Oct. 31

On Wednesday, we watched "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" on YouTube. For homework, we were to complete a Venn diagram indicating similarities and differences between "Hobnail" and "Sleepy Hollow."

Sleepy Hollow video


On Friday, we looked at doppelgangers by watching "Shatterday" (a Twilight Zone episode).

Next class: be sure to bring your Venn diagrams!

Oct. 27

1. We read for AR and took AR quizzes.

2. We went over what we did last day:

• discussed “Who are you?”
• read “Barbie Doll”
• HW was to answer questions

“Barbie Doll”
speaker = narrator (in this case limited omniscient); audience: society
setting/situation: the woman’s life from birth to death, modern day, probably North America (toys are clues)
theme = main message, written as a statement: Society makes people insecure; women are pressured to fit others’ ideas about what they should be like.
Structural pattern: poem written in free verse (no rhyme/rhythm)
images: wee lipsticks the colour of cherry candy (appeal to sense of smell, taste, sight) – remind us of childhood because of the candy – childhood=innocence; dolls that did pee-pee – peeing is natural, reminds us of our common natures
figurative language – hyperbole (exaggeration): “cut off her nose and legs” shows disdain speaker has for plastic surgery; “fat nose on thick legs” emphasizes how women tend to have body image disorders that become the main focus of their lives
symbols: pink and white nightie: sleep – the final sleep (death); pink is girlie; all the toys mentioned in the first stanza represent childhood and innocence

3. Add the following terms to your glossary:

• imagery
• setting
• speaker
• suspense
• symbol
• theme

HW: Write in the definitions using an on-line guide to literary terms.

4. Discussion of suspense and irony in “The Collection” from last day

5. Read “Hobnail,” making note of:

• characters
• setting
• suspense
• irony
• symbol

Next day: viewing “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Oct. 16, 2014

• AR
• Last book talks
• Discussion of exam - try some practice exams at home!

Next class

• Reading comprehension and character sketch

Oct. 7

• AR
• book talks with peer editing
• little discussion of previous day's story
• results of reading test
• poem: "The Highwayman" - a ghost story of sorts, gothic romance; exploration of irony in the poem
• See the video: "The Highwayman"

Next day:

• more book talks
• reading for character and irony ("Lamb to the Slaughter")
• glossary work
• AR

Next week:

• STAR
• cross-grade character sketch and reading comprehension

Oct. 1

• AR
• Bucket Lists - reading
• author spotlight: Edgar Allan Poe
• stories: "Eleanora" and "The Lover"
• Which was more of a horror story? What were the similarities?

Next day:

• reading comprehension and writing