Friday, March 28, 2025

***ATTENTION 4th HONORS AMLIT: STUDY GUIDE FOR WK13 3-PART MAJOR QUIZ, TUES. 4/1 through THURS. 4/3***

4th Honors American Lit./Comp.

**AT HOME TONIGHT, MON. 3/31**
  • Be prepared/get prepared for your MAJOR WK13 QUIZ PART I tomorrow, TUES. 4/1 (and PART II, WED. 4/2--go ahead and start studying now, and more about PART III will be announced later this week!!!) 

**WK13 MAJOR QUIZ, FULL PART I [and PART II] STUDY GUIDE BELOW: 

QUIZ PART I, TUES. 4/1:

**--MATCHING SECTION FOR THE DIGITAL/MEDIA LITERACY/JOURNALISM TERMS in NOTES SECTION 
--based on the Upfront article "Fake News...," name some practical and responsible steps to help discern between FACTUAL and FAKE or BIASED news/news outlets

**--THEME-RELATED TERMS for F451, "The Pedestrian: dystopia (*vs. utopia), 'cult of personality,' demagogue
--THEMES and background notes for F451
--definition/use of the lit. term PARADOX and ALLUSION in F451  
--definition/use of the lit. term ANTITHESIS in "The Pedestrian"

**--THE COMMAS/SEMICOLONS/COLONS PRE-TEST SHEET: will complete for part of quiz as a POST-TEST
***************************


WK13 MAJOR QUIZ PART II, WED. 4/2:

FROM THE BLUE MLA SHEET (WRITING SECTION), NOTES we've taken the last 10-12 weeks AND WRITING (x2)/GRAMMAR SECTION (packet of sheets) SKILLS PRACTICE SHEETS THE PAST WEEK:
--MLA STYLE BASICS for formatting formal essays/general guidelines/consistency
--MLA STYLE BASICS RE: contractions, #s under/above 10
--using 'single quotes for YOUR words' vs. "double quotes for CITED TEXT from a source" in MLA-style formal essays
--uses for "[BRACKETS]" and "...ELLIPSES in quoted...text material" 
--within "quotations," the correct use of commas within the quote marks
--MLA style "correct blending/citing quotes" in responses (--).
--9th EDITION MLA proper Works Cited citation of a *BOOK WITH ONE AUTHOR* (*see F451 Lit. Analysis FINAL EXT. PARA.)
--name the EIGHT forms of “BE”/PASSIVE VOICE (PV) to avoid in academic writing AND **be prepared to correct/rewrite some sentences containing PV!
--use of 'THIS + NOUN' rule in writing for clarity/being specific
--parallel structure (parallelism) in sentences; identify errors and correct them
--keeping TENSE and PERSON consistent in writing
--writing about literature = 3rd person, PRESENT TENSE VERBS ALWAYS!!!!!
--know what METADISCOURSE and 'THE ABYSS OF INCOHERENCE' mistakes are in writing/AVOID THEM BOTH!
--1st/2nd/3rd person voice/point of view (POV) in formal academic writing
--AUDIENCE/PURPOSE/CONTEXT and their IMPORTANCE in all writing
--a text's/author's ARGUMENT in writing also means = THESIS/controlling idea/main idea
--correct uses of a SEMICOLON and 'super-semicolon'
--identifying the SUBJECTS in sentences with semicolons
--commas AFTER AN INTRO PHRASE (Because I was tired, ...) or with FANBOYS conjunctions (..., and...)
--COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS to remember/distinguish
--using TRANSITIONS effectively in writing
--POETRY vs. PROSE and the main differences in the genres
--the simple 'purpose' of a PARAGRAPH break (for the eyes)
--correct PARALLEL STRUCTURE in sentences
--using DASHES and HYPHENS correctly in words/sentences
--APOSTROPHES to show possessives


***********AND LOOKING AHEAD: 
IMPORTANT 13WK MAJOR QUIZ PART III TASK in class THURS. 4/3: APPLYING REVISION and EDITING/PROOFING to a paragraph filled w/errors BASED ON THE BLUE MLA SHEET NOTES we've taken the last 10-12 weeks

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

**ATTENTION 1st/2nd AP/1102: EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN CLASS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE J#20 for WED. 3/26 through FRI. 3/28**

 1st/2nd AP LANG/ENG 1102

**ATTENTION, ALL: BELOW IS THE **SCRIPTED/CHRONOLOGICAL VERSION OF EVERYTHING WE'LL COVER IN CLASS WED. 3/26 through FRI. 3/28 (at the latest) RE: the Pres. Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and the President's U.S. apology speeches:

...AND AGAIN, FIRST and FOREMOST, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE SPECIFIC STEPS NUMBERED BELOW IN ORDER TO COMPLETE EVERYTHING CORRECTLY

***********************

1) Now you'll be reading, listening to, and then jotting notes/annotations RE: argument/rhetorical strategies in/for one of the most highly-publicized Presidential speeches and scandals in US history: Pres. Bill Clinton's second-term in office "August 17th [1998] Apologia" speech to the nation, watched/heard by millions, regarding his public admission of his participation in an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; Clinton was 49 at the time the affair started, and Lewinsky was 22; the relationship occurred between 1995-97, and it came to light in 1998 
  • However, before we read/listen to the apology speech, read below the following screenshots I've condensed here from the Bill of Rights Institute's site/page RE: "The Impeachment of Bill Clinton"the info below is VERY HELPFUL in giving you a quick 'gist' of the VERY COMPLICATED situation that led to the scandal and subsequent US House of Representatives impeachment of the 42nd US President: 
Read the "Summary" above please....

