Look here for course updates, homework and reminders!

5.18:
Here's the schedule for the remainder of the year!
   Week of May 24: Shelley on Monday, Keats on Tuesday, Portfolio Work Session on Wednesday, Coleridge on Thursday and Byron on Friday. PORTFOLIO DUE ON TUESDAY, JUNE 1ST!
   Week of May 31: Closed on Monday, Modern Poetry Reading Session on Tuesday and Wednesday, & Group Discussion/Work Day on Thursday and Friday.
   Week of June 7: Oral Reading and Discussion of Modern Poetry on Monday and Tuesday. Final day of Class is Wednesday--Complete course evaluatio and review writing folder. Exams begin tomorrow! You've made it through British Literature! YEAH!! Get ready for graduation practice!!!

5.15:
We're getting closer to graduation! This week looks like this: Monday is closure to the 18th century survey; Tuesday is William Blake; Wednesday is 17th century test with OEQ due; Thursday is the Mock Crash--No class; and Friday is William Wordsworth. HW: Work on your portfolio!

5.07:
This week the focus is on the 18th Century. On Monday--Essays and Pope's epigrams; Tuesday--Satire and "A Modest Proposal"; Wednesday--Gray's elegy; Thursday--"Rape of the Lock"' and Friday--Loose ends and Burns's poems. HW: Work on portfolio and essay due next Wednesday.

17th Century Syllabus / 18th Century - Romanticism Period Syllabi

5.02:
This week we will focus on final prep for the AP test. Be sure to review handouts and tip sheets. Other than that, make sure your portfolio is up-to-date. On Friday, we will work on writing folders.

4.24:
This week we will focus on the remaining 17th Century readings. Monday will focus on the Metaphysical poets. Tuesday and Wednesday will focus on PARADISE LOST. Be ready for a reading quiz on text excerpt on Tuesday. Thursday will focus on Bunyan's VANITY FAIR. Friday will be an AP day! HW: Read as needed and review course work for AP test.

4.17:
This week we will focus on Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry. Monday will focus on Jonson. Be ready for the quiz. Tuesday will have you working on a practice AP practice test. Wednesday will focus on Herrick, Suckling and Lovelace. Thursday will focus on Metaphysical poetry. On Friday, you will compose a prose explication. Don't forget--Reader Response essay (2-3 pp only) on Cavalier poetry is due Wednesday. RR essay on Metaphysical poetry is due April 26th. Keep reading!!!

4.10:
This week will close our HAMLET unit and begin the 17th Century, along with some AP practice! Recitations begin on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we will focus on AP work. On Friday we will begin the 17th Century with notes. HW for the week: Read the 17th Century. Reader Response paper on Cavalier poetry due 4/21. Reader Response paper on Metaphysical poetry due 4/26.

4.01:
This week we will be watching two versions of HAMLET. Your HW is to prepare your recitation for Monday, April 12th and read the next unit. Syllabus will be distributed for you to follow.

3.27:
This week we finish HAMLET. Monday and Tuesday will be devoted to supplemental exercises and discussion. Wednesday is the objective portion of the test, and Thursday is the essay test. Over the Spring Break, simply work on your recitation. They will begin on Thursday, April 8th.

3.19:
This week we will discuss HAMLET every day except Thursday. Plan on an AP explication on that day. Your HW this week is to complete research paper. Your final paper is due on or before 3/25. No late papers will be accepted. Don't forget to use Turn-It-In.

3.9: For the week of March 15th, we will focus on HAMLET. Be sure to have your notebook, unit packet and HAMLET text with you. HW: Rough draft due 3/11 OR 3/15. Final Paper due 3/19 OR 3/25. No lates will be accepted on 3/25, the last day to submit paper. Don't forget to attach your originality report.

3.7:
This week is split in two. On Monday and Tuesday, we will finish research paper/portfolio conferences. On Monday you will have the period to work on notecards, due at the end of the period. On Tuesday, you will have a quiz on Act I of HAMLET. I will finish conferences during the period. On Wednesday, you will have a quiz on Act II and Act III. On Thursday, I will collect your rough draft. You will have a quiz on Act IV and Act V. See below for the point rubric for the rough draft.

