Some News

So....

Regents scores will be up Monday or Tuesday...The English department is not done grading the exams yet because......

My husband and I adopted a baby! (Surprise!) Camden Christopher Venezia was born January 28th. I will be staying at home for the next two months; You'll have a teacher who will be staying close in touch with me, and who will finish Ragtime with you and read the next two books: The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye, two books you'll really like. Your homework, btw, is still due on Tuesday! Your mygradebook.com grades do not yet reflect your Regents, but hopefully will be up by Tuesday.

Snowboarding people: Ms. Hanneman and Mr. Carson will be taking over. See them for details.

I'll post again soon with more details about various things, and please email me if you have any questions....but for now...I have to go feed a baby!

Love,

Ms. Bryant

Yay!

Hooray! You are done! Hopefully, even though it was long, you found it to be a fair exam. I really liked the controlling idea, and I thought the critical lens allowed you to use a wide variety of books.

Grades will be posted by Monday (most likely on Friday evening) on mygradebook.com.

In the meantime, don't forget to read Ragtime (see previous post for page numbers and details)!

Also, the snowboard trip is about halfway full. If more people don't sign up by Friday, we'll have to postpone. Therefore, if you are interested, please let me know! I'll be in Ms. Walsh's room all week grading - you can stop by and pay.

Homework over Regents Week

Due Tuesday February 2nd

Read all chapters through 34. Annotate at least once every four pages. I will check ALL annotations when you return!

• Also, remember, if you want to go snowboarding, bring in your money this week during Regents week.

• Good luck on the exam tomorrow and Wednesday! Please ensure that you read CAREFULLY all directions, and that you go back and read over your essays when you are done writing them. Change any weak language to stronger words, correct any grammatical and spelling errors and ensure that your essays say exactly what you want them to say! DO NOT leave early.

Friday

In Class
We worked in groups to analyze how each of Doctorow's characters represent America at the turn of the century.

Homework
Read chapters 19, 20, 21, and 22. Make one post-it (or other method) annotation for at LEAST every two pages.

Prepare for the Regents!!!!!!
Study your novels and short stories.
Study literary devices and elements.
Remember, this exam will count as your midterm (200 points). All other grades are in mygradebook as of Friday afternoon, and you'll notice that quite a few of you are *just* below a 70, or *just* below an 80, and so on. Being prepared for this exam can give you that chance to raise your grade!

SNOWBOARDING!!!

For those who want to go, we'll have a quick info meeting Friday directly afterschool in my room! Prices are 99.95 for the package of bus, lift ticket, rentals and lessons, and 74.95 for all mountain if YOU HAVE YOUR OWN GEAR. I'll start collecting money tomorrow.

Thursday

In Class
We took a quiz and we also discussed how Doctorow characterizes the turn of the century in America.

Homework
Read chapters 16, 17 and 18 and ANNOTATE with post-its AT LEAST 10 times during your reading. I will check the annotations tomorrow.

Wednesday

In Class
We took a quiz, and discussed the significance of Emma Goldman in Ragtime.

Homework
Read chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15. It's about 25 pages or so, so don't just leave it for advisory or the subway.

Tuesday

In Class
We analyzed "Song of the Shirt" and related it to Ragtime

Homework
Portfolios MUST be in the back of the room with your name clearly labeled by Wednesday at lunch.

Read Ragtime chapters 10 and 11. Be prepared to discuss chapters 7-11, and expect a quiz!!!!!

Friday

In Class
We presented findings from our reading of historical documents related to the Nesbit/Thaw/White trial. We read independently.

Homework
1. Read chapters 7, 8, & 9, adding notes to your character charts
(Some of you have read ahead, feel free to keep doing so!)

2. Read the "Song of the Shirt" poem and be prepared to discuss this in class on Tuesday. Be sure to look at the questions that follow and ensure that you know the answers to them.

3. Portfolios need to be complete and in the back cabinets by Wednesday! Be sure they are there and the table of contents is completely filled out.

