Welcome Back

Second semester is upon us, and for this week we delve carefully into a new arena of English: syntax, voice, and advanced grammatical construction.
The first major situation you will deal with is syntax terms. These terms will be tested this Friday.
The first homework assignment is on loose and periodical sentence structure and its impact on reading. This will be due on Tuesday.
The second assignment will be examining different aspects of style. That handout will be given in class on Tuesday and will only be made available via Snapgrades if needed. The due date will be Thursday.

Final Countdown: Part I

Finals are coming. A week from Wednesday (12.10), 6th hour will be the first to begin the tests.
Part I: The final exam essay. The rough draft is due Wednesday. For students under 84.5 percent, the final draft is due Thursday. For students over 84.5 percent the final draft is due Friday.
Part II: Grammar Packet II. This will be made available (with final exam study guide) on Thursday and students will be working on this in-class all week, with the ability to type what you need to type at home, as part of your review.
Part III: Independent Reading Assignment due Tuesday, December 17th (via e-mail)
Part III: Grammar Final: 6th hour: Wednesday; 4th hour: Thursday; 7th hour: Friday

Media Literacy

A break from literature as we take on media literacy, something that affects all of us everyday, sometimes in adverse ways. We will be deconstructing advertisements, looking at the power of media, and examining elements of propaganda, which will be useful in AP language and literature courses later in high school plus AP history and the school's dynamic and popular Holocaust class.
The planner is online, but all students have a copy of the planner and root list #5, which will be tested on Friday.

Necklace-Ibis: The Grinch Has Arrived

Ahhh, I just got finished watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Perfect timing.
We start Monday with The Necklace. Study questions will be available in class.
The text is available online as well. I have e-mailed the text to you.
This assignment is due Wednesday, November 19th. Use this link to help you with your work:
www.unc.edu/~getkara/The%20Necklace/Home.html

The vocabulary this week is the Figure of Speech list, which will be available online as well as in class. This will be tested on Friday, November 21st.

The Scarlet Ibis "boot camp" begins Wednesday. The study guide will not be available except via class.
The text will be sent to you via e-mail and also via Snapgrades. Please consult the NEW! planner, as this is an extensive assignment. More details will be revealed on this site.
There are no late days on these assignments, so stay on top of your work!!!

Short Story Unit Week 4: Bergeron

This is the calm before a light storm.
There will not be much in the way of homework as we gear up for the last two short stories that will take us to Thanksgiving.
The hardest part of the week is the Lesson 4 and 5 vocabulary tests from the SAT/ACT lists. These are not available online, so please be sure to have copies of these!
We will be working in-class on diagramming and also the Point of View handout.
Do not forget to be reading your book for independent reading. I will need a notecard announcing which book you are reading by Friday.

Short Story Unit Week 3: Poison

Update: Harrison Bergeron is due Monday, November 11th. The text is available via online...a printable version is also available.

This week, we are focusing on Point of View and also reading Roald Dahl's "Poison". You will not be able to get the Point of View handout online or via e-mail. The text for "Poison" is now available.
A new planner, which will take us through Thanksgiving, is now available.
Root Test #4 is Friday. Also, be advised, there will be weekend homework this week, as we start "Harrison Bergeron" on Friday.
The AP Reading List (for independent reading) has been revised and is now up-to-date!
The "Grin" rubric link is now active, by the way, so be sure to check and see what is acceptable for your assignments!

Short Story Unit Week 2: The Birds

This week is actually a relatively light one (in context with the Grin), as we will be investigating du Maurier's "The Birds". The study questions, and a topic sentence assignment, are due on Thursday.
Students will also be revising their essays this week (7th hour, you will receive your essays beginning Tuesday or Wednesday). A copy of the topic sentence/context assignment and the blank for rough drafts are now online.
Fiction terms will be tested on Friday; students should be keeping a literary terms journal that will be checked the week before finals.
Students should also have a copy of the "Grin" rubric, which has been revised to warn students of what I will be "borrowing" from your assignments.

