English II Honors - Descriptive Writing Activity

Hey guys! 

I will be in and out of the classroom today working on the photography for our Postsecret Project, so I wanted to give you guys something to work on that would be creative, fun, and linked to the unit we are working on.

Personal narratives need to be very descriptive - the places, the people, the events, and the feelings involved all have to be explained with great accuracy and using beautiful language. For this exercise, I want you to work on your descriptiveness - the ability to delineate the characteristics of something, good and bad, and explain it to the world.

Please complete the following activity. It will be due on Monday, posted or handwritten. 

Like the Back of My Hand

Your task is to describe your hands in as much detail as possible. A page would be considered an appropriate length for this activity.

You may answer the following questions, or find other creative ways to express your descriptiveness.

1. Do you have any white spots on your nails? Which ones?

2. If your hands were flat in front of you, would the tip of your thumb reach the second knuckle on your index finger?

3. Are your fingers hairy, or devoid of hair?

4. Do your fingers have any scars or marks? How did you get them?

5. Which is longer, your index finger or your ring finger?

6. Do you have freckles or moles on your hands?

7. Are your fingers or hands callused? Why?

8. Do you bite your fingernails? Paint them? Are they dirty?

9. When your index finger is stretched out, how many wrinkles do you have in your middle knuckle?

10. Are the lines on the inside of the hand prominent?

11.  Are your hands big or small?

DO NOT SIMPLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS - THIS ASSIGNMENT IS TO BE WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF A NARRATIVE, WITH A BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND CONCLUSION.

Good luck on this activity...hope you find your descriptive abilities quite handy (Pun intended...groans optional).

English II - Transactive Writing Genre Characteristics

Hey Guys!

As you know, today we have been looking at transactive writing - the form of writing in which information is actively transferred between the writer and the reader. 

I have detailed the kinds of transactive writing that we will be looking at this year - news articles, feature articles, reviews, persuasive letters and editorials, and speeches. I would now like you to get a better understanding of the genres by reading several examples of each online.

1. Find three examples of each kind of transactive writing online.

2. Complete the following information for EACH example:

- Who wrote it?

- Where was it published? (Include URL and description)

- What is the purpose?

- Who is the audience?

- Summarize the information that is being shared with the reader.

3. Write a multi-paragraph entry on the differences you were able to notice between the genre types.

English II Honors - FINAL

Hey guys!

The selected questions for the Julius Caesar will be numbers 3, 4, and 5.

Good luck!

B. Parsons

Journalism - Ethics Assignment

Select from the following scenarios and based on the ethical decision-making process and explain, as a newspaper editor, whether or not you would cover the story. If you decide to cover it, show exactly how you would handle the research and coverage. You will then create a PowerPoint of NO LESS than 15 slides discussing the facts of the story, issues with covering the story, and why or why not you would proceed with covering the story, and how you would cover it.

 All the scenarios are based on events that occurred at high schools with student newspapers.

A. A female teacher in your school has been placed on administrative leave. Rumor is that she had an affair with a senior boy who is 18. Will you cover this story?

B. A local chapter of Planned Parenthood wants to advertise in your school newspaper. Will you accept the ad?

C. On a language club field trip to another country, two students are caught with alcohol. They, in turn, turn in the names of several others who also drank on the trip. The students involved include a few athletes, members of the band, and two newspaper editors. After the school punishes those involved with a five-day suspension from school and a one-month suspension from extracurricular activities, several teens come forward to say that drinking has occurred on field trips in the past as well. They accuse the advisers of negligence and question the severity of the suspensions. How will you cover this story.

D. A student at the school has contracted the HIV virus. Explain your coverage of this story.

E. A newspaper columnist writes an opinion piece about the unfair member-selection process of a high school club. She says it is based on popularity and personal connections rather than qualifications. The president of the club writes a letter to the editor stating that the columnist had tried out for the club two years earlier and had been rejected.

F. A student and a teacher are arrested for shoplifting in separate incidents. The teacher is accused of stealing lipstick without paying. The student is accused of stealing a leather jacket. Will you cover these incidents? How?

G. A newspaper features editor wants to do a story using a grade card that rates teacher in the school from an "A" to an "F". You're the editor-in-chief - how would you advise him to approach the story? 

H. An editor wants to do a story on cheating, but teachers are opposed as they view it as teaching kids how to cheat and encouraging them to target certain teachers for cheating. How should the topic be covered and what research is needed?

I. A parent attacks a teacher in the parking lot after school one day. What approach should be taken in covering this story?

J. A student is killed in a car crash. Another student was at the wheel. Accusations are being leveled at the student driving that he may have been racing another student. How does your staff proceed in covering the story?

