F Period: WRITING PIECES WERE DUE TODAY!!!! I only received SEVEN of them! I will allow you to turn them in tomorrow. They must be typed. If I do not have them tomorrow, I am not taking them because I am devoting some of my vacation time to grading and I do not want to grade writing pieces, especially late ones, after vacation is over. If you have any questions, please e-mail me and i will respond promptly.

P.S. Feel free to e-mail me your writing pieces!

It looks like you guys had a FABULOUS trip! Even the boat trip looked like fun!

I miss everyone!

It looks like we may be getting out of the hospital today and moving in to the Boston Ronald McDonald House - exciting but a little scary. It's nice that Hannah is well enough that everyone feels confident we'll be able to make it without a team of doctors and nurses holding us up. She's pretty worried - I think she's worried that I'm no doctor and certainly no nurse. But we are both looking forward to a night's sleep without any hospital sounds!

Nice to hear from Shelley- thanks for writing! It sounds like you are doing well!

Wow - I've used more exclamation points in this entry than anyone should be allowed in a lifetime. Sorry about that. I think I'm trying to put a positive spin on everything even though I am very nervous.

By the way, I've been working to master the challenge of Sudoku . . . hard to do when you're number-phobic like I am. But I'm getting the hang of it. I just started last week and almost gave up. Over the weekend, a friend helped me do a few puzzles and showed me some strategies - it gave me away to start. That made me think of two things - first, I thought of Prudence and her endless Sudoku. Second, I thought about how anything new is difficult if you don't have any strategies, any ideas how to approach it. Ummmmm. . . that made me think about reading and writing and vocabulary. That's what English class and English teachers do: we give you strategies, lessons, ideas how to approach the challenges of reading and writing. Then you have the tools to accept the challenge on your own. Isn't that the coolest thing? I love how even numbers relate back to English! (Uh-oh . . . ANOTHER exclamation point.)

I've been reading but nothing noteworthy. Chris Bohjalian has a new book which my mom bought and loaned to me; I'm starting it today. I've loved EVERY one of his books - they all have a New Englandy charm and usually star a fascinating woman. Plus, I met the author. He spoke here at a Bunch of Grapes event about three or four years ago. My mom tells me that this book starts with a rape/assault and that it might be too disturbing for some readers. She also said that she needs to talk about it because it left her confused . . . Don't worry about that, though - I know I've told you about my mother and movies (WHO is that? Why is she doing that? What's going on NOW?), and she's the same way about books. Read it yourself and let me know what you think.

I also got a novel that's a pseudo-memoir of Jackie Kennedy - I read a favorable review, but I'll let you know. I like the concept of a fake autobiography of a famous figure. And I have my hands on a brand new Susan Isaacs novel - promising. Also, Shopaholic and Baby is coming out TOMORROW! I will be first in line!

All right, I'm taking my exclamation points and getting out of here. Hope you all have a lovely vacation. Miss you!

Ms. Wallace

Alrighty, so by now you have finished the play! Wahoo! Get ready for the field trip! Remember, we are taking the 8:15 boat, NOT THE 9:30, so be at the steamship by 7:45. Get some Motts for breakfast or eat before you leave your house.

There is no vocabulary this week and no dialogue journals.

F PERIOD~
Dialogue journals were due today. I didn't get all of them, so I will allow you to turn them in on Tuesday, 20 February for full credit. If i do not have them by Tuesday, a permanent zero goes down in the gradebook.

Also, you have a writing piece due next Thursday, the 22 of February. It was assigned last week, it is on the board, and I will remind you in class. PLEASE DON"T FORGET!

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Thanks to all who made valentines to and from characters in
A Midsummer Night's Dream!!

I hope everyone is super duper excited about our field trip to Boston this coming Wednesday. Remember: we are taking the 8:15 boat; get to the Steamship Authority no later than 7:45! Thanks!








For those of you who did not take the quiz today, you are responsible for taking it on or before Friday.

We will be watching the film A Midsummer Night's Dream in class on Friday!

Hi, everyone! Hope you are all doing well!

