A Girl Named Disaster Blog # 5

Due Dates:

B4 - Wednesday, 12/15 (Before Class)

A1/A2 - Thursday, 12/16 (Before Class)

Please respond to the following in complete sentences.

Chapter 23 (158-164)

1.     What is a “calabash?”  What does she make them from and what does she use them for?

2.     How might Nhamo identify with the lone baboon?

3.     What advice does Crocodile Guts give her on making the boat?

Chapter 24 (165-171)

1.     Why does Nhamo lure the baboon off the small island?

2.     How does she accomplish this?

3.     Why do you think she gives him a name?

4.     What similarities do Rumy and Nhamo have?

Things Fall Apart Blog # 5

Due Dates: 
B4 - Wednesday, 12/15 (Before Class)
A1/A2 - Thursday, 12/16 (Before Class)


Read through page 154
Respond to the following prompts in complete sentences.  You must use quotes in your responses.

1.  Look at page 120, can the opening paragraph be viewed as a foreshadow of what will occur later in this chapter?

2.  Argue which one is more of an 'individual,' Obierka or Okonkwo.

3.   What event causes Okonkwo's exile?

4.  How can water be viewed symbolically in Chapter 14?

5.  How is one's "motherland" viewed in Chapter 14?  Why is it so important to the characters in the novel?

6.  Explain the generation gap one begins to see emerge in Chapter 15.

7.  Who were persuaded to join the missionaries?  What kind of people were they.  Ch. 16.

Homework Assignment

A Girl Named Disaster (Pg. 99-111)

 B4 - Due Thursday, 12/9

A1/A2 Due Friday, 12/10

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.  Your responses should be between 2-4 sentences.  Please write this assignment out on paper and turn in during class.

1.     Describe specifically how Nhamo survives.  What does she eat?  What does she drink?  What does she use for shelter?

2.     Detail Nhamo’s dream.  What significance might it have?

3.     What are the njuza?

4.     Where was Nhamo on page 105?  Use your map as reference.

5.     Why is luck so important in this section?  Was it good or bad luck?

Things Fall Apart  Chapter 11

B4 - Due Thursday, 12/9

A1/A2 Due Friday, 12/10

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.  Your responses should be between 4-6 sentences.

1. Analyze Ekwifi’s story.  How might it be symbolic?  Think of the colonial / native relationship.
2. Analyze Ezinma’s story.  How might it be symbolic?

Things Fall Apart Blog # 4

Due Dates: A Block Monday, 12/6
                   B Block Tuesday, 12/7


Please read Chapter 10 and respond to the prompts below.  Your responses must incorporate a quote and be between 3-5 sentences.


1.  Do you believe the author used this description of the trial to represent order and justice?  Or was it intended as a mockery of native customs?

2.  What similarities did you find between the justice system you are familiar with and the one depicted in the novel?


3.  We have frequently discussed how this text can be viewed as sexist.  What instance in Chapter 10 would prove as an argument to say that it is not?

A Girl Named Disaster Blog # 4

Due Dates:  A Block: Monday, 12/6
                    B Block: Tuesday, 12/7

Please read Pages 88-98 and respond to the following prompts in complete sentences.  You should write between 2-4 sentences for each response.  Any responses with incomplete sentences will automatically be counted as incorrect.

1.  Why had the Musengezi River become a "dangerous place to sail" (90)?

2.  What makes Nhamo almost physically ill, even though she realizes that the sickness was from "her spirit, not her body" (93)?

3.  Paraphrase the story Nhamo tells her mother about the creation of the hippo.

4.  Look at the map in the front of the book.  How did Nhamo get lost?  Keep in mind her ultimate destination being Zimbabwe?

New Website!

Please note the following address for our new class website!  Please use the website to keep up with the class.  Any suggestions and or criticisms are appreciated!

https://sites.google.com/site/midhighliterature/

Things Fall Apart Blog # 3

Examine the images above.  One is an artistic representation of Okonkwo, the other is a relatively modern take on the urban male of today.  Please compare to two images, and by seeing what Okonkwo is not, how do we find out more about what he is?


Aspects to think about are clothing, jewelry, and the visual background.


Please make your response THREE paragraphs in length.


