THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES FILM VIEWING

Since we are reading The Hobbit, it would be nice if students got together to watch the 3rd and final film. Remember, some of your fellow students may have difficulty going (either paying for a ticket or having a ride), so consider making new friends and finding yourself in the holiday spirit. Tickets are already on sale. Since it is reserved seating, the sooner you get them, the better :) WHAT: THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES WHEN: 3:25 PM | Friday, December 19, 2014 HFR RealD 3D WHERE:

CINEMARK MOVIE BISTRO - EDINBURG 2001 W Trenton, Suite 116  Edinburg , TX 78539 956-631-3990  1080@cinemark.com

Questions Due this Friday

Sadly I am being used for testing; therefore I will not be with you for the rest of the week :(

Please read the poems "On Her loving Equally" and "Written at the Close of Spring" (pg. 700-704) and answer the 10 multiple choice questions that can be found in our class folder.

In Addition, read the essay "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" (pg. 718-726) and answer multiple choice questions 1-5 and short answer questions 11-12.

If you are going to answer them on paper, put all of the answers on the same paper.
If you are emailing it to me, label the subject THE RISE OF WOMEN WRITERS.

Questions on A Modest Proposal

Directions: Recall the ideas presented in Swift’s satirical essay. Then answer each question in one or two sentences.

   1.  According to Swift’s essay, why do many women in Ireland become beggars?

   2.  How does Swift propose to make children “sound, useful members of the commonwealth”?

   3.  What reason does Swift give for not aiming his proposal at teenagers or the elderly?

   4.  Swift lists several alternative proposals that are based on common sense, fairness and decency. What reasons does Swift give for refusing to discuss these alternatives?

   5.  Swift challenges politicians who dislike his proposal to ask the poor how they feel about it. What does Swift suggest the poor would say?

Unit 3: The Restoration and the 18th Century 1660-1798

We learned about The Age of Reason, social observations and the rise of women writers that occurred and played a part in the development of British Literature.

Homework

Read Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. We will begin discussing satire and related social commentary. It can be found in our class folder (unit 3)

King Lear Act II Questions

Answer these 4 questions. It will be due tomorrow, November 6th.

ACT II

1. How does Edmund make himself appear to be the better son in Gloucester’s eyes? (II, i)

2. Why should the reader not be surprised at Regan’s decision to side with her sister rather than her father? (II, ii)

3. List and discuss Edgar’s reasons for playing the part of Poor Tom. (II, iii)

4. How do Goneril and Regan assert power over their father, thus driving him into a raging storm? (II, iv)

Quiz: Questions on King Lear Act 1

Answer the questions below and turn them in on Monday.

ACT I

1.Why does Lear favor Goneril’s and Regan’s professions of love over Cordelia’s? (I, i)

2. How is this favoritism related to the exiling of Kent?

3. Why does Edmund wish to overthrow Edgar’s claim to his father’s title? (I, ii)

4. In what manner has Lear offended Goneril and her household? (I, iii)

5. How is Goneril justified in her anger?

6. According to the Fool’s arguments, how has Lear “deserved” this poor treatment from Goneril? (I, iv)

Apply Texas Day, November 1st

November 1^st is Apply Texas Day at Memorial. Seniors have begun their Apply Texas through their Government or Economics class. Some were able to finish but many have not. Ms. Herrera will be in the Library to help any senior finalize their applications from 9:00AM to 12:00PM. 

Understanding Stage Direction

Check out this website to understand how stage direction is used.

King Lear

We will be reading Shakespeare's King Lear.

There is a folder with a copy of the play and relevant materials in our class folder.

I will be posting guiding questions that will be turned in a scheduled times for a quiz grade. Keep up with the reading, in case of absences, and keep up with the questions.

Volunteer Opportunity!

The McAllen Public Library is hosting the McAllen Book Festival on November 8, 2014. There are volunteer opportunities. Help the Valley become an interesting place to live.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do

Those who have nothing useful to do and seek some way of passing the time are liable to drift into wrongdoing.

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose

This is an attack on hypocrisy, on those who cover up their evil-doing by quoting passages from the Bible. The proverb comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice:

     The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
     An evil soul, producing holy witness,
     Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
     a Goodly apple, rotten at the heart:
     Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

The following, from Richard III, also applies:

     But then I sign; and with a piece of Scripture,
     Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
     And thus I clothe my naked villainy
     With old odd ends, stolen out of holy writ;
    And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

Death is the great leveller

There can be no such distinctions as wealth, poverty, greatness, humbleness among the dead. When dead we lose our worldly attributes. IN this sense death makes us all equal.

Dead men tell no tales

Death silences a man forever. if he knows something in his lifetime that others do not want made public, he cannot reveal their secret when he is dead, so they are safe.

The darkest hour is that before the dawn

Even when things seem at their very worst, they may shortly improve.