Special shout-out to Dan: I LOVED getting a posted comment from you. Sounds like Ms. S is doing a great job; I still miss you guys, though. I loved A Million Little Pieces even though there are LOTS of disgusting parts at the beginning: the dentist! Even though it's long in terms of pages, lots of the pages have big margins and the story is pretty compelling so it goes quickly. I'm not sure that I agree that the guy is hopeless. He seems pretty convinced that he's going to make it, that he can survive. I don't know why he's so convinced - his whole life seems like evidence that he won't make it. I might give up if it were me. Maybe not. I'm impressed that he keeps going at all. Hope you continue to like it. I'm glad you did well on your mid-term - I am terrible at tests! I get bored and mad and rush through . . . And don't worry about the posts wearing me out - it takes A LOT to wear ME out! You're the best!

So I read A Sudden Country as I mentionned last post. It was a great story of a family traveling to Oregon Territory in the 1840s. I sort of like tragic pioneer tales. This had a love story, too. The critics compared it to Cold Mountain which I haven't read. If anyone knows Rachel Fauteux, suggest A Sudden Country to her. I remember she liked Cold Mountain. Or at least she read it. The best thing about this book was the vocabulary; I had to read it with a dictionary beside me! I didn't know how vocabulary illiterate I was! I am very impressed with this author's ability to use such fancy words in such a natural way.

I'm reading a book called Polly by Amy Bryant right now. It's interesting - about a girl growing up in the 70's and 80's - my time period so I'm familiar with fads like Forenza sweaters and roller rinks and such. The story of the girl's life is told in an interesting way - each chapter is about a relationship with a guy starting with her 6th grade crush Tommy. It provides a peculiar window on a girl's life. The writing is very believable - it feels like a memoir, but it's a novel.

Did I tell you that I wrote a poem for this book being produced by the oncology ward of the hospital? The book is called Faces of Hope. Hannah will have a poem in it, and other children and families will have writing and pictures included. They are working on layout designs right now so it will be out soon. I am a soon-to-be-published author. I'm practically famous. Do you feel so lucky to know me?

That's probably about it for now. Stay warm and keep reading!

Love, Ms. Wallace

PRE-WEEKEND UPDATE!

First things first, thanks to my F period class for decorating the clock with play-dough and making a snail, very inconspicuous of you!

For all of you overachievers, i've posted vocab 19 for next week. I know you will most likey be spending your entire weekend getting definitions, writing sentences and studying. It would be a great way to spend a Friday or Saturday night don't you think?

HONORS: For Monday, you should be through Act IV of A Midsummer Night's Dream, we're on the home stretch here, and the field trip is only 11 days away! I think that because i didn't assign dialogue journals this week, they will be due next Friday (2 entries). That way, i'll have them back to you before vacation and we can get back on our regular schedule.

A Period: You should be to page 113 in Catcher in the Rye for Monday, expect a quiz!

F Period: You should be to page 113 in Catcher in the Rye for Tuesday, expect a quiz!

VOCABULARY 19

CLANDESTINE -adj- secret

INVECTIVE -n- abuse (verbal)

DEFERENCE -n- great respect

INVEIGLE -v- to lead astray, OR..... to wheedle (which means cajole, or beg and beg and beg until you get what you want

DISPARITY -n- lack of equality, difference

EFFACE -v- to wipe out, to erase

EMENDATION -n- correction of errors, improvement

POTABLE -adj- suitable for drinking

TRUNCATE -v- to cut the top off

GRATUITOUS -adj- freely given; unnecessary, uncalled for, negative



ADDITIONAL 5 FOR HONORS.....


BENEFICENT -adj- kindly, good

IMPROVIDENT -adj- not thrifty

INVIDIOUS -adj- designed to create ill-will or envy

MEIN -n- demeanor, bearing, the way you carry yourself

RAMSHACKLE -adj- rickety, falling apart

MND ACT III Scene ii
Miss Simison
8 February 2007
Handout IV

I know, I know, it was a long scene! But it was wonderful, right?

