AP Language 2008

Wordle of Obama's Speech

2009-09-08T21:32:00.003-04:00

Just sharing...

Good Luck!

2009-09-05T08:27:00.001-04:00

Wishing you all well as you venture forth on this next great adventure! Keep writing (and posting on your blog) and keep in touch!

Saying good-bye to Frank McCourt

2009-07-19T22:34:00.002-04:00

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1911633,00.html

A message from The Teach

2009-06-15T21:57:00.002-04:00

As you prepare for graduation, please take a moment to thank those who have been there for you on your journey. TheTeach has been a reader, a critic, and, now, a generous giver. I told her about World Peace Day and the Lit of the Holocaust class and some of the work you and other students have done to support causes beyond our school. Here is her message to you:
Message from TheTeach.

Final Instructions...

2009-06-03T16:18:00.003-04:00

A few things to remember...

Post your video and your essay to your blog by Friday afternoon. I will grade over the weekend and determine exemptions and 4th marking period grades.

Read, watch, and comment on one another's projects. They're great!

Don't forget to EMAIL your video to me at my gmail.com address. I must have it by Tuesday to be ready for final exam presentations that begin on Wednesday. Be prepared for a verbal rhetorical analysis of your project.

Read your books! Discussions Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, and Monday (June 15).

Final thoughts... Overcoming Reader's Block.

Week of 6/1-6/5 and 6/8-6/12 and 6/15

2009-05-31T20:05:00.003-04:00

6/1, Monday: Senior Trip
6/2-3, Tuesday and Wednesday: Finish "This I Believe" projects.
6/4, Thursday: Lit Circle discussion
6/5, Friday: Begin reading "Persepolis." Analyze for Mrs. Hatler: appropriate for 9 honors?

Friday Night: Calliope Coffeehouse. Be the first to get your copy! 7-10 PM, Library.

6/8-9, Monday and Tuesday: Group discussions of "Persepolis" and any remaining Lit Circle books.
6/10-12, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: FINAL EXAM!!!

6/15, Monday: Final discussion of "Persepolis." Course analysis.

And that's all folks! I hope you had as much fun as I did. Now, return your books!

Week of 5/26-29

2009-05-23T19:44:00.002-04:00

Due Tuesday: Rough draft of "This I Believe" essay.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Work on drafts. Peer review. Begin Photo Story project. Period 3, go to room 316.

Thursday: Meet with your lit circle groups. Come in with specific passages to discuss. Have a clear focus...questions, connections, themes, great language choices, etc.

Friday: Senior trip. For those still here (anybody??), work on "This I Believe" project.

I hope you're enjoying your long weekend!

Week of May 18-22

2009-05-17T11:16:00.003-04:00

Review proposals, inventory lists, book rooms...come up with a plan.

After we have a plan, I'll be more specific.

Just in case you're planning on slacking: read this!

See you Monday.

Week of 5/11-15

2009-05-10T11:06:00.002-04:00

The Time Has Come...Show Them What You Know!

Monday: Review footnotes/MC
Tuesday: Terms/tone words review; Ten Commandments of AP Language
Wednesday: Show your stuff! Good luck on the exam!
Thursday: Relax! Many on field trips, including me.
Friday: Design the next four weeks. Come in with a proposal.

Week of 5/4-5/8

2009-05-01T18:49:00.003-04:00

Enjoy: A bit of humor and a bit more.

Monday: Review MC practice and review synthesis essay.
Tuesday: Francis Bacon essays.
Wednesday: Oxfam. Fallacy review.
Thursday: Speed Dating AP Language Style.
Friday: MC review: footnotes

Week of 4/27-May 1

2009-04-26T22:00:00.002-04:00

Monday: MC on "A Modest Proposal" due; review. Read "Battle of the Books" for Wednesday.
Tuesday: AP Prompt: in-class group analysis; review samples.
Wednesday: 20 minutes: MC practice (this will count!). Discuss "Battle of the Books."
Thursday: "Body Ritual among the Nacirema"
Friday: Your own "Modest Proposal" is due. Period 3: Share. Period 6: Put in my mailbox.

All: By midnight Friday, post your own "Modest Proposal" and by midnight Sunday, comment on one other.

Due Monday: Synthesis practice prompt.

Prom goers: Have fun and be safe!

