Gatsby Videos

A few general and then specific notes.

First, I was really impressed with what you were able to put together. Obviously a lot of thought went into these and they show a lot of creativity as well. Really well done!

Saisha, your video played fine on my computer.
Libby, I couldn't get yours to work.

The rest of you that had technical difficulties, try uploading the movie file to Google docs and sharing it with me. That worked pretty well for those who tried it.

In PowerPoint, remember to save as a "show".
In Windows Live Movie Maker, remember to save as a movie file for viewing on a computer.

In no other option works, you could probably upload it to YouTube and send me the link.

Have a great weekend and don't stress about the final too much. It really isn't all that bad as long as you know the stuff.

Grade Checker has been updated.

Bookblogs for Gatsby

If you don't have the paper schedule for our Gatsby readings and bookblogs, here it is!

For those of you looking for a little procrastination fodder before doing your blogs, here is 6:32 worth of procrastination.  Then get your blogs done so you can do something fun...or sleep. So Ailyn has amazingly never heard this song. Wow. No longer. Speaking of weird 80s videos, this one takes the cake as far as I know.

Procrastination over.

Gatsby Bookblog

Oh, those silly flappers...

This post is for clarification on the bookblogs and readings. After chapter 1, the bookblogs will be due by class time. That way, you are better prepared to discuss the book. The quality of our discussions will rest largely on the quality of your preparation. Tonight though, don't worry about the bookblog until later as you have papers to worry about.

Some in 4th period were interested in a study guide. Don't worry, it won't be required, but some of you may find it helps direct your reading. Here it is. (I think the page numbers are off from the versions we have at the moment; I got this from an AP Lit teacher I know. Once you find the first couple pages, just extrapolate out from there. If someone figures it out, I'll update the file for next year.)

The essay post has been pushed down pretty far. If you want faster access, this link is at your service.

Discussion Ideas

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Here's the Literary Conflicts sheet we used in class today. It's also linked on the Class Info & Docs page.

Remember as you're planning your discussions, you can have whole class on the board, giant circle, or small to large group. there are many other ideas and feel free to experiment. Just have a plan for what you want us to discover and see in your chapter. Don't forget to connect it to the novel as a whole. Tuesday is a work day for these discussions.

Weekend...and the future!

Just read through Chapter 4. We will discuss on Monday.

Just so you know, you will be getting the opportunity (don't read into that too much, it's required) to lead the class discussion on a chapter.  You'll go in groups of 3 or 4 starting with chapter 5. We'll have a sign-up sheet on Monday.

It will look shockingly like this:

1. Chapter 5: May26th (whoever signs up for this date will of course get extra consideration for being first and brave and awesome)


2. Chapter 6: May 27th


3. Chapter 7: May 28th


4. Chapter 8: June 2nd


5. Chapter 9: June 3rd


6. American Dream Gatsby Summative Discussion Extraordinaire: June 4th

Tuesday will be a prep/work day in your groups. I will be largely silent during these discussions, or at least I will need to raise my hand and wait to be called on. YOU will be responsible for the discussion.

I will grade these on the following criteria:

• preparation


• how well the discussion goes


• if discussion stalls, how well the group kick starts or redirects the discussion


• Insights not garnered from Spark Notes or its competitors (Maybe I'll just print out the chapter write-up and have them with me during the discussion in case I forget something).

This is a very rich book with plenty to work through. We will take two timed writes on this book as well and you'll be able to pick your favorite to be graded in lieu of a big paper.

Book Blogs

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It seems the book blog assignment was unclear.

We are doing one blog post per chapter.

Unless otherwise instructed for a particular chapter, focus your observations on the following:

• The American Dream


• Character Development


• Literary Devices (metaphor, sensory details ie. color, foreshadowing, etc)

Make at least one observation per chapter from each category.  I apologize for any confusion.

I finally take my National Boards test tomorrow. I promise that when I'm done and after I relax a bit this weekend (we're going to the Paramount to see the Mark Morris Dance group), I will do things normal teachers do like grade papers again. :)

Vocab Results and Reading

Just FYI on the vocab audit results:  No one went down, but most went up.  Yea!  Crazy Scantron!!!!

Remember to read chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby and we'll talk about 6 and 7 on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Sprint to the Finish!

Well folks, the AP test is done! But alas, our week-long break has come to an end. We are going to be cramming the last two units of Junior English into the final month of school. Because of this insane schedule, I've mapped out most of what we will do for you in the attached files. Click on the calendar thumbnail for May and June. Then the first document has the F451 assignments, the second is the Junior Research Paper packet, the third is an example of the format that paper should take, and the last is a flowchart of the research process. We will talk about all of this on Monday and then, as you can see, we run like crazy.

1. 451-assignments-2008-ap-juniors.pdf


2. junior-english-research-paper.pdf


3. research-paper-format-example.pdf


4. research-process.pdf

P.S. You may be wondering what we will be doing with Gatsby other than talking. Well we are going through it so fast that we'll confine our work primarily to reading, class discussion and in-class activities. Gatsby, along with many other things, will make a prominent appearance on the final.

P.P.S. Most, if not all, of the dates on the calendar above are subject to change at my whimsy and the seeming caprice of school activities.