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Themes | Literature | Journal
Assignments
| Rubric for Journal | Rubrics
| Writing Assignment | Quizzes/Tests
| Vocabulary | Resources
Parent note ~ February 23, 2004 Dear Parents or
Guardians: House 8B eighth
graders are about to start a unit on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer. Students will
be reading an average of three chapters, or about fifteen pages, from the
book for each day of class. We
will begin reading in class and should cover about half of the night’s
assignment each school day. On
the back of this letter you will find the calendar for the month of
March and the Mark Twain unit so that you can know what homework is
due at any time. We hope you
find that helpful. It would help us
out greatly if you would please check to see that Tom Sawyer is
coming home regularly and being read.
Making sure your child is keeping up with the reading is one of the
keys to your child’s success in the Mark Twain unit.
I thank you in advance for your help.
If you have any question, please call (262)-970-3249. Sincerely, Kathleen M.. Miller
1.
The conflict between freedom and responsibility 2.
The importance of friendship 3.
Good vs evil 4.
Celebration of childhood (hymn
to boyhood) 5.
Honesty is the best policy 6.
Being true to ones self 7.
In order to make a man or boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make
that thing difficult to attain. |
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Literature:
The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
by Mark
Twain
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Journal assignments:
Honor students are going to write eight (8) journal
entries during the Tom Sawyer unit.
Each entry should be at least ten-sentence long (a 10-er).
The due dates for the journal entries are as follows:
All
students can resubmit their revised works but it has to be before
Apr. 5 (absolute deadline). Format Each
entry should be neatly handwritten or word-processed.
Each entry should start with a header containing the following
information: v
The
student’s same v
The
language arts hour v Journal number Topic
You may write about a quotation, a theme, or a question from the story. On the next pages are suggestions for writing. You should not limit yourself to the suggestions; feel free to bring up your own quotations and topics of interest. Along with the suggestions are the due dates for the 10-ers. You should be aware that you may journal about any topic at any time; if you are ahead in the book or if you want to write about a passage that interested you one week before, you may do so. Only the due dates and deadlines are required. General suggestions for writing an entry include but are not limited to: v Relating the story to your life; v Comparing the time and place of Tom Sawyer with Waukesha County today; v Finding an important issue brought up by Twain and developing an opinion on it; v Imagining and writing parts of the stories that are not included in the novel. Whether working on a suggested topic or your own, always clearly indicate what you are writing about. An entry starting with When he says
that to Huck, he means that if he were one and ran away, … would be unsatisfactory. A good entry may start with In Tom Sawyer,
while Tom, Huck and Joe are playing pirates on the island, they have a
conversation about being a hermit. When
Tom explains to Huck that a hermit has to follow rules and traditions,
Huck claims that, if he were one, he would sooner run away.
Then Tom bursts out, “Run away!
Well, you would be a nice old slouch of a hermit.
You’d be a disgrace” (93).
This whole conversation is extremely ironic because… Writing
the Journal Entry
All
10-ers will start with strong topic sentences that state the main idea in
the paragraph. If you are
short of words for one idea, you are encouraged to write two, three or
more shorter paragraphs, as long as the ten-sentence requirement is
respected. Suggestions
for 10-ers:
Chapter
1 “Tom!”
(1): According to you, is it a good way to start a story?
Why? Why not? Chapter
2: “…
in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to
make the thing difficult to attain” (14,15). Chapter
3 Journal 1 due Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Chapter
4 “Let
us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene” (32).
Pull the curtain of charity and write the rest of the scene. Chapter
6 “In
a word, everything that goes to make life precious that boy had ” (43).
Do you agree? Why? Chapter
8 “They
said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President
of the United States forever” (62). Journal 2 due
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Chapter
9 “
‘Five years ago you drove me away from your father’s kitchen one
night, when I come to ask something to eat, and you said I warn’t there
for any good; and when I swore I’d get even with you if it took a
hundred years, your father had me jailed for a vagrant’ ” (67). Chapter
10 “…
Tom almost brightened in the hope that he was going to be flogged; but it
was not so” (75). Journal 3 due Monday, March 22, 2004Chapter
12 “All
the ‘rot’ they contained about ventilation, and how to go to bed, and
how to get up, and what to eat, and what to drink, and how much exercise
to take, and what frame of mind to keep one’s self in, and what sort of
clothing to wear, was all gospel to her, and she never observed that her
health journals of the current month customarily upset everything they had
recommended the month before” (82). Chapter
13 “Run
away! Well, you would be a nice old slouch of a hermit. You’d be a disgrace” (93).
