Callie Bevacqua November 30

Callie Bevacqua

Today, class was opened by introducing the new marking period 2 blog schedule. I ended up being the first blog of the marking period :)

Overall in class we analyzed how symbols are used in figurative as well as literal language.

• Figurative language is an idea that is open for interpretation. This is also known as an abstract idea.   
• Literal Language is a non negotiable, solid fact, idea, object etc.
• Symbol is an object, character, place (something physical), that has a figurative meaning.(idea open for interpretation)

Saying the Earth is covered more with bodies of water than land would be an example of Literal language because it is a known scientific statistic. Saying I will not be getting any sleep tonight because of all the homework I have is an example of Figurative language because the idea of not getting any sleep is an exaggerant. An example of a symbol would be the american flag. Its physical appearance is cloth, but the meaning is much deeper because we think of freedom, respect and love for our country.

- This is a Symbol. Physically it is a bunch of circles made to be a flower. This is the flower of life and represents natural cycles of life as well as eternity. 

During class we then started looking for symbols in The Great Gatsby. We realized a lot of meanings that we would have not picked up on just reading through it once. Mrs.Wilson, Tom's mistress, wanted a dog very much. Myrtle thought the dog was so cute, and this represented her want for a romantic relationship. Tom purchasing the dog is a symbol of his rich social status.  As Tom pays for the dog he says,“Here's your money , go buy 10 more dogs.” This shows us how Tom ruins relationships with his money  because the remark he made was very careless about the actual dogs. Tom views the dogs as all the same, and just money he doesn't care about.  The Next symbol we talked about was The valley of ashes. It is described in the book as a valley filled with ashes. This place of living is actually just a poor, rundown area. People who live there are negative energy and it's almost like they are ghostly or non existent. The last symbol we did not get into was The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. The eyes represented how everyone sees and interprets things differently. This fact has us realizing Nick is the narrator and we are viewing all the characters and events through his judgement.

The review of the symbols in The Great Gatsby was very interesting to me and definitely has me thinking. It also helps me understand the book a lot more.  

Jaxon Mase

Today in class we did an exercise where four groups get different supplies at random to all achieve the same goal. Every group had supplies and not enough alone to complete the tasks at hand. Some groups had more than each other to simulate status. My group, (group 4) only had two different pieces of paper, paper clips, and scissors. We would need much more things such as a ruler, pen, and different types of paper which put us in a difficult situation. We had to trade and work our way to success, that did not work well. We ended up trading ourselves into a corner when we need plain white paper. At that point, there was no more white paper that was un-used. That was the point of failure for my group. At that point I tried to steal plain white paper of Mr. Rivers desk to complete the book. Skyler caught me in the act and i went to prison and an interview for a brief moment. Group two won and my group achieved no success and lost the whole competition. What held us back was our lack of valuable supplies to trade with. We stared in the lowest class and ended there.  This exorcize revealed that status will remain the same. The rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor. Hard work does not pay off. At first you will think you are doing better but in reality, you are working yourself into a corner. I noticed the richest group,(group 1) was very disrespectful and was destined to win in the first place. They were very mean to the poorer group and all for the bagel prize. Power can drive the rich to feel above everyone else. In conclusion, the rich win because they were born in the position to win and the poor will never rise above their status.

Jake Zerillo

    In class today we did something unique by doing experiment and how it reveals success in capitalism and the American Dream. First we got put into four groups and randomly picked a number in which that number had certain tools that we were aloud to use to make our own society. Each group had to make a ring, a house, a burger, and to make a book but you couldn't just throw each of them together how ever you want to you have to follow specific measurements and instructions to make a basic civilization. Even though we all had to make the same thing it was harder for some because we all had different tools and some would start with more tools than others and you had to trade and nagociate with other groups to get the tools you need to make everything. Our was definitely given the shorter end of the stick because all we had was two pieces of paper one wavy, one wooden, a pen and just five paper clips.
    No matter how hard we tried our group struggled to trade with other groups because they had more tools than us therefore we needed more things then they did and we had little to trade and negotiate with. Therefore with this problem our group did not achieve success today because at the end of class we only had completed the burger, the ring and we would have completed the book but we did not have enough paper to make six pages. While another group finished everything because they had more material to start of with, which gave them more to bargain and trade to get what they need to finish everything. Some things that helped our group succeed enough to get some of it done was us improvising. For example, we knew that a paper clip was an inch long so since we didn't have a ruler and we did have a pen would would just mark each inch with the pen and we had to fold our paper until it ripped because we weren't able to bargain for scissors.  And clearly not starting with as many tools as other groups held us back. Therefore this experiment reveals that success in capitalism or the american dream does not always work because no matter how hard you work to achieve your american dream, some people are already given everything you ever wanted straight from the beginning and the American dream is a lot easier for them to achieve. Im not saying that if you work as hard as you can to achieve the american dream it won't happen, it still does happen to some people but it is almost impossible to compete for that american dream that someone else basically already starts with.

