Today in class, we took vocabulary quiz #9 and the Gatsby quiz over the first three chapters of the book. If you were out today, please plan to attend tutoring to make up those quizzes. If you were here today, you received the extra credit for chapters 4-6. The quiz on these chapters isn't until Friday, February 14, 2020, but several people asked if they could have the extra credit early so they could read over the break, so I gave it to everyone today. There is no assigned reading over the break, but using the break to catch up or get ahead is certainly a good idea.
Homework: On Friday, January 31, 2020, we will have two quizzes. One is the vocabulary quiz for unit 9, and the other is a quiz over the first three chapters of The Great Gatsby. All extra credit for these quizzes is due at the time the quizzes start. Extra credit cannot be accepted after the quizzes are given. Click here to see the quizlet for vocabulary unit 9.
Today, we began reading The Great Gatsby during class. Most of my classes got to the part where Tom starts making horribly racist comments at dinner. If you want to skip to that part in the audio, it starts at 21:20. In your book, that's at the very bottom of page 12. (Keep in mind that we are not supposed to like Tom, for many reasons. You'll also notice that once Tom starts talking about this topic, every other character tries to change the topic because they obviously don't agree with him.)
Today, we watched a documentary to get ready for reading The Great Gatsby next week. The video includes information about the 1920's, biographical information about the author of Gatsby, and some thematic information about the book.
We skipped over the parts that had spoilers! I recommend skipping these things:
During block day this week, we read "Black Girl Magic" (by Mahogany Browne) and "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" (by Zora Neale Hurston). If you were absent on block day, copies of the handouts can be found in the green crate.
Today, we started the second quarter! We're starting the quarter with a study of the Harlem Renaissance. Click here to see the background notes for the Harlem Renaissance. If you were out today, check the green crate at the back of the room for today's handouts, which include a handout to go along with these notes.
To see the class calendar for the third quarter, click the "Class Calendar" link on the right of this page.