Due: B Block: Wednesday, 12/1
        A Block: Thursday, 12/2

June 2009

I

A Girl Named Disaster Blog # 3

Due: B Block - Wednesday, 12/1
        A Block - Thursday, 12/2

Below is an image of Nhamo; compare her photo with the strikingly different image below.  How can one say what Nhamo isn't when viewing the different image?  In particular I want you to think about how an urban or rural culture can impact an individual.  Some aspects to think about are style, clothing, hairstyles and the visual background.

Your response must be TWO paragraphs in length.

Things Fall Apart Blog # 2

Read through Page 62.


Respond to the following prompts.  You must incorporate quotes into your writing using MLA format.


Due Dates:      A Block: Friday, 11/26
                        B Block: Thursday, 11/25
Pg. 45 - 51
1.  Explain how the passing of time is represented by the wrestling matches.  Think generationally.

Pg. 52-62
2.  Is Nwoye starting to grow up? (52-52)
3.  Does Nwoye want to please his father?  How?  Why?
4.  After our in-depth analysis of Okonkwo, are you surprised by his actions concerning Ikemefuma?

A Girl Named Disaster Blog # 2

Read Pages 47 - 65 and answer the prompts below in complete sentences.

Due: A Block: Friday, 11/26

         B Block: Thursday, 11/25

1.  Why did Nhamo and her family go to see the Muvaki?

2.  What was the Muvaki's diagnosis?

3.  A Scapegoat is a goat that historically was loaded with bad omens and sins and sent out into the desert to perish (die).  Nowadays, it is known as the practice of singling out a person, a race, a religious group, a country or an employee for negative treatment.  For example, if a TEAM loses a soccer game but they blame one person, he or she has become the scapegoat.  They put all the mistakes they made onto one person and blamed that individual for the loss of the team. 

With this in mind, and viewing the picture below, how has Nhamo become the Scapegoat?  

   

4.  Mozambique was a colony of the Portugese.  Usually one gets negative representations of colonial powers, but how are the Portugese represented in this novel.  Why do you believe the author does this?

5.  The Portugese Trader joked about the Muvaki on pages 64-65, but what does this say about his true views of this man?

6.  Do you believe in magic?  If so, explain why.  If not, how did the Muvuki logically know the information about Nhamo's family?  The book has the answers...there are no incorrect responses...just do your best to support your opinion.  

A Girl Named Disaster Blog # 1

Due Dates:  B Block - Thursday, 11/18
                    A Block - Friday, 11/19

Read through Pg. 25

Respond to the following questions.  You must use complete sentences.  Your responses should be between ONE and THREE sentences in length.

1.  Who is the Protagonist.

2.  What does she do to communicate with her dead mother?

3.  What time period do you believe the book is set in?

4.  Which country is the book set in?

5.  Describe in your own words one of the African expressions or words you found in the text.

6.  Explain why you can, or cannot identify with the Protagonist.

Things Fall Apart Blog # 1

Due Dates: B Block - Thursday, 11/18
                   A Block - Friday, 11/19

Read through Pg. 25.

Identify the following.  Each response must be in complete sentences.  You should use between one and three sentences for each response.

1.  Okonkwo

2.  Unoka

3.  Nwoye

4.  Why did Okonkwo dislike his father?

5.  Why was Ikemefuna ordered to live with Okonkwo?

6.  Select ONE of the African words used in the text and explain its meaning.

Assignment # 5

Finish the novel.  Write 3 paragraphs about how the book has impacted your view of relations between people.  Think of ethnicity, religion, and nationality in your response.  You must incorporate 3 quotes into your response.  For you conclusion, think about what we can take away from this book?  How can this book make us better people?

Assignment # 4 Night

Answer the following prompts in complete sentences.  HONORS students must incorporate a quote into their responses.  Your responses should be well constructed and between 3-5 sentences in length.  Use appropriate grammar and word choice.

DUE:
A BLOCK: FRIDAY, 10/22 
B BLOCK: FRIDAY, 10/22

1.  Did Elie feel comfortable around his doctor?  Why or why not?

2.  Who was the Red Army?  You might need to look this up to respond correctly.

3.  Who is the Red Cross?

4.  If you had been Elie, would you have left with your father or stayed?  Why?

5.  What did Wiesel mean when he wrote that "there were two of us: my body and I.  I hated that body"(85)?

6.  Why does Wiesel write that they had become the "masters of the world" (87)?

7.  Why does Elie feel that Rabbi Eliahu's

8.  What is Wiesel describing as a "trampled...eerily poignant little corpse" (95)?

9.  How did Elie save his father's life?  Why can this act seem ironic?

Assignment # 3

Read pages 66-79 (New Book) or 63-80 (Old Book) and respond to the following prompt.  Your response should be THREE paragraphs in length.  Each paragraph must have ONE quote and it must be cited in MLA format.

