Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Question of the Week (12/10/10)

What has been your favorite aspect of E9 so far? Keep in mind we have read Antigone, Our Town, Macbeth, performed in Shakesfest, and done a ton of vocabulary. What have you enjoyed most?

42 comments:

  1. Of the plays we've read so far, I've liked Macbeth the most. I feel like there is more to think and write about. It interests me to read how Shakespeare understood psychology so early on. I enjoyed the Shakesfest, although it got a little long, by the end. I didn't like Antigone that much, since I didn't feel I could relate to it as easily as the two other plays.
    I liked writing response journals too.

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  2. I likes Shakesfest the most out of everything we did. It was a lot of fun to both perform and to see the other classes' takes on Macbeth. Getting a chance to show our understanding of the play in another way other than test form was a nice change. The only thing about that play itself is that it was hard to understand what people were saying a lot of the time.
    I agree with Zola that Antigone was very hard to relate to, so it made it a little less interesting.

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  3. I thought that Shakesfest was the most interesting thing we did this year. I thought that Macbeth was an interesting play to perform, and I liked seeing all the different classes performances. To do a good performance you really do have to understand what you are saying, so I think Shakesfest really helped me understand the play. I think that I might have understood the other plays better if we acted them out also. I agree with Zola and Araya about Antigone. I really did not relate to it much and it can be hard to understand things if you can’t relate to them. I think that’s why acting out Macbeth helped me understand. When you are in a play, you can start relating to your character and begin to understand things better.

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  4. I liked our unit on macbeth as it was introducing the ninth grader to arguably the best playwrite in the english language. Also, Macbeth is an excellent play, and is easily accessible to those who have not had as much experience with shakespeare in the past. I felt like more discussion about the writing of macbeth and the deeper points of the plot would be nice, rather than acting it out right away, maybe after we had studied the play more in depth.

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  5. I think Macbeth and Shakesfest were the most interesting things we've done so far. Learning about Shakespeare helped before going into his plays, and although sometimes difficult, translating the words into modern text was interesting. I also liked how in Shakesfest we got to see all the different interpretations of the play. Some were comedic and others serious, but it was all in all interesting to see.
    I agree with Zola and others about Antigone. It took longer than Macbeth to translate, and longer to really understand fully. I agree that since we couldn't relate to it, it was even harder to

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  6. I think that Shakesfest has been the most important part of English 9 so far this year. I thought that acting out the scenes or watching them get acted out was a big help with being able to understand the book Macbeth. I thought that it was also a lot of fun to act it out for the entire grade. It was also a lot of fun to watch the other English 9 classes act out their scenes. I thought that it was fun to wear our costumes and memorize the lines. As Natalie said I also thought that it helped me better understand what Macbeth and the other characters were saying.

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  7. I haven't really liked any of the things we've read so far. I think thats because they're plays, and those are hard to understand since so much of them is in the tone and we read most of them at home. I felt like shakesfest helped, but it was the same for every class- you can only see so many murder scenes before it gets boring. I feel like i've learned a lot of vocab from them because of the time difference between when they were written and now, we don't use those words as much. I guess i'd have to confess to not having a favorite part of the year really- if I had to choose it would be shakesfest and I didn't really enjoy it- though I think I would have more if we had more time to prepare. I thought antigione was the low point of the year for me too, but for a different reason- the movie didn't help me figure it out. for our town I felt like it didn't need a movie, it was all in the dialogue. but in antigione the movie didn't clear things up like it did for macbeth, it just made it harder to understand.

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  8. I liked Macbeth and Shakesfest the most out of all the things we've done this year. I think that Macbeth is a really great play and we could really discuss it well in class. I also liked Shakesfest because it was fun to act the play out that we knew so well and seeing the other classes act it out helped me understand the play better. I agree with Zola that Antigone was harder to understand than the other two plays because it was written longer ago and it didn't relate as well.