Proverb of the Day

Cowards die many times before their deaths

This proverb is a quotation from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Caesar says:
          Cowards die many times before their deaths;
           The valiant never tastes of death but once.

A coward often imagines that he is on the point of death when he is not, with the result that, unlike a brave man, he frequently experiences the fear of dying.

Canterbury Tales Assessment Question Results

48 out of 105 responded

Summary

Option 4 is a combination of both. Your right to vote is a seriously powerful thing, you gotta be careful how you use it.

* I am giving you a rare opportunity to realize your mistake and the ability to correct it. If I get 75% or more of our students (79+ student votes) to ratify the results, I will change the result to be a project. In order to do this, I will need students to comment 'ratify' in the comment section of this post. This opportunity will end at midnight.

What type of test would you like to take at the end of The Canterbury Tales?

Formative Assessment (50+ question test)	4	8%
Project (Creating your own Canterbury Tale	16	33%
Either one will work.	5	10%
Option 4	23	48%

Proverb of the Day

Courtesy costs nothing

There is nothing to be lost by behaving in a courteous way.

Proverb of the Day

A constant guest is never welcome

People like their friends' company at fairly long intervals. If their friends come too often they are apt to grow to dislike them.

Which Banned Book are You?

In celebration of Banned Books Week, take the time to take this survey. Find out which banned book fits your personality!

Homework - Analyze Passage

The following passage is found in The Wife of Bath's Tale

     "Thus the wise poet of the Florentines,
Dante by name, has written in these lines,
For such is the opinion Dante launches:
'Seldom arises by these slender branches
Prowess of men, for it is God, no less,
Wills us to claim of Him our Gentleness.'
For of our parents nothing can we claim
Save temporal things, and these may hurt and maim.

Here we have an allusion to Dante (a famous Italian poet), do some quick research on him and explain how this quote relates to the crones explanation to her new husband.

Add a comment to this post with your answer.

Proverb of the Day

Constant dripping wears away the stone.

The lesson to be learnt is summed up in the last two words of this quotation from Ovid: 'What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Only persevere.

Similar proverbs:

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.
It's dogged that does it.
Little by little and bit by bit.
Little strokes fell great oaks.
Rome was not built in a day.
Slow but sure wins the race.
Where there's a will there's a way.

Homework - What is the thing that women most desire?

In the Wife of Bath's Tale, the knight accused of rape has a year and a day to answer one question: "What is the thing that women most desire?"

You are charged to answer this question twice. First, give me your personal opinion, then infer and attempt to answer the way the knight should answer given his position, during his time period.

Email or write down your answers.

Proverb of the Day

Circumstances alter cases.

Here 'case' has the meaning of situation, the position in which one finds oneself; and this position is determined by the circumstances surrounding it. If the circumstances change, the situation (i.e. the case) changes also.

Quiz on Monday

You will have a quiz on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Prologue on Monday. You will need to be able to identify key pilgrims and examples of situational irony found in the prologue.

I have added a file that summarizes each pilgrim.

Proverb of the Day

Cherchez la femme

This is one of those proverbs that have remained more common in their original form than in the English translation. It is French for 'Find the woman' and means that whenever there is any trouble there is usually a woman behind it.

Proverb of the Day

Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance

This warns us against wasting time on trivial aspects of a matter, because in doing so we may neglect the essential matter itself.

Proverb of the Day

A cat may look at a king

           A cat may look at a King
          And surely I may look at an ugly thing.

This is one of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. It means: 'If a cat may look at a king, I have as much right to take an interest in what you are doing. Are you so important that I can't even look at you?'

Proverb of the Day

Call a spade a spade.

Speak plainly and to the point, saying exactly what you mean and using the simplest terms.

Proverb of the Day

Brevity is the soul of wit

This was already a proverb in Shakespeare's time. In Hamlet we find the fist record of it in literature.

A witty remark or retort is all the better for being short.

Example: 'How would you like your hair cut, sir?' asked the talkative hairdresser. "If possible in silence,' replied the customer.

Proverb of the Day

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

If a hunter has shot one bird, he should be satisfied with that and not go off looking for the ones that flew away.
We use the proverb to mean that it is better to accept something small than to reject it and hope to get more later on.

Proverb of the Day

The biter is sometimes bit

'Biter' is a slang word for a cheat or swindler, e.g. a cardsharper. When he himself is cheated by his prospective victim. 'the biter is bit'. In a general way, this refers to any form of retribution.

Stop the Internet Slowdown!

Proverb of the Day

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know

An unknown danger or hardship is much more frightening than one we have already experienced.

Introduce yourself Beowulf Style!

