Hey everyone,

I will be handing out a basic checklist for the book of letters tomorrow in class. Here is a copy of it if you want a head start.

Tomorrow we're going to do a bit of in class creative writing in groups, hopefully it will be fun and a bit silly :). No homework so don't worry.

You will have time on Friday to put together your book (probably about 1/2 hour). Please review the comments section of the last entry as some people has asked questions about the assignment that might help everyone in the class.

Any other questions or concerns please leave a comment.

Remember not to stress too much. Let's try to keep Block C a "stress free zone"

I got a request to repost the Book of Letters assignment. It was originally posted back on Feb 17th. Here's the link :)

I hope you are all doing well and not stressing out too much. My advice to you all is to work a little on your project every day instead of stressing out and plowing through it all on Monday and Tuesday next week. As they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Someone also asked me if they could do X and Z if they wanted. You are all welcome to add them in but as I said earlier, you won't be given extra marks for them.

Remember to relax and enjoy your holiday :)

Hey guys,

To reply to a couple of questions...

1) You can still use "cup" if you want (just don't copy my entry word for word)

2) Tomorrow we are going to be looking at chapters 13-16. Considering you have a test on Thursday I would assume you have pretty much finished the book by now. I will go over the test in more detail tomorrow.

Hey everyone.

Here is the example entry that I created for the Book of Letters. As you can see I am expecting some fairly sophisticated work. I am well aware from all the assignments that I have marked thus far, that you are all capable of a high level oftextual analysis and I expect to see it in this assignment.

Here is the sample:

C is for the cup that Bilbo stole from Smaug.

Bilbo, up until the point when he stole the cup, had not been overwhelmed by a desire for riches and treasure like the dwarves. However, at the sight of Smaug’s vast hoard Bilbo suddenly fell victim to the greed and desire that had inspired the dwarves to pursue their quest, “Bilbo had heard tell and sing of dragon-hoards before, but the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him. His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves…” (p.250). Falling victim to the allure and spell of the dragon’s treasure, Bilbo acts rashly and steals the cup without thinking through the potential consequences. Symbolically, if Bilbo represents the humanity that lies in all of us, then Smaug’s treasure symbolically represents greed’s ability to overpower even the most well-intentioned and honest individuals. By stealing the cup, Bilbo hopes to demonstrate to the dwarves that he is in fact a powerful individual capable of achieving great feats, “more like a grocer than a burglar’ indeed! We’ll hear no more of that” (p.251). Although he does manage to achieve this goal, we must consider the negative qualities of this desire. Although Bilbo may represent all that is good in humanity, he still falls victim to one of the most basic of human weaknesses - the lust for money and the power that goes along with it.

This is a little longer than 150 words but keep in mind that 150 is a minimum and there is a good chance that you will go over. As you can see from the above entry I expect you to use quotations from the text and to use what we have learned to bring new meaning and insight to the words that you have chosen. They should have an identifiable link to main themes and ideas in the story. If you choose an obscure word then I will expect you to be able to demonstrate how it relates to the main ideas in the book.

As for the request for bonus marks for completing X and Z, I have decided NOT to allow it. This project requires a lot of thought and work, I want you to put all your energy into making the required entries the best possible. So, to repeat, there will be NO bonus marks for completing X and Z.

There was also a questions about how the book should be assembled. I am very open to creativity for this project. You can "bind" the book however you want. It can be attached from the top or side or wherever you want. But it should be a book of some kind. If you have a creative idea, run it by me just so that we're on the same page.

I will bring a mock up of the above entry to class on Tuesday but I want to be clear that this is a creative assignment and you are free to interpret the entries as you see fit.

See you on Tuesday

Hey Everyone,

Here is the link to the "are you more Took or Baggins" writing assignment. (sorry it was not up on the wiki).

Also, some students have asked which letters are being omitted from the book of letters. You will NOT be responsible for X or Z. There are some more difficult letters remaining but I' m confident your imagination will help you out. That means you will be responsible for a total of 24 entries, 12 each if you are in a pair and for the one trio that will be 8 each.

Remember to keep plugging away on the assignment.

See you on Thursday and don't forget all your late assignments.

Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves at the entrance to Mirkwood forest

The Long Awaited Update

....ok, well maybe not long awaited, but much overdue.

Finally, here is the link to a whole bunch of different pictures and artistic interpretations of Gollum. I put tons of stuff on there so spend a few minutes checking it out. There are clips from the animated version of the Hobbit as well as Gollum in the stage musical. I put tons of different pictures and some examples of Gollum Tattoos, jewelry, drinking mugs and figurines.

