Name: Beatrice

Gender: Female

DOB: August 16^th, 1581

Born in: Messina, Italy

Current City: Messina, Italy

Education: home-schooled

Favorite Books: Twilight Series by Stephenie Mayer, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Stubbornness: A Field Guide by John Hidelbidle

Favorite Plays and Moving Pictures: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Notebook, Water for Elephants

Favorite Music: classical music

Relationship Status: single but waiting

Quote: “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool”-

Willam Shakespeare

~Rachel Grausgruber

Status Update: I have a funny feeling that people are talking about me. I wonder if it because of the dance. I will keep my ears open for any rumors about me.

Status Update: OMG!!!! I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm falling for Benedick. And I don't even know why!!! This is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must be going crazy.

Status Update: I am sooooooo excited that Hero and Claudio are getting married. Claudio is starting to grow on me.

Status Update: Going to pick out my dress for the wedding! EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Status Update: I am pretty sure that Hero is talking about me. I can't believe it!

Status Update: Guess what just happened. During the wedding, Claudio just said that Hero is not a virgin. He’s such a jerk! Then, Hero fell to the floor. I thought she was dead. It scared the crap out of me!!!

Hero's Facebook Page

Name: Hero

D.O.B.: July 16, 1580

Gender: Female

Born: Messina, Italy

Current City: Messina, Italy

Education: Home-schooled

Employer: I am too noble a lady for work.

Relationship Status: Engaged to be married

Favorite Books: Goodbye to Shy: 85 Shy Busters That Work! by Leil Lowndes, The Wedding Planner & Organizer by Mindy Weiss, The Complete Wedding Speech Guide by Andrew Byrne, The Truth About Love by Dr. Patricia Love, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Favorite Movies/ Plays: Much Ado About Nothing, Twenty Seven Dresses, Kiss Me Kate, Dear John, The Notebook, etc.

Favorite Music: Classical music

Favorite Quote:"I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong." -Leo Rosten

Status update: Went on an awesome date with Claudio today. <3

Status update: Wow. I just heard that Beatrice likes Benedict. Who didn't see that one coming?!?! Haha.

Status update: Just spent like three hours looking at bridal magazines. Lol.

Status update: Dinner and a movie with Claudio! :) <3

Status update: Dress fitting #2 today! :D

Status update: Wedding tomorrow... getting some rest tonight.

Status update: Today's the big day! I can't believe I get to marry the love of my life in a couple hours!

Status update: WTF Claudio? How could u put such little faith in the girl you planned to marry?!?! :'(

Status update: Ya know what Claudio... I'm glad you called it off. I wouldn't want to marrry an ignorant ass like you anyway.

Status update: Beatrice has the best revenge plans I think I've ever heard. ;)

Tybalt's Facebook Page

Name: Tybalt

D.O.B.: June 6, 1566

Gender: Male

Born: Verona, Italy

Current City: Verona, Italy

Education: The Capulet Institute

Employer: The Capulet Family

Relationship Status: Single

Favorite Books: The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Nhat Hanh, The Fighting Sword: Illustrated Techniques and Concepts by Dwight McLemore, The Snark Handbook: Insult Edition by Lawrence Dorfman, etc.

Favorite Movies: West Side Story, Terminator, Anger Management, The Dark Knight, Star Wars prequels, etc.

Favorite Music: Heavy Metal!

Favorite Quote: "I am a fool!"-Romeo Montague

Status Update: OMG! Romeo's been seeing Juliet on the DL. I have to do something about this!

This isn't Shakespeare's Facebook!

Hi Gang!


  For this week's blog, you'll be creating a "Facebook" profile for one of the characters from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.  Choose one of the characters in the play you can relate to in some way and then set up a profile for them using the format below.  Have fun with this; think about what you've learned about your character so far, I'd use something like sparknotes.com to get details about your character that maybe we haven't read yet, and then just go for it.  


Beatrice, my personal favorite, won't be around to slap you down if she doesn't like her relationship status listed as, "It's complicated".  Use your best judgment on this one and try to remain true to the character, as we've been introduced so far.  For the books and plays part of this, you may use contemporary or 14th-15th century titles that you believe your character would enjoy; you'll need at least five books and five movies or plays.  


I've done an example of the profile for you to follow below... please be sure you do something similar.  Since others may want to do Beatrice, I've done my profile for Juliet's Nurse in Romeo and Juliet.  (Please notice I started with a photo, you must do that too; if you're not sure how to insert a photo into your post, please see Mr. T. or me and we can help you.  Have fun with this and wait for instructions from us on your response to a peer.. we have a different sort of assignment for that one.


Ms. Mott

My Greatest Joy and Sorrow, My Juliet!

