Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have fun over the next few weeks, spend lots of time with family and friends, and try to enjoy some good food as well.

We will be back before you know it, so enjoy this time you have to yourself.

Remember that next semester will be much more intense and there will be plenty demanded of you, in both behaviour and performance. However difficult the next few months will be, I knowt that this class can handle it, and I look forward to the rest of our time together.

Remember your writing assignment, but it can wait for a few days.

Mr R

Today's One Fast Act

Wow! You guys were awesome today! There was such a diverse assortment of talents to enjoy; everything from singing to acting to reading off the sheet (just joking - this was allowed). Be proud of yourselves and challenge yourself to do even better next time around.

Tragic Hero

Remember as we read that Macbeth is a Tragic Hero; he suffers a tragic fall due to a tragic flaw ... what a tragedy!!!

Topic Sentences

Topic sentences are vital aspects of an effective essay. They work with your thesis statement to give your paper a solid organization. Remember, everything in each individual paragraph is guided by the topic sentence.

(In the above mini-paragraph, the bolded sentence serves as the topic sentence because it tells the reader what will be discussed in the paragraph.)

Thesis Statements and Other Good Things

I realize that there is some difficulty with thesis statements and topic sentences. We will address all of your concerns in the next class or two; remember, this essay is not due until next Wednesday (maybe even Friday).

WOW!!!

A big congratulations goes out to all of you for an amazing class on Thursday! I was so very impressed not only with your creative ideas and story telling (which were far more, in many cases, than I had expected) but with your respectful behaviour as well.

And no wine was spilled!!!

Again, congrats and we can do a few more on Monday if we are so inclined...

Homework section

Check it out for updated homework dates!

I apologize profusely for the delay in our myth presentations, but as I said, it only builds the anticipation!!!

Posts

1. When you leave a post, please write your name at the bottom of your discussion or question.
2. This is an English blog and as such you should use only proper language and sentence structure; no shorthand internet typing.

Presentations

You now have one week until our mythological presentations. Please be sure that you create a myth that adheres to one of our discussed archetypes.

Also, try to think of creative ways that we can make these presentations more interesting.

- we will have the lights down low (with candle-type lights)
- what else can we add?
togas (on top of clothes!!!)?
music?
anything else?

Mythology website

There is an amazing reference web site at http://www.pantheon.org/

Be sure to check it out!

Bonus question - Who is the hero Holger Danske?

Mythology

Mythology presents us with the opportunity to learn about some key ideas that will greatly add to your enjoyment of literature for many years to come.

Allusions are a facet of literature that carry great power, but only if you know what is being referenced.

Icarus - what is this story about? What is the lesson to be learned?


Likewise, archetypes are things that you are probably already aware of, even if you do not realize it yet.

Provide a brief list of Disney/Pixar movies and very succinct summaries of their stories. Remember to keep drawing connections to the archetypes we examine.

Your First Task

In your travels tonight and over the next few days, you are to look at what people are wearing. Can you decipher who these people are just by what they have chosen to show to you? Is there one person who stuck out as being different, very individualistic, or interesting for some reason?

Please be sure to do this discretely. You are not to stare, oggle, hit on, or otherwise make these people uncomfortable; be respectful.

English 10-1 IB blog is up and running!