Kevin Berlin Competition Blog

                  In today's class, my group got ROBBED of a much deserved victory. The activity involved 4 groups, each group receiving a random assortment of recourses. However, no group had all the materials they needed to complete the tasks, meaning groups have to trade materials to complete the tasks, and which ever group finishes first wins. So I was in group 1, accompanied by Kayla, John, Callie, and Alex, and right off the bat Kayla grinded out the hamburger. Meanwhile, Callie, John, and myself were working on the house, as Alex, being the clever little fella he is, went around to each group. Out witting everyone into some great trades in our favor. As predicted, we were the first group to finish the tasks. Therefore, we decided to increase the trash talk a little more expecting that we were going to win. Little did we know Mr. Rivers was going to call our house invalid due to one side being a half an inch shorter than the correct length. Not going to lie, the news was the harshest of harsh blows, but none the less, group 1 wasn't giving up without a fight. Right away Alex snatched up the scissors and cut a half inch of paper off of the sheet to add it too the side, John whipped out glue stick, but it was too late. Nadir and his group of savages closed the gap on our lead, and took advantage of our first trail error. Winning the competition, receiving bragging rights and a bagel of their choice, they cheered passionately. As my fellow group members and I filled with disappointment and sorrow. Left defeated and weak.

               
                  All in all, I do believe our group succeeded today, we may have not came in first, but we had a blast and had some quality bonding time. We worked well as a team and I'm confident that we will defeat all other groups in the next competition. Something that really helped our group succeed was giving everyone a specific job, trying to be efficient as possible to be the first group done. There wasn't much that held our group back, besides the error or measuring our sides correctly, we were pretty on point. This activity showed me that people who are selfish, some may even say "savage", is not what gets you on top and succeed. The best formula for success is hard work and good strategy.

Alex Pegher 11/22

Today in class we were split into four groups and tasked with the challenge of producing four different items that represented food, shelter, education, and resources. However, no one group had enough materials to suit that need, and trade was required in order to supplement the needs of the group. The winning team would receive bagels on Wednesday so the stakes were high. My team, which was given resource allotment "1" had many of the crucial things that we needed. The only things that we ended up requiring were "wave paper" and "polka dot paper", both of which were much easier items to trade for than scissors or a pen. This abundance however, let to one teensy-weensy tiny little but ever so soul crushing problem...

HUBRIS

To present an anecdote of my groups performance imagine the following: a sick and twisted version of the tortoise and the hare, in which the hare, us, is ahead in the race but halfway through gets mauled by a mob of people, other teams, who he boasted to the previous day. They beat him long enough for the tortoise, winning team, to get ahead and win the race.

In being somewhat ahead and being not so secretive about it we drew the ire of the other three tables. Negotiations broke down and although we almost got the prize at the end, our measurements on the house came up short and we were unable to secure the bagels.In hindsight, we had a very good shot of getting those bagels, and if we had just calmed down and negotiated with a smile on our faces, we probably could be eating bagels on Wednesday. We did not succeed, we failed hilariously. The activity taught me and my group one thing about the American dream: you can work as hard as you want, but if you see yourself at the top, you're probably very far from it. We were given what could be called a "silver spoon" to start with, but we squandered it.

