January 20

Today we did record sheets and the inclass essay on the poem Invictus.  Tomorrow we will do the provincial exam review.  Please make sure to bring in any books that you may have at home to return to the library.  Remember that today was the cut off for all term work unless you made a special arrangement with me.  See you tomorrow.

January 19

Today we looked at two parody versions of The Raven.  I handed out yet more notes on writing essays and then I assigned the inclass essay for tomorrow.  You are going to do Invictus.  You have to prep in class today or tomorrow and write it tomorrow.  Friday we will look at the practice provincial exam.  Please bring in all your text books tomorrow.  Also  tomorrow is the last day to hand in any work for this semester.

January 18

Today we finished up with introductions and then moved on to The Lady of Shalott and The Raven.  We just read those poems.  Finally, I gave out some notes on how to write an essay comparing poems.

January 17

Today we did a quiz on poetry terms list #8 and marked it in class.  Then we looked at an example of an introduction to an essay that needed a little help.  We did not quite get through this, so we will finish tomorrow.

January 13

I hope you all enjoyed your snow day yesterday.  Today we went over the last part of the essay writing notes.  We also went over the terms on list 8.  The quiz for this will be on Monday.  Finally, I we looked at the poem Lament and discussed the process DIDLS.  Then I asked you to add the following steps:  title, shifts, title, theme.  Consider the title first, paraphrase the poem, finish the rest of the DIDLS, look for a shift in tone or subject, reconsider the title and then decide what the theme is.  Do all this and then write only the INTRODUCTION for an essay on the theme of this poem but not the poem itself.  Use your notes on thesis statements and introductions to produce a strong introduction paragraph.   I also returned a lot of work.  Have a nice long weekend.

January 11

Today we went over some examples of good introductions in essays and then read the poem "With Rue my Heart is Laden" and started a DIDLS analysis.  Then the IB teachers came and did a presentation.  No homework except to make sure that you have the definitions for terms list 8 (back of last week's list) done for tomorrow.

January 10

Today we worked on the rough copies of the comparison between the two sonnets that you were given on Friday.  We discussed what a good thesis statement might look like and then did a bit of practice forming PEE chains with a focus on the explanation part.  Your good copies of this paragraph(s) is due tomorrow.

January 7

Today we did a quiz on list #7 and marked it.  Then we went over some notes on how to write essays and I asked you to try to compare the two sonnets on the back of the sonnet 23 sheet.  Answer the question:  "What are these poems saying about love?"  Have  rough copy ready for Monday.  Also you should have handed in your sonnet 23 answers today as well.  Have a nice weekend.

January 6

Today we went over the last of the euphemisms sheet and then went on to sonnet 23.  Please make sure that you have competed that sheet for tomorrow.  The quiz that should have been today will be on tomorrow and will be the first side of the list (7).  We will be working on comparing the 2 sonnets tomorrow as well, so please make sure you bring those sheets.

January 4

Today I handed out a reading and questions on sonnets.  Please have the questions done for tomorrow.  I collected essays.  I handed out the list for the next 2 terms quizzes.  Please have the definitions done for the front side for tomorrow. Also I handed out a sheet on connotation, denotation and euphemism.  We will do that in class tomorrow.   Welcome Back!