Summer Reading

Welcome to English 2 and English 2 Honors!

In order to be successful at the beginning of the year, you will need to do the following:

1. Check the blog and post! Mrs. West will be hosting a blog conversation about our summer reading, so please join! It may benefit you later in unexpected ways. J
2. Buy a hardcopy of My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.  Why a hardcopy? You will need a real paper book in order to mark up, take notes and meditate as you read this inspiring novel that will lead you to deep personal insight.

1. Highlight and mark your text. As you read, you should be thinking about and jotting down notes that answer the questions, “Would I have done the same in this situation?” and “What is motivating each character in how they deal with the situations life had sent their way?” Here are a few tools…

·        Make notes about writing style; in this case Picoult changes her style to match the personality of each character. Take notes about style to figure out how she does this.

·        Draw a Key next to any text that seems key to the theme or character development.

·        Leave question marks or emoticons in the margin to remind you of your thoughts without writing too many words.

·        Highlight key passages.

·        Draw pictures in the margins to remind you of the subject of a page, paragraph or chapter.

·        Use Venn Diagrams to compare characters.

·        Make brief notes about your own experiences if a passage reminds you of something from your life or something else that helps you to understand more depth in the passage (many books make references to songs, movies, or other writings, etc…).

·        Every time you see a word you don’t know, look it up and write the definition near it. You could even create a glossary in the back of the book. New vocab is key in crafting a good SAT essay.

4. Watch the movie. That’s right, there’s a movie! You should watch it because we won’t get time to watch the whole thing in class. However, the book is drastically different from the movie. You will need to be prepared to discuss those differences with the class.

Why should I read and take notes? You should read and take notes so that you can be part of the class discussion at the beginning of our time together in class. There is nothing worse than being asked for your input and not having anything to contribute because you did not bother to read. Also, there will be a test within the first week of school. You don’t want to start off the year with a sad grade. Finally, you want to set good habits that will carry through the year. Your instructors have carefully chosen texts that are not only interesting and insightful, but carry themes that will go hand in hand through our final unit at the end of the year.

·        Above all else, relax. This novel is entertaining and interesting. Enjoy your summer with family and friends. Perhaps some of what you read in My Sister’s Keeper will lend itself to some great discussion with family members.

Tuesday 5/19 ~ Test Review

Click here for Mrs. West's class review form.

Get started on your summer reading for junior year!

Click here if you are taking regular English III.

Click here if you are taking AP Language and Composition.

Monday 5/18 ~ If you've made it this far....

Final four "If" test!

When you finish, please write three multiple choice questions for our review game.

Consider these topics:

• Poetry Terms plus these  applied here  and here 
• Poetry Forms: sonnet, limerick, villanelle
• Confused words here and here
• Punctuation: Bedford 39 a-e and review
• Logical Fallacies
• Persuasion in definition and example

Block Day, 5/14-15 ~ Mock SAT Essay ~ Poetry Analysis

GRAMMAR ~ Go over review answers:

1. A client has left his/her cell phone in our conference room.
2. The films we made of Kilauea – on our trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – illustrate a typical spatter cone eruption.
3. Samantha selected the pass/fail option for Chemistry 101.
4. Of three engineering fields, chemical, mechanical, and materials, Keegan chose materials engineering for its application to toy manufacturing. 
5. There are three points of etiquette in poker: 1. always allow someone else to cut the cards, 2. don't forget to ante up, and 3. never stack your chips. 
6. In Lifeboat, Alfred Hitchcock appears [some say without his knowledge] in a newspaper advertisement for weight loss.
7. The writer Chitra Divakaruni explained her work with other Indian American immigrants: "Many women who came to Maitri [a women's support group in San Francisco] needed to know simple things like opening a bank account or getting citizenship. . . . Many women in Maitri spoke English, but their English was functional rather than emotional. They needed someone who understands their problems and speaks their language."

POETRY

• In-Class Essay

HW: Study "If"!!!! The quiz on the full poem is on Monday. Would it help you if you could sing it?
Thanks Ethan for finding the helpful video!

Final Exam Schedule

"If" Final Test is on Monday!

Wednesday, 5/13 ~ If you can keep your head...during dead week.

GRAMMAR ~ Test yourself!

1. A client has left his/her cell phone in our conference room.
2. The films we made of Kilauea – on our trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – illustrate a typical spatter cone eruption.
3. Samantha selected the pass/fail option for Chemistry 101.
4. Of three engineering fields, chemical, mechanical, and materials, Keegan chose materials engineering for its application to toy manufacturing. 
5. There are three points of etiquette in poker: 1. always allow someone else to cut the cards, 2. don't forget to ante up, and 3. never stack your chips. 
6. In Lifeboat, Alfred Hitchcock appears [some say without his knowledge] in a newspaper advertisement for weight loss.
7. The writer Chitra Divakaruni explained her work with other Indian American immigrants: "Many women who came to Maitri [a women's support group in San Francisco] needed to know simple things like opening a bank account or getting citizenship. . . . Many women in Maitri spoke English, but their English was functional rather than emotional. They needed someone who understands their problems and speaks their language."

