Bells 3, 5, & 7 (Core): Any I.R.P.s you turn in will be graded as extra credit.
You may earn up to one hundred points (which equals one whole letter grade) of extra
credit in this way. You will receive extra points for typed/word processed reports.
Bell 4 (Advanced): You must do a minimum of FIVE I.R.P.s to pass for the 9 weeks.
Any over 5 will be counted as extra credit. You may earn up to one hundred points
(which equals one whole letter grade) of extra credit in this way. You will receive
bonus points for typed/word processed reports. You and your parents must sign below
to acknowledge understanding of the assignment.
Bell 4 English student's signature parent's signature
All bells: Limit of 3 art projects per student. ALL NON-ART PROJECTS MUST HAVE THE
GRIFFIN HONOR PLEDGE WRITTEN OUT IN FULL ON THEM (I pledge I neither gave nor received
unauthorized help on this project); TYPED/WORD PROCESSED WORK IS ALSO TO BE ACCOMPANIED
BY AN HONOR PLEDGE CO-SIGNED BY YOUR PARENTS(I pledge I did all the typing/word processing
on this report myself) IN ORDER TO RECEIVE BONUS POINTS. Reports MUST have a title
page (top page showing title, pledge(s), name, date, class, bell, and teacher) and
a bibliography of sources (final page) in addition to the body of the report. Follow
the bibliography style shown on the handout I gave you to file in the front of your
English notebook. You MUST use more than one published source for reports. Write
reports in your own words from the notes you take on your sources - no credit if
you plagiarize a source. Do NOT include blank sheets of paper. Folders are unnecessary
as these papers will be filed in your writing portfolio; just staple the pages of
your report together neatly in the upper left hand corner. All research is to be
done outside of class. I have some reference materials available in my room for student
use before school from 7:50 a.m. until 8:30 a.m.; otherwise, plan to visit the school
and/or public library. You must have the written consent of your parents BEFORE viewing
any video to review it for me; include this written consent with your review, or
you will not receive credit. Video reviews must also include video copyright information,
a list of acting and directing credits, a plot summary, and a critique. The summary
and the critique should be about equal in length. You must have the written consent
of your parents BEFORE reading any book to review it for me; include this written
consent with your review or you will not receive credit. Book reviews must include
publishing information, a plot summary, and a critique. The summary and the critique
should be about equal in length. I'll give quality points only for quality work.
Follow directions, or you forfeit any and all points.
All assignments must be handed directly to me by 3:00 p.m. Friday, March 20th, 1998
AT THE LATEST in order to receive credit. This time and date are carved in stone
- NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Being absent the day projects are due DOES NOT RESULT IN A LATER
DUE DATE!!! I do not give partial credit for late work - I do not even accept late
work!!! Feel free to turn projects in earlier, however; I would appreciate greatly
not being inundated with things to grade at the last minute, and I will thus reward
early submissions with liberal points!!! I may display, read, play, or otherwise
share with my classes those projects I consider exceptionally well done!
1. Do a research report on a famous English ruler, such as any one of the
following: King Alfred, Richard the Lionhearted, William the Conqueror (led Norman
invasion of England in 1066), Henry V (victor against the French at the Battle of
Agincourt), Edward, the Black Prince, Richard III (allegedly killed own nephews to
get the throne), King John (signed the Magna Carta in 1215), King Henry VIII (the
big one with 6 wives), Queen Elizabeth I, James I (son of Mary, the tragic Queen
of Scots), Oliver Cromwell (England's only dictator), William and Mary, Queen Victoria,
Edward VIII (abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson).
2. Do a research report on a famous French ruler or dynasty, such as any one
of the following: Charlemagne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis XIV (the "Sun King"),
Louis XV, Eleanor of Aquitaine (divorced from Louis VII of France, then married to
Henry II of England), Cardinal Richelieu, Charles de Gaulle, Catherine Medici (powerful,
plotting Italian wife of 1 and mother of 3 French kings), Francois Mitterand (sp?
recently deceased president).
3. Do a research report on one of the famous figures, causes, philosophies,
or events of the French Revolution, such as any one of the following: Robespierre,
Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite", the storming
of the Bastille, the Reign of Terror, Jean Paul Marat, Georges Danton, ancien regime,
absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings, the Tribunal, the Third Estate, Lafayette,
Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Jacobins, the September Massacres, the Committee
of Public Safety, the Directory, Bonnet Rouge, Madame du Barry. OR make a timeline
of events leading up to, events during, and events after the French Revolution. Your
timeline must begin at least 25 years prior to the Revolution and must end at least
25 years after the Revolution. You must mark at least 10 significant events on your
timeline (causes, executions, events, etc.)