K. A rumor circulates that a student at school has had an abortion. A pro-life student on the newspaper staff wants to write an editorial condemning abortion, with thinly-veiled references to the girl in question. What is your decision on the matter?

L. A teacher and student attended the same party on a weekend, although they were not together, with both consuming alcohol. Photos later surfaced on a student's Myspace page showing the teacher and the student, with both possessing alcohol. The school is considering disciplinary action against the teacher after a parent raised the issue with the school board. How do you cover the event?

English II Honors - Caesar Essay Questions

Hey guys!

The following five questions will be narrowed down to three for the test; however, since you will not know which three questions you will have to choose from, it is incumbent upon you to study and review for all of them.

A few reminders before I get to the essay topics:

- Don't forget to format the Word documents as directed at the start of the year. This is something I will be paying more attention to as the year progresses, and it may impact your grade if you are not following the specifications. 

- QUOTE. This is a simple one - if you are making a statement about the text, you must show where you came to the view that you are espousing in your essay. Don't view it as a 'one and done' directive, either - quotations must be incorporated into the essay frequently. 

- Use the '/' slash to indicate line breaks when quoting Shakespeare. Also, be sure to include the scene and line information. For example, from Act III, Scene i:

"If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him / I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. / No, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause / will he be satisfied." - Act 3, Scene i, 50-55.

- Use the original text for the quote. Use the original text for the quote. Use the original text for the quote. 

____________________________________

Now, for the essay questions:

1. A tragic figure in Shakespearean literature is someone who is brought undone by their own fatal flaw(s). What are Brutus' fatal flaws, and how do they contribute to his demise?

2. Some would suggest that fate causes the tragic events of the play, while others might argue that the omens and supernatural phenomena only complement the existing drama. Choose a position and argue whether fate is the cause, or simply an image of, the evil in the work.

3. While they both contributed to the death of Caesar, Cassius and Brutus had very different reasons for killing him. What were they? Was one more honorable than the other?

4. Consider the rhetorical devices Antony uses in his speech at Caesar's funeral. How, without directly calling for it, does Antony turn the people against Brutus and the rest of the conspirators?

5. Using the character traits of the characters in the play, describe what qualities you would need to make a great leader of Rome, or any nation.

English II Honors - EXTRA CREDIT

Shakespearean Dialogue Writing

TASK:

You are to choose one of the following prompts and complete a typed response of not less than two-and-a-half typed pages in length. Your assignment will be worth a maximum of 50 points, with points assigned based on three categories: Organization, Creativity, and Mechanics and Usage.

PROMPTS:

- Pretend you are Cassius. Write a letter to Brutus that is designed to convince him to join the conspiracy against Caesar. Don't forget who signed the letter in the play!

- Pretend you are Brutus. Write a diary entry explaining your decision to join Cassius in the plot to kill Caesar, even though you had never been wronged by him.

- Pretend you are Caesar. As a ghost, return to visit your wife. Write a scene in which you discuss your murder, why you decided to continue to the Senate despite many warnings, and what you think will happen in Rome in your absence.

- Pretend you are Antony. You are about to offer Caesar the crown. Write a conversation between them that would take place prior to the crown offering. Because it will not be heard by the gathered throng, you can discuss motives and reasons for the refusal to accept the crown.

Please post these to Musketeer English no later than 3.30 p.m. on Monday. Late assignments will not be accepted. 

Thanks,

Mr. Parsons

English II Honors

English II Honors - Acts IV and V Questions

Hey guys!

Sorry I couldn't be there today, but I will return tomorrow. Until then, please be sure to work hard on getting through Act IV and V and completing the questions below.

Thanks,
B. Parsons


Act IV -

Scene 1.

1. What does Antony say they will do to Caesar’s will?

2.. What reason does Antony give letting Lepidus help in choosing who shall die?

Scene 2.

1. Why does Brutus suggest that he and Cassius talk inside the tent?

Scene 3:

1. Explain the turn in the relationship between Brutus and Cassius.

2. How does Portia die?

3. Explain the disagreement that Brutus and Cassius have about the battle strategy.

4. What unexpected visitor does Brutus see when everyone else is asleep? How does this relate to the theme of the supernatural in Shakespeare's work?

Act V -

Scene 1.

1. What are two things Brutus says he will never do, even if he loses the war?

Scene 2:
1. How does Brutus feel about the battle at this point?

Scene 3.

1. What does Titinius do when Messala goes to inform Brutus of Cassius’s death?

Scene 4:

1. Who does Lucilius pretend to be? Why?

Scene 5:

1. How does Brutus die?

2. According to Marc Antony, why is Brutus better than the other conspirators?