9-30-14 "The Possibility of Evil" Text and Questions

Text of "The Possiblity of Evil"


Questions:

1.  What words would you use to describe Miss Strangeworth? Select at least five words. For each word, give an example from the story that shows it fits Miss Strangeworth. For one of the words, use a direct quote from the story and explain how it demonstrates a characteristic of Miss Strangeworth.

3.  Why do you think Miss Strangworth writes her letters? Explain your answer thoroughly.

4. Do you think Miss Strangeworth realizes that she has done something wrong? Part of your explanation will include whether Miss Strangeworth is a dynamic or static character. Explain thoroughly!

Does Miss Strangeworth meet the three criteria (often, her characters are isolated from others - they are people who lack feeling, they display contradictory personalities, and they are capable of bizarre behavior) for a typical Shirley Jackson character? Explain and give examples for each.

9-29-14 Week 4 Vocabulary Pronunciations, Definitions, and Sentences

Week 4 Vocabulary Pronunciations

Week 4 Vocabulary Words and Definitions:
1.  winsome - handsome or charming; having boy-like charm
2.  fastidious - excessively neat or tidy
3.  allay - to lessen, to relieve, or to reduce
4.  zeal - enthusiasm, or being filled with avid interest
5.  redundant - excessive repetition of the same word or phrase, or one very similar
6.  benign - harmless, usually referring to health
7. ebullient - bubbly and energetic
8.  pusillanimous - lacking courage, cowardly
9.  incarcerate - to jail or place in jail
10.  amicable - friendly, neighborly

Week 4 Sample Sentences:
1.  Emily hoped the winsome boy would ask her to the dance.
2.  She was so fastidious, nothing was out of place in her room.
3.  He tried to allay her fears by holding her hand, but it didn't work.
4.  She plays soccer with great zeal.
5.  That story is redundant, so it is really boring.
6.  The tumor is benign, so she has nothing to worry about.
7.  How can she be so ebullient this early in the morning?
8.  The pusillanimous boy was too afraid to enter the haunted house.
9.  They had to incarcerate the man for his malicious actions.
10.  He is amicable, so he has a lot of friends.

9-29-14 "The Sniper" Text and Questions

"The Sniper" Text

Rephrase the question in your answer and answer in complete sentences. 
Questions:
1.  What were your first thoughts at the end of the story?
2.  In your opinion, does the sniper have any other choice than to kill the man on the opposite roof?  Give reasons for your answer.
3.  How do you think the sniper would justify killing the old woman?
4.  How do you think the sniper feels about what he is doing? (Think about:  the description of his eyes at the beginning of the story; his first reaction to shooting the other gunman; his reactions while watching the other gunman fall.)

Then:
Find one simile from the story. Write it down, explain what two things are being compared, and what word makes it a simile (i.e. like, as, than).
Find one example of onomatopoeia. There are at least three in this story. If you find two, you will get a bonus point.
What is ironic about the ending of the story?  Is it dramatic, verbal, or situational irony.

9-29-14 Week 4 Vocabulary Practice Quiz Answer Key

Vocab Week 4 Practice Quiz

9/26/14 Figurative Language Practice

Write a simile for each of the following things and qualities:

1.  girl, smart

2.  boy, clumsy

3.  dog, ferocious

4.  sports car, fast

5.  soccer player, tenacious

Write a metaphor for each of the following things and qualities:

1.  volleyball player, leaping ability

2.  running back, elusive (hard to catch)

3.  lawnmower, junky or unreliable

4.  soccer goalie, no shots get by her

5.  truck, reliable 

Week 3 Vocabulary Practice Quiz Answer Key

Week 3 Vocabulary Practice Quiz

Week 3 Vocabulary Words, Definitions, Sentences, and Pronunciations

Week 3 Vocab Pronunciations


1.  mundane -  ordinary, commonplace
2.  proliferate - to multiply rapidly in number, to grow quickly
3.  ostracize - to be exclude from a group by common consent, to be left out on purpose
4.  lethargic - lazy, apathetic
5.  mediocre - average in quality
6.  egregious - horrible, awful, conspicuously bad
7.  acquiesce - to agree to, to comply with
8. denotation - the actual dictionary definition of a word
9.  connotation - the feelings or emotions attached to a word
10.  vacillate - to waver back and forth in mind or thought

