3/27/08 8th

Journal topic for today: Compare and contrast your life with the life of the Holocaust victim you learned about.

After journal writing, we had a quiz on Act 1 and vocabulary words for The Diary of Anne Frank. With the little remaining time, we started reading Act 2. A year has passed and the tension between the Annex-dwellers is starting to rise. Mr. Van Daan has given Mrs. Van Daan's fur coat to be sold so he can have cigarettes, Peter's cat is mysteriously missing, Anne has gone through "the change", and one of the workers in the factory below seems to suspect the Franks are hiding in the building. Action is rising all over the place! I wonder what will happen!

Of course we know what happens, but that doesn't stop us from feeling the pressure the Frank's et al. surely felt. What a horrible, hopeless time!

3/27/08 9th

Today was the due date for poetry portfolios. We had a nice little poetry slam. Thanks to the ten brave souls who participated. You all did a nice job.

Tomorrow will be a reading day, so don't forget to bring a book!

3/26/08 8th

We finished up our "I Am" poems and collages today. Tomorrow we will have a quiz on Act 1 and the vocabulary words (for sure!).

3/26/08 9th

Day Two in the computer lab. Poetry portfolios are due tomorrow. Sign up for the poetry slam today!

Remember oral book reports. We had a good start yesterday. Make sure you are prepared when your day comes up.

3/25/08 8th

We had an internet activity followed by some poetry writing today. I gave each student a card with the name and picture of a Holocaust victim. We visited a website with biographies of each of these children. After reading the biography, each student wrote an "I Am" poem based on the child they chose. After that, each student wrote an "I Am" poem based on his or her own life.

See me for an instruction sheet if you missed this activity.

3/25/08 9th

Welcome back! I hope you're all more excited to be back than I am . . .

Today we worked on our poetry portfolios in the writing lab. They will be due on Thursday. Also on Thursday--the poetry slam! There will be real live prizes for the winners! You will need to sign up by tomorrow in order to participate.

3/19/08 8th

We finished reading Act 1 today. The big news is that someone now knows they are hiding in The Secret Annex. This, of course, creates even more tension than these folks were already feeling. Anne wants to leave, but there is no where for them to go. Things are starting to look bad for the Franks, Van Daans and Mr. Dussel.

We will have a quiz on Act 1 and the vocabulary words on Tuesday when we come back from spring break. I hope you're as excited for spring break as I am.

Don't forget, oral book reports start next week.

Extra Credit
The first person in each class to answer this question will receive 5 extra credit points.

Who has a problem with Peter's cat and why?

3/19/08 9th

Today was a work day. You had the choice to either read or work quietly on your poems. Remember, we will be in the computer lab Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Your poetry portfolios will be due on Thursday. Don't forget! Also, oral book reports start next week. Check the schedule for your date.

Hope you have an excellent spring break.

Extra credit:
The first person to give me the answer to this question will get 5 points extra credit.

Who wrote the poem "Kubla Khan", and what is the name of the river in the poem?

3/18/08 8th

We read through Act 1, Scene 4 today. Dussel lets the annex dwellers in on all the latest news. This leads the audience through the rising action happening outside the annex. The climax is very much affected by the rising conflicts happening in the world outside the annex, and we need to be informed of those events somehow. The introduction of Dussel into the mix helps us see what is going on in the real world.

Anne and Dussel, not surprisingly, do not get along. Anne continues her conflict with her mother. When Mr. Frank confronts Anne about her poor treatment of her mother, Anne asks him how she can change. Mr. Frank says, "You must build your own character." This is one of the themes of the play. It goes very well with the "No one can put bars on your mind" theme Mr. Frank introduced earlier. Mr. Frank is all about individual choice of attitude and actions. We, as an audience, are meant to discover the universal truths in these themes Mr. Frank introduces.

We will finish Act 1 tomorrow. We will have a quiz on Act 1 and the first set of vocabulary words on Tuesday next week, after spring break.

3/18/08 9th

More poetry today! We talked about allegory, paradox, personification and hyperbole today.

Here are the poems we used to discuss these poetic devices (keeping in mind that other poetic devices are used in these poems as well, we're just focusing on a few today):

The Chimney Sweeper (allegorical dream)
William Blake

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

Batter My Heart(paradox)
John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.