Week of 4/20-4/24

2009-04-19T21:49:00.003-04:00

Welcome back! I hope you all had a relaxing, reading-filled week!

Monday: News Mutiny: you'll see!
Tuesday: Overview: parody vs. sarcasm vs. satire
Wednesday: Sample satire pieces
Thursday: The master: Jonathan Swift..."A Modest Proposal"
Friday: More modest proposals. Write your own!

Week of 4/6-4/9

2009-04-04T19:13:00.003-04:00

FINAL RESEARCH PAPER: DUE MONDAY, APRIL 6. No late papers will be accepted. Be sure you follow MLA format for the entire paper, not just the works cited page: Purdue Online Writing Lab. If you need more info, the Diane Hacker site is great.

Monday: Approaching a comparison/contrast prompt. Cycling in Portland articles.
Tuesday: In-class AP C/C prompt. Homework: Score samples of prompt.
Wednesday: Evaluate samples and score own.
Thursday: Rhetorical Term Rummy!
Friday: Spring Break begins!

Read your non-fiction book and prepare POW #6. Read The Winter of our Discontent. Get some rest and come back refreshed and ready to work!

Week of 3/30-4/3

2009-03-31T19:41:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the late update...

Monday: Preparation for Panel Presentations.
Tuesday + : Panel Presentations. So far, so good!

Keep reading your independent non-fiction book. And keep reading (or start!) The Winter of our Discontent. Have one or both with you in the event the presentations are finished before Friday.

FINAL RESEARCH PAPER: DUE MONDAY, APRIL 6. No late papers will be accepted. Email me a copy of your synthesis prompt with all sources by Friday.

Saturday, April 4: 8 AM, Room 219: Practice AP test. Woo hoo!

Week of 3/24-27

2009-03-22T21:59:00.004-04:00

Enjoy your day off! Finish your rough draft and your bumper sticker.

Tuesday: Share bumper stickers--SCIFF your sticker for the class: what and why.
Tuesday and Wednesday: In-class peer and teacher evaluation of rough drafts and synthesis prompts.

Thursday: Bring in a visual text to analyze. Don't show anyone!

Friday: Last day examining visual texts. By the end of the week, respond on voicethread to comments about one of the images you didn't initially comment on. Does that make sense?

Week of 3/16-3/20

2009-03-15T13:23:00.003-04:00

This week: Continue to research and formulate your ideas. For Tuesday, March 24, have a rough draft of your research paper and a sense of your synthesis prompt. Bring in all source material.

Monday: Introduction to analysis of visual text: Bumper Stickers. Yours is due next Tuesday.
Tuesday: Political Cartoon analysis. Period 3 to 316. Read Katrina and Bush articles for Friday.
Wednesday: Visual text PPT. Magazine project. Just kidding! Magazine visual text analysis.
Thursday: Voicethread--It's working. Make sure you set up an account by Thursday. Period 3 to 438.
Friday: Share/discuss image analysis: Katrina and Bush articles.

Monday, 3/23: Teacher Inservice...no school for you. Finish writing your rough draft that you have been working on so diligently all week. Finish the bumper sticker that you put off doing all week. Enjoy the day away!

Week of 3/9-3/13

2009-03-08T15:50:00.002-04:00

Due Monday at midnight: 1984 or BNW blog post. Due Thursday at midnight: response to two posts.

Monday: Analysis of response to your synthesis question. Review of claims on BNW issues.
Tuesday: Group selection of issues. Synthesis/research assignment.
Wednesday and Thursday: Lab/research
Friday: Library/research. Prepare panel presentation.

Designer Babies?

2009-03-04T21:26:00.001-05:00

Take a look...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

REVISED 3/2-3/6

2009-03-02T18:21:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone played in the snow and enjoyed the day!

Here's the revised week...note some reordering of things...

Tuesday: Due: Synthesis prompt--paper copy. EMAIL it to me by Wednesday. Review Ch. 3 in Language and Composition. Begin discussion of "big ideas" in Brave New World--bring both books to class. (Counts as a workout!)
HW: Read and score "museum" sample essays for Wednesday. For Thursday, read article "Everybody is Happy Now." Annotate and use to add to topic list.

Wednesday: Review "museum" scored samples and commentary. Continue BNW discussion.

