors, similes, and personification.

5. We will revise this in class and post the best sentences from each student on the wall.

6. This is meant to cap our short unit on describing fear, so take your time and be thoughtful. Show the world what you can do !

Announcement

Thanks to an email by Kate I realized that according to my blog you had four assignments due on Tuesday. That is a mistake and I just changed it.

Like we discussed in class you have two things due tomorrow, not four. The extra two (now changed) are for WED 2/7. I'm sorry for the confusion. If it ever looks like you have two day's worth of assignments and that the assignments are more than what we talked about in class send me an email, because it probably means a mistake was made.

I hope that most of you figured it and just did what we talked about (and what was on the board). If you ended up doing two days worth of work in one day, see me and I'll give you extra credit or something to make up for it. Again, sorry for the confusion.

If you need to get ahold of me at night and need a quick response the best thing is to send an email to my home account. If you don't know it, it's pjana@cox.net. Of course, I'm not always on the computer, but chances are that if I'm at home I'll get that message before I get one sent to the school account.



Mr. J

Announcement - Book Review

Look under "Important Documents" on my blog for the book review requirments.

Book reviews also consist of journals and vocab lists.

The due date is Friday, March 9th.

Mr. J

DUE WED, 2/7 Hesiod Writing Assignment

Anwer one of the following questions on your blog. The title of your post whould be "2/6 - Hesiod Writing Assignment"

You should cut the question and paste it (or drag it) to your blog and put it in bold script. Write the answer in regular script underneath it.

One of these questions might appear on a quiz.

1. What do you think this myth tells about the ancient Greeks? What values did they have? Why would a story like this develop?

2. What universal needs or desires are represented in this story? What needs/desires might be particular to the Greeks? If you have a hard time determining whether it is particular or universal that is okay, write about why it is difficult to choose.

3. Explain how Zeus came to power. Write about these following issues: How is he similar/different to Uranus or Cronos? Is his grip on power secure or fragile? Explain why or why not.

DUE WED, 2/7 Descriptive Writing Assignment

Think about scenes in Fahrenheit 451 that characters in the book would have found frightening.

For example, the scene on pages 35-45 where Montag and his crew of firemen go to a lady’s house and burn her books. The woman was frightened in that scene. Another example might be the scene right before Montag burns Beatty or even when Mildred runs away. In the former, Montag was afraid (and later Beatty), and in the latter it seemed as though Mildred was afraid. You can use any example you want, from the ones I listed here or another one. There are lots of them.

ON YOUR BLOG:

1. Find the scene in the book

2. Make a list of the descriptive words in that scene – minimum of 3, but you should be able to find a lot

3. Write a short paragraph of why you think that scene and the words Bradbury used were effective in representing fear. This is like the assignment from last night expect with Bradbury.

4. If there are words you don't know write them down.

Later, I will ask you to write a paragraph from the perspective of one of the characters in the scene that uses descriptive words. This is in preparation for that. The idea here is that you are exposed to your classmates writing and the words they use effectivly, do the same with Bradbury, and then do your own.

Mr. J

DUE Friday, 2/9 Fahrenheit 451 Short Essay

On Friday an essay is due on Fahrenheit 451. We will talk more about it in class, but you can check all the requirments and the questions by going to "Important Documents" under "Resources" on the left side of my blog. Click on "Essay Question for Fahrenheit ... "

Mr. J

DUE Tuesday 2/6 Hesiod Notes

1. If you did not get a chance to finish in class, finish reading the selection from Hesiod.

2. Finish the study notes on Hesiod.

DUE Tuesday 2/6, Descriptive Writing Assignment

DUE Tuesday 2/6, Descriptive Writing Assignment

The reason you are doing this is to learn strong words evoking fear so you can get ideas for a future descriptive writing piece on the same subject. In other words, this is practice for a little "quiz" on descriptive writing where you will have to describe something from Fahrenheit, but more on that later ... It should also be fun to check out some student writing examples that you have not yet read.

1. Return to your blog entry on something you dread or fear.

On your blog, write down 3-5 of your own words that you thought were particularly descriptive and for at least one of your words give a reason why you thought if was effective. Be specific: Don't just say, "it's a scary word," but tell us why it is scary. Maybe it is related to a particular image or smell, emotion, or something from your past.

The words can be from any part of speech – subject, verb, adverb, adjective, noun etc…

2. Visit the blogs of the people in your blog group. I will tell you who they are on Monday.

A. Comment on their blog to let them know what you thought some of the most effective words were on their writing sample and give a short explanation why (it can be as short as one sentence).

B. Go back to your blog and write what the most effective words were from people in your blog group and write at least one explanation. To avoid repeating the same work, you can cut and paste from the comments you wrote on your partners' blogs. The purpose of this last stage is for you to have a convienant place (i.e. your blog) where you can go to for a short list of effective words related to fear or dread and to give public props to the members of your blog group.

In Short:

I. Comment on ALL the other blogs

II. On your blog write:

Your effective words and at least one explanation

Examples of effective words from others in you blog group and at least one explanation.

Mr. J