Cross (paradox)
Langston Hughes

My old man's a white old man
And my old mother's black.
If ever I cursed my white old man
I take my curses back.

If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell,
I'm sorry for that evil wish
And now I wish her well.

My old man died in a fine big house.
My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where I'm going to die,
Being neither white nor black?


The Ghost Song (personification, allegory)

Sting

I watch the Western sky
The sun is sinking
The geese are flying South
It sets me thinking

I did not miss you much
I did not suffer
What did not kill me
Just made me tougher

I feel the winter come
His icy sinews
Now in the fire light
The case continues

Another night in court
The same old trial
The same old questions asked
The same denial

The shadows closely run
Like jury members
I look for answers in
The fire's embers

Why was I missing then
That whole December
I give my usual line:
I don't remember

Another winter comes
His icy fingers creep
Into these bones of mine
These memories never sleep

And all these differences
A cloak I borrow
We kept our distances
Why should it follow I must have loved you

What is the force that binds the stars
I wore this mask to hide my scars
What is the power that pulls the tide
I never could find a place to hide

What moves the Earth around the sun
What could I do but run and run and run
Afraid to love, afraid to fail
A mast without a sail

The moon's a fingernail and slowly sinking
Another day begins and now I'm thinking
That this indifference was my invention
When everything I did sought your attention

You were my compass star
You were my measure
You were a pirate's map
A buried treasure

If this was all correct
The last thing I'd expect
The prosecution rests
It's time that I confess: I must have loved you


No difference (hyperbole)
Shel Silverstein

Small as a peanut
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn off the light.
Red black or orange,
Yellow or white
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.
So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

3/17/08 8th

We had reading time with glossaries for the first 15 minutes of class. Following reading time, we resumed our class reading of The Diary of Anne Frank.

We are well into the rising action phase of the play. We are seeing conflicts wherever we look. Mr. Frank manages to keep himself fairly conflict-free, but the others are struggling. And they'll struggle even more with the introduction of a new resident in The Secret Annex. Mr. Dussel joined us today. Is he welcome? How do the others feel about him? We he cause problems? We'll have to keep reading to see.

3/17/08 9th

Happy St. Patty's Day. Today we talked about imagery, simile, metaphor, symbolism and irony. We read several poems in which poets use these poetic devices.

Emily Dickinson (simile)

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?
The feet, mechanical, go round
A wooden way
Of ground, or air, or ought,
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment, like a stone.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.


The Road Not Taken (symbolism)
Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Richard Corey (Irony)
Edwin Arlington Robinson. 1869–

WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.


Introduction to Poetry (metaphor)
Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.


"Binsey Poplars" (imagery)
Gerard Manley Hopkins

My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank.
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew--
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being so slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.


We also talked about the "Spring Sonnet Contest" sponsored by A Prairie Home Companion. I hope you will consider entering your sonnets in the contest.

We spent the rest of the class period writing original poetry for your poetry portfolios.

3/14/08 8th

We read the first half of Act 1, Scene 2 today. The basic situation was set up in Scene 1. The rising action is starting in Scene 2. We have all sorts of conflicts in The Secret Annex by two months into the hiding. Anne and Peter, Anne and Mrs. Frank, Anne and Mr. Van Daan, Anne and Mrs. Van Daan, Anne and Margot, Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, Mr. Van Daan and Peter. Mr. Frank is really the only one who hasn't been involved in any conflicts at this point. We'll see how long that lasts.

3/14/08 9th

Your poetry portfolio is due Thursday, March 27. It should include:
Section One:
Ten original poems (that means you wrote them) in ten different poetic forms from the list on the front of the handout. Be sure to give each poem a title, and indicate the form for each poem.
Section Two:
Ten poems you have found. Each poem should be written by a different poet and should feature a different poetic device. Do not use a poet or poetic device more than once. Be sure to indicate the poet and the poetic device for each poem.
Section Three:
Print out song lyrics from your favorite musical artist. Write a good paragraph (7-9 good sentences) about how the artist uses at least three different poetry devices in his/her song. Use examples from the lyrics. Include the title and writer of the song.

