CHAPTER II
Feedback: You guys have asked lots of great questions and seem to be really digging in deeply for the long haul. That's a great, positive attitude to have. This is not an assignment you can expect to be successful at if you don't take it seriously. Remember: this novel is a marathon, not a sprint.
Think about the story deeply. Re-read for comprehension. Look up words if you don't know them. Do anything and everything you can do to wrap your brain around this dense, complex text.
The more you let it come alive for yourself, the more it will suck you in and give you a thrilling, mind-bending story with a wham-bang ending! If you don't do the work up front, you're setting yourself up for a lot of drudgery and boredom.
Regarding the journals, many people are not being as thorough as they could be with their entries. When the prompt asks for "each character," that means to go through them one by one. If you write a general statement about all of the characters, you are missing the point. When in doubt, it is better to be too thorough, with too many examples, evidence, and elaboration than not enough.
3Es and SD - Who remembers this from our writing at the beginning of the year? Evidence... Elaboration... Examples... and Specific Details. Support statements in your writing with additional information, otherwise it will come across as weak, unclear and/or incomplete.
CHAPTER II ASSIGNMENTS
Vocabulary Words:
conscientiously
monotonous
shrewd
chancery
inlet
Journal Prompts:
1. What is each character's attitude or opinion about being on the island as they settle in? Give evidence to support your point for each character. (a bullet list of 8)
2. How does the poem make you feel? What does it remind you of? What images, associations or visions does it conjure in your imagination? Read each line out loud. Write a prediction about how you think the author is going to utilize this poem as a narrative device. Elaborate and think deeply about this question, including details and your own thoughts. (one paragraph)
3. Engage your sensory imagination for sound and smell. Imagine what being on the island would sound like. What would you hear? Imagine what the island and the house would smell like. Describe these in your best words. Use a thesaurus if you can't think of any good adjectives. What would be the source of these sounds and smells? (one paragraph)
4. Who is Mr. Dave, really? Explain what clues gave away his real identity. (one short paragraph)
5. Draw a rough sketch or map of the layout of the island and the mansion -- of what you know so far. This is a sketch you can come back to revisit as your knowledge of the physical world of the story increases. (two sketches)
**** ONE FINAL THING
Please post any new "comments" you have right below the most recent posting - not at the bottom of the page.
If the new comments are all put only on the first posting, we'll be going over the same old issues again and again.
Just an FYI - I'm accepting the Chapter 1 journals up to one day late (this Wednesday, 3/17) without any penalty as a courtesy to those who weren't able to get a composition book in a timely fashion.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's important that I hold my students to a high standard, I also strive to be flexible and understanding.
Also, my preference is to have the type of composition book I linked to (and that we talked about in class). If, however, you are unable to get that particular type of notebook I will accept some other kind, providing that it is dedicated to this particular project. It's what's INSIDE the journal that matters the most.
If one day we forget to bring our journal home (like say today because I did), will you take points off if the questions are done on loose-leaf paper? I would just copy down my answers into my journal tomorrow, but I have language arts 2nd hour and I don't have time to.
ReplyDeletewhat is Mr. Marston referring to when he says "this is a rum kind of show" on the top of pg. 28?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
mr. chappell,
ReplyDeleteare we going to do a vocabulary google docs tahat we just use to study from for this book, like we did in ROTHMC?
any tips on finding vocab words, because im relly bad at finding the word
ReplyDeleteMr. Chappell,
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the game and have a pretty good idea of what it is like, so could I sketch from that or would it be cheating?
I think that it would be better if we could answer four or five questions every week. I think it is to much work to have in one night because we are also getting homework in our other classes.
ReplyDeletewould this option be available to students that had the book but had other problems
ReplyDeleteOk guys, I think we can all agree this book is confusing, but, golly gee, it helps a ton if you keep just like a sheet of paper with all of the characters names on them and a short description of them. It really clears things up. I know that a lot of people are doing this already and it is a HUGE help!
ReplyDeleteMr.Chappell would you be able to post the assignments for the next chapter a day ahead so if we read in class we know the questions and won't have to look them up during class
ReplyDeleteDoes Mr. Blore have a 1st name? Because that is really going to confuse me if all of a sudden he had a first name. Did I just miss it? I am very lost.....