1.  It was just another mundane day at school.
2.  The flowers in the meadow began to proliferate with the spring rains.
3.  They decided to ostracize the boy from their lunch table.
4.  He is so lethargic, he never gets his school work done.
5.  That restaurant is mediocre, so I'd rather go to Ginger Pop.
6.  The referee's call was egregious, and it cost the home team the win.
7.  I will acquiesce to your request that I be home by 10 p.m.
8.  What is the denotation for "acquiesce"?
9.  I have a negative connotation of the New York Yankees.
10.  The girl began to vacillate about whether to go to Homecoming or not.

9-22-14 "Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?" text and questions

Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?

By Tim O’Brien

            The platoon of twenty-six soldiers moved slowly in the dark, single file, not talking. One by one, like sheep in a dream, they passed through the hedgerow, crossed quietly over a meadow and came down to the rice paddy. There they stopped. Their leader knelt down, motioning with his hand, and one by one the other soldiers squatted in the shadows, vanishing in the primitive stealth of warfare. For a long time they did not move. Except for the sounds of their breathing, ...the twenty-six men were very quiet: some of them excited by the adventure, some of them afraid, some of them exhausted from the long night march, some of them looking forward to reaching the sea where they would be safe. At the rear of the column, Private First Class Paul Berlin lay quietly with his forehead resting on the black plastic stock of his rifle, his eyes closed. He was pretending he was not in the war, pretending he had not watched Billy Boy Watkins die of a heart attack that afternoon. He was pretending he was a boy again, camping with his father in the midnight summer along the Des Moines River. In the dark, with his eyes pinched shut, he pretended. He pretended that when he opened his eyes, his father would be there by the campfire and they would talk softly about whatever came to mind and then roll into their sleeping bags, and that later they’d wake up and it would not be a war and that Billy Boy Watkins had not died of a heart attack that afternoon. He pretended he was not a soldier.

                        In the morning, when they reached the sea, it would be better. The hot afternoon would be over, he would bathe in the sea and he would forget how frightened he had been on his first day at the war. The second day would not be so bad. He would learn.

            There was a sound beside him, a movement and then a breathed: "Hey!"

            He opened his eyes, shivering as if emerging from a deep nightmare.

            "Hey!" a shadow whispered. "We're moving… Get up.”

            "Okay."

            "You sleepin', or something?"

            "No." He could not make out the soldier's face. With clumsy, concrete hands he clawed for his rifle, found it, found his helmet.

            The soldier-shadow grunted. "You got a lot to learn, buddy. I'd shoot you if I thought you was sleepin'. Let's go."

            Private First Class Paul Berlin blinked.

            Ahead of him, silhouetted against the sky, he saw the string of soldiers wading into the flat paddy, the black outline of their shoulders and packs and weapons. He was comfortable. He did not want to move. But he was afraid, for it was his first night at the war, so he hurried to catch up, stumbling once, scraping his knee, groping as though blind; his boots sank into the thick paddy water and he smelled it all around him. He would tell his mother how it smelled: mud and algae and cattle manure and chlorophyll, decay, breeding mosquitoes and leeches as big as mice, the fecund warmth of the paddy waters rising up to his cut knee. But he would not tell how frightened he had been.

                        Once they reached the sea, things would be better. They would have their rear guarded by three thousand miles of ocean, and they would swim and dive into the breakers and hunt crayfish and smell the salt, and they would be safe.

He followed the shadow of the man in front of him. It was a clear night. Already the Southern Cross was out. And other stars he could not yet name-soon, he thought, he would learn their names. And puffy night clouds. There was not yet a moon. Wading through the paddy, his boots made sleepy, sloshy sounds, like a lullaby, and he tried not to think. Though he was afraid, he now knew that fear came in many degrees and types and peculiar categories, and he knew that his fear now was not so bad as it had been in the hot afternoon, when poor Billy Boy Watkins got killed by a heart attack. His fear now was diffuse and unformed: ghosts in the tree line, nighttime fears of a child, a boogieman in the

closet that his father would open to show empty, saying "See? Nothing there, champ. Now you can sleep." In the afternoon it had been worse: the fear had been bundled and tight and he'd been on his hands and knees, crawling like an insect, an ant escaping a giant's footsteps and thinking nothing, brain flopping like wet cement in a mixer, not thinking at all, watching while Billy Boy Watkins died.