Hints for getting a good grade on your poetry portfolio:
• Clearly mark each section
• Staple papers together in booklet form, or use a folder that secures the papers together on the left side
• Make a front cover for your portfolio
• Make sure you follow the correct format for each poem in section one
• Make a real effort to write good poetry in section one
• Be sure to identify the poetic devices in section two
• Write a good solid paragraph in section three

We will be having a poetry slam in class on Thursday, March 27. To prepare for our slam, we will have open mic in class today, March 14, and Wednesday, March 19 for you to practice reading your poetry in front of the class. A poetry slam is a competition. There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize. These are real, actual prizes totaling $20!!!!! There will be four rounds of our poetry slam. We will need 5 judges and at least 8 contestants. See me if you’d like to be a judge or a contestant. Each contestant will need to have 5-6 good original poems to read. Original means you wrote the poem yourself. The judges will rate each poem. We will combine the judges’ scores to determine who moves on and who is eliminated. Oftentimes, a very dramatic and entertaining reading increases the score of a performance. I’m planning to dim the lights and play some music during our slam to create some nice ambiance. The poetry slam is a more modern approach to Beatnik poetry readings. Laid back finger snapping is highly encouraged. Poetry slams are a lot of fun and becoming more and more popular among all age groups. After all, it is cool to be a poet (think song-writers). I will have a treat for everyone who participates, judges and contestants.

3/13/08 8th

We read through Scene 2 in The Diary of Anne Frank today. We discovered that Anne and Mr. Frank are both optimists, Peter is very shy, the Van Daans are wealthy (Mr. Van Daan seems to have an addictive personality), Mrs. Frank is overprotective, and Anne has a closer relationship with her dad than she does with her mom.

We have been introduced to two themes in the play: when the world seems to be filled with evil people, there are still good people willing to do the right thing (Miep and Mr. Kraler), and there are no walls or prisons for the mind.

I handed out vocabulary lists today. Study them for a quiz on Wednesday. Make sure to learn the spelling and the definition of each word.

3/13/08 9th

After looking through some haiku, limerick, lyric, and narrative poetry, we spent the rest of the hour in the computer lab writing poems and finding poems for our portfolios. Here are the poems we reviewed in class:

Haiku

The lightning flashes!
And slashing through the darkness,
A night-heron’s screech
Matuso Basho

The falling flower
I saw drift back to the branch
Was a butterfly.
Moritake

Limerick

There was a young lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside
And the smile of the face of the tiger.
unknown

There was a young lady of Lynn
Who was so uncommonly thin
That when she essayed
To drink lemonade
She slipped through the straw and fell in.
unknown

A tutor who tooted the flute
Tried to teach two young tooters to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it harder to toot, or
To tutor two tooters to toot?”
Carolyn Wells

There was a young lady named Bright
Whose speed was much faster than light.
She set out one day
In a relative way
And returned on the previous night.
unknown

Narrative

Out, Out
Robert Frost

THE BUZZ-SAW snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other 5
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said 10
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them “Supper.” At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, 15
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand 20
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled. “Don’t let him cut my hand off— 25
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!”
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright. 30
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

Lyric

The Summer I Was Sixteen
Geraldine Connolly

The turquoise pool rose up to meet us,
its slide a silver afterthought down which
we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles.
We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy.

Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted
up from ladder rungs across the fern-cool
lip of rim. Afternoon. Oiled and sated,
we sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete,

danced to the low beat of "Duke of Earl".
Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles,
we came to the counter where bees staggered
into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled

cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses,
shared on benches beneath summer shadows.
Cherry. Elm. Sycamore. We spread our chenille
blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears,

mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.

3/12/08 8th

We had some reading time today. We talked about our oral book reports again. Remember, I have strict criteria you must follow to get full credit for the report. See me if you lost your instruction sheet.

We starting reading the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. We read through the first scene, taking in all the clues that contribute to the basic situation. We learned very early in the scene that Mr. Frank is the only survivor of The Holocaust. This will affect how we interpret Anne's words and actions, knowing that she dies in a concentration camp when she is a mere 15 years old.

We will talk about the vocabulary words tomorrow.

3/12/08 9th

We talked about some of the terms and poetic forms on your assignment sheet. We practiced descriptive writing (imagery) as a class by describing a part of a picture, then adding detail with each draft of the sentence. We also had some time to work on the initial drafts of our poems. You should also be working on these at home. I will not be giving you enough time to finish all ten poems in class.

