Grade+8+2013-2014

** Welcome to Eighth Grade English: The Moral Journey **
// A note about homework: It is your responsibility to arrive in class with your homework ready to turn in (either handwritten or printed). //

**Due Thursday (10/17):** Actively read Chapter 4.  **Due Tuesday (10/15):** Actively read Chapter 3.

**Due Wednesday (10/9):** Final map and quotation analysis.

**Due Tuesday (10/8):** Using the feedback you got today, finish analyzing all five quotations that show whether the island is good/bad. Begin working on the actual map.

**Due Monday (10/7):** Actively read chapter 2; type out your 5 quotations and analyze at least one of them, making sure you select specific words from the quotation to support your claim of the island as good/bad.


 * Due Friday (10/3): ** Finish actively reading Chapter 1; choose __five__ quotations to show whether the island is benign or malignant (complete assignment due Monday).

**Due Thursday (10/2):** Actively read chapter 1, and use the reading guide to remind you of what to look for.

**Due Tuesday (10/1):** (1) Finish your essay and bring it to class __printed__. If you don't finish, or you're not happy with the results, please remember this is just a way for me to see where you are right now at the beginning of 8th grade English. (2) study for vocab quiz.

**Due Monday (9/30):** Please SHARE your rough draft with me in a Google Doc called "Haroun First Name Last Name." Come to class with a PRINTED version as well.

**Due Friday (9/27):** Final allegory (please hand in with your rough draft)! Make sure your share your //Haroun// essay with me in a Google Doc.

**Due Thursday (9/26):** Check your mailboxes and pick up the essay topics for //Haroun//. Choose __one__ of the prompts and begin finding quotations for your essay. (From Option 1 to 3, the ideas increase in complexity). Don't forget to keep working on your allegory and reviewing vocab!

**Due Tuesday (9/24):** Be ready to screen or perform your skit __**Tuesday**__. Make a plan to conference with a teacher about your allegory (due __**Friday**__). Think about //what's working// in your allegory as well as //what's not working// and be prepared to share these points during your conference.


 * Due Monday (9/23): **In the Google Doc you shared with me and your group members, work on __your lines__ for your script and add anything you think would enhance your overall skit. Be prepared to rehearse on Monday!


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Friday (9/20): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Finish your vocab cards (7). Continue working on your allegory (**Due Friday, 9/27**).


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Due Thursday (9/19): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Create eight (8) vocabulary cards. Please check the "Vocabulary Cards" page on this site for a reminder of how to make the cards.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Due Tuesday (9/17): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rough draft (3 pages, double-spaced) of your allegory.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Due Friday (9/13): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Brainstorm for your allegory!

1. Where does Rashid get his storytelling gift? Why and how does he lose this gift? 2. How does Haroun contribute to his father's inability to tell stories? 3. Describe the Ocean of the Streams of Story. How is the way the Ocean is fashioned indicative of the nature of story? 4. What is the contribution of the Plentimaws to the development of story? What does this contribution indicate about the nature of story? 5. Compare and contrast the Land of Gup and the Land of Chup. What aspects of story and perceptions of story do these two nations represent? What aspects of the real world do these two nations represent? 6. Who is Khattam-Shud? What is his goal in the story? What aspects of the real world does he represent? 7. What are the underlying causes of the war between Gup and Chup? In what way are the people of Gup responsible for the conflict? 8. The story recalls the religious and the cultural aspects of Islam. What is the story saying about the relationship between the religion and the culture?
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Due Thursday (9/12): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Go to the DISCUSSION section (depicted as a thumbtack on the top right of this page) of this Wiki and work together as a class to answer each question. The __first__ response should be answered with textual evidence (including page number and correct citation format). The __second__ response should build on the first response by answering how this book is an allegory! This means everyone will post at least twice!


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13px;">Due Tuesday (9/10): **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13px;">Actively read //New Yorker// excerpt by Salman Rushdie; underline anything that reminds you of HAROUN and jot down your ideas in the margins.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Due Monday (9/9):** (1) Read and sign class letter; (2) write a letter to me about yourself as an English student

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Due Friday (9/3):** Journal prompt -- In your English notebook, record your thoughts about human nature. What comes to mind when you consider the nature of humanity? Why? What makes us the way we are? Is human nature linked to morality? To justice? Answer any, all, or none of these questions, but make sure you write about human nature for 30-35 minutes.