4. Make a moving model of a guillotine - NO RAZORS OR SHARP PARTS!!! OR do
a mural of the Place de la Revolution, the square where people were being guillotined
by the cartload during the Reign of Terror.
5. Do a research report on at least one of the famous sights/major monuments
of France, such as any of the following: Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Eiffel
Tower, the Sorbonne, Versailles, the Bastille, the Seine River, Champs-Elysees, la
Place de la Concorde, Ecole Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater), Tuileries, Montmartre,
Arc de Triomphe, the Conciergerie, Cemetarie les Invalides (Jim Morrison is buried
here), Rue du Faubourg St. Honore (haute couture fashion central), Cathedral of Chartres,
the fleur de lis (symbol of France), the Tour de France (famous international bike
race).
6. Do a research report on at least one of the famous sights/major monuments
of England, such as any of the following: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (especially
the "Poets' Corner"), the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar
Square, Oxford University, Cambridge University, the Thames River, St. Paul's Cathedral,
Madame Tussaud's, Covent Garden, the Houses of Parliament, Windsor Castle, Stratford
(birthplace, home, and burial place of Shakespeare), the Strand, Soho, Picadilly
Circus, #10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister's Residence), the Monument to the
Great Fire of London (1666 a.d.). OR do a research report on Sir Christopher Wren,
the great architect of London.
7. Do a research report on the world-famous pieces of art to be found in any
one of the famous London or Paris Museums, such as the British Museum (the Elgin
Marbles, the Rosetta Stone) or the Louvre (the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Nike, Psyche
and Eros).
8. Do a research report on the Hundred Years War between France and England.
OR, do a research report on the Seven Years (French and Indian) War between Britain
and France. OR, do a research report on Joan of Arc.
9. Do a research report on the "War of the Roses" (English civil
war between the Houses of York and Lancaster). Include an illustration/description
of the Tudor rose.
10. Do a research report on Sir Francis Drake and the defeat of the Spanish
Armada. OR do a research report on British hero Lord Nelson; make sure to discuss
his death at Trafalgar and the love of his life, his wife Emma. OR do a research
report on the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
11. Do a research report on a famous English author, such as any one of the
following: Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, John Locke, Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, John Milton, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin.
12. Review any movie based on one of Charles Dickens novels. (Oliver Twist,
Nicholas Nickelby, Bleak House, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, The Old Curiosity
Shop, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Edwin Drood, etc.) A Christmas Carol does NOT count
- you studied (or SHOULD have studied!) that last year!!!
13. Do a book report on any of Thomas Hardy's novels about life in rural 18th
century England (Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor
of Castorbridge, Jude the Obscure, The Return of the Native) or review any movie
version of one of his novels.
14. Do a book report on any of Jane Austen's novels about morals and manners
in 18th century England (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park,
Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion) or review any movie version of one of her novels.
15. Do a book report on any of E.M. Forster's novels about love amongst the
18th century British upper crust at home and abroad (Where Angels Fear to Tread,
Room with a View, Howard's End, A Passage to India, etc.) or review any movie version
of one of his novels.
16. Do a research report on a famous French author (or a book report on any
of their books, or a movie review on any film based on one of their books), such
as any one of the following: Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three
Musketeers, Queen Margot), Victor Hugo (Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- but NOT the Disney massacre of the story!), Rousseau, Renee Descartes, Honore de
Balzac, Moliere, Gustave Flaubert (Madame Bovary), Montesquieu, Voltaire (Candide),
Guy de Maupassant, Colette, Jean Paul Sartre (No Exit), Simone de Beauvoir (Memoirs
of a Dutiful Daughter), Baudelaire, the Marquis de Sade (weirdo from whom we get
the word sadist).
17. Read and do a book report on any of these books about France: Shadow of
a Man by May Sarton, The Story of Paris by Thomas O'Key, A Moveable Feast by Ernest
Hemingway, France by Pierre Broden, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, Down
and out in Paris and London by George Orwell, The Ambassadors and The American by
Henry James.
18. Watch and review any of these movies about life in France: Jean de Florette,
Manon of the Spring, Au Revoir les Enfants, My Father's Glory (cute family story
set in French countryside), My Mother's Castle (the charming sequel to the above
film), The Return of Martin Guerre, Cyrano de Bergerac (classic story of unrequited
love...guy with the big nose), Grand Illusion, Mon Oncle d'Amerique, Story of Adele
H (the tragedy of Victor Hugo's daughter who went crazy - a true story), Small Change,
Gigi, An American in Paris.