3/11/08 8th

Today we had a lesson about the history of The Holocaust as a pre-reading activity for The Diary of Anne Frank.

What is The Holocaust?
Literally, it means a huge destruction or sacrifice.
When spelled with an upper-case “H” (making it a proper noun) it refers to the deliberate attempt by the Nazi government to destroy all Jewish people in Germany and surrounding countries.
Took place before and during WWII, between 1933 and 1945.
Targeted Jews, Gypsies, Poles, homosexuals, communists and anyone who tried to fight against the Nazi party.

The Jewish People
Judaism teaches that there is one God and that the Jews are the chosen people. The believe in The Torah.
Strong families.
Dietary code—Kosher foods.
Strong sense of community.
Jews live in all parts of the world.

Anti-Semitism
Hatred or unfair treatment of Jewish people.
Started in 1000 A.D. and occurred throughout Europe.
Religious reasons—Christians blamed Jews for killing Jesus.
Social reasons—Jews were different, spoke a different language, dressed differently, ate different foods, etc.

Hitler
Born in Austria, 1889.
Poor student, failed out of art school.
1914 joined German army, fought in WWI.
Germany lost WWI, Hitler blamed the Jews.
Decided to go into politics to right the wrongs Germany suffered.
Joined the Nazi party (National Socialist German Workers’ Party).
Became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
Gave himself the title, “Fuhrer” (tyrannical leader).
Charismatic speaker, had many faithful followers.
When Germany lost the war, committed suicide to avoid getting caught.

The Nazis
Hitler and friends wrote 25 points, outlining the aims of the Nazis. Some of these points:
Gain land to settle all German-speaking people.
Take control of more land to expand.
Ensure only people of German blood could be German citizens.
Allow only German citizens to have rights in German lands.
Give complete power to the government (Nazi party).
Require that non-German citizens leave Germany.
Require German citizens put the interest of the national community before their own.
Outlawed other political parties.
Believed in Racial superiority, “I believe that the Aryan race—white Europeans of the blonde, Nordic type—are superior.”
Racial purity—”No boy or girl must leave school without having a clear understanding of racial purity and the importance of keeping the racial blood pure.”


Propaganda
Information and ideas that are worded and presented so people will accept and believe them, even if they are not true.
Nazis used posters, radio broadcasts, leaflets, rallies and demonstrations to spread their propaganda.
Blamed Jews for Germany’s financial state, and for taking German jobs.
Used words like sub-human, vermin, filth, corrupters, and a plague to describe Jews. Referred to Jews as cargo or pieces when talking about transporting Jews to concentration camps.
Hitler promised Germans that their lives would be better, if they could get rid of the Jews.

German Jews in the 1930's
Nazis came into power in 1933.
They immediately started persecuting and killing Jews, but they kept it secret, so the Jews didn’t really understand the danger they were in.
Started taking Jews’ businesses from them.
Did not allow Jews to work with Germans.
Prohibited Jewish children from going to school with German children.
Banned from sports, cultural activities and public events.
The Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935—anyone with Jewish ancestry was a Jew, Jews could not marry Germans or become German citizens.
Jews began to see they were in danger, began to leave Germany.
Other countries had quotas of incoming Jews they would allow, making it difficult for Jews to leave.
Jews lost everything when they left.
Many Jews stayed, believing their persecution was only temporary, in order to keep their belonging intact.

Kindertransports
Jews began sending their children to other countries to live.
Most of these parents never saw their children again.
Children were smuggled out of Germany and taken to Britain and other countries willing to help.

Kristallnacht
The Night of Broken Glass, November 9, 1938.
An organized Nazi attack on synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses.
Many Jews were expelled from their homes.
Their belongings were taken from them.
Gestapo arrested 20,000 Jews and took them to concentration camps.
Nazis made Jews pay for repairs.
Germans who tried to intervene on behalf of Jews were also targeted.

Ghettos
After Kristallnacht, Jews were forced out of their homes and into ghettos.
Low supplies of food and water.
Many families lives in each apartment.
Jews were not allowed to leave the ghetto for any reason.
Jews were not allowed to work, did not have much money.
Possessions were taken from them when they were forced from homes into the ghetto.

