Welcome to British Literature I!
8/19: Introduction the class/course. A syllabus and course outline will be distributed and discussed. Students will be given a survey which they are to complete for Monday's class. The summer reading assignment will be collected Monday.
8/22: Share survey results. The summer reading assignment will be collected. We will then begin our unit on "Angela's Ashes." A handout on factual information about the novel will be given along with a power point presentation on the background of the novel.
8/23: Students will participate in an activity on "Analyzing Publisher's Clues." They will be given a worksheet to fill out. For homework: Students are to write a letter to Frank McCourt either supporting or opposing his point of view that "the happy childhood is hardly worth your while." We will share these letters in class tomorrow.
8/24: Share letters in class. Students will be given a list of vocabulary words from the novel and work on the list by using class dictionaries. For homework: Finish vocabulary assignment.
8/25: We will discuss the concepts of "tone" and "voice" and how it applies to Angela's Ashes. We will go over the vocabulary homework. Students will complete a handout on literary devices and turn in when done. A second handout on motifs will be given out and worked on in groups. We will go over this at the beginning of tomorrow's class.
8/26: We will discuss the themes and motifs found in the book. Stuents will work in groups to find specific passages where these themes and motifs can be found. We will have a roundtable discussion of the novel in its entirety, going chapter by chapter. We will work from a set of guided questions given out in class.
8/29: Continue round table discussion. Review of novel in its entirety and preparation for tomorrow's Unit Test.
8/30: Unit Test on Angela's Ashes.
8/31: Begin watching film. There will be a writing assignment to be completed before and after watching the film.
9/1: Continue watching the film.
9/2: Continue watching the film.
9/6: Continue watching the film.
9/7: Finish watching the film. Class discussion: Did the film live up to your expectations? Why? Why not? What things about the film surprised you? Bring textbook to class tomorrow.
9/8: Begin Introduction to British Literature. We will preview the textbook itself and look at works to be covered during the 1st semester.
9/9: We will begin our 1st unit on the Anglo-Saxon period by discussing historical, social, and cultural forces behind the period. This will include the Epic Warrior, the Epic, and the Epic Hero. We will also look at the timeline on pp. 6-7. Students will be given an outline on the historical background.
9/12: We will begin Beowulf. Students will be given a Beowulf study guide and a handout on key facts of the work. We will begin reading Beowulf together (Grendel Attacks the Danes). Stduents will be given study questions to go along with the text reading. HOMEWORK: Finish reading "The Coming of Beowulf" and complete the study questions for tomorrow's class.
9/13: Collect study questions and go over "The Coming of Beowulf." Students will be given new study questions for "The Battle With Grendel" and "The Battle with Grendel's Mother" to be completed for tomorrow's class.
9/14: Collect study questions and discuss "The Battle with Grendel." Students will be given study questions for "The Battle with Grendel's Mother", "The Battle with the Dragon" and "The Funeral Fire." The questions for "The Battle with Grendel's Mother are to be completed for tomorrow's class.
9/15: Collect study questions and discuss "The Battle with Grendel's Mother."The study questions for "The Battle with the Dragon" up to line 825 should be answered.
9/16: We will discuss the 1st part of "The Battle with the Dragon." A worksheet on the vocabulary of Beowulf will be given out and completed in class today. This sheet includes practice with synonyms/antonyms and using context clues. HOMEWORK: Finish reading "The Battle with the Dragon" and "The Funeral Fire." Complete the study questions to be turned in at the start of class on Monday. There will also be a reading quiz on Monday.
9/19: Study questions will be collected. A short answer reading quiz will be taken. Students will begin working on a handout comparing/contrasting the 3 major battles. This handout is due tomorrow.
9/20: "3 Battles" handout will be discussed and collected. We will begin a character analysis by discussing the qualities of monsters as depicted inBeowulf and the qualities of the Anglo-Saxon hero as found in the character of Beowulf himself. Finish Monster worksheet for tomorrow.
9/21: Beowulf worksheets- Appositive phrases, Old English root words, analogies,etc.