Short Story Unit Week 1

Welcome back from your much deserved break.
We are now back to work, and in week one of the short story unit. Check out the planner for the rest of the unit.
We start with "The Sniper", which is due Wednesday. The text has been provided to students in class and will not be posted online.
We will also be reading "'The Most Dangerous Game", which will be due Friday. Copies of the story are available online.
Root Test #3 is scheduled for Friday, October 24th, while Root Test #4 is November 7th

Odyssey Final Week

The Nine Weeks comes to an end next Friday, but grades for this nine weeks actually culminate on Thursday, October 9th.
The new in-class study questions are available via Snapgrades and e-mail.
The final two homework assignments for the Odyssey are available (and also via Snapgrades and e-mail). Both are Word documents.
Get the revised planner!

• Friday, October 3rd: Literary Terms Quiz #1
• Monday, October 6th: In-Class reading of the Odyssey (end of class)
• Tuesday, October 7th: Sections 1 and 2 of The Odyssey (quotes and archetypes)
• Tuesday, October 7th: Odyssey Objective Test
• Wednesday, October 8th: Odyssey five-paragraph essay due* (Students with a 77 percent or above as of Monday, 10.6 may turn in Thursday, October 9th without penalty)
• Thursday, October 9th: Literary Terms Test #2
  

Odyssey Week 2

We now head into the critical portions of the Odyssey. Get the revised planner to stay up to date.
First, Books 9 and 10 study questions are due on Tuesday. I have added a modern English version of the Odyssey for those of you who are slower readers or want to read the story in more depth. The online reading chapters Books 9 and 10 are not required, as all the questions can be read from the text. These have been e-mailed to you or can be found via Snapgrades.
The full Book 11 is required, again this can be found via Snapgrades.
I have also sent out a template for typing assignments to help students with the problems of margins and using bullets or numbers. In addition, version 1 of the "'Grin Rubric" has been completed, so that students (and parents) have a better idea how I grade and how points "disappear" from assignments.
Book 13-24 study questions are also now available!
Tuesday 9.30: Book 9 and 10
Wednesday 10.1 Book 11 (the critical essentials handout will be distributed Monday and is needed to complete the Book 11 study questions)
Thursday 10.2 Book 12 (will be provided Tuesday)
Friday 10.3: Literary Terms Test (first page of the handout)

The Odyssey kicks into full gear

After turning in the summaries on Tuesday (Books I-IV, which not be available online), we shift our direction to Books V-VIII, where we will be going full force into the reading of The Odyssey.
We will read Books V-VIII (study questions available here) in class Wednesday (pp. 890-899), which is actually a fairly quick read.
In case students do not finish, there is a summary of these readings which were provided last week to you, but again these will not be available online. Please check to make sure you have the summaries and if you do not let me know ASAP, as I also do not have a digital version of these to e-mail you.
Books 9 and 10 study questions are available. See planner for due date.
DO NOT FORGET ACT/SAT vocabulary test #3, which is on Friday
Literary Terms Test (first page of handout) is Friday, October 3rd
Literary Terms Test (both pages of handout) is Thursday, October 9th

Mythology/Odyssey Unit Week 1

Separate Peace and the Hobbit are (finally) over, and now, after Choices Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be in the midst of the Greek mythology and The Odyssey to finish the nine weeks.
The planner (with revised calendar for the literary terms) is available, as are the literary terms, which will be tested October 3rd and 9th.
The first assignment is the Pre-Odyssey research on the Greek gods, which has three sections (Sections 1 and 2 are due Thursday, Section 3 is Monday).

Greek Mythology links:

• Greek Mythology.com. Great site for section 1 and 2
• Mythweb, a popular Greek myth site with illustrations
• Greek Mythology from the Iliad to the Tyrants is an advanced source for mythology lovers and those who want to have a deeper examination into Greek myth.
• Greek Mythology Link has charts, maps, dictionaries, etc. Another good source for those of you, especially if you are doing the extra creditQ
  

Writing Week Part 2: Amended

In order to make your writing stronger, the Archetype Project has been amended and is now focused on quotes and commentary. Download the Word Document to make this process easy. It is due Monday, September 15th. You may bring your rough draft to class on Thursday for peer evaluation.
Some pages you might need:

• Need help formatting in Microsoft Word? Download this handout for Windows users.
• Keep a copy of Mr. Tyler's grading criteria for essays.
• Independent Reading list is now available. It is strongly urged that you read several from this list each year as you prepare for college.