Shannon Kehoe American Dream/Success Experiment

Shannon Kehoe 

11/22/16

P.8

     The activity that we did today in class was a prime example as to how somebody really does achieve success and the underlying message in the game plays a great part in how to achieve success in real life. Mr group and I acheieved success today because we won the game and we worked very hard together because we were told that if we won we would get rewarded with bagels and that is like  if you work hard in the real world your reward would be that you are wealthy and therefore succesful. Being successful in reality is just like an input and output machine, because if someone puts in hard work and energy the output is usually wealth and success. The factors that helped my group and I succeed today were that before we made any decisions we made sure that all of our group members agreed with what we were doing. The things that held us back today were that we weren't given everything that we needed in order to achieve success which is just like reality because in real life you aren't given everything and in order to achieve success you need to work hard for what you want. Our experiment reveals key aspects in how to achieve the true American Dream and success. These key aspects are that in order to get anywhere in life and achieve ultimate success you need to work hard and be smart as to how and what you do with the things that you are given, because life can be very brutal sometimes and all those thing that you worked for can be taken away in an instant. But that is what life is and we just need to take the cards we are dealt and play them as good as we can. The American Dream in my opinion can be whatever you consider it to be. If you consider the American Dream to be sitting on your couch and watching netflix and paying your rent every month on time and you consider that to be successful then that's what it is for you. The view on success is different with every person because some people have different opinions on what is successful and what is not and that is completely okay because if we agreed on what everyone was saying, life would be boring and we would not get the full expeience of life. We are only on this Earth for a short amount of time so we need to make the most of it while we are here and we just need to roll with the punches that life throws at us.  

Skylar Winberry

Skylar Winberry
In today's class we did an interesting experiment regarding capitalism and the American dream. The class separated into 4 groups. Each group was given specific tools to create their own society. The groups were tasked with making a book, a burger, a house and a ring symbolizing the basic needs of civilization. The catch was that each group was given different tools but we were all tasked with making the same civilization. So to make your civilization, you had to trade for the supplies. I was in group 3. We're we're given wavy paper, wood paper, 5 paper clips and a pen. Our group had to get many other supplies through trading. This caused our group to be pretty unsuccessful. We only made a ring a burger and part of our book. The process of trading was difficult for our group because we didn't have the supplies that others needed. The lack of communication within our group unfortunately caused our demise. We had to come up with other ways to solve our problems. We used our 1 inch paper clips to help us measure things and ripped our paper instead of cutting it. Trading was the difficult part of this project for our group. We didn't have much that other groups needed so they tended to not trade with us. That's not to say that we should have been pitied and given what we needed because we didn't have much. This experience says a lot about capitalism and our society. It shows that capitalism can cause those who start with less to end up with less. This is because they are seen as being a more risky investment because they may not achieve the success expected. The American dream is that with hard work, no matter what they are given you will reach success. This happened in our class because we were all given different materials but we're tasked in making the same things. The idea that with hard work anyone can be anything and be on the same level as those given everything. It is true that with hard work you can achieve many things, but those who are given nothing may have different dreams than those who already have what they need for success. This idea I shown in a quote by Albert Einstein, “Everybody is a genius. But if  you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”. This shows that you can't expect every person to perform the same because everyone is a different person with different backgrounds.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aspireinterventions.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F05%2FEinstein-fish-quote3.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fquoteaddicts.com%2Ftopic%2Feinstein-fish-quote%2F&docid=5HotetF6n0WGPM&tbnid=E6KWuf_txZO-ZM%3A&vet=1&w=600&h=1080&hl=en-us&client=safari&bih=559&biw=375&ved=0ahUKEwi3pMD92r3QAhUMKsAKHWxbC9kQMwgcKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8

 Jess Esso

November 22, 2016

Today in class we were given the task that required us to work together not only as a group, but as a community.  we were given basic materials such as paper, paperclips, scissors, glue ect.  there were 4 groups and each group had a different set of materials, every group had to accomplish the same tasks using all the materials.  but not just one group had all the necessary materials they needed to complete all tasks by themselves.  we had to trade, and communicate with other groups to get the necessary materials needed to complete the tasks given.  the winner got bagels for the class period the next day.  my group being the geniuses we are, won the challenge, but not for just one reason but many.
we had to see which group would be successful and how they achieved it, is so.  in my opinion, my group achieved success but our extreme use of working together, communicating and collaborating was the way we got to where we needed to go fast and efficiently.  when it came down to it, when we needed to trade, we traded not a single object until all the people in our group said it was okay.  we made all choices together, and if one said no, we did not make the deal.  but what held us back were the deals in their entirety.  some would say, others wanted way too much for what was being asked for, so sometimes we ended up trading more than we had to, or we didn't have the materials they were asking for, and needed t trade materials that we did not have.   this reveals a lot about how some people work, and how they work with others.  but if anyone wants success, we found today that you cant do it alone.  you need others by your side to help guide you in the right direction and help you through tough times. the harder you work, the more respect you can earn, and the higher you status will go, and the better name you could have as a result.

