The End is Near!

Well everybody, it is official: the end of your 4 your career at Camden County Technical Schools is coming to an end. Think about the past four years here at school; what have you learned? what have you accomplished? what do you regret?

Your Task:
Today, I would like you to write a blog entry reflecting on your last 4 years here at CCTS. Discuss what has meant a lot to you or what you would have changed. You are going to use 1 text-to-text connection to help enhance 1 of your significant experiences. Lastly, think about how you have impacted others and reflect on that as well.

What to Include:

1. A list of at least THREE of your most significant memories from your time here at CCTS. Think about family, friends, mentors, teachers, principals, coaches, etc.
2. Explain - in detail - at least TWO of these events and THEIR SIGNIFICANCE to you. How do you think these events will influence your life. Use at least 3 sentences for each.
3. ONE text-to-text connection to further enhance ONE of you experiences. For instance, I felt like...."Doug from King of Queens when....." Explain with 3 sentences.
4. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, think about the impact that YOU made on others. Write a 3 - 5 sentences reflection on your impact on others.

REMEMBER THIS WILL BE SEEN BY YOUR CLASSMATES. SO, ONLY WRITE WHAT YOU WOULD OTHERS TO SEE!

Does Shakespeare drive US mad??

So far in our readings of Hamlet, it is evident that young Hamlet seems to be going mad. We have discussed the issue of madness quite a bit, and we have all agreed that different elements of a person’s life can cause him or her to go “mad.” However, we have not talked about how this specific instance of madness has influenced our Modern Entertainment......

YOUR TASK:

You are to think about a variety of films, TV shows, novels, songs, poems, or even commercials that in some way deal with madness and analyze how Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” may have influenced that specific piece.

Your entry should include:

1. The TITLEof Film, Novel, TV Show, etc that you believe was influence by Hamlet
2. The MODE of entertainment that it falls into (i.e: movie, play, novel, song, etc)
3. A BRIEF EXPLANATION of where exactly you see shakespeare’s influence on this particular piece.
4. An ANALYSIS of how Shakespeare’s work “Hamlet” may have influenced this writing or creating of this particular piece. How might the piece have been different if “Hamlet” was never written?

Rubric for Entry:

Exemplary - 10 + sentence explanation and analysis of Shakespeare’s Influence on your piece, 5 + specific examples of direct influences, explanation of how the piece would have been different without “Hamlet”

Proficient - 7+ sentence explanation and analysis of Shakespeare’s Influence on your piece, 3 + specific examples of direct influences,

Non-Proficient - less than 7 sentence explanation and analysis of Shakespeare’s Influence on your piece, less than 3 specific examples of direct influences

Poetry's Depiction of Societal Values

This week we will be experimenting with blogging, on our class blog, once again. Your assignment will be very similar to last week's assignment. The idea is to get everyone familiar and comfortable with writing on our class blog. Once we have accomplished that, we will be begin to experiment with different style of blog entries.

This week's task:

Find a poem/song that you believe depicts important cultural values of any given society. Once you have this song, you are going to post certain information about the song.

Entry should include:

• A. The Title and Artist of a poem/song that you believe depicts the values of a specific culture.
• B. The lines that depict the values of that culture.
• C. A 2-3 sentence explanation of why these values are what you claim that they are. So, you will take this opportunity to explain how you know the specific lines selected are in fact a depiction of cultural values.
• D. A 5 - 7 sentence explanation of how the images, thoughts, feelings, or emotions that this reference evokes. In this portion of your entry, you should be describing wether the reference to cultural values hinders or enhances the overall meaning of the poem/song.

Rubric for this Entry:

• Exemplary - 10+ sentence entry, all elements (A - D) included, entry cites specific examples and backs up claims with elaborate explanations.
• Proficient - 7+ sentence entry, all elements (A - D) included, entry cites specific examples and backs up claims with explanations.
• Non-proficient - less than 7 sentence entry, missing certain elements, does not support or elaborate on thoughts or claims.

Blogging on Poetry

For the last two weeks, we have been working almost entirely on poetry. We have done SOAPSTone, looked at symbolism, worked with similes and metaphors, and ever written our own poetry! today's blog is to share your thoughts about the work we have been doing to this point on poetry.

YOUR TASK"

1) Write at least 1 blog entry. The entry should include:

1. The title of 1 poem/song that includes at least one instance of symbolism, simile, or metaphor.
2. The line(s) or quote from that poem/song that includes the symbolism, simile, or metaphor
3. A 1 sentence explanation of why you believe the quote is what you say it is (I.E: How do you know a simile is a simile)
4. A 4+ sentence explanation of how the symbolism/simile/metaphor affects the reader or listener

Rubric for Entry:

• Exemplary - 1 poem/song with a simile,metaphor, or symbolism, 5+ sentence explanation of how the literary devices enhances the poem/song
• Proficient - 1 poem/song with a simile or metaphor, 3+ sentence explanation of the simile or metaphor and how it enhances the poem/song
• Non-Proficient -no poem or song, no explanation

Welcome to English Class of the FUTURE!

Welcome to the New Element of our class!