We began by discussing the questions on “The Cask of Amontillado.” We also talked about the third CMC reading guide, the second CMC vocabulary list, and these notes on gerunds: Gerunds Notes and Practice.

I also gave students the fourth CMC reading guide, which is due on Tuesday: CMC Reading Guide 3

We read Edgar Allen Poe’s famous short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” in class today. Here is the text of the story: The Cask of Amontillado Story. Here’s a link to a nice audio version.

Students answered multiple choice questions about the story after reading it – if you were absent, please come see me on Friday, January 22 to make that up.

Today students took their CMC Vocabulary 1 + appositives quiz. If you were absent, you will need to come in NEXT Friday (January 22) to make it up, as I will not be here this Friday.

I asked students to complete the infinitives notes and practice tonight (Infinitives Notes and Practice); you will not be turning it in tomorrow, but infinitives will be on next week’s quiz.

I also gave students the CMC Reading Guide 3, which is due on Wednesday: CMC Reading Guide 3

We spent all of today’s class period writing essays on ambition. If you were absent, please come see me to make it up.

As a reminder, homework for the weekend is the second Count of Monte Cristo reading guide. You also have a vocabulary quiz over List 1 and appositives on Monday. And you have the option to earn 10 points of extra credit by completing the viewing guide for the 2006 version of Marie Antoinette.

We started today’s class with a discussion of the first part of The Count of Monte Cristo – it looks like you all were able to understand the beginning of the book!

Next, we talked about transitions and appositives: Ambition Essay – Transitions Handout    Appositives Notes and Practice

You will need to use both of these in your essay which you will write tomorrow. I gave you the rubric and the prompt today so that you can start prewriting: Ambition Essay Rubric    Ambition Essay Prompt

We will spend all of tomorrow’s class period writing that essay.

I also let you know about an extra credit opportunity – you can watch Marie Antoinette for 10 points on your CMC Vocab 1 and Appositives quiz on Monday. Here is that viewing guide: Marie Antoinette Film Viewing Guide

And I gave your the CMC Reading Guide 2 (due on Monday) so that you can go ahead and start reading, if you would like: CMC Reading Guide 2

We continued our conversation about the French Revolution and its aftermath today. Here is the Schema Guide that we discussed: CMC Schema Study Guide

We also went over our first CMC vocabulary list – our quiz will be on Monday.

Homework for tonight is to complete the first CMC reading guide: CMC Reading Guide 1. That’s due tomorrow (Thursday), when we’ll discuss the beginning of the book.

Welcome back! We’re getting started on The Count of Monte Cristo, and in order to make the book a little more intelligible, we’ll be going over some French history. Today we started by watching Crash Course: French Revolution. Next, we worked on analyzing some paintings related to the era: The French Revolution and Art Notes

We’ll play with this a little tomorrow:

Make a French wig!

And no homework for tonight – hurray! 🙂

Students wrote their final exam essays in class today. If you were absent, please come make this up during lunch on Friday.

No homework for tonight! 🙂 Please take advantage of the time to be studying for your final.

Additionally, I am still not feeling well and there is a possibility that you might have a substitute teacher tomorrow. If that is the case, I want you to work with your JLC groups on your poster product – you should already have the guidelines. Complete a rough draft on a sheet on notebook paper so that you are ready to go on Thursday when I give you the paper.

Some important information about the field trip – if you are going with us, we will be leaving at 8:30 on Wednesday. Please ask your 1st period teacher to allow you to leave at 8:20 and meet in front of the MPR. We should be departing from the Rice side of campus. Remember that you do not need to bring lunch – we’ll be eating at Ocean Palace (vegetarian options included). All of my students will be on Bus #2. If I am not there tomorrow, will you please make sure that your friends have heard this information?

Students had their last Joy Luck Club discussion in class today. Homework (which you had a significant amount of time in class to begin) was to read and annotate the supplementary nonfiction piece that your group selected – either “The Price of Nice Nails from the NYT or a chapter from the book The Rape of Nanking.

The biggest thing that you need to remember is that you have your final exam essay on Monday!

We continued working on our Joy Luck Club discussion groups in class today; please make sure that you’re done with your last reading guide for Friday’s class.

VERY IMPORTANT: On Monday, December 7, you will write the essay portion of your final exam in class. Here is the prompt: 2014 English 1A Fall Final Exam Essay. You may do pre-writing over the weekend if you wish, but you may not write the essay (or an “outline” that is basically an essay) at home. My recommendation is that you prepare by knowing what your thesis and your examples will be.