Tuesday, 21 January

Today work was returned and grade print outs were shared. If any summative assessment is missing or incomplete, then the student can not pass for the semester. Work can still be made up and turned in.

The class worked on studying for tomorrow's in-class, open-book, open-note final exam by reviewing the following:

Food and Heat (Physical and Passionate) are key themes in Like Water for Chocolate.

List three topics you think that I am most likely to ask you to write about:

Choose up to three quotes that you think are most likely to be either asked about by the exam or used as evidence by you. (Why?)

Besides Food and Heat what symbols, events, or quotes do you find most significant, why?

And

The proper way to embed a quote: Intro the quote; quote the quote; cite the quote; explain the quote!

Thursday, 16 January

Class began by completing the timeline of events in Like Water for Chocolate.

Then class discussed in a variety of ways the following topics:

Why was "I hate you" the "magic word?

Why is who is getting married so confusing in the month of December?

What is the relationship between Tita and the narrator?

How are food and fire related to one another in understanding the book?

We will prepare for the in-class, open-book essay final exam in class on Tuesday of next week.

Monday, 13 January and Tuesday/ Wednesday 14/15 January

This week various classes moved through various parts of studying videos, taking notes in mini-lectures, and discussing several key events.

We studied the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 which helped increase membership in unions.

We studied the controversy between the Gold Standard and Greenbacks.

We watched several videos and discussed the Haymarket Riots of 1886.

Haymarket riot video

http://video.pbs.org/video/1907816603/ 10 mins

And a different perspective with more focus on labor and civil rights

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OQxncb2ihQ&safe=active

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkZET09x5_Q&safe=active

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaUFPCMnChk&safe=active

18-19 minutes total

Some classes had time to analyze a graph on page 185 of History Alive! examining the relationship between hours worked and wages between 1890 and 1915.

Most classes also studied the "Pullman Strikes."

The final exam for this class will cover the history of labor and industry in the US from european settlement to WWI (including vocabulary).

Tuesday, 14 January

In class we reviewed embedding quotes. This is a vital skill for completing the final exam that will be an open note, open book in-class essay on Like Water for Chocolate.

We divided the novel into parts and worked to create a time line of events that are crucial to the plot.

The rest of the novel should be read by Thursday.

Monday, 13 January

Students should have read through "July" in Like Water for Chocolate.

The quiz for todays reading was:

The following quote is on page 115. Write a paragraph that explains as fully as you can, using other quotes and examples from the novel how this quote relates to the rest first seven months (January – July) of the novel. Pay particular attention to the phrase, “we can’t strike them all by ourselves.” Please use your notes and the novel. You will have thirty (30) minutes.

         “As you see, within our bodies each of us has the elements needed to produce phosphorus. And let me tell you something I’ve never told a soul. My grandmother had a very interesting theory; she said that each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can’t strike them all by ourselves; just as in the experiment we need oxygen and a candle to help.”

After finishing the quiz, class had a brief discussion about about bandits being the death of Mama Elena, the rape of Chencha, and how Gertrudis fared after running away with the rebel.

Thursday, 9 January.

The class worked in small groups to analyze April, May, and June.

Here is an example of what was discovered.

Tuesday, 7 January

Class began with a quiz. Anyone who missed class or who did not pass the quiz will need to attend tutorial on the 14th in order to complete a make up activity.

Class focused on sharing notes about heat and fire in the chapters February and March.

The class also searched for elements of magic and miraculous happenings (and recorded notes) for February and March.

We considered the element of blood that died the roses for the Quail in Rose petal sauce.

Students had some time to read.

May and June are due for next class.