Last Day of Catcher...

Well, seniors, you made it through Catcher in the Rye. Today is your final reading day; therefore, you must read chapters 23-29. When finished, I want you to prepare five Socratic Seminar questions for Monday's final discussion.

For a quick reminder, here are the types of Socratic Seminar questions:
1. Open Ended
2. Close Ended
3. Real World Connection
4. Universal Theme/ Essential Question
5. Literary Analysis

It is important to think about questions that are left unanswered for you as you close the back cover of the book.

When you finish, choose one of your questions to answer as a final blog entry. Although you might not have the answer, record your thoughts, reactions, feelings, etc. This will help you prepare for the discussion on Monday.

Tuesday will be your Catcher in the Rye test. We will talk about it more on Monday.

Have a great weekend! -Mrs. J.

You never saw so many phonies in your life...

Today, you were assigned to read chapters 19-20 of Catcher, and on Wednesday, you will continue on with chapters 21-22. You must also finish your found poem on marriage. A typed copy of this will be due in class on Thursday!

You may put your poem on your blog; however, everyone must respond to the following question after your reading today. This will count as one of your entries for week 4!

Here is the question:

There are many characters throughout Catcher in the Rye whom Holden interacts with or refers to. In chapters 19 & 20 alone, he mentions Luce, Sally, his mother and father, Phoebe, and Allie. In your blog, choose one of these characters and analyze Holden's feelings toward that person. How does Holden feel about them? How does he try to connect to them? How are they significant to the entire book? Respond using examples from the text to support!

I was surrounded by JERKS...

Thursday's Work Day

Thursday is an in-class reading/work day. You will have the class period to read Chapters 16-18 and complete the following blog entry:

Chapters 16-18 are filled with important details and references which impact the remainder of the book. As you read, take note of one important and insightful passage. This could be a quote from Holden or one of his thoughts about the world or events around him. After choosing your quote and copying it on your blog, describe and answer the following three questions in your analysis:

1. What does it say? (paraphrase and describe the context)
2. What does it mean? (analyze and explain)
3. Why does it matter? (explain the significance to the rest of the book)

You must complete one quote analysis for your blog this week; however, if you find more than one quote interesting, make these both of your blogs for the week.

Remember, you have no boundaries when it comes to creativity. Take a risk and write something new!

Discussion Questions

Tomorrow (Thursday), I want to have a large group discussion over what you will read today in class (through Chapter 11). In addition to your blog entry, I would also like you to write five Socratic Seminar questions for class tomorrow.

Bring these questions to class with you on Thursday. The following types of Socratic Seminar Questions are as follows:

1. Close-Ended
2. Open-Ended
3. Real-World Connection
4. Universal Theme/Essential Question
5. Literary Analysis Question (about Salinger's writing)

You will receive points for these questions, as well as points for discussion tomorrow!

Week 2 - Blog Entry

For this week's blog, I will give you a couple of options. You may write about one, both, or none; this all depends on whether you have ideas for response or not.

OPTION 1: After reading between the lines and acting out Chapter 6 on Monday, we were able to see the different emotions driving both Holden and Stradlater's decisions. Especially after Holden was hit in the face, many of you commented that Holden's behavior was childish. As you read Chapters 9-11, it is obvious Holden deals with feelings of alienation; however, he is also torn in the middle of two worlds: childhood and adulthood.

For your blog entry... How do you see this theme play out in the chapters you read for today (9-11)? How is this struggle evident? How is Holden like a child? How is he like an adult? ALSO...Connect to your life! Explain TWO struggles you or others face as you move from childhood to adulthood. Where does Holden fit on this path? How are like/dislike Holden Caulfield?

OPTION 2: This option comes from one of Eddie's responses from last week. Eddie wrote:

"So far Holden Caulfied is a character that I can see in many people I know. I know many lazy, unmotivated students who just refuse to play by the "rules" and apply themselves in school. I do not mind this character so far, but I think if I knew him in person I would not like him all that much."
"In general I would say JD Salinger is putting a problem which is generally overlooked or intentionally ignored about teens in America. That problem is disrespect to authority and lack of motivation in school. Too many of our nation's bright students don't care about school, and don't think about how their actions today, will affect the rest of their lives. I don't know what Holden's goals for life are... but flunking out of school usually isn't a great start for anything."

Respond to this entry. Does Holden have a lack of respect for authority? A lack of motivation? Does this apply to today? Why do you think so many students suffer from lack of authority and/or motivation in school? How might this problem be counteracted? Think about this response and formulate your own response on your blog.

Great job, Eddie! You definitely bring up some extremely valid points!