Kelli Vogel

November 22, 2016

     Today in class we did an activity. This activity was to test our ability on how well we know the American Dream. The activity consisted of building different objects using household materials such as paperclips, scissors, paper that has different designs on it, along with other building necessities.  The objective was to trade your materials with other groups to make your survival needs, for example my group started off with 5 paperclips, a pen and wavy paper. We had to build a book out of white paper and we didn't have white paper so we traded some of our wavy paper for scissors in one group and then in another we had to trade wood paper for some more white paper. This task was kind of hard because most groups did not want to trade with us and or they didn't need what we had. For example group 1 did not want to make trades with anyone because they had everything they needed to build with. Some groups were willing to trade but they were very rude about not trading, because they had everything they needed they felt superior, and they thought they were going to win.
     My group was not successful at all. we only accomplished making the book, half the house, and the ring. I wish we were more successful but the other groups did not want to trade with us. I know that we weren't successful because we did they least amount of work. I think the thing that really held us back was lack of communication with our group and with other groups. This experiment reveals success in the American Dream because it demonstrates that when you have a lot in life or when you have everything in life you don't need to communicate with the lower class because they aren't the same as you, to sum it up, "you are better than them." All in all this was a fun activity and i hope that we can do something like this again.    

Megan Lynch

I was in group four today. To start, we received paper clips, scissors and two different kinds of paper. The plain white sheet, and dotted. I would say we did not achieve success today. Not only did we lose, but we made immoral mistakes. At times were unfocused with the actual task, and more on defeating other groups. We started to gain success when we got power through trading. Other groups relied on us for our paper and scissors. At one point we even held a scissor monopoly. As a group we even got creative. For example, when we didn’t have a ruler we measured by using the paper clips, which we knew was a little over one inch. What held our group back was a lack of communication. We didn’t always talk while trading, and some group members made risky actions without consulting the other members. For instance, we made a specific trade with one grouped which guaranteed us our scissors back, but one group member traded with a different group to get scissors because they forgot about that deal. That did not affect the group too badly, because we then had the monopoly, but it still shows the lack of communication. Another setback was when a group member got put in jail. Their actions of stealing were not condoned by the rest of the group, and we had to overcome that considering they did a lot of work to help out the group. This project showed a lot regarding capitalism and the American dream. In my group a bit of greed showed when we steeped down to stealing to get what we needed. Which also shows a flaw in capitalism. When other people started becoming successful that made other’s work even harder, which showed competition can promote success. I think the hardest workers did have the most success, they planned out their ideas better and worked well with their group to gain their success.

kayla edwards

Kayla Edwards

Today in class we had a competition to see who could build a “town” with education, food, shelter and minerals or resources, the fastest. However, each table was given different materials to work from and had to trade with other groups to get everything they needed to fulfill the requirements. My group was provided with a paper ruler, scissors, “wood” paper, “striped” paper, blank paper, a glue stick and a pen. From here all we needed was wavy paper and polka dotted paper. By having a majority of the supplies, this helped our group to be successful (if second place is considered successful). The first trade we made was a quarter of our striped paper for a quarter of wavy paper. After this we forgot we still needed polka dotted paper and shut off all trade with the other groups to prevent them from getting necessary supplies that we had. We thought this was smart at the time, however the other groups began to dislike us because we did not share and developed poor relationships with the people around us. Also, some hostile things were said when those peasants tried to trade for our supplies. At one point, in an arrogant manner, I offered Jake one snip with a scissor for a paper clip. Once we realized that we still needed polka dotted paper, it was very hard for us to get it because no one wanted to trade with us since we were hostile and we wouldn’t trade with them. Eventually we were able to trade it for our pen, a trade made with Jackson, who later was found to be a thief and was jailed.  Our group then was able to construct everything. However, the measurements of our house were off by ¼ inch. So we had to rebuild and just as we finished, another group beat us to raising their hand. It was a buzzer beater. If you ask me I called Mr. Rivers first but whatever, I can buy my own bagels. Anyways, this experiment showed that success and capitalism doesn’t necessarily come from hard work. Jake’s group was only given paper clips and a pen so they obviously had a lot more needed supplies they had to trade for. We were given nearly all of our supplies and finished sooner then they did. So, in conclusion hard work can improve your status, but it’s more about what you start with.

