Weeks 1-4

Tues 8/23: Intro to class and to one another.

Thurs 8/25: Bring to class The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

Fri 8/26: Read "Raymond's Run" in reader and annotate (take notes) accordingly.

Tues 8/31: Quotation assignment (summary and analysis) of "Raymond's Run."

  • Please do the assignment on Canvas

    • Assignment can also be found here.

    • If you're unclear how to use Canvas, just do the assignment on a Word doc and I'll explain next week how to post it.

Weds 8/31-Read and take notes on "Man of the House" in reader, pp. 31-34.

Fri 9/2--Quotation assignment on "Man of the House": "Man of the House" quotation assignment

  • Time for assignment (assuming you’ve put away your phone and any other devices that might distract you): 30-40 minutes

    • Word count: 225-300 words total (75-100 words per quotation)

      • Note that the quotations themselves do not count towards your total words.

      • Note also that you can do more than 300 words, but not fewer than 225.

Monday 9/5: No school!

Tues 9/6--Topic Sentence Writing Exercise on "Man of the House." Preview of assignment here: "Man of the House" topic sentence assignment

Thursday 9/8--Grammar Day!

  • Read about nouns on pp. 8-12 of How Grammar Works and do the exercises on pp. 9 & 12.

  • Read about pronouns in the pink Grammar Workbook, pp. 5-6.

  • Also, read about verbs in the pink Grammar Workbook, pp. 9-12.

  • Bring pink workbook with you to class.

    • Additional work in pink workbook t.b.a.

Friday 9/9--Read and take notes on "Cell One" in your reader. Additional copy of the story to be found here: "Cell One"

Some questions to consider as you do the reading:

*** What are the themes or topics of this story?

  • What is the narrator's relationship with her brother like before, during, and after his incarceration?

  • Contrast Nnamabia's attitude in prison before and after he begins to witness the guards' treatment of the old man.

  • Despite his faults, how is Nnamabia a sympathetic character?

  • Whose story is this, Nnamabia's or his sister's? Explain your response?

Tuesday 9/13--Paragraph assignment due on "Cell One." Please put this doc on Google Drive (to be explained in class).

Wednesday 9/14--Read and take notes on "On the Rainy River” (short story READER).

Friday 9/16--Grammar day: Adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions

  • Also, read about adjectives and adverbs in How Grammar Works,pp. 41-45 and 47-53.

    • Click here

    • Or see link to the left under English 1/Grammar Info/PDFs on How Grammar Works

    • Do examples on pp. 45 and 53; bring pink workbook to class.

  • Read about prepositions in How Grammar Works (pp. 54-56 & 60-61)

    • Remember, the link to the PDFs is under "Grammar Info" on the course website

    • Semi-memorize list of prepositions on page 23 in pink workbook.

      • Don't spend hours--just make sure you know what is and is not a preposition.

  • Bring pink workbook to class.

  • There will be a short quiz at the beginning of class to make sure you've done the readings

    • Also, review nouns, pronouns and verbs--these will also be on the quiz

    • Don't stress about the quiz--you just have to show me that you've done the readings thoroughly--you don't have to have perfect comprehension of the grammar!

*** Time for all the above assignments: 30-40 minutes of focused attention (hide your phone, turn internet off, etc.).

*** Important: Please bring your laptop fully charged to class every day.

*** Please note that I have a tendency to change assignments so don't get too far ahead or you might end up doing work that's unnecessary.

Policy re. laptops: During class, laptops are meant to be used only for classroom assignments, not for checking email, perusing the internet, games, etc.

  • Review the above links if you're unsure how to take notes.