Name: Nurse

Gender: Female

DOB: April 1, 1362

Born: Verona, Italy

Current City: Verona, Italy

Education: Studied the healing arts at the apron of my mother and grandmother

Favorite Books: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey, The Love Dare by Stephen Kendrick, Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, Murder Suicide by Keith Ablow, & Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Favorite Plays and Moving Pictures: The Wash Tub,  Mak the Sheep Stealer, Much Ado About Nothing, The Bucket List, Die Hard, My Pretty Pony, Braveheart

Relationship Status: Widowed

Quote: "What is it that you wish to do with your wild and precious life?"

Ms. Mott

Movie Review

For this week’s blog, I’d like you to write a movie review.  You should write about a movie you’ve seen fairly recently so you’ll be able to give enough details about it.  Don’t be afraid to Google the movie to double check spellings of actors’ and actresses’ names.  Feel free to read some reviews online or in the newspaper to help your writing.  You will be required to follow the template below for your review and grading will reflect how closely you adhere to the template provided.  Have fun with this blog; write about a movie you really love or a movie you really hate and then tell us why.  This is due Friday the 13^th (Now there’s a movie!) by 3 PM.  Please see Mr. Tombasco or me if you need help.

Ms. Mott

MOVIE REVIEW TEMPLATE

Note:  DON’T FORGET that movie titles are written within “quotation marks!”

HEADLINE:  Include the title of the movie (try to use a pun!)

PARAGRAPH #1:  Introduce the movie by stating that you’ve just seen this movie and would like to give an opinion about it.  Mention a couple of details that might help the reader understand what type of movie you are talking about. 

PARAGRAPH #2:  Summarize the plot (story).  Where and when did it take place?  Who are the main characters?  What is the story about?  Remember, do NOT include spoilers and do not tell how the story ends! 

PARAGRAPH #3:  Talk about the actors/actresses and discuss who did a good job and who didn’t. 

PARAGRAPH #4:  Talk about what you liked about the movie and what you didn’t like.  Be sure to include specific details and scenes.

PARAGRAPH #5:  What lessons did you learn from this story (theme/moral)?  What do you think others will learn from it?

PARAGRAPH #6:  What group of people would like this movie?  Who would you recommend it to?  Who would you not recommend it to?  What’s the MPAA rating of the movie (G, PG, PG-13, R, etc…)?  What is your final word on the film:  Is it good or bad?

RATING SYSTEM:  Give the movie a score.  You can do grades (A,B,C,D,F+ or -), stars (*** out of *****), numbers (3 out of 5) or something totally original…  just don’t use “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.”

Sign your name to your blog!

Good Morning!
  For this week's blog, I'd like you to think about your approach to the holidays; are you a grinch or a Who from Whoville?  If you're not sure of the reference, please use Google to look for the movie (or book by Dr. Seuss) The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and describe your feelings about all of the holidays coming up and being celebrated in the next month or so.  Decide whether you're a "Grinch" or a "Who" (yes, you must choose ONE) and then write about how your family celebrates or, if they don't, how you feel seeing all of the celebrations going on all around you.  What do you particularly like or dislike about the holidays?  We need at least 300 words for this one.  Have fun, be creative, be sentimental.. whatever works best for you!  Please see me if you have questions.  Thanks!
 Ms. Mott

Post #6: Comedy and Myth

Our next book, Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, is a comedic, coming-of-age story that offers a humorous parody of the traditional Chinese myth of the Monkey King. As we discuss myth and its comic potential, come up with your own comedic myth for Deposit, NY. It can be a creation myth, or it can be a myth about a hero/heroine involved in the Ancient History of the area. You can even incorporate parodies of popular myths, tall tales, folk heroes, and mythological figures ( from Achilles, Hercules, Aphrodite, etc. to Paul Bunyan, John Henry, etc.).

Be creative! Your posts must be between 200-400 words and are due Friday, 12/16 by 3pm. 

Tragedy or Comedy; Your Choice!

Journalism is a style of writing used to report news and current events.  The basics of good journalism come down to grabbing the readers’ attention,  being descriptive, and answering the “big” questions that everyone wants to know, the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW of an event.  For this week’s blog, I’d like you to describe either a tragic or comedic event you witnessed or heard about over the break using a journalistic style.  That means, you must answer the big questions above to tell your readers what happened.  You also have to write it in a way that will capture our attention; perhaps using a big headline or an interesting first line.  If I start a story with, “On Tuesday, the dog was barking…” my reaction would be, who cares?  However, if I start with, “The barking of the dog woke her from a sound sleep and interrupted her dreams of vacation” I think that might just be a bit more interesting to read so I’d continue on with it. 

This blog should be no more than 400 words, but has to be at least 250.  It is due on Friday this week (the 2^nd) by 3:00.  Please see me if you have questions.

Ms. Mott

Post # 4 Critical Lens on Hate

"We hate some persons because we do not know them; and will not know them because we hate them."  ~Charles Caleb Colton

1. In your own words, explain what the quote means.

2. Explain whether or not you agree or disagree with the quote.

3. Support your opinion by describing a certain character, conflict, or theme from  William Golding's Lord of the Flies or Arthur C. Clarke's 'Hate'.

Your responses should be at least 250 words and are due at 3pm, Friday, 11/11.