CALENDAR SECTION

Personal Essay due on Wednesday!!

Reminders:  Read and Heed

Final Formatting: 

o   Single-spaced heading on left:  Name, class period, date, Personal Essay Final Draft

o   The Common Application or UW topic, as worded on the original assignment sheet, also single-spaced. Put the topic in bold.

o   If you changed topics from the first draft, type that out in bold exactly as worded on the application form. Otherwise you may omit it on the final draft.

o   Body of essay: Double-spaced, 12-font Times New Roman.

o   Make sure the word count listed on the paper and stated below is for the essay only.

What to turn in:

• This cover sheet on top
• Then the hard copy of the final draft
• Then the first draft (the stamped one, even if you’ve changed topics)

• On the bottom, the Peer Response sheet to the first draft.

       ** Each draft should be stapled, but PAPER-CLIP the full stack.  Don’t try to staple through it all.

Deadlines:

• Turn in hard copy plus support material on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
• File your paper electronically on www.turnitin.com by the 9:55 a .m. on Oct. 1

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION***

With the help of Mrs. Cote in the College and Career Center and her contacts in the admissions world, we have resolved an issue that several people brought to my attention today.  I have disabled the "student repository" section of turnitin.com.  Your essay will still be evaluated against commercial sites, online journals and other media, etc., but if a school or even the Common App people were to assess your paper, it would not show up as a match with your very own paper.  No worries!

CULMINATING PROJECT, a state high school graduation requirement:  OCT. 15

12th grade: Senior English classes assign a Resume and and answer to Question #1 in September. Note: Resumes completed in Bridges in 10th grade cannot be used for your senior resume. All Seniors (even those not in English classes at IHS) must complete a resume and the typed answer to Question 1. The resume and question 1 are turned into the Career Center by October 15th of senior year. Senior Resume Guidelines and Expectations

Senior Packet for the Culminating Project

See the resume section of the College Resource Handbook for more help with resumes.

Both the resume and response to Question 1 must be typed, of course.  Be sure to save them both in a way that can be accessed at school.

CALENDAR SECTION
Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)
Folder for "Final Draft Personal Essay" now open.

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION***
With the help of Mrs. Cote in the College and Career Center and her contacts in the admissions world, we have resolved an issue that several people brought to my attention today.  I have disabled the "student repository" section of turnitin.com.  Your essay will still be evaluated against commercial sites, online journals and other media, etc., but if a school or even the Common App people were to assess your paper, it would not show up as a match with your very own paper.  No worries!

CULMINATING PROJECT, a state high school graduation requirement:  OCT. 15

12th grade: Senior English classes assign a Resume and and answer to Question #1 in September. Note: Resumes completed in Bridges in 10th grade cannot be used for your senior resume. All Seniors (even those not in English classes at IHS) must complete a resume and the typed answer to Question 1. The resume and question 1 are turned into the Career Center by October 15th of senior year. Senior Resume Guidelines and Expectations

Senior Packet for the Culminating Project
See the resume section of the College Resource Handbook for more help with resumes.
================================================================

TODAY IN CLASS
1st and 2nd:  focus was on "The Wanderer," then we got partway through "The Wife's Lament"
5th: We worked with "The Wife's Lament" and barely started with "The Wanderer"

FOR TOMORROW
No reading in the book.  Be working on your essay revision!

CALENDAR SECTION
Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

CULMINATING PROJECT, a state high school graduation requirement:  OCT. 15
12th grade: Senior English classes assign a Resume and and answer to Question #1 in September. Note: Resumes completed in Bridges in 10th grade cannot be used for your senior resume. All Seniors (even those not in English classes at IHS) must complete a resume and the typed answer to Question 1. The resume and question 1 are turned into the Career Center by October 15th of senior year. Senior Resume Guidelines and Expectations

Senior Packet for the Culminating Project
See the resume section of the College Resource Handbook for more help with resumes.

