Week of March 14th
Dear oib class,
If you were in class on Friday, there is no homework this weekend!
If you were out, please read Act 1, scenes 1 and 2.
Here's just a little summary, to help you understand:
Iago and Roderigo open the play and clearly are antagonists--they both hate Othello, the eponymous hero of the tragedy. Iago hates him for promoting Cassio to lieutenant over him; Roderigo hates him for eloping with Desdemona, the Venetian woman he loves.
oh, and I forgot something--Othello is a moor, meaning he is North African, possibly very dark skinned. Now, he would not have been played by a black person in Shakespeare's day, nor do North Africans necessarily have to be very dark skinned, but this will be an issue in the play. Othello is a general in the Venetian army, so he can succeed this way as a mercenary, but that doesn't mean he can marry a senator's daughter. That's why they've eloped.
And, as if that's not enough, there's a war with the Turks going on. The Turks are trying to muscle in on Cyprus, an important outpost which the Venetians currently control, and this also creates a Christian versus Muslim conflict.
Read the scenes to figure out the following things:
Why does Iago say "I am not what I am"?
What kind of language does Iago use to upset Brabantio, Desdemona's father, so he realizes what has happened to her?
What are our first impressions of Othello?
There you have it class. What ho!
Week of February 28th
Dear oib class,
More Canterbury Tales! Read Wife of Bath's prologue for Monday, her tale for Tuesday; read the miller's prologue and tale for Thursday. Review sheets are due on Friday.
Week of February 22nd
Dear oib class,
The Canterbury Tales continue this week! Please read Pardoner's Tale and prologue for Tuesday. We'll be drawing our pilgrims on Friday and beginning The Wife of Bath's prologue, which you'll be reading for Monday, with the tale due on Tuesday.
Week of January 24th
Dear oib class,
The book reaches its moral climax this week! We read through chapter 32 for Monday.
We'll also finish talking about the Brent Staples essay.
And we shall watch the Twain documentary on Friday.
Don't forget to post!
Week of January 17th,
Dear oib class,
Huck, Huck and more Huck!
Read chapters 20 through 25 for Tuesday, and 26-30 for Friday. Work on satire worksheet for Thursday
week of December 6th:
Dear oib class,
So. We're almost done with the reading of Beowulf! Please read to the end for Monday and we'll be talking about that dragon. My favorite part, actually, is the part about the warrior who buried the treasure. It just gets me everytime.
Let's think about what this death adventure is all about, shall we? We've done some spiritual cleansing and transformed a prince into a king (well said, Olivia!). This is the stuff that heroes are made of.
Those of you who didn't conference and have 11s and 12s need to come to dialogue on Wednesday (second hour). Rewrites will be due before the break.
Short story rewrites: after the break.
Have a nice weekend!
Week of November 29th:
Dear oib class,
I hope you've been enjoying this nice, long weekend and that you've filled up on stuffing :)
This week, more Beowulf so read on, class! I believe I said through chapter 23? Correct me if I'm wrong. We'll be reading through the next big episode: REVENGE. An eye for an eye, a claw for a....? you'll see!
Question is: what do these monsters represent in Beowulf's development as a hero? See if you can figure that out.
Anyways, the hw is actually for Thursday, since we'll be having a guest teacher on Tuesday, remember? Please be hospitable!
We'll be talking about your short stories and about your TFA essay rewrites. We'll also do some punctuation work--you really need it!!
Enjoy the time off and see you soon :)
ps--if you haven't yet blogged, you'd better do so!
Week of November 15th:
Dear oib class,
Hwaet! I know: you don't know what that means yet, but you will. Pretty soon, instead of daggers and machetes, we'll be swinging swords named Hrunting around the room. So get ready for monsters and dragons coming your way. Epic.
Your blank bland complex is due on Monday. Bring Beowulf to class as well!
have a good weekend!
Week of November 8th:
Dear oib class,
We need Monday to wrap up our TFA discussion! We did some good work on FRiday, but we lingered a bit and didn't sufficiently cover some of our points from the second part. So we'll backtrack and do that.
Then, we will read an article on Achebe, which I'll ask you to finish up for Tuesday.
For Thursday, we'll be reading an essay by George Orwell (remember him?) titled "Shooting an Elephant."
Come by on Wednesday in dialogue with your outlines!
Friday is writing day. Spend some time this weekend thinking over the essay questions. I'll take questions on Monday.
Have a good weekend!
Week of October 11th
No class on Monday
Dear oib class,
Wow, great seminar! It took the whole hour, but it was quite powerful. I think you learned a lot about Oedipus, about tragedy and about performance art.
On Tuesday, I’ll explain your blank, blank complex and we’ll talk about the first four chapters of TFA which you will have read.
On Thursday, you’ll do the poem which inspired the title of TFA.
On Friday, you’ll watch PSYCHO!!
Your hw for over the break is to read the first part of TFA. Write an rr.
Week of October 4th:
Dear oib class,
I'm glad to see the lightbulbs starting to go off by the end of the class today--I feel like you're beginning to understand how to argue and how to guide it, even if you're frustrated that you have to leave some things on the table. You'll be able to use these next Friday for our seminar.
For Monday, please read "My Oedipus Complex," which we'll discuss in class. I may give you a little thinking quiz, to link the story to Oedipus.
On Tuesday, we'll read a poem called "Invictus" and I'll explain how we are going to conduct our seminar.
On Thursday, I will give you some background for our next work, Things Fall Apart
And on Friday, we'll have our seminar and start reading Things Fall Apart. There will be some reading assigned for the following Tuesday (which shall be a Monday schedule!
