“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend!

U.S. History= Your 2nd Quarter Study Guide is due Thursday, 1/23/14 for odd periods & Friday, 1/24/14 for even periods; you will be taking the first part of your final on that same day. Please also bring your stamped work & QODs to class on Thursday and Friday...it's extra credit toward your final grade! A study guide for the second part of your final (during finals week) will be passed out on Tuesday & Wednesday in class.

AP Euro= I will be in my classroom until 4:00pm on Wednesday for any student who would like to stop by for specific help with our current chapters. On Thursday, 1/23/13 your Chapter 24 & 25 Study Guides are due...you will be taking a multiple choice test (no writing portion) on that day covering the 2 chapters we will spend the first 30 minutes of class reviewing the material. Please read the information below for an extra credit opportunity!


EXTRA CREDIT ALERT FOR AP EURO:

How to Write a Movie Review

Five Parts (Paragraphs) of a Movie Review

Opening: Catch the Reader's Attention—Think about how advertisements sell movies: "trailers" show you a few seconds of the movie to get you interested.

When you begin your movie review, make your own "trailer." If you liked the movie, then your trailer should make people want to see it; but if you didn't like it, the trailer should be something that shows why you didn't like it. Don't explain why you liked it or didn't like it; make the reader like or not like the movie by what you describe. Begin your review by retelling an incident or moment from the movie, which you think, captures the spirit of the movie, as you understood it.

Alternative: Begin your review with another kind of story or interesting fact--about one of the star actors, or about the making of the movie, or about the director.

Second Paragraph: Take Care of Business—Near the beginning of the review, you have to tell the reader all the obligatory stuff--the title of the movie, the director, the studio, the main actors, the year it was made (if you watched it on video), the rating. This paragraph tells the reader the things they have to know about the movie. Also, in one sentence or two, you should explain very simply what the movie is all about--not necessarily what happens, but that might work, too, if you can say it in one two sentences.

Third Paragraph: Character and plot summary—What happens in the movie? You shouldn't tell everything that happens--and especially not the ending. But you want to summarize the basic plot of the movie, in more detail than you do in the paragraph above. (One way to do this might be to write a sentence about each main character.)

Fourth Paragraph: A Key Moment or Idea—In this paragraph, go into detail about something important that interested you about the movie. If it was a musical, you should say something about the songs. Or if the soundtrack was good, talk about that. Or write more about one character who was really intriguing. Or retell another big moment from the movie and explain why it is important. If you think the "idea" behind a movie was really interesting, explain that idea and talk about it a little bit. In this paragraph, you must go into depth about the movie.

Fifth Paragraph: Evaluate the Movie—Do you recommend it or not? Who will like it (kids or adults)? The most important thing here is that you must also explain why you are making your recommendation.

You must justify your opinion--and that opinion should grow out of what you write in the rest of the review. Give at least two reasons why you liked or didn't like the movie.

The movie:

You have an opportunity to watch one of the following films: 

Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), Marie Antoninette (2006), Les Misérables (2012), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), The Young Victoria (2009), Paths of Glory (1957), or The Red Baron (2008).

In order to earn the extra credit points offered you must:

• Watch this movie and write a movie review (as outlined above)
• Tell me where you were able to find this film (i.e. Netflix, the library, onDemand, etc.)
• Turn in your review by Thursday, January 30^th, 2014 at 11:00am or earlier.