Olivia was absent from class today.

Completed a final review and editing of Vlad's "How the Putt" presentation. Went over the motto: When I think I am done, I will take a moment to ask himself the question: What have I left out?"

Vlad expressed his desire not to work anymore on his Russian Mafia (parts and whole) paper. Vlad found the research too frustrating.

I used a former teacher's essay assignment to point up the required formats of a research paper and how to avoid being plagiarizing. Went into a full discussion of the three-part "Sandwich," which (1) describes how to cite the source of a passage to be block-quoted, including the source's credentials and the lead into the quote, (2) describes the required format of a block-quote, including the "link" that links the quote to the Works Cited page, and (3) the researcher's discussion and analysis the quote. Also went over a model Work Cited page, and pointed out where the Work Cited format was not followed by Vlad's essay on Chernobyl. Gave Vlad the choice of applying the formats we discussed to the Chernobyl essay, or starting anew with a Comparison and Contrast paper. Vlad chose the new C and C paper. Gave Vlad two paintings to analyze and compare, with Vlad "the art critic" writing the paper, focusing on the important details in each painting, discussing their significance, and how the details point to a theme.

Alexa has read about 20 chapters of Pride and Prejudice. We have read together and had good discussions. Today we reviewed the beginning of the story and Alexa completed an activity with questions about the relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, tone, diction, and author's purpose using textual evidence. She has an activity on chapter 19 that analyzes Mr. Collin's ridiculous proposal -- its tone, attitude, and what the narrator's comments infer.

Alexa was here for the second class session. Primarily we read Pride and Prejudice. I reviewed the essay instructions and gave Alexa a link for one of the sources required. I am encouraging her to begin research on the topic of this essay: courtship and marriage at the time and place set in Pride and Prejudice. I pointed out some places in the reading we did that would work well for quotes or areas to develop in accord with her research. She found, marked, and discussed a couple of places in the text that she may use in her writing. If possible, tomorrow I will have her begin the research process and get some notes down with annotated bibliography.

Olivia examined these motifs in the novel: resurrection and character development. First, we discussed Huck's recognition that Jim, a run away slave, is a human being . This development occurs in the same chapter where again Jim thinks Huck has died . We focused on Twain's stylistic achievement by correlating character development and metaphorical rebirth. Next, we addressed the theme of the role of conscience as Huck struggles with the moral choice of whether to have Jim arrested. Olivia has been making good annotations in her book, and noted how in the novel Huck, as an archetypal American, forges a new moral code on the river where society's moral code does not govern.

The plan for today was to continue reading Pride and Prejudice and begin the essay.
ABSENT

After reviewing Olivia's vocabulary work based on the novel, we focused on why Chapter 14 is uniquely "American" and why the novel, Huck Finn, is often described as the Great American Novel. Here, we see not only everyday citizens, but more importantly Huck and Jim's discussion on nobility and royalty. Olivia reviewed the text and highlighted areas of satire of European royalty. We next discussed the Florida phenomenon of anti-bilingual sentiment often expressed in terms of Americans should speak only English. In this section of the novel, Jim , the escaped slave in a satire of these same types of sentiments, insists that all men speak only English and as such Europeans who speak French are not really men at all. Olivia was not familiar with the Biblical story of King Solomon which I related to her so that she could appreciate the chapter's satire of religion wherein Jim denounces King Solomon as a fool . She astutely recognized the point of the King Solomon parable and applied it to the text. For homework, I assigned reading the next two chapters.

Vlad had already completed his how to putt paper. We did some research on the Russian mafia, but we didn't find any credible sources to use for research. We then brainstormed ideas for his research paper. We decided on a research comparison between the three largest terrorist attacks. We began to research, and we talked briefly about how Vlad would organize the paper.

Alexa and I discussed her upcoming essay on Pride and Prejudice. I gave her a link for one of the two possible sources she will use to research courtship and marriage customs and examples for the setting in England at that early time period. Alexa read some chapters, asked and answered appropriate questions for clarification and analysis, and she annotated portions in her book that might be of interest to use in her essay.

Alexa and I discussed the pages in the book that she had read. She has seen the movie, so we talked about that. She shared with me her writing assignment for the novel. We discussed ways of approaching the essay. We then continued reading the novel.