June 19

Dear students,

I am very sorry that I had to miss your exams on Tuesday and Wednesday (today). As many of you have heard by now, I was in a car accident before school yesterday. I was assessed at the hospital and released and am doing okay!! Thank you to those who sent messages of support. I appreciate it very much! 

Thank you for a great semester. I hope that you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer and a great year next year! I hope to have the chance to see you when I pop in for a visit with the baby! 

June 17 - Exam tips/hints

How to study for an English exam?


The exam consists of 2 parts: sight passage(s) (take about 1 hour for this) and essay (use about 1
hours for this).


For the exam, it is expected that you understand and are able to either define or apply (find an example of it in the text) the following terms:


- All points of view - 1st, 3rd objective, omniscient, limited
- All aspects of setting: time/place/atmosphere
- All forms of conflict
              internal conflict: person vs. self
              external conflict: person vs. person/society/nature

Other terms to know and be able to apply:

-theme
-character (protagonist/antagonist)
-tone (happy, sad, gloomy, anxious, tense, exciting, nervous, awkward, uncomfortable, etc).
- irony - situational, verbal, dramatic
-symbolism/symbol

-simile
- metaphor

- personification
- soliloquy
- tragedy
- imagery
- paradox
- oxymoron

- foreshadowing

- flashback

- pun


Part A: Sight Passage

You will be asked to read a selection or selections and answer a series of related questions. The selection
 will reflect a prominent theme. If the question asks for “direct reference” or “evidence” or “proof,” remember that you are expected to use a quotation from the selection. The more specific and precise, the better.

“Literary devices” or “figurative language” refers to similes, metaphors, personification, irony, paradox, etc. 

Remember that STYLE refers to how the author writes (i.e., what literary devices he/she uses, sentence types, vocabulary, etc.). 

Watch your time, and watch your spelling and grammar.

The theme is the MESSAGE, not subject of the story.

Highlight/underline as you go! Key ideas, messages, literary devices, characters etc. 

Part B: Essay
You will be marked on Knowledge (of the book) and structure of the essay), Thinking (specific references,
focus on the topic, thesis statement), Communication (topic/summary sentences, transitions, spelling and
grammar, third person, formal diction, present verb tense), and Application (making connections between ideas in the book and your argument and use of MLA).


Read the questions carefully. Choose ONE. 

Make a strong, clear, thesis statement that answers the question. It must be argumentative!

Remember, never "list off" points in your thesis. A proper thesis will not say: "Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet and the feud led to Romeo and Juliet's deaths".  

To begin, create a thesis and then one sentence per point (3 points) then get writing! 

June 16

Today we took up the mock exam from last week - the sight passage and the essay. We discussed all of the correct answers to all the sight passage questions and discussed good thesis statements/points for the prompts from the mock essay.

Due to the change to tomorrow's schedule (afternoon classes), it may not be possible to have CPTs marked in time for the exam the next day. They will, however, be counted on the final report card (10% of the mark).

Happy Studying! Review those notes about elements of stories/literary devices and review your knowledge of both works we studied!

May 30

We took up the corrected unit test in depth today. I collected RJ books: students who did not have them are asked to return them on Monday. 

We discussed the CPT and exam preparation extensively. 

May 28

We watched the rest of the movie and did theme reviews on chart paper. 

Test tomorrow! 

May 27

We finished the play today!!

Due to extended period 1 we did not do questions or watch video. That will be tomorrow. Test is still on Thursday!! We did our review last week for the test! 

May 23

Act 4 Questions

1. What does Juliet threaten to do in her speech to Friar Lawrence after Paris leaves? How is this similar to Act 3, Scene 3?
2. Do you think Friar Lawrence is doing the right thing by deceiving the Capulets and Paris? Explain your opinion.
3. What do you think of Juliet in this scene (scene 2)? Capulet? How are they similar?
4. What doubts enter Juliet’s mind as she prepares for bed? List one of the fears that she reveals in this scene.

Quotation Analysis Practice:

Find 2 important quotes in the play. Write them down. Swap with a partner. Individually, write down the name of the speaker, who he/she is speaking to or about (your choice) and the significance. Then share and see if you got all 4 points!