9/22: We will look at a power point on kennings. Students will creat modern kennings of their own. Review for tomorrow's test on Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Period.
9/23: Beowulf Unit Test.
9/27: Start watching the film.
9/28: Continue watching the film. Students will be given the directions for their final project on Beowulf- "Beowulf for President" posters. A handout with guidelines for the project will be given out at the start of the class. The finished poster will be due Monday.
9/29: Continue watching the film.
9/30: Finish watching the film. We will then discuss similarities and differences between the film and what we read in our text. We will begin discussion of the Medieval Period with a focus on its historical background and concepts of chivalry and knighthood.
10/3: We will then continue our next unit- The Canterbury Tales with a focus on The Power of Faith and a continuation of the Development of the English Language.
10/4: Finish up business from yesterday and start introduction to Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales. We will discuss the class system of Chaucer's time and students will fill in a chart to show their understanding. We will discuss direct and indirect characterization- students will be given worksheets to fill in for the characters introduced in The Prologue. Remember that your Beowulf for President poster is due tomorrow.
10/5: We will share posters. We will begin reading together the first few pages of the Prologue. Students will be assigned a character to present to the class. For homework: Read and fill in the chart for the Knight, the Squire, the Yeoman, and the Nun (Prioress).
10/6: We will discuss the characters from last night's reading. For homework: Read and fill in the chart for the Monk, the Friar, the Merchant, and the Oxford Cleric.
10/7: Reading quiz on the beginning of the Prologue through the Oxford Cleric. We will discuss the characters from last night's reading. For homework: Read and fill in the chart for the Sergeant at the Law, the Franklin, the Guildsmen, the Cook, the Skipper, and the Doctor.
10/11: We will discuss the Oxford Cleric through the Cook. For homework: Read from the Skipper through the Plowman.
10/13: We will discuss the character's from last night's homework. For homework: Read from the Miller through the Pardoner. There will be a quiz on the pilgrims from the Oxford Cleric up through the Pardoner.
10/14: Quiz on characters from Oxford Cleric through the Wife of Bath. We will then discuss the pilgrims from last night's reading.
10/17: We will discuss the Parson and the Plowman. Students will break up into groups and be given a specific pilgrim on which to report to the class. Groups will present tomorrow.
10/18: Groups will present their pilgrims.For homework: Finish the Prologue. There will be a reading quiz tomorrow.
10/19: Quiz on pilgrims from the Parson to the end of the Prologue. We will discuss the Prologue in its entirety. Pilgrim charts will be collected, along with the Study Guide questions.
10/20: We will begin the introduction to our 1st actual tale- "The Pardoner's Tale." Finish reading the tale for tomorrow's class. There will be a reading quiz tomorrow.
10/21: Quiz on The Pardoner's Tale." We will discuss the Tale in class.
10/24: We will begin our 2nd actual Tale- "The Wife of Bath's Tale." Students will be given study questions to complete for tomorrow's class. There will be a reading quiz.
10/25: Quiz on "The Wife of Bath's Tale. Study questions will be collected. We will discuss the Tale.
10/26: "Name That Pilgrim in-class activity.
10/27: Review for tomorrow's unit test on The Canterbury Tales.
10/28: Unit Test on The Canterbury Tales
10/31: We begin watching "A Knight's Tale."
11/1: Continue watching the film.
11/2: Continue watching the film.
11/3: Conclude watching the film. Students will be given a writing follow-up to be completed for next Wednesday 11/9.
11/7: We begin our unit on The Renaisance. We will discuss the historical background of it by looking at the Timeline in the text and viewing a power point on The Tudors.
11/8: Finish up the power point. We will then go over the development of the Sonnet. We will discuss the 3 types of sonnets: Petrarchan, Shakespearean, and Spenserian. We will read and discuss Petrarch's Sonnet XII. DON"T FORGET YOUR "KNIGHT"S TALE" ESSAY DUE TOMORROW!
11/9: Collect "A Knight's Tale" essay. We will read together in class the poem "On Monsieur's Departure" and "Queen Elizabeth's Speech to the Troops." Students will be given a set of questions to complete for tomorrow's class.