Thursday: Discuss "Everybody is Happy Now." Finalize topic lists. Distribute Synthesis prompts. HW: 15 minute reading time for sources. Tomorrow: Write response.

Friday: In-class AP Prompt: Synthesis

Weekend HW: Blog on BNW/1984 Prompt. Due midnight on Sunday. Respond to two people by midnight on Tuesday.

Week of 3/2-3/6

2009-03-01T15:36:00.002-05:00

Happy March! Snow day tomorrow? We'll see and adjust accordingly.

Due Monday: Synthesis prompt--paper copy. EMAIL it to me by Wednesday. Reading of Ch. 3 in Language and Composition and all of Brave New World--bring both books to class. (Counts as a workout!)

Monday: Review Chapter 3; make connections to your question. Brainstorm topics for BNW argument/synthesis paper. HW: For Wednesday: read article "Everybody is Happy Now." Annotate and use to add to topic list.

Tuesday: In-class AP Prompt: Argument

Wednesday: Discuss "Everybody is Happy Now." Finalize topic lists. HW: Read and score "museum" essays.

Thursday: Review "museum" scored samples and commentary. Distribute Synthesis prompts. HW: 15 minute reading time for sources. Tomorrow: Write response.

Friday: In-class AP Prompt: Synthesis

Week of 2/23-2/27

2009-02-22T18:20:00.002-05:00

Due Monday: Green sheet on the "Locomotive" passage.

Monday: MC on "Locomotive" passage. Class review.
Tuesday: Intro to synthesis essay.
Wed and TH: Finalize Wiki topic; review arguments; comment.
Friday: Collection of sources. HW: Formulate synthesis questions with sources. Finish reading Brave New World.

Week of 2/16-2/20

2009-02-15T19:56:00.003-05:00

I hope you're enjoying the weekend knowing that you don't have to get up early tomorrow!

Just a reminder: Complete a "green sheet" for each of the four passages: due Thursday. Add to the Wiki: include a link to your comments, as well as the comments themselves--follow the model on the page. Read Brave New World (due March 2).

Wednesday-Friday: More multiple choice practice. Continue to add to wiki; topics will be the focus of the synthesis essays developed next week.

Wiki Directions

2009-02-09T13:13:00.008-05:00

For those still struggling...HOW TO CREATE A LINK TO YOUR COMMENTS:

On your topic page, click on the EDIT button. Under the appropriate side, TYPE your name. HIGHLIGHT it. Then go to the LINK button. Click on the tab for URL. Paste the URL of your comment on the Opposing View site. Click OK and SAVE. Now your name should be a link to your comment.

Thank Marly for the great directions!

Week of 2/9-2/13

2009-02-07T11:28:00.007-05:00

Just a quick recap since we ran late on Friday...Period 6 must send me their updates of Creon's speech by Sunday night. See the Monk's comment below.

DUE Monday: You are now king/queen/dictator...You need to establish the time period and the circumstances surrounding your ascension. That is, will you be speaking to a supportive audience or a hostile one? Write your Inaugural Address to the masses. In 300 finely-honed words, present yourself as their new leader. Type your speech; include the audience/purpose info for me.

ALSO DUE Monday: Add yourself to a team or teams on the Wiki. Post at least once to Opposing Views and link your comment to the Wiki. Use the tutorial if necessary.

Next week: We will spend next week in class doing a multiple choice boot camp--practice, practice, practice. Out of class you will be adding to the Wiki and Opposing Views.

Week of 2/2-2/6

2009-02-02T19:45:00.007-05:00

Exams are over! Time to get back to the fun stuff!

Remember to request access to the Argument wiki. Once in, change your name from your email to your actual first name and last initial, if necessary. Select your top three choices of topics; put my name in parentheses after your name when you add yourself to the teams.

Create an account at Opposing Views using your blog name. Begin to investigate the topics. Add comments and then link those comments to the wiki. Use the tutorial on the wiki if you're not sure how to do that.

I'll add more details as the other teachers and I iron them out.

For Tuesday, go to room 438 for the senior survey and local scholarship application info.

For Wednesday, read and annotate Barack Obama's Inaugural Address.

For Thursday, read several articles assessing Obama's rhetoric.

For Friday, compare Obama's speech to Creon's in Antigone and G. W. Bush's first Inaugural.

For Monday, write your own Inaugural. Have fun!

