Syllabus | Assignments Revised: Jan. 5, 2007
Week of August 21 to 25
Tues	Journal #1 ("Senior Year" What does this mean to you?) Syllabus. Honors syllabus supplement. "E-mail to Teacher" assignment. "Seniors' Getting to Know You" assignment (What happens in your life after Prep? How is what you're doing here this year going to make your future easier/better? What decisions do you need to make this year? To what extent do you control your own success?). Discuss. Hmwk: finish reading syllabus for quiz on Friday. Complete "E-mail to Teacher" assignment by Friday. Put together English class notebook as per instructions in syllabus ("Additional Materials" section). Honors: students wishing to do the honors independent-study option, talk with Mrs. Dibben privately Thurs. or Fri
Wed	Read aloud "Shock Tactics," by H. H. Munro. Brainstorm on the subjects of complacency, status quo, powerlessness, and being in a rut. Journal #2 (untimed) What would it take to get you out of your school rut and into a better, healthier, happier, more successful school year? Hmwk: complete Journal #2 (if not finished in class).
Thurs	Journal #3 (Do you have the power to change things/events? Why?/Why not? What things/events?). Read aloud "The Schartz-Metterklume Method," by H.H. Munro. Intro British Authors Project. Hmwk: Investigate authors listed in the British Authors Project. Browse online and in lit texts (at home and/or library) to decide on your British Authors Project choice.
Fri	Due: "E-mail to Teacher" assignment today. Journal #4 (We've had a week of school. Is it working for you? What is working well? What do you need to adjust?). Syllabus quiz. Students make 1st and 2nd choices for British Authors Project during class. No hmwk. Honors: students wishing to do the honors independent-study option, talk with Mrs. Dibben before the end of school on Fri
Week of August 28 to September 1
Tues	View "Mother Tongue" video (from The Story of English series). Take notes on video to be filed in "Notes" section of English notebook. Hmwk: Browse in these "Resources for the Study of Beowulf" [http://www.library.unr.edu/subjects/guides/beowulf.html] in the University of Nevada, Reno, website. Write out in your own words, in your own handwriting, at least one page of notes to bring to class on Wed. Be prepared to share something interesting/unique with your classmates.
Wed	Due: notes from yesterday's hmwk browsing in Beowulf site. Finish "Mother Tongue" video. Hwmk: continue browsing in these "Resources for the Study of Beowulf" in the University of Nevada, Reno, website. (Check out "The Language of Beowulf" and "Beowulf as Inspiration," especially.) Bring at least one page of handwritten notes to class on Thurs. Be prepared to share something interesting/unique with your classmates.
Thurs	Due: additional notes from yesterday's hmwk browsing in Beowulf site. Read pp. 32-40 & 42-43 in lit text. Journal #5 (Untimed: What does it take to be "heroic"?) Hmwk: Check out this website: http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/ --an adaptation text used in class. Read "Episode2 - Grendal Attacks," "Episode 3 - Beowulf Comes to Herot," "Episode 4 - Grendal Meets Beowulf." Episodes 6 & 7 encompass the adaptation of the last section we'll read in class.
Fri	Journal #6 (Labor Day weekend). Discuss epic hero and the hero plot line in other works. Explore language of Beowulf. Beowulf in Old English and audio file (mp3). No hmwk. English notebook check this weekend. Your 3-ring binder (with 5 labeled dividers and containing all journals, handouts and notes given so far) must be on shelf in English classroom.
Week of September 4 to 8
Mon	No class: Labor Day
Tues	Read aloud Beowulf selection in text, starting on p. 44. Discuss pagan and Christian elements of selection, epic heroes, and why cultures create larger-than-life heroes. No hmwk
Wed	Publications Workshop: No Class
Thurs	Publications Workshop: No Class
Fri	Journal #7 (Untimed: Biblical--and otherwise--epic heroes). Read aloud "Grendel's Dog, from Beocat," p. 67. Do Beowulf qstns, #1-6, 9 & 10, p. 60. No hwmk.
