Monday, January 9, 2012
Prezi
Prezis are my new favorite internet presentation machine. You should definitely set up a Prezi account and create cool presentations for my class. :) go to http://www.prezi.com/.
The Hunger Games trilogy
In case you missed it the first day of this spring semester (2012) or in case you aren't in my spring semester classes, I am obsessed with The Hunger Games trilogy. My son gave me a Mockingjay pin for Christmas, and it was seriously one of my favorite gifts. Before Christmas and after reading the novels a second time, I bought a book of essays by YA authors title The Girl Who Was on Fire. I emailed one of the authors because I really liked her analysis. It compares THG to 1984 (also love!) and V for Vendetta. Needless to say, it's a really cool essay. She emailed me back! nothing brilliant, just good luck on my endeavors to write dystopian fiction and she was honored that I would consider using her essay in my English class. kind of a neat experience for me!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
"That was boring"
Sometimes I wonder if students realize how rude they can be, and I wonder when it's my job to inform/correct them. Telling a teacher that the assignment she selected to read is boring is RUDE. Or asking if what you're going to read is boring. That's rude, too. If you find something boring, DON'T tell the teacher who gave you the assignment. Keep your opinions...and boredom...to yourself. You are welcome to include your boredom or distaste for a piece here in your blog, but don't be so rude in class. See, I'm not calling you out in class in front of your peers. Don't embarrass me with your rudeness in class, either. k? Thanks.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Something I thought was funny and relevant to our Fahrenheit 451 discussion
Look at the YouTube video that accompanies this article. It's funny and relevant to our discussion. http://www.urlesque.com/2010/09/30/facebook-love-story/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl5%7Csec3_lnk2%7C174645
Monday, April 19, 2010
AP extra practice
If you routinely score a 6 or below on your essays and you plan to take the AP exam in May, you need to attend extra practice times!! Please see me so that we can work out your schedule. You have already invested $86 into taking the exam; be prepared!!!
Next week, I'll offer extra practice for the multiple choice section and for the synthesis essay. If you routinely choose less than half correct, you need extra practice! Again, take advantage of the practice offered. There is no reason to take an $86 test that you aren't prepared for!
Next week, I'll offer extra practice for the multiple choice section and for the synthesis essay. If you routinely choose less than half correct, you need extra practice! Again, take advantage of the practice offered. There is no reason to take an $86 test that you aren't prepared for!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Red herrings and purple patches--definitions for AP Lang
Red herring--it's a fallacy in which the speaker attempts to divert the audience's attention by introducing a new unrelated argument. Here's a good website: http://www.fallacyfiles.org/redherrf.html
Purple patch--(noun) A period of excellent performance, where nearly everything seems to go right, work properly, and contrasting with a more general lower level of performance.
(ex. The England team hit a just after half-time, where they scored 3 goals in 10 minutes, but in the end they were lucky to escape with a 3-3 draw.)
2. An ornate or elaborate section of a written work, a patch of purple prose
Purple patch--(noun) A period of excellent performance, where nearly everything seems to go right, work properly, and contrasting with a more general lower level of performance.
(ex. The England team hit a just after half-time, where they scored 3 goals in 10 minutes, but in the end they were lucky to escape with a 3-3 draw.)
2. An ornate or elaborate section of a written work, a patch of purple prose
Friday, April 9, 2010
Atonement Part One...well mostly chapters 7 and 8
So, I'm not going to summarize--you read it. That was your assignment. I am going to respond to these two chapters.
Chapter 7
Briony. Oh Briony. I kinda hate her. But this beautiful chapter is so filled with important imagery, symbolism. I hope you notice how Briony can't resist the urge for story to impose itself and how the "story" she imposes on the poor nettles is so violent and destructive. Her anger toward Lola and the twins is never really articulated but completely understood. She's angry about the destruction of her art, and the whole scene is cathartic, a rite of passage. She is in that awkward place where anyone who has attempted to create art through writing realizes that her fiction is immature. It's uncomfortable. and she feels young and insignificant. I like that she is determined to "dispell" her insignificance.