Puck tells Oberon about Bottom’s transformation and how the ass is the new object of Titania’s love.
“When in that moment, so it came to pass,
Titania wak’d and straightway loved an ass.” (lines 33-34)

Oberon is more than pleased with the result.

How do you think Puck feels when he is telling Oberon all the mischief he has been causing?


Who’s in the dark?
Demetrius: He left Helena before she woke Lysander up and was beloved of him because of the love-
charm. All he knows is that Helena told him of the planned elopement and he wants Hermia for himself and is searching for her.
Hermia: Lysander left her sleeping when he left to follow Helena. When she wakes up, she sees Demetrius, and we see Hermia begging Demetrius for information on Lysander’s location. Hermia says that Lysander would NEVER leave her side, and accuses Demetrius of killing Lysander.

As we know, Puck has made the mistake of applying the love-charm to Lysander instead of Demetrius.
“What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite,
And laid the love juice on some true-love’s sight.
Of thy misprision must perforce ensue
Some true love turn’d, and not a false turn’d true.” (lines 88-91)

Puck has turned a true love into a false one and has not turned any false love true.


Oberon and Puck realize the mistake and as a quick fix, Oberon enchants Demetrius and sends Puck to find Helena so Demetrius can fall in love with her.

What is the simile Oberon uses to describe how Demetrius will see Helena when he wakes up?

Uh oh: both men love Helena and this makes for an interesting scene when all four lovers are together.
When Lysander and Helena enter the spot where Demetrius is napping, the moment when Lysander argues that Demetrius loves Hermia and not Helena is the same moment when Demetrius wakes up and immediately declared his great love for Helena:
Lysander: Demetrius loves her, and he loves not you
Demetrius: (Awakening) O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine! (lines 136-137)

Helena’s reaction?


How does Hermia think Helena has won Lysander?

Yes, even back in the 16th century, there were girl fights, and the argument that ensues between Hermia and Helena is priceless.

Oberon has an antidote for the love-charm and instructs Puck to apply it to Lysander. Oberon will apply it to Titania once he has the little Indian boy.

Puck and the voices:
Puck sees Lysander searching for Demetrius
Puck speaks in Demetrius’s voice and Lysander goes toward the voice
Demetrius enters after hearing Lysander’s voice.
Demetrius calls Lysander a coward.
Puck eggs Demetrius on by speaking like Lysander.
Puck leads Demetrius away.
Lysander comes back, is tired, and decides to rest
Puck tires Demetrius out and he, too, falls asleep.
Helena enters, also very tired, and asks for sleep in hopes that it will put her out of misery.
Hermia enters, exhausted and also falls asleep.



What are Hermia’s last words before she falls asleep?

Puck chants Lysander and gives him the antidote,

We leave the scene with all four lovers sleeping.

Extra Credit for Vocabulary 18

babaltrice-n- a female babbler

badot-adj- silly. From a French word meaning 'a gaping idler'

baisemain-n- an obsolete word meaning a kiss on the hand

bubulcitate-v- to cry like a cowboy

quagswag-v- to shake back and forth

kench-v- to laugh loudly

F Period: If I do not have your dialogue journals, which were due by LAST Thursday, this Wednesday, you will receive a zero that cannot be changed. Your Vocab 18 quiz is Friday and your sentences are due Wednesday. You should be to page 80 in Catcher for Wednesday, and 98 for Friday. We will continue to work on our Methods of Characterization: Holden projects in class.

A-B-C~ Quiz and sentences for Thursday please!

A- you should be to page 98 in Catcher for Thursday. Also, you have two dialogue journals due. We will continue to work on our Methods of Characterization: Holden projects in class.

B and C- you must be through Act III of MND for Thursday, no dialogue journals for you.

We miss you Sophie! Good luck in Mr. Sawyer's class and have fun re-reading Catcher in the Rye!

MAGNETIC POETRY FROM THE CLASSROOM!!