Do not forget that Root Test #2 is Friday! Please start studying this week.

Writing Week

We are now in the process of refining basic essay skills. By the way, here is the new planner
Here is the week at a glance:
Tuesday 9.2: Introductions; Vocabulary List (do not lose...these lists cannot be placed on line)
Wednesday 9.3: Thesis Statements: (Homework assignment due Thursday 9.4)
Thursday, 9.4: Topic Sentences/Concrete Detail (in-class assignment)
Monday, 9.8: ACT/SAT Vocabulary Test; Commentary

Hobbit Archetype Project:
Sections 1-5 due Monday, 9.8
Section 6 (Archetype Essay) due Friday 9.12

Separate Peace/Hobbit Paragraphs

The first writing assignment is due Thursday as a rough draft.
Students can download extra handouts (page 1) (page 2) if they want to do more than one rough.
This should be a completed rough draft. If you need help, you can use the Literary Essay Essentials or the Pre-AP Survivor's Guide
The final draft, typed, is due Tuesday, September 2nd. Students who will have excused absences on Friday should e-mail their rough draft to me as well as bring it to class on Thursday, so I can send you a digital copy back to fix for your final draft.

Writing/Literary Elements

Now that we are finished with A Separate Peace, it is time to focus on the core elements of writing and literature.
During class, we will be operating from the Organization handout received on Monday (this will not be online because it is copyrighted material specifically for our class).
Tuesday is the "Worldview" lecture, a good general examination into why people do what they do.
Wednesday and possibly Thursday (Wednesday is a half day) is the Archetypes lecture.
For more details, get the planner now.
Root Test #1 is Friday, so be sure to study!!!

Separate Peace Ends; Writing Unit, Hobbit Begins

We are in the process of completing the introductory unit on A Separate Peace
Students can get the study questions for Chapters XI-XIII here.
You can also get an early look at the Archetype lecture by downloading it now. However, do not print it out...you will be getting a copy next week.
The Separate Peace test is FRIDAY, August 22nd. You should have completed reading the novel by then, although the study questions are due on Monday.

Please be sure to look throughout the year at the Key Honors Links and/or Honors English 9 handouts for the latest handouts, including support for assignments we do in class!

Separate Peace: Week Two

We are now well into Separate Peace. Get the planner for the next two weeks and stay ahead of your assignments.
Chapter 4 study questions are now available
Chapter 5-6 questions are also now available
Get: Chapter 7 questions; Chapter 8-9 questions, Chapter 10 questions

A Separate Peace, a New Start

We start the new school year running as we leap into the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
First, be sure to have the following items:
Syllabus: (English 9H Foundations)
Weekly Planner (Aug. 6-15th, 2008)
You will want a copy of Pre-AP Survivor's Guide, which is only available for download.

Separate Peace study questions are now available!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2-3

More information concerning the novel will be in the next post. Welcome to Mr. Tyler's honors classes!

Welcome to Doth Grin Honors 9 Blog

Welcome to Gilbert High School and also this blog/web site, the critical link between you and Mr. Tyler this year.
Some key things to this page:
1) You will need to have an active e-mail account, preferably Yahoo, Cox, or Gmail (Please do not use AOL for this site if at all possible). You need to e-mail me as soon as possible so you can be eligible for e-mails from me and also eligible to use the blogging capabilities of this site later this year.
2) Please note the Assignment Advisor section of this page.
3) Look over some of the posts on this page from last year, so you have a flavor of what the class will be about. Be careful, however, in attempting to use assignment handouts, as several will be changed this year.
4) Bookmark this site and check it daily, especially if you are absent.
5) Items will be posted according to unit, assignment, or situation, as evidenced in the archive material on this page.