Class: January 31st

Happy 101st Day of School! (Remember, I have 1st graders).

1. We are going to watch an example of an Interactive Oral Activity to further understand the upcoming Socratic Seminar.

2. Review the Interactive Oral Activity Expectations
                   
Group IVAN: Secondary materials to dispense to your classmates is due to me by the end of Wednesday, February 1st, EARLY, February 2nd.

These will be posted under Ivan Denisovich links.

3. Literary Terms TEST on WEDNESDAY.

4. FOR Thursday, February 1st: Review your notes on CHARACTERIZATION (from 1st semester).  Along with Ivan, do thorough characterization studies of THREE minor characters of your choice. Put textual examples in your notes with your findings and conclusions. Be thinking about what purpose do they serve in this story... each other ... Solzhenitsyn.

January 27th

REMEMBER: LITERARY TERMS TEST ON FEBRUARY 1ST.

Guidance Enrollment Meeting: January 30th

1. Interactive Oral Activity introduction.
Interactive Oral- Page 228
Interactive Oral- Page 229
Interactive Oral- Page 230
Interactive Oral- Page 231
Interactive Oral- Page 232

2. Interactive Oral Activity example:

Interactive Oral Groups: 

Ivan- Michael G., Reid M., Jordyn L., Savannah M., Ayaan M. FEBRUARY 8th 

Chronicle- Janette F., Ryanne M., Brock W., Teyha G., Gilbert L. Cara P. 

Doll's- Aylish H., Sara M., Meredith S., Hunter S., Cecilia N., Lily P. 

3. Reflective Written Statement...  The BIG QUESTION

Reflective Written Statements Scoring and Samples

HOW WAS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURAL AND CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE WORK DEVELOPED THROUGH THE INTERACTIVE ORAL

Thinking about the IOA in reverse... everything that is presented, discussed, examined must LEAD to the ability to answer the above question THOROUGHLY.

So, your goal for the IOA is for all class participants to improve upon the understanding of the cultural and contextual considerations of the literary work.  Group members.. HOW CAN YOU DO THIS BEST? 

January 24th: Ivan Denisovich Important Quotes

You will need to analyze five quotes from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In your analysis you need to explain the context (what is going in the story at the time), the meaning (what you think the quote means or is trying to say), and the literary significance (what device is being utilized, and to what significance to the meaning of the text). 

Please reply below this post with your responses. Due by class time on Friday, January 27th 

The quotes:

Quote 1: "Here, men, we live by the law of the taiga. But even here people manage to live. The ones that don't make it are those who lick other men's leftovers, those who count on the doctors to pull them through, and those who squeal on their buddies." 

Quote 2: "Work was like a stick. It had two ends. When you worked for the knowing you gave them quality; when you worked for a fool you simply gave him eyewash. Otherwise, everybody would have croaked long ago. They all knew that." 

Quote 3: "Apart from sleep, the only time a prisoner lives for himself is ten minutes in the morning at breakfast, five minutes over dinner, and five at supper." 

Quote 4: "How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold? The cold stung. A murky fog wrapped itself around Shukhov and made him cough painfully. The temperature out there was -17; Shukov's temperature was 99. The fight was on." 

Quote 5: "Every nerve in his body was taut, all his longing was concentrated in that cigarette butt--which meant more to him now, it seemed, than freedom itself--but he would never lower himself like that Fetiukov, he would never look at a man's mouth." 

Quote 6: "Alyosha , who was standing next to Shukov, gazed at the sun and looked happy, a smile on his lips. What had he to be happy about? His cheeks were sunken, he lived strictly on his rations, he earned nothing. He spent all his Sundays muttering with the other Baptists. They shed hardships of camp life like water off a duck's back." 
Quote 7: "In camp the squad leader is everything: a good one will give you a second life; a bad one will put you in your coffin." 

Quote 8: "There was truth in that. Better to growl and submit. If you were stubborn they broke you." 

Quote 9: "Shukov looked up at the sky and gasped--the sun had climbed almost to the dinner hour. Wonder of wonders! How time flew when you were working! That was something he'd often noticed. The days rolled by in the camp--they were over before you could say knife. But the years, they never rolled by; they never moved by a second." 

Quote 10: "He was a newcomer. He was unused to the hard life of the zeks. Though he didn't know it, moments like this were particularly important to him, for they were transforming him from an eager, confident naval officer with a ringing voice into an inert, though wary, zek. And only in that inertness lay the chance of surviving the twenty-five years of imprisonment he'd been sentenced to." 

Quote 11: "But Shukov wasn't made that way--eight years in a camp couldn't change his nature. He worried about anything he could make use of, about every scrap of work he could do--nothing must be wasted without good reason." 

Quote 12: "Why can't you understand? The stars fall down now and then. The gaps have to be filled." 

Quote 13: "Who's the zek's main enemy? Another zek. If only they weren't at odds with one another--ah, what a difference that'd make!" 

Quote 14: "He had less and less cause to remember Temgenovo and his home there. Life in camp wore him out from reveille to bedtime, with not a second for idle reflections." 