========================================================

TODAY IN CLASS
Read  and discussed  p. 102--know basic facts about the Exeter Book

Read the third poem from that source that's in our book--"The Wife's Lament"  (Ann Stanford translation).  Then read a different translation by Michael Alexander translation ("The Wife's Complaint."

After individual reading, students worked in pairs to complete some questions about the poem, including providing the text-based line(s) for your opinions.  You could use either translation for any one of the questions--whichever seems clearest to you. Include initials AS or MA before the lines.

FOR MONDAY
If you didn't finish answering the questions during class, finish them over the week-end on your own. They will be collected at the start of class on Monday--no additional work time for this.
You have the Alexander translation as a hand-out, and you can access the Stanford one here:
Exeter Book poems (scroll to p. 112).

CALENDAR SECTION
Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)
Even if you did not have this draft yesterday, you cannot proceed to the "final draft" unless this step is completed.

Thursday, Sept. 25:  Quiz, Anglo-Saxon background material.  TODAY.  See me re: make-up.

Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

CULMINATING PROJECT, a state high school graduation requirement:  OCT. 15
12th grade: Senior English classes assign a Resume and and answer to Question #1 in September. Note: Resumes completed in Bridges in 10th grade cannot be used for your senior resume. All Seniors (even those not in English classes at IHS) must complete a resume and the typed answer to Question 1. The resume and question 1 are turned into the Career Center by October 15th of senior year. Senior Resume Guidelines and Expectations

Senior Packet for the Culminating Project
See the resume section of the College Resource Handbook for more help with resumes.


TODAY IN CLASS
First 20 minutes--quick review (partly teacher-led, part student time)
Then the Anglo-Saxon background quiz.

Re: the Culminating Project--Although English teachers are required to "assign" this, it is NOT an English grade.  I am supposed to check your work before you turn it in, but it is really a quick check to see that it's presentable. I don't get into the details, really, but even at a glance,  I have a really sharp eye for typos.  I will mark them so that you'll have to fix them and reprint.  So you'll be better off if you proofread carefully first.

FOR TOMORROW
We'll be talking about "The Wanderer" tomorrow, and working with the last lyric poem as well.
But on your plate right now:  revision of the personal essay, and getting going on the Culminating Project.

Peer Response Day!

Upcoming Major Work (Essays, Tests, Projects)

Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)
 If you didn't have the essay on turnitin.com, get it there ASAP.  Info tomorrow on what needs to happen with papers that did not receive a peer-response today (for whatever reason).

Thursday, Sept. 25:  Quiz, Anglo-Saxon background material--See below for a new link

• textbook pp. 23-27 and definitions p. 41
• the hand-out on Anglo-Saxon poetry terms (a longer list than on p. 41)
• the 7-page introduction by David Adams Leeming ((hand-out)
• in-class supplemental lecture notes 

Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)


TODAY IN CLASS
Yes, the peer response took place.  Do not lose the materials from today--the first draft itself and the peer response to that draft.  You will need to turn both of these in with your final draft next week.

FOR TOMORROW
Study for the Anglo-Saxon unit background quiz.  Elements are listed above.  Here is a link to pp. 23-27, but you'll have to scroll a bit to get there:

Anglo-Saxon Unit Introduction

 I won't ask "content" questions about the two poems so far ("The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer") but I WILL use some examples from those poems to check your understanding of the basic poetry terms on the hand-out you have.

The quiz questions will reflect the areas we stressed most in class--the peopling of Britain, the Roman invasion/occupation, and the successive invasions by the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians (Vikings), and the Normans. But as part of knowing about this era, the content of pp.23-27 and the Leeming hand-out provided much information about culture, the spread of religion, and some of the earliest literature or historical writing that we know about.  All of this is "fair game" for the quiz.

I won't be collecting the "quizlet" hand-out you've had for quite awhile, but you should have that filled out (including the questions I added about both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon religious beliefs) as a guide. We'll go over it briefly during the first part of class.  Tomorrow's quiz will be longer than this very short one, but many of the questions might overlap!

Essay Draft Due on Wednesday!

