Weekly Review

This week in English II we started reading The Crucible. I haven't gotten very far into it because we are not allowed to take the books home, but so far I really like it. I have found scene I online, but I have yet to find the complete text. I'm still having trouble finding things to journal. I came up with a few more character "profiles" of minor characters, but I'm pretty much out of characters. I’m going to have to come up with a different idea for journalling now. Though, like I said last week, there is always random stream of consciousness.

Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy, born November 14, 1908, served as a Republican U.S Senator for Wisconsin from 1947 until 1957. He earned a law degree at Marquette University and became a circuit judge for Wisconsin in 1939 when he was 33 (he was the youngest in the history of the state). In 1942, he volunteered for the Marine Corps and served as a Captain until the end of WWII, in 1945. Though his reasons for enlisting have not been confirmed, it is largely believed he enlisted simply to improve his political career. Upon his return from war, he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1946, defeating his opponent, Robert La Follette. His first few years in the senate were uneventful and he remained a relatively unknown figure.

In 1950, he quickly rose to fame after giving a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. In the speech, he accused 205 (or 57. The speech was not recorded and the exact number is disputed) members of the State Department of being members of the Communist Party or Soviet Spies. This speech gained huge media attention almost immediately. McCarthy continued to accuse members of government and others of being communist in the following years. In February, 1950, the Tydings Committee hearings were called in response to McCarthy’s claims. Although the hearing reported that McCarthy’s claims were fraudulent, McCarthy’s accusations sparked a mass paranoia dubbed the “Red Scare” (as communism is often represented by the color red).

Although McCarthy is most known for sparking the “Red Scare”, he also sparked a lesser known mass paranoia dubbed the “Lavender Scare”. During this time, he accused many of his opponents and other people who showed opposition to him of being homosexual. These accusations ruined many careers and some experts insist that the Lavender Scare was much more destructive than the Red Scare.

Joseph McCarthy holding up his “proof” of the Communist spies in the U.S. government

Act IV

ACT IV

Scene I

(Set about a week after the end of act III. Ruth and Mama are sitting in a small living room. The room has little furniture, but everything is very neat and thought out. The walls are painted a dull yellow, almost like gold. )

(Walter enters from another room, carrying his coat)

MAMA: Where you going?

(Walter doesn’t answer, or even look up.)

MAMA: (raising her voice) Walter Lee…

WALTER: I gotta get something, that’s all. (shortly, as if extremely annoyed.)

RUTH: What’re you getting?

WALTER: Ain’t none your business.

MAMA: Walter…

WALTER: (cutting Mama off) Why you gotta be in my business all the time?

RUTH: This ain’t like you. What’s going on?

WALTER: Ain’t nothing going on. I just going out! (very agitated)

RUTH: Walter, why you gotta be all secretive?

(Walter ignores Ruth and leaves the house.)

(Before Ruth or Mama can say anything, Travis comes in.)

TRAVIS: Mama, can I go outside now?

RUTH: What’d I tell ya before?

TRAVIS: I know I supposed to wait for Daddy, but he never here!

RUTH: This ain’t like our old place. You gotta be careful here. Wait for your father.

TRAVIS: I been waiting two days. Every time he says he gots things to do.

MAMA:  He’s just a boy, Ruth. Let him go outside.

RUTH: (Under her breath) Come now. You know how they think of us.

MAMA: (completely ignoring Ruth) You can go out now, Travis. Just be back before dark and stay within calling distance.

RUTH: Lena!

(Travis runs out of the house before his mother can say another word.)

MAMA: Let the boy live. There is plenty of time to be afraid.

(Curtain)

SCENE II

(Beneatha is standing in the small kitchen in the back of the house. The light of day is quickly fading. Beneatha is cleaning the countertop when she notices a small sheet of paper and picks it up. Just at that moment, Walter enters)

BENEATHA: What is this? (motioning to the paper in her hand)

(Walter freezes)

BENEATHA: (Clearing her throat, then looking down at the paper to read)”We won’t be letting no coloreds near our children. You folks leave now if you know what’s best for you. “Cause regardless of what you do, you won’t be here long. We’ll make sure of that. You decide how things unfold.”

WALTER: Found that on our doorstep this mornin’.

BENEATHA: Why would you keep this a secret!?

WALTER: It’s under control.

BENEATHA: Under control!? Walter, this ain’t no game. This is serious (shouting). Oh I knew this would happen (under her breath, more to herself than anyone else).

WALTER: I told ya! It’s under control!

BENEATHA: What Mama gonna think? What Ruth gonna think!? Walter, what’re we gonna do?!