Jake Zerillo blog

    Today in class we picked up right where we left off which was learning about one of the five major tenets of transcendentalism which was self - Reliance. Before i get to talk about self reliance i want to talk about what we opened up class with. The opening question was what is transidentalism and what we said in class is the it is being able to only rely on yourself and to do what you feel is right on the inside not what you think is right, we also said it what romanticism times 100 if that helps you get a better idea. And a really god quote that shows transidentalism is this "I went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts if life, and see if i could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when i came to die, discover that i had not lived."(Henry David Thoreau). This shows it because when it says "I went to the woods because i wish to live deliberately" it is saying that he went to the woods to live because that is what he felt is right. We then learned about the Moral Compass and compass means to show direction therefore the puritans the definition of right and wrong came straight from the bible so that showed them direction. An example was when Thoreau went to jail because he didn't pay toll taxes since he followed his moral compass and did what he felt inside was right.

    They also believed that people were born good and society ruins them. The next tenet is free thaught which shows individuality and to believe what is true to you. The tenet after that is confidence, this means have confidence in who you are and to stay strong and believe in yourself and your ideas. The one after that is the Importance of Nature and that nature is pure when not ruined by humans and the thought that civilization is evil to them.They also believed in oversoul which is the unity between man, god and nature. This picture below shows that someone could have made this and could have lived in it by themselves without technology and that would be a great example of transidentalism. 

Alex Pegher Blog Post 11/9

Today in class we finished up on learning about the five tenets of Transcendentalism. In addition to the two tenets we learned yesterday: nonconformity and self-reliance, we also learned of the remaining three tenets of free thought, confidence, and the importance of nature. We also dived deeper into the biographies of transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson

H.D. Thoreau                                         Ralph Waldo Emerson

Five Tenets of Transcendentalism

• Nonconformity
• Self-reliance
• Free thought
• Confidence
• Importance of Nature

Rivers made the point that all of the tenets are interconnected and strengthen each other. With free thought you can rely on yourself more, with self-reliance you don't have to conform, and so on.

Katie McGuckin Blog Post 11/8/16

Katie McGuckin                                                                                                                            11/8/16
                                                                       Blog Post
Objectives: none

     During today's class we learned about transcendentalism and two of the five major tents of it. Transcendentalism began in 1836, lasting until 1860, and was a literary movement that believed truth existed beyond reason and experience. After romanticism was recently introduced, there were some that embraced the idea completely, putting faith in living a meaningful life. We focused on these exclusive collection of writers who completely rejected rationalist morals and thoughts, but still required physical evidence to justify truth. Transcendentalists were determined to sculpt a legacy of literary independence from European countries, through writings such as essays, philosophy, novels, and multiple other forms. The belief of transcendentalism includes five major tents (rules to live by), the first two being: nonconformity and self-reliance. Nonconformity is to value individualism and create original ideas and embrace the unconventional, which usually goes against the social norm.          
     Example: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."    
             -Henry David Thoreau
                         Meaning: encourages people to "march to the beat of their own drum" and just be themselves, even if everyone else around them is doing something else.
     Example: "Imitation is suicide"
             -Ralph Waldo Emerson
                         Meaning: uses  a metaphor, choosing suicide as symbolism for the death of one's self because they are lying to themselves and trying to be something you are not.

     Self-reliance was the second rule that was discussed in class, and was defined as being independent (only relying on yourself) and having the expectation that if you want to achieve something, YOU have to strive for that dream on your own.  The last few minutes of class, we were asked to find the differences between solitude and loneliness and write them down independently, then share with our classmates in our group. Solitude is the choice of being isolated, the want to disconnect, which is usually associated with a positive emotion (reflection or rest without distraction). Loneliness is the opposite because it strongly compared to a feeling (of sadness) because the person normally has no choice in the matter.

      I felt that today's lesson got the class to participate and be more involved a bit more than normal because of the change in presentation and going from using a PowerPoint for the past few days, transitioning to a Prezi, which shows the flow of information in a more visual and active way. Since we weren't expecting to see a Prezi and hadn't seen one in quite some time, it not only was refreshing, but brought a sense of nostalgia with it and connected with students appearing better than a slideshow might. I found today's lesson interesting and educational, but not stale and think other students mostly felt at least a little bit similar because the lesson was about a romantic idea, which sounds more like a fairy-tale than realistic view, but transcendentalism pushes the idea further and makes it more entertaining.