MEMORIZATION

• Test on stanzas 1-3

The New SAT

• The new essay will be 50 min. and feature a passage to analyze.  Your study of persuasive argument (ethos, pathos, logos), research, article evaluation, annotations, and debate preparation are excellent analytical groundwork. 
• The new SAT will have a new scoring rubric. 
• You will be scored in three areas:
• 1. Reading: How well do you understand WHAT the text actually says?
• 2. Analysis: How well do you understand HOW it says what it says?  How well are you applying the prompt to the text in your essay (the analytical task)?
• 3. Writing: How well do you write (good structure, grammar, spelling, word choice)?
• In each of those three, you will receive a score of 1 to 4.  Instead of combining the three, you will have three separate numbers (such as 3,2,2).  To make matters a bit more complicated, you have two readers whose individual scores combine.  Thus, you will actually see something between 2 and 8 for each of the three categories when you actually take the test.  Yes, quite a few changes.
• Now look over the sample SAT rubric. 
• Review more details about what the new SAT will ask you to do. 

Tuesday, 5/12 ~ Star Testing

GRAMMAR /The Slash/

• Read and take notes on Bedford 39.
• Write one sentence using a slash correctly.

STAR TESTING

• Open app.
• Enter your MV user name, usually 1st letter of 1st name + 4 letters of last.
• ex/ "abrid" for Allison Bridgette
• Resident students use birth name.
• If there are less than four letters in last name, then you will use the first letter(s) of your first.
• Some student names match, so have your teacher check the list if you cannot remember your user name. 
• Enter the password as "password".
• Select "Star Reading"
• Tap next and start.
• Just in casers: Monitor password is "Te@ch13".

HOMEWORK

• Study for "If" memorization test (stanzas 1-3)

Monday, 5/11 ~ Are you a Watson-Villanelle?

GRAMMAR

• The Ellipsis...Read and take notes on Bedford 39.
• Write one sentence using an ellipsis correctly.

POETRY

• Group presentations on Villanelles. Please upload your group written analysis on Google drive here for West or Bridgette.

MEMORIZATION

• Practice the 3rd stanza of "If."

HOMEWORK

• Please get the Star Testing app back on your ipad tonight. We will use it tomorrow!

Block Day ~ Don't run from the Villanelle!

GRAMMAR

• [BRACKETS] ~ Read and take notes on Bedford 39.
• Write one sentence using brackets correctly.

MEMORIZATION

• Practice the 3rd stanza of "If."

LIMERICKS!

• Trade limericks with a partner...and check for:
• anapestic meter
• AABBA rhyme scheme (4 or 5 lines)
• Is it fun AND classy? 
• Please post your limericks in this google form.

POETRY

• New terms for your study guide: Refrain and Villanelle. 
• EQ: What is a Villanelle? Click here to take notes from the honors blog.
• Prepare for another small group presentation.
• In groups, look at your Villanelle and answer:
• How do you know what the poem means considering the devices and structure? 
• What is the effect of the refrain (repeating line) in the poem?
• Does the meaning of that refrain line change each time it is repeated?

Wednesday 5/6 ~ Will your limerick be a riddle too?

DUE: Reno Sonnet Analysis (1/2 page).

MEMORIZATION ~ "If"
*3rd stanza quiz due next Tuesday!

POETRY ~ The Limerick Form

• Finish Sonnet Analysis presentations
• Requirements to be a Limerick:
• 4-5 lines, AABBA
• Some anapestic meter
• About a person
• Topic is always funny or light-hearted
• It CAN be a riddle
• Click here for examples

HW: Write a Limerick to share with the class tomorrow! Bonus if we get to figure out who it is about. NOTE: You cannot make anyone embarrassed or sad with your art. Pick on a celebrity :)

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Tuesday 5/5 ~ A sonnet finale!

MEMORIZATION

• Quiz! Please write down the first two stanzas of "If" on a half sheet of paper. Be careful to get the line separation and punctuation correct. 50 pts!

GRAMMAR

• PARENTHESES~ Read and take notes on Bedford 39b (under Punctuation, Part VII).
• Provide at least one example sentence for each application of parentheses.

POETRY

• Finish sonnet presentations.
• EQ: How do I know what the poem means based on its structure and devices? 

HW

• Did you know that we have an original sonnet writer just across the hall? Look at Mr. Reno's blog and pick one of his sonnets to write an analysis. Answer in a 1/2 page analysis...
• What is this sonnet about and how do you know by looking at the structure, devices and punctuation? (It will be cheating if you ask him to explain. He knows of your assignment, so don't even think about it! :)

Monday 5/1 ~ Sonnets Check!

GRAMMAR

Yikes....

• Our last grammar knowledge before the final will be about punctuation. You should add these notes to your Notability document study guide.
• The DASH ~ Read and take notes on Bedford 39a (under Punctuation, Part VII).
• Provide at least one example sentence for each application of the dash.

POETRY: Sonnet Presentations

• Take notes on other poems as they could appear on the final.
• Make sure you read the poem to the class and demonstrate how the structural hints in the poem lead you to your interpretation. 

MEMORIZATION ~ Quiz tomorrow on first two stanzas!!! Know your punctuation and spelling please. :)