19. Watch and review any of these movies about life in England: Local Hero,
Cal, Hope and Glory, Another Country, Chariots of Fire, Wuthering Heights, My Fair
Lady, The Madness of King George.
20. Do a research report on the Impressionist Movement in Painting or on a
famous French artist, such as any of the following: Claude Monet, Edouard Manet,
Georges Seurat, Vincent Van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Matisse,
Berthe Morisot, Auguste Rodin, Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec.
21. Do a research report on British high tea. Or provide British "cream
tea" style refreshments (crumpets, scones, etc.) for your class to sample. Like
a good host/hostess, you must provide enough for everyone in the class to have a
sample, you must provide paper products and serving/eating utencils, and you must
clean up immediately afterwards! Give me at least one day's advance notice when you
plan to do this option.
22. Review a literary tour guide book for either London/England or Paris/France.
Mention the sights associated with the authors you are most interested in.
23. Do a research report on the Industrial Revolution in England.
24. Do a mural of the fabulously landscaped grounds of Versailles Palace.
25. Do a research report on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Canterbury
Cathedral and/or holy pilgrimages to it, or Saint Thomas a Becket, who was martyred
inside the Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 a.d.
26. Make a recipe book with authentic recipes for traditional English favorites
(Shepherd's Pie, Cornish Pasty, Bangers and Mash, Ploughman's Lunch, Cock-a-leekie,
Yorkshire Pudding, Steak and Kidney Pie, Fish and Chips, Bubble and Squeak, etc.)
Make sure to include ingredients, measurements, directions, and cooking temperature
and time for all your recipes. Your recipe book should include at least 5 real recipes.
Decorate your recipe book with illustrations.
27. Make a poster about French cuisine; make sure to discuss French specialties
such as frommage (cheese), souffles, baguets (bread), white sauce, pate, crepes,
quiche, etc. Include pictures/drawings of and information about the food. OR make
a collage about France or Britain.
28. Do a research report on the London Underground (or "Tube") or
the Paris Metro, the subway systems in these cities.
29. Do a research report on Scotland Yard and/or Jack the Ripper.
30. Do a research report on the Act of Union in 1707 which declared the United
Kingdom of Great Britain, uniting England, Scotland, and Wales into one nation for
the first time.
31. Make a chart on the differences between American and English spelling,
speech, and/or slang. You must list at least 10 differences.
32. Read and review the Classic Comic version of "Fall of the House of
Usher" (copies available for reading in class before school or during HOMEbase).
33. Do a research report about any of the poets whose works we are studying
in our poetry unit. (Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Alfred Noyes, John Keats, Alfred
Lord Tennyson, Sir Walter Scott, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Burns,
Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell, James Hogg, Robert Fergusson, Robert Browning,
Lewis Carroll, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Percy Bysshe
Shelley, Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Sylvia Plath,
Lord Byron)
34. Do a research report about any of the following topics relating to our
narrative poetry unit: bagpipes, Paul Revere, Hiawatha, the border wars between England
and Scotland, the Battle of Blenheim, the Crimean War, British colonization of India
and /or the caste system in India, the crime of highway robbery in merry old England.
35. Do a research report on the Romantic Movement in poetry or on the Harlem
Renaissance in literature.
36. Read and review several (at least 3) of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories.
Write one paragraph about each story you read. Tell what happened in the story and
whether you liked it or not and why.
37. Do a research report on medieval ballads. Some famous ones are Barbry
Allen, Henry Martin, The Demon Lover, and outlaw ballads about such figures as Robin
Hood. Go beyond what we discuss in class.
38. Write a letter to Juliet asking her questions about herself and/or Romeo.
Write (or type) the final draft neatly on nice stationary. Turn it in to Miss Fitch
in an UNSEALED envelope so she can photocopy it to file in your portfolio for a grade.
Make sure to put your return address AND an OVERSEAS STAMP (air mail stamps are available
at any post office) on the envelope so that she can post the original for you once
she photocopies it. If you receive a reply before the end of the school year, bring
it in to share with the class for extra credit! Address:
Club di Giulietta
Stradone Maffei 2/b
Dept. P
37121 Verona Italy
39. Read and review any prose version (such as are found in Charles and Mary
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare) of a Shakespeare play. OR review any film version
of one of his plays.