Course Description: ELA Regents preparation Winter/Spring 2008
American Literature Survey Themes : “The Spirit of Freedom” , ”Protest Literature” “The American Dream.”
Write a research paper using MLA style format.
Need to create a Blog page to post assignments.
Daily work will be posted on website.

Tentative Reading

Wilson, August Fences

Hansberry, Lorraine A Raisin in the sun
Grading:
20% Participation
20% Projects
30% Tests
30% Papers

Focus Question: How prepared are you for college?
Not to be arrogant, but I feel as though I am somewhat prepared for college. I have a list of 10 colleges that I would like to attend. As for what I am doing currently, I feel as though my grades will be plenty in order for me to place in a good college. On top of my grades, I am taking a Princeton Review SAT class so I can be sure that my SAT scores are good enough to land me in a phenomenal college. Now as for attending college, I can balance a large workload without going insane, which is extremely vital as well.

Aim: How can we integrate technology in this English course?

DN: Write a paragraph on how you think technology should be integrated in an English class. What things would you like to do using technology?
Technology in an English classroom is a perfect example of our society moving towards the future. Although many may agree on this statement, many disagree on how technology should be integrated. I feel as though the perfect technology to be used in an English class is a projector and a cart of laptops for the students. With the projector, the teacher is able to display their lesson plan to the entire class and the students can follow along as the teacher goes through her lesson. As for specific activities, I feel as though our class can utilize the World Wide Web to enrich ourselves. Through the Internet we have access to the latest news, copies of literature and information that could only enrich our education. On top of that, the teacher can utilize on-line activities that could make a lesson more interesting or explain a topic better without having to worry about students having access to the Internet or a computer in general.

Aim: What is a slave narrative?
Do Now: Explain in one paragraph what have you’ve been taught about slavery in social studies. How can slave narratives be a form of protest literature?
I have been taught a lot about slavery so far. It was a terrible, corrupted system where we (Americans) would invade towns in Africa, steal their people and bring them back to America. Although a free trip to a new land might sound great, this is far from the truth. The, at this points, slaves were packed into ships where they had to bear with terrible living conditions. After a month at sea, they would arrive in America and immediately auctioned off. The reason the slaves could be auctioned was because they were viewed as property. Once the (plantation) master had received his slave(s), he/she had forced them to work long hours and abused them most of the day. After the long work day had ended, the slaves would often retire to their “shacks” and be fed little or no food. From this point, the cycle would repeat. Fortunately for the woman, if the master had liked the slave, he would ask the slave to be a maid in the house.
Slave narratives are a perfect form of protest literature. They show the true feelings that some slaves had to undergo and show the true torture the slaves had to endure. The narratives could show real hopes and dreams of real slaves. These hopes and dreams are the source of protest.

A slave narrative is an autobiographical text about one’s experience in slavery.

Aim: Students will gain insight into the horrifying conditions facing slaves throughout the ordeal.

Do Now:
KWL Chart

Aim: How can we use a Graphic Organizer to better identify and compare Equiano’s similarities and differences to Harper’s and Whitfield’s poems?
Do Now: Compare One of the poems to Equiano’s narrative.
When I was reading “Bury me in a Free Land,” I felt as though that poem completed the excerpt.
In Equiano’s narrative, we are exposed to all the terrible acts and conditions that slaves had to experience. However, the excerpt ended at the point where slaves are sold. “Bury me in a Free Land” shows what happens to slaves once they are put to work.

Venn-Diagram Comparing the two works of Literature

Aim: How can we compare protest literature?
Previous night's HW:

Annotate Ambush: Page 1 & Page 2

Annotate "Dulce et Decorum Est" What specific images, lines or scene from each work makes these two works anti-war?
In “Dulce et Decorum Est”, line 27 is the most supportive of the statement that it is an anti-war work. “The old lie : [translated] Sweet and fitting is it to die for your native land.” Another piece of evidence is the imagery presented in lines 16-22. It shows how vicious and inhuman war truly is.
In “Ambush,” from the scenes depicted, we can clearly tell that this piece of work is anti-war. I mean could you imagine telling your daughter that you killed a man? Can you imagine killing a man automatically? This is what happens after soldiers come back from war and obviously this is not a positive aspect of war.

Venn-Diagram comparing Ambush & "Dulce et Decorum Est"
Sense Diagram comparing Ambush & "Dulce et Decorum Est"