Thursday, Sept. 15th

1) Silent Reading
2) Finish Notes (from yesterday)
3)A&P group questions - 6 groups. View video to review the story.

A & P
Get More: A & P

     - Is Sammy's quitting a form of rebellion or a statement of some sort? Does it have any meaning? What is he rebelling against? Are there unconscious targets of his rebellion? Who is the enemy here? Are there any forms of oppression at work in the story? Who is oppressed (or "embarrassed" for that matter)? Is Sammy's standing up for the girls in some way a form of standing up for himself?
    -Is the girls behavior itself a kind of statement or rebellion of some sort? What message are they sending by walking into the A&P in their bathing suits? What messages do the girls send to "the sheep" of the store? Why is it significant that they choose a supermarket for their self-display?    
   - What are Queenie and the girls symbolic of? Is Queenie an upper class girl? Is she more free than Sammy? Why? What does Sammy think? How does he imagine her life? How does he contrast his own existence to that of Queenie? Is Queenie her real name? What does Sammy know for a fact about her? What does her behavior reveal? What in a sense is he trying to achieve by impressing Queenie?
  
For all groups - collect 4 quotes from the story that back up your answers.

Present findings. All take down quotes.

4) Writing Assignment - pick one of the sets of questions tonight and begin a brainstorm. Prepare to write tomorrow.

Sample Short Story Analysis

Read it and/or print it out from here.

Hemingway and the Objective POV

1) Silent Reading

2) "Performance" of Hills Like White Elephants.

3) Detective/Discussion Groups - What is the conversation about? Use all your points of entry/ elements of fiction to figure out what is going on.

4) In-Depth Thinking - see questions below.






Questions for "Hills Like White Elephants" 10 marks - tomorrow

1. What is the effect of the objective point of view?

2. Why are the speakers only identified as "a man" and "girl"? How do these designations affect your reading of the story? What nickname does the man use for the girl?

3. How do the descriptions of the landscape relate to the conversation between the two travelers? What about the discussion of drink orders?

4. Note each sentence or paragraph that is not enclosed in quotation marks, and explain how each brief commentary affects your understanding of the characters and the lives they lead.

5. Why does the girl repeat the word "please" seven times? Anger? Hysteria? Fear? Frustration? Why does the man leave her at the table?

6. The railroad station setting is important to the progress--the plot--of the story. How does this physical setting parallel the thematic concerns of the story as well?

7. How does the title relate to the story? What is the symbolism of a white elephant?

8. Is the girl really "fine" at the end of the story? How do you think she is feeling?

9. How is this story ironic? 2 marks

Bad Behaviour!

1) Silent Reading

2) Discussion: What are the elements of a terrific short story??? Think - Group - Share on board

3) Terms: Genre, Memoir, Hyperbole, Understatement

4) Stranger than Fiction - postcard fiction contest... you are all going to create and submit a 250 word story. My sample story...

5) Library - to work on it... you must also hand it in to me by Tuesday, next week.

Check out Kurt Vonnegut's advice:

How is a music video like a short story?

Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs"

Kanye West's "Power"

OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass"


Inquiry Question: How is a music video like a short story?

Welcome to English 11 - A Day without Desks!

1) Welcome! Pick three words.

2) Meet the Creature - Tara Colborne and why she hates desks

3) You and Your Words

4) The Outline - it's epic!
And some tough questions around the circle...

5) Six Word Stories - possible homework.

If you ever lose your outline and really, really need to see it again you can view and print it here.

Monday, February 15th

Today's Story: The Shining Houses (p.16), by Alice Munro
How might you have reacted?
What could she have said to change the community's mind?
What parallel situations have you faced in your own life?

Have you spotted this woman around town? She spends her winters in Comox.
She might look just like any grey-haired lady but she is an internationally regarded writer of tremendous acclaim.If you see her, can you please get me her autograph? Thanks.



Story Analysis Assignment - get the Google Doc version here.

Story Cards - DUE WEDNESDAY
Short Story Exam - FRIDAY

Tuesday, February 9th

1) Silent Reading
2) Story of the day: Identities, by Valgardson p.3 of Inside Stories
3) What kind of identities are at play in this story? Why does he leave his neighbourhood of twice cut lawns? What is his motivation? What similes, symbols and metaphor are used? To what effect?
4) Terms on the board:

Motivation - see the definition in the back of Inside Stories
Simile
Metaphor
Symbol (scroll down)
Here is a great link to all the literary terms you are responsible for by Grade 12: http://www.openschool.bc.ca/courses/english/glossary.html

5) Assignment: Character Description

Choose a real person you know or observe a stranger or create a purely fictional character.
Write a descriptive paragraph the evokes the senses (as in the story, Identities).
Start with a name ___/1
Senses Chart ___/2
Sight/Colours ----- Sounds--------- Smells -------------Textures
(Include at least one simile, metaphor or symbol) ____/6
Drawing ___/1

Wednesday, Feb. 3rd

Big Ideas: Identity

1) Silent Reading - The Liar, p. 310 - 320
2) Ms. Colborne to finish reading out loud.
3) Discussion and Handout/assignment - Adolescent Identity
4) Time to write...

Tomorrow:
Identities by Valgardson, p.5
How and why do we judge one another in a high school?

Monday, February 1st

1) Welcome
2) Meet the Creature
3) Course Outline - it's epic. Check it here.
4) Three word introductions.
5) First story - A & P, by John Updike
6) Tomorrow: bring a binder for notes and a book to read for silent reading.

Coming up: You'll be "wordling" an introduction.