B - The one conferences and literary criticism and adapted versions of texts.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the value in constructive/literary criticism?

We did some conferencing to decide what I'd report on your Learning Update.

Learners posted their adapted versions of their scenes from The Belle Strategem and we took parts to read them aloud. (Really fantastic!)

Brianna introduced John Dryden and spoke briefly about his Preface to Fables Ancient and Modern. 

REFLECT: (be ready to offer your thoughts on these questions)

• What makes a story worth telling?
• How do modern adaptations compare to what Dryden was doing? 

NEXT CLASS: Recall what I said about Dryden's contribution to the literary canon, Three Women Poets of the 18th century (Samantha)

G - The one with memory work and learning inventories.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Is memory important?

Thank you to Mr. Casiano for spending the class with you!

He said that everything went smoothly: for the first half of the class, you updated your learning inventories; for the second half of the class, you worked with your partner to memorize and prepare your dramatic readings of one of E. Pauline Johnson's poems

He also said that some of you were more focussed than others, and that some others went to see Ms. Babuin about grad event tickets, while others were stressing about your grad quotes.

PRACTISE: Update your Learning Inventories

NEXT CLASS: Learner Conferences

B - The one with all of Ms. Ignacio's wrong act and scene references.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How does Cowley's The Belle Strategem challenge 18th century ideas of femininity?

After informing me that the act and scene references I gave you for our discussion day were all incorrect, you each took an act from Cowley's play and shared a summary and food for thought with regard to 18th century ideals around men and women's perceptions of love and marriage.

PRACTISE:

• Rewrite a scene from your Act into a series of social media posts or text messages, capturing the wit and subtext in a modern format.
• Update Learning Inventory

NEXT CLASS: Learner conferences, Dryden

G - The one with pilots and paddles.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What can poetry do that prose cannot?

Learners worked in pairs to read aloud, listen to, and appreciate sound and imagery in E. Pauline Johnson's "The Pilot of the Plains" and "The Song My Paddle Sings" (see the links to the left).

Learners picked one of the poems (hopefully, the one that resonates more) and began preparations for memorizing the piece.

PRACTISE:

• Prepare a dramatic choral reading of one of Johnson's poems.
• Prepare your Learning Inventory for discussion next class.

NEXT CLASS: Learner Conferences

B - The one that didn't quite happen.

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How does Cowley's The Belle's Strategem highlight 18th century attitudes towards femininity?

I was away sick, but I think so were some of you... away on field trips and such. We will pick up Cowley's play after Spring Break.

READ:

• For April 1
• Dryden, excerpt from "Preface" Fables Ancient & Modern, p. 350
• Three Women Poets of the Eighteenth Century, p. 354
• "To the Ladies" p. 355
• For April 7
• "An Answer to a Love-Letter in Verse" p. 355
• "Slavery, a Poem" p. 356
• Samuel Pepys and from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, p. 358-365
• The Age of Pope, p. 366
• Daniel Defoe and from A Journal of the Plague Year, p. 367-371

PREPARE: What do the pieces above tell us about eighteenth century society?

• Brianna - Dryden
• Samantha - Chudleigh & Wortley Montagu
• Jaya - More
• Kylie - Pepys
• Stephanie - Defoe

G - The one about euphony and cacophony.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why is it important to consider sound and image when reading poetry?

Learners worked in triads to share their favourite lines from Stephens's poem, "The Shell." They also worked through the poem and collaborated on a theme statements and wrote a thesis sentence for an essay they won't actually write. (This is practise work. Don't worry, you'll write an explication soon enough!)

AFTER THE BREAK: E. Pauline Johnson, sound & image

B - The one with the apology from Student Council.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How did Cowley challenge eighteenth century ideas of femininity?

After a bit of a struggle to start on time because of the student council v. staff basketball game, Brianna filled us in on the social and intellectual tradition of the Restoration and 18th century.

I spoke briefly about what's going with literature in this time period, highlighting the historical and political context of the period. We discussed how this period is an age of reason not emotion!

We tried to discuss The Belle's Strategem, but learners had a difficult time remembering the text. So, I asked learners to use the rest of the period to read their notes and annotations and prepare to discuss the play on Friday. I also assigned readings for the break.

PREPARE FOR DISCUSSION:

• Act I, scene i - How does the conversation between Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle highlight the limited options women had for asserting power (in marriage)?
• Act II, scene ii - What effect does Doricourt's hyperbolic statement hold? Do you think he truly believes this or is he being dramatic?

NEXT CLASS: Brianna on the plot, Samantha on setting and Mrs. Racket, Jaya on Ms. Ogle, Mr. Touchwood