            Now as he stepped out of the paddy onto a narrow dirt path, now the fear was mostly the fear of being so terribly afraid again.

            He tried not to think.

            There were tricks he'd learned to keep from thinking. Counting: He counted his steps, concentrating on the numbers, pretending that the steps were dollar bills and that each step through the night made him richer and richer, so that soon he would become a wealthy man, and he kept counting and considered the ways he might spend the money after the war and what he would do. He would look his father in the eye and shrug and say, "It was pretty bad at first, but I learned a lot and I got used to it." Then he would tell his father the story of Billy Boy Watkins. But he would never let on how frightened he had been. "Not so bad," he would say instead, making his father feel proud.

            Songs, another trick to stop from thinking:

Where have you gone, Billy Boy, Billy Boy, Oh, where have you gone charming Billy? I have gone to seek a wife, she's the joy of my life, but she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother; and other songs that he sang in his thoughts as he walked toward the sea. And when he reached the sea he would dig a deep hole in the sand and he would sleep like the high clouds, and he would not be afraid any more.

The moon came out. Pale and shrunken to the size of a dime.

            The helmet was heavy on his head. In the morning he would adjust the leather binding. He would clean his rifle, too. Even though he had been frightened to shoot it during the hot afternoon, he would carefully clean the breech and the muzzle and the ammunition so that next time he would be ready and not so afraid. In the morning, when they reached the sea, he would begin to make friends with some of the other soldiers. He would learn their names and laugh at their jokes. Then when the war was over he would have war buddies, and he would write to them once in a while and exchange memories.

            Walking, sleeping in his walking, he felt better. He watched the moon come higher.

            Once they skirted a sleeping village. The smells again -- straw, cattle, mildew. The men were quiet. On the far side of the village, buried in the dark smells, a dog barked. The column stopped until the barking died away; then they marched fast away from the village, through a graveyard filled with conical-shaped burial mounds and tiny altars made of clay and stone. The graveyard had a perfumy smell. A nice place to spend the night, he thought. The mounds would make fine battlements, and the smell was nice and the place was quiet. But they went on, passing through a hedgerow and across another paddy and east toward the sea.

            He walked carefully. He remembered what he'd been taught: Stay off the center of the path, for that was where the land mines and booby traps were planted, where stupid and lazy soldiers like to walk. Stay alert, he'd been taught. Better alert than inert. Ag-ile, mo-bile, hos-tile. He wished he'd paid better attention to the training. He could not remember what they'd said about how to stop being afraid; they hadn't given any lessons in courage-not that he could remember-and they hadn't mentioned how Billy Boy Watkins would die of a heart attack, his face turning pale and the veins popping out.

            Private First Class Paul Berlin walked carefully.

            Stretching ahead of him like dark beads on an invisible chain, the string of shadow-soldiers whose names he did not yet know moved with the silence and slow grace of smoke. Now and again moonlight was reflected off a machine gun or a wrist watch. But mostly the soldiers were quiet and hidden and far-away-seeming in a peaceful night, strangers on a long street, and he felt quite separate from them, as if trailing behind like the caboose on a night train, pulled along by inertia, sleepwalking, an afterthought to the war.

            So he walked carefully, counting his steps. When he had counted to three thousand, four hundred and eighty-five, the column stopped.

            One by one the soldiers knelt or squatted down.

            The grass along the oath was wet. Private First Class Paul Berlin lay back and turned his head so he could lick at the dew with his eyes closed, another trick to forget the war. He might have slept. “I wasn’t afraid, “he was screaming or dreaming, facing his father’s stern eyes. “I wasn’t afraid,” he was saying. When he opened his eyes, a soldier was sitting beside him, quietly chewing a stick of Doublemint gum.