How does this quotation and the dialogue preceding it reveal
Tom’s perception of rules? Chapter
14 They
felt like heroes in an instant. Here
was a gorgeous trumph; they were missed; they were mourned; hearts were
breaking on their account; tears were being shed; accusing memories of
unkindness to these poor lost lads were rising up, and unavailing regrets
and remorse were being indulged; and best of all, the departed were the
talk of the whole town, and the envy of all the boys, as far as this
dazzling notoriety was concerned” (100). Journal 4 due Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Chapter
17 “
‘Aunt Polly, it ain’t fair. Somebody’s
got to be glad to see Huck’ ” (119). Chapter
19 “
‘Oh, child, you never think. You
never think of anything but your own selfishness” (130). Chapter
20 “The
darling of his desires was to be a doctor, but poverty had decreed that he
should be nothing higher than a village schoolmaster” (133). Chapter
21 “This
nightmare occupied some ten pages of manuscript and wound up with a sermon
so destructive of all hope to non-Presbyterians that it took the first
prize” (143). Read
the last paragraph of chapter 21 on page 144.
What is the humor in this paragraph? Chapter
23 “Did
this attorney mean to throw away his client’s life without an effort?”
(152) Chapter
24 “As
usual, the fickle, unreasoning world took Muff Potter to its bosom and
fondled him as lavishly as it had abused him before.” Journal 5 due Friday, March 26, 2004 Chapter
28 “He
likes me, becuz I don’t ever act as if I was above him” (179). Journal 6 due Monday, March 29, 2004Journal 7 due Tuesday, March 31, 2004 Chapter
34 What
do you think of what Huck is saying on pages 227 and 228?
(“Tom, it don’t make no difference. … and you go and beg off
for ma with the widder.”) Journal 8 due Friday, April 2, 2004
Rubric
for journal entries:
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Writing Assignment:
In many ways Mark Twain and his unique style of writing is an inspiration to us all. Young readers/writers are especially aware of his descriptive passages, which can be humorous as in the tale of the “poodle dog” and the beetle in church, or awesome as the passage concerning the storm on the island, or nearly poetic as Twain describes in detail the “inch worm” and the “parade of ants” Tom observes as he lies in the grass on a summer day.
Your assignment then is to write a descriptive two page paper in
which you describe some scene that you remember with careful detail just
as Twain did in the above examples. You
will need to search your memory to recall a scene that you can clearly
visualize. This could be a
recent impression or one from your early childhood.
You will want to use as many colorful adjectives and adverbs,
similes and metaphors as they will make the scene clear to the reader.
Remember to use the pointers you have learned about good
paragraphing: 1. Topic sentence that identifies what you are going to describe. 2.
Details with colorful adjectives and adverbs. 3.
Transitional terms such as- at first, alongside, on top of that,
next to, then finally, etc. 4. A final sentence with “punch” that will sum up your impression of what you have described. |
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Scoring guide:
Quizzes / Tests: Daily quizzes on chapter reading and vocabulary Final exam is objective test Final vocabulary exam
Vocabulary: *Chapter 1 1. vexed - troubled; distressed 2.
singed - burned lightly 3.
sagacity - wisdom *Chapter
2 4.
melancholy - sadness 5.
insignificant - not important 6.
vigor - energy 7.
ridicule - make fun of 8.
gait - step 9.
comprehend - understood *Chapter
3 10.
balmy - gently soothing 11.
virtuous - morally good 12.
hastened - hurried 13.
evanescent - disappear like vapor 14.
absurd - ridiculous 15.
immunity - not obligated (liable) 16.
exultation - rejoice in victory 17.
wrath - anger 18.
perplexed - confused 19.
audacious - bold 20.
reproach - to express disapproval 21.
construed - explained; interpreted 22.
desolate - lonely 23.
contemplated -
consider thoughtfully 24.
stealthy - secretively 25.
discordant - unharmonious 26.
deluge - great flood *Chapter
4 27.
tranquil - peaceful 28.
grievous - serious 29.
peculiar - odd 30.
subsidence - die down with intensity 31.
smitten - strongly affect 32.
prodigious - extraordinary *Chapter
5 33.
simpering - silly smiling 34.
supplication - prayer to God 35.
monotonously
- boringly 36.
formidable - causing fear 37.
vagrant - homeless *Chapter
6 38.
perennial - occurring yearly 39.