Update on the Update

2009-01-29T13:28:00.002-05:00

Period 6 Exam on Monday.

Period 3+6 to 438 on Tuesday for scholarship/survey.

Wednesday: Annotation of Obama's Inaugural address due.
Period 3 POW due.

Remembering John Updike

2009-01-28T14:22:00.002-05:00

You may not be too familiar with writer John Updike but he was a master observer of the American spirit. If you have 12 minutes, watch these interviews with him and about him.

One More Time!

2009-01-28T09:09:00.002-05:00

Enjoy your snow day today.

Period 6 exam on Thursday.

Monday, 2/2: Per. 3 and 6: Meet in room 438 for guidance presentation and senior survey.

Tuesday, 2/3: Analysis of Obama's Inaugural Address.

Wednesday, 2/4: First POW due; check your handouts.

Exam Week: 1/26-1/30

2009-01-25T14:39:00.002-05:00

Monday: Period 3 exam
Wednesday: Period 6 exam
Friday: Both classes meet in room 438: Guidance presentation on local scholarships and senior survey.

For Monday, 2/2, read and annotate Barack Obama's Inauguration speech.

Wordles of Speeches

2009-01-19T20:54:00.002-05:00

Remember when I showed you the Wordle from the debates? The New York Times has a Wordle for each of the previous Inaugural Addresses. Go HERE and then slide the tab to the speech you want to view. The most-used words are the largest. Interesting to see how the focus shifts with the complexities of the time periods.

Week of 1/19-1/23

2009-01-18T14:02:00.002-05:00

Argument blogs: Some of you still haven't posted and, therefore, your blogs are late. But get them up there! Post a comment to a blog (one per person; nice job claiming!) by midnight Monday.

Sunday @ 2:30 on HBO (even if you don't subscribe to HBO): Opening Inaugural Celebration.

Monday: Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr day!

Tuesday: Period 3: Video/issue debate. Period 6: Video/debate until noon. Then we'll watch the beginning of the Inaugural Ceremonies.

Wednesday: Review argument analysis essay.

Thursday: Review argument essay.

Friday: Review rhetorical analysis essay.

Updated exam schedule: period 3--Monday, Jan.26; period 6--Wednesday, Jan. 28

Enjoy the long weekend!

Week of 1/12-1/16 + 1/20-1/21 + EXAMS!

2009-01-09T17:35:00.008-05:00

Monday: Fallacy handout due. Presentation of fallacies.
Tuesday: Fallacy analysis: Animal Farm.
Wednesday: "A Hanging": Claim statements due on colonialsim, capital punishment, and human nature. "Politics and the English Language" analysis.
Thursday: 15 minute video: topic TBA. Debate to follow.
Friday: "Shooting an Elephant" analysis--what is Orwell's argument? Argument blog due at midnight. By midnight Monday, challenge the assertions and fallacies in someone's blog. One commenter per blog.

Monday: Enjoy your day off. Celebrate the dream! Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tuesday: Watch the dream: The Inauguration. In-class analysis of past argument prompt: writing an argument.
Wednesday: In-class analysis of past argument prompt: assessing an argument.

Then let the EXAMS begin!

Period 3: Friday, 1/23, first exam period.
Period 6: Tuesday, 1/27, second exam period

Week of 1/5-1/9/09

2009-01-04T14:02:00.002-05:00

Welcome Back! I hope everyone is rested and ready for the two week rush to midterms.

Mon: Final PSA work. "Love is a Fallacy." Doublespeak Proverbs.

Tues: Present Fallacy Project. Due Monday, 1/12. Intro to Toulmin.
HW: School issue thesis.

Wed: Pair work on thesis statements: charting data. HW: Write five thesis statements on Animal Farm.

Thurs: Apply Toulmin to Animal Farm. HW: Read "A Hanging."

Fri: Apply Toulmin to "A Hanging." HW: Finish Fallacy Project.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T12:51:00.004-05:00

I hope you are all enjoying your time away, relaxing to the wonderful syntax of George Orwell and the three little pigs.

Here's a bit about words that deserved to be banned...

Read all about it: Banned Words for 2009.

See you next week!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T11:16:00.003-05:00

Have a great holiday season with friends and families. I'll see you next year!

I forgot to give this to you before we left for break, so read and learn something new--like a few words!