11/10:We will watch a clip from the film "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" which portrays Queen Elizabeth delivering the speech. With remaining time, we will read Sonnet 30 by Edmund Spenser. For homework: Students will finish reading the sonnet and answer corresponding study questions.
11/11: We will finish discussing Sonnet 30 and continue with Sonnet 75. Students will complete the study questions in class and turn them in at the start of Tuesday's class.
11/15: We will compare and contrast the 2 poems "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh. Students will be given another study guide for these 2 poems and the next 4 Shakespearean sonnets.
11/16: In-class work on determining point of view and author's purpose, analyzing sound devices, and comparing and contrasting Speakers/Narrators.
11/17: Continue yesterday's plan.
11/18: We begin our series of Shakespearean sonnets and soliloquies. Students will address prompts regarding some of the ideas found in Shakespeare's sonnets. We will then look at the background of Sonnet 116, read the sonnet together in class, and discuss its various aspects.
11/21: Read and discuss Sonnet 130.
11/22: Read and discuss Sonnet 73.
11/28: We will finish up our series of Shakespearean sonnets with Sonnet 29. Students will then complete their Sonnet Packets and turn them in at the start of class tomorrow.
11/29: We will read and discuss the 2 Shakespearean soliloquies- "To Be or Not to Be" and "All the World's a Stage."
11/30: We will watch the video on the life of William Shakespeare.
12/1: Review for tomorrow's test on Elizabethan poetry.
12/2: Elizabethan poetry test.
12/5: We begin our unit on MACBETH. Numerous handouts will be given on the background of the play along with study guide questions for Act One.
12/6: We will begin reading Act I together in class. Prior to the reading, we will go over Motifs found in the play, the characteristics of a Shakespearean hero, and the elements of a Shakespearean play. Students will be able to identify where these elements occur in the play.
12/7: We will begin reading Act I together in class. Students will be given study questions to complete while reading.
12/8: We will continue reading Act I by starting with Scene 3. Students will finish reading Act I for homework and be prepared for a reading quiz. They should also have the study questions for Act I completed and ready to be turned in at the start of tomorrow's class.
12/9: Act I Quiz. Act I study questions will be collected. We will begin Act II. Students will be given study questions to accompany the reading.
12/12: Students will continue reading Act Two in class. We will view the Porter Scene on DVD. Students will finish reading Act II and be prepared for a quiz on it tomorrow. Study questions for Act II will be collected at the start of tomorrow's class.
12/13: Act II Study questions will be collected. THere will be a quiz on Act II. We will begin Act III by reading Scene 1 together. Study questions will be given out and discussed. We will analyze the soliloquies of Banquo and Macbeth.
12/14: We continue our discussion of Act II. We will focus on Macbeth's plan for murdering Banquo and examine the changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as individuals and as a couple. We will read and discuss Scenes 2 and 3. We will analyze Act III, Scene 3 as the climax of the play.
12/15: Students are to finish reading Act III for homework. Study questions are due at the start of tomorrow's class and there will be a quiz on Act III as well.
12/16: Quiz on Act III. Study questions will be collected. We will begin Act IV.
12/19: We will continue our reading/discussion of Act IV, Scene 1.
12/20: We will finish up Macbeth when we return from Christmas Break. Have a wonderful holiday! See you next year!
1/3: We will continue our discussion of Macbeth Act IV by reading Scenes 2 and 3. Students are to finish reading what we don't get to in Scene 3 and complete the study questions for all of Act IV. These questions are due tomorrow and will be collected at the start of class.
1/4: Collect Act IV study questions. We will begin reading Act V together and students will be given their final set of study questions for Act V.
1/5: We will continue reading Act V. Students are to finish reading Act V and answer the study questions. These questions will be collected at the start of class tomorrow.
1/6: Act V study questions will be collected. We will discuss the play in its entirety. We will focus on main characters, along with key themes and imagery. With any time remaining, we will begin watching the film.
1/9: Continue watching the film.
1/10: Review for the semester final. If there is time remaining, we will finish watching the film.
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