MND ACT III Scene i
Miss Simison
6 February 2007
Handout IV

Yep, we’re still in the woods. And we are re-visited by the Athenian Workmen Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout, and Starveling. In yet another comical scene, they rehearse their play.
Bottom alerts Quince to things in the play that may not please the audience:
1. Pyramus must kill himself with a sword
Solution: Leave the killing out? Reciting a prologue that explains everything…the swords are harmless, Pyramus isn’t really dead…..Pyramus is actually Bottom the Weaver. Make believe is make believe.
2. Won’t the ladies be afraid of the lion?
Solution: The lion costume doesn’t completely cover the actor, and announcement that the lion isn’t really a lion, and that his name is actually Snug the Joiner
There are two other production problems:
1. Thisbe and Pyramus are supposed to meet by moonlight
Solution: The moon is supposed to shine the night of the play, the almanac says so, so a window was going to be opened but then Quince offers the alternative of having a man presenting moonshine with a lantern and thorn bush
The men don’t want to take a chance with the real moon, they think it’s better to have one of their own men standing by instead of relying on something natural that may not be there
2. Thisbe and Pyramus must talk through a wall
Solution: Bottom says to have a man with some sort of substance on him stand in for a wall and hold his fingers up for Pyramus and Thisbe to speak through
They way they treat the play intensifies the relationship between ILLUSION and REALITY. The men insist on differentiating between the two during their performance of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe.’ The result? Comedy, which is a contrast to all the confusions in the play.


Perhaps the most important part of this play with when Puck places the head of an ass on Bottom. The rest of the men flee the wood because they fear they are haunted and Bottom is alone. Keep in mind that this takes place right after the men have made sure the man playing the lion is recognized as a man, and not a lion, so as not to confuse the audience. What does this make them think about the seemingly solid world?

Bottom is very confused as to why his friends have left him and figures they are playing a practical joke on him.

Now that Bottom is an ass from the neck up, is there a better creature for Titania to fall in love with? Nope!
Bottom’s whistling wakes Titania and she’s in love!
How does Bottom respond? Easy graciousness with extraordinary new companions. He has an ability to adapt immediately to whatever life offers him. His innocence gets him into the fairy world and he enjoys it

We also meet four fairies……what is Bottom’s response to the following two?

Cobweb: he will use him if he cuts his finger, cobwebs were used to stop bleeding

Mustardseed: Bottom says he is aware of the patience associated with him and says that mustardseed has caused his eyes to water, which refers to the spice.

VOCABULARY 18

TACTLESS -adj- having no skill in dealing with people; rude; insensitive

THWART -v- to stop something from happening; to hinder. oppose, or frustrate

UNOBTRUSIVE -adj- not noticeable; inconspicuous, seeming to belong

VICARIOUS adj- to experience through someone or something else

WHET -v- to increase, sharpen, stimulate

ADMONISH -v- to caution or warn, to criticize or warn midly but firmly

AMBIVALENCE -n- indecision, experiencing contradictory emotions

ASSUAGE -v- to soothe, make less severe, to satisfy, ease, lessen

BLITHE -adj- cheerful, carefree

CATALYST -n- something which causes reactions in other things without being affected itself

ADDITIONAL 5 FOR HONORS..........


BLANDISHMENT -n- flattery, sweet talk

COEVAL -adj- of the same or equal age, or duration, originating or existing during the same period

MOLLIFY -v- appease, calm, to pacify

PRETEXT -n- a false reason put forth to hide the real one

RECTIFY -v- to correct, to straighten, amend, revise, set right

Hey ms wallace, its dan. things in english class couldn't get any better except if you were there, but overall everything is good. Seems like your getting back into reading again, i finished my book Murder At A Vineyard Mansion and i moved on to another book. Ms. S gave us the choice and we picked ou the book a Million Little Pieces, it is good but this guy is very hopless in this story, and it is quite long. It hasn't snowed in a while and i dont think it will, so i'm waiting for the wonderful summer. I did well on the mid term and hope for a good grade for the year. try not to let all this typing on the blog wear you out, ms. s is taking all the responsibility for the class, and i heard richie might come back, tell me what you think of that and get back to me when you can.
Good to talk
Dan