English++I

As you begin the school year, you will be reading and discussing the novel //The Richest Man in Town// by VJ Smith. As you read various chapters, you will be assigned to write some journal entries that relate to the content of the chapters. Later, when you write a personal narrative, you might decide to use an idea from one of your journal entries as the topic for a personal narrative that you will write as part of Unit 1

Jo urnal topics from //The Richest Man in Town//

__**Literature**__
 * //Unit 1 - "The Plot Thickens: Narrative Structure"//**

After reading "A Sound of Thunder" and discussing strategies used by writers to create realistic dialogue, you will complete two assignments: 1) one page of realistic dialogue between two people (you and a classmate) 2) a personal narrative that includes dialogue. The first link below takes you to a 13 page, comprehensive discussion of how to write and punctuate dialogue. The second link is the part of that 13 page document that explains the essential information you need to know in order to write a dialogue between two people.

Remember to use the two strategies that we discussed in creating realistic dialogue, which include //sentence fragments// and //contractions//. Use red text or highlighting to identify any sentence fragments that you included in your dialogue. Use green text or highlighting to identify any contractions that you included in your dialogue.

[|Dialogue]



When you and your partner create a page of realistic dialogue between two people, you will be using a website called typewith.me. This website allows you to invite others (via email) to work on a document so that the two of your can mutually create your page of dialogue. (The website allows you to invite more than one; we may use it again for other documents that involved collaboration.) Here is a link to that website.[|Type With Me]


 * //Unit 2 - "People Watching: Characterization and Point of View"//**

Here is a video clip of Maya Angelou on CBS news talking about the power of words. [|Maya Angelou - The Power of Words]

This is a neat video a student created for the Maya Angelou poem "Caged Bird" on page 264 in your textbook. This is a collection of photos of Maya Angelou, the celebrated writer/poet/speaker, etc. [|Photos of Maya Angelou]
 * //[|Student Project over I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings]//**

Here is a link to the movie //I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.// The length of the movie is 1:34. Enjoy!

//[|Movie: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings]//

Here is a link to an inteview with Rosa Parks. [|Interview with Rosa Parks]

Here is a link to some ideas for a descriptive essay based on your childhood. [|Ideas for Descriptive Essays]


 * //Unit 3 - "A Sense of Place: Setting, Mood, and Imagery"//**


 * //Unit 4 - "Getting the Message: Theme and Symbol"//**


 * //Unit 5 - "Ideas Made Visible: Author's Purpose"//**

Here is a link to a 4:45 minute video clip from Kelo Land News that aired in February 0f 2013. The video clip discusses print newspaper's struggle to compete with digital news sites.

[|Newspapers at a Crossroads]

Here is a link to an 11 minute video clip on the Lost Boys of Sudan [|The Lost Boys of Sudan]

Here is a copy of the worksheet you need to complete as you analyze television and web news.

Here is a link to an online news article written by a //New York Times// reporter who enhanced his news article by adding features created through technology. The article is about an avalanche in Washington.

[|Snow Fall]


 * //Unit 6 - "Taking Sides: Argument and Persuasion"//**

Here is a link to a slide show about the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr. led. . It was produced by the New York Times. [|Civil Rights Movement video]

Here is a link to an audio recording of a short speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave at a civil rights rally in Selma, Alabama. The recording is 3 1/2 minutes in length.. [|Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech]


 * //Unit 7 - "Special Effects" The Language of Poetry"//**


 * //Unit 8 - "A Way with Words" Author's Style and Voice"//**


 * //Unit 9 - "Putting It in Context: History, Culture, and the Author"//**


 * //Unit 10 - "Shakespearean Drama: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet"//**

Here is the worksheet over the introduction to //Romeo and Juliet.//

Here is the link to an audio recording of //Romeo and Juliet// so that if you are absent from class, you can listen to any scenes that you missed. I also have one cd that has a better recording of the play. You can borrow that cd from me and play it in your study hall using your computer and a pair of headphones. [|Romeo and Juliet Full Audio Book]

Here is a link to a source that includes a variety of resources to use as you study //Romeo and Juliet.// [|Romeo and Juliet resources]

Here is the study guide for all five acts of //Romeo and Juliet.//

Here are the review guides for all acts of //Romeo and Juliet.//

Here are two versions of //Romeo and Juliet Jeopardy// that we will use to test our knowledge over the play.

[|Romeo //and Juliet Jeopardy: Version 1//]

//[|Romeo and Juliet Jeopardy: Version 2]//

//Here is the study guide for West Side Story.//

Here is the link to the YouTube movie clips of West Side Story. There are 16 clips or parts. You can access parts 2 - 16 from the first part. [|West Side Story movie]

//Here are the project choices for Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story.//




 * //Unit 11 - "Epic Poetry: The Odyssey"//**

Here is a worksheet over the introduction to //The Odyssey//.

Here is a link to some information on //The Odyssey.// //[|The Odyssey]//

Here is a link to the text of Samuel Butler's translation of //The Odyssey//. [|Text of The Odyssey]

Here is a link to an audio recording of Samuel Butler's translation of //The Odyssey//. [|Audio recording of The Odyssey]


 * //Unit 12 - "Investigation and Discovery: The Power of Research"//**

Check out this video clip of Maya Angelou, whose autobiography //I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings// we read a portion of. This interview of Angelou was conducted shortly after President Obama was elected

[|Maya Angelou video clip]

Here is the study guide for the novel //Of Mice and Men//

If you would like to listen to a recording of the novel Of Mice and Men, you can follow the link below. The number of minutes it takes to listen to each chapter is listed after the chapter number. There are also instructions that explain how to download it as an MP3 file in case you would like to do so.. [|Of Mice and Men recording]

Here are the composition choices over the novel //Of Mice and Men//. You will need to write one composiiton.



Here is a link to discussion of the metaphors found in George Orwell's //Animal Farm.// //[|Analsis of metaphor in Animal Farm]// Here is a link to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL). OWL

Here is a list of self-teaching units that can be used to supplement our study of grammar. If you click on a blue link, you will be connected to the online units, and those units then include links to exercises that allow you to quiz yourself over the content.

Here are two links to the online grammar websites that we will be using to supplement our study of grammar.You will need to keep track of your performance on these exercises on a form that I will provide. []

[]

[|Avoiding fragments - Ex. 1]