As we have discussed in class, we are starting The Joy Luck Club next week. I gave you three options for getting the book: 1) finding it yourself, if you would like to see if you can get a used copy from Half Price Books or if you already have it, 2) ordering a copy of your own to keep for $12 from Bellaire, or 3) checking a copy out from Bellaire.

If you decided to find the book yourself, here is the Amazon link to it.

If you’re ordering it from a local bookseller, the title is The Joy Luck Club. The author is Amy Tan, and the ISBN is 0143038095.

Please make sure that you have your book by Friday, October 20.

If you ordered a book from the school, please bring your $12 to school on Monday or Tuesday.

If you’re checking out a book from the school, I’ll help you with that next week.

Today we talked about the ending of the Odyssey, and then I announced our last Odyssey-related task: a group essay over a theme. Here are those instructions and topics: The Odyssey – Group Essay on Theme.

Homework for tonight is to work on this. I also told you that you’ll have all of tomorrow and the time after your quiz on Monday. This assignment will be due on Tuesday.

Remember that we’re having a showing of O Brother, Where Art Thou? tomorrow!

Thank you for your hard work on the PSAT! Homework was to read the second part of the Penelopiad and complete the reading guide (The Penelopiad Part 2 Reading Guide   The Penelopiad – The Maids).

Here are the results from today’s quiz – good show! I’m really proud of you and impressed. Quite a few of you who have struggled on the last two really brought up your scores, and it seems like those of you who studied saw that reflected in your grades.

The average score across all classes was a round 90.0. And 17 people had perfect scores! 🙂

IMPORTANT: Please remember to go to your assigned room for the PSAT tomorrow!

A few of you sent me into a panic this afternoon when you asked where the PSAT tickets I was supposed to give you were. I did some checking with other English teachers, and no one was given tickets to pass out to students. If you want a ticket, you can print one out from your College Board account, or you can just show up to your room assignment tomorrow.

Here are those room assignments:

As for today, we took your third vocabulary and grammar quiz. If you missed it, please come in on Friday during lunch to make it up.

No homework tonight! Get a good night’s rest!

Hi, students –

Unfortunately, I have caught a cold and won’t be able to be with you on Monday. I have asked your substitute to give you the reading and reading guide (The Penelopiad, Part 1). Please read this in class silently and answer the questions on your own. You’ll turn that in to me at the beginning of class on Tuesday, when we will take the vocabulary and grammar quiz.

Please be very, very good for your substitute – I want to hear that he or she was so impressed with your intelligence and comportment!

-Ms. Chapman

We finished the Odyssey! Our study of this epic poem culminated in a nice conversation and a viewing of Crash Course:

With our remaining time, we finished vocabulary are discussed adjectives and adverbs (please see the grammar tab for those resources).

You don’t have any reading or homework for the weekend, but please be studying for your vocabulary and grammar quiz on Monday! (Remember that Vocabulary.com is a great resource for this.)

A few important announcements about extra credit:

1. This Friday afternoon’s movie will be the second half of the Odyssey. We’ll start at 3:30 and finish up a little after 5:00. Come by to see what happens when Odysseus confronts the suitors (and earn 10 points of extra credit for next week’s quiz!).
2. You also have the opportunity to earn 10 points of extra credit on one of your summer reading essays by attending the practice PSAT session this Saturday at Bellaire. Sign up here.

Speaking of the PSAT, we’ll be taking that this upcoming Wednesday, so classes that day will be very short. The PSAT is a great way to see if you are ready for the real SAT and to earn National Merit status, which might qualify you for some bug scholarships.

In class, we started with a discussion of the big battle scene in the great hall of the palace of Ithaca! With our remaining time, we discussed the majority of the vocabulary words on Odyssey List 3. Please remember that you can be practicing those by going to Vocabulary.com.

Homework for tonight is that portion of the Odyssey (Books 23 and 24 Reading Guide).

We did a big recap of what’s happened in the Odyssey so far, in advance of the big battle scene you’re about to read! Students also read the short story, Blindness – if you were absent, please come get a copy.

Tonight’s homework is the reading guide for Books 21 and 22 (Books 21 and 22 Reading Guide).

We began today with a quick discussion of Books 11 and 12 of The Odyssey. Then students watched this short film:

and answered these questions (The Science Behind the Myth of Homer’s Odyssey).

With the remaining 20 – 25 minutes, I gave students a chance to get a head start on tonight’s reading guide (Books 15, 16, and 17 Reading Guide). Most of you said that you were able to finish half of that in class.

And as a reminder, this week’s extra credit film on Friday afternoon will be the second half of The Odyssey.