The Final Solution
At a conference on January 20, 1942, the Nazis proposed “The Final Solution”
“The Final Solution” was to exterminate all Jews in countries under German control.
They planned to transport all Jews from Ghettos, concentration camps and labor camps to death camps.
There were mass graves, shooting, gassing, burning in ovens, and other atrocities.
Thousands of Jews were killed every day. The ovens burned continuously.
Auschwitz was the most notorious death camp, killing about 1,600,000 people.
As Germany began to lose the war, camps began to be liberated, or freed, in 1945.
Those Jews who survived had nothing to go home to, were separated from their families, didn’t have any money, so their suffering continued.

Jews in Hiding
To avoid concentration camps, some Jews went into hiding.
They relied on citizens to bring them food and supplies.
Those hiding the Jews often shared their own rations with those in hiding.
Citizens were risking their lives to hide Jews.
Many hidden Jews were found and killed.
Those hiding the Jews were punished, sometimes killed.
Neighbors often spied on each other, Nazis gave rewards for turning in people hiding Jews.
Anne Frank wrote her diary while she was in hiding.

3/11/08 9th

Today we started our poetry portfolios.

Here is the assignment:

Poetry Portfolio

You will be writing 10 poems for your poetry portfolio. You will choose from the following forms:

Choose 2-3 of the following:

• 
  Ballad: A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain.
• Epic: A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure.
• Sonnet: A lyric poem that is 14 lines long. English (or Shakespearean) sonnets are composed of three quatrains (see below) and a final couplet (see below), with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. English sonnets are written in iambic pentameter (see definition). This is a STRICT format which MUST be followed to get full credit.
• Quatrain: A stanza or poem of four lines.
• Stanza: Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem. The stanzas of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme.
• Couplet: In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought.
• Iambic pentameter: A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs (pair of two syllables) to a line. (The prefix penta- means "five," as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units. In a line of iambic pentameter, there are five rhythmic units that are iambs.) Shakespeare's plays were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most common type of meter. From Romeo and Juliet: "But soft!/ What light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks?"

Choose 3-4 of the following:

• Haiku: A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku often reflect on some aspect of nature.
• Limerick: A light, humorous poem of five usually anapestic (two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable) lines with the rhyme scheme of aabba.
• Lyric: A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. A lyric poem may resemble a song in form or style.
• Narrative: A poem that tells a story, usually from the poet’s perspective. It should be an original story, not a retelling of a familiar story (ballad or epic).

Choose 3-5 of the following (see handout for structure):
1. If I Were in Charge of the World Poem
2. I Am Poem
3. Telephone Poem
4. Acrostic Poem
5. Transformation Poem
6. Why? Poem
7. Free Verse Poem
8. Concrete Poem
9. Diamante Poem
10. Special Place poem

In addition to the poems you write, you will collect 10 poems written by your choice of the poets I’ve listed here. You must use a different poet for each poem you choose. Each of these poems should feature the use of one of the terms listed here. You will indicate which poetic device each poem features. For example, you may choose a poem that has the line, “cascade, contend, collide”. You should write a sentence or two about how this poem features alliteration as a poetic device. Do not use any poetic device more than once.

Poetic devices:
Alliteration: the repetition of the same starting sound in several words of a sentence
Free verse: Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set meter.
Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. Many everyday expressions are examples of hyperbole: tons of money, waiting for ages, a flood of tears, etc.
Metaphor: A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.
Meter: The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of accented (or stressed) syllables.
Onomatopoeia: A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words are buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do, pop, splat, thump, and tick-tock.
Personification: A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice.
Refrain: A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stanza.
Simile: A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as."
Imagery: Painting a picture with words.
Symbolism: Giving an object a meaning that is greater than the object itself. The object represents something bigger.
Irony: A conflict between reality and expectation
Allegory: A story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning.
Paradox: a statement that contradicts itself; "'I always lie' is a paradox because if it is true it must be false"

