American Lit. for August 7-11

Post date: Aug 07, 2017 1:23:11 AM

Here's an overview of the week ahead:

Vocabulary: We got our first set of vocabulary words on Friday and will work with them several times in class this week before taking a quiz over them on Friday. Here they are again if you need them:

Aspiration—dream, goals

Keen—sharp, stinging

Allegiance--loyalty

Stark—distinct, obvious, clearly evident

Reverence—respect based on age or authority

Blithe—happy and carefree

Enlighten—to inform, to let someone know

Reservoir—anything that holds a supply of something (like a lake and water)

Penury—poverty, being poor

Procured—to get, to obtain

Despotic—characteristic of a cruel leader

Subsistence—the minimum needed to survive

Perpetuated—to keep it going indefinitely

Barter—trading goods and services for others goods or services

Graft—money made through corruption

American Dream Unit:

We will start our unit focusing on the American Dream Monday, defining the idea for each of us individually and as a general concept. We will also complete a series of stations that focus on different aspects of and attitudes toward the American Dream.

As the week progresses, we will read several selections that define, in various ways, what it is to be an American and what the American Dream means. These works include writings by Senator John McCain, poet Langston Hughes, and President Franklin Roosevelt.

Students will ultimately write a definition paper in which they illustrate what it means to be an American, synthesizing their own ideas with those from the things we've been reading.