Twas The Night Before an AP Student’s Christmas

´Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus. Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the wood burning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St. Nicholas.

The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof.

Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself - thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer, piloted by a minuscule, aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power traveling at what may possibly have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen - "Now Dasher, now Dancer..." et al. - guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities.

As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved - with utmost celerity and via a downward leap - entry by way of the smoke passage. He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebony residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle.

His orbs were scintillate with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of his malar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion´s floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen water.

Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose gray fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was, in short, neither more nor less than an obese, jocund, multigenarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me visibly rolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head slightly to one side, he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.

Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the aforementioned appended hosiery with various of the aforementioned articles of merchandise extracted from his aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about- face, placed a single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed-bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his parting exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility: "Ecstatic Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self same assemblage, my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and ratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn."

(Written by Martin Beller, AP teacher extraordinaire)

The Rest of 2008

2008-12-19T07:34:00.003-05:00

Well, enjoy your snow day! Happy Shoveling!

As it stands now, there is still filming to be done on Monday. We'll get to Toulmin in January. Final 1984 papers are due before break--either Monday or Tuesday. Just be sure I get them--with all rough drafts! Period 3--guest alumni speaker on Tuesday.

Read Animal Farm over break. We will look at propaganda and fallacies when we come back. Enjoy the holidays. Get some sleep!

Week of 12/15-12/19

2008-12-14T16:43:00.002-05:00

Monday: Typed rough draft of 1984 essay is due. Peer review. PSA filming continues as necessary.
Tuesday: Peer review of updated rough drafts.
Wednesday: Introduce to language of Toulmin. Revise rough drafts based on discussion. Hand out Animal Farm. Read for Monday, January 5, 2009.
Thursday: Reading day. (Trip)
Friday: Continue analysis of Toulmin.

Monday: Final 1984 paper due.

Week of 12/8-12/12

2008-12-07T11:18:00.002-05:00

Monday: Two Minute presentations
Tuesday: PSA Preparation Meetings
Wednesday: The Art of Argumentation. Group analysis: 1984 thesis statements
Thursday: Continue group work.
Friday: PSA Writing and/or filming

Due Monday: 1984 Argument Essay

Week of 12/1-12/5

2008-11-30T14:32:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it's December already?? Three strong weeks coming up...and then we'll breathe again.

I've enjoyed reading the diverse posts this weekend. What a range of topics! Check out what your classmates are thinking and writing about.

Monday: In-class speech analysis. HW: Score samples.
Tuesday: Review samples. Hand in passage and question on 1984. HW: Score own essay.
Wednesday: Meet with Mr. Fenlon and his classes on the PSA project.
Thursday: Socratic Seminar on 1984. Come in with three questions written on a notecard. Assign "Two Minute" assignment; due Monday.
Friday: Continue discussion.

Week of 11/24-11/26

2008-11-22T21:18:00.003-05:00

DUE Sunday at midnight: 1984 question and comment on Nicenet.

DUE Monday: Thanksgiving Letter

Monday-Wednesday: Continue speech presentations.

Homework: Due December 1: Finish 1984 and final Nicenet posts. Select a passage from the novel and formulate a rhetorical analysis question. Also, add a blog post--on anything!--by Sunday midnight.

Monday, Dec. 1: In-class writing, AP prompt: speech analysis. This one will count.

Week of 11/17-11/21

2008-11-13T17:33:00.002-05:00

DUE Sunday at midnight: Question and response to 1984. You might need this: 9238438A86.

DUE Monday for class: Scored samples of AP Prompt from Friday.

Monday: Review samples and scores. Self-assess.
Tuesday: FDR Speech. No, Monk, I'm not telling you which one.
Wednesday: RFK Speech. Prepare YOUR speech!
Thursday and Friday: Begin speech presentations and analysis.

DUE Sunday at midnight: Second question and response to 1984.

Week of 11/10-11/14

2008-11-09T13:35:00.005-05:00

Monday: Discussion of speech analysis; review of rhetorical strategies. Analysis of "The Gettysburg Address." Speech selection due. Per. 3: Self-assessment due Wed.

Tuesday: (No period 3: Veteran's Day assembly) Per 6: Self-assessment of style analysis.

Wednesday: Analysis of Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Thursday: (Almost no period 3: POD drill) Shakespeare's Henry V: "St. Crispen's Day" speech.