Week of September 11 to 15
Tues	Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20). Choose one option: Write a parody (See p. 67 and "Beowulf as Inspiration" in "Resources for the Study of Beowulf" website.) Pick 15 to 20 lines to memorize. (Pay attention to "Performance: Recitation," p. 61, for pointers.) Write "Hometown Hero Saves the Day!" or "A Hero's Handbook on Living," p. 61 Create a visual representation of a scene from Beowulf (movie, artwork, collage, . . .). Decide on project during class time and submit choice before leaving class. Hmwk: continue working on Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20).
Wed	Intro Venerable Bede, pp. 78-79. Read aloud selection from The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, pp. 81-83. Hmwk: continue working on Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20).
Thurs	Journal #8 (Ecclesiastical history of your own life, sports, freewrite). Continue with Venerable Bede. Read aloud "Caedmon," pp. 83-84. Do qstns. #1-5 (skip 3), p. 85. Due in class. Hmwk: continue working on Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20).
Fri	Journal #9 (Relay for Life, volleyball, a prayer). View Medieval Manuscripts (Available in PUC library: VTR Z 107 .A7 M4 1993). Hmwk: continue working on Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20).
Week of September 18 to 22
Tues	No 7:45 a.m. class meeting. Work on Beowulf Project individually. Hmwk: Complete Beowulf Project (due Wed, Sept. 20).
Wed	[NB different schedule: 9:00 a.m. meeting time] Due: Beowulf Project. Share Beowulf projects. No hmwk.
Thurs	No class because of ITED/CogAT testing schedule.
Fri	No class because of ITED/CogAT testing schedule.
Week of September 25 to 29
Tues	Begin Geoffrey Chaucer.[Chaucer in hip-hop?] Listen to beginning of Prologue in Middle English. Begin reading Prologue (to p. 104: knight & squire). No hmwk.
Wed	British Authors Project presentation on Geoffrey Chaucer by Nathan M. Continue reading aloud from Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (to p. 107: through monk). No hmwk.
Thurs	Journal #10 (Untimed: devise a physical and behavioral description of one of the pilgrims we have already read about). Finish yesterday's British Authors Project presentation. Continue reading aloud from Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Hmwk: complete Journal #10.
Fri	Continue reading aloud from Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. No hmwk.
Week of October 2 to 6
Tues	Continue reading aloud from Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Discuss characteristics of pilgrims. Journal #11 (Untimed: devise a physical and behavioral description of one of the pilgrims we have read about since Journal #10). Hmwk: complete Journal #11. [Prologue-style description of self]
Wed	Finish reading aloud Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. No hmwk. [Prologue-style description of self]
Thurs	View program from "Do You Speak American" series. No hmwk.
Fri	King Arthur legends. Read selection from Le Morte d' Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory, (pp. 159-164) and selection from The Book of Margery Kempe (pp.170-171). No hmwk.
Week of October 11 to 13
Tues	Read "Miracle and Morality Plays," p. 173. Intro Everyman selection. Pick parts. Read aloud. No hmwk.
Wed	Read "Allegory," p. 188. Do qstns #1-5, 8-11, & 14, p. 188. Test review notes on board. Hmwk: Begin your review for the Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Test.
Thurs	Review for test (Tues). Hmwk: study for Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Test (Tues).
Fri	[Rio Tournament] Continue with test review. Hmwk: study for Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Test (Tues).
Week of October 16 to 20 (End of First Quarter)
Tues	Test: Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages No hmwk.
Wed	Read "The English Renaissance," pp. 199-206. Read "The Sonnet," pp. 208-209. Sonnet reading day. Read p. 211, 221 (top), & p. 234. Hmwk: write a sonnet about something that is important to you. Use a Petrarchan, Shakespearean, or Spenserian rhyme scheme. Word process the sonnet, and decorate and/or illustrate it. Due Tues. (Submit to Turnitin.com.) [If you need a quick reminder about the sonnet rhyme schemes, check out the Wikipedia article, "sonnet."]
Thurs	John Donne intro (Tauva H.). Read poetry by Donne: "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" (pp. 382-3) and "Death, Be Not Proud" (p. 384) and two Shakespeare sonnets (116 & 130). Hmwk: continue work on sonnet. Enrichment: a modern prose narrative with the same final sentiment as Donne's "Death Be Not Proud."
Fri	Shakespearean Sonnet video and accompanying sonnet handout. (Make notes on sonnet handout.) Hmwk: finish sonnet and decoration/illustration, and submit text of sonnet to Turnitin.com by midnight, Tues.