Upcoming Major Work (Essays, Tests, Projects)

Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

Thursday, Sept. 25:  Quiz, Anglo-Saxon background material

• textbook pp. 23-27 and definitions p. 41
• the hand-out on Anglo-Saxon poetry terms (a longer list than on p. 41)
• the 7-page introduction by David Adams Leeming ((hand-out)
• in-class supplemental lecture notes 

Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

TODAY IN CLASS
We went over reminders about formatting on the overhead:  see the original assignment sheet for the bullet points we discussed.  Only one addition:  when you type out the prompt in bold, just single-space that part.

Some sample review questions for the "peopling of Britain" and the Roman era; additional info on the Anglo-Saxons.   In 2nd, I think we even got to the Normans!

Regardless of where we actually stopped in your class,  I've linked a "notes" sheet for the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian (Viking), and Norman portions of invasion history:  Historical Notes

FOR TOMORROW
Most definitely read yesterday's post re: essay pointers, if you neglected to check the blog yesterday.

Show up with your printed draft, ready to give and receive feedback.  Make sure it's on turnitin.com before school starts (folder already open.)

P.S. -- Turns out I have a Tech Committee meeting at 7:30.  So the only option if you need to print is 9:35.  Please try to take care of this at home!

Upcoming Major Work (Essays, Tests, Projects)

Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

Thursday, Sept. 25:  Quiz, Anglo-Saxon background material

• textbook pp. 23-27 and definitions p. 41
• the hand-out on Anglo-Saxon poetry terms (a longer list than on p. 41)
• the 7-page introduction by David Adams Leeming ((hand-out)
• in-class supplemental lecture notes 

Wednesday, Oct. 1:    Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55 a.m.)

Catching Up--
Friday in class--

• A bit more cultural information on the Celts (see sliding board . . . material still there)
• The first "invasion"--the Romans--but the bottom line is that though the Romans arrived in Britain by 43 A.D. and stayed until 410, their presence was really an "occupation."  I will ask you tomorrow to summarize why that is a plausible claim.

Week-end homework--

To be working on the personal essay; hopefully you were able to churn out some form of draft, however imperfect it may be!  Now you have a couple of evenings to make it much better.

TODAY IN CLASS

"The Wanderer" (pp. 108-111) --the second of the three "Exeter Book" short poems in the textbook.

Students read the poem and answered nine study guide questions.  Most students turned in in at the end of class. If you didn't finish, here is a link to a PDF file of the Exeter Book poems in the text; you'll have to scroll to "The Wanderer": The Exeter Book Poems

FOR TOMORROW
Yep, keep working on the paper.  Here are five dimensions or parameters to keep in mind, whatever your actual topic is:

1) the OPENING.
The essay needs to engage the reader straight from the start.  How you do this will vary by topic, but your essay needs to start at a high interest level that genuinely encourages even tired, over-burdened readers of thousands of applications to become focused on yours.

2) ORIGINALITY vs. PREDICTABILITY.
There is a certain "sameness" that goes with various kinds of experience that does become familiar to readers who have read thousands of personal essays written by 18-year-olds.  You are unique, but the student accounts of various experiences sometimes sound eerily the same.  The best way to avoid that is to focus on small slices of experience; the angle or perspective you choose, and the details you develop, will have a greater chance of being fresh.  As advised with the "mission trip essay," for example, don't try to write the entire narrative; select a much narrower focal point to describe and reflect upon--hopefully avoiding the sameness that too often blurs these essays into the fill-in-the blank template we "wrote" together in class.

3) INSIGHT INTO THE WRITER
Whatever the prompt, the most important subject matter is YOU.  Readers want to know you better after reading your essay, and this means more than realizing that you had predictable emotions after a certain experience.  All strong personal essays amount, in one way or another, to a window into your character and/or "what makes you tick."  So one tip I have is that right now, before continuing tonight, you jot down somewhere the 2 or 3 insights that you would hope your reader gains about you.  I don't mean that your essay should identify or label explicit character traits, but I do mean that after reading a solid personal essay, the reader should be able to recognize some significant aspects of your make-up.  Then make sure your essay contains the material that would help your readers see what you want them to know about you.