Friday: AP Prompt: Speech analysis.

Homework all week: Practice your speech...again...and again... Also for 1984: Nicenet discussion: Post at least one original comment or in-depth response to a question and one thoughtful question for each of the next three weeks. Complete the reading and posting by Monday, December 1.

Poets on the Election

2008-11-06T07:48:00.001-05:00

What do the poets have to say about the election?

Have you learned anything?

2008-11-04T13:32:00.004-05:00

Week of 11/3-11/5

2008-11-02T13:46:00.007-05:00

Monday & Tuesday: "You Decide" activity. Explore the campaign issues: look at the various positions and make a decision. Complete issue chart. Monday I will hand out George Orwell's novel 1984. Complete the novel by December 1 (the Monday after Thanksgiving).

Wednesday: Review election results. Discuss the "decisions" made during the previous days' activity.

Thursday & Friday: Enjoy your days off. READ!!

For Monday (11/10), select a speech you want to analyze and perform. Use American Rhetoric as a starting point. Here is another site for text and audio of various presidential speeches. First come, first served. Presentations will begin Nov. 20

Week of Oct. 27-31

2008-10-26T20:38:00.002-04:00

Reminder: New due date for Blog Post responding to the Tim O'Brien quote: Midnight on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Please comment on one blog by midnight on Halloween. Comment on the blog of someone whom you haven't commented on before.

Monday: Continue chapter analysis for The Things They Carried. Continue until finished, either Tuesday or Wednesday.

When a computer lab is available, even if we have to interrupt the chapter discussions, we will look at Identifying Genres & Persuasion in Political Discourse. We will look at appeals being used in speeches and campaign material.

By next Monday, watch at least one episode of each of the following: The Daily Show, The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, and The Colbert Report. Take notes. What rhetorical appeals are used?

Plan to be flexible this week depending on lab availability. Don't forget the Mock Election on Oct. 29 and 30th. Limited, manageable homework!

Cast your Vote

2008-10-21T20:35:00.002-04:00

Some of you will be casting your first vote for REAL in a few weeks. For the rest of you, try this: If the World Could Vote.

Week of 10/20-10/24: Updated

2008-10-19T22:03:00.004-04:00

Because you asked: List of Prepositions.

Monday: Style Imitation/Sentence Variety. HW: "Girl" imitation, due Thursday.
Tuesday: Chapter/Quote project: prepare for Wed.
Wednesday: Gallery walk of quotes; student-led discussion.
Thursday: In-class writing: Final analysis of The Things They Carried.
Friday: Continue/finish discussions. "Girl" paper due.

Due midnight Sunday, 10/26: Blog post: In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien writes the following:

It's now 1990. I'm forty-three years old, which would've seemed impossible to a fourth grader, and yet when I look at photographs of myself as I was in 1956, I realize that in the important ways I haven't changed at all. I was Timmy then; now I'm Tim. But the essence remains the same. I'm not fooled by the baggy pants or the crew cut or the happy smile—I know my own eyes—and there is no doubt that the Timmy smiling at the camera is the Tim I am now. Inside the body, or beyond the body, there is something absolute and unchanging. The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice: a little kid, a twenty-three-year-old infantry sergeant, a middle-aged writer knowing guilt and sorrow. (236)

Write a thoughtful post in which you use specific evidence to defend, challenge, or qualify Tim O’Brien’s assertion regarding life’s changes.

Week of 10/14-10/17

2008-10-13T17:41:00.003-04:00

I hope you enjoyed your day off while I was here working hard all day!

Tuesday: Individual work on questions about "On the Rainy River."
Wednesday: Discuss your responses to questions. Discuss "truth" -- story truth vs. happening truth.
Thursday: "The Man I Killed" and its various incarnations.
Friday: Style imitation exercise.

Ishmael Beah Alert!

2008-10-10T16:58:00.004-04:00

For all those who read A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah will be speaking on Monday night, October 13, at Blair Academy! And it's FREE! Check out Blair's site here: BEAH . This is a wonderful opportunity; I hope you take advantage of it. Pass on this info to anyone you think would be interested. Hope to see you there!

Week of 10/6-10/10

2008-10-06T08:20:00.002-04:00

Own-a-Word Week!

Presentation of Rhetorical terms throughout the week. Read The Things They Carry by Tuesday, October 14.