Lauren Zanetakos

November 8

Today in class Mr. Rivers introduced Transcendentalism (1836-1860) which is a literary movement that believes truth exists beyond reason and experience. It’s a part of the larger Romantic Movement. We can relate transcendentalism to American Lit because when the United States were starting to form the government the transcendentalist supported the belief that it was time for liberty independence to make an appearance in writing.

• 2 out of 5of the major Tenets of  Transcendentalism
• Nonconformity
• Do not be who others want you to be.
• Ideas should be original
• Embrace the unconventional
• “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let’s him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away”. -Henry David Thoreau
• Self-Reliance
• Only rely on yourself- independence
• Don’t expect or wait for others to do it for you reach for your dreams.

• What is the difference between solitude and loneliness?
• Solitude is when you want to be alone but are not wishing the company of another while loneliness sadness is an self-destructive nature, feeling bitter around others
• What can we learn from solitude?
• without distraction

    Henry Thoreau was so passionate about self- reliance that he built himself a cottage in the middle of the woods as his own solitude. He believed that it was a cleanse of the soul.  

November 7, 2016- Sklar Winberry

In our class today, Mr. Rivers introduced our next summative It is an exercise in reflection. We were told to select a rational and a romantic prompt and write two paragraphs about each. The prompts provided for the rational paragraphs are:
Select a strong and a weak assignment from this marking period. How does each assignment show growth? How do you plan to improve?
   
Apply a grade to an assignment or activity that we did not grade. How does your work show your strengths in this class? How does it help you to make improvements?

Write a logical letter to the September version of yourself and explain what you would have done differently (as well as what you did well). Use (and label) five rhetorical devices.
The romantic prompts are:
Select a song or poem that represents some aspect of your role in our class. How does this song/poem represent your past? What will change about the song moving forward (as in, during future marking periods)?

If YOU were your own English teacher, how would you encourage your own independence? How have you become more independent this marking period?

Select a tone and write an emotional letter to your teacher about how you have developed youthful innocence or educated sophistication. Your tone may be positive or negative, but please label your specific tone in the prompt box.
I chose to do the rational letter to myself in September. I chose this one because I prefer creative writing over more structured writing. I plan on writing (to myself) about the strong notes I take and how I can improve them by adding more of a personal lens to them.
For my romantic writing I am deciding between the first and last prompts. I am choosing these because I enjoy music and poetry but also like the creative aspect of the emotional letter.

This image showcase some of the distinct differences between romantic and rationalists. These may be helpful when writing the summative.

11/7/16 Nicole McGahey

Today, we spent the whole class working on a summative assignment that is due by the end of the day on Wednesday. Please be aware that we were only given today to work on it in class, so it is homework if you didn't finish it already. The assignment is a marking period 1 reflection, and it's on Google Classroom. Basically, for this assignment we have to write two different reflections on our progress this marking period. The first reflection is from a rationalist point of view, and the second reflection is from a romanticist point of view. Each reflection should be at least 2 paragraphs long, and should describe how you have grown so far in this class, and how you plan to continue to improve your work.
Below, you can see the list of prompts that we were given. You must select one prompt from the Rational column, and one prompt from the Romantic column, and write at least two paragraphs for each one that you select, reflecting on how well you did during this marking period. You can also do something else if you have a different idea that isn't listed below, but you need teacher approval first.

Rational (15)

Romantic (15)

Select a strong and a weak assignment from this marking period. How does each assignment show growth? How do you plan to improve? Apply a grade to an assignment or activity that we did not grade. How does your work show your strengths in this class? How does it help you to make improvements? Write a logical letter to the September version of yourself and explain what you would have done differently (as well as what you did well). Use (and label) five rhetorical devices. OR design your own rational means of reflection!

Select a song or poem that represents some aspect of your role in our class. How does this song/poem represent your past? What will change about the song moving forward (as in, during future marking periods)? If YOU were your own English teacher, how would you encourage your own independence? How have you become more independent this marking period? Select a tone and write an emotional letter to your teacher about how you have developed youthful innocence or educated sophistication. Your tone may be positive or negative, but please label your specific tone in the prompt box. OR design your own romantic means of reflection!