            "You sleepin' again?" the soldier whispered.

            "No," said Private First Class Paul Berlin. ...

            The soldier grunted, chewing his gum. Then he twisted the cap off his canteen, took a swallow and handed it through the dark.

            "Take some," he whispered.

            "Thanks."

            “You’re the new guy?”

            “Yes.”  He did not want to admit it, being new to the war.

            The soldier grunted and handed him a stick of gum. “Chew it quiet – okay? Don’t blow no bubbles or nothing.”

            "Thanks. I won't." He could not make out the man's face in the shadows.

            They sat still and Private First Class Paul Berlin chewed the gum until all the sugars were gone; then the soldier said, "Bad day today, buddy."

            Private First Class Paul Berlin nodded wisely, but he did not speak.

            "Don't think it's always so bad," the soldier whispered. "1 don't wanna scare you. You'll get used to it soon enough. ...They been fighting wars a long time, and you get used to it."

            "Yeah."

            "You will."

            They were quiet awhile. And the night was quiet, no crickets or birds, and it was hard to imagine it was truly a war. He searched for the soldier's face but could not find it. It did not matter much. Even if he saw the fellow's face, he would not know the name; and even if he knew the name, it would not matter much.

            “Haven’t got the time?” the soldier whispered.

            “No.”

            "Rats. ...Don't matter, really. Goes faster if you don't know the time, anyhow."

            "Sure."

            "What's your name, buddy?"

            "Paul."

            "Nice to meet ya," he said, and in the dark beside the path they shook hands. "Mine's Toby. Everybody calls me Buffalo, though." The soldier's hand was strangely warm and soft. But it was a very big hand. "Sometimes they just call me Buff," he said.

            And again they were quiet. They lay in the grass and waited. The moon was very high now and very bright, and they were waiting for cloud cover.

            The soldier suddenly snorted.

            "What is it?"

            "Nothin'," he said, but then he snorted again.

            "A bloody heart attack!" the soldier said. "Can't get over it-old Billy Boy croaking from a lousy heart attack. ...A heart attack-can you believe it? "

            The idea of it made Private First Class Paul Berlin smile. He couldn't help it.

            "Ever hear of such a thing?"

            "Not till now," said Private First Class Paul Berlin, still smiling.

            "Me neither," said the soldier in the dark. ". ..Dying of a heart attack. Didn't know him, did you."

            "No."

            "Tough as nails."

            "Yeah."

            "And what happens? A heart attack. Can you imagine it?"

            "Yes," said Private First Class Paul Berlin. He wanted to laugh. "I can imagine it." And he imagined it clearly. He giggled-he couldn't help it. He imagined Billy's father opening the telegram:

SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON BILLY BOY WAS YESTERDAY SCARED TO DEATH IN ACTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM, VALIANTLY SUCCUMBING TO A HEART ATTACK SUFFERED WHILE UNDER : ENORMOUS STRESS, AND IT IS WITH GREATEST SYMPATHY THAT. ..He giggled again. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face into his arms. His body was shaking with giggles.

            The big soldier hissed at him to shut up, but he could not stop giggling and remembering the hot afternoon, and poor Billy Boy, and how they'd been drinking Coca-Cola from bright-red aluminum cans, and how they'd started on the day's march, and how a little while later poor Billy Boy stepped on the mine, and how it made a tiny little sound-poof-and how Billy Boy stood there with his mouth wide-open, looking down at where his foot had been blown off, and how finally Billy Boy sat down very casually, not saying a word, with his foot lying behind him, most of it still in the boot.

            He giggled louder-he could not stop. He bit his arm, trying to stifle it but remembering: "War's over, Billy," the men had said in consolation, but Billy Boy got scared and started crying and said he was about to die. "Nonsense," the medic said, Doc Peret, but Billy Boy kept bawling, tightening up, his face going pale and transparent and his veins popping out. Scared stiff. Even when Doc Peret stuck him with morphine, Billy Boy kept crying.

            "Shut up!" the big soldier hissed, but Private First Class Paul Berlin could not stop. Giggling and remembering, he covered his mouth. His eyes stung, remembering how it was when Billy Boy died of fright.