4. Don't forget about the Regents exam! Prepare!!!!

A Note About Portfolios & Extra Credit

Your portfolios must be ready for inspection by WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20th. This means that ALL writing pieces - even journal entries, short responses to reading and items such as postcards - should be in there, and should be listed on the table of contents. For each piece, you must analyze what this piece shows about your ability, and what you need to do to improve your writing.

All portfolios must be in the cabinets in the back of the room by Wednesday at lunch, and all must have your name clearly labeled on the spine and on the front. Missing portfolios will result in a zero for a grade! Don't let this happen to you!

EXTRA CREDIT - MUSEUM
If you plan to go, you need to be in touch with Liz by TODAY as Monday is a holiday, and you need to plan in advance to have this done by Wednesday. If you are WRITING, please remember to include analysis - "This shows me that ___________" or "This reveals that __________"

Thursday

In Class

We discussed chapters 4 and 5 and read chapter 6 together.

Homework

1. Go to the Junior Meeting tonight.

2. Read this article about the White murder (click here) This appeared in the NYTimes the day after the murder.

3. Read information about her trial in an interview by clicking here.

And lastly...the picture above is Evelyn Nesbit! This is the most famous photo of her, and was published in Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Wednesday

In Class
We looked at Doctorow's style to help us understand the novel as a whole, discussing his use of opinions as facts, his terse sentence structure and his omniscient point of view.

Homework
Read chapters 4 and 5, adding information to your character charts. You are going to get information about Thaw and Houdini. Pay close attention.

Snowboarding or Skiing?

I'm trying to set up the ski/snowboard trip for February 6th to Hunter Mountain. It will be similar to last year: we leave around 6:30 am, go to Hunter for the day, then return around 7pm.

I'm just waiting to hear back about what kind of discounts they can give us, but expect about 105 for bus, lesson and rentals OR about 75 for bus and full lift ticket.
Details will come soon, but start thinking of whether or not you want to take part!

Tuesday

In Class
We took a quiz on chapter one, discussed the characters thus far, and cleared up confusion we might have had with the text so far.

Homework
Read chapters 2 and 3, adding information to your character lists.

Monday

In Class

Today we talked about how nostalgia makes things seem better than they actually might have been, and analyzed how nostalgia is used in the exposition of Ragtime. We watched the opening of the musical, discussed the significance of certain lines, costumes and stage direction.

Homework

Read Chapter one, and in your notebook put at least ONE detail next to each character. Don't worry if you are confused at this point, but DO make an honest attempt to read it. You need to read it slowly and may have to read parts more than one time. Expect a simple comprehension quiz!

** Reminder** If you are doing the EXTRA CREDIT, you need to sign up with Liz (or call her) AT LEAST 24 hours before you want to go. You also need to get in touch with her by Thursday if you want to go on Sunday (she does not work Saturdays!)

Also, don't forget to attend the bookmaking workshop at lunch tomorrow (Tuesday) in Mr. Kozak's room. This is a GREAT opportunity to do something creative while also earning extra credit.

Bookmaking Competition!!!!!

Remember when you made children's books for the Transcendentalists? Did you have fun? If so, you should enter the Ezra Jack Keats bookmaking competition!!! This contest asks you to create and draw your own children's book to express yourself.
Interested? We'll have an information meeting on Tuesday in Mr. Kozak's room at lunch.

Go HERE to get information about the contest

Go HERE to see previous winners of the contest.

Friday

In Class
We held small group discussions to analyze To Build a Fire. This counted as a test grade. If you were absent (or did not participate because you hadn't read), the following homework will count as a test grade.

Homework
Write a one to three page TYPED response to the following.

This is a story about a man who goes into the Yukon and freezes to death, but what is it really about? What does this story reveal about humanity? Follow traditional essay formatting in that you will have an intro and a conclusion and examples to prove your point, but feel free to play around with the format a little. What I'm really interested in is your ability to analyze the text and reveal what YOU got out of it.

