Today we are working in groups to complete analysis questions for "The Great Rat Hunt."  Students are handing in one set of questions for their group.  It is important that everyone works together and that one person is not doing everything.  

Parents and students:  See Monday's post for the questions.

Quiz on the new vocabulary for "The Great Rat Hunt" on Friday.  Here are the words again:

barricade
brusquely
fumigate
improvise
ineptitude
mug
perpetual
rationalize
ravage
reserve 

Tonight's Homework:
Complete front and back (Yes, you must rewrite the paragraphs on the back) of worksheet focusing on capitalization. 

Here are some rules to help you:

Welcome Back!  Here are the notes for the literature we are covering this week.  There is also a classwork assignment attached that everyone is responsible for handing in on Thursday.

“The Great Rat Hunt”

By Laurence Yep (p. 107)

      VOCABULARY WORDS

            barricade-           blockade

            brusquely-          abruptly; sharply

            fumigate-            exterminate

            improvise-          to act without a plan

            ineptitude-         clumsiness

            mug-                    the face

            perpetual-          long lasting

            rationalize-         justify; excuse

            ravage-                destruction

            reserve-               unfriendliness

MEMOIR

Definition: A first-person recollection of an experience or event

3 Characteristics

1.             told from 1^st person point of view using       the pronouns I, me, we

2.             are accounts of actual events

3.             include the writer’s feelings and beliefs about his/her family and community

Theme

Definition: The message about life or human nature communicated by a literary work

·    Apply lessons learned by the main characters to ALL of us

◦  Themes of Rat Hunt

We don’t have to be good at everything

Sometimes it’s smart to be scared

Don’t underestimate love

Acceptance

It’s okay to be you

It’s important to try

“The Great Rat Hunt”

By Laurence Yep

(Pages 107-114)

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

Directions: On your paper, answer each question in a complete sentence.

1.           Identify this literary genre.

2.           Describe Laurence’s conflict.

3.           Do you think Laurence’s father resents him for not being able to keep up?  Why or why not?

4.           On page 108 in the top paragraph of column B, how does Yep use personification in describing the rat?

5.           What situations in Father’s past might explain his brusqueness and reserve? (Hint: see page 111) 

6.           Do you see any relationship between Laurence’s feeling of being an outsider in his own family and his father’s experience as an immigrant?  Explain.

7.           Why was it so important to Father that Eddy and Laurence learn to play American sports? (See page 112, col. A)

8.           Yep uses hyperboles on page 113, bottom of column A to describe the rat.  Write one of them on your paper.

9.           In your opinion, which is worse, being a failure or being a coward?  Why?

10.       Why is it significant to Laurence that his father called it “our” trophy?

11.       What do you think is the theme of this memoir?  (Hint: look in column A on page 114)

Assignments handed in for the 2nd quarter

1. Vocabulary Sentences for "The Tell Tale Heart"  11/17
2. Selection Questions for "The Tell Tale Heart"  11/18
3. Open book quiz on "The Tell Tale Heart"  11/21

Here's a link to the A&E biography of Edgar Allan Poe.  We will be viewing this video in class today (after the quiz) and tomorrow.
http://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160/videos

Have a happy and well deserved Thanksgiving break!

I wanted to thank students and chaperones for a great trip yesterday.  Despite the rain, we seem to have made it through alive.

Tonight's Homework:

Write 10 complete sentences, using one of the new vocabulary words from "The Tell Tale Heart" in each.  If you are having trouble with some of the tricky ones, refer to this page for examples included in Tuesday's notes.

This picture will make sense to you when we are done reading the story.

**This week, and into next week, we will be discussing "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.  Here's a site with some more information on this famously morbid American author of the 19th century. http://www.poemuseum.org/index.php

**Here are the notes for the week:

“The Tell Tale Heart”

by: Edgar Allan Poe

-short story

Literary Elements

mood- the feeling/attitude expressed by the reader

tone- the feeling/attitude of the author/narrator

conflict- pay attention to conflicts both internal and external

point of view- “The Tell Tale Heart” is told in the first person narrative

Words to Know

acute (adj.)- sharp or keen               

The narrator has acute eyesight.

conceived (verb)- thought of            

The idea was conceived during a dream.

vex (verb)- to disturb or annoy        

Students who are unprepared vex me.

stifled (verb)- smothered                  

The scream was stifled by a pillow.

crevice (noun)- a crack           

The crevice was formed by an earthquake.

stealthily (adv.)-secretly; cautiously

The villain stealthily snuck away.

audacity (noun)- shameless daring/boldness, nerve               

Audacity can get one in trouble.

vehemently (adv.)- with intense emotion

I vehemently screamed in pain.

derision (noun)- mocking/taunting

The bully’s derision caused me to fight.

hypocritical (adj.)- false or deceptive, fake

Squeaky considered girls’ smiles to be hypocritical.

**We are officially in the 2nd marking period.  All late/missing assignments from the first quarter can not be handed in for credit at this point.

**This week's literary focus is "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.  See the next post for class notes and information.

 **Tomorrow is our field trip to New York City.  All students should wear their Green Team shirt from last year.  If you don't have it, please try to wear a shirt that is navy blue.  This is important, as we will want to make sure that everyone is visible.  Parents should arrive to pick up students at around 7:30 PM at the front bus turn-around (near entrance "C").

This week students are writing their cumulative tasks for the first quarter. 

For those parents who don't know what these are, here's a brief explanation.

There is no actual final exam in 8th grade English.  Instead, students are assessed quarterly with a listening comprehension test and a cumulative essay.  Here's the breakdown of how final exam grades are calculated.

4 listening tests (one per quarter)- 20%
4 cumulative essays (one per quarter)- 60%
ELA practice reading comprehension (given in March)- 20%
-The total of these assessments combined results in the students' final exam grade for the year

Students are currently taking the Scantron Reading Assessment in the computer lab.  Anyone who is absent needs to make up the test as soon as possible.

Here's a great site to practice rules the rules of English.  Keep in mind, we may not get to everything in class.  This is a great opportunity to be proactive in working on skills that you know you have trouble with.

http://www.chompchomp.com/

Today in class, we are reading "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.  This famous poem about choices, seems to give advice about thinking through life altering decisions. 
The classwork is questions 1-7 on page 601 in the brown books.  These are due by the end of class on Friday.

Follow this link for a text and audio version of the poem.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15717