            "Shut up!"

            But he could not stop giggling, the same way Billy Boy could not stop bawling that afternoon.

            Afterward Doc Peret had explained: "You see, Billy Boy really died of a heart attack. He was scared he was gonna die -- so scared, he had himself a heart attack -- and that's what really killed him. I seen it before."

            So they wrapped Billy in a plastic poncho, his eyes still wide-open and scared stiff, and they carried him over the meadow to a rice paddy, and then when the Medevac helicopter arrived they carried him through the paddy and put him aboard, and the mortar rounds were falling everywhere, and the helicopter pulled up and Billy Boy came tumbling out, falling slowly and then faster, and the paddy water sprayed up as if Billy Boy had just executed a long and dangerous dive, as if trying to escape Graves Registration, where he would be tagged and sent home under a flag, dead of a heart attack.

            "Shut up, ...!" the soldier hissed, but Paul Berlin could not stop giggling, remembering: scared to death.

Later they waded in after him, probing for Billy Boy with their rifle butts, elegantly and delicately probing for Billy Boy in the stinking paddy, singing -- some of them -- Where have you gone, Billy Boy, Billy Boy, Oh, where have you gone, charming Billy? Then they found him. Green and covered with algae, his eyes still wide-open and scared stiff, dead of a heart attack suffered while-

            " Shut up, ...! " the soldier said loudly, shaking him.

            But Private First Class Paul Berlin could not stop. The giggles were caught in his throat, drowning him in his own laughter: scared to death like Billy Boy.

            Giggling, lying on his back, he saw the moon move, or the clouds moving across the moon. Wounded in action, dead of fright. A fine war story. He would tell it to his father, how Billy Boy had been scared to death, never letting on .. . He could not stop.

            The soldier smothered him. He tried to fight back, but he was weak from the giggles.

The moon was under the clouds and the column was moving. The soldier helped him up. "You okay now, buddy?"

            “Sure."

            "What was so bloody funny?"

            "Nothing."

            "You can get killed, laughing that way."

            "I know. I know that."

            "You got to stay calm, buddy." The soldier handed him his rifle. "Half the battle, just staying calm. You'll get better at it," he said. "Come on, now."

            He turned away and Private First Class Paul Berlin hurried after him. He was still shivering.

            He would do better once he reached the sea, he thought, still smiling a little. A funny war story that he would tell to his father, how Billy Boy Watkins was scared to death. A good joke. But even when he smelled salt and heard the sea, he could not stop being afraid.

1.    What are two examples of metaphors in “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?”  Identify them and explain what two things are being compared.
2.  What are at least five examples of similes in this story?  Identify them and explain what two things are being compared.
3.  What is the setting of this story?
4.  (Skip number 4!)
5.   What are two external conflicts in this story?  What are two internal conflicts in this story?
6.    Who is the protagonist of this story?
7.  Who or what is the antagonist?
8.    Is the narrator in this story dynamic or static?  Explain.
9.    From what point of view is this story told?  How do you know?
Bonus:  What is an example of situational irony in this story?  Explain.

9-17-14 The text for "Marigolds" and the questions that go with the story.

Text for "Marigolds"



Remember to rephrase the question in your answer, and remember to EXPLAIN your answers thoroughly!
Questions:
1.  How did you react to Lizabeth's destruction of the marigolds?
2.  Why does Lizabeth destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds?
     Think about:  the contrast between the marigolds and the shantytown in which Lizabeth lives; the anger and frustration in Lizabeth's family; and Lizabeth's feelings about herself.
3.  How does the climax of the story -- Lizabeth's destruction of the marigolds -- begin a rite of passage from childhood to the beginning of womanhood for Lizabeth?
4.  Why does Miss Lottie never plant marigolds again, despite Lizabeth's "wild contrition"  -- her sincere remorse?
5.  What do you think the narrator means at the end of the story when she says that she too has planted marigolds?
8.  Lizabeth's "wild contrition" does not seem to make Miss Lottie feel better or want to go back to raising marigolds. What do you think is the best way to make it up to someone we have deliberately hurt? What should we do if that person does not forgive us?

