Assignments: Week of October 26, 2009

Hello students!
Looking ahead: Wednesday night: read and annotate chapter three.
Thursday: Chapter four of The Jungle.
Friday: Regents packets are due.
Monday: Read chapters 5-7.
Students are off on Tuesday. Please read chapters 8 & 9 for Wednesday
Reading and SAT word test on Friday, November 6.

Next week: New York Times article about e-coli and chopped meat.
Special presentation of Supersize me from Health Corps representative

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Dear Students,
We are about to begin our study of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I am extremely excited about this unit, because this text show just how powerful literature can be in changing public policy.

Regents practice test: Day two

Here is the link to the practice test, with Passage I:

http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/engre/2-606.pdf

College Fair Reflections 10/21/2009

Before entering the college fair, I had a grand misconception to which college I should attend. From my adolescent days, I always pictured myself in one the nation’s top tier colleges, studying a career that would influence all of the human population. I was mainly interested in Boston College, which was one of the top 100 colleges in America. But once I entered the college fair, I was enlightened. I realized that my undergraduate school does not have to be the most prestigious or even most popular. Though, told by my parents and peers, I have the grades to get into a top notch college, the college representatives present at the college fair demonstrated that smaller schools usually have a specialty curriculum; Meaning that the school is mainly known for certain majors and programs. Since I have a bloodline of scientist in my family, I am naturally attracted to the sciences. I hope to eventually go off and become any kind of doctor. The college fair demonstrated a couple of schools that had an excellent pre-medical program, for example a college I am now strongly considering is Quinnipiac University, which is known to be the statistical college of America, has one of the strongest medical programs in America. Because of the college fair my mind is more open and I feel that my college selection process has been alleviated tremendously.
-- Roman

The college fair was altogether fun and educational. Since last year, at the last college fair, I knew exactly which college I wanted to apply and attend to. It fit to exactly what I want to do in life and it is also accelerated. I do not plan to take an accelerated course because I wouldn’t want to be in school for a long amount of time, but because of the career I chose, the sooner the better means the sooner I can get out there and help people. However, no matter how much I would like to be accepted into this school, I need to keep the reality of the fact that just in case I cannot be in this school I need to have a back up; that was the whole point of me going back to the college fair. Even though other schools might not have the same the same program that Sophie Davis does, it would be okay to take the extra tests and years to achieve my goal.
-Amanda

The college fair was a huge success. I had a lot of fun walking around and speaking to college advocates whom were representing colleges I had never heard of before. Felicean, for example, sounds like a really good college that caters to my interests. Before attending the fair, I had my mind made up on a dream that may not be realistic for several reasons. After attending the fair, I realized that I have so many options and that as an undergraduate; I don’t have to attend the most prestigious college. I really like the concept of going to college as well. I loved the college fair. Everyone was really nice and professional, and it made me more aware of the varied choices I have and the moves I can make as a junior. Bye now, I’m going to look at my brochures :)
-Frances

Today I went to the college fair with my mother, grandmother, and sister. I brought a pad and a pen and I was ready to commence the search. My top five favorites were Stony Brook, Maine, Hofstra, Ithaca, and Geneseo. They all seem possible for me to get into, it’s all a matter of my keeping my grades up and doing well on these SATs. I am looking forward to looking deeper into these colleges and the others of my choice, by not only looking through these pamphlets, but also by doing my own research online. I want to make this college admissions process as quick and painless as possible. –Matthew

Today the gym was luminously filled up with the hustle and bustle of students eager to ask questions and concerns about their potential future colleges. Personally I only visited a few colleges. Those included UMass Amherst, Standford, Ithaca, and Mount St. Vincent. I asked several of the same questions but always began with the same initiating. The first thing I said to each college table was “Tell me about your school and what is has to offer.” That alone gave me so much information.
The school that really stood out to me even though I don’t want to admit it was the College of Mount St. Vincent. My main concern was my major, which is going to most likely be in biology/chemistry since I want to pursue something in the medical field. CMSV offered all of that and what most caught my eye was its extensive nursing program. Knowing prior knowledge since my sister attends CMSV and is a part of the nursing program, I know how hard and competitive it is firsthand. The representative told me everything I needed to know and also gave me information about the Cory Aquino scholarship that gives the top two Filipinos applying FULL SCHOLARSHIP. So I better start working even harder than I am now because I can see myself as one of the two. –Rey

Last year in the summer time, I bought The Best 368 Colleges. Throughout the summer I read some of the reviews of the colleges I was most interested in. This included some of the Ivy League schools as well as other private and state schools. I read the review for the University of Pennsylvania as well as Colombia and really enjoyed what it had to say. I visited the campus of U-Penn and enjoyed it very much along with the campus of Colombia. Friends of my parents and family members who attended these colleges also had nothing but good things to say. Both universities have great libraries, great off campus food and diverse student types on campus. All of these qualities are extremely important in my opinion when deciding which colleges to go to.-Melissa L.