Poets to choose from:
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert Frost
Emily Dickinson
William Shakespeare
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Billy Collins
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Walt Whitman
John Donne
Sylvia Plath
Naomi Shihab Nye
Pablo Neruda
e. e. cummings
William Carlos Williams
Henry W. Longfellow
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Blake
Wendell Berry
John Keats
William Butler Yeats
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Service
Shel Silverstein
Louis Carroll
Truman Capote
Langston Hughes
T. S. Eliot
Carl Sandburg
William Wordsworth
Sting
Bob Dylan
John Lennon
Paul Simon

We read a sonnet and a ballad together in class. For good sonnet examples, check out the sonnets of Shakespeare (click on a number). Robert Service has written some fun ballads. Check those out for examples if you're stuck. Remember, a ballad uses meter, rhythm, and rhyme scheme to sound like a song. In Robert Service's poem, "The Cremation of Sam McGee," he uses unstressed and stressed syllables in such a way that the words have a quick and easy flow. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

You should start writing drafts of poems right away. Don't put it off until the last minute.

3/10/08 8th

Today I handed out oral book report guidelines. If you missed them, here they are:

Oral Book Report
Criteria Sheet

You are required to give one oral book report this trimester. To get full credit you must meet the following standards when presenting your book:

• Bring the book to show to Mrs. Cheney. It must be at least 200 pages long.
• State the genre of the book in your oral report. Genre means type or classification. Typical genres include mystery, historical fiction, non-fiction, science fiction/fantasy, romance, etc.
• State the title and author of the book.
• Tell your classmates about the book. You may summarize the book if you wish, or you may choose to give a few important highlights. You may even want to read a couple of interesting pages from the book. Just try not to give away the ending so you won’t ruin it for others if they choose to read the book. Also, tell us about something you learned from this book.
• Bring at least one visual aid. This could be a picture, a prop, an object, or even a PowerPoint presentation if you choose. I have a projector in my room available to show such presentations.
• Your report should last 2-3 minutes. You will lose points for falling short or going over.
• I will be grading on content and presentation. That means I will be looking for evidence that you actually read the book (you provide this by showing your knowledge through your words), and I will be looking for your confidence. Speak loudly and clearly enough for the entire class to hear and understand what you have to say.
• If you’d like to do an additional oral report for extra credit, see me to schedule a time. I have a limited number of slots for extra credit reports.
• Good luck!

I also sent around a sign-up sheet so you can schedule your report. If you don't see me to sign up for a time, I will sign you up for a time.

Today we looked at some pictures from the Holocaust. In groups, we described the people in these pictures. We came up with long lists of adjectives describing the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust. Tomorrow we will have a bit of a history lesson about Hitler, the Nazis, WWII, and the Holocaust. Wednesday we will start reading The Diary of Anne Frank. We will read the play version. I will distribute vocabulary lists tomorrow. I have put some links in the right side bar (under the "links" heading). Check out some good Holocaust sites.

As a word of warning, there are many disturbing images to be found on the internet. If you choose to search for images of the Holocaust, you may find some horrific pictures. We won't go into the most horrible parts of the Holocaust. We will focus, instead, on the human will to survive, and the acts of kindness that make the difference to those with whom we interact.

3/10/08 9th grade

Today we had a visitor come to class and give a survey about bullying. This has nothing to do with my class. If you missed it, don't worry about it. Tomorrow we'll start up our poetry unit.

First week of the trimester, 8th and 9th

This week is filled with disclosure documents, class rules and procedures, routine training, book assignments, and a little bit of a fun writing exercise. You can find a copy of the disclosure document in the right side bar. Be sure to have your parents check it out and sign it, and you should sign it too. Return it to me in a timely manner and I'll give you five whole points! Just think, you could start your semester with a 100%.

There have been some changes in the way I'm doing things this tri, so if you've had me before, you're going to need to adjust with me. First off, we will not be counting reading pages as part of your grade. You may cheer when you hear this news, but keep in mind it was an easy 15% of your grade before. You no longer have that cushion. I will continue to require outside reading, but it come in a different form of assessment. I will explain this all in class next week.

Another new procedure I have adopted this trimester is the late work voucher. You can read all about it in your disclosure document. Please be aware that I will not accept late work unless you have a voucher attached.

I'm looking forward to another great trimester. Check this site often for supplemental information to what we cover in class. I will include extra credit opportunities from time to time here on my blog, so check it often!