English 11
Rosemary Dibben
(707)965-6759, rdibben@puc.edu
Office Hours: Periods 2 & 7. Other times by appointment. 		English Department
PUC Preparatory School
McKibbin Hall, 1 Angwin Ave.
Angwin, CA 94508
Syllabus | Assignments Revised: May 23, 2006 
[1st Quarter's Assignments] [2nd Quarter's Assignments] [3rd Quarter's Assignment]
Week of April 3 to 7 (Beginning of Fourth Quarter)  
Mon Journal #57 (Spring break insights). Distribute texts and intro Our Town. Choose roles. Begin reading (Act I, until children run off to school). Hmwk: research Thorton Wilder. Write out in your own words, in your own handwriting, one page of notes on Thorton Wilder to bring to class on Wed. Be prepared to share something interesting/unique with your classmate.
Wed Due: one page of notes in your own words, in your own handwriting, on Thorton Wilder. Journal #58 (How is your town like every other town? What are the things about your town that make it very ordinary? What are the routines of your town? What are the parts of your own life that are similar to the lives of other people your age?) Share results of Thorton Wilder research. Continue reading Our Town (to the end of Act I). Hmwk: Draw a map of Grover's Corners based on the Stage Manager's description at the beginning of Act I. Make sure your map includes: the Webb house and Gibbs house, Main Street, the churches, the schools, the mountain, the cemetery, the stores, and the train station. Feel free to add other elements that you think are important. Due Fri. [Check out this photo of Thornton Wilder himself playing the role of Stage Manager in a 1950 production. Click image to see larger version.)
Thurs Read Act I commentary. Continue reading Our Town (Act II). Read Act II commentary. Hmwk: finish map of Grover's Corner (see Wed's hwmk).
Fri Due: map of Grover's Corners. Finish reading Our Town (Act III). No hmwk.
Week of April 10 to 14
Mon

Journal #59 (What do you think is Wilder's message in Act III? What is the play's theme? Are there connections between the play and your own life?). Intro comparison of Our Town to other are forms, Norman Rockwell paintings and the Beatles' song, "Eleanor Rigby."

Our Town and Norman Rockwell:

Look at one particular Norman Rockwell painting of rural town/family life. (Include title of painting on your paper.)

  1. What is the painting's story?
  2. What is it's message?
  3. What the important details?
  4. What is left out?
  5. How is the painting's message/theme similar/different to Our Town?

Our Town and "Eleanor Rigby":

  1. What does Eleanor Rigby do in the church? Why is this sad?
  2. What is Father McKenzie doing?
  3. Why will "no one . . . hear"?
  4. How is Eleanor Rigby buried "along with her name"?
  5. Why is"no one . . . saved"?
  6. Who is/are similar to Eleanor Rigby in Our Town?
  7. How is the song theme similar/different to the theme of Our Town?

Hmwk: complete comparison of Our Town to Norman Rockwell paintings and "Eleanor Rigby." Due Wed. Be prepared to share your ideas in class.
Wed Share comparisons of Our Town with Norman Rockwell paintings and "Eleanor Rigby." Begin viewing Our Town. Hmwk: find a passage in Our Town that has significance to you. Write it out and bring it to class tomorrow.
Thurs Journal #60 (Put your significant passage on the desk while you write about what it means to you.) Continue viewing Our Town. Hmwk: appropriately word process (or otherwise prepare) a significant passage from Our Town for display on the classroom bulletin board.
Fri Due: passages from Our Town for display on bulletin board. Journal #61 (Think about Prep: can we apply Emily's words to Mrs. Gibbs in Act III, "They don't understand, do they?" to people at Prep? What about "all the lonely people" in "Eleanor Rigby"? Are there lonely people here?) Finish viewing Our Town. No hmwk.
Week of April 17 to 21
Mon Guest speaker: Sean Kootsey talking about his recent trip to Africa. No hmwk.
Wed Finish viewing Our Town. No hmwk.
Thurs (Music Tour people gone) Informal class meeting and discussion. No hmwk.
Fri (Music Tour people gone) Informal class meeting and discussion. No hmwk.
Week of April 24 to 28
Mon

Watch DAS version of Our Town, Act III. Review questions:

  1. What is/are the theme/s of Our Town? (Is "moral" a better term than "theme"?)
  2. How do the motifs of birth, love, death, and time support the theme/s?
  3. What is the hymn sung/played in Acts II & III? How is it symbolic of life in Our Town?
  4. Are there similarities between your community and Our Town?
  5. Does the theme/moral apply to your community? Your family?
  6. Draw a relationship chart of the characters. What happens to each?