...and read the "Narrative" above for a slim 'overview' of a painfully-complicated situation

2) NOW, let's READ Clinton's "August 17th Apologia" speech transcript below (also, you have the PAPER COPY of the speech in your binder RHETORIC SECTION labeled as "Clinton II"/"I Mislead People"(at the top/cut off/my handwriting)

**CLICK ON THIS TO EXPAND THE SIZE TO READ**


3) AFTER READING CLINTON'S TELEVISED SPEECH ABOVE, JOT DOWN SOME ANNOTATIONS/POINTS THAT STICK OUT/TONE/PURPOSE/etc. ANSWERS/ANALYSIS about this speech (*post-its or jotting down on the speech paper copy is fine; JUST THINK/ANSWER!)
  • NOTE: HERE BELOW IS A sorta/pseudo-combination of SOAPSTone and SPACECAT analysis strategies, so FEEL FREE TO USE THIS AS A **GUIDE** FOR YOUR OWN ANNOTATIONS/ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECH
Speaker/Occassion/Audience/Purpose/Subject/Tone 
and Speaker/Purpose/Audience/Context/Exigence/Choices/Appeals/Tone


4) Now that you've made some basic analysis notes on the TEXT of Clinton's apology, let's LISTEN to and WATCH his speech delivery here:

President Clinton's "August 17 [1998] Apologia" [speech to the nation/AFTER his Grand Jury testimony] 



5) NOW, IN RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU JUST WATCHED,  THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING QU's that I'll ask you about IN CLASS WHEN YOU RETURN:
  • Does viewing this televised broadcast change how you view the speech in any way? Tone? Sincerity? IF SO, HOW or WHY? OR...WHY NOT? BE SPECIFIC.
  • Clinton was known for his effective style of communication thanks to his extensive public speaking experience, highly-favorable Presidential speech ratings, and what some have called his "deep well of charisma,"--or what's also been referred to as his "ability to scale intimacy in a room of 50 or 50,000 people."  
    • Based on this speech you just viewed/watched, what speaking or stylistic techniques presented by Clinton here add to that assessment of his speaking ability? Consider body language, eye contact, voice speed, gestures, wording, *rhetorical effect (*APPEALS TO ETHOS/PATHOS/LOGOS), etc.


6) NOW that you've read his televised speech (WRITTEN BY HIS PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER, btw), READ BELOW Clinton's originally/personally-penned speech ("CLINTON I") transcript below that was 'scrapped' just hours before the national broadcast:
"Clinton I" **CLICK TO EXPAND/READ


7) HAVING READ BOTH VERSIONS OF CLINTON'S SPEECHES ABOVE,
  • REFERENCE/HAVE HANDY your NOTES/post-its you took for the CLINTON II/"APOLOGIA" speech assignment
  • ALSO QUICKLY READ and LOOK OVER the following comments below from the NYTimes 5/29/18 article "When the President Testified: People in the Room Recall Clinton's 1998 Interrogation" (*good background info here that gives some CONTEXT of WHY the "Apologia" speech was chosen to air; also BTW: James Carville, mentioned here, is/was Clinton's speech writer)
Comments from Clinton's Counsel RE: WHAT TO DO when addressing the nation later that night after his Grand Jury testimony...

...And how that final, televised speech was received by those who heard it, even Starr, the LEAD COUNSEL of the SPECIAL INVESTIGATION team looking into Clinton's 'affairs' (pun totally intended there)
*****************

8) And, BONUS material
  • ...to see just how *evasive* was Clinton in his answers to Starr during his infamous Grand Jury deposition [yes: a sitting US President had to testify in front of a grand jury]; well, see for yourselves, folks: here's all 375+pages of the transcribed Grand Jury Testimony & Deposition of President William Jefferson Clinton
    • just read, for starters, pp. 471-500-ish (*this is a lesson in how to really throw a cross attorney for a LOOP...it's a real WOW-moment)

9)NOW.... 
IF YOU'VE COMPLETED ALL 8 OF THESE STEPS, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are now ready for the culminating writing assignment for these lessons/J#20 that we'll complete THURS. 3/27 and FINISH/TURN IN FRI. 3/28 in class to accompany these two pieces of US political history... 

Thursday, March 20, 2025

**ATTENTION 4th HONORS AMLIT: WKEND HW RDG/QU's TO COMPLETE BEFORE CLASS MON. 3/24**

4th Honors American Lit./Comp.

**HW DUE MON. 3/24:

Given to you in class FRI. 3/21  (multi-paged packet/NOTES section of binder/also LINKED on Classroom),

1) OVER THIS WKEND, CAREFULLY read Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" (**take note of author info/background/our brief pre-reading discussion in class) 

2) After closely reading the text, use the story to answer thoroughly (**NOT JUST A ONE-WORD ANSWER, PLEASE!) the SEVEN (7) QUESTIONS at the end; you MAY WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE PAPER PROVIDED, print your own, or SEND EARLY to me to print!
  • **also note: THIS HOMEWORK IS ***NOT A JOURNAL!!** (NOTES section of binder w/story, please!**)

**...and, also, just in case, here is a LINK to the short story online:
"Harrison Bergeron" -Vonnegut



**AND FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBERyou are part of a PRE-COLLEGE/AP & HONORS-level course at the end of the 11th week of class. Be prepared to FULLY DISCUSS the details/plot/themes/insights of this story Monday in class AS WELL AS share your answers to the seven reading check questions at the end! I WILL BE CHECKING TO SEE IF YOU COMPLETED YOUR WORK; ZEROS IF NOT COMPLETED!