ENGLISH 3 – FALL 2007 SYLLABUS

9/4/07 Q – Come on the amazing journey, and learn all you should know. – from “The Who’s TOMMY”

9/4/07 C – Introduction to course; review English Handbook

9/5/07 Q – No other road, no other way, no day but today. – from “Rent”

9/5/07 C – Notes, ideas, discussion on How to Respond to Quotes, and How Not to Respond to Quotes

9/6/07 Q – If it’s never our fault, we’ll always be its victim. – Richard Bach

9/6/07 C – Notes on discussion; the meaning of “fault.”

9/7/07 Q - The aim of education is the knowledge not of fact, but of values. – Dean William R. Inge

9/7/07 C – Review, notes & questions on Take-Home Quiz; the meaning of “values.”

9/10/07 Q – There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. – G.K. Chesterton

9/10/07 C – Notes on discussion; meaning of “interest” and “understanding.”

9/11/07 Q - All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. – Galileo Galilei

9/11/07 C – Choose quotes from handout and write responses.

9/12/07 – If it bends, it’s funny. If it breaks, it’s not funny. – Sid Caesar

9/12/07 – Notes on video and discussion; meaning of “humor;” what is “funny” and why?

9/17/07 Q – ‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

9/17/07 C – Ideas about reading skill; what skilled readers do vs. what unskilled readers do; 4 qualities of skilled readers.

9/17/07 – Notebook Checks Begin

9/18/07 Q – Fear of death is worse than dying. – J.C.F. von Schiller

9/18/07 C – Read “Who’s There” (Arthur C. Clarke, p.7), write response. Response topic: Fear. Guiding questions: How does Clarke create suspense? What is the basis of all fears, and how does the story deal with it?

9/19/07 Q – You can’t take it with you. – common expression referring to material possessions & wealth

9/19/07 C – Read “You Can’t Take It With You” (Eva-Lis Wuorio, p.22), write response. Response topic: Greed/Selfishness. Guiding questions: What does the expression in the title really mean? How and why does Uncle Basil double-cross his family? Do we approve? Why?

9/20/07 Q – Who will bend this ancient hatred? Take the devil for a countryman? – James Taylor, “Belfast to Boston”

9/20/07 C – Read “The Sniper” (Liam O’Flaherty, p. 101), write response. Response topic: War. Guiding questions: What does this story tell us about war in general, and this war in particular? How might this story relate to the current war and its accompanying debate?

9/21/07 Q – The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul. – John Calvin

9/21/07 C – Read “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Edgar Allan Poe, p. 135), write response. Response topic: Conscience. Guiding questions: What elements of the story suggest that the narrator is insane? What elements suggest that he isn’t? How do we assess his motive for the crime?

9/24/07 Q – Children are never more serious than when they play. – Montaigne

9/24/07 C – Read “A Game of Catch” (Richard Wilbur, p. 168), write response. Response topic: Children’s games. Guiding questions: What is the other “game” that the boys play in the story? How should Monk and Glennie have dealt with Scho? Which character(s) do we sympathize with, and why?

9/25/07 Q – It’s not the product, it’s the salesman. – from the film “Avalon”

9/25/07 C – Read “The Chaser” (John Collier, p. 198), write response. Response topic: Salesmanship. Guiding questions: Why does the old man use the terms “cleaning fluid” and “spot remover?” What do we think will really happen when Alan gives his wife the “love potion?” Why? What is the significance of the French goodbye, “Au revoir,” at the end? What other topics might this story be about?

9/26/07 Q – Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him? – Obi-Wan Kenobi

9/26/07 C – Read “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Hans Christian Andersen, p. 223), write response. Response topic: Fools. Guiding questions: Answer the “Q” with regard to the characters in this story; i.e., the emperor and his subjects. What’s the difference between foolishness and gullibility? How does one develop the wisdom to know what to believe and what not to believe?

