Greetings and salutations!

I'm channelling Charlotte's Web . . . We were talking about that in B period on Monday. Has a book ever been written that's better than Charlotte's Web? Remember Templeton the rat (thanks, Caleb)? And how the little girl feeds Wilbur from a bottle when he's just a baby? And the fair? Ah . . . I'm feeling nostalgic. Go back and take a look at that book again. If you haven't read it since you were little, it will probably surprise you.

Anyway, we've had a lot of work due lately and plenty more to come. Reminders for what should have been submitted and what is upcoming:

B period: Dialogue journals were due last Thursday; polished drafts were due Monday, 10/29; 3-5 pages of draft are due on Friday, 11/2; 8 grateful lists are due on 11/15 or 11/16; extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday.

C period: Character sketches are due next class (10/31) - they should be a minimum of three paragraphs; extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday; vocabulary quiz 3 was last Thursday. We will be starting vocabulary lesson 4 on Wednesday, 10/31.

D period: Polished writing and 4-6 pages of draft and extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday; 4-6 pages of draft due Friday, 11/2; dialogue journals due 11/2; 10 grateful lists due 11/15 or 11/16; work on revising polished drafts.

F period: Dialogue journals were due last Friday; polished drafts were due Friday and so were 3 - 5 pages of draft; extremely difficult projects were due last Wednesday; 3-5 more pages of draft are due on Thursday, 11/1; 8 grateful lists are due on 11/15 or 11/16.

H period: Polished writing and 4-6 pages of draft were due last Friday; extremely difficult projects were due last Wednesday; dialogue journals are due this Thursday; 4-6 pages of draft due this Thursday; work on revising polished drafts.

And, of course, vocabulary. Here's the word list:

Vocabulary 7:

1. quintessence - n - the purest form, the most typical example
2. tentative - adj. - hesitant, uncertain
3. repugnant - adj. - disgusting, loathsome
4. venerate - v - to honor or treat with great respect
5. sophomoric - adj. - immature and over-confident
6. stultifying - adj. - causing to appear stupid or useless
7. stark - adj. - desolate, grim, bleak
8. rebuff - v - to reject, to snub
9. voracious - adj. - greedy, ravenous, gluttonous
10. quiescent - adj. - sleeping, dormant, at rest

Honors only:
11. xenophobia - n - fear of foreigners/strangers
12. besmirch - v - to taint or sully or tarnish or dirty
13. imprudent - adj. - not careful
14. penurious - adj. - stingy, parsimonious
15. perfunctory - adj. - superficial, not thorough, just enough to get by

Extra credit: nictitate - v
oenophile - n
slugabed - n
thaumaturge - n
ultimogeniture - n

Phew! I'm tired just writing about all of this work. Look on the bright side, though - November is a pretty short month with Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. And tomorrow's Halloween! Trick or Treat!