            Outline (25 pts), Page 1 (30 pts), Developed Body (50 pts), Concluding Paragraph (15), Works Cited Page (20 pts), Typed/Stapled/MLA format (50 pts) and Cover Page (10 pts). This should also be in your MLA packet. See GT page (research link) as well for more details.

You are off on Friday. Enjoy your 3-day weekend. We'll spend next week discussing HAMLET!

NEW POSTS (2.20): "Research Paper Specifics" and Purdue Online Research Site
These two resources should be helpful during the research process. Happy Writing!

2.25: This week with the HSPA testing schedule, we will not meet on Tuesday or Wednesday. On Monday, Thursday and Friday, we will have research paper and portfolio conferences. 15 notecards are due on Friday. Use the three conference days constructively! HAMLET is next on the agenda, so finish your reading.

2.22:
Here's the agenda for the week: Tuesday and Wednesday we will work on surveying Shakespeare's songs and sonnets. Be sure to bring your textbook. Research paper due date is Wednesday as well. We will work on HAMLET notes on Thursday. FRIDAY IS A BIG DAY!!! You will bring your year-long portfolio to class for conferencing and checking!! Don't forget research paper conferences begin next week.

Renaissance Syllabus / Renaissance Term List

2.6:
Yeah...it snowed, and it snowed a good 18 inches! Here's our agenda for the next two weeks. Monday, 2.8, we'll finish our Renaissance prose survey and then move onto Shakespeare's songs and sonnets. We'll hopefully finish much on Tuesday before we head off to the library from Wednesday, 2.10-2.18. During our research days in the library, you should be focusing on reading HAMLET. I hope to start the play on 2.22. Be ready for act comprehension quizzes! DON'T FORGET YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY IS DUE 2.11.

2.1:
This week the focus will be on Renaissance prose after we review THE FAERIE QUEENE. Have Spenser's allegory read for Monday. After the term quest, we'll have Jenn's prose selection and then Spenser's allegory. On Tuesday, we'll complete reviewing the excerpt and follow with the prose listed on your syllabus. This will take us to Thursday when we'll update our writing folders. On Friday, I'll introduce HAMLET but we cover Shakespeare's songs and sonnets before our six days in the library. Remember, research essay is due February 11. HAMLET will be due after the library.

1.23:
This week we will be focusing on the Renaissance and its poets. Monday will be a follow-up to last week with notes completion and discussion of Petrarch, Wyatt and Sidney. Tuesday: Spenser's poems with quest on intro notes and some terms on Wednesday. Wednesday: Quest and Marlowe/Raleigh. Thursday: We will begin THE FAERIE QUEENE together. Friday: Prose explication. Term quest on Monday.

1.19:
After the AP annotation on Tuesday and discussion on Wednesday, we will begin our next unit on The Renaissance Period. HW this week should be to focus on your research essay. Don't forget your assigned prose date. Sidney poems (according to syllabus) will be due on Monday.

1.07:
The week of January 11th will be an easy one in the classroom, so to speak, but a working week for you outside of school. Presentations from Monday through Thursday & AP Explication on Friday!! Take advantage of the time to work on the following assignments while you have no reading to prepare for the week: (1) Preliminary outline with revised thesis due Tuesday, January 19; (2) Independent critical research essay due on February 11th; and (3) Prose round--see schedule posted in classroom.

12.14:
Okay, here we go up to winter break on Wednesday, December 23--We're finishing the Prologue on 12.14; AP work on 12.15-16; Reader-Response essay on CT due this Wednesday!! Explication on 12.17; and work session on 12.18 due to the Renaissance assembly. CHARACTER SKETCH--MIN. 1 PAGE TYPED, 12-PT FONT, SINGLE-SPACED, TITLED WITH CHARACTER, MAX OF TWO TYPED PAGES--IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, DEC. 23. BE PREPARED TO READ SKETCH ON THAT DAY.

On Monday, 12.21 we will discuss the Pardoner's Tale and the Wife of Bath's Tale. Be sure to have both read for this class; we'll also assign independent reading tales. Work on that independent project is due January 13... be prepared to submit work and present on that date. On Tuesday, 12.22, we'll file all work and update writing cards. Winter Fun and Sketch reading on Wednesday, 12.23.

