While I'm Away

Hi students,

Remember, you have three tasks:
  1. Submit your story to the contest by this Sunday.  
    • Carefully follow the instructions for Young Writers Contest you will find at that link.  Obviously, if you are mailing it, you would need to send it by Friday. 
    •  Otherwise, submit electronically or hand deliver it with the contest form filled out. 
    • Delete the heading info. from your story (like my name and the class). 
    • Make sure you have a cool title. 
  2. Finish Reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
  3. Answer all questions I gave you (reading journal).  If you lose it, you can see/reprint it here.   These are due next Tuesday. 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight


 Due Tuesday, Oct 2 (some will have to be done at home as you need to follow links). 

1.  Read and annotate Sir Gawain the Green Knight by Friday evening. 

2.  Answer These Questions as a 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Reading Response Journal
  1. Why does Gawain wish to take on the Green Knight, initially?
  2. What is important about the number five in this poem?
  3. What do you think the hunting scenes may symbolize?
  4. How does he show himself a good knight? 
  5. How does Gawain sin?  What is his punishment?  How do other knights and ladies react to his punishment?
  6. In the end, who do we learn is behind all this drama?  What was the original intent of this person? 
  7. Why do you think the wild knight is green; why might that color be fitting or symbolic? 
  8. Find the most beautiful line or set of lines you notice, copy them out, and explain what makes them rich. 

Week 5

Hi everyone,

Your lesson plans are now in one link on the left side of the blog under "The Course."

Some students had a hard time distinguishing the weeks with all the posts on the main page and then had trouble finding things if they were no longer showing up on the main page.  This way, there is a full page break between weeks and one document goes all the way back to the first day of class, which should be easier to follow.

Thank you,

Mr. S

Promptings



Please write a personal journal entry as if the date were Sept. 20, 2030. (St. Mary’s College, MD.)

What is your favorite word, and why? (University of Virginia)

Other College Prompts

 

 

Humanities V, Week 4

Tuesday, Sept. 4
  • Fix Grammar
  • Recite
  • Session 1: Review Beowulf
    • Continue Beowulf
  • Session 2:
    • Writing: Young Writers Contest
      • Rough Draft Hand Written (five to ten pages; due Sept. 11)
      • Final Draft Typed (four to eight pages; due Sept. 18)
      • 2,100 Word Limit (roughly eight pages if typed and double-spaced) 
      • Many of my students have won writing awards; I hope you triumph, and I can add you to our roll of writers
      • Submit your story to Bookshop Santa Cruz by Sept. 30 (online or mailed in).  
      • If you place or get honorable mention, you will earn extra class credit.  
  • Session 3: 
    • Writing: Begin Your Story
    • Reading: Continue Beowulf
HW: Finish Reading and Annotating Beowulf


_____________

Thursday, Sept. 6
  • Creative Writing:
    • The Basics of Plot 
    • Work on Thy Story
  • Beowulf 
HW: Journal 5: Beowulf's Concluding Scenes

_____________

Friday, Sept. 7
  • Session 1: Review Beowulf.  Work on your Story.
HW: RD of Your Creative Writing Story is Due On Tuesday (five to ten pages, handwritten)

Humanities V, Quiz 1

Humanities V, Quiz 1
Please answer in complete sentences; some answers will require more than one sentence.
1.  Who was the first English poet, and what famous poem did he compose/recite?
2.  What conflict is in the heart of the seafarer?  
3.  What is wyrd and what concept is placed in tension with wyrd in Beowulf?

4.  About what time was Beowulf composed, and what genre do we place it under?
5.  How do you know if you have composed a good thesis for an essay (you may give me the definition of a 
good thesis or explain the three words we used to define a good thesis)?

6.  One paragraph: Describe the key elements of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

7.  One paragraph: Explain two key concepts that a prince should have learned from Beowulf thus far.