I also LOVE the following sentences: "Her reverie, once rich in plausible details, had become a passing silliness before the hard mass of the actual. It was difficult to come back. Come back, her sister used to whisper when she woke her from a bad dream." This is an image that will return later! Look for it. I missed it in this chapter the first time I read the book, and I love that it's here, reading it the second time.
Another important sentence: "Briony had lost her godly power of creation, but it was only at this moment of return that the loss became evident; part of a daydream's enticement was the illusion that she was helpless before its logic..." This idea of the writer as god is a motif to look for. It's more subtle than the motifs in Heart of Darkness. but it's there. Look for it!
Chapter 8
Robbie Turner. I love his complexity. I love the way McEwan develops his love for Cecilia in this chapter. It's so realistic. To fall in love literally with the girl next door. And she's out of his social sphere. Nice romantic obstacle. This chapter makes you forget that this book is a bit of tragedy. It is. I forgot, thought it was a romance, but the title indicates a wrong that must be righted. Right? Atonement. Atonement: –noun
1.satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.
2.(sometimes initial capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.
3.Christian Science. the experience of humankind's unity with God exemplified by Jesus Christ.
4.Archaic. reconciliation; agreement.
Well, I guess the element of redemption could change the story from a tragic one to a more uplifting one. I don't want to give anything away, but we're reading a tragedy....I'm a writer and I like what McEwan is saying about his craft through his novel. but I'll wait till after part three to discuss further discuss that point.
I really do love Robbie, though. I love that he's real. Mr. Darcy is an ideal, and an unattainable one, at that. I know Robbie.
Chapter 7
Briony. Oh Briony. I kinda hate her. But this beautiful chapter is so filled with important imagery, symbolism. I hope you notice how Briony can't resist the urge for story to impose itself and how the "story" she imposes on the poor nettles is so violent and destructive. Her anger toward Lola and the twins is never really articulated but completely understood. She's angry about the destruction of her art, and the whole scene is cathartic, a rite of passage. She is in that awkward place where anyone who has attempted to create art through writing realizes that her fiction is immature. It's uncomfortable. and she feels young and insignificant. I like that she is determined to "dispell" her insignificance.
I also LOVE the following sentences: "Her reverie, once rich in plausible details, had become a passing silliness before the hard mass of the actual. It was difficult to come back. Come back, her sister used to whisper when she woke her from a bad dream." This is an image that will return later! Look for it. I missed it in this chapter the first time I read the book, and I love that it's here, reading it the second time.
Another important sentence: "Briony had lost her godly power of creation, but it was only at this moment of return that the loss became evident; part of a daydream's enticement was the illusion that she was helpless before its logic..." This idea of the writer as god is a motif to look for. It's more subtle than the motifs in Heart of Darkness. but it's there. Look for it!
Chapter 8
Robbie Turner. I love his complexity. I love the way McEwan develops his love for Cecilia in this chapter. It's so realistic. To fall in love literally with the girl next door. And she's out of his social sphere. Nice romantic obstacle. This chapter makes you forget that this book is a bit of tragedy. It is. I forgot, thought it was a romance, but the title indicates a wrong that must be righted. Right? Atonement. Atonement: –noun
1.satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.
2.(sometimes initial capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.
3.Christian Science. the experience of humankind's unity with God exemplified by Jesus Christ.
4.Archaic. reconciliation; agreement.
Well, I guess the element of redemption could change the story from a tragic one to a more uplifting one. I don't want to give anything away, but we're reading a tragedy....I'm a writer and I like what McEwan is saying about his craft through his novel. but I'll wait till after part three to discuss further discuss that point.
I really do love Robbie, though. I love that he's real. Mr. Darcy is an ideal, and an unattainable one, at that. I know Robbie.
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