Ms. Cavallaro’s Sophomore English

This week our study of Cold Mountain begins in earnest. Students will have roughly 20 pages of reading due each class. We will also begin a journal assignment, which requires students to analyze one quote per chapter (not per reading assignment). Much of the journal work will be done in class; students’ primary responsibility at night is to read. The journal descriptor, in PDF format, can be accessed here.

In addition, as I have mentioned repeatedly in class, SparkNotes is not a viable substitution for reading the book. Reading quizzes, class discussions, and writing assignments will require a more in-depth knowledge of the novel than SparkNotes provides. SparkNotes is fine to use as a refresher, after you have read, but should never be read in place of the book.

This week begins our study of Cold Mountain, a 1997 novel by Charles Frazier which is modeled after the Odyssey and set in the South during the American Civil War. For much of the week we will be looking at the background of the novel, both in terms of the war itself and the culture and expectations of the time period. Over the weekend, students will have their first reading homework, and then reading will be assigned nearly every night — including over winter break — until we finish the novel in late February or early March.

This week we will be watching “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and tracking similarities between it and the Odyssey. Students will use their notes during a test on the Odyssey, which will be given next Monday, 12/7.

This week, students will be polishing their Odyssey projects and presenting them during the last two classes of the week. You may download a copy of the project rubric here (in PDF). This is a major assignment worth 125 points, so it is imperative that students use class time effectively this week. Also, presentation dates — noted under the assignment tabs for each class — are set in stone and will not be rescheduled or postponed.

This week students received the descriptor for their group projects. You can download the descriptor here (in PDF). The descriptor includes due dates as well as expectations for all parts of the assignment. Presentations will occur next week, during the last two classes before Thanksgiving break.

We are tackling the second half of the Odyssey with a different approach. Students will be divided into groups, and each group will be responsible for reading and becoming “experts” on roughly 30 pages of the book. This week, students will do both independent and group work on their assigned chapters. We will be working on the skill of close reading, as students will analyze their chapters from a few different angles (content, character motivation, and figurative language). Next week they will work with their groups to design a creative, informative, and interactive presentation of their chapters.

Students can download summaries of Ch 13-24 here (in PDF) or here (in Word).

This week we are taking a break from reading to work on an essay for the Odyssey. Students’ essays will answer the question: Is Odysseus a good leader? We are going through this essay step-by-step, and final drafts will be due next Monday. Due dates for each step can be found under the relevant tab in the header of this page.

This essay will be the last major grade for first quarter.

You can download hints for writing a strong essay about Odysseus here (in PDF format) or here (in MS Word).

This week is another short week, since we have parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday. We’ll continue with our study of the Odyssey and get through a few chapters. Next week we’ll take a break from reading to look at figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification) and to write an essay. This means it’s essential that students keep up with the reading this week and over the long weekend.

This week is a short week, with PSAT’s on Wednesday and NWEA’s on Thursday. Each class will only meet twice, so we will spend the first class on vocabulary and the second class on the Odyssey. Nightly reading homework will recommence on Friday.

This week marks our transition between Edith Hamilton’s Mythology and Homer’s Odyssey. We will be writing about and discussing the traits of a hero, as the label pertains to both classical figures and real life people. We’ll be reviewing literary terms (such as personification, simile, and metaphor) and learning new ones (such as epic simile, invocation, and in medias res).  The students did a lot of analytic writing last week (Trojan War summaries, Trojan War research, in-class essays), so we’ll be taking a brief break from that and doing some creative work around the literary terms. At the end of the week, students will have their first Odyssey reading homework. As always, please check the relevant tab above this post to find out each day’s activities and homework.