Quote 15: "And now Shukov complained about nothing: neither about the length of his stretch, nor about the length of the day, nor about their swiping another Sunday. This was all he thought about now: we'll survive. We'll stick it out, God willing, till it's over." 

Quote 16: "D'you mean to say you think Old Whiskers will take pity on you? Why, he wouldn't trust his own brother. You haven't a chance, you ass." 

Quote 17: "When you thought about it, you couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He wouldn't live to see the end of his stretch. His attitude was all wrong." 

Quote 18: "Ten days. Ten days hard in the cells--if you sat them out to the end, your health would be ruined for the rest of your life. T.B. and nothing but hospital for you till you kicked the bucket. As for those who got fifteen days hard and sat them out--they went straight into a hole in the cold earth. As long as you're in the barracks--praise the Lord and sit tight." 

Quote 19: "You should rejoice that you're in prison. Here you have time to think about your soul." 

Quote 20: "they hadn't put him in the cells; they hadn't sent his squad to the settlement; he'd swiped a bowl of kasha at dinner; the squad leader had fixed the rates well; he'd built a wall and enjoyed doing it; he'd smuggled that bit of hacksaw blade through; he'd earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he'd bought that tobacco. And he hadn't fallen ill. He got over it." 

Quote 21: "A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day. There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail. Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years."

Class today: January 18th

1. IOPs for today have been postponed. Check the calendar for updated schedule.

2. Log into USATESTPREP.  We will be doing work on ACT Reading Test Strands where we have shown we need to practice.

3. When done, you have time to work on your Ivan Historical Context homework that is due FRIDAY.... or work on your upcoming IOPs.

4. Remember: Literary terms test on February 1st. Update terms.

January 17th

1. Quiz over Ivan Denisovich.
2. Remember: Historical/Cultural Context Practice is due on Friday, January 20th.
3. IOPs start Wednesday, January 18th.
4. Remember: Literary Terms test is February 1st (there are a few more words added to the list, so update your terms)

February is on us like....

Class today: January 11th

Historical Context: The influence of a time period on the author and their literary piece. (Not setting)

GULAG: Acronym for Glavnoye Upravleniye Lagery, "Main Administration of the Camps"

Even more broadly, "Gulag" has come to mean the Soviet repressive system, itself, the set of procedures that prisoners called the 'meat grinder': The arrests, the interrogations, the transport in unheated cattle cars, the forced labor, the destruction of families, the years spent in exile, the early and unnecessary deaths- Anne Applebaum, The Gulag 

After watching Anne Applebaum's interview, plus the work you have done with HC and Ivan, prepare notes in your class notes on the following prompt. Use specific examples from Ivan in your exploration.

What is the influence of the social and cultural context on language and meaning in Ivan Denisovich.  

Upcoming dates: 
Tuesday, January 17th: Quiz on Ivan 
Wednesday, January 18th: IOP 
Friday, January 20th: IOP
Monday, January 23rd: IOP
Tuesday, January 24th: IOP 
Wednesday, February 1st: Literary Terms Test

Individual Oral Presentation Examples

Class: January 6th and FOR class on Monday, January 9th

1. Introduction to the next IOP.  IOP Handout
                 1 page proposition for teacher approval: January 11th
                 Presentations: January 18th, 20th, 23rd

2. Review the upcoming 4 stages of IB assessments. 4 Stages of IB Assessment

3. For Monday: Read and take notes on the 2 links to Biography/Historical Context of Ivan Denisovich. Watch the Solzhenitsyn video, as well.  (See post below... and Ivan links)

The quiz for Ivan will be January 17th. 

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.... Background Information and Guidance

As I presented in class today, the due date for Ivan is January 17th. I suggest doing a first read through in the next few days... marking with the first read. After you are done, read through again, studying the text thoroughly. 

I have provided two links under Ivan links that provide excellent background for HISTORICAL and BIOGRAPHICAL Context. I would suggest reading and noting these before you start your reading. 

The picture seen above was drawn by Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya. Kersnovskaya was sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp. In her journal, Kersnovskaya kept graphic notes and drawings of her experiences. 

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1962 in the magazine, Novy Mir. 

Solzhenitsyn spent 8 years in multiple Soviet labor camps. His crime was making disparaging comments about Josef Stalin in a private letter to a friend. This book provides the first account of the atrocities of Stalin's rule in a public format. 

The video below is a report on Solzhenitsyn's death with included biographical information. 

 

Happy New Year! January 4, 2017

1. Write the above term and definition in your first page of notes for the start of the new semester. 

2. Read the following article from the January 3rd Kansas City Star: "Got Grit?".  As you are reading, with your notes open, and pen in hand, jot down the following. 

• Article name, author, and date 
• Major warrants that the author makes (remember how warrants function)
• Pertinent specific examples that emphasize the argument. 
• Specific terms that are defined
• When done reading, write a one sentence summary of the article. 

3. Watch Angela Lee Duckworth's Ted Talk, "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance"

For Thursday: 

4. Take the following survey on GRIT: Grit Survey

You will receive a 1-5 score on your "Grittiness".  1 being not very gritty... 5 being extremely gritty. Keep track of your score in your notes. Jot down some ideas or thoughts about your results. Bring to class on Thursday.