4) DETAILED vs GENERIC
This dimension is related to some of the others, but it focuses on the means of achieving interest, originality, insight, etc. Good writing always needs detail, example, illustration, precise description, etc., to be effective, but sometimes people who can write a powerful, well-supported argumentative essays or literary analysis shy away from the specifics that are needed to "personalize" the personal essay.

5) LIVELY, ENGAGING STYLE
Word choice:  vivid, precise, rich . . . Don't be a walking thesaurus, and I know you want to keep your own "voice," but stretch yourself a bit!!  Sound like you belong in college. :)  (But remember the specificity and details mentioned in #4; you can't just dress up flat writing with fancy words.)

Sentence style:  Remember that varied sentence length usually relies on varied complexity.  Try to balance complex and sophisticated syntax with simpler, incisive, memorable text.  Don't overthink this as you write your first draft, but keep it in mind as you revise.

Figurative language:  Effective use of occasional figurative language is an asset; strained effort or relying on cliches can backfire.  This is also an area to focus on between the first and second drafts more than in the first draft.

Counselor In Class Today

Upcoming Major Work (Essays, Tests, Projects)

Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55)
Wednesday, Oct. 1:     Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55)

TODAY IN CLASS
A counselor presented a video summarizing the college application process, provided further information, distributed transcripts, and answered lots of questions.  Your most immediate task: check the unofficial transcript carefully for errors/omissions; let the counselors office know of any problems by tomorrow afternoon.  (Start with Ms. Werre; you may be referred to Ms. Michael.)

And for our class, try to decide what prompt you'll use for your personal essay by tomorrow.  Then you can get started over the week-end and meet the first deadline above.

We'll move on with the Anglo-Saxon historical background material--my supplement notes to your two written sources--during Friday's class.

Upcoming Major Work (Essays, Tests, Projects)

Wednesday, Sept. 24:  Personal Essay--First Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55)
Wednesday, Oct. 1:     Personal Essay--Final Draft & Peer Response Day (turnitin.com by 9:55)


TODAY IN CLASS
1) Hand-out for Personal Essay distributed.

Here are two links which provide helpful support for the Common Application topics.  Please don't wait until you start writing your paper to consult these sites; the material might be useful as you narrow the topic choices and start to generate ideas.

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/essays/a/common-application-essay-prompts.htm

http://www.collegeessayadvisors.com/portfolio-items/2014-15-common-application-essay-prompts-a-guide-topics/

2) Class Notes
        Backdrop note:   BCE and CE vs. B.C. ("Before Christ") and A.D. ("Anno domini"):

• Why have historians tried to replace B.C. and A.D?  
• What undercuts these efforts (what is the basis point for determining BCE vs CE?)
• What practice does your textbook follow? 

    The Peopling of Britain--

• We don't need to deal with the earliest people who were there but displaced by the first and second ice ages, but there were some really early populations that historians are aware of
• Origin (time/place) of the Celtic people
• The geographical distribution of the Brythons, Picts, and Gaels
• for the Brythons:  from the Iberian peninsula (now Spain/Portugal); name reflected in Britain

We'll look at the four main groups who came to Britain later on tomorrow and/or Friday. Focus will be on the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons; less additional material on the Scandinavians and (for now) the Normans.

Some class time tomorrow will be taken up by a counselor, who will be discussing the college application process.

FOR TOMORROW

Start thinking about what topic you'll select for your personal essay.  Read over the links above.

TODAY IN CLASS
Students received a new hand-out on additional background material; some class time devoted to reading this and completing additional facts on the "quizlet" paper.  If you did not finish that work in class, you'll need to finish it on your own.

During the last part of today's class, I provided some brief groundwork for the upcoming personal essay.  Full details and due dates on Wednesday, but today I mentioned two areas of caution and developed some of the rationale for avoiding these topics:

• Many advisors warn against writing about any of the "Four D's":  divorce, disease, depression, and death.  
• The formulaic "mission essay"--avoid the narrative from packing to return with predictable slots to be filled by the details of your particular trip, but drawn from such a small pool of options that veteran essay readers can write this essay by heart.  Instead, find a significant slice of your experience and develop that. 

