Friday, May 8, 2009

DAY 2 - CYCLE 13 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we finished reading through the words for unit 8 vocabulary. Please continue to bring your book to class as we will do the exercises for Unit 8 in preparation for the quiz on Friday, May 15th.

Afterwards, I passed out the exam review sheet (also available immediately to your left and on the "course handouts" page of the wikispace). In addition to identifying the content you need to know, it also identifies the skills you will be tested on. If you cannot do what is listed on page two of the review sheet, then you are not ready for the exam.

Those groups not decimated by AP Euro responsibilities held discussions (and I just have to say this--I know the AP is a really big deal and it's super important, but getting prepared for that doesn't relieve you of responsibilities elsewhere). Those who took notes, you'll find them on the wikispace. Those who did not, you'll find the questions that we would have discussed on there. You might want to download them anyway, simply because the pictures on the back of the questions show the sorts of rafts that both Huck and Jim make reference to and which you need to understand in order to really get what they're saying. Because some groups discussed and some did not, here is the overall lesson plan for the day. Make of it what you will.


  • Discuss Huck's reaction to both captivity and freedom.
  • Identify what Huck accepts as normal and what he seems to be unaware of (e.g. the existence he lives with pap would bring social services in like a S.W.A.T. team today, but he seems unmoved by that relaity, as well as by the reality that once he has faked his own death, he has cut himself off from all of the people in his life, presumably never to connect with them again, a loss he does not mourn).
  • Note: Huck escapes being civilized and being uncivilized. He's in an interesting limbo with nothing to draw on to create a new universe but his own limited experience and his observations.
  • Identify evidence revealing Huck's acceptance of the world as a violent, unfair place.
  • TAKEN COLLECTIVELY, these elements reveal certain characteristics: pragmatic self-reliance, a tendency not to question, stubbornness, independence, skepticism, naivte, self-sufficiency, lack of reflection but powerfully observant ("it smelt late").
  • We also learn a lot more about Jim, too from what he reveals. Which of these qualities do Huck and Jim share? By reading between the lines (i.e. not taking Huck's version as the definitive whole and making sure we notice what he does not), we learn much more about Jim, too.
  • Ultimately, Huck and Jim have MUCH in common, though Huck does not yet recognize this. Likewise, he fails to recognize the critical differences between their situations, but we will see and perhaps appreciate these in the next reading; keep your eyes peeled for what Huck doesn't see.

HOMEWORK

Read through page 85. Expect a quote quiz.

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