Charles’ English Blog

  Today in class we watched a Nike advertisement video before reading a poem called Dreams Deferred by Langston Hughes. I was a literary device filled poem about the procrastination or putting off of accomplishing ones dream(s) and it lists what the results could be if you were to let this happen. Some of the listed effects were that you could forget about them, or you could wait to long and end doing something else in life you don’t enjoy. The Nike advertisement reaffirmed the poem’s theme, and said. Then we answered some questions about what our dreams are and how we would accomplish them in the next 10 years.

  Today’s class started off with a video on Oprah Winfrey interviewing people in a town full of white people. We then read and annotated a total of three poems. Each written by prolific black poets (I believe). The first poems message was that black people are Americans too, which sparked some discussion about why some individuals don’t stand for the pledge of allegiance. We also defined some terms in the context of the poem. 

  Today we read and annotated a poem called The Negro Speaks of Rivers  by Langston Hughes. In the poem Hughes talks in a first person point of view but is actually speaking for/as black people as a whole. This poem talks about the black race being as ancient as a river, as we were the first race of people. He names rivers historically significant to contributions made by black people to help illustrate his message.

  Today in class we had a substitute and Mr. Rease was not here. We had to complete another set of discussion questions on chapter 8 of TGG in CommonLit. The format of the website made it a lot easier to answer each question. The book is getting a lot more interesting.

 Started class with a black history month bell ringer about how to be respectful of people from other cultures. I think the discussion was very important. We then continued to present our projects. 

 We started class with a Black History Month Bell Ringer, through which we learned about Condoleeza Rice, how racism makes us feel, and how the world would be without it. We then began to present our projects. Everyone’s was pretty good, I thought I’d be like the only one that chose Jordan Baker for my character though.

 We read chapter 7 of TGG, and answered some discussion questions. It was a pretty good chapter, and a turning point in Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. 

We began a project on a character from TGG. There were three character description project types we could choose from. I chose ten things that’d be in Jordan Bakers trash can.

 

 We took an assessment at the beginning of class. I arrived late to school again because MicroEcon professor finished class 10 minutes late, and it took a while walking over after I parked. We were then assigned a project on a character from the Great Gatsby.

 There was a substitute, and we did some work in Canvas. We did Chapter 6 discussion questions. 

 We answered discussion Chapter 5 of Great Gatsby questions in Canvas. They were pretty easy. Overall W day.

 Today we presented our character posters. After all of us finished, we hung them up outside the classroom. Then we got a worksheet on chapter five of TGG.

  We completed our posters and finished up our other group work assignment if we needed to.

 My 10 critical thinking questions: How does the party in reflect the theme of excess and superficiality in "The Great Gatsby"? What is the role of rumors and gossip in shaping the characters' perceptions of each other in this chapter? How does the symbolism of the Valley of Ashes contribute to the overall meaning of the novel? Analyze the significance of the automobiles and the car accidents. In what ways does Fitzgerald use the character of Nick to provide insight into the lives of the rich and privileged during the Jazz Age? What was the possible theme of social class and wealth as depicted in the interactions between characters at Gatsby's party. How does the description of Gatsby's library in Chapter 3 contribute to the understanding of his character and aspirations? Discuss the impact of Gatsby's love for Daisy on the events and atmosphere at his parties. Examine the portrayal of women in Chapter 3 and how it contributes to the broader commentary on gend...

 We made slightly new groups and made a poster describing a character from TGG. We had to include the character’s name, 5 describing traits, and apply an acronym to the character. Ours was Daisy Buchanan.

 Desks were rearranged into groups, and we were all given parts to analyze and show our understanding of Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby. My group had some very smart individuals: Anthony, Douglas, Robby, and me (the smartest ngl). I was given the role of creating ten questions based on Chapter 3, which really took no time at all after collectively reading the chapter with the group.

Absent