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  9. I think my favorite aspect of english 9 this year has been Shakesfest and Macbeth. I think Macbeth was an interesting story and as Carolyn said is was nice and helpful to learn about Shakespeare before reading his play. Also Shakesfest was great because it was fun to act out a passage from Macbeth, and it was fun to see other classes performances. Like others I agree with Zola in the way that Antigone was very hard to understand and to relate to because it was written so long ago.

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  10. Of the plays we have read so far, I have enjoyed Macbeth the most. I liked the fact that we got to act it out some days, unlike other plays that would have been very difficult to act out. I also like many of Shakespeare's other plays and I would say Macbeth is one of the best of his plays. I found Our Town a lot more boring that Macbeth and Antigone, but for me, Macbeth was much easier to understand and relate to (like Zola said) then Antigone.

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  11. So far this year I think my favorite part of english 9 has been the shakesfest has been the best part, because it was a fun way to show what we learned about Macbeth. It also made it really fun that it was a competition. I thought that it would be better if we had another week to practice because we would have had more time to prepare. I agree with Araya and Zola that Antigone was harder to relate to and that made it a little less interesting.

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  12. Out of everything that we've done this far, I liked Macbeth and Shakesfest the most. Macbeth was an interesting play and I liked the way that Shakespeare had the prophecies play out. Shakesfest helped me understand the scene that we were performing more. I agree with Zola that Antigone wasn't that interesting because it was difficult to relate to.

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  13. My favorite play that we have done so far is probably Macbeth. I didn’t like Our Town very much since it seemed to be too old fashion and hard to relate to, and in Antigone, there were no happy endings and no reason for any of it to happen. Macbeth on the other hand went into detail about how each of the characters are feeling and what they think of their friends and family. Also, it seemed to be much more realistic and seemed like it really could have happened a while ago. I agree with Carolyn that having background information about they play really helped to understand what's happening.

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  15. My favorite part of English 9 so far was the Macbeth/Shakespeare unit. I think that it was the most important thing that we have done so far. I did not really like our town it seemed too ordinary, and Antigone had no action. The vocab unit was not very fun. It was very boring. I agree with Sarah that Our Town was too old fashioned. It was way too hard to relate to it.

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  16. Personally, my favorite part of English Nine so far has been the vocabulary unit. I really enjoyed learning new words to enhance my vocabulary and I thought I did well with the unit. I disagree with Karthik on how it was boring. There were some tedious homework assignments, but I enjoyed doing well with it. I agree with what Karthik and Sarah said about how Our Town was old fashioned. I felt that it was boring as well.

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  17. My favorite part of english 9 so far is performing in shakefest even though I had 24 lines. I think shakefest was also fun watching other classes perform and seeing what they did. It was a good way to end our Macbeth unit. I didn't really like reading Antigone because the whole play was hard to understand and I never really understood it. Our town wasn't a great play but some of Our Town wasn't too bad. I think Macbeth was hard to understand at first but ended up being one of the better plays we have read. I agree with J-Lights that watching the movie of Antigone made the play harder to understand.

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  18. Having the seventh period class every day, I feel like we have the most fun with just about everything, but so far my favorite thing we've done has been shakesfest. Even though there was a lot of memorization, and I personally forgot my lines at one point, watching it was a lot of fun and watching everything come together was lots of fun as well. I think you should seriously consider pizza Friday, paid by the students. Of the things I didn't really like, I felt like we spent to much time in our town, I felt like it would have been easier to do a quick read, a discussion and get on with it, I found it pretty boring.

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  19. My favorite unit this year was working on Shakesfest. It was a project where we not only had to understand what we were reading, but also act it out which made it more fun. I think that with some more preparation time for our production, the quality of it would have been much higher. It was fun, nonetheless. Although watching ten or so performances without a break did get a little bit repetitive, it was very interesting to see the very different approaches that each teacher or class took to the task. In my opinion, one of my least favorite things that we have done in English class so far was learn the vocabulary. I know that it is very important to learn, but it just got tedious (writing each sentence out) in the exercises.