Kelli Vogel
November 4, 2016


To start class today Mr. Rivers brought up what we learned in class yesterday which was Dark Romanticism. To refresh your memory Dark Romanticism is when the author takes the ideas of romanticism and presents them in a negative tone. A great example of this would have to be Tell Tale Heart by Edger Allen Poe. After refreshing our memories about Dark Romanticism we began analyzing Tell Tale Heart. When we were analyzing we worked with our tables to find positive and negative tones using the Romantic characteristics. For example a negative characteristic in Tell Tale Heart would have to be characteristic number one because there was absolutely no logical reason to kill the old man. Although characteristic number one is negative it can be positive too, for example the man was going with his gut, feeling and reasoning to kill the poor old man. After discussing with our tables we opened it up to the class and had a huge discussion about how one romantic characteristic can be both positive and negative. Although this clip is very creepy and sort of long it helps you understand the dark romanticism of Tell Tale Heart.
  https://youtu.be/wDLLHTdVSgU 

Megan Lynch
Today we started off class by reviewing what we ended with on Thursday. We discussed with our groups romantics and their views on being absolute. To be "absolute" with a characteristic means that a person is 100% that way, and can not change. An example of that would be in fairytales. The villain never has a loving side, and the hero never has flaws. They are portrayed as pure evil or good. In stories a characters traits that are absolute are prominent and shown through their actions and tones. For instance, in "Rip Van Winkle", Rip's wife is a negative character who he hates, and we know this because of the way she nags Rip. After our review we were asked the question, "What tone do the stories develop about romantic qualities? How? How are these absolute?". We then thought about this question in regards to "Rip Van Winkle" and "Tell Tale Heart". Both stories have very romantic ideals, yet are on opposite sides of the spectrum, with one story having a really positive tone and the other being incredibly negative. There is never a point in "Tell Tale Heart" where the reader thinks, "Oh maybe he is not such a bad guy, maybe this murder he committed was justified.". The whole story shows a crazy, paranoid man who praises his own evil actions. To further prove this the class searched for evidence on a google document of each story, finding the 10 characteristics of romanticism which we have went over. Some groups were assigned the odd number characteristics to look out for, and other were assigned the even numbered. After finding a characteristic it was decided whether it was used positively or negatively. Generally, all the negative examples came from "Tell Tale Heart" and the positive from "Rip Van Winkle". Class was ended by ranking the characteristics presence in each story.

More examples of romantic absolutes

Anna Valentine
November 3, 2016

    Today in class, the class finished the evaluation and analysis of tone in Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell Tale Heart and introduced the idea of Dark Romanticism using the poem as an example. In class we utilized the idea that tone is the attitude a text takes towards it subjects, which almost always makes it implicit, and thus hard to figure out, but can ultimately be found through the analysis of rhetorical devices, word choice, and punctuation. For example, in The Tell Tale Heart, the class found tones such as, agitated, unhinged, ominous, panicked, obsessive, and ashamed, by analyzing the last two paragraphs. They reasoned that these tones were applicable because Poe used punctuation such as dashes, and exclamation points to convey that the cadence and tone of the text was increasing in speed and excitement. It was also acknowledged that these tones were used to describe the text because of Poe's use of rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questions and antistrophes to let the reader know how he wanted the text to be read (tone). Using Poe's poem as an example, and the class now having a new-found understanding of the text through analyzing it's tone, the idea of dark romanticism was introduced, which highlights the work of authors, like Poe, whom embodied romantic ideals bit with negative tones and pessimistic themes. When a romantic such as Whitman writes, he believes that people are naturally or inherently good, while a dark romantic, like Poe, would believe that people are inherently evil. This idea brings the class to it's final topic of the day, absolutism in romanticism. Absolutism, the idea that something is one way, and not any other way, such as people being ONLY inherently good, or ONLY inherently evil, is a value that romanticists supported. Romanticists believed in no grey area, only black and white. The next time class meets, the knowledge acquired in the past days of learning will be used to select positive and negative tones in a text and identify different characteristics of romanticism using tone.

A Dramatic rendition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiXjaPqSyY

The Simpson's video above has a emphasized/sarcastic play on Poe's Poem, which makes it easier to decipher its tone.


 

Today in class we started off by discussing tone on a scale that looked a little like this

Negative---------------------------------------------Neutral-----------------------------------------------Positive

We came up with tones that we saw in A Tell Tale Heart. We came up with the following tones... shame, obsessive, panicked, unhinged, agitated, and shame. All of these were found within the last two paragraphs of the text. all these tones were on the negative to neutral and none in positive. Then we talked about all the dash mark and exclamation points in the last two paragraphs that added suspense.
The notes talked about dark romanticism. They use the original ideas of romanticism but with negative and dark tones and pessimistic themes. An example of this would be Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. They used the idea of absolutes that are basically  no grey areas.

