Marcel took the essay portion of the final test on "Great Expectations " during today's session.

To introduce the novel,"Call of the Wild" ,we briefly reviewed some biographical material about Jack London's experience in the Klondike gold rush. I then showed Bobby how to use the book's footnotes and endnotes to enhance understanding of the vocabulary and the novel's historical and geographic references. In that regard, we studied the first paragraph and used the endnotes to discuss the terms "Southland " and "Northland" , as well as the definition and significance of the term "atavism". I further introduced the point of view of the novel, third person limited ( i.e. limited to the point of view that ,Buck, the sled dog, perceives). I then reviewed the structure of the study guide I distributed explaining how to use the vocabulary definitions and chapter summaries to guide the reading. For homework, read chapter 1, and answer study guide questions.

Today's board work addressed the current chapter's theme: Ask for the truth and you may get some unwelcome hurtful news. Lena took notes from the board filling in blanks in sentences leading to this theme Eg.- Lily wants to know why her -----------(mother )left her. August tells her sometimes knowing things ____________(hurts). After completing the chapter , I focused Lena's attention to the text ,and we identified two pieces of truth that hurt Lily . I placed them on the board, and Lena placed them in her notes. Again, Lena had a strong emotional connection to Lily's bad news reflecting a good understanding of the literal and the emotional content of the novel.Last, we reviewed the chapter developments and vocabulary for tomorrow 's chapter test.

Bobby took his final test on the novel during today's session. He scored 100% on the multiple choice questions and I assisted him in forming his topic sentence and introduction for the essay. For homework- finish "Of Mice and Men" essay, read 3 pages re biographical info on Jack London for our next book

As Marcel completed the novel over the weekend , we analyzed the two endings Dickens authored. I explained how Dickens' good friends, who read the original less hopeful ending, felt Dickens' audience expected a happier ending and would be deeply disappointed by the proposed ending. As such, Dickens original ending was not discovered until 10 years after his death. We discussed how the hopeful ending is emotionally satisfying but untrue to the literary form, the bildungsroman. Marcel offered good comments discussing how both endings were similar in some ways in that Estella appears to be a changed and better person but both suffered from over reliance on coincidence or a chance meeting between Estella and Pip after Pip has been away for 11 years. I further addressed Marcel's questions on the plot by discussing the final fate of Orlick, Pumblechook, Herbert, and Pip, first as a clerk ,and then as Herbert's partner in an insurance firm . Marcel then took notes on the novel's overall theme, how the theme fits into the genre ,and how sub themes such as guilt and forgiveness support the maior thesis of the novel. During the last half hour of class, I administered a quiz on chapters 50-53. The essay portion of the final test on the novel is Wednesday. Also for Weds- complete 30 minute SAT Practice test.

Our board work this morning focused on punctuating quotes with proper placement of commas and quotation marks. Lena excels at punctuation ! We then completed reading Chapter 10 followed by a chapter 10 comprehension and vocabulary test. Lena scored 100%. Before moving on to chapter 11, I placed ch 11 vocabulary on the board and discussed the bee metaphor in the chapter's prologue. Lena placed these topics in her notebook ,and we began reading the next chapter where Lily at last discloses her secret to August and must confront the consequences.

As Bobby completed reading the novel, we again examined Robert Burns' poem,"To a Mouse" and discussed why the novel is appropriately called "Of Mice and Men." Bobby worked through the poem's metaphors and discussed how the characters in the novel are similar to the mouse in the poem.We then expanded the discussion to include how Steinbeck incorporates the fragility of the American Dream into the novel's theme .I again noted the relationship between Steinbeck's American dream and the biblical Garden of Eden,and Bobby studied the text and pointed out Edenic imagery in George and Lennie's description of their American Dream as a farm with a garden where they can live off the fat of the land. As we will be having a final test on the novel tomorrow, I then reviewed the vocabulary from the study guide including the definition of imagery, and salient themes. For homework, study for the test.

To commemorate Earth Day, I first placed on the board a list of environmental issues (pollution ,global warming, etc.) and proposed remedies (recycling, etc) . I also placed in the list of issues and remedies items that were unrelated and had Lena identify and eliminate items that were irrelevant . After viewing a short video about Rachel Carson and the writing of the book ,"Silent Spring", we then read an excerpt from the novel. I placed on the board some questions about the reading and directed Lena to areas of the text to locate a response.Lena then placed answers to the questions in her notebook in full sentiences. She did very well in today's session.

I directed Bobby's attention to our notes discussing characteristics of the realist genre and the naturalist genre, and then discussed that while some of the books we read this year represent the realist genre , Of Mice and Men, while realistic, represents the naturalist genre. Bobby discussed Lennie ,Curley's wife, and Candy as victims of their environment with little chance of altering their fate. We then worked on writing interpretations of the two quotes in the ch. 5 study guide. I directed Bobby's attention to the portion of the class notes addressing themes and then worked with him on incorporating themes into his quote interpretations. For homework, finish the novel and answer two assigned ch. 6 study guide questions.

As we have almost completed the novel, we reviewed the literary definition of theme as it applies to the bildungsroman genre. Marcel offered concepts and ideas that we expanded and Marcel placed them in his notes. We in detail noted how the working and underclass characters are the most generous, moral, honest and admirable. We compared them to the arrogance and cruelty displayed by the upper class characters. We further noted that Pip has at the end of the novel lost everything-his money, his home, his friends, and his love interest ,Estella. Only by this total loss can Pip at last forge a new identity formed by harsh experience. We last focused on examples of Dickens' criticism of the criminal justice system in the courtroom scene where capital punishment is the standard sentence even for minor crimes. For homework, multiple choice quiz Monday, finish novel, final essay test in class on Wednesday.