Bobby continues to be an exemplary student in keeping up with the reading pace and in responding very well to the study guide questions. We analyzed a portion of the text wherein Buck ,in a dreamlike state, imagines not only his primordial origins, but also envisions Man in his primitive condition. We further discussed the death of Dave who is euthanized because he is too weak to be of use. Bobby noted the deaths of the three dogs, Curley,Dolly, and Dave, as representing society's savage treatment of the kind, the weak, and the sick. We then worked on vocabulary from the novel with Bobby placing in contextualized sentences words such as : travail, insidious, and inexorable. For homework, read ch. 5 and complete study guide questions.

During the first segment of our session, Lena completed exercises on subject-verb agreement and subject- indefinite pronoun agreement . After we completed studying chapter 13,I placed two open-ended comprehension questions on the board and Lena ,on her own, read through the novel and located supportive answers which she placed into her notebook. She then took a multiple choice chapter 13 comprehension quiz . She did very well with both assessments. Last, we studied the metaphor in the chapter 14 prologue and speculated as to whom would become a new mother figure for Lily. Lena very astutely offered the phrase "adoptive mother" to describe the subject of our discussion.

We examined Jack London's Darwinian view of American society by examining how in Chapter 3 the weak and the sick are callously killed. We further discussed how this view is similar to the view portrayed years later in Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" . I noted how when the dog sled team works cooperatively the team feels content and fulfilled reflecting London's view that only a cooperative effort of society's working class can provide relief from the society's cruelty. We further analyzed the significance of the word "primordial" in the chapter heading. I then projected numerous historical photographs of the Klondike Gold Rush from the Alaska State History Museum in order to provide a context to the fictional events in the novel. We examined pictures of gold rush towns, Dyea, Dawson, and of many sled dog teams crossing the Klondike. Last, we reviewed Bobby's homework answers . For homework, read chapter 4 and complete study guide.

We completed the introduction to literary existentialism by reviewing the characteristics of Kafka's existentialism ,and reading portions of other existential works such as Becket's "Waiting for Godot" and Camus' The Stranger. I noted the difference between the more modern iteration of the genre and Kafka in that Becket, and Sartre both argue that Man must exercise free will and take action to establish a new morality given an absurd meaningless world. We then studied the beginning of the story highlighting lack of communication and its resultant alienation as emblematic of Kafka's existential outlook. During the last segment ,we reviewed Marcel's rewrite of his final essay on Great Expectations and discussed how to remove superfluous words and to combine sentences where appropriate. For homework due Weds. read through Part II of story and answer questions on Kafka's view on the dehumanizing quality of work.

Lena was absent today.

We discussed Jack London's version of "naturalism" as illustrated by the phrase "the law of the club and the fang". Bobby discussed his interpretation of the phrase , and we expounded on this theme by noting how Buck not only adapts to his new environment by awakening his dormant wolf-like instincts but moreover, abandons any moral code he has learned in order to survive in the wild. Bobby further analyzed a number of quotes and spoke about why they exemplify the naturalist genre. Last, we examined the fate of Curly, the good natured sled dog ,who was unable to appreciate "the law of the club and the fang" ,is killed and eaten by the pack simply because he is perceived as weak .Looking at the study guide, I identified the vocabulary words that will be included in our vocabulary study, and we then reviewed Bobby's homework answers. Based on class discussion, we supplemented Bobby's answers . HW- read chp 3/study guide.

Bobby's essay for his "Of Mice and Men" test demonstrated significant improvement which we built on today. I first addressed simple grammatical issues such as commas, and capitalization followed by correcting one sentence fragment. We then turned our attention to writing in a consistent tense. We reviewed and conjugated the present tense and the past tense of the verb"to be" and then noted where the second paragraph shifted tense from the present to the past tense. I provided instruction on how to address the tense change including the option of using the present participle to retain tense consistency. We then discussed substance including elaborating on ideas in the essay by incorporating more specific examples and quotes and clarifying misstatements. We discussed how to add Steinbeck's use of Edenic imagery to the essay . Last, we addressed any superfluous words and tense changes in the conclusion. At the end of session, Bobby read aloud his essay revisions which produced a coherent well written essay response. For homework due Monday, read ch 2 and complete study guide questions-Call of the Wild.

This morning's board work concentrated on identifying and correcting run-on sentences and sentence fragments. Lena then completed her chapter 12 vocabulary/comprehension test ,again doing very well. Having completed ch 12, I then on the board explained the metaphor in the ch 13 prologue comparing worker bees carrying a heavy load to Lily carrying the heavy emotional load after learning the truth- her mother had abandoned her as a child. We commenced studying chapter 13 ,stopping to take notes on the recurrent theme of secrets in the lives of the characters.

During the first half of the session we reviewed both the final multiple choice test and the essay test on Great Expectations. With respect to the essay, I addressed how to better explain and argue that the novel's original ending fits the bildungsroman genre better than the revised ending . We discussed that Pip , now morally reformed and aware that his prior obsession for Estella caused his moral degeneration, can not join his life to Estella's again if the novel is to have any coherence. We then reviewed outline options for the research/literary essay on Dickens as a social critic of the Victorian criminal justice system. Last, I began our introduction to our next literary work,Kafka's "Metamorphosis" by discussing the literary genre of existentialism ,and more specifically existentialism as it manifests in Kafka's works. For homework, rewrite final essay, continue work on research/literary essay on Victorian criminal justice system in the novel.

Completing the introductory lesson for the novel, I elaborated on London's view of social Darwinism and explained adaptation to the environment as an element of the novel. We studied the segment of chapter 1 wherein Buck learns to respect Man , or to respect "the law of the club"-violence. We noted however, that Buck while tamed refuses to fawn on those who abuse him. We then discussed the novel's third person limited point of view and the novel's use of anthropomorphism to create an emotional connection between the reader and Buck. I further reviewed and placed into the notebook the term "atavism" describing the reemergence of Buck's latent wolf traits as a means of survival. Bobby's homework responses to the study guide were very good , and we elaborated upon his answers and added some additional material noting what traits Buck exhibits even in Chapter 1 that will serve him well in his new environment. I further discussed how to use the study guide, chapter summary , and vocabulary to assist in navigating the reading and in answering the study guide questions.For homework due Monday, read ch 2 and answer study guide questions.