“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your mind off your goal.” – Henry Ford
Course Overview:
English Language Arts in the Bridge Academy is designed as a combined course for students needing English credit across a range of grade levels. This full year, one credit course focuses on developing critical and analytical thinking skills through examination and contemplation of various literary exemplars, as well as research and ongoing development of individual composition and language skills intended to prepare students for life beyond secondary education.
Course Syllabus & Related Info :
Required Materials:
The required materials listed below will be an important part of the course, and students are expected to bring them class daily. If you are unable to provide these materials due to financial hardship, please speak to me outside of class as the school may be able to provide them to you:
- Agenda book or similar planning device
- Valid library cards (SHS IMC & Salem Public Library)
- Binder (one inch) or sturdy 2-pocket folder
- Lined paper or dedicated course notebook (one subject college ruled)
- Pens & Pencils (black or blue)
- USB Flash Drive or Current Email Address
Assignments:
In-Class Journal:
- Stay tuned…
Mr. Smith's English Class 
Lala Hunt
Mr. Smith
English ¾
IRP Final Project
May 1,2014
IRP Response
The name of my independent reading book is Monster. The author of my independent reading book is Walter Dean Myers. The book is generally about a black kid who is being tried for murder in the first and second degree and his trials were not being seen fairly because the lawyers and judge were not giving him a fair trial. Lastly, in the end he was found innocent and continued on being a kid and thinking of himself as a monster.
The main character is Steve Harmon. He doesn’t have any enemies throughout the story. He plays as a sixteen year old black kid who’s parents aren’t around as much and is being tried for a murder case that he didn’t commit, he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was found innocent but the book really ends when he figures out why the lawyer turned away from when he was free. In reality he will never be free and still be haunted by the thought of being called a MONSTER.
I choose this book because I like to read black literature. Also, it was about a kid who is around the same age as us teens today. Although, he shouldn’t have been around the crime he still was innocent and still had a life to live in which he didn’t believe deserve to spend the rest of his life in a jail cell. This has to do with theme. The theme from my point of view is Man vs. World. Why? Because everyone say him as this monster and some poor black kid that was always in the streets, this is sometimes always the case in most stories. This story is socially motivated because it can keep kids off the streets and keep them focused on dong the right thing.
My likes about the book is that the main character Steve Harmon is honestly a good kid and he’s only sixteen, his parents don’t do much for him and he still is able to do what he needs to do to be successful and not be like his parents because they have mad mistakes in the past. My dislikes on the book was that the judge or should I say the trial wasn’t fair just for the fact he’s black and is expected to be a corrupt kid at heart and also they have no other leads.
This book compared to others is not my top choice but it would be in the catorgy in which I would recommend someone else to read, because it can show guidance and explain why its important to keep focus and not ending up somewhere you had no intentions on being and don’t be a follower.
My favorite book of all time is definitely “The Outsiders”
-JayCee Perez
Sarah Keith- Chasing Red Bird By Sharon Creech
Annie Mortola- The road by some mcCormick guy
Fallyn Mahoney ~ Shiver by…. oh
you smell
Kerrirose Vaccaro
English ¾
Moby Dick
Mr. Smith
April 5, 2013
Independent Reading Project Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville. I chose to read this book because it was an assignment in class. My initial reaction to the book is that I overall like it, but there are parts of it I don’t like. I like some parts of the book, for example, there are exciting chapters, such as the chapter they caught the whale, was exciting. An example of a chapter that was boring is chapter one when some of the crew of the ship was just meeting for the first time.
The main characters are, Ishmael, Queequeg, and Captain Ahab. Ishmael is a schoolteacher who wants to become a whaler. Queequeg is a harpooner and he is a cannibal. Captain Ahab is the captain of the ship, Pequad, and he is crazy. Captain Ahab lost his leg to this whale they are after. Captain Ahab is the protagonist and Moby Dick, the whale is the antagonist. Captain Ahab wants to kill the whale so bad because he and the whale fought, which resulted in the captain losing his leg. The captain cannot get over that, and wants revenge. Captain Ahab wants to kill Moby Dick. Captain Ahab takes his ship and crew all over the place to find this whale. He will not stop until this whale is killed.
The major themes of the book are man vs. self and man vs. nature. I know that man vs, self is a theme because Captain Ahab has struggles with being crazy with his obsession of killing the whale, Moby Dick. I know man vs. nature is also a theme because Captain Ahab he goes out in the ocean to kill Moby Dick.
This book doesn’t really compare to other books I’ve read because I like to read about real problems like substance abuse, or about child abuse. For example, I really liked, A Child Called It, and Crank. I would recommend this book to some people I know, but not everyone. Some people would like to read about ships and whales, but some wouldn’t.