ReplyDeleteIf we are drawing a sketch of the island with the mansion on it, do we also have to draw another sketch of the inside of the mansion?? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteQUESTION:
ReplyDeleteIf one day we forget to bring our journal home (like say today because I did), will you take points off if the questions are done on loose-leaf paper? I would just copy down my answers into my journal tomorrow, but I have language arts 2nd hour and I don't have time to.
ANSWER:
Good question. It's never a mistake to care and to try. I recommend you just tape or staple the write up into your response journal tomorrow morning. That will work for me!
QUESTION
QUESTION:
Cate said... what is Mr. Marston referring to when he says "this is a rum kind of show" on the top of pg. 28?
Thanks!
ANSWER: Cate, you don't miss anything! Great attention to detail. You care, therefore you will succeed. How many people didn't even think to ask? It's that kind of razor sharp intensity that shows your keen intelligence.
Here we go:
According to this web site
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:YabCGn81hyAJ:www.peevish.co.uk/slang/r.htm+rum+show+slang+british&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Rum is old British slang for "Adj. Strange, odd, peculiar. E.g."That new kid's a bit rum, he's always talking to himself." {Informal}"
So Marston's commenting on how strange or odd the situation is.
You'll also notice that the word "Queer" is thrown around a lot. At the time it was almost entirely meant to mean strange, peculiar, or odd. Or... rum! ha ha.
Thanks for asking.
QUESTION:
mr. chappell,
are we going to do a vocabulary google docs tahat we just use to study from for this book, like we did in ROTHMC?
ANSWER
Nope. You are expected to leave the nest and fly solo on this one. Too many people were relying on others to do their work for them. If you were a contributor, you've got no worries. If you were letting other people do the work for you, it's time to step up and take control of your own destiny! :)
QUESTION:
any tips on finding vocab words, because im relly bad at finding the word
ANSWER:
The more you learn to do searches, the stronger your "Web-Fu" will be.
Start with this:
http://websearch.about.com/od/internetresearch/a/genericsearch.htm
Searching the web is often a case where the stronger your vocabulary, the easier it is.
My suggestions:
1) Use quotes occasionally around words that are meant to be combined and intact. This will narrow your searches.
2) Use "cacheing" or by clicking on the "Cached" word under the search results. This will highlight the words you searched within the webpage and make it easier to rangle in long, confusing pages by scanning for the highlighted part.
GRrrrrrEAT question. I wish I could teach an entire class on this topic. Bottom line: the more you practice, the better at it you get.
QUESTION:
Mr. Chappell,
I downloaded the game and have a pretty good idea of what it is like, so could I sketch from that or would it be cheating?
ANSWER:
The game is one thing, the novel is another. You can use one to support the other, but be mindful of inconsistencies because there are a few. Short answer: Go for it. Long answer: Go for it, but be careful you don't rely too much on a machine to do the thinking for you.
COMMENT:
I think that it would be better if we could answer four or five questions every week. I think it is to much work to have in one night because we are also getting homework in our other classes.
RESPONSE:
Thanks for the suggestion. Sorry if you feel overwhelmed. Don't give up on yourself. You're almost in 8th grade where the work will be even more challenging.
QUESTION:
would this option be available to students that had the book but had other problems
ANSWER:
Please elaborate. I'm not sure I understand the question.
You know the portion of the bible that Miss. Emily Brent is reading? Will that play a major part in the story? Or am I not supposed to know?
ReplyDeleteDo we have to do a map of the inside of the mansion? Or just the outside with the house in the picture?
ReplyDeleteAnother person who is not falling asleep behind the wheel.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT QUOTES in the story. Glad you're literary radar zoned in on it. You're smart that way.
"The Heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into hell."
Wow. That is one SCARY Bible verse. It's about the wicked being punished and trapped and killed and sent to damnation.
Yikes! Creepy! Maybe even cool in a dark and twisted literary way.
Coincidence? I think not. More like foreshadowing of the encroaching darkness around the characters.
Keep reading. It only gets better.
I asked my question before but you didnt answer it. I'm not sure if you didn't see it by mistake, but I will ask it again: If we are drawing a sketch of the island with the mansion on it, do we also have to draw another sketch of the inside of the mansion?? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a lot for the response journals for chapter 2. Am I going crazy? Question 1 took up a whole page. Is that ok?
ReplyDeleteAre Mr. and Mrs. Rogers important characters in the story?