Due Dates:
A Block - Thursday by midnight
B Block - Friday by midnight

Writing Prompt:

On page 68 Elie Wiesel writes that he [Elie] "was the accuser, God the accused" (68).  Using quotes from the text, give three examples (1 paragraph each) of how Elie has transformed from a devout and pious individual to a man who blames God for the horrors that are occurring around him.

Night Assignment # 2 - Pages 29 - 46

The opening sentence to the assigned reading is as follows: "The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally our illusions" (Wiesel 29).

Based on this quote, what do you believe were the "illusions" that they had left behind?
Your response must be 2 paragraphs in length.  You must post it by Wednesday, 10/6 or Thursday, 10/7.

Also, write 5 comprehension questions for this section of text and bring those to class on Wednesday and Thursday to share with the class.

Vocabulary 1-4 Review Sentences

Please write and turn in 10 sentences with your 15 vocabulary words.  Your sentences must deal with anything European.  Due in class Wednesday, 10/6 and Thursday 10/7.

Vocabulary 1-4 Quiz

We will have our Vocabulary 1-4 Quiz on Friday, 10/8 and Monday, 10/11

Night - Chapter I Assignment

Apply the 5 Questions to Chapter I.  Your answers should be short-responses that give specific details from the text.  Limit yourself to 3 sentences per question.

1.  Who?  Moishe the Beadle / Eliezer / Eliezer's Father
2.  What?  What is going on at the start of the text?
3.  When?  When are the events happening?  What is going on in Europe at this time?
4.  Where?  Where are the events taking place?  Which country?  Which part of that country?  Which town?  Where are they going to be taken?
5.  Why?  Why are the events taking place?  What is causing them?

Honors:


Male Students:  Write a 1 page biography on the author Elie Wiesel.  Make sure to cite your sources.  Limit yourself to one page.

Female Students: Write a 1 page report on any aspect of Romania.  Make sure to cite your sources.  Limit yourself to one page.

Due Monday, 10/4 and Tuesday, 10/5.


Be prepared to present your paper to the class.

Vocabulary 4 Quiz - Night

Vocabulary 4 Quiz: Friday, October 1st for A Block
                                Monday, October 4th for B Block

Vocabulary 4 Homework

Write 10 Gap-fill sentences with Vocabulary 4.  For example: The Rabbi looked to the ______________ for answers in respect to how to guide his people during such a horrific time.  DO NOT PUT THE ANSWER IN THE BLANK.  OTHER STUDENTS WILL COMPLETE YOUR GAP-FILLS THE DAY THEY ARE DUE.  The answer for the above sentence is "Talmud."  Make sure that your Gap-fill guides the reader towards the answer you want.

Due: Wednesday for A Block, Thursday for B Block

Flash Fiction Assignment

Please find a selection of Flash Fiction that interests you.  Then write a 1 page response on how 3 of the literary devices off your list helped create this story.  In other words, how did the author's selection of these devices form the story?  Also, was the implementation of these devices successful?  Did they work?  Make sure to attach the short story to your writing.  Due Monday, September 6th for A Block and Tuesday, September 7th for B Block.

Vocabulary 1 Quiz

There will be a quiz over Vocabulary 1 on September 9th and 10th.  You must know the definition, be able to make examples of the terms on your own, and be able to identify them in an excerpt.

"Write all about you!"

Hello all,

Thank you for registering for the blog.

This week we will be working on your research papers but I would also like to get to know you all a bit better.  Please write three paragraphs describing yourself.  The first paragraph should tell me about where you are from and why you are at HIS.  The second paragraph will describe who you are academically; mention weaknesses and strengths, likes and dislikes.  The third paragraph paints a picture of who you are as a person.  What do you like to do?  What are you interested in?  What do you want to do in the future?

This assignment must be posted by Wednesday, August 25th by 12:00 a.m.

Best of luck!

Mr. Phillips

Welcome Lit Class 7-9

Just to get the blog off its feet, I'd like you to become a "follower," even though you will be the leaders, and post who you are and which class you attend.  Please keep your user name the same as who you actually are; it will make our lives much easier.  We will be using this blog to complete a variety of assignments and I am excited to learn more about you.

Thankfully,

Mr. Phillips