Tone&Mood 11/2/16

Shannon Kehoe
11/2/16
p.8



          Today in class we continued our discussion on the difference between tone and mood. Tone by definition is the attitude of the text while mood is something in text that evokes an emotion or feeling. But today we looked more in depth with tone. In Class we analyzed three videos. The first video was about North Korea propaganda, in the video the United States was being portrayed as this nation that doesn't have proper housing and we eat birds and snow, and other upsurd things that were said about the U.S. Along with that video we analyzed the tone of it and came to the conclusion that the tone of that video is very bold because by stating those obvious lies about the United States it was very forward. The second video was a state farm commercial where you have two different instances with the same dialougue but with two completely different tones and after the video we analyzed how dialougue and how it is portrayed by someone can effect tone. The third and final video was Vincent Price's portrayal of The Tell Tale Heart and analyzed what elements in the monolougue contribute to the tone of the poem. The tone of that poem was very cynical because the poem is about how one man murders the other.

Vincent Price's monolougue of The Tell Tale Heart: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTxyN0gUZFI

Sarah Haag

Today in class we evaluated the “RIP Van Wrinkle” short story and sought out the most dominant and non- dominant characteristics of Romanticism: (in order of what we said)

-Prefer youthful innocence to educated and sophisticated, → Kids love him, rejects his wife's nagging

-Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature→ setting: village and mountains

-Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual→ leaves for the woods, freedom over money, ends up places by himself

-Values feeling over reason→ shooting squirrels, happy>money

- finds inspiration in myth, legend, and culture → Rip Van Winkle is regular, the dutch

-Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development → nature description

- sees poetry as the highest expression of imagination

-looks backwards on wisdom of the past

We then describes his good fortune and bad fortune, we then discussed it throughout the class to get a better understanding of this situations of the story.

Individual choice to determine success

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lTEpNNI8Lf3bl9tzA7BfPkyhLkbMawLeCLYep2bVibw/edit

(sorry for being late!!)

Today In English 11/1

Nadir Hassan/Mr. Rivers,Miss Dalia/American Literature/November 1

Today’s objective during class was to:

Create specific and clear sentences that explain the development of mood and tone and

Analyze how connotation and denotation develop tone (Which, in turn, develops meaning)

During today’s class, Mr. Rivers started off by explaining the difference between mood and tone. Last night’s homework (“Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe) was reviewed as a class after individually doing it for homework the previous night. In our groups we spent five to six minutes formulating the perfect sentence to describe the mood present and how it is developed through the short story.  After we formulated our sentences, we posted them on to Google Classroom (where you can see it) and picked them apart seeing which ones had great detail and key phrases and which ones could use some improvement. After reviewing the sentences, we discovered that using active verbs, using specific evidence, and adjectives prove to be successful in describing the mood and how it is developed throughout a text. Then, we dove deeper into the meaning of tone and looked at some examples. An example of tone is “Andrew Clark is the student athlete from The Breakfast Club and Andrew Clark is the jock from the Breakfast Club”. The key word here being used are “student athlete” and “jock”. We see that using “jock” (connotation) gives off a stereotypical connotation of a negative feeling while “student athlete” (denotation) gives off a more positive feeling, a more prestigious setting.  Denotation is the literal definition of the word. Connotation is the socially understood meaning of a word. “Jock” is a socially understood meaning of a word that gives the impression that someone is not as smart nor intelligent, “a meathead”. The key difference between connotation and denotation is that connotation is socially understood meaning that it can and most likely will change meaning over time. The last discussion we talked about was to always remember to vary tone to fit the audience and purpose.

Alexis Reeder- November 1, 2016

          Today in class, we learned how to distinguish the difference between mood and tone.
The questions you always want to think about while you read a poem or short story are: What mood is present? How is it developed? How can we pare this down to a singular, specific sentence.
Together the class read "the Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe and discussed it amongst each other.
My group explained how "Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe develops a suspenseful mood through its slow, drawn out passages of description as well as frequent and poignant psychotic narration in regard to both the main character and his murderous actions.

        What is tone? Tone is the attitude a test toward its subject Almost always implicit Denotation the literal definition of a wordWhich is always positive. Connotation the socially understood meaning of a word which is negative and can change over time.