Life of Pi - asking questions

As we work through Martel's novel we will focus on forming questions about it, both to better understand the text and to further our exploration of the issues it raises.

We'll be doing short writings each week.  You can find copies of those assignments under the "handouts" tab above.

Second Semester Senior Year!!

Greetings!

Today I will be at the English Department course fair all day.

I'm sad to not see you on this rainy Monday morning to welcome you to the beginning of the last semester (hopfully) of your high school career.

Tomorrow we will have a chance to catch up and get things off to a formal start.  Also, tomorrow I will return work from fourth quarter to you and be able to discuss semester grades, which will be posted by the end of the day on Wednesday.  Please do not look at the grades on Infinite Campus and consider them complete - they are works in progress and may contain errors - nothing is official yet.

For today, I'm going to have you think about your place in history and what it means to be a person alive in these times.  Why?  We inaugurated a new president since we last saw each other.  Barack Obama will be the president for the next four years - a very important four years of your life.  We will also start to be more philosophical in our work this semester (more on that tomorrow). Let's take a look at what he had to say.

Please read his inauguration address.  You can click here to link to it, or here, or here.

When you are finished, please think about his words and how they apply to you and your views of the world in which you live.

• Which issues raised by President Obama are ones that relate to you? Why?
• Which ones do you think are most important?  Why?
• Where do you find yourself agreeing / disagreeing with him? Why?
• What do you think motivates these beliefs - what are the reasons for them?  What are the beliefs he holds that he is implying but not specifically naming?

Type out your responses and give them to the sub by the end of the period.

Also, please purchase the two books we will read this quarter: Life of Pi and The Stranger.  You will need Life of Pi for class on Wednesday.

See you tomorrow!

First Semester Final

Here are the links to the documents for your final:

• Description of assignment
• Scoring rubric
• Sample outline

To register for turnitin.com:

• Class code: 5960018
• Class Enrollment Key: Okonkwo

The God of Small Things - Issues, Conflicts, and Plot

Notes from 11-20

Caste System
- born into it
- can't change
- limited interaction with people from other levels
- Hindu faith

Older vs. Younger generation
- sense of guilt
- meodernity
- change of laws in 1955 making discrimination illegal

Plot points
- Sophie's death
- Esthat's issues: returned, sexual abuse
- Velutha (& Ammu)
- Ammu's death and divorce
- Rahel and Estha's experiences (funerals they go to / don't)

Conflicts
- older vs. younger generation
- tradition vs. modernity
- religion vs. law
- past vs. present
- British vs. Indian
- Parents vs. children (generational conflict)
- Marriage / Love Laws

The God of Small Things - Images

Elvis Puff:

 

The God of Small Things - Resources

As we start our next text, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, I've collected a number of resources to help you with your reading.  You will find them under the "Helpful Links" tab at the top of the page, as well as within this post.

The God of Small Things study guide and glossary

First Quarter Reflective Work

To conclulde our work for the quarter, please complete the reflective assignment below:

Reflective Essay

Participation Rubric