Tuesday, November 25th

(No class Monday: modified schedule due to grade-day inservice and the Thanksgiving holiday, Wed-Fri)

Introduce the following themes (write them on the board):

Ambition
Lust for power
Appearance vs. reality
Temptation
Guilt haunts the evildoer

Tell students to watch for hints of these themes developing in Act I. Help them to pick this out.

Read Macbeth as a class. Begin in Act I, scene 3, line 32 (“A drum, a drum/Macbeth doth come…”) through to the end of Act I.

Stop and explain the text whenever it seems the language was too dense.

Discuss. Some have said that Macbeth and his wife may be the happiest married couple in all of Shakespeare’s plays. Have the students discuss, as a class, why they might have said this, based on the interactions of Macbeth and his wife—how do they treat one another? Who seems to be dominant? How can we infer their emotional state?

No homework.

Thursday, November 20th

Discussion of mass hysteria (for example, The Crucible) versus personal hysteria as psychological phenomena. Tie-in to Macbeth. Briefly discuss why we study Shakespeare every year, even in American Lit (school-wide commitment).

Explain the overview of the unit.

Take Background notes on the format Shakespearean tragedy in general (PowerPoint presentation, link to be added soon).

Read the BBC's "60-second Shakespeare" news "article" on Macbeth as an introduction to the plot. http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/60secondshakespeare/themes_macbeth.shtml

Students read parts for Act 1, scenes 1, 2 and 3, stopping just before Macbeth enters (line 32).
No homework for the weekend.

Tuesday, November 18th

Essay tests due!

Assignments handed back, time for general questions about grades, etc.
After handing in essays, students responded to the following quote:

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one!"

From Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a popular history of popular folly by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841

The responses must include: 1) what the quote means, 2) how this quote could be related to The Crucible, and 3) how it applies or what it means to you, as an individual.

After students write for 20 minutes, each student will share one thought from their response paper. When everyone has shared, we will discuss the phenomena of mass hysteria and what they, as students have learned about hysteria, in general, from this unit.

Students are released to the library to return their copies of the play.

Monday, November 17th

Read aloud the last scene (homework) and discuss the ending of The Crucible.

Final discussion and reminders for the essay test (due tomorrow!!)

Thursday, November 13th

Rough draft due: peer editing and quote check.

Class was divided into two parts: those who have a rough draft and those who did not complete the rough draft. The non-completers wrote a letter of explanation and apology to the teacher while Mrs. Evans explained the peer editing procedures to those who brought drafts to work on. As the students peer edited in a round-robin style, Mrs. Evans worked with the non-completer students on outlining and beginning their papers (45 minutes). The final draft of The Crucible thematic essay is due Tuesday, November 18th (this replaces a unit test, and should reflect your highest level of work).

Read pp. 129-135 of The Crucible in class/discuss.
HW for Monday: pp.135-146.

Monday, November 10th

Review pp. 99-114 of The Crucible and discuss from the HW.

Discuss essay prompts (see below) and find two quotes from Acts I-III that support the theme you will be explaining in your essay. As a class we wrote these quotes on paper on the walls, discussed the relative merits of each quote for that theme.
ESSAY TOPIC LIST coming soon.

Mrs. Evans demonstrated how to "enclose" quotes by 1) introducing the quote with the context (what is going on when this is spoken) and the speaker (remind us who said it), 2) inserting the quote, and 3) explaining what the speaker meant (literal meaning) and what the speaker intended to show (figurative or implied meaning).

We then read and discussed the play pp. 114-129.

Homework: catch up on your reading if you are behind and bring a 1-2 page rough draft of your essay to class on Thursday. (NO CLASS TUESDAY--Veteran's Day)

Thursday, November 6th

Work on essays as a class for 30 minutes: finding quotes and improving commentary/analysis.

Read pp. 99-114 in class. Discuss as we read.
HW for Monday: read pp. 114-129.

Tuesday, November 4th

Election Day!

Act II reading quiz. See Mrs. Evans if you were absent to complete the make-up quiz.

Discuss emerging themes. Begin thematic essays (assigned, due Tuesday, November 18).

Update character notes. Be sure to include the minor characters such as Cheever and Herrick.


Read pp. 83-99 in class/finish for HW.

Persuasive letter HW assigned as well:

Write a PERSUASIVE letter from John Proctor to Abigail begging her to stop the accusations/trial. You must both “convince” Abigail she should stop AND suggest an alternate solution to the trials/Abigail’s desires. Be creative. Stay true to the book—for instance, your solution cannot be that John Proctor decides to “hook up” with Abigail again.

-You can (and should) use your book for information or inspiration.

-Use traditional opening and closing statements (Dear…). -You should have more than one main point.-

-Your letter ought to be close to one full page in length (yes, it is okay to go a little longer).

-Have fun with this assignment, but stay appropriate in your topics and word choice. -

Monday, November 3rd

REMINDER: all makeup work is due by November 25th.

REMINDER #2: Need help? Meet Mrs. Evans in the LIBRARY after school any Wednesday or Thursday from 2:30-3:30pm.

We assigned parts and read pp. 63-76 in class/finishing pp. 77-81 for HW.
(Act II reading quiz on Tuesday!)