Homework 1/26/09

Period 4

1. Read pg. 133 The Wife of Bath and make sure that you remember physical characteristics of her.

2. You will have a reading quiz on her qualities.

10 pts of Extra credit for the new quarter to the person that emails me their response to yesterday's post regarding my venting. It should be at least 5 sentences on anything that you want to tell me in response to my blog.

Period 5
1. Post Vocabulary Paragraphs
2. Answer the "Group Questions" that were on the board in class. You may work together on them, but do not turn in the exact wording.

Venting & Wisdom

Hello My Seniors!
I am not sure how many of you will be checking this, but be aware that the homework due tomorrow is listed below. This posting however is dedicated to venting or expressing my thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses in my students' writing. I thought it would be helpful to some of you to be aware of what Ms. Ramirez expects from her students' writing (as if you haven't heard me enough, right?) Well, here goes anyway.
First and foremost, I expect you to reread your work before submitting as I insist that some of your errors can be identified even by you upon a second reading. Some of these errors include the lack of "holding your reader's hand". Many of you jump into a subject without introduction or transition. Please understand that as "cool" as I am, I am not a mind reader and cannot know where you are coming from if you jump into a subject. I am relatively good at inferring and guessing what you are trying to say, but I do not believe that it is fair to me, as your reader, to be put in that predicament. You all know that one of my biggest and most imperative goals is to help you become a better communicator. Thankfully, many of you are already great at doing this orally, but seeing as we do not live in the Anglo-Saxon days, it is also crucial that you be able to communicate efficiently on paper. Therefore, please make sure that you ALWAYS put yourself in your reader's shoes and if you cannot understand what you are trying to say, CHANGE IT. DO NOT SETTLE AND ASSUME THAT THEY WILL FIGURE IT OUT. :-/
Secondly, I would like to remind you that while your opinions and commentary are absolutely necessary in an essay, it is not sufficient to make a good essay. A good essay includes the right balance of concrete details and commentary. Direct quotes are always impressive and with the right commentary (aka. your opinion/analysis) they make a relatively good essay. Please try to do both. I know I make it sound as if this is very easy and I'm aware that it takes practice, but I thought it would be good to remind you. Most of the essays I read have too much of one or the other. Try to balance it out.
Lastly, to ensure that my first and second point work for you, make sure that you include transitions. PLEASE BECOME INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED WITH TRANSITIONS. LOVE THEM, TREASURE THEM, USE THEM. Without those suckers, your reader is lost and/or bored. Remember that TRANSITIONS ARE YOUR FRIENDS!!!
This is all the wisdom and grievances that I currently have for you, hopefully I will not have much need to vent in the future. :-) Adios.

Ms. Ramirez

Homework 1/23/09

Period 5
Finish reading The Wife of Bath's Tale
Complete the Extra Credit.

Homework 1/22/09

Period 4
1. Complete one of the Writing Options 1 or 2 (Character Analysis or Character sketch)

Period 5
2. Complete your character analysis.
3. It must be at least 1 pg double spaced 12pt font (Ka-Nowa) and 1" margin.

Homework 1/21/09

Period 4
1. Post vocab sentences
2. Finish The Prologue packet

Extra Credit for both periods
Type a response to the following prompts: 1. Aside from your difficult upbringing, do you think that you are a strong person and/or hard worker? Why? Give examples. Do you fit in with the description that President Obama gave of the citizens that built the country? Are you the incarnation of hard work and strength or are you one of the ones seeking Leisure and Fame? You must give specific examples to support your response?
Consider that you will be, hopefully, graduating in 148 days and then what? Will you be a productive citizen? How do you suppose you will contribute to the hard working masses of Americans that have made the country what it is? What will you do to ensure that you will not be a leisurely citizen and that you will be working for your success?
It must be at least a page, double-spaced and organized, so that it's not a blob of ideas. Due Friday.

Period 5
1. Reread The Pardoner's Tale
2. Work on Character Analysis
I will give 10 pts of extra credit if you show me a rough draft of your analysis.

Homework 1/20/09

Period 4

1. Read up to lines 211
2. Do the Pause and Reflect sentences
3. Fill in margins through pg. 49

Period 5

1. Read pg. 145-153
2. Make cluster cluster in Writing Section on pg. 154

Homework 9/15/08

Period 4 & 5
STUDY FOR MONSTER VOCAB QUIZ
You will still be responsible for parts of speech and being able to use them in sentences.
Study tips:
If you are having trouble remembering them, create as many sentences as you can.
Review your previous quizzes.
Look at the Roots to help you remember. (There may be some serious extra credit for roots)

I will try to have my gmail open after 8pm. If any of you have gmail accounts, try to send me a message with any practice sentences and I will tell you if they are right or not.

Homework (Check Below) This is Extra Help

If you are having trouble understanding the concept of a pilgrimage, view the Videos and post a response to the videos on this blog for a few extra credit points.

Black Madonna

Los Vasques

The Pilgrims set off

Homework 1/14/09

Period 4
1. Study all of the vocabulary words from weeks 1-7 for the Vocabulary Showdown Tomorrow.
2. Read "The Yeoman" lines 103-121 and any margin work that corresponds to the section.
3. Quickwrite
Write a 1/2 page on an event that you think brings people of all social classes together. Can you think of a modern day Canterbury pilgrimage? Where do you think people today could go that would have people of all social classes together? Also, discuss what type of events segregate (separate) people? What type of events are only for certain classes of people?

Period 5
1. Finish the packet.
2. Study all of the vocabulary words from weeks 1-7 for the Vocabulary Showdown Tomorrow.

Homework 1/13/09

Period 4

1. Read the Prologue and The Knight and stop at line 102 on pg 40 of the packet.

2. Do the activities on the margin of the reading with a partner.

Step 1: You must write your name at the top of your packet and work with your partner.
Step 2: In order to prove that you worked with a partner, you must write in each other's packet. This means that you will be doing your work in your partner's packet.
***If you suspect they will lose the packet, keep it in your possession. ***

3. At the Pause and Reflect marks (after line 42 and after line 80) write a sentence that indicates that you have reflected on what you just read. IT CANNOT BE COPIED WORD FOR WORD FROM YOUR PARTNER.

Period 5
1. Read "The Prologue" and "The Knight" and fill in the margins in your Canterbury Tales packet.