Thursday, December 14, 2017

December 14 ... Exams, Review, and Last Chance at Optional Quiz/Test


  • Macbeth Projects - are LATE ... but LATE is still better than a zero.  If your name is on my side board, I have not received your project.



  • Exams are next week ... ours will be a CBA/STAAR style exam with cold reads and questions from them as well as some questions over editing and revising.  You may want to review the following
    • WORDS TO REVIEW: Rectitude, Sophisticated, Elegant, Candid, Ponderous, Refined, Plausible, Forthright, Transparency, Desperation, Decisiveness, Uprightness, Induced, Retinue, Savor, Piety, Clemency
    • LITERARY CONCEPTS TO REVIEW: Figurative Language, Symbol, Tone, Theme, Conflict, Summary
    • REVISING/EDITING REVIEW: Capitalization Rules, Using Hyphens, Writing Numbers in a Sentence, Comma Rules, Using Colons and Semicolons,

  • Optional Test/Quiz

    • ANSWER ANY 2 for a bonus QUIZ grade
    • ANSWER ALL 5 for a bonus TEST grade
    • TURN IN BY THURSDAY 12/14!
    1. How and why is the contrast between appearance and reality so important in the play? Include the role the witches play in affecting the play’s events. 
    2. What is Shakespeare saying about the nature of prophecy and fate? Just because the witches predict things doesn’t mean they’re able to see the future…right? 
    3. What is Shakespeare saying about what it means to be a man? Which character(s) do you think Shakespeare believes is the best example of a man? 
    4. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change dramatically over the course of the play, and their marriage changes, too. What are these changes, what causes them, and how and why is their relationship in the end so different from their relationship in the beginning? 
    5. At the end of the play, is Macbeth’s death a good or bad thing, i.e., are we satisfied to see Macbeth defeated or upset to see a potentially great man fall? Finally, is Macbeth a tragic hero?

  • Semester Exam Schedule - https://www.sfisd.org/cms/lib/TX02215329/Centricity/Domain/203/Fall%20Semester%20Final%20Exam%20Schedule.pdf

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

December 12 ... Projects, Make-up Journal, and bonus TEST or QUIZ grade



  • Many of you did not do the following journal on November 27 - if not, you can complete it today before the end of the period to replace the 0 in the grade book for it.  MUST be turned in by Wednesday.
    • Minimum 250 word original journal response to the following prompt: 
      • Is Macbeth truly an evil man or is a good man who made some evil choices? Explain and use SPECIFIC events from the play to support your argument. (Min 250 words. MUST be made up by 12/13.)

  • You can submit it to me on paper or eletronically - email it to Richard.Davis@sfisd.org

  • Macbeth Projects - You will not be exempt unless your project has been turned in and graded.  Most of you took care of that yesterday ... I will begin signing exemption paperwork tomorrow.

  • Bonus Quiz or Test Grade ... if you need an additional grade to help your average ... 
    • ANSWER ANY 2 for a bonus QUIZ grade
    • ANSWER ALL 5 for a bonus TEST grade
    • TURN IN BY THURSDAY 12/14!
  1. How and why is the contrast between appearance and reality so important in the play? Include the role the witches play in affecting the play’s events. 
  2. What is Shakespeare saying about the nature of prophecy and fate? Just because the witches predict things doesn’t mean they’re able to see the future…right? 
  3. What is Shakespeare saying about what it means to be a man? Which character(s) do you think Shakespeare believes is the best example of a man? 
  4. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change dramatically over the course of the play, and their marriage changes, too. What are these changes, what causes them, and how and why is their relationship in the end so different from their relationship in the beginning? 
  5. At the end of the play, is Macbeth’s death a good or bad thing, i.e., are we satisfied to see Macbeth defeated or upset to see a potentially great man fall? Finally, is Macbeth a tragic hero? [Most tragic heroes before Shakespeare’s characters were primarily evil by the end. Consider Othello.]

Monday, December 11, 2017

December 11 ... Macbeth Projects Due ...




  • MACBETH PROJECTS DUE TODAY!!
    • If you created yours online - via Office 365 or Twitter or whatever other means you used, you need to share it or email it to me at Richard.Davis@sfisd.org ... try to include your class period in the e-mail subject to make it a little easier for me to sort them all out.

    • If you aren't quite finished ... get it finished during the period and get it turned in.
    • Anything not turned in today (unless we have already discussed your situation) will be late and subject to a late penalty according to the district grading policy.
    • Grades will be posted ASAP - if you fail to turn in a project by the time I post grades, it WILL go into the gradebook as a 0 (and keep in 

Thursday, December 7, 2017

December 7 ... Macbeth Project Workday


Reminder - the project is due on Monday, December 11.  It is a major/test grade.


You have the day to work on your Macbeth project - but you need to do so quietly and productively or we will use the time for something else (like journal writing).

If you have questions in class, ask.  If you have them outside of class, email me at richard.davis@sfisd.org and I will do my best to answer quickly.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

December 5 ... Macbeth Project Workday


You have the day to work on your Macbeth project - but you need to do so quietly and productively or we will use the time for something else (like journal writing).

Reminder - the project is due on Monday, December 11.  It is a major/test grade.

If you have questions in class, ask.  If you have them outside of class, email me at richard.davis@sfisd.org and I will do my best to answer quickly.