Pre-Exam Grade

Hi Everyone:

The following list of marks reflects all your work except for the final exam... as promised.

Have a great summer!!

C.P

Mr. Baty's pre-exam update

Mr. Pierce's pre-exam update

P.S. Feel free to leave some comments and let us know you've been here!

Crash --List of Characters and Actors

Hi,

Richard reminded me that we promised to provide information on who all the characters and actors are...

Click Here for a link to the Wikipedia entry which should provide sufficient information for our purposes.

CP

Fresh Water Essays

Hi All,

Just a few more days until the end... Keep at it, you'll be happy with your results if you know you gave it your all.

Anyway, Mr. Baty and I thought it might be helpful for you to see the top three Fresh Water essays. These, in our opinion, are exceptional because they are strong in all respects-- in terms of both their organization and mastery of formal essay conventions. Each paper follows the assignment instructions to the letter. Reading them may help some of you in your personal growth as writers.

And don't worry if your paper isn't posted below... there were a good number of other strong papers.... Perhaps we'll be asking for permission to post your ISU essay...

Mr. B and Mr. P

Essay #1

Essay #2

Essay #3

Updated Marks

Hi All,

Here are some "fresher" numbers.

Mr. Pierce's Class
Mr. Baty's Distinguished Group of Fine Young People

Cheers

Long Awaited ISU Paper

Hi Everyone,

With your Guided Reading Responses handed in, it is time to start thinking ahead to your final ISU essay.

In order to write your essay you will need to find at least one solid academic essay that relates to your novel. The following link should work from school or from home. If you access the database from home then you will need to enter 'trillium' as your user ID.

Knowledge Ontario databases

Keep in mind that research is difficult. Sometimes you get lucky and find what you need right away. Other times you need to spend 2 or 3 sessions broadening or narrowing your parameters to get the information you need.

I suggest that you are most likely to find what you are looking for by accessing the "Academic Onefile" database. By default it is set up to do a "subject guide" search. Click on "basic search" in order to try a search using your novel title or author. You will also want to narrow your results to a "full text" search, meaning that you will be able to access the articles you need electronically.

If you can't find a literary essay or substantial book review, then see Mr. Baty or myself about a similarly themed novel. It is possible to discuss how the criticisms made about a similarly themed novel do or do not apply to your own ISU novel.

Cheers!

CP

King Lear... Old and New

Hey All,

Lavinia (?) reminded me today that I promised to put up a link to a site that features the original text with a modernised version, side by side.

Well, here it is: King Lear in Plain English

Please keep in mind that the link is just a tool and not even a perfect one at that. I only had to read about a dozen lines before I found my first typographical error (can you?).

I'm also hopeful that since we've spent considerable time learning to appreciate the wonder of poetic language, most of you will find the modernised version to be a dull, pale and insipid cousin to the original.

Bye for now,

CP

Midterm Marks

Clicking on the link will show you your individualized marks...

Just be sure to get your code name...

Midterm Reports

Mr. Baty's Class

Mr. P

Lear Links

Cut and paste the appropriate file into a word processor so that you can make changes to your text:

Act I sc. i

Act II sc. ii

Act II sc. iv

Act III sc. vii

Act V sc. iii

Please consider setting up your document in columns, which will enable you to use half the paper
you otherwise would.

Coulumned text is also the perfect size to transfer to cue cards.

Great Start, Everyone!

Promptbooks are Coming!

Hi All,

Since we are headed into the promptbook activity next week I thought I would put up a link so that you can see an online version that was done two summers ago. No one will be required to complete a virtual promptbook, but those of you who are comfortable already with the software may choose to do so.

See one group's version of a scene from Shakespeare's Othello: http://bluehuffy.com/hosted/othello_act1_scene3_promptbook/

Don't forget... the due date for Verbatim Analysis # 2 has been moved to Monday and you should be finished reading your ISU novel by next Wednesday. Mr. Baty and I have booked the computer lab for next Thursday and Friday so that you can complete the Guided Response activity.

Keep your literal noses to the figurative grindstones... we're almost half way through the course!

Mr. P

Short Stories for Review

How do you like this tactic to get everyone to check in on the blog? The only place that the complete list of short stories we have covered is available is here!