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  20. My favorite thing that we have done in English 9 so far this year was the Shakespeare unit. Macbeth was my favorite play that we have read this year because it had things that we could learn from, we could act out, and some concepts that we could even relate to. Plays like Our Town and Antigone were quite boring and did not have much action at all to keep us satisfied, but Macbeth really changed that and gave us a play that we could really be interested in. As for Shakesfest, I know that there are many people who learn best from actually doing things instead of just reading things, so this was a great way to get us up out of our seats for once and actually perform what we were reading about.
    I agree with Zola when she says that the response journals were fun to write.

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  21. I would have to say my favorite unit of E9 so far has been reading Antigone because Macbeth took a lot of work to understand and I didn't really like "Our Town." I also really liked watching the other groups perform in Shakesfest, although I would have liked to have more time to develop our class's act. I'm definitely looking forward to the independent reading and short story units of E9. I also agree with John that I didn't mind the vocabulary too much, especially because it was something different to do at the time.

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  22. I would say that so far my favorite part of english 9 has been the Macbeth/Shakespere unit. I thought that it was an interesting twist to have shakesfest. Its was really enjoyable to watch what the other classes had prepared and it was fun to practice in class. It was a creative way that gave me a better understanding of the play. I agree with Evie that macbeth was a much more relatable play that a play such as "our town" which wasn't as interesting to us.

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  23. My favorite part of English so far this year has been Shakesfest. I loved getting to watch my classmates perform something that they spent time and effort on. Especially because everyone did a really great job! I would love to do another project like this. It reflected everyone nicely, and we also needed to balance reading Macbeth with working on our skits. I agree with Caroline, Macbeth was very hard to understand. In order to really get what was going on in the text, you had to be focused and work hard. But I liked that aspect a lot, plus Shakespeare was one of the most influential writers of all time... I'm glad I read something so important. And I disliked Our Town

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  24. From the depth, the complex plot to the emotional and thoughtful process of the characters, Macbeth has got to be one of Shakespeare’s best works. The possibilities are endless when it comes to interpreting the play, which I think is why it makes the best literature. It is no wonder that Shakespeare has his own volume in the collection of our great masters of writing on all the dusty, and new shelves internationally. As Zola mentioned, the relations between the characters and the circles of connection are all well thought out, it amazes me that literature of this caliper was written during Shakespeare’s time. For me, it was not only interesting, but I found for others as well. This was helpful because there was valuable discussion and ideas brought to class, which made the unit all the more worth while. So many lessons can be learned from Shakespeare, and this is only the beginning; he is a model and foundation for many other pieces and writers we will encounter in the future.

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  25. So far, my favorite part of E9 is Shakesfest. This was the most enjoyable because we were able to understand Shakespeares messages more thoroughly because we could analyze a scene in more detail. It was also interesting seeing the other classes' interpretations of the scenes. As well as being a learning experience, it was fun to take a break from reading Macbeth or learning grammar and be active. I really enjoyed learning my parts in the our scene.

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  26. I also agree with Bella when she says that Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's best.

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  27. My favorite unit for english nine has also been Macbeth. With Antigone and Our Town I felt like they were shoving the theme down your throat. While in Macbeth the themes were subtle and harder to grasp. While reading Macbeth was interesting I found that Shakesfest was my favorite part of it. We so rarely get to take a break from school to show what we've learned and worked on to other classes. It was nice to experience the play in a different way. I agree with others in saying that the two other plays were hard to relate to.

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  28. I think that my favorite unit that we have done this year in English would have to be Macbeth. It is my favorite unit so far because we got to perform scenes of the play, and got the chance to compete against other classes. I liked Macbeth because the plot of the story was small but the tasks to achieve the goal were all spread out in the book. I agree with Katie because we got to take a break from all of the work that we were doing and just got to perform our favorite scene in shakesfest.

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  29. My favorite part of English so far has been Our Town. It was interesting, and unlike Macbeth, people didn't try to talk about themes that didn't apply or try to make it seem like they understood the play when they actually had no idea what was really going on. I'm not saying that I always understood Macbeth, but some of the things I've heard people say about it were just wrong. I agree with the people who said that Antigone was hard to relate to, but was it really any easier to relate to Macbeth?