9/27/07 Q – A cynic…knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. – Oscar Wilde

9/27/07 C – Read “The Phoenix” (Sylvia Townsend Warner, p. 242), write response. Response topic: Commercialism. Guiding questions: What do the various attitudes about the phoenix reveal about our values? Consider: Lord Strawberry, Mr. Poldero, the public. What does the phoenix symbolize?

9/28/07 Q – The only gift is a portion of thyself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

9/28/07 C – Read “The Gift of the Magi” (O. Henry, p. 296), write response. Response topic: Gifts. Guiding questions: How is the story ironic? What makes Jim and Della the “wisest?” Why do people give gifts, other than merely as custom?

10/1/07 Q - I know no way of judging of the future but by the past. – Edward Gibbon

10/1/07 C – Read “The Fun They Had” (Isaac Asimov, p.322), write response. Response topic: The future. Guiding questions: What is Asimov’s point, and how/why does he use the future setting to make it? What does Asimov’s future tell us about the present? About the past? (Hint: How do people in the present generally think about the past?)

10/2/07 Q – All mothers think their children are oaks, but the world never lacks for cabbages. – Robertson Davies

10/2/07 C – Read “Charles” (Shirley Jackson, p. 360), write response. Response topic: Parenting. Guiding questions: At what point did you recognize Laurie’s ruse? What gave it away? Why don’t his parents catch on?

10/3/07 Q – Are you then unable to recognize unless it has the same sound as yours? – Andre Gide

10/3/07 C – “Read “7” (J. Braiman, handout), write response. Response topic: Empathy. Guiding questions: Does the story seem believable/realistic, or exaggerated? If it’s exaggerated, why? Do the girls, irrespective of whether we approve of their behavior, have a point? If so, what is it?

10/4/07 Q – The short story is…the perfect American form. – Tobias Wolff

10/4/07 C – Choose any story we haven’t read yet, either from the Impact book or the handouts. Read it, and write a response. In your response, discuss why you chose it. Suggestions: Find your own Response Topic; create and answer your own Guiding Questions, or use the ones in the text; be prepared to tell the class about the story you chose.

10/5/07 Q - The study of an idea is, of necessity, the story of many things. – Willy Ley

10/5/07 C – Choose a response topic. Find two stories we have read together which address this topic; write a brief paragraph on each discussing what the story tells us about that topic. Try to find a common theme for both stories that applies to the topic.

10/5/07 – Distribution of first Writing Project – Session Two, Part A of June 2006 ELA Regents Exam. Students are to read the passages over the weekend.

10/9/07 Q – The more that you read, the more things you will know. – Dr. Seuss (Theodor S. Geisel)

10/9/07 C – Introduction to Comprehensive English Regents Exam; notes, Plan of Action for Session Two, Part A.

10/10/07 Q – It is thinking that makes what we read ours. – John Locke

10/10/07 C – Read the passages in Part A, write a brief response to each, develop a thesis; i.e., What do the two passages tell us about the power of reading?

10/11/07 Q – Books worth reading are worth reading twice…[while] masterpieces…are worth reading a thousand times. – John Morley

10/11/07 C – Notes / Plan of Action for Introduction/Thesis.

10/12/07 Q – Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere. – May Schmich

10/12/07 C – Write Introduction and Thesis Statement for essay.

10/15/07 Q – Beware the man of one book. – Thomas Aquinas

10/15/07 C – Notes / Plan of Action for Discussion ¶s; review of Literary Devices

10/16/07 Q - Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read – Harper Lee

10/16/07 C – Write Discussion ¶s for essay.

10/17/07 Q – Once you learn to read, you will forever be free. – Frederick Douglass

10/17/07 C – Review Rules for Writing Final Essays; work on essay drafts.

10/18/07 – FINAL ESSAY – No notebook entries

End of First Marking Period.

10/19/07 Q – No harm is done to history by making it something someone would want to read. – David McCullough

10/19/07 C – Titanic T/F; Why read about an historical event in an English Language Arts setting?

10/22/07 Q – The story of Titanic is very personal to each person who hears it. – Bill Paxton

10/22/07 C – Read Chapter 1 of A Night to Remember, pp. 1-10, write response. Response topic: History as Literature. Guiding questions: What seems to be Mr. Lord’s primary storytelling technique? Note how the author presents characters and controls time and space. Why use this technique to tell this particular story?