BONUS QUESTION:
What do the marigolds symbolize in this story?  What do they represent?  Your answer should explain why Ms. Lottie does not ever plant them again, why Lizabeth wanted to destroy them, and why she plants them now.

9/16/14 Week 2 Vocabulary Practice Quiz ANSWER KEY

9/16/14 Week 2 Vocabulary Practice Quiz

Week 2 Vocabulary

Week 2 Vocab Pronunciations


Week 2 Vocabulary Words and definitions:
1.  brouhaha - an uproar, chaos, bedlam
2.  ubiquitous - seeming to be everywhere at once
3.  malicious - wanting to cause harm or damage
4.  tenable  - capable of being defended
5.  coerce - to persuade using force or threat
6.  abhor - to loathe or to hate
7.  emulate - to imitate someone in order to be more like that person
8.  lieu - instead of, in place of
9.  eradicate - to remove completely, literally to pull up by the roots
10.  saturated - completely wet, thoroughly soaked

Sample Sentences for Week 2 Vocabulary:
1.  A brouhaha broke out in the stand after Prairie won the game.
2.  The smell of cookies was ubiquitous, filling every room in the house.
3.  The malicious boys threw eggs at the old man's house.
4.  His argument is tenable because he backed it up with a lot of research.
5.  My brother tried to coerce me to do his chores, but I still refused.
6.  I abhor green beans because they make me gag.
7.  The boy tried to emulate his older brother.
8.  In lieu of extra credit, I will give you candy.
9.  I have tried to eradicate all the bad habits from my life.
10.  After falling in the puddle, the boy's clothes were saturated with water.

9-15-14 Week 2 Vocabulary Words with Pronunciations

Here are the pronunciations:



Words and definitions
1.  brouhaha  A commotion, an uproar, a hubbub. Chaos.
2.  ubiquitous  Seeming to be everywhere at once.
3.  malicious  Wanting to do harm or cause damage.
4.  tenable  Capable of being defended.
5.  coerce  To get someone to do something by force or threat.
6.  abhor  To loathe, to hate.
7.  emulate  To imitate someone or to copy someone in an effort to be like that person.
8.  lieu   In place of or instead of.
9.  eradicate  Literally, to pull up by the roots. To remove completely.
10.  saturated  Totally soaked, thoroughly wet.

Sentences:
1.  It was a brouhaha in the stands after the Falcons won the game.
2.  The security officer was ubiquitous, showing up everywhere I went at school.
3.  The malicious boys threw eggs at the old man's house.
4.  His argument is tenable because he backed it up with a lot of good research.
5.  My brother tried to coerce me to take out the garbage for him.
6.  I abhor green beans. They make me gag.
7.  A lot of kids try to emulate Robinson Cano because they want to hit a baseball just like he does.
8.  In lieu of extra credit, I am going to give you candy and prizes.
9.  I tried to eradicate all of the bad habits from my life.
10.  The boy's clothing was saturated after he fell in the lake.

Text of "The Most Dangerous Game"

Text of "The Most Dangerous Game"

How to Properly Answer Questions at Prairie High School

How to Properly Answer Questions at Prairie High School

General guidelines:

                  Always rephrase the question in your answer.

                  Eliminate phrases such as “I think” or “I believe”.

                  For EACH question, always refer to people/characters in your response by name on first reference. After that,

                                    feel free to say “he” or “she,” as long as it is clear who is being talked about.

                  Always begin your sentences with a capital letter, and always end your sentences with a period .

                  If the question asks for examples from the text, write them word for word and place them in quotes. Then,

                                    be sure you explain the quote and how it fits whatever is being asked.

                 

You all are familiar with the story of “Little Red Riding Hood,” so let’s use that as the material for these questions.

This first question is basic and only would require a basic response.

1.  What color is Little Red Riding Hood’s hood?

                  Improper response:  Red.

                  Improper response:  It is red.

                  Proper response:  Little Red Ridinghood’s hood is red.

This question is a little more complex and requires more of a response. You must answer the question AND explain your answer.