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  30. The books have been a little interesting, i really enjoyed preforming shakesfest but i wish we had a little more time to rehearse. Overall i have enjoyed this course, i look foward to writing a short story. i hope we dont write a paper on short stories, i would much rather write my own short story.

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  31. The best thing that I have done in English this year would have to be reading Macbeth. I liked Macbeth so much because it was the best play that we have read so far. I feel that Macbeth had a little more action than Our Town did, and was way more interesting than Antigone. I think that Macbeth wasn’t to understand. Macbeth was also up front in its motives and we didn’t have to analyze the text as much as we had to with the other plays. I hated the vocabulary. I have never liked vocabulary, I will never like vocabulary. Why learn something that I will never use. Overall I liked Macbeth, and I abhorred the vocabulary. I agree with Zola in her thinking about Shakespeare’s philosophy in the 17th century.

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  32. I really enjoyed Shakesfest. I liked how we got to act in front of the entire grade without it really meaning something, and especially because it was considered a class grade. It was easier than most things we do in school, and it was enjoyable. I liked this the most so far in E9.

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  33. My favorite part of English 9 so far this year has been the shakesphere unit. The reading was hard to understand, but it was balanced perfectly with the fun of acting it out as a class. The plays were fun, and also helped me understand the text further!

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  34. I really enjoyed shakesfest. I thought it was fun and original. Though it didn't help me understand the play I feel as if the audience had a great time watching all the plays. Our town was my least favorite part of the unit because of the blandness of the play. But overall, I think E9 has been a blast!
    ~ Austin Tate

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  35. I think that my personal favorite unti was Macbeth and Shakesfast. I think that it was a lot of fun to get to preform and watch other classes. I think that it was a fun unti to do with the play Macbeth. I liked the journals because I think that it gave me a better understandign of what was going on at that point in the play. I think that also watching the movie was interesting (even though some parts were pretty disgusting) and I thought that that was a fun way to start and end classes. I also agree with Sarah about how Our Town was a little too old fashioned. Sure Macbeth is old to but I feel like the emotions used in the play will be around forever (ex. Ambition, Manhood, etc.). But Our Town is from a time period that I don't think really relates to us and it's hard to think about and really connect to the story. I believe that Our Town might have been more fun if we were maybe able to relate to the story more.

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  36. The play that we have done thus far, that i liked the best would have to be Our Town. I think that what set it apart from all of the other plays was that it was a little more modern and interesting than the others. What I enjoyed most about Our Town, was that its setting was compatible to whatever you may imagine. I think that Our Town was interesting because of the style of writing and the interesting characters. Another thing about Our Town that i liked was that we did not spend too much time on it like the others, that meant that the play did not get too boring or bothersome. in Our Town, I like the level of happiness, whereas the plays of Macbeth and Antigone are shrouded in misfortune and murder. I hope we will be able to read more non-tradgedies instead of saddening content.

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  37. I really liked the vocabulary part in comparison to all the plays. It was very interesting to learn these new words!
    But Shakesfest was more interactiv, so I think that Shakesfest I enjoyed the most!

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  38. What I enjoyed the most about english 9 so far is the vocabulary unit. I really like the activities that we did in the books because they were fun and simple. I thought that the words were very helpful, and easy to understand.
    I agree with John when he said that the vocabulary work helped enhance his vocabulary.

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  39. I liked reading things like our town, however I thought that reading things like Macbeth and Antigone weren't as easy. I liked the readings that were easy to understand much more than the ones that weren't easy to understand I also thought shakesfest was fun but thee should have been an intermission.

    I agree with brenna that the vocab unit was fun as well

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  40. i reallly enjoyed antione it was a very interesting play which i would probly would have never read it if i was not in your class it was an great play
    i agree with mike the plays macbeth and antione were hard but thats what made them funnnn

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  41. I liked shakesfest a lot because it was different from everything else we did plus watching other people perform was a lot of fun. I agree with johannes, he said shakesfest was interactive and think thats a perfect word for it.

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