Exam Study Plan for English I

Wednesday, May 16:

1) Review things from first semester that are likely to apply to this exam (Analyzing a Rhetorical Situation) 20 minutes

2) Spend time thinking about and recalling the plot and characters of Nervous Conditions 10 minutes**


3) Think about literary analyses
           -Look back at the one written as a paper and the comments received on it
           -Review notes about it (personal, Prezis) 20 minutes
           -There will be one on the exam about the reading completed this semester/year - read Dr. D's blog
            for more information

Thursday, May 17


1) Briefly review things covered yesterday 10 minutes

2) Do an in-depth review of Nervous Conditions (Look back at test if available)
          -Characters and their relationships to one another
                     -Like/dislike each other?
                     -Direct/Indirect Characterization
          -Structure of society and social class in the book
          -Setting (Macro, Meso, Mico and Physical, Temporal, Social, Psychological)
          -Point of View (1st, 3rd - limited vs. omniscient) 30 minutes

3) Think about the literary analysis specific to the exam 15 minutes

Friday, May 18


1) Review things from previous two days briefly 15 minutes

2) Look back at research paper
          -Look back at the one written as a paper and the comments received on it

          -Review notes about it (personal, Prezis) 20 minutes

3) Think about the literary analysis specific to the exam 10 minutes

Saturday, May 19

1) Review previous topics 20 minutes

2) Review poetry

         -Terms

         -Look at poetry book

                    -Annotations in it

                    -Analyze other poems

         -Review test, if available 30 minutes

3) Think about the literary analysis specific to the exam 10 minutes

Sunday, May 20

1) Review previous topics 20 minutes

2) Review Macbeth

        - Drama terms

        -Book

        -Annotations

        -Other notes 45 minutes

3) Think about the literary analysis specific to the exam 10 minutes

Monday, May 21

1) Review everything until this point 20 minutes

2) Spend more time reviewing the tougher things (opinionated) 20 minutes

3) Brainstorm ideas along with other ones already to be had and organize them in some way 30 minutes

Tuesday, May 22 and Wednesday, May 23

1) Review  25 minutes

2) Organize ideas for the literary analysis 20 minutes

**Times are suggested and may differ depending  on how difficult each topic is for someone

Class Participation - 4th Quarter

(Grading Scale 1-10: 10 being the best)

General Procedures:

10: I feel I did well in this area throughout the year and this quarter was no exception. Every day I brought my materials including my notebooks, books, and writing utensils to class. I also checked my email daily and when necessary, emailed the teacher for information regarding an assignment or even about a simple question. In addition, I rarely remember making unnecessary trips to the bathroom, water fountain, or to my locker during class time. I think all of this combined not only contributed to what I consider an appropriate grade in this category, but also improved my grade by always knowing what is expected of me. It also allowed me the full amount of class time to listen to discussions, which is part of what the next category of participation is about.

Lecture, announcements, whole class discussion:

9: Overall, I have done well in the parts listed in this area of participation. The reason I didn't consider this to be a ten is due to the infrequent side conversations in which I was involved. Another reason I gave myself a nine was due to my rare decision to not take notes on certain things that I felt unnecessary. For example, connections that I didn't consider important, I preferred not to write down. Another instance I felt taking notes was when a minute detail was discussed and it was something I felt I could remember easily without notes. Due to these two negative aspects of this area, I decided to equate each negative idea to be minus a half of a point or 5% for each.

Individual and Group Work:

10: I that when I was involved this quarter in group work or individual work, that I actually stayed away from and ignored many of the present distractions. In each of the assignments or projects that I completed individually were given good grades due to effort put in the task, which involved a lot of focus. During group work assignments, I often found myself trying to divide the work fairly and set up a plan to complete the work on time. Of course, I wasn't the only one with good ideas. The groups I was involved had at least one other person (usually everyone), who worked hard brainstorm ideas about the projects. Therefore, the group projects were balanced and divided evenly between everyone in the group, which ended up leading to successful projects.

Growth:

I feel that much of my participation has remained unchanged and steady throughout the year, however I have noticed minute growth during the year. Focusing and refraining from side conversations has improved quarterly. I am glad to see this improvement and I hope that my improvement alone helped to minimize the amount of time the teacher had to spend wasting on discipline.

English I Outside Reading

My outside reading this year forced me to read more this year. This is a good thing because I enjoy to read, but I often find many obstacles that minimize time to read. Outside reading allowed me to make time to read many books I have been waiting to read. This along with the outside reading days and lunches is why outside reading has been an easy and enjoyable experience for me.

Over the course of the year, some of my reading skills have improved, but some have stayed constant. I have noticed an improvement in my ability to notice foreshadowing that the authors hints at in the book. Also my overall understanding of scenes in books has improved because of an increased vocabulary. (For example, when reading a book yesterday I noticed the word "tenuous" which happens to be one of the words a part of the worldly cards this week.) Some things that have stayed constant includes my enjoyment of action and adventure books and my fast reading speed.

When reading, I find myself rarely thinking about literary elements unless it is something like foreshadowing. Focusing on certain literary devices seems to take away from my enjoyment of reading for me. I do however focus on the plot, characters and things I can envision occurring in the foreseeable future.

High school is an important time for my reading ability to grow as it will become even more vital in the years to come. I know that the later grades of high school and throughout college, reading is a large part of schoolwork and homework. I plan for my reading ability to grow and maybe enjoy more genres that I have never read before.

Reading times:

Monday: Inheritance - > 100 minutes
Friday and Saturday: Inheritance - > 50 minutes

Macbeth's Perspective

My time after the the recent war has been very eventful. I have gone from being the Thane of Glamis to become the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor. In addition, I have earned the title King of Scotland. I enjoy my recently earned positions, but I am now now, more than ever, frightened of my future. I am afraid of someone murdering me as I did to the marvelous King Duncan. Therefore, my outgoing trust is minimal. Sometimes even my wife seems like a person I should be afraid to confide in as I sense a different persona emanating from her.

Always I find myself thinking about the atrocities of the murder I committed. I despise thinking about this dark event, but the thought frequently returns. One reason this thought returns so often is I am terrified that someone will find out that it was me who committed treason against the former King. My wife seems to attempt to calm me down, but I find that she too is having difficulty.

Reading Lunch 4-25-12 (Bonus Post)

The second reading lunch of the year occurred last week and it was yet again an enjoyable experience. The book I discussed with others was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. There were actually three tables just for this one book! Part of what we did as a group was compare and contrast the movie and the book. Especially when talking about the movie, I learned a few things I didn't already know about the production choices of the movie.

Not only was the discussion enjoyable, but the food and drinks were too. This added to my enjoyment when attending the lunch. An added bonus to attending this reading lunch was actually being able to receive bonus points (no pun intended) by writing this blog post. I, again, had a good time at the reading lunch and hope that it will continue as a part of English I for years to come.