WALTER: You gonna hush up ‘bout it. I told ya, it’s under control. No need worrying then.

(Before Beneatha can say another word, Ruth enters)

RUTH: I can’t find Travis (out of breath, on the verge of tears)!

BENEATHA: What you mean? Where he go?

RUTH: Outside to play. He supposed to be back before dark.

WALTER: It ain’t been dark all of ten minutes.

RUTH: He’s never late.

WALTER: I’m sure he’s…

RUTH: (cutting Walter off) I’m gonna look for him.

(Ruth grabs her coat and starts to leave.)

BENEATHA: I’ll help.

(Ruth is walking out when she abruptly turns around.)

RUTH: What do you have in your coat (accusingly towards Walter)?

WALTER: What you talkin’ ‘bout?

(Beneatha pulls the coat open before Walter can stop her, revealing a small handgun)

RUTH: What you doing with a gun!? Get that out of the house! NOW!

WALTER: We need it! You wouldn’t understand!

BENEATHA: It’s that note, ain’t it?!

RUTH: What note?

(Beneatha hands over the note quickly before Walter can grab it. Ruth skims over it for a moment then throws it to the ground, quickly turning around and running out of the room)

WALTER: RUTH?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!

RUTH: (shouting from the next room, almost sobbing) TRAVIS IS OUT THERE!

(Curtain)

SCENE III

(The clock in the corner of the room reads a little past midnight. Mama and Beneatha are sitting on the couch in the living room. Walter is pacing nervously back and forth. Outside, rain is pouring down. Occasional flashes of lightning are seen in the window. Ruth bursts in the front door, completely soaked and sobbing.)

RUTH: I can’t find him! (choked out between sobs)

BENEATHA: You checked the main road?

RUTH: Of course!

BENEATHA: And the side streets?

RUTH: I looked everywhere!

WALTER: We’ll find him. He can’t have gone too far.

RUTH: REMEMBER THE NOTE WALTER! THEY COULD’VE KILLED HIM!

(Mama gets up and guides Ruth over to the couch, sitting her down.)

BENEATHA: I’ll go look for him Ruth. Right now, I’ll go. We’ll find him, you’ll see.

(A loud crash from outside cut through the room. Ruth jumps up, as Walter starts to head towards the source.)

BENEATHA: What was that? (voice falters, as if scared)

WALTER: I don’t know.

BENEATHA: You don’t suppose the folks who wrote the note…

WALTER: (cutting Beneatha off) Shut up.

BENEATHA: You think they’d broke in? (whispers)

(Walter quietly walks towards the back of the house, Ruth shortly behind him. Beneatha looks after them from the living room, while Mama remains on the couch. Walter reaches into his coat and pulls out the gun).

RUTH: (whispering) Put that damn gun away!

WALTER:( whispering) I ain’t gonna let them just kill us!

(Another loud crash, this time obviously from the back door, sounds through the house.)

WALTER: I got a gun! I’ll shoot!

RUTH: Walter Lee! Put that damn gun away!

WALTER: (ignoring Ruth) I’ll shoot!

(The door burst open, revealing a dark figure hidden in the shadows.)

RUTH: WALTER DON’T SHOOT!

(At the moment, Walter fires, just as a voice softly speaks.)

FIGURE: Mama! Da….

(A body thuds to the floor. A flash of lightning momentarily illuminates the room, revealing Travis’s small face, a bullet wound in the center of his forehead. Ruth collapses, screaming, while Walter stands in shock at the feet of his dead son.)

(Curtain)

Week Review

This week is English II was pretty good. I really liked writing Act IV this week, and we got to devote a lot of class time to that. So overall, it was a pretty good week. I am starting to run out of ideas for journaling (already). I think I might try just writing a stream of thought. That doesn't seem like something I would get writer's block on (and if I do and I can just write about my writer's block). I can also start writing the quote, word, fact, and slang on the actual page and not tucked away in the corner of the page.

Weekly Review

    This week in English II was pretty short for me (only three days), so I didn’t end up doing that much. I was able to finish A Raisin in the Sun, which I did end up enjoying, and, as always, did some journaling in class (and at home to make up for the missed days). With the grammar game on Monday and missing Thursday and Friday, there wasn’t much time for discussions in class (when I was in class at least). The short discussions we did have in class were a bit interesting, just not quite in depth as usual.

Grammar Lesson

Grammar Lesson: Pronouns and Antecedents

THE FACTS: Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns, such as his, her, and it. Antecedents are the noun the pronoun is replacing.

Example:
Lisa threw her ball.

Her is the pronoun, and Lisa, being the noun that her replaces, is the antecedent.