Thursday

In Class
We finished reading "To Build a Fire"

Homework
1. Bring in the signed release form
2. Prepare for class discussion. You will be working in groups to closely analyze this text. Please come prepared with questions and with sections of the text you'd like to mention. Think in terms of theme and the literary elements that are used to support that theme. Your participation in discussion will count as a test grade, so please be prepared!!!

A Note about Grades
1. If you are absent, you are allowed to make up work. You need to know, however, that this is YOUR responsibility. If you are absent, your grade in mygradebook.com will be a zero until it is made up. Quite a few of you have lower grades than you should because you have not either made up the homework or seen me to turn it in.
2. You have up to FORTY points of extra credit coming. Please strongly consider doing this work to ameliorate your grades!!

Wednesday and FREDERICK DOUGLASS EXTRA CREDIT OPTION

In Class
We put together the characteristics of naturalism and began to read Jack London's To Build a Fire, using visualization techniques.

Homework
Read the rest of page 2, and pages 3, 4 and 5. Read slowly and carefully, and take notes on anything that you may want to discuss in class on Friday. On Friday, you will be engaged in small group discussions about the short story and your performance in the group will count as a test grade. We'll discuss more about that on Thursday, but part of the grade will be using textual evidence in your verbal responses. Therefore, you should take notes of parts of the text you want to discuss.

Frederick Douglass Extra Credit
A few weeks ago, when we ended Frederick Douglass, we created quick art pieces that symbolically represented the story of The Narrative. (Ex. showing the ships to represent freedom; the root to represent hope). For up to 20 points extra credit, you can do a final version of this project. This can be in paint, crayons, collage, pencil, ink, whatever you choose. To receive the extra credit, it doesn't need to the be the best art in the world, but must show a deep and analytical understanding of the key symbols and themes in the book. This is due NO LATER than Friday, January 22nd, but I highly suggest you turn it in earlier.

Tuesday AND Extra Credit NEWS!!!!!

Today
We learned how authors use verisimilitude and vernacular to make their stories realistic. We also read "A Desertion" and held a class discussion.

Homework
Write a conversation (3/4 of a page to a page) using VERNACULAR. You can either listen to a conversation or make one up but you MUST translate the auditory conversation into written dialogue.

Extra Credit!
10 pts Go to the Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/ and bring in the ticket stub with your name
20 pts Do the above, plus write a one and a half page TYPED review of your experience. See below for paper guidelines.
IMPORTANT DETAILS
The normal cost for students is $15, BUT I've arranged a reduced rate of $8 ONLY for you guys. In order to take the reduced rate you must contact my friend, Liz, and follow other details below:

1. This rate is good Sunday - Friday (no Saturdays)
2. The rate is only available in January
3. The rate is only available for your class
4. Your students will need to make reservations in advance through me in order to recieve the $8 rate. They can contact me at
lmoran@tenement.org or at 212- 431-0233 x245 - just have them identify themselves as your students
5. Our tour schedule is available online at http://www.tenement.org/.

My suggestion would be to make a reservation for afterschool one day or for a Sunday. In order to get credit, this must be completed by January 20th!

Tenement Review Paper Guidelines
Your paper should answer the essential question: What was life like in New York City at the turn of the century? Use the questions below to guide you. I suggest you take notes during the visit, and please ask the actor/actress questions to help give you a better sense of life in New York City at the turn of the century.

What type of apartment where you in? Notice the details. What is the significance of the details you saw?
Whose apartment was it? What was the person like? What did you gather from her/him that shows what life must have been like?
What conclusions can you draw about New York City in the turn of the century? How do you know? Use a plethora of details to help support your answer.

Monday

In Class
We learned about the characteristics of realism, a writing movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We then discussed a branch of Realism called Naturalism, and looked at a vignette, "A Detail" by Stephen Crane to determine the characteristics of naturalism.

Homework
Read "An Ominous Baby" and write one paragraph which analyzes the characteristics of this piece. Discuss point of view, setting, theme, style and subject matter to get an overall sense of the characteristics of Naturalism.