Thursday, December 19, 2013

 

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 16

 

Number a paper 1 – 28 (do not skip lines)

 

Today each table will create a 7-question “Who Said It” test (on a dry erase board):

·         Using all of Romeo & Juliet Act 1 (pages 807-839), find 7 different moments of the play and write out a key quote from each of these moments…

·         Write your answer key on the back of the boards.

• Number your quotes accordingly:
• Table 1 = #1-7
• Table 2 = #8-14
• Table 3 = #15-21
• Table 4 = #22-28

 

·         When your team is finished with your 7 quotes, take all 4 tests.

 

 

 

·         Watch OLD video: Act 1

 

ENGLISH homework:

 

None

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 16

 

MANTRA:

Drama thrives only when characters are

in crisis, in extremes, in trouble.

 

 

Today you will continue scripting your latest scenes. These scenes should be 5 – 10 pages in length.

 

REMEMBER: No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them - in order that the reader may see what they are made of.  

 

After attendance, go to Lab 100…do not sit near a good friend. This is a writing session.

 

PLAYWRITING homework:

 

None

 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

 

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 15

 

·         Collect yesterday’s classwork…be sure to STAPLE your Queen Mab drawing to your questions 1-7 and 1-10 questions from the other day. TO BE COLLECTED

·         Complete and return PINK survey (on center table).

·         Next, using your book, list 6 different things that happened in Act 1.5.

 

A brief summary of Act 1.5 from:

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/SceneTextIndex.html

 

Act 1, Scene 5: At Capulet's house, Romeo and his friends enter as preparations are being made for the dancing. The musicians are tuning up, and the servants are hurrying to clear away the remains of the feast. . . . Capulet enters, greets the masked strangers, and invites them to dance. Romeo sees Juliet and says to himself that this is the first time he's seen true beauty. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and sends for his sword, but Capulet orders Tybalt to do nothing. Saying that he'll make Romeo pay, Tybalt leaves. . . . Romeo holds Juliet's hand, and begs a kiss, which she gives him. They kiss again, and then both are called away. As everyone is leaving, they each learn the name of the other, and they each exclaim upon the fate that has made each fall in love with his/her enemy.

 

View QUEEN MAB drawings!

 

Grade yesterday’s tests

 

Watched scenes 4 and 5 on video

 

ENGLISH homework:

 

None

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 15

 

·         Complete and return PINK survey (on center table).

·         Complete “List of Values” (GREEN) exercise… mark the values which most resonate with you, and then sort your list in order of priority…if you don’t know what a word means, skip it.

·         Question: Answer each of the following about your current script idea:

1. Why this moment? (in other words, why now and not later?)
2. What’s going to make the audience care about the outcome of this scene?
3. Name the non-violent conflict in your scene.
4. List each character in your scene. Next to their names, list which of the following characteristics apply to each:

·         Personality – interesting (not boring)

·         Dynamic

·         Unpredictable

·         Imperfect/flawed

·         Complicated (layered)

·         Relatable

·         Spontaneous

·         Conflicted

·         Before scripting your scene…

o   Define the conflict in one sentence.

o   What kind of crisis will begin your play?

o   REMEMBER: Drama does not examine human beings at leisure.

§  Drama examines human beings in extremes. Under pressure. In trouble. Within conflict.

§  If you want to find out what a person is made of, put that person under pressure.

§  Good playwrights remember: “Always keep your hero in trouble.”

·         Begin scripting your scene.

 

PLAYWRITING homework:

None

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

 

 

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 14

 

Clear your desk (in preparation to take Dramatic Literary Terms test)

 

When you finish your test, on your own, read Act 1.5, pgs. 833 - 839

 

After you’re done reading,

1.      Sketch a simple picture of Queen Mab and her carriage according to Mercutio’s description.

2.      ADD 10 quotes to your drawing…

§  Next to each detail you drew, write in the word-for-word quotation from the speech that told you what to draw…

·         For example:

1.      “Her wagoner, a small, gray-coated gnat”

2.      “Her whip, of cricket’s bone; the lash, of film”

 

·         TO BE COLLECTED TODAY or TOMORROW (staple these together)…

1.      Answers to questions 1 – 7 and 1 - 10 (from yesterday)

2.      Today’s labeled drawing of Queen Mab and her carriage

 

ENGLISH homework:

 

Finish your drawing of Queen Mab and her carriage (see page 830-831 for 10 details)

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PLAYWRITING – Day 14

 

·         Return biographical sketches (and other graded work).

 

·         Post grades.

 

·         Discussed what it is that makes the audience care about a character and the outcome of a scene.

 

• We decided that it is crucial that the audience be able to relate to the character.
• First, we considered relating on the surface: gender, appearance, personality, interests, habits
• Next, we considered sharing a VALUE with the character.
• What is a value?
• How to spend disposable income: save it, buy clothes, donate it, burn it, gamble it, restaurants…
• If the audience could relate to the character on a VALUE level, perhaps the writer can get them to care about the outcome of a scene.
• Created 5 possible scenarios for the 2 characters we wrote biographical sketches for.

 

PLAYWRITING homework:

None

Monday, December 16, 2013

 

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 13

 

Collect homework: 7 characters from Act 1 – love and marriage

 

WARMUP: Using your Literary Terms handout, answer the following:

1. What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?
2. Write a sentence that contains an allusion to Santa Claus.
3. Create an epithet for the celebrity of your choice.
4. Name the oxymoron for each of the following words: apart, blame, rare, vertical, loose, plural
5. What literary term means emotional relief?
6. What’s the definition of a couplet?
7. How do you suppose “blank verse” got its definition?

