Carlos Barrera

Thursday-Friday Jan. 31-February 1

Today in class we discussed, studied, viewed Plato's Allegory of the Cave and learned of Socrates. We discussed contemporary themes in this classic piece.

We formed groups to create a visual narrative on a poster of an orginal retelling of the "Allegory of the Cave"

Tomorrow in Block 2 and 3 we will view clips of the film "1776" and prepare for reading "The Declaration of Independence" and "The Crisis"--two persuasive pieces from the American Revolutionary period.

Block 4 will read/view the conclusion of The Crucible.

All classes will finish the poster and present in the hallways using the gallery walk method.

Download ap_multiple_choice_questions_the_crisis.doc

Download ap_questions_declaration_of_independence.doc

Wednesday January 30

Today in class we read/listened/viewed Act III of the Crucible. Also, we studied the rhetorical devices, subject, purpose and tone of Jonathan Edward's "Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God". See the quizlab on it at:

www.quizlab.com

Tomorrow we will read an essay by Arthur Miller entitled "On Social Plays". We will apply SOAPStone to the piece.

We will also view a clip about the Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin, who influenced Martin Luther King Jr.

"History is not an accident. History is a choice." Bayard Rustin

Read the summary of Act III of The Crucible.

Act three takes place in court.  Francis Nurse, Giles Corey, and John Proctor present their case against the girls to Deputy Governor Dansforth and Judge Hathorne.  Proctor presents a petition signed by 91 people testifying to the good character of their wives, and Dansforth issues warrants for the questioning of all of them.  Corey charges Putnam on inciting his daughter to accuse Corey of witchcraft in order get his land.  Corey has a witness but will not name him for fear of getting the man arrested.  Corey is arrested because of contempt of the court.

Proctor presents his case and a deposition by Mary Warren saying that she never saw the devil or any spirits.  Abigail says that Mary is lying and she and the girls pretend to be bewitched by Mary. Proctor, frustrated at the gullibility of the court, grabs Abigail by the hair and exclaims to everyone that she is a whore confessing that he had an affair with Abigail.  Elizabeth is brought in to be questioned about whether this is true.  Elizabeth tells the court that John Proctor never had an affair with Abigail in order to save his name, however, this destroys Proctor’s testimony.

Mary crumbles under the peer pressure and returns to Abigail’s side, accusing Proctor of being a witch.  The girls pretend to be bewitched by Proctor.  Proctor accuses Danforth of being afraid to reveal the truth.  Dansforth acts more to keep the reputation of the court rather than for justice.  Reverend Hale now sees the evil in the court and denounces the proceedings.  Proctor is arrested.

Tuesday January 29

Today in class we will read four paragraphs from Jonathan Edward's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". We will also work on AP Styled Multiple Choice questions.

Then, we will read/listen/view Act III of The Crucible.

The following quizlabs are due on  tonight www.quizlab.com

Alabama Centennial *
AP Multiple Choice Practice-Letter from Birmingham Jail *
DIDLS Breakdown *
Pocahontas to Her English Husband, John Rolfe *

The following quizlabs are past due and expire tonight:

Key Terms in Argumentation (with answers showing) *
Multi-Paragraph Essay Terminology assignment *
General History of Virginia Quiz (more attempts) *
post the Singer Solution essay *
The Singer Solution to World Poverty *

The following quizlabs are due next Monday February 4th:

The Crucible Act I
The Crucible Act II

The Crucible Act III
The Crucible Act IV

AP Multiple Choice Questions-Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

The essay Comparing Two Schools due on Monday evening February 4th--post on:

www.pearsonsuccessnet.com

Monday January 28, 2008 American Lit Honors

Today we are in the computerlab. We will recieve progress reports on assignments that were due last week. There are more assignments due today and tomorrow on quizlab.

www.quizlab.com

We will be typing our essays comparing and contrasting two schools. You will go to

www.pearsonsuccessnet.com

Your log in is your First name, underscore, and last name. example: John_Smith

Your password is your lunch number.

