Day Twenty-four GE

Do Now: Consider Great Expectations as a hero's quest. Our hero stumbled with many of his early tests and trials, but in the closing chapters, Pip begins to pass tests. How is he now able to succeed where he once failed? 

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to compare two works by the same author and gain an understanding of common themes and character types.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can make connections between similar characters from the two texts.
-I can make a claim about big ideas explored in both texts and distinguish how each work deals with the big idea in a unique way.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 53-56
2. Character foils: Orlick and Trabb's boy
3. Essay Revisions
4. Preparing for the two endings of Great Expectations

HW: Read and annotate chapters 57-59 and post a comment or question. (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). A printed final draft of the essay is due Thursday.

On the horizon...
We will have a test on Stages 2 and 3 of Great Expectations. I'll gather survey data from you for the least disruptive time to hold the test.

Day Twenty-three GE

Do Now: What mysteries in the novel remain unsolved? (If you've read ahead, then please don't spoil any of the mysteries.)

Who's Pip's benefactor?

Why is Miss Havisham still wearing that old wedding dress?

What are the convicts' names?

Who are Estella's birth parents?

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to describe how a motif changes over the course of the novel and consider how this change relates to characterization and/or theme.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can work with my group to brainstorm how the hands, ghosts, and chains motifs evolve or change over the course of the novel.
-I can make a claim about how the hands, ghosts, or chains motif relates to character development or theme.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 51-52 
2. Revising
3. Nicholas Nickleby
4. Comparing novels

HW: Read and annotate chapter 53-56 and post a comment or question (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Make at least one revision to your draft. Be prepared to show me what you revised and explain why.

Day Twenty-two GE

Pip goes rowing on the Thames.

Do Now: "Most narratives contain an element of surprise. If we can predict every twist in a plot, we are unlikely to be gripped by it. But the twists must be convincing as well as unexpected. Aristotle called this effect peripeteia, or reversal, the sudden shift from one state of affairs to its opposite, often combined with 'discovery,' the transformation of a character's ignorance into knowledge." -David Lodge, The Art of Fiction

Discuss one reversal in Great Expectations and consider how it relates to Pip's transformation.

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to define peripeteia and explain how Dickens uses it to signal the transformation of Pip.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can explain in my own words what peripeteia is and why it shows up in literature.
-I can describe how the reversals in Great Expectations coincide with changes in Pip's character.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 47-49
2. Peripeteia / Reversal
3. Beginning the next reading
4. Exit Ticket: What mysteries remain unsolved?

HW: read and annotate chapters 50-52 and post a comment or question (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Your rough draft is due Friday.

Day Twenty-one GE

Do Now: Of the three motifs we've traced, which one most fascinates or frustrates you? Explain why. 

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to continue tracking motifs in the novel and connect the author's method (i.e., motif) to his work's meaning (i.e., theme).
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can explain how the motif's evolution corresponds to Pip's development.
-I can make a claim about how a motif emphasizes a particular big idea in the novel.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 43-46
2. Motif Work
3. Continuing your reading

HW: read and annotate chapters 47-49. Post a question and/or comment on the blog (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Continue drafting the Great Expectations essay (rough draft due 1/10).

Day Twenty GE

Do Now: Why is it important that Pip’s convict has an alias and an actual name? To what/who else in the novel does this double connect?

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to continue tracking motifs in the novel and consider how they have evolved from stage one to stage three.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can explain how the motif's evolution corresponds to Pip's development.
-I can illustrate the motif's changes from stage one to stage three by choosing appropriate visual representations of it during the different stages of the novel.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 40-42
2. Poem Connection
3. Motif Groups
4. Exit Ticket: Compare Pip to another character you know.

HW: read and annotate chapters 43-46. Don't forget to post on the blog (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Draft another body paragraph (rough draft due 1/10/20).

Day Nineteen GE

Do Now: What was your reaction to learning the truth about Pip's benefactor? How does Dickens establish the convict's character early on to ensure the credibility of his being the benefactor?

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to make connections between the different stages of the novel and draw a conclusion about why Dickens uses such connections.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can locate episodes from stages one and two that are similar to one another.
-I can make an inference about these similarities that relates to an important idea in the novel or to Pip's development.

Agenda:

1. Recap of Stages 1 and 2
2. Doubles in Dickens (find Edward Carey's illustration here)
3. Surprise! Please read this chapter from David Lodge's The Art of Fiction and consider connections to Great Expectations. When you have finished, you may begin reading chapters 40-42.

HW: read and annotate chapters 40-42 and post on the discussion page (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Draft at least one body paragraph. (Complete rough draft due 1/10/20)

Day Eighteen GE

Do Now: "Adulthood is not an age, but a state of knowledge of self." -John Fowles, The Aristos
Now that Pip has "come-of-age" (i.e., at 21, he's become an adult in the eyes of society) let's consider whether or not he has really reached adulthood. Back up your claim with an example from recent chapters (32-37).

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to select key events from chapters 32-38 and explain how they move the plot towards the climax and/or emphasize Pip's development.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can list at least three key events from these chapters.
-I can explain what is emphasized about Pip's development in the latter chapters of part II.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 32-38
2. Key events and chapter titles
3. Nicholas Nickleby comparison
4. Beginning Chapter 39

HW: read and annotate chapter 39 and post a question or comment on the blog (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Also, make sure you've completed steps 1-5 of the writing process for your essay (n.b., step 5 is drafting topic sentences for your two or three body paragraphs).