Of Mice and Men

Students and parents can access study guides, reading schedules, and other important information related to Of Mice and Men on this page.

Link to chapters 1-6 study guide:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TValBPr3yKe1OIROPtm2I0YVl4NACkTElcQf8EBAwqI/edit?usp=sharing

Planning Schedule:

Chapter one reading will be assigned on Monday, September 22, along with the study guide.  Any reading not completed in class on this date should be completed as homework.  There will be a reading quiz on Tuesday, September 23.

There will be a chapter 2 reading quiz on Thursday, September 25.

I will assign chapter 3 for reading homework over the weekend; however, feel free to complete the reading and study guide ahead of time so as to avoid homework over Homecoming weekend.  There will be a chapter 3 reading quiz on Monday, September 29.

We will complete the study guide for chapter 3 on Monday after the reading quiz.  Whatever is not finished in class, should be completed as homework.  I will not assign reading homework Monday night.

We will spend part of the class period on Tuesday, September 30, reading chapter 4 and responding to the chapter 4 study guide questions.  Chapter 4 reading should be finished as homework on Tuesday night.  There will be a chapter 4 reading quiz on Wednesday, October 1, at the start of class, and class time will be given to complete the remainder of the chapter 4 study guide.

We will read chapter 5 and respond to the study guide on Thursday, October 2.  The remainder of chapter 5 reading should be completed as homework, and we will complete the remainder of the chapter 5 study guide on Friday if necessary.  Students should expect a reading quiz on Friday, October 3.

Students are expected to complete chapter 6 reading over the weekend of October 4, and then be prepared for their final reading quiz on Monday, October 6.  We will have a final class discussion over the last chapter of the book, and then we will take our final test over the novella on Tuesday, October 7.  We will watch the movie on Wednesday, October 8 - Thursday, October 9.

Rambling Autobiography

The rambling autobiography will be the first major writing assignment this year.  We will read through the following examples of rambling autobiographies and discuss what we notice about these writing pieces.


http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/personal_experience/article/234070/Rambling-Autobiography/

http://misterstephenson.blogspot.com/2011/02/rambling-autobiography.html

http://www.fmschools.org/files/3329/Rambling%20autobiography.pdf

https://sites.google.com/site/laclassedemmelaberge/anglais-1/rambling-autobiography


I love it when students share their writing, so I am always happy to have volunteers who are willing to read their work aloud.  If you want to share your own rambling autobiography with the class, you are welcome to do so.  Keep in mind, you may not necessarily want to write about your deepest and darkest secrets for the entire class to hear, though!  Have fun writing!

What's next after summer reading?

After wrapping up A Lesson Before Dying this Tuesday (9/2/14), we will begin our first formal writing piece of the quarter - a personal narrative.  We will spend about a week or so reading sample narratives, discussing and writing about what we notice in these sample narratives and what this means for us as writers, and then we will be ready to write our own personal narratives.  Students will be expected to type final drafts using Google Docs; therefore, all students must know their NREVSD gmail account information before we start writing.  If you have forgotten it or are new to the district, please see Mrs. Montgomery in the media center, and she will be happy to help you.  Please take care of this right away!

After we have completed the personal narrative, we will begin reading John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men.  It is a very brief book, and we typically do not spend much more than a week reading it.  I will expect students to read outside of class on their own and to be prepared for frequent quizzes, class discussions, and other activities based on assigned readings.

I am making everyone aware of my expectations now so that you can plan accordingly.  As I mentioned in the syllabus, there will be  an increased amount of homework when studying major literary works.  It won't be an unreasonable amount of work; however, students will need to take into consideration the homework assigned in other classes along with any other commitments outside of school.  If it takes you a long time to complete a reading assignment, you should probably consider seeing me right away for a copy of the book so that you won't get behind...the sooner the better!

After-school tutoring should be starting soon and will take place Monday-Thursday from 2:30-3:30 in the high school media center.  Feel free to attend after-school tutoring to work on any of these assignments.

As always, see me if you have questions or need help!

Just for Fun!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Pre-reading video/historical context of the novel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgC09oMIwLc

Video Sparknotes to be used as a study tool after reading the novel:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqkohqLvClI

Short Story Test Review

The following links may be helpful resources as you prepare for your final short story test.

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant
http://quizlet.com/17504702/the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-story-element-questions-flash-cards/

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
http://moronepedia.wikispaces.com/Most+Dangerous+Game+Questions+and+Answers!

Marigolds by Eugenia Collier
http://english54321.tripod.com/id5.html

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst
http://www.enotes.com/topics/scarlet-ibis/quiz

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
http://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/9555-the-cask-of-amontillado

It is important to know the following literary elements:

• exposition - background material about the characters, setting, and dramatic situation in which the author introduces the essentials of the story to the reader.
• rising action - the part of the story in which the tension rises. occurs after the exposition and  leads to the story's climax.
• climax - the moment when the action comes to its highest point of dramatic conflict or the moment when the main character comes to a realization or learns a lesson.
• falling action - the part of the story following the climax and leading to the resolution in which there is a sharp decline in dramatic tension.
• resolution - the conclusion of the story
• conflict - the central source of tension and drama in the story; the problem the main character is facing. internal conflict - character vs. some feeling or emotion.  external conflict - character vs. an outside force (another character, nature, society, etc.)
• irony - a situation that seems odd or out of place.  the opposite of what one expects to happen actually happens.
• mood - the over-all feeling of a work created by the author's choice of words
• narrator - the speaker who tells the story.  May be a character in the story or may be someone outside the story.
• point of view - the perspective from which a story is told.  omniscient - author is involved in the story and presents the thoughts of all the characters involved.  limited - story is told from the viewpoint of one character who only sees part of the story.
• protagonist - the central character of the story
• antagonist - the character who works against the protagonist
• suspense - techniques used by the author to keep readers interested in the plot and wondering what will happen next
• symbol - an image, object, character, or action that stands for something else beyond its literal meaning
• theme - a story's main idea; the message that the author intends to communicate