 

 

Answer the following 4 questions:

 

…about why some people think each of the following kinds of dreams are important…

1.      the ones we dream at night,

2.      the ones we have while awake, and

3.      the ones we have for our futures

4.      where do you think dreams come from?

 

Watched video on dreaming… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGzc3x9WJU&feature=player_embedded#!

 

Listened to Act 1, Scene 4…introducing us to a new character: Mercutio

 

Using your textbooks Act 1.4 lines 71 – 88 (pg. 830-831), name the dreams that Queen Mab delivers for each of the following characters?

1.      Lovers dream of:

2.      Courtiers (first mention) dream of:

3.      Lawyers dream of:

4.      Ladies dream of:

5.      Courtiers (second mention) dream of:

6.      A parson dreams of:

7.      A soldier dreams of:

8.      Why do you suppose Mercutio tells such a fantastic story to Romeo?

 

Re-read Romeo’s mention of his two “dreams” in Act 1.4…

·         DREAM 1 - Lines 48 – 49

·         DREAM 2 - Lines 106 – 111

9. Summarize what Romeo is saying in Dream 2?

10. What do both of these dreams tell us about Romeo?

 

ENGLISH homework:

 

·         Study for Tuesday’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout

o   TO STUDY, create test questions for each of the terms.

§  Remember, you will be given definitions and examples of each…you will be asked to identify which term applies.

·         Use the link below to practice for the test with the Jeopardy game:

o   http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Mar201212/game1332198539.php

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 13

 

1.      Make a list of 5 concrete goals. These should be wants or needs or desires. They may NOT be abstract.

 

2.      Assign each of your 5 goals to a fictitious character.

 

3.      Next, create an action for each of your 5 goals above that tells us what kind of person the character is.

SAMPLE:

a.       Money

b.      A young boy

c.       A young boy steals a purse from an old lady.)

 

REMEMBER: “Character is action; action is character.”

 

4.      Imagine your 5 actions from step 3 above are criticized as “too weak.” Upgrade all 5 of your actions.

5.      For each of your 5 scenarios, create an obstacle.

6.      Choose your favorite scenario of the 5 and for the rest of this hour, write a script that starts as close to the end as possible.

 

PLAYWRITING homework:

None

Friday, December 13, 2013

 

ENGLISH – 2^nd trimester – Day 12

 

WARMUP:

1.      (TO BE COLLECTED) Using your “Dramatic Literary Terms to Know” handout…

a.       create 7 Jeopardy-like questions

b.      write an epithet for yourself

c.       In a paragraph of 4 sentences or more, describe how a person forms an opinion about love or marriage.

d.      In another paragraph, write about your feelings and attitudes about love and marriage.

 

2.      Discuss what we could infer about a person who says, “I love horror movies.”

Creepy, scary, fearless, sad, likes adrenaline rush, evil, violent, bored

3.      Using Act 1, looked up lines that reveal each of the 7 characters’ experience with, feelings about, or attitudes toward love and/or marriage. (all from Act 1) 

Scene 1 Romeo Benvolio

Scene 2 Paris Capulet

Scene 3 Juliet Lady Capulet Nurse

 

For each of the 7 characters above:

DIRECTIONS: Besides the obvious, what else does your chosen quote say about the character as a person (what can you infer)?

1.      Write the words, “Because (character) says, “_______(fill-in with word for word quote)_______________________________________” (about love or marriage), he must also believe ________(not obvious)______________.

a.       Do not simply say, “Because he says _______, he is creepy.”

2.      Write the line numbers for each quote (ex. Act 1.2.34-39)

 

ENGLISH homework:

 

·         Finish assignment above: 7 characters from Act 1 – love and marriage

·         Study for next week’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout – be able to identify both the definitions and examples of each term

·         Use the link below to practice with the Jeopardy game:

o   http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Mar201212/game1332198539.php

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 12

 

Antagonists – read from page 30…

 

• The protagonist's enemy is the antagonist, the "opposer of the action."
• anyone or anything that tries to stop the protagonist, take the ball, or get in the way.
• A good antagonist is as powerful (or more so) than the protagonist.
• A good antagonist can be a strong villain, a loved one, fate, society, weather, chance, oneself

In class assignment: create an antagonist for your protagonist – for today, the antagonist has to be a person – write that person’s biography.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

• Today you will learn how to create a character – An ANTAGONIST. Perhaps it’s a character based on a real-life person, perhaps it’s one you’ve imagined.

1. In approx. two pages, write a brief biographical sketch of this person. You are creating a fictional character, but don’t be afraid to base this character on a person or persons from real life. Maybe the character is you. Maybe it’s someone you hardly know. Choose the character’s birthdate, birthplace, and where the character grew up. Choose the character’s family, social and economic background…EVERYTHING.
2. Next describe 3 key events in that character’s life – deaths, winning the lottery, childhood scars. Now look at your biography. Is it interesting enough? Could the events and actions you’ve imagined be altered to create a more interesting person? Is there any hint of a rebellious spirit?

 

PLAYWRITING homework:

Finish ANTAGONIST biographical sketch a and b (see above for details).