10/23/07 Q – Everything seemed perfectly normal – yet not quite. – p. 12

10/23/07 C – Read through page 19 of A Night to Remember, write response. Response topic: Assessing unknown conditions. Guiding questions: How do Titanic’s passengers and crew, by and large, perceive and asses what has happened? Which specific details did you find most interesting, compelling, thought-provoking, surprising, &c, and why? How does hindsight affect our assessment of what is reasonable?

10/24/07 Q – “I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder… Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.” – Capt. E.J. Smith, RMS Adriatic, 1906.

10/24/07 C – Read through page 30 (finish Chapter 2), write response. Response topic: Unprecedented events. Guiding questions: Discuss the characters and roles of Capt. Smith, Mr. Ismay and Mr. Andrews. Why are these three men so important? Which specific details did you find most interesting, compelling, thought-provoking, surprising, &c, and why? How does hindsight affect our assessment of what is reasonable?

10/25/07 Q – No bells or sirens. No general alarm. – p. 33

10/25/07 C – Read Chapter 3, through p. 42, write response. Response topic: Urgency. Guiding questions: How do we assess the sense of urgency on Titanic during the mustering of the passengers and crew? Why is it not greater? Why “no general alarm?” (Carry-over questions about details and hindsight.)

10/26/07 – Open School Day – Activity TBD

10/29/07 Q – Why trade the bright decks of the TITANIC for a few dark hours in a rowboat? – p. 43

10/29/07 C – Read Chapter 3, through p. 53, write response. Response topic: Urgency. Guiding questions: How do we assess the sense of urgency now that they’ve begun to effect rescue and lifesaving operations? Is the passengers’ reluctance understandable? Is it reasonable?

10/30/07 Q – “I’ve always stayed with my husband; so why should I leave him now?” – Mrs. Ida Straus, p. 58

10/30/07 C – Read Chapter 4, through p. 63, write response. Response topic: Chivalry. Guiding questions: What do we make of the “women-and-children-first” tradition? What is it based on? Should it be “women and children first” or “women and children only?” Why? Would it be anachronistic today? Was it anachronistic in 1912?

10/31/07 Q - …the steerage passengers who sensed danger and aimed for the boats were strictly on their own resources. – p. 66

10/31/07 C – Read Chapter 4, through p. 71, write response. Response topic: Social Class. Guiding questions: How does Lord portray the plight of the Titanic’s steerage (Third Class) passengers? What do we make of it? What do the class distinctions on Titanic ultimately reveal?

11/1/07 Q – “We have dressed in our best…and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.” – Benjamin Guggenheim, p. 79

11/1/07 C – Read Chapter 5, write response. Response topic: Courage. Guiding questions: How has the situation changed now that the last few lifeboats are being launched, compared to Chapter 3 when the first few boats were being launched? What behaviors do we now see? What do we make of Mr. Ismay, as described in the text?

11/2/07 Q – “Now it’s every man for himself.” – Capt. Smith, p. 86

11/2/07 C – Read Chapter 6, through p. 93, write response. Response topic: Duty. Guiding questions: At what point are the Titanic’s officers and crew no longer obligated to do their jobs? Why do so many continue to perform their duties after Captain Smith releases them? What is it like on board the Titanic now that all the lifeboats have gone?

11/5/07 Q – Nobody dreamed it would be like this – the unearthly din, the black hull hanging at 90 degrees… - p. 100

11/5/07 C – Read Chapter 6, through p. 102, write response. Response topic: Peril. Guiding questions: How does Lord capture the drama and intensity of the Titanic’s final moments? What ideas and feelings does it evoke? Consider that the author would have expected any reader to already know the Titanic would sink.

11/6/07 – Election day – No class

11/7/07 Q – A lot more…vanished that April night…than the largest liner in the world. – p. 103

11/7/07 C – Read Chapter 7, pp. 103-top of 106, then bottom of 112-117, write response. Response topic: Aftermath. Guiding questions: Why does Lord interrupt the story at this point to examine the disaster’s aftereffects? How does the discussion inform the narrative of the immediate aftermath of the sinking? 