Carlton O’Neill
Mr. Smith
English ¾
5 April 2013
Book Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Captain Ahab is the protagonist in this story. This story is about a captain named Ahab that has been working on the seas off the coast of Nantucket with many years experience. Ishmael is a sailor that tells the whole story from his point of view, he explains how Captain Ahab is on a voyage to find the Great White Whale Moby Dick in order to seek revenge on him for biting his leg off.
Moby Dick is the antagonist in this book. Although they hunt many other whales, the only one that matters to them is Moby Dick. After a very long voyage Captain Ahab spots the Great White Whale. He orders his crew to drop the boats and chase after him. Moby Dick slams into the boat, destroying it. Leaving everyone dead but Ishmael.
I chose this book because it was recommended by my English teacher to read as a class and I don’t regret doing it. The way this book was written, it was like a play was being acted out right before my eyes. Every chapter the momentum would build up and then slow down, making you want to read more and more.
The primary theme of this story is Man vs. Nature. It is portrayed on how Captain Ahab is obsessed with the fact of getting revenge on Moby Dick, so much that it actually takes a toll on himself throughout the story. Also the fact that the whole crew goes through the bad storms and the rainy weather losing many crew members just to get Moby Dick. The Man vs. Self theme shows how the members of the Pequod work together and have to race with other boats to kill the Great White Whale. Captain Ahab is obsessed of the fact of getting revenge that he goes through so much that he ends up dying from it. These are the themes of Moby Dick.
Fernando Morales
Mr. Smith
English ¾
5 April 2013
Moby Dick Independent Reading Project Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick. The author of my independent reading book is Herman Melville, which was first published in 1851. The reason why I read this book was because it was a class book assignment. This books text was easy to understand, which was a good thing especially since the story is old. Most books that were made in the 1850’s were hard to understand because of the language and the text that would be used in the book. I wouldn’t really recommend this book to anybody, that’s because I thought the book was boring.
In Moby Dick, Ishmael is the protagonist. Moby Dick, a whale which would be considered as the antagonist. There isn’t really a problem between Ishmael and Moby Dick, just that the whole ship has a mission to kill the whale because the captain of the ship Captain Ahab wants revenge. The reason why Captain Ahab wants revenge is because, Moby Dick tore his leg off and now the captain is missing a leg.
In this book there are two themes, Man vs. Self and Man vs. Nature. In the book the themes are revealed when Ishmael is trying to change his lifestyle into something that he isn’t used to but is willing to learn. For Man vs. Nature the whole book is about the whalers trying to capture and kill Moby Dick. The way that these themes were revealed were pretty interesting. These themes made the book interesting to read.
Lizmarry Baez
Mr. Smith
English ¾
3 April 2013
Independent Reading Project Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Ishmael tells the story but it’s really about Captain Ahab and his obsession of capturing Moby Dick who took his leg. Ahab wants to capture Moby Dick for revenge because that was the whale that took captain Ahab’s leg.
The protagonist is Ahab. The antagonist is Moby Dick. Ahab has issue with Moby Dick because Ahab has seen Moby Dick before and Moby Dick took Ahab’s leg. Moby Dick in the story is the whale that Ahab is trying to capture. The conflict in the story is that Captain Ahab is trying to capture Moby Dick. Moby Dick made an action that may pay with his death. Moby Dick took Captain Ahab’s leg and now Ahab is obsessed with capturing the whale and killing it. The outcome of this is that Moby Dick was found, the harpooners threw the harpoons. Ahab and mostly all of the crew disappear and Moby Dick was not killed.
The major themes are Man vs. Self and Man vs. Nature. The theme Man vs. Self is revealed by Ahab. Its revealed this way here its how, Ahab needs to get pass himself and Moby Dick. He is too worried about capturing Moby Dick and gets revenge because of the incident they had, which was that Moby Dick took Ahab’s leg. This theme is a traditional theme and its also a psychological theme. The theme Man vs. Nature is developed through the setting of the boat and the sea. It is also developed though the character Moby Dick because those are some things that they faced that was brought by nature. They wanted to capture Moby Dick and for that they had to go on the sea and be on a boat. This theme is traditional and original and it’s also entertaining.
My initial reaction to the text is that I didn’t like it. I felt this way because I’m not interested in whales and it’s boring. It wasn’t interesting because the entire book talked about was whales. This book compares to other books I read because they are boring and don’t interest me at all. I wouldn’t recommend this book because I don’t feel like a lot of people are interested in whales and won’t find this book good to read, but if you are interested in whales than of course I recommend it.