WHY IT’S CONFUSING: There are many different rules and exceptions surrounding pronoun and antecedent agreement. There is not a single rule to remember about pronoun and antecedent agreement.

HOW TO REMEMBER: Nearly all the rules surrounding pronoun and antecedent agreement are very similar or the same as many rules surrounding subject and verb agreement. If you know the subject-verb agreement rules, then you know most of the pronoun-antecedent agreement rules.

A few rules and exceptions to remember:

1. Singular antecedents must be replaced with singular pronouns (same rule applies to plural).

2. A phrase or clause between the pronoun and antecedent does not change the number of the antecedent (plural or singular).

3. In sentences with more than one antecedent, the pronoun should be plural if the antecedents are joined by and. If the antecedents are joined by or/nor, the pronoun should agree with the antecedent closer to the pronoun.

4. If every or many a comes before the antecedent, the pronoun will be singular.

5. The number of is a singular phrase, while a number of is a plural phrase. If either of these phrases 

comes before an antecedent, then the pronoun must agree with the phrase (either singular or plural).

Fill in the blank with the correct pronoun, then underline the antecedent. Review orally in class:

1. Fred fell off a cliff, but _____ was ok.

2. Nikki wanted the purple shoes, but ________ friend wanted Nikki to get the blue shoes.

3. Neither the author no editors did ______ jobs well, resulting in a terrible book with many spelling and grammatical errors.

Try these on your own, then have a teacher or friend review:

1. A number of people gave _____ money to the charity.

2. Every person at the beach ran for _______ life.

3. Jimmy and John loved to make _______ own lunches.

Do these for homework:

1. Lana likes the feel of _____ own bed.

2. The city had lost much of ____ charm after the tsunami destroyed most of it.

3. Once upon a time, Prince Charming dropped ______ crown from the highest tower, then cried for the rest of ______ life.

Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square

           The train lurched to a stop and the doors opened. I grabbed my bag, stood up, and hesitantly made my way to the door. I had no way of knowing if I was in the right place until I found the house, which was at least a few blocks from the train station. Sighing, I stepped off the train. People quickly left the platform, disappearing down the two stairwells. Within seconds, I was the only one left on the platform. It stretched above a busy street, lined with small storefronts, cafés and the occasional smaller house, tucked away between the towering buildings.   

           I made my way over to the smaller of the two stairwells and went down. I pushed past an iron revolving gate and found myself on the street. Cars flew past the crowded sidewalks, adding to the already noisy street. I glanced down at the map Mom had given me. I had to go west on Leland. Looking around, I quickly spotted a sign with LELAND printed in bold text. It was only a few feet away.   

           Turning onto Leland, the noise died down almost instantly. This street was much smaller, with various houses lining both sides for as far as I could see. Large trees grew over the street, creating a tunnel of leaves. The houses themselves seemed mostly very old, though not run-down. A few newer homes were scattered around, all very large and remarkably similar to one another.

           “It’s so strange. Why would someone build the same house three times on one block?” I thought to myself.

           I kept walking, turning onto more narrow, quiet streets. I was grateful I was walking when I noticed how many of these streets were one way. I would never be able to find my way by car.

           Before long, I reached another busy street. This one was different, though. They were very few cars, and the street itself was very narrow. It was surrounded by huge sidewalks, filled with people walking around between the shops and restaurants the lined the street. At one end, there was a parking lot with what seemed to be an outdoor market inside. In the center of it all was a large square. I could hear music coming from the center of the square, but was having a hard time seeing what it was over the crowd. I pushed past a clown making balloon animals, past several carts selling pretzels and sausages, before finally making it to the center of the square. There was a band playing on a small stone stage. I stood there for awhile listening before I remember I had somewhere to be. I pushed my way back through the crowd, pulling out my map once more. I walked back down the street to a small street called Giddings. I kept trying to follow the map, but it seemed like I was just going in circles. Everything looked so similar. I was staring at my map for what seemed like the hundredth time when I bumped into someone.

           “Sorry.” I muttered without looking up.

           “Are you lost?” The person asked.

           “Yeah. Kinda. I’m trying to get to 2124 W. Sunnyside. Do you know where that is?”

           The person, a woman in her mid-thirties, took the map in her hands and studied it for a moment.

           “We are right here.” She said, pointing to a place on the map. “I believe you are trying to get here. If you keep walking for another block, then take a left, you should find it.”

           “Thanks!” I said, putting the map away as I started to walk down the block.

           “No problem.”

           Within minutes I was standing in front of the familiar yellow house I had seen in the photographs. I didn’t even have to knock. She was already on the porch.

           “Grandma!”