11/8/07 Q – “Why should we all lose our lives in a useless attempt to save others?” – a lady in boat #5, p. 120-1

11/8/07 C – Read Chapter 8, pp. 119-top of 128, write response. Response topic: Risk. Guiding questions: How do we account for the survivors’ reluctance to row back and attempt further rescue? Is it reasonable? Why?

11/9/07 Q – Even nature seemed pleased, as the dreary night gave way to…a beautiful dawn. – p. 136

11/9/07 C – Read Chapter 8, pp. 128-136, write response. Response topic: Survival. Guiding questions: How does the drama in the lifeboats compare to the drama of the sinking itself? Consider the behavior and experience of the following people: Quartermaster Robert Hitchens; Mrs. J.J. Brown; Second Officer Charles H. Lightoller; Chief Baker Charles Joughin.

11/12/07 – Veterans Day – No class

11/13/07 Q – The CARPATHIA…would take four hours to get there. Too long. – p. 140

11/13/07 C – Read Chapter 9, pp. 137-149, write response. Response topic: Leadership. Guiding questions: How do we compare the rescue/lifesaving operation on Carpathia with that on Titanic? Does it seem that Lord intended to compare/contrast Capt. Rostron of the Carpathia with Capt. Smith of the Titanic, and/or Capt. Lord of the Californian? If so, how?

11/14/07 Q – Strangest of all was the silence…they were simply in the presence of something too big to grasp. – p. 159

11/14/07 C – Read Chapter 10, pp. 151-162, write response. Response topic: The Morning After. Guiding questions: How do the survivors react to being rescued? In what way and why is it “strange?” How do we account for Ismay’s behavior? How do we assess Capt. Rostron’s decision to go to New York?

11/15/07 Q – What troubled people especially was not just the tragedy…but the element of fate in it all. – p. 170

11/15/07 C – Read Chapter 10, pp. 162-172, write response. Response topic: Tragedy. Guiding questions: Why was so much misinformation spread about the Titanic before the Carpathia arrived in New York on April 18? What made the Titanic disaster a tragedy, in the literary sense?

11/16/07 Q – It is a rash man indeed who would set himself up as the final arbiter on all that happened the incredible night the TITANIC went down. – p. 179

11/16/07 C –Read “Facts about the Titanic” chapter in A Night to Remember, write response. Response topic: History. Guiding questions: Why is there still so much uncertainty and debate about the Titanic even after all we’ve learned since 1955? Can history ever be 100% “accurate?” Why/how, or why not?

11/16/07 – Distribution of ELA Regents Literary Response essay assignment (Hardy/Conrad), and anchor papers. Students are to read both passages over the weekend.

11/19/07 Q – If ever a loss at sea fell under the definition…of Act of G-d, this one does…” – Joseph Conrad

11/19/07 C – Review anchor papers, compare to own essay and score from previous assignment. What must we do (and not do) to score well on a Regents essay?

11/20/07 Q – The blind trust in material and appliances has received a terrible shock. – Joseph Conrad

11/20/07 C – Review plan of action for ELA Regents Literary Response essay. Close reading/discussion of Thomas Hardy poem “The Convergence of the Twain” from essay assignment.

11/21/07 Q – You stand there astonished and hurt…But what else under the circumstances could you expect?- Joseph Conrad

11/21/07 C – Review plan of action/outline for Introduction ¶. Work on introduction and thesis.

11/22 – 11/23/07 – Thanksgiving recess – no class

11/26/07 Q – Dim moon-eyed fishes near / Gaze and the gilded gear / And query: What does this vaingloriousness down here? – Thomas Hardy

11/26/07 C – Review plan of action/outline, writing demonstration for Discussion ¶.

11/27/07 Q – Till the Spinner of the Years / Said “Now!” And each one hears / And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres. – Thomas Hardy

11/27/07 C – Work on essays, Discussion ¶s only.