ReplyDeleteQUESTION:
ReplyDeleteI asked my question before but you didnt answer it. I'm not sure if you didn't see it by mistake, but I will ask it again: If we are drawing a sketch of the island with the mansion on it, do we also have to draw another sketch of the inside of the mansion?? Thanks!
ANSWER: Sorry, that question never made it to this end until now. Thanks for persisting.
The instructions read: "layout of the island AND the mansion." It might be hard to do the layout of the mansion without doing an inside sketch.
Remember, this should be fun. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate. Just gather what information you can and put the pieces together.
QUESTION:
I wrote a lot for the response journals for chapter 2. Am I going crazy? Question 1 took up a whole page. Is that ok?
ANSWER:
You're not crazy. If you read the feedback at the top of today's blog, it does recommend more over less. However, if you're just repeating information that has no cohesive organization you're probably not doing yourself any favors. You get an "A" for effort. Let's hope the important information, ideas and thoughts are all there.
QUESTION:
Are Mr. and Mrs. Rogers important characters in the story?
ANSWER:
Uh-huh. That's an affirmative.
Were Wadsworth and Evette important in Clue?
Absolutely!
Oh - that question earlier just popped up. I see it now.
ReplyDeleteQUESTION: any tips on finding vocab words, because im relly bad at finding the word
ReplyDeleteANSWER: It just occurred to me that you might not be referring to searching for words on the web. If you're referring to scanning the novel for the word, I recommend using a bookmark and scanning line by line. This narrows your focus and makes the time you spend hunting the words more efficient.
Being able to hunt within a large amount of text in order to ferret out what you need is an important skill that will serve you well in life.
As I was doing the response journal. the story began to make a lot more sense. When I put a lot of thought into them, I feel like I really learned from them!
ReplyDeleteCOMMENT: As I was doing the response journal. the story began to make a lot more sense. When I put a lot of thought into them, I feel like I really learned from them!
ReplyDeleteRESPONSE: That's the spirit! You're getting it. Thanks for sharing the positive.
QUESTION:
ReplyDeleteMr.Chappell would you be able to post the assignments for the next chapter a day ahead so if we read in class we know the questions and won't have to look them up during class
ANSWER: Sorry. I am posting the vocab words in class, but I am going to keep the journal responses saved for homework. The idea is that you can take a first pass at reading the chapter during class, get the head start on vocab, then -- having had a break -- go back and really dig deep as homework after school.
COMMENT:
Anonymous said...
Ok guys, I think we can all agree this book is confusing, but, golly gee, it helps a ton if you keep just like a sheet of paper with all of the characters names on them and a short description of them. It really clears things up. I know that a lot of people are doing this already and it is a HUGE help!
RESPONSE:
Bingo! You know, if I were a better teacher, I would have modeled that EXACT concept during the Clue movie, and would have secretly been hoping someone would have figured it out...
Wait a minute, I did that!
... and many of you figured it out. Great job!
You guys are shifting away from needing the teacher to constantly tell you what to do towards becoming truly self-directed, active learners. Kudos to you! This kind of independent spirit is what gets people hired at Google. Also, this is a great example of what we are now calling "21st Century Learning."
QUESTION:
Does Mr. Blore have a 1st name? Because that is really going to confuse me if all of a sudden he had a first name. Did I just miss it? I am very lost.....
ANSWER: William Henry Blore. I forget what page it was on. Anyone know?
Also, please notice that Anthony Marston is sometimes called Tony. Get it? Anthony=Tony.
heyyyy yal! haha k so like, in chapter 2 i couldnt really tell how mr. blore felt about the island....I have mixed feelings. Maybe im just being dense....
ReplyDeleteComment: Mr.Chappell would you be able to post the assignments for the next chapter a day ahead so if we read in class we know the questions and won't have to look them up during class
ReplyDeleteResponse: I believe this question was already answered earlier.
Comment:
ReplyDeleteheyyyy yal! haha k so like, in chapter 2 i couldnt really tell how mr. blore felt about the island....I have mixed feelings. Maybe im just being dense....
Response: The book is dense, not you. You are highly intelligent to ask. Some of the answers are more clear than others. The best effort would involve looking over any mention of Blore / Davis in that chapter and look for clues and details as to what his attitude appears. He's complicated, because he's putting on a facade so there's two sides to him.