Wednesday, March 30,2011

Bell Ringer: DGP (5 min)

• Identifying Clauses and Sentence types:

the county jail in our town houses 300 inmates and employs 25 police officers

SAT – SWAT! (10 min)

1. Florid: (adj) ornate  2. forbearance: (noun) patience, restraint  3. Fastidious: (adj) giving careful attention to detail   4. fortuitous: (adj) lucky  5. foster: (verb)promote, aid  6. fraught: (noun)filled with  7. frugal: thrifty  8. hackneyed: clichéd  9. haughty:  being arrogant, talking down to people  10. hedonist: person who acts in pursuit of pleasure 

Introduction to (5 min)

• Chapter 1 of My Forbidden Face, The Koran, Literary Term: antithesis

• HONORS: Discuss My Forbidden Face News Review Assignment

“Sundiata” QUIZ!Check the best answer.  

The action of this epic takes place inside and out of the land named

A. Mari Djata B. Nigeria C. Niani (or Nianiba) D. Mali

In “The Buffalo Woman” some hunters find an old woman “by the side of a river” in the kingdom of Do. Choose the false answer below:

A. Hungry, she asked two hunters for something to eat. B. The hunters gave her no food. C. She gave the hunters help on how to kill a buffalo. D. The king of Do promises the hand of a maiden to whoever kills the buffalo. E. The king of Do stole the woman’s inheritance.

In “The Lion’s Awakening,” Sogolon, Sundiata’s mother, is insulted by Sassouma, her arch rival who also has a son. Sundiata, who is not much past seven, repays the insult by doing the following:

A. He uproots a tree, puts is in front of his mother’s house, and tells her that all “the children of the town,” and thus their mothers, will have to get its leaves for cooking from his mother.

B. He picks up the heavy spear and rope of his father and disappears into the forest for three days. He returns to the town with a live lion roped to the spear.

C. He walks over to Sassouma’s house, stands before her door, and announces in a voice the whole village can hear that God will one day punish Sassouma

D. None of the above. At one point Sassouma tries to convince nine witches that they can use their magic against Sundiata if they can create an excuse by making Sundiata act in a certain way to display a certain

character trait. Pick the option below that describes the excuse, the act, and the trait.

A. They will make children pull his hair, so that he hits back, thus displaying his anger. B. They will openly steal from his garden, so that he violently stops them from taking his vegetables, thus displaying his unkind heart. C. They will run sacred elephants into his home, so that he must kill the elephants, thus displaying his sacrilegious nature. D. They will make his mother steal from Sassouma, so that he hits his mother, thus displaying his lack of respect for family.

Sogolon and Sundiata (amongst others) are forced into exile. They return together:

A. As soon as Sassouma’s son has ascended to the throne. B. To make Soumaoro flee. C. When Balla Fasseke dies. D. Never.

According to the epic, griots are singers by whose “mouth you will learn the history” of both the land and its kings. Soumaoro is a sorcerer, Balla Gasseke a griot. Soumaoro captures Balla Fasseke. Which of the options below is the best answer?

A. In the sorcerer’s private chamber with enchanting music, Balla Fasseke charms the severed heads of kings slain by Soumaoro. Since Soumaoro has no friends, he keeps Balla Fasseke despite the trespass. Sundiata goes to war over this.

B. In the sorcerer’s private chamber with a long speech, Balla Fasseke persuades the sorcerer to teach the griot his magic. Since Soumaoro has no friends, he does so. Balla Fasseke turns on Sundiata and war ensues.

C. In the sorcerer’s private chamber with slow torture, Soumaoro draws out the truth of Sundiata’s magic. Soumaoro devises a counter-charm and Sundiata, feeing betrayed, kills Balla Fasseke.

D. None of these options would make any sense given what has happened in the story prior to this.

My Forbidden Face(10 min)

• WHOLE CLASS: complete reading Chapter one and complete the accompanying reading guide

Reading Check, pp. 534 (5 min)

• Students will discus the reading check section to gauge for understanding.

Facts about the Koran PPT

• Students will view and take notes on the following powerpoint.

The Koran

“Read in the name of your Sustainer, who created, created man from a clot. For your Sustainer is the most Bountiful One, who has taught man the use of the pen—taught man what he did not know.” (96: 1-5)

Muhammad was 41 years old when he first received what he believed to be the first five verses of The Koran.

                                                                                          

Muhammad was in the Cave of Hira when he received the first verses of The Koran.

                                                                                          

Muhammad at first thought that he might be demon-possessed, but his wife told him he had been chosen as a prophet to receive The Koran, the final word from God..

The Angel Gabriel spoke to Muhammad the words of The Koran and Muhammad memorized them.

The Angel Gabriel always appeared during the 9th month, the month of Ramadan to give more messages for The Koran.

After the first 13 years of receiving The Koran in Mecca, Muhammad had to flee to Medina because of persecution.

During the journey from Mecca to Medina Muhammad and his converts slept the first night in a cave. Satan, in blue, led the soldiers from Mecca after them. But the cave was protected by Allah who put a spider's web and a dove's nest in front of the

entrance suggesting that no one was inside.

Muhammad continued to receive The Koran in stages over a span of 23 years (610-632 AD).

After his first wife, Khadija, died, Muhammad married ten other wives, making a total of eleven, even though The Koran says that men cannot have more than four wives.

Three of Muhammad’s wives memorized the complete Koran, and the youngest one, Aishah, became a leader in the religion after his death.

During his lifetime, Muhammad had 29 scribes write down his prophecies, which later became The Koran.

The Koran has 114 surahs (chapters), 6, 616 ayas (verses), 77,943 words, and 338,606 Arabic letters.

There are thirty Juz’ (parts) of The Koran so that it can be recited in its entirety in thirty days during Ramadan.

According to The Koran, Muslims must pray five times a day (dawn, noon, late afternoon, sunset, and before midnight), facing towards Mecca.

Since The Koran was given over 23 years, some parts contradict others, but Muslims use a process called abrogation to decide which parts to follow now.

For example:

Surah 73: 1-4 commands:

“O thou enfolded in thy mantle, stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer: half; or curtail the half a little—or add to it: And with measured tone intone the Koran, for we shall devolve on thee weighty words.”

While verse 20 of the same Surah commands:

“Of a truth, thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers. But God measureth the night and the day: He knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to you mercifully. Recite then so much of the Koran as may be easy to you.”

Abrogation here is when older commands are replaced with newer commands.

A Muslim must be pure in order to touch The Koran; most Muslims place it on the highest shelf in the house.

The Hadith is a record of Muhammad’s sayings and the Sunna is the prophet’s deeds, words, and approvals, but they are not considered to be the word of God like The Koran.

Sharia is the codification of law coming from The Koran and the Hadith and Sunna.

The Koran is based in oral tradition, which is the primary method of preserving it, even after 1,400 years.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United States and perhaps the world, and The Koran is the basis of that faith system.

Making the Connection (10 min)

• Pp.542

• Discuss compassion and mercy

Literary Focus (10 min)

• Take notes on the literary focus, pp. 542

Read, “from the Koran” (5 min)

• WHOLE CLASS: read and discuss for comprehension

Homework

• Study for SAT quiz

EXIT (5 min)

• True/false