Stephany Hernandez
English ¾
Mr. Smith
4 April 2013
Independent Reading Project Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I didn’t choose this book. It was a class assignment. When I first found out I was reading Moby Dick I was very disappointed. I was disappointed because everyone I know that read this book said it was very long and boring. Many critics also agree with my first reaction. However, like myself, the people that read it after loved the book and were glad they read it.
In the beginning of the story Ishmael just wanted to go a little adventure to try and find the white whale. While he was doing that he met a couple of guys and one guy that was a cannibal, little did he know that the cannibal would be his best friend. They had people leave them, try to hurt them and throughout everything they both stayed together. Ishmael did not go anywhere with Queequeg and Queequeg did not go anywhere with Ishmael. One captain that accepted them both was Captain Ahab who was too looking for the white whale called Moby Dick. Captain Ahab had a big problem with Moby Dick. Captain Ahab lost his leg because of this whale. He met Moby dick once and the captain was trying to harpoon and Moby ate his leg. Throughout the story everyone was talking about how he lost his leg. At the end of the book Ahab, Queequeq, Ishmael, and the rest of the boys on the ship found Moby Dick. They got harpoons right away and started harpooning him. Moby Dick did not like that and sunk their ship. Ishmael was the only one to stay alive from that tragic accident, everyone went down with the ship and couldn’t stay afloat.
Before reading the book I would never recommend this book to anyone because of what I heard, but after reading I would recommended to everyone that has not read it because its not just about the sea and whales. Its more than that, you can see the journey that Ishmael had to go through to do something that he was interested in.
The primary theme of the book Moby Dick is Man vs. Nature because throughout the story Captain Ahab is trying to get revenge on Moby Dick because of the lose of his leg. When Captain Ahab first saw the whale, Moby Dick ate his leg. After that accident Captain Ahab does not go one day on trying to plan revenge on Moby Dick. The other theme is Man vs. Self because Captain Ahab has revolved his whole entire life with planning revenge on this whale. Captain Ahab does not care what anyone thinks or says about him. Everyone thinks he is the crazy old man that obsessed with this big white whale. At the end of the story the readers see how being obsessed with this whale was very bad because he died from it.
Jonae Texeira
Mr. Smith
IRP
1 April 2013
Independent Reading Project Response
The title of my independent reading book is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I did not choose this book it was a classroom assignment. My initial reaction to this book was a negative concept. Towards the beginning of this novel nothing caught my attention. Towards the middle and end it still hadn’t had me interested at any point. I felt this way because I had a different perspective on this book when Mr. Smith first told us about the book and as we began to read it I began to simply dislike it. Compared to other books I have read Moby Dick is the worst novel. I feel this way because usually the other books I read catch my attention and have similar stories. Moby Dick wasn’t a book I had to read by choice and as we read it I didn’t grow to like it.
The main character of this novel is Ishmael. Ishmael is a crew member of the pequod. Ishmael doesn’t play a major role in the events of the novel, but has an extravagant understanding on whales and whaling. The antagonist of this novel is Ahab. The self-centered captain of the Pequod, Ahab lost his leg to Moby Dick. The only thing Captain Ahab is trying to accomplish is to capture Moby Dick. With his overbearing personality he tries to manipulate his men into following his quest to capture the whale. Using charm and at other times violence he keeps his men under control but off balance. As a captain, he is dictatorial but not unfair. The outcome of the rising action was accomplished. The men on the ship eventually found Moby Dick.
Moby Dick wasn’t a book I had to read by choice and as we read it I didn’t grow to like it. The themes of this novel are man vs. nature. And man vs. him. I support my opinion because Moby Dick is mostly about men versing the ocean and the whale. Also, I think this would be man vs. himself because on the pequod the men all have some interaction with their selves. The themes are reveled mostly because of Captain Ahab. Captain doesn’t have a leg because of Moby Dick, he also seen the whale before anybody else. The themes become developed because the men got what they wanted and at last seen the whale, Moby Dick. I believe that the themes of this novel are also entertaining as well as traditional. I support my opinion because Moby Dick is a traditional book that has been around for long and the majority of people have read or are reading it. Although like I said before I had no interest in the novel before, it was rather entertaining. I think this because the fact of the pequod doing everything they did just to find a whale is pretty interesting.
My initial reaction to this book was a negative concept. Towards the beginning of this novel nothing caught my attention. Towards the middle and end it still hadn’t had me interested at any point. I felt this way because I had a different perspective on this book when Mr. Smith first told us about the book and as we began to read it I began to simply dislike it. Compared to other books I have read Moby Dick is the worst novel. I feel this way because usually the other books I read catch my attention and have similar stories. Moby Dick wasn’t a book I had to read by choice and as we read it I didn’t grow to like it. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anybody else my age. This is because I feel like Moby Dick is for a person older, mainly because the whole concept of the book didn’t make sense to me therefore I think it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else my age.