So, for Wednesday's test the sight passages could have been chosen from any of the following:

"No Great Mischief" by Alistair MacLeod
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
"The Destructors" by Graham Greene
"The Shining Houses" by Alice Munro
"The Rocking Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence
"Horses of the Night" by Margaret Laurence
"Miss Brill" by Katharine Mansfield

Also, there are a handful of people who still have not had their ISU novel approved by either Mr. Baty of myself. Please do so ASAP... we are about 25% of the way through the course!

Also, about half of you need a presentation date still. Check here to see if your presentation date has been assigned. If Mr. Baty and I haven't heard from you by Friday, we will assign you to a date.

On the other hand, it's nice to see so many people moving along on schedule. Keep working hard, the course will be finished before you know it. For most of you, the difference between a 70% and an 85% final (or higher!) is just a matter of some elbow grease...

Mr. P

Welcome, Mr. Baty!

Hi Everyone,

I thought this might be a good place to repeat some of the comments I made on Friday, 5 minutes before the weekend, about splitting this class.

While it would have been nice to carry through with each and every one of you, there is no way you (or your written work!) would get the attention you deserve. Mr. Baty is a veteran Gr. 12 University English teacher and there is no doubt in my mind that those of you who end up in his section of the course will be far better served than if you had remained in a class that was double the size.

Splitting the classes was much easier than I thought... because I didn't think in terms of "this student stays with me, this one goes with Mr. Baty." I simply created 2 balanced classes, either of which I would be happy to keep. Fortunately, Mr. Baty and I are accustomed to working closely together and I'm optimistic that the new arrangements won't take much getting used to. I sincerely hope that any of you who end up in Mr. Baty's class and are so inclined continue to consult with me about any of the assignments we started together (poetry, ISU). Likewise, for the students who stay with me, we'll be seeing a lot of Mr. Baty and I encourage you to make use of his expertise to the greatest extent possible.

I'm still looking for people to post comments, just to ensure that I have the settings right. Please email me at ewcwriter@live.ca if you have tried but are unable.

Thanks,

Mr. P

Day Four

Hi Everyone,



Good to see the emails are starting to trickle into ewcwriter@live.ca. I've added the four people who sent in emails as "authors" which means that they will be able to create their own posts (messages like this one).



Don't worry, there's nothing to work... just think of the blog as a extra chalkboard space. One of the most important links here is to the course calendar... you might wish to click on the link and then bookmark it.



Everyone should be able to make comments on any of these posts (even without being added as a writer). Who will be brave enough to be first?

The list of POETRY PRESENTATIONS is here. I'll update it as we go.

ISU CHOICES are here

See you in the morning,



Mr. P

Day Three

Hard to believe that we're underway already!

Given the large enrollment I need to get moving on poetry and the ISU as soon as possible. Don't be alarmed by an early presentation date. It can be really nice to get the poetry presentation out of the way so that it doesn't end up conflicting with one of the other assignments. When marking, I try to take into account the fact that early presenters have less information and experience to work with than students who present later.

Please email ewcwriter@live.ca with your preferred presentation date. I'll get you the closest date possible. If you are looking for poems, try one of the following links which contain poems written by well known poets.

http://www.emule.com/poetry/?page=author_list

http://www.poetry.com/greatestpoems/PoetsCorner.asp

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

For the ISU... Please bring your ISU novel Friday... I'd like to set aside some independent reading time. You might want to bring several novels and make your choice in class. If you are stuck for ideas, here are a few links that might help:

http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_and_shortlisted_authors_of_the_Booker_Prize_for_Fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Giller_Prize

http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Fiction

Remember, the whole point of the ISU is for you to pick a novel that you will enjoy. It is better to choose carefully than quickly.

1st Day Handouts

Here are some links to some of the important documents we will be using. My goal will be to update the Course Calendar frequently, so check back here for updates.

Course Overview

Course Calendar

Policies

Plagiarism

Notes on Being A Student

Conventions

Welcome

Welcome Students and Visitors to my first ever teaching related blog.

My hope is that this space will create a "home-base" that will help to keep us all organised and also enable us to communicate more effectively.

Please feel free to add your comments or questions.

Mr P.