English II at the Mount

1. Rought Draft #3 (comparing themes) due

2. Thesis statement #4 - "Should HS students read Shakespeare?"

3. Final revisions for #1 - March 6th/7th
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1. Bring in a copy of the lyrics of three (3) of your favorite songs.

2. 4B: Rough draft paragraphs (comparing themes) due on Tuesday

Later dates:

Wednesday, the 29th - rough draft paragraphs (comparing themes) due for A-Day classes
March 6th/7th - last day to turn in revisions for "Death in Sumerian culture" paragraphs

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1. Performance Assessment next class (comparing epics, close reading of a text, citing evidence, writing thesis statements)

2. Thesis Statement due: compare and/or contrast one or more themes in Beowulf and Gilgamesh

3. Final Paragraph due: comparison/contrast between Sumerian & Anglo-Saxon culture

4. Final Revisions due by March 6th - death in Sumeria paragraph

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Finish the chart we began in class, answering the question, "Is Beowulf a good king?"  We set it up in two columns:

Qualities of a good king:                 Does Beowulf have this quality? (w/ textual evidence)

1

2

3

4

Make sure that you evidence is specific and contains QUOTES from the text as well as their page numbers.

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I'm offering 5 quiz/test points to anyone who makes a legitimate submission to the MSM literary magazine.  I reserve the right to ask students to redo their submission if I do not think sufficient effort has been put into the attempt.  The theme for this issue is Defamiliarization... details about this concept and submission guidelines can be found at the lit mag website, msmlitmag.yolasite.com.

Deadline: March 16th
Send electronic submissions to: msmlitmag@gmail.com


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1. Turn your thesis statement from last class into a paragraph.  Your paragraphs will be graded according to the following categories:

Focus (narrow, manageable topic; all details relevant to main point)
Organization ("Bring it up - Back it up - Sum it up")
Content (interesting, debatable topic; original ideas; plenty of textual support)
Usage (grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation; formatting - typed & MLA style)
Style (interesting diction, varied sentence construction, writing "flows")

2...
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Read pp. 94-98 of Beowulf ("For the youthful warrior" and ending at "of life and lordship I have long held") and create a story board -- a series of pictures with summaries and page numbers describing the most important events in the story.  For each box (you should have at least six), including a drawing, a summary in your own words of what happens, and the page number on which it happens.

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1. A DAYS: Complete a Venn diagram (or other organizer) comparing and contrasting Anglo-Saxon and Sumerian culture, using evidence from Beowulf and Gilgamesh respectively.  You have many avenues to explore -- religion, values, economics, warriors, social status, qualities of a good king, etc, etc, etc -- so I should see more than three bullet points!

4B ONLY: You are going to use the "Council of the Gods" organizer to compare and contrast Gilgamesh and Beowulf as heroes / good kings.  You are ...
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1. Complete the back of the "Metacognition: Troubleshooting" Worksheet.

2. Use some of our reading comprehension strategies to work your way through the first two pages of the Beowulf handout that I gave you in class.  Circle unfamiliar words, mark passages you're struggling with, write comments and questions in the margins, etc.  Be sure to read slowly, identify if you're understanding what you're reading, reread confusing passages, and try to work out words using context.

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