There are still people who are missing assignments here and there so here are the few assignment sheets that I still haven't posted.

I'm going to go through the missing assignments again this weekend and give you an updated list on Monday. The end of terms is coming up so you should all be working to get up to date. Once the cut off date comes there no chance to make it up.

1) Shadow self assignment
2) Bilbo's escape from the mountain writing assignment - I haven't handed this one back to you guys yet, I'll have it back to you marked on Monday

Also, you should all be working hard on your book of letters assignment. This is a very large and time consuming assignment. It is in your best interest both where stress and grades are concerned to plug away on it slowly and diligently.

The three people who don't have partners it might be a good idea to make a group trio to complete the assignment. I will speak to you after class on Monday to see if we can figure something out to decrease your workload.

As requested here is a link to the chapter questions on Chapter 2 - Roast mutton

• here is a link the to the quote sheet from today - I unfortunately could not get it in the fancy little box of the wiki site but the quote is there.
• Get the question sheet from last class here

I'll make sure to update the site completely over the weekend. I owe you guys some links about Gollum and some other interesting stuff that I've dug up.

Have a great weekend

Remember to keep on reading. You should be done at least up to chapter 12 by the end of the weekend.

Hey Everyone,

You can post your responses to the short answer question in the comments section of this page. For any of you who are not sure of how to post a comment, simply click on the "comments" buttong below, type your answer in the "leave your comment" box, and publish your comment. Make sure that you leave your name attacked to the comment so that you can get credit. It may also ask you to type in a work verification thing to make sure you're not spam.

I'm looking forward to reading your responses.

I think that it is important to once again clarify my reasons for making you write the short answer at the end of class last block.
1) Having just ended a full block focused on the topic that the questions were answering, I could be assured that the topic was fresh on your mind. You had the information that was written on the board to help guide you and the questions and answers that we had gone over in class were still very clear. By writing directly after we had reviewed the topic you all had a much better chance of getting some insightful and well guided answers.

2) By having you write your answers during class time it saved you the extra homework over the weekend.

3) By having your answer already written in "draft" form (the in class portion), I am hoping that you will practice your skills in revising and editing your answers. If it was for homework with a deadline of 12 midnight I can guarantee that some of you would be frantically writing your answers at 11:58pm, taking very little time to think about the question or provide detailed insight.

I hope that explains my rationale.

See you on Tuesday.

p.s Ranesh's comment is posted in the comments of the last blog entry.

HOMEWORK!!

• I expect you to have read up to the END of chapter 8
• Have posted your response by midnight on Saturday the 23rd
• Chosen a classmate's comment that you liked or want to respond to and have a short written response stating your reasons for liking it or your response to their comment. It is to be handed in on Tuesday (100 words minimum).

Hello Everyone,

I was asked to post the vocab crossword for chapters 3-6 so here it is. Sorry I didn't post it in my last entry. For some reason the crossword section doesn't show up well on the wiki site I have up for you assignments so I am posting here on the blog. You can copy and paste it into a word document if you have lost it.

See you all tomorrow and thanks again to those who helped out with the grade 7 day today (especially those who braved getting beaned in the head with sunflower seeds in Mr. Low's class).

Name:_________________________ Block:________ Grade:__________

Vocabulary crossword – The Hobbit: chapters 3-6

1						2
														3		4
			5		6
7
		8				9
			10									11
						12			13
				14								15
								16
							17
											18
19

Across Down

1. to bite with grinding teeth 2. To avoid work or duty 6. existing, situated, or operating below the surface of the earth; underground 7. causing depression, dark and dismal 8. Something, such as an object or a relic, belonging to or dating from ancient times; Ancient times, especially the times preceding the Middle Ages. 10. to cut, pierce or penetrate 11. The meat of a full grown sheep used for eating 12. confused or perplexed 14. a wise saying usually of unknown and ancient origin 15. so keen and perceptive as to seem supernatural or psychic 16. light reddish brown 17. a large fern or area overgrown with large ferns and shrubs 18. a sheath for a dagger or a sword 19. a rapidly beating heart

1. an open space in a forest 3. lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture; ignorant or unenlightened 4. unperceived; without one's knowledge 5. a flat cake 9. to drink a beverage, (usually alcoholic) in large amounts and with enjoyment 13. a type of aromatic herb