Cuckoo's Nest and Writing Practice

A note for leadership folks who will be out on Friday -
Build people through leadership.
We have enough broken Billy Bibbits in the world.

Some of you are going to be out on Friday, so I am putting up your assignments that will be due next Tuesday.  Here they are:

1) Cuckoo's Nest read pp. 129-172;
2) Reading blog post on one of these topics: machine imagery or portrayal of women (REMINDER - you are responding to one of these prompts); and
3) Visit your Google Doc for Waiting for Godot blog feedback. If I have given you an assignment, complete it below the feedback. If you have no assignment, read the feedback and write a short "Dear Mr. Ferrebee" reflection.

Let's Look at Writing on Friday...

Your tasks for Friday's class are as follows:

1) Read pp. 100-126 of Cuckoo's Nest; and
2) Print the introduction from your first Cuckoo's Nest reading blog post on the topic of "fog."

Fishbowl Discussion on Cuckoo's Nest

In preparation for our discussion on Wednesday, read pp. 67-100 and come prepared with your annotated text with questions and insights you have had while reading.

A couple of questions I would like us to start considering are: How do the characters in the novel interact with society?  What role does society have in shaping their actions?

Consider these and other questions that come to your mind as you read in preparation for Wednesday's discussion.  Thank you to our selected experts who will take us through the first 100 pages.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and AP Mock Exam

For Monday, you will need to have completed the following:

1) Read pp. 3-67 in OFOCN and post to your blog on the topic of "fog" using one of the reading blog post choices.  Thanks Daniela for suggesting a new reading blog topic on exploring AP Exam vocabulary as we read.  I hope the added variety will inspire you to explore "fog" in new ways.  Click here for your updated prompt options.

2) Study your exam strategy sheet in preparation for an AP Mock Multiple Choice Exam on Monday.  The test will last 60 minutes and include 55 questions that test your close reading skills.  We'll use the following matrix to determine your grade:

% Correct = CNG Score

82-99%   = 4

73-81%   = 3.5

62-72%   = 3

52-61%   = 2.5

32-51%   = 2

22-31%   = 1.5

0-21%     = 1

This week at a glance...

On Tuesday we'll complete group presentations, major work reviews, blog conferences, and mid-course feedback.

Will Waiting for Godot become one of your Fantastic 4 (or 5) works for the AP Exam Open Question?  Your homework will be to finish the major work review we started in class.

On Thursday, we'll begin One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

Next Tuesday - Presentations and Blog Responses

Please put up your final reading blog post for Waiting for Godot based on your "reading" from today's film clips.  If you missed class today, you can write your blog on any scene from this film.

I'm looking forward to seeing your presentations next Tuesday.

A balanced pairs sentence structure suggestion:

Prepared yet nervous, well-rehearsed yet somewhat uncertain, the group members reminded themselves that they would do well if they creatively incorporated textual details from Waiting for Godot and spoke clearly and confidently during their presentations.

Waiting for Godot and a Metacognitive Journey

Continue to prepare for your group presentation next Tuesday!

For Friday, you need to update your Google Doc Online Writer's Workshop with a reflection on the essay I returned to you today.  I have circled areas of concern and underlined particularly strong areas in your essay.  In some cases, I've given you comments.  If you receive comments on the essay, you need to respond to those in your reflection.  If you did not receive comments, you should still write a general reflection on your performance.

We are going to start charting your writing progress this year, so return your graded essay to me on Friday.

If you have enjoyed WFG and think it might be one of your Fantastic 4 (or 5) novels for the exam, you'll enjoy this website, which is full of critical analysis of Lucky's speech and other juicy tid-bits from the play and Beckett's life.

Waiting for Godot Group Project

Le Monde by Man Ray, 1931

Here is a link to the Waiting for Godot Group Project that you will present on Tuesday, September 18th.  I'll be looking forward to assessing your individual contributions to your group.  You'll be graded based on the creative manner in which you incorporate textual details into your presentation and on your speaking skills.

Wednesday I'll be meeting with you to grade your blog entries for The Stranger.  If you have had issues with creating a blog or ensuring that I have access to it by posting a comment here, those issues must be resolved by Wednesday.

What is a Reading Blog?

Reading to Blog

What's more important the book or our interpretations of the book? Can there be a book without there being interpretation? We'll be able to answer some of those questions after we've recorded the history of our relationships with our books.

You will write your own blogs and respond to your blogs as prescribed by your homework blog entries. You should not approach each blog the same way. With variety comes varied thought; therefore, I hope you focus on different topics and take different approaches in each entry.

Here are your possibilities:

-Respond to the text through an AP Exam vocabulary word:
The author uses personification to develop a story with important connections to human work ethic.  Having pigs as home owners may at first seem ridiculous, but the reader quickly learns that the pigs are reflections of our own frailties and strengths in a world "huffing and puffing" with danger.

-Respond to the text personally:
I never had my house blown down by a wolf, but I have felt loss. For example, I once abandoned my favorite apartment. I left most of my furniture there, some clothes, even a television!

-Connect text to another book, a film, work of art, a comic or any other creation:

The Three Little Pigs reminds me of The Matrix. When the Wolf "huffed and puffed and blew his house down" he acted just as Morpheus did for Reeve's character. Suddenly, Reeves was without the security he once felt.

-Analyze a question that you have or is raised in the book:
What might the grandmother represent? Why would the Wolf want to blow down the houses? How might I write a better ending? 

-Visual Vocabulary
Select the words you think it was important to define in the text. Match a picture to it on your blog post.

Lastly, you might want to use hyperlinks - the 21^st century's answer to footnotes when you're talking about something that is not common knowledge.

Focus your each response on one of the choices above. We'll take a look at them in class and in conferences.

Waiting for Godot Reading and Reading Blog Post

For Monday:

Let's practice some of the sentence complexity we studied today in class.  I'd like you to read Act II of Waiting for Godot in preparation for discussions, and post a reading blog in response to your reading of the play.  Be sure to underline a new sentence structure you are trying out in your post.  We'll take a look at some your postings on Monday.

Waiting for Godot and Fantastic 4 (or 5) Novels

For Thursday, read Act I of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.  Here is a link to an e-book version. 

If you can obtain your own copy of this play, annotating your own copy of the text would be ideal.

Also, don't forget to complete your major work review sheet for The Stranger as practice for creating your Fantastic 4 (or 5) novels you intend to have fingertip control of before May.  These 4 or 5 novels will be your foci as your prepare for the AP Exam Open Question.