Monthly Archives: October 2016

Poe for Halloween

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Today, on Halloween, we will honor Edgar Allen Poe.

We will read the “The Tell Tale Heart” aloud in class. Students annotated the story as Borg explained it and wrote a summary.

We listened to “The Black Cat” in class Tuesday, 11/01. Students took notes and highlighted evidence of the following and wrote a summary. Here is a copy of the story.

  • madness
  • guilt
  • alcoholism
  • “supernatural” vs. coincidence
  • sin/evil
  • personality or character changes

Students will also read “The Pit & the Pendulum”  this week.

They should expect to take a quiz over these stories Thursday or Friday.

STAR Testing & Transcendentalist Quotes

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We will be taking the STAR test today.  Follow the instructions Borger has posted in class or on the worksheet she gives you.

Then, go back through the readings from Emerson and Thoreau and identify the author and page number for each of the quotes from transcendentalists Borg gives you when you finish your STAR testing. We will work on quotes in class on Tuesday 10/25. They will be due at the end of the hour for 50 points: 1 point for the author & 1 point for the page number.

Thoreau Readings

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Read excerpts from Walden: “Where I Lived & What I Lived For” (196), “Solitude” (197), and “Conclusion” (203).  Read excerpt from “Civil Disobedience” (212-216).

  • Collect and explain 3 quotes from each selection.
  • Summarize each selection.

Be prepared for a class activity on Friday, 10/14 & seminar on Monday, 10/17 & Tuesday 10/18. You cannot participate in group work or seminar without notes.

Emerson Readings

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Read from Nature (182-3) and from Self-Reliance (185-6) in your textbooks.

Collect 3 split-quotes from each selection.

Explain how each quote represents some quality of either the Romantics, Transcendentalists, or Dark Romantics.

Quotes are due as soon as we are done discussing each piece in class.  from Nature will be due on Tuesday 10/04.

from Self-Reliance quotes will be due after we discuss it – post-homecoming-insanity.

Due Wednesday 10/12.

You will be required to memorize and recite a small section from one of these pieces for a grade in coming weeks.  Keep an eye toward parts of the selections that appeal to you most.