TOMORROW 

You'll receive the complete essay assignment.

We'll do the final piece of the Anglo-Saxon background material.

Overview of Anglo-Saxon Unit:

Part I:

• "The Seafarer" content (pp. 104-107)
• New literary terms--p. 41, additional hand-out Poetic Devices--> practice; apply to "The Seafarer"
• Introduction to Anglo-Saxon history/culture/literature:  pp. 23-27 of the text, hand-out, lecture notes/graphic organizer--some assessment/quiz over historical background
• Briefly apply new info to "The Seafarer"
• Two more lyric poems
• Test over material to this point 

Part II:  the epic poem Beowulf (main text from bookroom, support material from your regular textbook)
                Will include varied assignments, quizzes, tests, an essay (possibly one of the major process
                 essays/perhaps a shorter one); definitely a group project)

TODAY IN CLASS
Review of kennings; additional examples of student-generated kennings.  Text-based examples of alliteration and assonance drawn from "The Seafarer."  Time to read pp. 23-27 in the text.  Students used a former really short quiz for recording what "answers" came directly from the reading in the text book--you'll be adding to this after you read another background article and receive some additional lecture/discussion information.  You'll have a few more minutes to work on this tomorrow.

FOR TUESDAY
No outside work.

To a very few of you--I spoke individually with people in 1st and 2nd who are are missing either the hard copy of the Self-Definition or who have not submitted it to turnitin.com.  In 5th period I did not touch base with each person, but several of you are missing one or the other (or both!).  Please take care of this or see me ASAP if there is a problem.

We Survived "Armageddon Day" and the First Full Week!

TODAY IN CLASS

First--"Self-Definition" papers collected.  Most people had the hard copy in class and had submitted it to turnitin.com  . If you are missing one obligation or the other, 

Then--We looked at the textbook structure for the Anglo-Saxon unit before picking up on p. 41 with literary terms that apply to poetry of the period. 

Students received a hand-out with those terms plus more, and a review questions for "The Seafarer" on the back.

We discussed the terms alliteration, caesura, and kennings, and 1st period completed a quick exercise on kennings.  Periods 2 and 5 will finish the kennings part on Monday, and everyone will apply the other definitions to the Seafarer text.  But we will do that in class using the book, so . . . 

FOR MONDAY

No homework over the week-end! :)

Self-Definitions Due on Friday!

Upcoming Essays, Tests, and Major Assignments 

• Friday, Sept. 12--Self-Definition

Necessary information for turnitin.com
Class ID Numbers

British & Western Per. 1 = 8633282
British & Western Per. 2 = 8633303
British & Western Per. 5 = 8633333

Password for all three sections = gold

The turnitin.com folder for this assignment is open and ready to receive entries!
But don't forget to print out your work; you need to have the hard copy of your work with you in class tomorrow.

Getting Underway

Upcoming Essays, Tests, and Major Assignments (not a comprehensive list of all work assigned)

• Friday, Sept. 12--Self-Definition

Necessary information for turnitin.com
Class ID Numbers

British & Western Per. 1 = 8633282
British & Western Per. 2 = 8633303
British & Western Per. 5 = 8633333

Password for all three sections = gold

THIS WEEK IN CLASS
Monday

• Background discussion of the Self-Definition assignment; connection with the resume due in a few weeks as part of the Senior Culminating Project
• Overall course description; survey of student knowledge of England before 1500

Tuesday

• Self-Definition hand-out distributed
• Discussion of the appeal of reading literature; concept of universality
• Textbook:  Began "The Seafarer" (pp. 104-106).  We are reading the poem essentially together, and so far, just tracking the content/shifting focus of each small section.  Students are taking some guided notes on this poem, and these will be collected on Thursday. 

Wednesday--Continued work on "The Seafarer" 

HOMEWORK

No literature homework yet; just be working on the Self-Definition