Friday's Class

1. WUPs for the week need to be turned in Tuesday
2. Quiz on Lit Terms and Vocab on Tue
3. Study Island for the 1st 1/2 of class. Anything with a due date of the 12th or 14th is due no later than 4:30pm Tue
4. Meet with your group and discuss project and choose roles
   
5. The "blogger" needs to email me at lmullen@phila.k12.pa.us with your group names and roles
6. Discuss answers to homework questions on WW
7. Blogger: check your email for an invite to join the blog
8. Blogger: post your group's answers to the 9 WW homework questions
   

WUP for Friday, 2/15/08

"The most important thing about Spaceship Earth--an instruction book didn't come with it." --Buckminster Fuller (designer who created the geodesic dome)

You've been asked to write an instruction book for the earth. What are your first three instructions?

Satire: A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness.
Some examples of satire form pop culture. (Click on link at left)

intrinsic: (adj.) belonging to someone or something by its very nature, essential, inherent
SYNONYMS: immanent, organic
ANTONYMS: extrinsic, external, outward

Walt Whitman WebQuest Groups 3rd Period

Visit the Walt Whitman WebQuest link at the right of the page. Initially, you should sit with your group so that you can discuss the project and your subsequent roles. Once your group members have decided on their roles, please have one person from the group email the names and their roles to me at lmullen@phila.k12.pa.us.

Group 1
Lewis
Joshia
Taifa
Lisa
Shanelle

Group 2
Arisa
Jamil
Ashley
Sierra

Group 3
Shahirah
Zhouli
Kaya
Zanae

Group 4
Tara
Jeromy
Kearra
Nafis
Li

Group 5
Kayla
Kefion
Kim
Rayvon
Olivia

Walt Whitman WebQuest Groups 4th Period

Visit the Walt Whitman WebQuest link at the right of the page. Initially, you should sit with your group so that you can discuss the project and your subsequent roles. Once your group members have decided on their roles, please have one person from the group email the names and their roles to me at lmullen@phila.k12.pa.us.

Group 1
Lauren
Thu
Emily
Viola

Group 2
Eric
Katelynn
Nelson
Zaahidah

Group 3
George
Tamika
Wintino
Kenisha


Group 4
Ashley W.
Ashley S.
Sabirha
Tiffany
Donovan

Group 5
Chariya
Danielle
Abdun
Alexis

Group 6
Christopher
Claudia
Alicia
Raymond

WebQuest Worksheet

Copy and paste the following questions into Word, answer them and print them.

Walt Whitman Webquest Worksheet

1. What types of professions would be celebrated in a modern poetic tribute to Americans?

2. What words and phrases indicate Whitman’s empathy with heroic people?

3. If you could choose a modern American hero to add to Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing,” Who would you choose and why?

4. What do you believe is Whitman’s concept of heroism?

5. Throughout “Song of Myself,” Whitman uses the pronoun “I” in order to empathize with people. What effect does this use of the first person have on the reader?

6. How would Whitman celebrate the cultural diversity found in America today?

7. What landscapes do you feel Whitman would praise today?

8. What sound devices would be reminiscent of Whitman’s style to describe these landscapes?

9. Do you think Whitman would sing the praises of technology? Explain.

Walt Whitman WebQuest Groups 7th Period

Visit the Walt Whitman WebQuest link at the right of the page. Initially, you should sit with your group so that you can discuss the project and your subsequent roles. Once your group members have decided on their roles, please have one person from the group email the names and their roles to me at lmullen@phila.k12.pa.us.

Group 1
Monica
Tresha
Matthew
Shante


Group 2
Asha
Raelia
Gwennetta
Johisha

Group 3
Taurean
Charniece
Starla
Dorian

Group 4
Brandon
Nyle
Tias
Seiyla

Group 5
Jerryl
Janeetra
Shanae
Raven

Group 6
Ebony
Dominique
Melinda
Luis

WUP for 2/14/08

Happy Valentine's Day!

***NOTE: PLEASE BE SURE TO DATE AND NUMBER YOUR WUPS.***

"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs." ~William Shakespeare

Finish this sentence in your own creative way. Love is...

Tone: The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters (e.g., serious or humorous).

proclivity: (n.) a natural or habitual inclination or tendency (especially of human character or behavior)
SYNONYMS: penchant, propensity
ANTONYMS: inability or incapacity

WUP for 2/13/08

"Nothing pains some people more than having to think." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Why do you suppose some people are uncomfortable about having to think?

Themes are the "keys" to understanding the novel. All novels and poems have themes that the author wants to get across to the reader. If nothing else, a theme is the impression that a reader gets that the book is about. It is not the action of the story, but rather the reader's interpretation of the purpose of the action. A theme can be a moral but it is not the same thing because not all books have traditional morals. Themes are arguably the most important aspect of a novel because they are the reason for the author's writing the novel. Themes are often vague principles or emotions, such as good versus evil, abuse of power, love, change or growing up.

Bombastic: (adj.) pompous or overblown in language; full of high-sounding words intended to conceal a lack of ideas.
SYNONYMS: inflated, pretentious
ANTONYMS: unadorned, simple, plain, austere

Literary Term and Vocab Word

Symbolism is used when a writer uses an event, item or a character to stand for something else. Symbols can be characters, such as a character symbolizing good or evil. Objects can also be symbols, such as the scarlet letter. People can be symbols, such as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Authors use symbolism, a form of imagery, when they want to portray something to the reader without using the narrator. It is subtle and therefore much less obtrusive.

hackneyed: (adj.) used so often as to lack freshness or originality
SYNONYMS: commonplace, corny
ANTONYMS: new, fresh, novel

Quote of the Day for Tuesday, 2/12/08

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." --William J. Clinton (42nd President of the United States)

Do you agree with this statement? Name two things you think are right with America, and two things you think are wrong with America. If you had the power to correct the wrong things, how would you do it?

re: Walt Whitman Video

You must allow the video to "buffer", or you will not be able to view it straight through right away.

Walt Whitman Backstory

After viewing the video, answer the following questions on loose-leaf (or copy and paste the questions into a word document, answer the questions there, and then print it out).
1. Walt Whitman's upbringing was instrumental in his development as a poet. Describe the household in which Walt Whitman was raised?

2. True or False. Whitman would often return to Brooklyn, New York, for inspiration.

3. Why was it valuable for young Whitman to live with his students' families?

4.What did Whitman often celebrate in his poetry?

5. Why did Whitman leave New Orleans after only three months?

6. Why was Whitman pleased to receive a letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson praising his work, Leaves of Grass?

7. Based on what you've learned about Walt Whitman, why do you think he supported President Lincoln so much?

8. In the lines "O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done", the captain Whitman refers to is _____.

9. Why was Timber Creek, NJ, so important to Walt Whitman?

10. Why does the narrator say that "just being Walt Whitman took courage"?

Quote of the Day for Monday, 2/11/08

"No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will." --Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States)

In some countries, people give up their lives for criticizing their governments' policies or officials. How do you imagine America might be different if we didn't have freedom of the press?