alacrity - liveliness 40.
furtive - sly 41.
portentous - foreshadow an event 42.
turmoil - agitation 43.
ostentation - showy display *Chapter
7 44.
smote - strongly affect *Chapter
8 45.
zephyr - gentle breeze 46.
pervading - spreading throughout 47.
gaudier - tastelessly showy 48.
zenith - high point 49.
incantation - magical spell 50.
perplexed - confused 51.
cogitating - thinking 52.
futility - uselessness 53.
treacherous - dangerous 54.
accouterments - equipment *Chapter
9 55.
ingenuity - cleverness; skillfulness 56.
dismantled - taken apart *Chapter
10 57.
lugubrious - mournful 58.
flogged - whipped 59.
colossal - huge; gigantic *Chapter
11 60.
miscreant - villain with no conscience 61.
meddle - interfere 62.
balefully - deadly 63.
plausibly - believably 64.
aversion - reluctance *Chapter
12 65.
inveterate - habitual 66.
quack - one who pretends to have medical skills 67.
clandestinely - secretively 68.
crestfallen - sad *Chapter
13 69.
succumb - give up 70.
conspicuous - obvious 71.
foe - enemy 72.
avert - turn away 73.
imminent - immediate 74.
purloined - stolen *Chapter
14 75.
credulous - believable 76.
conflagration - great fire 77.
ravenous - very hungry *Chapter
15 78.
sumptuous - delicious *Chapter
16 79.
plausible - believable 80.
expectoration - spit *Chapter
17 81.
musing - thinking carefully 82.
abashed - embarrassed *Chapter
18 83.
repentant - to feel sorry 84.
menagerie - collection of wild animals 85.
notoriety - fame 86.
reconciliation - a chance to be on
good terms again *Chapter
20 87.
urchin - mischievous youngster 88.
vexation - anger 89.
imminence - about to take place 90.
perplexity - confusion 91.
vengeance - retaliation *Chapter
21 92.
vindictive - seeking revenge 93.
retribution - deserved punishment 94.
foliage - leaves on trees or bushes 95.
conspicuously - obviously 96.
gesticulation - gesture 97.
unpalatable - not agreeable 98.
relentlessly - unendingly 99.
pious - holy 100.
tempestuous - violent 101.
boisterous - noisy 102.
garret - attic *Chapter
22 103.
convalescent - recovered health 104.
mesmerizer - hypnotist 105.
forbearance - patience 106.
endurance - suffer patiently *Chapter
23 107.
discreet - able to keep a secret 108.
mum - quiet 109.
lynch - hang a person by mob action 110.
captive - one who is held in prison 111.
dismal
- gloomy
112.
sauntered - strolled 113.
haggard - worn out 114.
perplexity - confusion 115.
delirium - mental disturbance 116.
trifle - small amount *Chapter
24 117.
fickle - changeable 118.
omniscient - all-knowing *Chapter
25 119.
ciphered - figured as math 120.
befitted - fitting or appropriate *Chapter
26 121.
desolation - barrenness; loneliness 122.
unkempt - untidy; sloppy 123.
eloquent - forceful, expressive speech 124.
intolerable - not tolerated 125.
palpable - capable of being felt or
touched *Chapter
27 126.
attrition - exchange of going over something mentally 127.
ostentatious - unnecessarily showy *Chapter
28 128.
auspicious- favorable *Chapter
29 129.
giddy - dizzy, or silly 130.
laden - heavily burdened, oppressed 131.
anticipations - expectations 132.
inclination - leaning towards
something 133.
labyrinth - passageways and alleys
(cave) 134.
elaboration - an action done with
great labor and care *Chapter
30 135.
crevice - a narrow opening from a split in a rock 136.
reverberations - echoes *Chapter
31 137.
sinuous - winding 138.
frescoed - written in smoke 139.
appalled - overcome with fear 140.
moiety - a portion or part of 141.
abundance - a great number 142.
whetted - made eager for something (food) 143.
tedious - difficult and tiresome *Chapter
33 144.
abounding - in great quantity 145.
vestibule - entry hall 146.
oblivion- lost consciousness 147.
precipice - very steep or overhanging place 148.
chasm - a deep cleft in the earth *Chapter
34 149.
clamorous - noisy 150.
effusive - flowing out 151.
perplexed - confused, bewildered *Chapter
35 152.
conspicuous - obvious to the mind or eye 153.
prodigious- extraordinary in size or
degree 154.
magnanimous - courageous, noble
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