You will find the Essays, click on American Experience (as the product) and find this prompt:

Comparison and Contrast: Essay About Schools-Think about two schools you have attended or two schools or colleges that you are interested in attending in the future. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of attending these two schools.

You will paste your essay into the box and press submit.

Below is a sample essay I wrote comparing the teaching at Osborne and teaching at Robert Morgan Educational Center in Miami. Click it open:

Download barreras_sample_essay.doc

American Lit Honors Friday January 25 2008

Yesterday in class we viewed and discussed some clips discussing the "culture of fear" that exists today and was present in Puritan Society in the 17th Century.

We read further into Act II of the The Crucible.

We will draft a comparison/contrast essay in class today. Then, we will continue with the Act II of The Crucible.

A summary of Act II can be found below:

Act Two begins eight days after the discussion at Parris’ house.  Between act one and act two, Deputy Governor Dansforth came to Salem to oversee the court proceedings.  Fourteen people have been arrested for witchcraft, and there is talk of hanging.  Elizabeth Proctor asks John to go to the court and testify against Abigail and the other girls.  John doesn’t want to get involved.  There is tension between Elizabeth and John since Elizabeth has not forgiven John for the affair. 

Marry Warren enters.  She was in court testifying against the townspeople.  She gives Elizabeth a doll which she has made in court.  In the middle of their discussion, Hale enters to question John and Elizabeth, suspicious of witchcraft. 

Later, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse enter to seek advice after both their wives had been arrested.  Next, the marshal arrives with a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest.  Elizabeth was accused by Abigail for stabbing Abigail with a needle through a doll.  John Proctor protests but Elizabeth is taken away in chains.  Proctor demands Mary that she goes to court and testify against the girls.  He vows that he will fight the proceedings, even if it means confessing his own adultery.

Thursday January 24 American Lit Honors

Today in class we began reading, viewing, and discussing Arthr Miller's The Crucible. We went over the question/answers for Quizlab Act I Quiz.

www.quizlab.com

Tomorrow we will listen to/read Act II of the play. Below is a summary of Act I of the play.

Act One begins with Reverend Parris praying over her daughter, Betty Parris, who lies unconscious on her bed.  Through conversations between Reverend Parris and his niece Abigail Williams, and between several girls, the audience learns that these girls, including Abigail and Betty, were engaged in occultic activities in the forest lead by Tituba, Parris’ slave from Barbados.  Parris caught them and jumped from a bush startling the girls.  Betty fainted and had not recovered.  During this session, Abigail drank chicken blood to kill Elizabeth Proctor.  She tells the girls that she will kill anyone who mutters a word about what happened.  The townspeople do not know exactly what the girls were doing but there are rumors of witchcraft.

John Proctor enters the room where Betty lies faint.  Abigail is still in there and she tries to seduce him.  Proctor is a farmer who has had an affair with Abigail a while ago, but now he wants to forget it.

Reverend John Hale is summoned to look upon Betty and the research the incident.  He is an expert in occultic phenomena and he is eager to show his knowledge.  He questions Abigail who accuses Tituba as being a witch.  Tituba, afraid of being hanged, confesses faith in God and accuses Goody Good and Goody Osborne of witchcraft.  Abigail and Betty, who has woken up, claim to have been bewitched and confess faith in God.  They name several other people whom they claim they saw with the Devil.

Download 2_schools_essay.doc

Wednesday January 23, 2008 American Lit Honors

Today we begin stuyding Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

We will view a powerpoint (you can download here):

Download crucible51.ppt

We will view clips of Arthur Miller, the film, and we will begin reading Act I. You will assigned groups where you will be in charge of presenting material from a particular scene.

Tuesday January 22nd

Today we are in the computerlab. Several assignments on quizlab are due. Check them out at:

www.quizlab.com

Classword :(2 Barrera) (3Barrera) (4 Barrera) depending on which block you have me. Then your password is your lunch number (student i.d.)

