Comm 12

1. In your book review (due next Friday!), include a detailed character sketch of either the protagonist or antagonist. Include details like:
- background - character foil - motivations - themes illuminated by character - personality traits
2. Review of ads/commercials containing bias...
- cultural - racial - gender - class - age -
3. Discussion: are all biases bad? Is there such a thing as a good bias?
*Homework: Bring an article or commercial/ad that displays bias*

English 11 Block 2

1. Hand in ARRTI/A Separate Peace comparison
2. Watch documentary on Salem Witch Trials (take notes)
We watched up to 57:00. If you weren't in class today, follow the following link
*Homework: Research 10 facts (two facts per category):
A. Senator Joseph McCarthy
B. The "red-scare" of the 1950s
C. Arther Miller, Communist?
D. Puritans in Europe
E. Puritans in North America
Key words from documentary: spectral, maleficarum, misogyny

English 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Quiz on "Half-Hanged Mary"
A. Form of poem? (/2)
B. Point of view? (/1)
C. Find an example of the following terms (/5):
- synecdoche
- apostrophe
- simile
- verbal irony
- situational or dramatic irony
D. Describe the significance of the following sections: (/6)
- midnight
- later
E. Paragraph (/6):
- What is Mary Webster's message? [cite examples from the text]
(You may want to include ideas regarding:
- FEAR - REPUTATION - SOCIETY - EPIPHANY - SELF-DISCOVERY - SURVIVAL -
And/Or the following quote as inspiration:
"Only when we are no longer afraid do we truly begin to live." - Dorothy Thompson
*Homework for block 3: 10 Facts about:
- anarchy
- conformity
- military draft
- atonement
- prep school (1930s-1950s)
*Homework for block 4: 10 Facts about:
- utopia
- dystopia
- William Golding
- Viktor Frankl
- Sigmund Freud

Comm 12

1. Finish F 9/11
2. Identify propaganda techniques in the film.
3. Homework: Bring an article/ad/commercial that shows bias (i.e. cultural, racial, class, gender)

English 11 Block 2

1. Finish A River Runs Through It.
2. In-Class: Comparison between ARRTI and A Separate Peace.

English 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Questions and analysis of "Half-Hanged Mary" (Atwood)
2. Due Wednesday.

Comm 12

1. Independent Novel
2. Propaganda Techniques (notes):
- Omission: Leaving out important information so that people jump to conclusions (not the "whole truth")
- Contextualization: The emotion from one scene colours how you interpret the next scene ("structure activation")
- Ingroup/Outgroup Manipulations: Preferring people "like us" over "people not like us"
- Cynicism: People attribute selfish motivations to other people and view their own motivations as altruistic
- Traps: The E.W.Y.G.Y.S. effect
- Pacing and Distraction: "Distraction keeps people from thinking" (music, fast cuts)
- Associations: Pavlov effect
- Numeric Deception: People like statistics and often don't research their accuracy before believing them
3. Apply these techniques to Michael Moore's film F. 9/11 and/or Bowling for Columbine
4. All things considered, do you feel that Moore's films are propaganda?

English 11 Block 2

1. Finish A River Runs Through It.
2. Movie/Book comparison due tomorrow
(include characterization, theme, pathetic fallacy, metaphor, etc)

English 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Analyze the poem "Half-Hanged Mary" by Margaret Atwood.
2. Chronological questions:
7pm: What types of people were vulnerable to these kinds of charges during this period?
8pm: Define "trussed". How is she similar to a flag being raised?
9pm: Who are "the bonnets"? Why are they afraid? What favours had she done for these women? What would happen if they tried to help her? What would "rub off"?

10pm: What are her feelings toward God right now? How do you know?

Midnight: Identify and explain the similes used. What is she trying to convince herself to do?

2am: What two different kinds of prayers is she talking about? What is her prayer?

3am: Why is the wording so deliberately awkward? What is the poet's intent? What does she see as her only crime? What is significant about the repetition of the word born/borne?
6am: How long has she been hanging? Why is the sun no longer a simile for God?
8am: How might the townsfolk have felt when they find her still alive? "Before, I was not a witch. / But now I am one." --> Why does she say this?
Later: How do they townsfolk feel about her now? Why? How have things changed since the hanging? How has she changed? What is her mental state?
3. Identify literary devices used.

Comm 12

1. Continue F 9/11.
2. Think of propaganda techniques Moore uses; for example, omission. (Why does Moore omit the visual footage of the Twin Towers plane crashes?)
3. What is different between the news coverage of the war in Iraq with the testimony of the American soldiers? Who controls the news media?
4. Why and how does Moore use music and humour to back up his argument?
5. Decide: Is this documentary propaganda?

Eng 11 Block 2

1. Hand in analysis of "And Thou Art Dead..."
2. Begin A River Runs Through It.
3. Compare the characters of Gene/Finny with Norman/Paul.
4. What are the similarities between the film and A Separate Peace in terms of characterization, narrative technique, pathetic fallacy, and theme?

Eng 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Finish film adaptation of The Crucible.
2. Interview with Daniel Day Lewis and Arthur Miller.
3. Define the following lit terms:
-allusion - apostrophe - assonance - consonance - didactic - euphemism - flashback - foreshadowing - imagery - metonymy - personification
4. Define the following poem types:
- lyric - narrative - ballad - ode - elegy - monologue - free verse - blank verse

Comm 12

1. Finish Grad Transitions.
2. Begin second documentary: Fahrenheit 9/11
3. Questions to consider:
- What types of evidence are used to back up Moore's opinion?
- What is the function of the narratives in the film?
- How and why is humour used in Moore's documentaries?
- Do you think Moore's films are PROPAGANDA?

English 11 Block 2
*Hand in novels!*
1. Define the following terms:
assonance, consonance, didactic, apostrophe, dissonance, euphemism, metonymy, personification
2. Define the following poem types:
lyric, narrative, ballad, sonnet, ode, elegy, free verse, blank verse, pastoral
3. Read "And thou art dead, as young and fair" by Lord Byron
Questions:
- Author, Type of Poem?
- Theme of poem?
- How does this poem relate to A Separate Peace?
- Examples of literary devices utilized in the poem?

English 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Film adaptation of The Crucible.
2. Hand in books.

Comm 12

1. Finish Bowling for Columbine.
2. Start brainstorming for violence/media questions.
3. Define bias. What are some personal and general examples of bias? Is Michael Moore biased?

English 11

1. Unit Test
2. Hand in novels

Comm 12

1. Consider the following questions:
- Who should be held responsible for the violent/criminal behaviour of children/minors?
- What degree of influence does the media have on our actions?
- Why do you think violence in the USA is higher than in other countries?
- Should gun-control/gun-possession laws be more strict?
2. Continue watching Bowling for Columbine.

English 11 Block 2

1. Review for A Separate Peace:
- A character sketch on Gene, Finny, or Leper
- Literary Devices: symbolism, irony, flashback, foreshadowing, metaphor, imagery
- Theme: Guilt/Innocence, Atonement, Inner/External War, Innocence/Experience, Identity/Coming-of-Age
*Tomorrow: Test

English 11 Blocks 3 and 4

1. Review for The Crucible:
- A character sketch on Hale, Proctor, or Abigail
- Literary Devices: Allegory, Symbolism, Metaphor
- Theme: Justice/Retribution & Revenge, Individual vs. The Community, Intolerance, Reputation, Godliness vs. Worldliness, The Puritan Myth
*Tomorrow: Test