Over the winter break, work on ongoing assignments, such as finding your prose selection for round two; working on your independent tale project; and/or review the CT for unit test on Wednesday, January 6. Other than that, rest up and enjoy some time away from early, early mornings and late, late nights!!!

12.6:
This week we will focus on The Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Remember, your packet work is due Wednesday, 12/9. Tuesday we will have an AP Free Response writing. Your HW this week in addition to the packet: Work on reader response essay due Wednesday, 12/16. Consider the two samples given to you on whick to model your first RR essay.

11.29:
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Break! Tomorrow it's back to the grind. Dates of Interest: Monday we will conclude unit with your questions and overview discussion of Arthur and SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT readings. Come with your questions. Tuesday is the AP Free Response Write-On-Demand. Wednesday is the Medieval Period Unit Test. Thursday and Friday we will work on readings in class.

11.15:
From now until Thanksgiving Break, we will focus on closing the Medieval Period unit. 11.16 will focus on ballads; 11.17-18 will focus on EVERYMAN; 11.19 will see a ballad assessment (T/F on ballad qualities and a writing response to a typical ballad); 11.20 will focus on SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT. You should have Arthur reading ready for Monday, 11.23. Come with unit questions as well. We'll have a free response AP writing on Tuesday, 11.24; Final unit test will be on Wednesday, 11.25. It is objective and short answer. It will cover the entire unit to date!

11.05:
This week we begin the Medieval Period! You should read and take notes on the Introduction to the Period in both textbooks. Then, begin reading the ballads, first, for Wednesday/Thursday and EVERYMAN for Friday. I will be giving you a syllabus on Monday. You can record the dates for the other readings on that sheet. Don't forget that the second college essay is due on Friday.

10.31:
With the short week, we'll be reviewing any graded work and updating our writing folders. We will also complete the 1st Marking Period Writing Folder Self-Assessment card. We will then take a closer look at explications and text-based responses. HW: Read ahead...introduction to Medieval Period in textbooks! Be sure your logs are up-to-date. The last bit of HW: College Essay #1 due on Wednesday, November 4th. College Essay #2 due next Friday.

10.24:
This week we will focus on explications and the college essay. Review your AP packet for Friday's explication. This will be a timed explication. There is a scheduled assembly on Friday; this may affect our class period and change the date of this explication. We will see!!! You're HW focus this week will also be on completing a choice college essay. This will probably be a final MP grade.

10.17:
This week we will review the unit via brainstorming to seminar questions. While we won't be able to address each one, you should come to class with questions about those topics and your readings for the unit. They may be posted on the "Questions Post-It" that will be up. Unit Test--Day One--is Thursday, October 22; Unit Essay will be composed on Friday, October 23. Your homework for the week is simple: finish your sample personal and textual logs for Wednesday and then review for the unit tests. Weekend HW: Read introduction to the Middle Ages in your the Prentice-Hall and Glencoe textbooks!

10.09:
During this four-day week, we will work on Anglo-Saxon poetry. Be sure to have "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer" read for Tuesday. We'll begin BEOWULF on Wednesday and continue with the epic until Friday. Have the Bede readings (Glencoe p. 98+ and Prentice-Hall p.78+) read for Friday. HW this week: Be sure you are up-to-date with readings. Compare/Contrast chart will be distributed on Tuesday and due Wednesday. Next week there will be a unit test on Wednesday; essay-on-demand on Thursday. LOGS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, 10.21...one personal and one text.

It's a full week of preparing to close the first text unit. Plan your time carefully!

10.03:
This week you should be working on unit readings. You should have "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer" read for Wednesday's class. BEOWULF should be ready for Thursday. Bring your text with you to class from now on.

Unit One: Anglo-Saxon Period.    Anglo-Saxon Syllabus Readings should be done by Wednesday, 10/7. Read text introductions, as well.

9.27:
Reminder...Summer readings tests are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (9/29-10/1). AP response to prose question/handout due on Friday, 10/2.