Tomorrow we will begin reading the Arthur Miller play The Crucible. This is based on the 17th Century Salem Witch trials (New England) and the 1950's McCarthy communist witch trials (United States).

Thursday January 17

Today in class, we read a poem "Alabama Centennial" and created a SOAPStone organizer. Then, we

listened to a NPR piece on "The Heart of the Game". Listen to it here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5460334

We began viewing the film "The Heart of the Game", which we will continue to view tomorrow. We will also review the terminology for a Multiparagraph Essay. We are in the computer lab next Tuesday to complete quizlabs.

Wednesday January 16 2008

Yesterday in class we concluded our reading, viewing, and discussing of John Smith and Virginia, 1607.

We listened to an NPR piece "This I Believe" by Native American poet, musicians, and educator Joy Harjo.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11695780

We read Paula Allen Gunn's poem as well. We learned to apply SOAPStone to these pieces.

Today we will listen to an NPR piece on Economic Segregation in Schools.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15775771

We will read "Rosa" a poem by Rita Dove. We will read a section of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King. We will receive a DIDLS Breakdown handout. We will view clips from "Boycott" a film about Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This film will be aired on BET this Friday at 7:30 pm.

Tuesday January 15

Yesterday in class we posted our essays (Singer Solution to World Poverty). I closed the post yesterday. If you didn't get a chance to post there is a place to do so on quizlab.

Today in class we will listen to a NPR radio piece "This I Believe" by Native American poet Joy Harjo. Then we will read a poem by Native American poet Paula Allen Gunn. It is posted below.

Also, the quizlab for reading John Smith's "The General History of Virginia" is due Tuesday January 22. There are two other quizlabs due that day. You can read the John Smith piece here:

http://users.mhc.edu/facultystaff/jpierce/spring00/eng205/histvirg.html

Pocahontas to Her English Husband, John Rolfe

And how many times did I pluck you
from certain death in the wilderness –
my world through which you stumbled
as though blind?
Had I not set you tasks
your masters far across the sea
would have abandoned you –
did abandon you, as many times they
left you to reap the harvest of their lies;
still you survived oh my fair husband
and brough them gold
wrung from a harvest I taught you
to plant: Tobacco. It
is not without irony that by this crop
your descendants die, for other powers
than those you knew take part in this.
And indeed I did rescue you
not once but a thousand thousand times
and in my arms you slept, a foolish child
and beside me you played,
chattering nonsense about a God
you had not wit to name;
and wondred you at my silence –
simple foolish wanton maid you saw,
dusky daughter of heathen sires
who knew not the ways of grace –
no doubt, no doubt.
I spoke little you said.
And you listened less.
But played with your gaudy dreams
and sent ponderous missives to the throne
striving thereby to curry favor
with your king. I saw you well. I
understood the ploy and still protected you,
going so far as to die in your keeping –
a wasting, putrifying death, and you,
deceiver, my husband, father of my son,
survived, your spirit bearing crop
slowly from my teaching, taking
certain life from the wasting of my bones.

Paula Gunn Allen

Singer Solution Essay

You will be typing your essay today in class. Below is the prompt and a suggested way to format the essay.

TEACHING THE MULTI-PARAGRAPH ESSAY

Write an essay in which you evaluate the pros and cons of Singer’s argument. Use appropriate evidence as you examine each side, and indicate which position you find more persuasive.

Introduction
Thesis	Peter Singer’s assertion from “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” is…
Topic	The pros about Singer’s assertion are
Sentence
Point 1	For example,
Commentary
Commentary
Point 2	In addition,
Commentary
Commentary
Point 3	Furthermore,
Commentary
Commentary
Concluding	Singer’s assertion is…….
Sentence

2nd Body Paragraph and Conclusion

Topic	The cons of his argument are
Sentence
Point 1	For example,
Commentary
Commentary
Point 2	In addition,
Commentary
Commentary
Point 3	Furthermore,
Commentary
Commentary
Concluding	Singer’s assertion is
Sentence
Rephrase
Thesis &
Revisit
Attention
Grabber
Leave
reader w/
something
to think
about

