The Storyteller by Saki

During a train ride, three restless young children escorted by their aunt hear a story about good girls in an attempt to keep the children from misbehaving (squirming and asking a hundred questions) on the train car.  In the aunt's story, the girls good deeds are rewarded.  Nearby, a bachelor offers a story of a girl whose "goodness"  ends up costing her life.  After hearing the two stories, the children decide that they enjoyed the bachelor's version of the "good girl".

This story is told in an OMNISCIENT point of view.  The narrator here is not a character in the story and can let the reader in on the thoughts and feelings of more than one character.

There is a little bit of situational IRONY in the bachelor's story of the good girl.

• What do we expect will ultimately happen to little girls enough worthy of earning a medal for "goodness"?
• What ends up happening to the good girl at the end of the bachelor's story?  What caused it?
• Is there something we can learn from this IRONY?

Here is a link to the story with pictures:  http://grantfitch.com/sakistoryteller.html

Everyday Use by Alice Walker

Last week we read a short story about two sisters narrated by their mother.  We learned that each of them had a different idea of what heritage means.  Dee (Wangero) viewed her heritage as something one should preserve by taking it out of everyday use and displaying it in the home.  Her mother disagrees.  As the title suggests, Mama's idea of heritage involves a daily practice.

How does Dee see her family differently than she was brought up to?

How does Mama see her daughters differently now?

Has Maggie changed in this way too?

Introduction to 2nd Quarter English 10

Greetings Scholars:

Welcome to the 2nd Quarter edition of Kagman High English 10.  We discussed a little bit about what our focus will be this quarter.

• Characterization
• Narrator and Voice
• Symbolism and Irony

We also need to work on our next creative project which will be a narrative to explore the elements of literature listed above.  Some of us expressed an interest in making movies, we just need to be able to build upon our previous experience with movie-making.  Most importantly, we need to find a way to publish our work.

We will also continue with our SOAPSTONE nonfiction analysis.

Quizzes will continue to focus on vocabulary development and the short stories we read in class.

Homework will be RAFT writing assignments based on the short stories from your textbook and new vocabulary. (Role, Audience, Format, and Topic)

Our Final Exam will be a research-based writing assignment.

Bellwork will resume everyday at the start of class and the first batch will be due on December 9, 2011.

Hang in there!  

Peace,

Mr. Pangelinan