Entering the Gothic House: October 24, 2016

Focus: What background should we build in order to understand American Gothic literature?

(image from https://www.thinglink.com)

1. Warming up: Playing musical chairs with Gothic topics

2. Making predictions about the Gothic stories with the quotation on the front of your booklet:

• By yourself: What does this quotation mean? Do a little bubble brainstorming or freewriting to unpack it.

• With a partner: How does this quotation connect to any or all of the brainstorming you did during musical chairs? What topics do you think we're likely to find in these Gothic stories?

3. Taking a time-out to explore how this unit will work and to set up your folders:

• Create a folder called "Gothic Literature" (or something of that nature).

• Place it inside your shared American Literature folder.

• Click HERE for Gothic Mystery #1; make a copy, and save it inside your Gothic Literature folder.

4. Investigating Gothic Mystery #1: What is the role of the Gothic house?

The Others: 0-10:00
Edward Scissorhands: 7:55-16:30

5. Wrapping up with an exit ticket

HW:
1. Continue working on your ELIC-inspired memoir. All rough drafts should now have my feedback. If you'd like further feedback or a conference, please ask me by Wednesday afternoon.

Final drafts are due November 1 by 3:00 pm (I extended the deadline by one day).

2. If you wish to revise the content of your cultural hysteria essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. 

All revisions must be submitted by November 11, which is the end of 12 weeks.

3. Heads up: We will begin reading "The Fall of the House of Usher" in class tomorrow, and the homework will be to finish it and the journal (linked here and on website) by Wednesday.

4. One more heads-up: On Wednesday, we will have a "quiz" on subject-verb agreement. You don't need to study for this as it is open-note, open-friend, and open-teacher.

Tying Up Loose Ends: October 19, 2016

Focus: What loose ends do you need to tie up before the long weekend?

Option 1: Grammar fixes for your cultural hysteria essays are due today (click here for directions). If yours aren't finished, use your class time today to wrap it up.

Option 2: Draft and structure your memoirs. These aren't due until October 31, but here are two things to keep in mind:

• You will not have further class time to work on these. From here on out, it's up to you to draft and conference with me. I will be leaving you feedback this weekend.

• I will be on our first family vacation ever from Oct 28-30 and will not be able to help you then. In other words, if you need help, you need to seek it at the beginning of next week, not the end.

Option 3: Sit back, relax, and enjoy the film ending of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR JOURNALS AND YELLOW SHEETS BY THE END OF CLASS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET CONFERENCED WITH ME.

HW:
1. If you wish to revise the content of your essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. All revisions must be submitted by November 11, which is the end of 12 weeks.

2. Optional (but encouraged): Sign up for a memoir conference by clicking HERE. Final memoirs due Oct 31 by 3:00 pm. These will be submitted electronically to www.turnitin.com rather than printed (we'll go over how to do this in class).

PLEASE REMIND YOUR PARENTS THAT I WILL ONLY BE AT CONFERENCES BETWEEN 3:00 AND 5:30. 

Shaping Your Memoirs: October 18, 2016

Focus: How do we finding meaning and shape in our memoirs?

1. Warming up with a little math and in-class focus and effort goals

2. Returning to memoir writing and considering your narrative arc

• Trying it out with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

• Making sure you've chosen your memoir and labeled it "READ THIS ONE"

• Shaping your memoir using the narrative arc; figuring out which scenes still need to be written
• Try to identify your turning point first; the rest of the arc will fall into place.

3. Continuing to structure and draft your memoir/conferencing on your ELIC journals

4. Collecting journals and yellow sheets from people I haven't conferenced with yet

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR JOURNALS AND YELLOW SHEETS BY THE END OF CLASS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET CONFERENCED WITH ME.

HW:
1. Please finish your grammar fixes tomorrow. You don't need to print them; you can just put them in your grammar folder. (See above if you need an example.) If you wish to revise the content of your essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. All revisions must be submitted by November 11, which is the end of 12 weeks.

2. Optional (but encouraged): Sign up for a memoir conference by clicking HERE. Final memoirs due Oct 31 by 3:00 pm. These will be submitted electronically to www.turnitin.com rather than printed (we'll go over how to do this in class).

PLEASE REMIND YOUR PARENTS THAT I WILL ONLY BE AT CONFERENCES BETWEEN 3:00 AND 5:30. 

Building the Foundation: October 17, 2016

Focus: What foundations do we need to build for strong writing?

1. Warming up with Grammar Rule You Must Know #1: Subject-Verb Agreement

• Make yourself a grammar folder, and place it inside your American Lit folder.

• Click HERE, make a copy, call it "Subject-Verb Agreement," and put it inside your grammar folder.

