Mrs. Pike's August Due dates

US Literature – August 2008
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sat./Sun.



		20	21 Orientation. See you there! Open house 7:00pm	22	23/24
25 Summer reading quiz – I told you that we would have this sooooo many times. I hope you were listening (as well as reading!) Let’s open with Of Mice and Men. Review the questions on your syllabus and see what the immediate connections to Steinbeck’s work are. We will also review the classroom expectations and requirements.	26 Finish Of Mice and Men and begin My Antonia by Willa Cather. How are these two stories different in the way the characters go about achieving their goals? Can we make any generalizations about what it takes to achieve the American Dream? Learn literary term allusion. Might as well learn it now, we come back to the darn thing over and over again all year long.	27 My Antonia by Willa Cather. How are these two stories different in the way the characters go about achieving their goals? Can we make any generalizations about what it takes to achieve the American Dream? We will conclude our discussion of the novels and review the format of the test you’ll be taking tomorrow. I will give you the essay question for the test in class today so that you may outline it at home tonight.	28 Test	29 No school - be sure to thank a laborer.	30/31

Justice In Literature- August 2008
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sat./Sun.



		20	21 Orientation Open House 7:00pm	22	23/24
25 Welcome home!! I hope you did your summer reading!! Quiz on characters today. Later on there will be a more comprehensive test. Review classroom rules and expectations. Begin the discussion of The Chamber by John Grisham. Think about other main characters you’ve read about. What is different about Sam as a protagonist (think about what that word means). Who is the antagonist? How do you feel about them?	26 Revisit the elements of a novel. Outline the plot of the novel. Save these notes in your notebook. They will help you to find the quotes necessary in your upcoming paper. Homework: Define “Jim Crow” laws. Bring in an example of such a law and be prepared to explain it. To receive full credit you MUST bib your source correctly. Here is the link to the library sample pages. Click here.	27 How is understanding history critical to understanding the characters and their actions (we call this historical perspective). Does your view of the novel change at all? Can we apply the term universal to the themes Grisham presents? (If you don’t remember what universal means, go look it up! Look, another link! Click here for definitions.	28 Identifying multiple conflicts. How many can you find? Let’s have a contest. Choose your team carefully (JK, I’ll choose for you!)	29 I am extremely happy to announce, NO SCHOOL (thousands cheer).	30/31

Honors United States Literature 2008
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sat./Sun.



		20	21	22	23/24
25 Review classroom rules and expectations. Ready, set, here we go! Quiz over summer reading today. I really, really hope you read! We will begin the discussion of the summer literature with Cather’s My Antonia. How does the American Dream manifest itself in her novel?	26 Conclude our discussion of My Antonia and move on to the dreams of the Joad family in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Literary term: allusion. Look at that title. Sound familiar? Where is it from? A Jolly to the first student who can tell me the answer to that question!! First: What’s up with those wacky chapters the Joads aren’t in?	27 Continue discussion of The Grapes of Wrath. What message is Steinbeck trying to send ( really, he’s pretty clear about the whole thing, so don’t bust a gut looking for this answer – it’s right there in front of you).	28 Social protest novels. Is this one of them? How do we know? Discuss the format for Wednesday’s test	29 No school – what a bargain, what a deal.	30/31