2.  Why is Little Red Riding Hood traveling to see her grandmother?

                  Improper response:  Because.

                  Improper response:  Because her grandmother is sick.

                  Better response:  Little Red Riding Hood is traveling to see her grandmother because her grandmother

                                    is not feeling well.

                  Best response:  Little Red Riding Hood is traveling to see her grandmother because her grandmother

                                    is not feeling well. Riding Hood’s mother asked her to deliver some food to help her grandmother

                                    grow strong and well again.

This question is even more complex. It requires a response and a thorough explanation.

3.  What is a theme for “Little Red Riding Hood”? Give three examples from the text to support your answer.

                  Proper response:  A theme for “Little Red Riding Hood” is sometimes one should not be too trusting. An

                                    example of this is when Little Red Riding Hood is talking to the wolf. The story says she “did not know

                                    what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.” Whether she knew the wolf was

                                    wicked or not, she should not have been telling a stranger information about where she was going

                                    or what she was doing. She did not know what his intentions were. Another example of this theme

                                    is when she tells the wolf her grandmother’s house was “a good quarter of a league farther on in the

                                    wood.” She basically gave her grandmother’s address to someone she didn’t even know, which

                                    everyone knows is not wise. Finally, Little Red Riding Hood also knows something is not right when

                                    she reaches her grandmother’s house. She says, “Oh dear! How uneasy I feel today, and at other

                                    times I like being with grandmother so much.” Had she not been so trusting, Little Red Riding Hood

                                    would have heeded her uneasy feelings and either not gone in, or would have been much more

                                    suspicious of her grandmother’s strange behavior.

9/10/14 Most Dangerous Game Extra Credit Project - Due before 9/19

The Most Dangerous Game Extra Credit Project

Your task is going to be to create a map of Ship-Trap Island, so that it fits all of the descriptions and events from the story. For example, we don’t know the shape of the island, so you can make the shape whatever you like. However, we do know that there is a bay in the island that Rainsford swims across at the end of the story, and that Zaroff’s home sits on one edge of the bay. We also know that Zaroff can see the rocks and channel lights from his home, so those should be placed accordingly on the map. The name and location of the swamp is also included in the story, so place it where it needs to be placed. Below is a list of what needs to be included:

·      A map key, showing all symbols from the map and explaining what they are.

·      A compass (which could be included in the key) showing North.

·      A trail showing Rainsford’s travel from the point he leaves Zaroff’s home to begin the “game” to his return to Zaroff’s home.

·      A trail showing Zaroff’s travels as they are described in the story. (For example, he leaves the house and  follows Rainsford’s intricate and complicated trail all the way to the tree. Then he returns home. The next day he leaves his home and returns to the tree where he picks up the trail again. After he gets hurt, he returns home, and then returns to that spot again to pick up the hunt.)

·      The channel lights.

·      The rocks in front of the channel lights.

·      Zaroff’s home.

·      The tree where Rainsford spends his first night.

·      The three traps (in the order they occurred in the story and properly named).

·      Death Swamp, which we know Zaroff mentions is located in a specific corner of the island. We also know that one of the traps must be placed next to the swamp because that is the only place Rainsford could have prepared it.)

If you choose to do this project, it must be a minimum of 8.5 x 11 inches. Please feel free to make it larger, though, so you have plenty of space to include everything on your map. You could also make a 3D version of the island if you wish!

THESE MAPS ARE DUE BY SEPT. 19.  THE BETTER THE QUALITY OF THE MAP, THE MORE POINTS THIS WILL BE WORTH, UP TO 25 POINTS.

9-8 Week 1 Vocab Practice Quiz Answer Key

9-8 Week 1 Vocabulary Practice Quiz

9-8 Week 1 Vocabulary Words

Each week, you are responsible for taking your vocabulary words and either writing them on a sheet of paper, including the definition and a sentence using the word correctly, making flash cards, or recording them in some other fashion. You need to study these words several times a week. Pronunciations of the words are also included, and there is a practice quiz provided each week. You must have your lists of words or flash cards with you everyday because we will be using them in class for a variety of assignments, and there will be quizzes about every three weeks.

