Thursday / Friday 18 / 19 December

Happy Holidays!

Today's class was devoted to writing the following in-class essay. If you missed class you will need to complete this assignment as a "take home" essay. I will expect it to be better polished and about four pages long.

The Stranger—Analytical Character Essay

You have read The Stranger, discussed The Stranger, loved and hated The Stranger.  Now it is time to write about The Stranger.

Specifically, write about Meursault.  As we have seen, he is a fascinating character, sometimes quite upsetting, sometimes admirable, and sometimes just confusing.  But you all have feelings about Meursault.  How did you come to have those feelings?  How is the character of Meursault revealed to us?

As you noticed, Meursault rarely allows us more than the quickest peek into his heart or mind. Or, more accurately, throughout most of the book he reveals little about himself, his thoughts and feelings, in a direct and descriptive way.  Rather, Meursault’s character is largely revealed indirectly.

Assignment: Write an in-class essay (2-3 pages) about how Camus has Meursault reveal himself indirectly to the reader through his descriptions of an exterior object or image.  Keep the following in mind:

Ø  Be specific and limited in the object or image you select to analyze.  For example, writing about Meursault’s character as revealed through his description of the sea would likely be far more successful than writing about Meursault’s character as revealed through his description of nature.

Ø  Have a clearly stated thesis.  What is revealed about Meursault’s character?

Ø  Support your thesis with specific facts from the text, including quotes and page citations.

Ø  Use the model, claim, support, explain significance, for your body paragraphs

Ø  Discuss how the object or image you have chosen to analyze is effective at revealing Meursault’s character.

Ø  Consider change.  Meursault seems to change in some ways by the end of the book (while remaining the same in some other ways).  Does the way he views or relates to the object or image also change?  Why or why not?  To what purpose?

Remember, you have done a lot of work with this novel over the past several weeks.  That work can help you develop your thesis and your paper.  Use your notes from discussions and your memory of your reaction to the Silent Discussion questions to help you decide what is important to you. Use your sticky notes and your journal to find specific quotes and passages that struck you.  Use your Character Profile to find those traits about Meursault that were most noticeable. Come prepared with all of the above plus your book and an outline, graphic organizer, or brainstorming sheet.

One more thing: don’t summarize!  Yes, sometimes you need to summarize a bit for clarity, but spend most of your time doing analysis (explaining what is revealed about Meursault and how).  Only use enough summary to place a quote in context.

Your essay will be scored on the State Writing Rubric. 

Tuesday / Wednesday 16 /17 December

Students participated in Socratic Seminars.

Mr. Zartler was VERY impressed.

Students who were absent will need to complete an alternative assignment.

Monday, 15 December

Students got grade print outs to check for accuracy and for missing work.

Students recieved their college essays back from Mr. Zartler.

Students worked in small groups to create a character profile for Mersault.

Mr. Zartler checked students' socratic seminar questions and their dialogue / sticky note journals for The Stranger.

Thursday / Friday 11 /12 December

Class consisted of studying a variety of issues relating to The Stranger, including an essay on the first line, and work on questions for the Socratic Seminar next Tuesday / Wednesday.

Tuesday / Wednesday 9/10 December

The class began with a quiz on the second half of The Stranger.

Students were reminded of the in-class essay that will be during the last class before break.

Students were told that during the class previous to the final class there will be a Socratic Seminar for which students will be evaluated as to participation; being prepared; arguing from evidence; and leadership.

The class was given a handout about types of questions and what to do and not do during a Socratic Seminar.

The class discussed various aspects of The Stranger.

Mr. Zartler gave a brief slide lecture on Picasso, Magritte, and Dali and the intelectual / art movements of cubism and surrealism.

Monday, 8 December

Students completed the analysis of texts related to The Stranger.

Quiz tomorrow on the 2nd half of The Stranger.

Thursday / Friday 4 / 5 December

Working in small groups students studied four texts that relate to Camus and The Stranger.

Students studied a text on Exestentialism and Absurdism; the "Myth of Sisyphus"; a biography of Camus; and a timeline of european history 1920s-1940s.

Monday, 1 December

The class watched this video of Henri the Existensial Cat and wrote briefly about how Henri related to Mersault.

Students were reminded of the comprehension quiz due next class.

We viewed photos of Algiers and briefly discussed the history leading up to the time setting of The Stranger.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful time with family, friends, and loved ones this Thanksgiving!

Tuesday / Wednesday November 25 / 26th

Students were asked first to complete a Reflection on their personal essay:

Personal Essay/College Essay

Reflection

1.    Consider each of the descriptors in the rubric.  In a paragraph tell me where you think you are developing, meeting, and exceeding or somewhere in between.  Justify why.

2.    Tell me what part of the rubric doesn’t seem to fit your piece.  For example, a personal essay may have an implied thesis, one that isn’t necessarily specific and well worded as an expository essay should have.  Dialogue is another category to consider.

3.    Describe one place in your essay where you think you revised effectively in particular.  Be sure to tell why you picked this section (Before—After).

4.    If given more time, describe one thing you would have done differently or revised again.   Why?

5.    Highlight on your final draft examples of where you used listing and an effective punctuation mark other than a period or a comma.

Students then had some time to begin reading The Stranger. They were reminded that there will be an in-class character analysis essay; and that a dialogue journal or post-it note journal will be expected. Suggested note topics include: Sensory elements; Feelings of isolation; Descriptive language; key passages.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Monday, 24 November

Personal Essays are due next class!

