Week of October 26....

Honors American and American Literature:
This week, we will be watching and discussing aspects of The Crucible. Students will be expected to discuss the character traits of the three main characters and understand how hysteria works to create a situation like the Salem Witch Trials.


AP Literature:
We will continue our study of Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart by having a Fishbowl of Socratic discussion at the beginning of the week. Then, students will write a unit essay that will be a test grade over both novels and complementary texts read during the unit.

Week of October 19th....

One Book, Many Voices Author Visit

This week, we will have the author of the One Book Many Voices selection come and visit. She will read excerpts from her book and take questions from the students. Below, George Ella Lyons speaks to a group of students.

Honors American Literature:
Students will have an opportunity to go to the Booth Western Art Museum on November 12th. I have sent home permission slips. Please sign those and have your student return with $12.00 for the trip. This week though, we will begin to prepare to read and watch The Crucible by completing a DBQ on McCarthyism and The Crucible: What are the parallels? Students will have an opportunity to examine documents to answer this question.

American Literature:
We will be focusing on close reading and synthesizing information this week as we work through The Crucible and McCarthyism packet. Students will be asked to discuss some of the parallels they see between the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and McCarthy's "witch hunt" for Communists in the 1950's.

AP Literature:
Please remember to encourage your student to take AP exams. Deposits are due to Mrs. Jones in room 177 by Friday, December 11th. You may give your payment to the front office. They will make sure it reaches me.

This week, we are starting to read Things Fall Apart as well as practicing the writing portion for the AP exam.

Week of October 12th......

Honors American Literature:
We will be discussing the sonnet form and apply that knowledge to Puritan poetry, "To My Dear and Loving Husband" and "Huswifery." Students will also have the opportunity to write their own sonnets.


American Literature:
We will focus on Hawthorne's famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. We will focus on how Hawthorne uses symbolism and get a sense of how the Puritans saw crime and punishment by writing a Point of View journal entry.

AP Literature:
Now that we have a better understanding of British Imperialism, we are going to read two pieces, "Civil Peace" and "Shooting an Elephant" to discuss the implications of British Imperialism on those colonized and the colonizers themselves.

Week of October 5th....

Welcome Back from Fall Break! I hope everyone had a great break! 

Honors American Literature: 

This week, we will be reading some foundation documents for the Puritans that give us a sense about how the Puritans saw themselves in relation to the Native Americans and other religious groups that the time. 

Regular American Literature: 

We will be exploring Puritan beliefs and discussing whether we personally agree or disagree with some of those beliefs. 

AP Literature: 

We will be completing a DBQ for British Imperialism. Although it will mostly include informational documents, it gives good background information for the time period of Heart of Darkness.