I was very happy to see Vanderbilt University there again. Last year I met them at the college fair and learned all about the school. I had never heard about it before but became very interested, and it is currently one of my top schools I would like to go to. Seeing Vanderbilt here again this year made me feel comfortable that they know the name of our school and have a connection with it. I also looked at a few other schools which were pretty interesting. The college fair had more positives than negatives, which was satisfying for me. -Drew

Looking ahead! October 21, 2009

Dear Students,
I was so pleased to hear of the positive experience you had at the college fair! It's never too early to start planning and thinking ahead. As a result, we will soon be beginning the process of writing a first draft of a personal statement.

In addition, I am extremely excited to tell you that we will be entering a new unit of study, reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This unit will focus on discussing authorial intent, as well as understanding the way in which literature can be a motivating force. In addition, we will look at modern connections to the text and study articles and graphics related to the food industry today.

SAT Words: List #3 Week of October 20, 2009

Bauble (n): a showy ornament of little value

Upcoming assignments: Week of October 19

Dear Students,
This week we are perfecting our critical lens essays and reviewing our listening skills. We are also going to have a quiz on Monday on the following SAT words: Eloquence Emendation, Chagrin, Foreboding, Besiege, Pedestrian, Gloat, Macabre, Fallible,Adventitious, Fathom. Also, the test will cover the Greek and Latin roots: Aud-chrom.

I am also excited to tell you that we will be studying The Jungle, and modern connections to the text! This unit will include reading about the current food industry, looking at charts and graphics, and watching documentaries relating to this fabulous text. This unit will approach the controlling idea essay, as well as the elements of a successful analytical essay.

Presentation on "Guilt"

Guilt
By: Clifford Lindsey Alderman
“As usual, when some great injustice is brought to light, no one wanted to take the blame. The guilty ones set about to find a scapegoat, thinking this would ease their own consciences.”
Analysis by: Melisa C, Gisell, Ana, Brandon, Albert
Injustice: The whole situation was simply unjust. This usage of diction sums up the whole Salem Witch trials as well as similar periods in world history in which mass hysteria based on false pretences led to the death of innocent people.
Scapegoat: According to Alderman’s analysis of the Salem Witch Trials, Reverend Samuel Parris had motive to start the accusations and the means to make the intended hysteria a success, making him the guiltiest.
Motives: Starting an event of mass hysteria, such as accusations of witchcrafts would get more people going to church, which happened to be a desirable goal of Parris. He sought to broaden the outreach of his sermons and the numbers in his congregation. Parris, who was insanely anal, would have wanted anyone who opposed his plans to spread the word of God gone. The Salem Witch Trials allowed him the opportunity to do this.
Means: The witch craft delusion had in fact begun right in his house. He was also first to bring out the afflicted girl’s secret of what had occurred with Tituba. He was relentless in pursuing his hunt for these “witches” that had afflicted the girls.
Guilt: Guilt is a major theme in the play, and in the events that actually occurred in reality. Guilt is what allows John Proctor to confess of his infidelity in the play and in reality, guilt picked at the hearts of those who lied about being witches or accused others of being witches.
The citizens of the colony during this time demanded that there be a day of repentance, in which people could atone for their sins during the Salem Witch Trials. This day was January 15, 1697, a day of atonement and fasting.
Judge Sewall who had sent nineteen people to death was plagued by guilt. It was said that he made his son read him a passage from the bible that said “But if ye had known what this meaneth: ‘I will have mercy and not sacrifice,’ ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” This made Sewall conscience of all that he had done wrong, and he sought peace at mind. He then confessed in public what he had done wrong.
Thomas Fisk and the other eleven members of the jury which had convicted Rebecca Nurse confessed on the day of atonement.
Mr. Hale wrote a pamphlet in which he confessed that he too had been wrong in the accusations.
Ann Putnam confessed as well.

Regarding presentations on October 8, 2009

I just wanted to take a moment to say how proud I was of you yesterday. This was a challenging assignment and you showed dedication, diligence, and mutual respect toward one another regarding the assignment and the presentations themselves. I look forward to future group assignments such as these. Yesterday demonstrated just how meaningful and successful collaborative study can be!

Updates for the week of October 12, 2009

The students have been assigned a Critical lens assignment for The Crucible. They will apply their knowledge of The Crucible and one text from last year to write a thoughtful analysis of a quote.

There will be a test on Friday October 16 on Greek and Latin roots and SAT vocabulary words.

We will also begin to read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Jungle in the near future.

Assignments week of October 5, 2009

Group projects are due Thursday.

Test on Friday: Only on The Crucible. Vocabulary and roots test will be next week.

Key lesson points for the week of September 28,2009

What is a "key passage"?

How can we better understand The Crucible through close textual analysis?

What is the significance of the literary element diction?