Using an essay Marcel wrote last April on "Brave New World", I prepared and distributed a writing exercise and writing workshop. Using sentences from the essay, we reviewed and addressed adjective comparisons, run-ons, misplaced modifiers, parallel construction, and improper punctuation . Marcel did very well in recognizing the issues and in correcting and rewriting sentences. We then examined the structure of the essay and discussed substantively whether the thesis of the essay should be modified to better reflect the underlying research suggesting that Rousseau rather than Hobbes was the greater influence on the author. Last, I provided instruction on how to better organize the essay and how to draft a strong conclusion. For homework due next Monday, Marcel is rewriting the essay per our class discussion. During the last segments of the session, I provided a thematic and biographical introduction to the novel, "Winsburg, Ohio" which we will begin studying tomorrow.

As our introduction to African -American literature, we discussed the novel's setting, 1940s southern Louisiana .After providing some biographical information about the author, we examined the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, its negation by the 1891 Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson, and the 14th Amendment's resurrection ,in part, by the Court's 1954 decision of Brown vs Board of Education. I defined the phrase "Jim Crow" laws, and explained that the novel is set in the 1940s prior to the Brown vs Bd.Of Education case ,and as such in the South, segregation was at the time legal and accepted. We further discussed other social issues impacting the African-American community such as the inequitable imposition of the death penalty on persons of color, and the disparity in legal representation for poor criminal defendants. We noted how this disparity in financial resources can ignore racial lines as exemplified by the OJ Simpson case . Last, I provided vocabulary definitions including words with a particular meaning to the southern Louisiana culture such as "plantation-farm, quarter-neighborhood, parain - godfather." I further provided background on the main characters in the novel as well as the historical basis for the influence of French culture in Louisiana. For homework, read chapters 1 and 2 and answer study guide questions.

Having completed reading the short story," A Rose for Emily" ,we delved into the gothic elements of the plot line and the examples of the macabre, a word I placed on the whiteboard. We discussed the use of the Southern Gothic style as a means of illustrating the hidden underlying secrets of the south rooted in the violence of racism and slavery. I then introduced the secondary theme of loneliness and isolation of the main character as this theme will carry over into our next reading of Anderson's "Winesburg Ohio". Marcel discussed how the protagonist has lost the only two people she loved and her clinging to them after death exemplifies the deep degree of her loss. Next, we reviewed the homework which contained both comprehension and analysis questions. Marcel's work was very good, and he added elements from our class discussion into his homework answers. Last, we collectively worked on the final analysis question addressing symbolism and the significance of the title. Based on our examination ,Marcel drafted very good paragraph on both subjects.

As Bobby is taking the PERT exam tomorrow, we today completed both a writing and reading comprehension practice test. With respect to the writing section, I provided punctuation instruction where needed ,and we discussed strategies for eliminating obviously incorrect answers. Likewise, I provided strategies and instruction for the reading comprehension section where Bobby encountered difficulties . We focused on the importance of recognizing the type of question posed as well as the need to recognize the type of information the question elicited. Overall, Bobby did well on the practice tests.

In our unit examining African -American literature ,we will be studying Earnest Gaines' novel, " A Lesson Before Dying" about a teenage boy wrongfully convicted of murdering a white man, I first provided biographical information about the author ,and we then discussed social justice issues currently facing the African- American community. Bobby was very informed on this issue and discussed the current controversy surrounding police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor. I then discussed the political goals of protest groups seeking to modify police behavior and to ensure police are prosecuted in the event they commit crimes. I also discussed Martin Luther King's success implementing change through the political process. By contrast, the author ,Ernest Gaines ,focuses on the apolitical personal struggles of the Black community to live a life with dignity and to acquire self-worth notwithstanding the political and social injustices, As the novel is loosely based on the wrongful conviction of a Black teenager, Willie Francis, who was executed twice( as the first electrocution was botched,) we began reading an article about the Willie Francis case which we will complete tomorrow,

Bobby took the final exam on "To Kill A Mockingbird" during today's session. He is completing one short essay question for homework.

In preparation for the writing portion of the PERT, I first provided instruction on punctuation and misplaced modifiers followed by Bobby's completing a series of short exercises assessing these areas. Subsequently, we worked on practice tests for the writing portion of the exam. I provided instruction and strategy for certain questions prior to Bobby's answering , and then we reviewed not only the correct answers but also why the other choices were not correct or just not the"best" answers. Bobby did well on both practice tests.

We concluded our study of "To Kill A Mockingbird" by examining the literary artistry in the last chapter and by summarizing themes and conflicts in the virtual notebook . Bobby commented on how Scout's perception of Boo Radley alters by the end of the novel, and from there we noted how Scout, no longer perceiving Boo as a gothic character, refers to him as Arthur Radley, not Boo.. We studied in detail the final pages' shift in point of view and tied the shift to the theme of seeing or perceiving life from another person's perspective. We then discussed various themes in the novel, as well as the dual climax plot structure and incorporated these ideas into Bobby's notes. We will have a final test on the novel on Monday,

During today's session, we began preparation for the reading portion of the PERT test.I first provided strategies for addressing reading comprehension questions. Then , I offered definitional distinctions between questions that ask for the main idea, a summary, the theme ,and the purpose of a passage . I emphasized the importance of providing the main idea, for example, not the theme or the writer's purpose, if the question asks to identify the main idea . Further, we discussed how to discern the purpose and the organizational style of a paragraph. Bobby then completed a reading comprehension practice test. He did well ,and we analyzed why certain answers were correct or the best answer, and why those he did not answer correctly were not the best answer. For tomorrow, I asked Bobby to work on four questions from the writing portion of the practice test.

As we are having a final test on the novel on Thursday, we first reviewed class notes on the novel and discussed how to utilize class notes to both study and to answer the essay questions. We then directed our attention to the major symbol of the novel-the mockingbird. Bobby discussed the symbolism of the mockingbird ,and we analyzed what characters embodied the symbolism. In his notes,Bobby placed explanations of why and how Boo Radley and Tom Robinson embody the symbol of "harmless" innocence , We then explored the opposite value embodied by Bob Ewell and recalled the imagery of the rabid dog that must be destroyed just as Bob Ewell must be. For homework, read the last chapter of the novel and begin studying for the test.