Hmwk: Complete your answers to the review questions before class Thurs (when we'll have a guest speaker discussing Our Town with us).
Wed Watch DAS version of Our Town, Acts I & II. Hmwk: prepare for test, Fri.
Thurs Due: answers to review questions (assigned Mon). Guest speaker: Mei Ann Teo, director of DAS production of Our Town, 2004. Hmwk: prepare for test.
Fri Test: Our Town. Check off answers to review questions (assigned Mon). No hmwk.
Week of May 1 to 5 (Midterm)
Mon Read "Beginnings of the Modern Age" in lit text, pp. 587 to 596. Discuss historical and literary parallels during the 20th century.Intro The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hwmk: research Chaim Potok. Handwrite at least a page of notes to be shared in class and turned in. (Document all sources completely.) Read Chtp. 1, The Chosen. Due Thurs.
Wed Jr/Sr Picnic: No Class
Thurs Due: research notes on Chaim Potok to share in class and turn in. Begin vocab definitions. Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: read through Chpt. 2 and read "Chaim Potok: Report of an Interview."
Fri Continue vocab definitions. Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: read through p. 92.
Week of May 8 to 12
Mon Reading quiz (through p. 92 and "Chaim Potok: Report of an Interview"). Continue vocab definitions. Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: read through p. 148.
Wed Continue vocab definitions. Discussion of Judaism as portrayed in The Chosen. Distribute discussion qstns. Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: read through p. 192.
Thurs Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: read through p. 233.
Fri Continue reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. Hmwk: complete The Chosen by Mon.
Week of May 15 to 19
Mon Complete The Chosen by beginning of class. Reading quiz. Share background images and info with class. Discussion qstns. Hmwk: continue making notes for discussion qstns. Complete notes for any two questions in the first section (to be checked off at the beginning of class on Wed.)
Wed Due: notes for any two qstns in the first section of discussion qstns. Begin viewing The Chosen movie. Hmwk: complete notes for one qstn in the second section of discussion qstns.
Thurs Due: notes for one qstn in the second section of discussion qstns. Continue viewing The Chosen movie. No hmwk. (SA Picnic)
Fri Finish viewing The Chosen movie. Discussion of several discussion qstns. No hmwk.
Week of May 22 to 26
Mon

Student observer teaching: Watch selection from Bill Moyer's video, The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets. Hmwk: complete found poem and bring two favorite poems to class. Practice reading the poems so that you are prepared to share them in class.
Wed Due: completed found poem, and bring two favorite poems to class. Student observer teaching: Share found poems. Poetry group activity. No hmwk.
Thurs

Three of the most significant events in The Chosen involve fear that something is attacking a dearly held, fundamental belief.

  • Danny purposely hits Reuven in the face during the baseball game because his group sees Reuven's group as infidels, as Jews who are not true believers and are watering down the important parts of their beliefs.
  • Reb Saunders forbids Danny to speak with Reuven because Reuven's father is working very hard and publicly for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
  • Reuven comes to understand that his father does not teach at his school because he practices scientific text criticism--something antithetical to the accepted approach, at Reuven and Danny's school, to holy texts.

What we really believe directs our actions. Explore the role of belief in our lives. [Fundamental Beliefs of SDA Church] Hmwk: prepare for final exam.
Fri Review for final exam. Hmwk: prepare for final exam.
Week of May 29 to June 2 (End of Fourth Quarter)
Mon Memorial Day: No Classes
Wed 2:45 to 4:15: English 11 Final Exam
Fri 10:30 to noon: SA End-of-Year Party; 12:00: Graduation Practice
Syllabus | Assignments