Week 1 Words and Pronunciations can be viewed here:    Week 1 Vocab words and pronunciations


Here are the definitions and sample sentences for this week's words:

precarious - Unstable, uncertain, dependent on circumstances.
crux - The main point or the main idea. (as in an argument, debate, speech, meeting, etc.)
tenacious - Stubborn, in a good way. Unwilling to quit.
irascible - Easily angered, short-tempered.
conundrum - A difficult situation where there is not an easy solution.
facetious - Being humorous, but usually at an inappropriate time.
sordid - Dirty or filthy, but in a moral sense, not a literal, physical sense.
plethora - A lot. A huge amount. More than enough.
voracious - Having a huge appetite. This could be literal or figurative in nature.
purloin - To steal.

She found herself in a precarious situation when she ran out of gas in a bad part of town.
I don't want to hear all the details, so just tell me the crux of the meeting.
The soccer player was tenacious, and she would not give up until she got the ball.
The irascible old man yelled at the neighborhood kids to stay off his lawn.
She was in a conundrum when they found the stolen watch in her locker.
Those were facetious remarks being made about you, so don't take them seriously.
Tabloids like National Enquirer always like to report the sordid details.
There were a plethora of books in the man's study, so there weren't enough shelves.
After football practice, the players were voracious and ate a ton of pizzas.
He tried to purloin the last cupcake, but he got caught and had to give it up.

English I Syllabus

English I Syllabus

Instructor: Mr. Rowe  (rowe.stuart@battlegroundps.org)

Textbook: The Language of Literature

Blog:  FalconFrosh.blogspot.com

Course Description:

English I is intended to give students a broad exposure to different types of literature and different types of writing. Themes are followed throughout the semester, with each unit including a variety of genres, including short stories, dramas, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. There will be some intensive focus on writing proper sentences and paragraphs, as well as some extended writing projects. Writing assignments can include any of the following: narratives, persuasive, cause/effect, expository, comparison/contrast, poetry, short stories, and more. Weekly vocabulary quizzes will also be given throughout both semesters.

Class Blog:  The address for the class blog is listed above. This blog should be checked every night. There will be homework assignments posted here frequently, as well as project descriptions, lessons, readings, and much, much more. Computer/Internet access will be a necessity for each student. If this is not available at home, there are computers available in the library, and there are a couple computers available in my room that will be available before school, after school, or during STAT.

Attendance:

Each student must be in class everyday to get the full value of the course. For any days that are missed, it is the student’s responsibility to find out what work was done. I will provide any handouts for excused absences, but it would be wise to get any needed notes from another trustworthy student in the class.  Late work will only be accepted for excused absences.

Tardies:

A student must be in the class room when the bell rings to be considered on time, or he/she must have a pass excusing the lateness. All tardies are submitted through the Skyward system, and consequences occur as tardies are accumulated. These consequences are outlined in the Student Handbook.

Other Rules:

Food and drinks are allowed in my classroom, as long as it is not disruptive, and the students clean up after themselves. Electronic devices (iPods, mp3s, cell phones, etc.) are allowed in my classroom, as long as they are not being used at an inappropriate time, and as long as they are not disruptive to the classroom. If an electronic device is being used inappropriately, the device will be confiscated and returned at the end of the class. For multiple violations, the device can be confiscated and turned into the office. See the Student Handbook for more information about devices that get turned into the office. There are many lamps in my room. If a lamp is broken because a student is acting inappropriately, the student will be responsible for replacing the lamp.

Grading:

Assignments fall into one of two categories:  Daily Work, which is 40 percent of the total grade, and Major Work, which makes up 60 percent of the total grade. Major Work will include projects, tests, and most assessments. There is no late work accepted in the Daily Work category, except for excused absences. Late work in the Major Work category will receive a 10 percent deduction each day, up to five days. After five days, no points will be awarded.

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Please sign below acknowledging that you have read and understand this syllabus. If you wish to keep the top portion of this sheet for your records, please cut off at the dotted line and have your student return this signature portion.

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Student name (printed)                                                                  Student signature

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Parent signature                                                                               Date

English I