Your "The Things I Carry" piece is due Friday, Oct. 10.

Week of 9/29-10/3

2008-09-28T16:53:00.002-04:00

After a moment of silence for the Mets, we will continue our studies......................................................
.............................................................
....................................................Thank you.

Monday: Meet in memoir groups. Discuss your reactions/responses to the memoir. Focus analysis on the writer's style. Identify key stylistic elements employed by your writer. Use this discussion as the "pre-writing" for your "Why I Write" blog written in the voice and style of your author. Use this title: "Why I Write" by -- (insert author's name). Due midnight Friday, 10/3. HW: Read college essay articles.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Discuss college essays: goals and approaches. Share, peer review, one-on-one reviews.

Thursday: Handouts due on rhetorical terms. Introduction to The Things They Carried.

Friday: AP Prompt: style analysis of memoir passage.

Over the weekend: Read TTTC; follow schedule. On Monday, wear a word! Prepare to teach it.

Extra Credit

2008-09-23T16:06:00.008-04:00

I hate extra credit. Do the required stuff and do it well: that's my motto. However, if you can earn some money and show off your writing skills, I'm willing to bend my position a bit. Here's an essay contest you might want to explore: 2008 Election Essay Contest. Turn the essay in to me and show me evidence that you have submitted it to the contest. Here's another: read The Fountainhead. Or these: The National Peace Essay Contest, The JFK Profiles in Courage Contest, and In Darwin's Footsteps. As I come across others, I'll share them. Just don't ask me "how much" credit you get. If you have to ask, it's not worth it.

Week of 9/22-9/26

2008-09-20T16:40:00.003-04:00

Monday: Discussion of Memoir articles. Line between truth and fiction. Connect to your memoir. Assignment: Blog by Friday, 9/26: select quote/relate to your memoir. By midnight Sunday, comment on a blog about the same memoir.

Tuesday: Intro to Rhetorical terms. Period 3: room 438. Ready to present by next Thursday.

Wednesday: Parsing of sentences: In Cold Blood.

Thursday: Dodge Poetry Festival! View scenes from In Cold Blood and Capote.

Friday: Point of View: In Cold Blood. Homework: Memoir blog by midnight. Comment by Sunday. Finish reading your memoir for Monday. For Tuesday, bring in college essay topic(s) or drafts of college essays.

Week of 9/15-9/19

2008-09-14T21:39:00.003-04:00

Monday: Discussion of POW. (Per. 3 due Wed.) Selection of memoir. Annotation pair/share.

Tuesday: Assessment of in-class writing.

Wednesday: In Cold Blood: truth vs. fiction. HW: Read the In Cold Blood articles from my class webpage.

Thursday: Continue discussion of In Cold Blood.

Friday: Memoir discussion groups--section one due. HW: For Monday read the Memoir articles from my class webpage ~ the four "Why I Write" articles and "Memoir or Fiction?" by Schwartz, "The Whole Truth" by Ives, and "Everything But the Truth?" by Kupfer. Complete the practice MC questions on In Cold Blood.

Week of 9/8-9/12

2008-09-06T20:36:00.005-04:00

Here's the plan for the first full week of school!

Monday: Discuss questions on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. HW: Blog response to one question (350-500 words).

Tuesday: Finish any unfinished discussions. Review blogs. HW: By Friday, post comments on three different blogs. Respond to any comments posted to your blog. HW for Wed: Read "How to Mark a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler and "How to Do a Close Reading" by Patricia Kain.

Wednesday: Discuss the Adler and Kain essays. Practice annotation.

Thursday: Read, annotate, and discuss the essay "Living with the Dead." Examine the terms essay, rhetoric, and discourse.

Friday: In-class writing: passage analysis.

Worth watching...

Week of 9/3-9/5

2008-09-03T10:15:00.004-04:00

Welcome to AP Language and your senior year! I look forward to a great year and hope you do too.

For this week, we will spend some time with Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, looking at unusual stylistic elements.

For Thurs: Create your card. List unusual stylistic elements.
For Fri: Define essay (in the classic sense), rhetoric, discourse.
For "Soon": Create your blog and email me the address. Follow the steps on the sheet I gave you or see me or a classmate for help.

Have a great first week!

Welcome to AP Language!

2008-06-03T12:53:00.000-04:00