Various Assignments

Description of Unit

Autobiography Portfolio -- 50+ autobiographical writing assignments (originally designed for sophomores) cover exposition, description, narration, and argument. Each one is short, non-intrusive. Individual assignments can also be used as chracter autobiographical activities for litarary works. For example, Holden's Personal Alphabet.

Beowulf -- This page includes Reader Response journals for specific sections of the full epic and extra credit assignments for the desperate. Extensive links for further study and images from the graphic novel are also provided.

Catcher in the Rye -- Usually assigned as summer reading, with a Teaching Poster, due the first day of school. Activities included might take a week of classtime. Use the links provided to help enrich your reading experience.

Career Workshop -- Career exploration project based upon PSAT and PLAN test results. Includes signing up for My Roads, taking the ORA Personality Profile, completing Career and College surveys, writing and researching a Career Essay, and preparing a resume.

Using Catalogs-- Don’t Throw that Away: Using Free Catalogues to Teach Almost Everything English (Fall 2010 OCTE Presentation).

Classical Literature -- Several online activities for studying classical literature and art. (Special instructions and samples for the Coat of Arms and thePostcard Project.)

Cyrano de Bergerac - Activities for Cyrano de Bergerac itself and for the adaptation Roxanne. Page includes poster illustrations, creative projects, study guides, links to theater guides, handouts, and video links.

Everyman -- This page includes links to online versions of the play, study questions, composition assignments, and creative writing options. Teacher's Guide includes links to other medieval plays and their performance.

Fairy Tales: Literary Analysis for All Ages -- Brainstorming, freewriting, theme statement, synopsis, classification, analysis, application, evaluation, and creative writing, too.

Film Studies -- Teach essay writing, internet search strategies, research skills, parenthetical notation, and critical analysis through film review. Focuses on classic film genres and how to view them.

Grendel -- A critical overview, chapter-by-chapter study questions on the novel, links to John Gardner's famous letter, critical articles, and astrology references. Also incudes information about Julie Taymor's production ofGrendel the Opera.

How to Read Literature like a Professor -- Short writing assignments for each chapter. Your responses may be informal (yes, you may use "I") and you may also use films for your examples. Written assignments will be due the first day of class, so see the Taboo List to avoid any formatting penalties. Do not waste time and effort re-writing for neatness; use proofreading marks for corrections.

Invisible Man Online -- Includes teacher materials, art, music, sound clips, and links to background resources. tracing major motif -- dreams, family, music, sugnificant objects, oratory, paper, power, sex, violence, and vision -- Also links to student web pages, a grading rubric, and a self-evaluation.Includes links to 1999 Student Pages.

Invisible Man Web Pages -- Each group traced a major motif -- dreams, family, music, sugnificant objects, oratory, paper, power, sex, violence, and vision -- throughout the novel. Includes a grading rubric and a self-evaluation.Includes links to 1999 Student Webpages.

“The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson -- More Than You Ever Wanted to Know about teaching tghis poem. Includes links to artwork, criticism, and derivative writing. Check out the links to additional allusive artwork.

The Lost Generation and The Harlem Renaissance -- Presentations on novelists, poets, musicians, artists, and performers who shaped culture between the wars (developed with Walt Shaw). Includes links to 1998 Student Pages.

Macbeth -- Scene analyses, selected from the first four acts.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway -- Links, reviews, centennial perspectives, style assignments, an essay assignment, and a sample essay

Poem-a-Day: National Poetry Month and Online Resources are used for Poetry Immersion in preparation for the AP Literature exam. Using a carefully selected daily poem to foster deep reading and prompt focused writing, students can review major poetic techniques and forms.

Poetry & Paintings -- This website, captured and re-posted here, from Emory University offers connections to Ekphrastic Poetry. In modern usage, the vivid literary description of a specific work of art, such as a painting, sculpture, tapestry, church, and the like.

Poetry Presentations -- Using LOVE poems, students apply poetic terms and analyze the effect of poetic elements. Directions, handouts, and student web pages. Includes links to 2000 Student Pages.

Poet Research Project -- A research project on the life, the works, and the time period in which a significant poet lived. Includes directions, links, and handouts. For sophomres.

Projects for Reports -- Creative projects for any subject, with grading checklists. My old “50+ Ways of Sharing Knowledge” improved by collaboration (developed with Sandy Bahan, Linda Kramer, and Walt Shaw).

Song of Roland Composition Assignment -- Quote for Exam

Experiencing Shakespeare -- Assignments, projects, and study links for an interactive elective course on Shakespeare. Includes works also studied in required English classes.