We just read Beowulf's speech introducing himself to King Hrothgar. He did it in grand fashion. Now it is your turn. Create a speech introducing yourself through your family line and your boasting. You can describe your siblings and other actions/activities you think are noteworthy in your life. No epic boasting is without its 'embellishments' so you can have creative license to 'beef up' you boasts (try not to make it too unbelievable or you'll be called out on it!)

I will pick this up tomorrow, Wednesday, September 10th. It will be a quiz grade.

*** Following the Anglo-Saxon Alliterative form of poetry will earn you extra credit!

Proverb of the Day

Better be sure than sorry

Here 'sure' is used in the old sense of 'safe, free from danger'. 'If we reach the forest, ' says a character in Shakespeare, 'we shall be sure enough.' So the literal meaning of the proverb is: 'It is better to be safe than to do anything that may place us in a dangerous position.'

Unit 1: Anglo-Saxon Period & Beowulf Test

We will have a test on the Unit 1 materials and Beowulf on Monday, September 15th.

Proverb of the Day

Better late than never

It is better to do a thing after much procrastination than not to do it at all. It is often used as a semi-humorous excuse, e.g. 'Dear Tom, -- I'm sorry I've not written for such a long time, but better late than never...' A longer version of the original Latin proverb is: 'Better late than never, but better never late. '

Homework for the Weekend

Read the first 10 pages of the Beowulf Summary document located in our class folder. Be prepared to have an engaging discussion on the characters and plot of the story.

See ya Monday!

English Proverb of the Day

The bait hides the hook

It is the hook that catches the fish, but it is the bait that tempts it to take the hook into its mouth. The moral is: beware of an attractive offer, for there is very likely to be a catch in it.

English Proverb of the Day

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

We should not always be working. Unless we can enjoy some form of recreation, we become stale and our work suffers in consequence.

European Trip Summer 2015!!!

Mr. Lopez in room 75 is sponsoring a European tour this summer. I am planning to join him and would like to extend the invitation to my students.

There will be a parent meeting tomorrow night, Thursday, in room 75 at 5:30. Those that bring their parents will receive extra credit toward our next test. I will have a sign in sheet.

We will discuss more about this on Friday.

I'm excited!!!

English Proverb of the Day

Any port in a storm

In times of difficulty or danger any refuge is better than none.

Independent Reading

Access our class folder and read (in Unit 1 Folder.):
Unit 1 - Introduction
Unit 1 - Epic
English present and future

You will be tested on the materials from all three documents next week. We will be covering these documents, but it is important that you read them independently (or in groups) so that you can get a double dose of the material.

We will begin our lesson in Anglo Saxon Literature accompanied with Beowulf.

English Proverb of the Day

A bad workman always blames his tools.

Good workmanship depends no more on the quality of the tools than it does on the way in which they are used, so to blame the tools for bad workmanship is to attempt to excuse one's own lack of skill. For example: 'I lost he match because my racket needed re-stringing.' "My essay wasn't very good because I had to use someone else's pen.' 'How did you expect me to catch fish with this rod?' To all these the response could be: 'A bad workman always blames his tools.'

English Proverb of the Day

As you make your bed, so you must lie in it

Should you make your bed badly, you will probably have an uncomfortable night, for which you will have only yourself to blame. In much the same way, all of us are responsible for the consequences of our actions, so we must put up with them.

As you sow, so shall you reap.

English Proverb of the Day

All roads lead to Rome

Toward the end of the fourteenth century Chaucer wrote in a treatise on the astrolabe, an ancient astronomical instrument, that 'diverse paths lead diverse folk the right way to Rome'. From this and other reference to the many roads to Rome has developed the proverb meaning that a number of person - scientists, perhaps - can arrive at one common objective by different means.

English Proverb of the Day

All cats are grey in the dark

This suggests that beauty is unimportant. Beneath the outward appearance people are all much alike. 'When the candles are out,' wrote Plutarch, 'all women are fair.'

English Proverb of the Day

Advice when most needed is least heeded

Advice is something that wise men don't need and foolish people won't take; and the greater the need for advice, the less likely the foolish person is to heed it - that is, to pay careful attention to it.

College Essay Prompt

Research a college you plan to to go (or would like to go to) and find their admissions essay prompt.

EX: UT Austin has two essay requirements, but the mandatory one is as follows:

Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current and future academic and extra-curricular activities might help you achieve your goals.

Read the prompt carefully and make sure you know exactly what they want you to write about.

Begin brainstorming (putting your ideas on paper)

English Proverb of the Day

Actions speak louder than words

It is what we do that really matters, not just what we say. In Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha answers the mighty and bragging Megissogwen:

'Big words do not smite like war-clubs,
Boastful breath is not a bow-string,
Taunts are not as sharp as arrow,
Deeds are better things than words are,
Actions mightier than boastings!'

10 Smart Social Media Tips for Students

10 Smart Social Media Tips for Students

First Day!

Welcome to our English IV class blog!