Students were reminded to include the full prompt above the title on their essay.
Students were reminded to bring the draft that they had for peer conferencing with them next class.

Students were advised that Part I (p. 1-59 ) of The Stranger is due on December 2nd. Part II (pgs 63-123) is due on December 9th. The journal will be turned in on the 9th. There will be quizzes on both the 2nd and 9th.

4th period used the essay rubric to structure a peer conference.

7th period began discussing existentialism. 7th period also wrote discussion questions for Crash that are due on Wednesday.

Thursday / Friday 20 / 21 November

Personal Essays are due next Tuesday / Wednesday

Students were given a rubric to self-asses their work as they revise it over the weekend.

Students finished viewing Crash and class will have a structured discussion on the movie next week.

Students went to the library to check out a copy of Albert Camus' The Stranger. Although no reading has been assigned yet, students who do choose to read should keep in mind that there will be a Character Analysis essay at the end of the unit; during study of the novel students are to keep a dialogue journal or sticky notes in the text paying particular attention to:
A) Sensory details
B) Feelings of isolation
C) Descriptive Language
D) Key passages

Monday & Tuesday / Wednesday 17-19 November

Sorry for missing a post.

4th and 7th period have done different things on different days; below is a list of what has been completed in both classes, not necessarily in the same order.

The two strands of class are 1) watching and analyzing Crash and 2) working on drafts and revisions of the personal essay. The due date for the personal essay is the last class of next week.

Period 7 has finished Crash and period 4 will finish it this week.

On Thursday and Friday both classes will be checking The Stranger by Albert Camus out from the library.

Students have had lessons on effective ledes; we've discussed avoiding cliches, and worked on analyzing effective personal essays.

12 and 14 November (with notes from the end of last week as well)

Things have certainly been a mess with days off for grading, honoring those who have served snow, and who knows what else.

Classes (when they have met, which is much more for period 7 than 4) have been working on the personal essay assignment, and in particular on ledes and hooks. Including watching this clip.

Period 7 has seen some excellent models, and period 4 will see those models on Tuesday.

We've been viewing Crash, and period 7 is at minute 57 while period 4 is at minute 17.

10, 11, 13 November

NO SCHOOL

Grading Day

Veterans' Day

(No-)Snow Day

3 November, 2014

Students were reminded of the group project due date for next class.

Mr. Zartler introduced the OSAC https://app.oregonstudentaid.gov/ scholarship portal. Students will be working on personal essays -- such as the ones for the OSAC application.

Classes looked at a graphic organizer to be used while viewing Crash, and then wrote to the following prompt (due next class).

Homework

Write about a time when you had a spontaneous interaction with someone you didn’t know.  This could be an encounter in the hall, at a restaurant, on the playing field, with an unknown relative, on public transportation.  One that was a negative experience would be better to explore.  Consider who was the target/victim, ally, bystander, and perpetrator.  Writing expectations: half page for partial credit, full page for full credit.  (10 points)

Monday; Tuesday / Wednesday 27; 28-29 October.

Work was returned. Students who had turned in their reading journals and their synthesis paper on identity on time had those papers returned to them.

Mr. Zartler introduced the following assignment, and students had time to work on it in class.

Non-Fiction Group Project Instructions

Project Instructions: While reading your non-fiction book, you kept track in your journals of how individuals or groups of people were identified, categorized or discriminated against based on their gender, age, social class, religion, race, and national origin.  You also paid close attention to who had privilege and why, and who were the oppressed and why.  Another aspect you were to consider was how people define themselves and how they were defined by others and were different from others.  Now, you need to share what you noted with your partners and create a group project that visually reflects what you’ve learned.  You also need to have a connection to at least one of the other texts we have read, viewed, or listened to during this unit.  You will present this to the class.

How you do this is up to you, but here are some formatting suggestions: a scrapbook; a painting; pop-up book; video; musical performance where you create your own lyrics, and even better, a tune to go with it; a PowerPoint; a Prezi; found art.  Try to do something new that challenges you or something you’ve learned in another class that can be practiced through this project.

Requirements: Form a group of 2 or 3 people with those who have read the same book as you.  Somewhere in the project you need to have the following: 3 quotes from your book, 3 images (either concrete or abstract; literal or figurative) that reflect ideas, concepts, or characters in your book, 3 connections to other works (these can be written, implied, or symbolically represented for example).  Your grade will also be based on your contribution to the project, the perceived care given to the project, and professional production.  You are also required to complete a final reflection on your personal growth while doing the project.  No one will receive credit for the group project without this personal reflection.

Due Dates: Tuesday / Wednesday 5 / 5 November

Points Possible: 100

Group Project Individual Evaluation

What connections did you make between your book and the unit, the study of the individual?

How are those connections represented in your project?

What did you learn about your book by doing this project?

Group Evaluation

Name:

Group Members’ Names:

1.    In this section, I want you to reflect on what was learned.  Answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper.  Your grade will be based mostly on what you write in this section, so take it seriously.

a.    What connections did you make between your book and the unit, the study of the individual?

b.    How are those connections represented in your project and/or in your presentation?

c.    What did you learn about your book by doing this project?

2.    The following questions require only a sentence or two to answer.

a.    How did you contribute to the project?

b.    Based on the criteria for the assignment, do you think you “did not meet”, “met”, or “exceeded” with the project?  Why? 

c.    What are two things that your group did well?

d.    What are two things that your group could have done to improve your project?