11/28/07 Q – [TBD]

11/28/07 C – Work on essays, Discussion ¶s only.

11/29/07 – FINAL ESSAY/MID-TERM EXAM.

End of Second Marking Period.

11/30/07 Q – Most people do not consciously watch movies. – Roger Ebert

11/30/07 C – How do we study film? Fill in chart with ideas; things to look for when studying film; differences between film & literature. View opening segment of Citizen Kane (Xanadu approach/“Rosebud”/Kane death scene). Write notes/response.

12/3/07 Q – Any great film should seem new every time you see it. – Roger Ebert

12/3/07 C – View segment 2 of Citizen Kane (Newsreel, screening room). Write notes/response.

12/4/07 Q – Rosebud: dead or alive. It’ll probably turn out to be a very simple thing. – from Citizen Kane

12/4/07 C – View segment 3 of Citizen Kane (Thatcher library; Kane childhood, Inquirer argument, relinquishing control). Write notes/response.

12/5/07 Q – If I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man. – Charles Foster Kane

12/5/07 C – View segment 4 of Citizen Kane (Bernstein interview; Inquirer takeover, “Declaration of Principles,” staff party, Kane engagement). Write notes/response.

12/6/07 Q – “Rosebud”…Maybe that was something he lost. – Mr. Bernstein

12/6/07 C – View segment 5 of Citizen Kane (Leland interview; breakfast montage, Kane meets Susan, political rally, entrapment scene). Write notes/response.

12/7/07 Q – He never believed in anything…except Charlie Kane, in his life. – Jed Leland

12/7/07 C – View segment 6 of Citizen Kane (Leland interview; post-election drama, opera debut, Leland’s notice). Write notes/response.

12/10/07 Q – A toast, Jedidiah, to love on my terms. Those are the only terms anybody ever knows. – Charles Foster Kane

12/10/07 C – View segment 7 of Citizen Kane (Susan Alexander interview; singing lessons, opera debut redux, suicide attempt, life at Xanadu). Write notes/response.

12/11/07 Q – Everything was his idea…except my leaving him. – Susan Alexander Kane

12/11/07 C – View segment 8 of Citizen Kane (Susan Alexander/Raymond the butler interviews; Susan leaves, Kane trashes her bedroom, Rosebud revealed). Write notes/response.

12/12/07 Q – I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life. - Thompson

12/12/07 C – View segments of Citizen Kane containing clues to the identity of Rosebud; write notes/response.

12/13/07 Q – Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

12/13/07 C – Grammar lesson on verbs: What is a verb? How do we identify and use verbs in sentences?

12/13/07 – Essay assignment distributed; inscribed on board in classroom. ELA Literary Response Essay – Topic: human-wrought tragedy. / Texts: A Night to Remember and Citizen Kane.

12/14/07 Q – The tragedy of human life consists in our vain attempts to stretch the limits of things which can never become unlimited. – Rabindranath Tagore

12/14/07 C – Verb use/sentence analysis & correction exercises.

12/17/07 Q – …should one man die ignorant who had capacity for knowledge, this I call a tragedy. – Thomas Carlyle

12/17/07 C – Verb use/sentence analysis & correction exercises.

12/18/07 Q – The tragedy of life is that we get old too soon and wise too late. – Benjamin Franklin

12/18/07 C – Verb use/sentence analysis & correction exercises.

12/19/07 Q – Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live. – Robert F. Kennedy

12/19/07 C – Review Plan of Action for ELA Regents Session Two, Part A; develop thesis for essay.

12/20/07 Q – The tragedy is that so many have ambition and so few have ability. – William Feather

12/20/07 C – Discuss human-wrought tragedy in A Night to Remember and Citizen Kane; work on essay

12/21/07 – FINAL ESSAY

Winter break.

1/2/08 Q – Pat Buchanan has said that he does not believe in evolution…and apparently he’s not too sure about gravity. – Bill Maher

1/2/08 C – Read news articles about “Intelligent Design” controversy and parody article about Scopes trial; write response.

