Developing Viewpoint

Please read the following article and develop your viewpoint on the main idea the author is making in the article. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. Your post should be a min. of 250 words and should first be written as a word document and then cut and paste on to the blog. No lower case "i" or "you" "your". Reference needs to be made to the author and article and of course in your intro you need to introduce the interpretation of the main idea, supported by direct passages or quotes from the article. In addition, please state your viewpoint clearly in the intro.
Remember all writing should have an intro, middle, and end.
Sign your blog with your first name and initial of your last name and period.
And last but not least, include your word count.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/194640

See you Monday!

Ms. Ojeda

The Great Gatsby Assignment

Welcome! Your blogging task this weekend is to blog about The Great Gatsby. You will choose ONE of the prompts below and respond to it.

Here are some tips to compose an adequate blog post:

• address the prompt specifically and stay on topic
• post must reflect original and coherent thought; don't copy or paraphrase someone else's words and don't ramble.
• post must be between 200-250 words in length
• type your post in a Word document first, run through spell check and the grammar check, then copy and paste to blog.

You must post your comment on/before Sunday 4/19/09 at 10:00pm or it will not be graded. Please include your 1st name, initial of last name (for privacy) and class period.

1) Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli claims: "The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece." Do you agree? Use quote, passages, characters, and or themes to support your view.
2) What do the faded eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg symbolize? Is there a connection between this billboard and the green light at the end of Daisy's dock? Use specifics.
3) Is Fitzgerald writing a love story that embraces American ideals of the 1920's, or a satire that comments on American idealspf the 1920's? Use passages, quotes and characters to support your view.

Dialogue on The Great Gatsby

Post questions or commentaries as you read through The Great Gatsby.

Article to Read and Video to Watch

Please read the following essay "The End of Excess: Is this Crisis Good for America? " written by Kurt Andersen, Time Magazine, April 6, 2009, on line or print it out. (You might want to print it out since we will be discussing it in class.)

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1887728,00.html

Please post commentaries on items you specifically agree with and disagree with taken directly from the article. In addition make connections to other students commentaries.
___________________________________________________________________
In addition, go on to following video and watch.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29954853#29954853
Comment on it.

Here are some tips on how to compose an adequate blog post:

• address the prompt and stay on topic
• post must reflect original and coherent thought; don't copy or paraphrase someone else's words and don't ramble
• do not use "I" "I think" "You" "My opinion" etc.
  
• type your post in a Word document first, run both the spell checker and the grammar checker, then copy & paste to blog
• post must be between 200-250 words in length
  
• you know how to do this - after all, you have been writing for me for an entire 9 weeks.
  

You must post your comment on/before Sunday, 4/12/09 at 1000pm. Please include your first name, initial of last name (for privacy), and period.

Socratic Seminar Recap

Discuss how you feel about the outcome of the socratic seminar in your particular class period. Write about one topic that was discussed in depth in your class period's seminar that enlightened your knowledge on the topic.

In addition, post questions you may still have about The Scarlet Letter and this unit and when another student post questions dialogue about them on your particular post.

And last but not least, come up with some other words that the letter A could stand for in The Scarlet Letter other than adultery, able, and angel. Of course, explain the specific reference of the word to The Scarlet Letter

Good luck in completing your vocab. project.

Ms. Ojeda

The Scarlet Letter

Please share one of your Dialetical Journal entries and response. It needs to be from Chapter 17, 18, 19, and on. Identify chapter # and page #. PLEASE TRY AND CHOOSE ONE THAT HAS NOT BEEN MENTIONED SEVERAL TIMES ALREADY.

In addition, talk about which character is the protaganist and which one is the antagonist and explain why.

Comment on one or more of the other students entries.

In addition go on to

http://staff.gps.edu/gaither/scarlet_letter_notes.htm

Browse and scroll all the way down. Write about at least 3 different bits of interesting information concerning the Scarlet Letter that you learned from this site. Be specific. IF SEVERAL STUDENTS HAVE PREVIOUSLY reported on the same bits of information, TRY AND WRITE ABOUT SOME NEW INFO gathered from the site INSTEAD of REPEATING what's already been brought forth.

Enjoy the weekend. If any of you that took the SAT this Saturday want to comment on that experience, please feel free to.

Ms. Ojeda

Aphorisms and Paradoxes

Aphorism-brief statements, usually one sentence long, that expresses a general principle or truth about life.
Paradox- statement that seems to contradict itself but may nevertheless suggest an important truth.

State both your favorite aphorism from Emerson and your favorite paradox from Thoreau.
First explain the aphorism and then with specifics connect it to you personally. Try and use some of the Words to Know from "Self-Reliance", and "Civil Disobedience" in your post.
Explain a specific paradox of Thoreau's and what it means to you. Again, try and use some of the Words to Know

As always, please feel free to make commentaries concerning each others' post.

Enjoy the weekend and READ, READ, READ.

Ms. Ojeda