Tavis Smiley interview Howard Zinn on NPR/

Tavis Smiley interviews Professor Howard Zinn. Go to the NPR link and listen to it. Howard Zinn and the Omissions of U.S. History

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1524095

The Tavis Smiley Show, November 27, 2003 · The Thanksgiving holidays are a time when Americans traditionally reflect how far we've come and the distance we have yet to go. But too often we only scratch the surface of yesterday. One academic who has measured the past in arguably broader terms is Howard Zinn -- historian, social activist, playwright and author of the critically acclaimed A People's History of the United States. Professor Zinn joins NPR's Tavis Smiley to discuss what Zinn contends are some of the great "omissions" of United States History.

Multi-Paragraph Essay Terminology

Format for Jane Shaffer Essays

(Jane Shaffer, an advanced placement teacher, found that papers with high grades generally followed this format. You might wish to follow this suggested format until your are comfortable with your own style.) 

Introduction

Includes thesis – usually the first or last sentence

Paragraph contains more than forty words

Has three or more sentences including the thesis

Body

Has two or more paragraphs

Each paragraph contains on the average of 11 sentences

Each paragraph contains 125 or more words

Concluding Paragraph

Has 40 or more words

Shows insight

Does not repeat the thesis

Gives a finished feeling (draws a conclusion)

Each body paragraph is generally structured in the following way

1.      Topic sentence – refers to thesis found in introduction

2.      Concrete detail sentence #1 shows support for the topic sentence (For Example…)

3.      Commentary

4.      Commentary

5.      Concrete detail sentence #2 shows support for the topic sentence (In addition…)

6.      Commentary

7.      Commentary

8.      Concrete detail sentence #3 shows support for the topic sentence (Furthermore…)

9.      Commentary

10.  Commentary

11.  Concluding sentence – sums up the paragraph

Multi-Paragraph Essay Terminology

ESSAY	A piece of writing that analyzes different components of a subject.  Your essays will be at least four paragraphs long with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.
INTRODUCTION	The first paragraph of an essay.  It includes the thesis statement (most effectively used at the end of the paragraph).
BODY PARAGRAPH	A middle paragraph in an essay.  It develops a point you want to make that supports your thesis.
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH	The last paragraph in your essay.  It may sum up your ideas, reflect on what you said in your essay, say more commentary about your subject, or give a personal statement about the subject.  It does not restate the introduction.
THESIS	A sentence with a subject and opinion (also called commentary).  This comes somewhere in your introductory paragraph.
Pre-WRITING	The processes of getting your concrete details down on paper before you organize your essay into paragraphs.  You can use any or all of the following: bubble clusters, diagrams, outlines, or columns.
CONCRETE DETAILS (CD)	Specific details that form the backbone or core of your body paragraphs.  Synonyms for concrete detail include facts, specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof, evidence, quotations, paraphrasing, or plot references.
COMMENTARY (CM)	Your comments or opinion about something: not concrete detail.  Synonyms include opinion, insight, analysis, interpretation, inference, personal response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and reflection.
TOPIC SENTENCE	The first sentence in a body paragraph.  This must have a subject and opinion (commentary) for the paragraph.  It does the same thing for a body paragraph that the thesis does for the whole essay.
CONCLUDING SENTENCE	The last sentence in a body paragraph.  It is all commentary, does not repeat key words, and gives a finished feeling to the paragraph.
SHAPING THE ESSAY	The step that is done after prewriting and before your first draft of an essay; it is an outline of your thesis, topic sentences, concrete details, and commentary.
FIRST DRAFT	The first version of your essay also called the rough draft.
FINAL DRAFT	Guess what this is.
PEER RESPONSE	Written responses and reactions to a partner’s paper.
CHUNK	One sentence of concrete detail and two sentences of commentary.  It is the smallest unified group of thoughts that you can write.
WEAVING	Blending concrete details and commentary in a body paragraph.
RATION	The ration of one part concrete detail (CD) to two plus parts commentary (CM).