1/3/08 Q – Gimme that old time religion / It’s good enough for me! – Song sung by Hillsboro townspeople.

1/3/08 C – Read Act One, Scene I of Inherit the Wind, pp. 3-19, write response. Response topic: Drama (Theatre). Guiding questions: Why are the townspeople so excited about Mr. Brady’s impending arrival? What does Mr. Hornbeck’s role seem to be? How is a play, as literature, different from a novel (other than obvious differences in the structure of the text as presented on the page)?

1/4/08 Q – What a challenge it is…to test the steel of our Truth against the blasphemies of science! – Brady, p. 23

1/4/08 C – Read Act One, Scene I, pp. 19-36, write response. Response topic: “Truth.” Guiding questions: How do we assess Mr. Brady’s character, now that we’ve met him? Compare the townspeople’s anticipation of Mr. Drummond’s impending arrival with that of Mr. Brady from the previous section. What ideas do we get from Mr. Hornbeck’s words?

1/7/08 Q – All I want is to prevent the clock-stoppers from dumping a load of medieval nonsense into the United States Constitution. – Drummond, p. 47

1/7/08 C – Read Act One, Scene II, pp. 37-49, write response. Response topic: Fairness. Guiding questions: How is it possible for Cates to receive a “fair” trial in Hillsboro? Compare Brady & Drummond’s respective ideas about fairness, based on their conduct in court.

1/8/08 Q – You murder a wife, it isn’t nearly as bad as murdering an old wives’ tale. – Drummond, p. 50

1/8/08 C – Read Act One, Scene II, pp. 49-55, write response. Response topic: being a Pariah. Guiding questions: Why is Rachel suspicious of Drummond? Is Drummond really there for Cates’ sake? Either way, what is he trying to accomplish? Is he right to try? Why? What is the audience meant to be thinking when the curtain falls at the end of Act One?

1/9/08 Q – I hold that the right to think is very much on trial! – Drummond, p. 72

1/9/08 C – Read Act Two, Scene II, pp. 68-80, write response. Response topic: Courtroom drama. Guiding questions: Note Brady’s rhetoric and tone. Why does he speak that way, and why does the judge allow it? How much is dramatic license and how much is judicial bias? Compare Drummond’s questioning to Brady’s. What do we learn from each witness?

1/10/08 Q – How…do you have the gall to whoop up this holy war against something you don’t know anything about? – Drummond to Brady, p. 86

1/10/08 C – Read Act Two, Scene II, pp. 80-92, write response. Response topic: Courtroom drama. Guiding questions: Why does the judge rule as he does on Drummond’s witnesses? Is he right, technically? How could we justify his ruling the other way? How can Drummond now win the case using the Bible? Why call Brady as a “witness?”

1/11/08 Q – Progress has never been a bargain. – Drummond, p. 93

1/11/08 C – Read Act Two, Scene II, pp. 92-103, write response. Response topic: Progress. Guiding questions: What is the precise turning point in the case? What is Drummond able to expose over the course of his examination? At what point, if any, does Drummond go too far?

1/14/08 Q – When they started this fire here, they never figured it would light up the whole sky. – Drummond, p. 108

1/14/08 C – Read Act Three, pp. 107-117, write response. Response topic: Justice. Guiding questions: What is the significance of the “Golden Dancer” parable? What does the outcome of this case ultimately mean? Why does it happen that way? Compare Brady & Drummond’s reactions to the outcome.

1/15/08 Q – I was always afraid of what I might think – so it seemed safer not to think at all. – Rachel, p. 124

1/15/08 C – Read Act Three, pp. 117-129, write response. Response topic: Understanding. Why do Drummond and Hornbeck argue over Brady? What is the significance of Drummond’s final gesture at the end of the play? How are things likely to change in Hillsboro, if at all?

1/16/08 Q – He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. – Proverbs 11:29

1/16/08 C – Final discussion of Inherit the Wind; meaning of the play’s title, key literary elements.

1/17/08 – FINAL EXAM

1/18/08 – FINAL EXAM

END OF FALL SEMESTER