2. Investigating your personal grammar pitfalls from your cultural hysteria essays; starting on your grammar fixes and setting content goals

• Read over the feedback. Then, at the end of your essay, summarize one or two things you did well and one or two things to work on.

• Click HERE for a sample "Grammar Fix."

• You will get to use this essay as a "cheat sheet" on the timed writing at the end of the gothic unit.

3. Returning to memoir writing and considering your narrative arc

HW:
1. Please finish your grammar fixes by this Wednesday. You don't need to print them; you can just put them in your grammar folder. (See above if you need an example.) If you wish to revise the content of your essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. All revisions must be submitted by November 11, which is the end of 12 weeks.

2. Optional (but encouraged): Sign up for a memoir conference by clicking HERE. Final memoirs due Oct 31 by 3:00 pm. These will be submitted electronically to www.turnitin.com rather than printed (we'll go over how to do this in class).

3. IF YOU HAVE NOT CONFERENCED WITH ME ON YOUR JOURNAL, YOU MUST BRING IT TO CLASS TOMORROW WITH YOUR YELLOW SHEET.

Friday Freewrite: October 14, 2016

Focus: How do we find epiphanies through writing memoir?

How are you feeling today?

1. Warming up by rereading 312-314 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

• What does the Grandmother put in reverse?

• Why do you think she's putting this in reverse?

• What epiphany does she have by writing events in reverse?

• How would you describe her tone? Click HERE for complex tone words.

2. Engaging in Memoir Writing, Day 4: Click HERE for slides.

3. Looking through your memoir writing and labeling your favorite one "READ THIS ONE"; reading the final memoir guidelines by clicking HERE

HW:
1. If I haven't conferenced with you yet on your reading journal, keep bringing it to class; conferences will continue next week.

2. If you didn't have time to pick your favorite memoir piece and label it "READ THIS ONE," please do so by Monday. If you want to conference on the rough draft of your memoir, sign up for a conference by clicking HERE. If you'd prefer written feedback, then you do not need a conference.

MEMOIR FINAL DRAFTS ARE DUE OCTOBER 31, 2016

The Resolution of Reverse: October 13, 2016

Focus: What does Foer want us to understand better/differently from the ending of his novel?

1. Warming up with World War II in Reverse and your emotional response to the novel's ending

• As you watch: Which images stand out to you? What's it like to watch a war in reverse?

• After you watch: Reread the ending of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, starting on page 325. What effect did these final pages and images have on you? How do these final pages connect to the video you just watched?

2. Considering the final stage of the archetypal hero's journey and your intellectual response to the novel's ending

In the final stage of the hero's journey, the hero returns home, but he has gained a new understanding of the world around him. He can no longer live in fear of the future nor regret over the past. 

• To what extent does Oskar (or the grandmother or grandfather) fulfill the final stage of the hero's journey? 

• In other words, how does he return home? What's his new understanding of things? To what extent has he confronted his fear of the future/regret over the past? Why does Foer put the ending in reverse?

3. Enjoying our final fishbowl discussion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Page 307-end

4. Wrapping up with our responses to the focus question

HW:
1. By tomorrow: Revisit the Time page linked HERE that we explored on the first day of this unit. Watch two or three more interviews (or re-watch ones that you liked). Make a final entry in your journal about what new understanding you've gained from reading this book about 9/11, loss, survival, strength, or any other topic that surfaces in these interviews.

2. If I haven't conferenced with you yet on your reading journal, keep bringing it to class; conferences will continue tomorrow and next week.

Uncovering Patterns and Themes: October 12, 2016

Focus: What are Foer's central motifs, and how does he use them to reveal larger themes?

1. Warming up by generating a class list of Foer's motifs (patterns)

• 1st row: Book cover, images and unusual pages
• 2nd row: Fishbowl comments from first three discussions
• 3rd row: Fishbowl comments from the last two discussions
• 4th row: 4th hour syllabi
• 5th row: 6th hour syllabi
• 6th row: Your journals

2. Working in small groups to unpack the patterns and lay out the themes

• Pick your 5-10 of your favorite motifs.
• Create a concept map that visually shows how these motifs relate to each other.
• Please include quotations in your concept map to keep it connected to the text.
• Things to consider:

• What do these motifs have in common? How do they connect?
• What larger, complex idea is Foer trying to get us to understand better or differently through these motifs? 

3. Final day for reading, conferencing, and journaling

HW:
1. By tomorrow: Finish the book, Finish your journal. Feel like a rock star. 

2. By Friday: Revisit the Time page linked HERE that we explored on the first day of this unit. Watch two or three more interviews (or re-watch ones that you liked). Make a final entry in your journal about what new understanding you've gained from reading this book about 9/11, loss, survival, strength, or any other topic that surfaces in these interviews.