Bring your books!

Bring your Fahrenheit 451 and your Language of Composition books to class on Thursday! We will be taking them back to the library near the beginning of class.

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Schedule Adjustment!

We will be dropping The Great Gatsby from our schedule this semester.  Oh, stop your whining!  We will take the timed write tomorrow and then you'll have the remainder of the period to help each other prepare for the memorization.  Memorization presentations will be Thursday and Friday.  Then we will be broadening our scope by looking at a range of 20th Century Literature via the short stories of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Hurston, O'Connor, Cisneros, and Alexie.  These stories, intead of Gatsby, will appear on the Final.

Book Cover Analysis

The link for tonight's book cover analysis assignment is here.

Sprint to the Finish!

Well folks, the AP test is done! But alas, our week-long break has come to an end. We are going to be cramming the last two units of Junior English into the final month of school. Because of this insane schedule, I've mapped out most of what we will do for you in the attached files. Click on the calendar thumbnail for May and June. Then the first document has the F451 assignments, the second is the Junior Research Paper packet, the third is an example of the format that paper should take, and the last is a flowchart of the research process. We will talk about all of this on Monday and then, as you can see, we run like crazy.

1. 451-assignments-2008-ap-juniors.pdf


2. junior-english-research-paper.pdf


3. research-paper-format-example.pdf


4. research-process.pdf

P.S. You may be wondering what we will be doing with Gatsby other than talking. Well we are going through it so fast that we'll confine our work primarily to reading, class discussion and in-class activities. Gatsby, along with many other things, will make a prominent appearance on the final.

P.P.S. Most, if not all, of the dates on the calendar above are subject to change at my whimsy and the seeming caprice of school activities.

Good luck!!!!

Well, test day is finally here.  There are about 35 of you taking the test.  Remember, relax.  You can do this.  If it makes you feel better, your classmates that decided for whatever reason to forgo the test will be with you in more than spirit...bwuhahaha.  Break a leg, ou en Fracais, Merde!

Homework Fast

In the days coming up to the test and in the days immediately following, there will be no homework!  Nothing at all until the evening of May 19, then we'll sprint to the end with the junior research paper and two novels.  Crazy?  Maybe.  Fun?  Absolutely!

Dumpster Diving!

Identify the different sections of Eighner's essay and note the character and purpose of each one.

Think about something you know how to do.  Write a process analysis piece that explains how to do it, why someone would do it, and what lessons can be learned from that activity, á la Dumpster Diving.  No, it need not be nearly so long.

Due Thursday, May 8 on your blog. 

Points of interest:

Lars Eighner's article

Interesting posts on Dumpster diving: here, here, here, and here.

Come to class tomorrow with a blue or black pen and limber fingers for your very own practice free-write-a-palooza!

Ahhh, Naps for homework!

Read "Naps" by Barbara Holland (handout from class).  List the points of her the argument.  How is the argument constructed?  How could it be improved?

Do you agree with her?  Why or why not?  Blog your response (to this and the questions above) and be prepared to discuss the essay in class.

First-hand research is optional... ;)

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No homework!

Sorry I didn't get the post up earlier.  No homework this weekend.  Enjoy Prom and stay safe!



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Super Toys last all summer, baby!

Your homework tonight is two-fold. First read Super-Toys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss on page 665 in your book. We'll discuss that tomorrow.

Second, go over your multiple choice tests from today. Note which ones you don't know why you missed and we'll go over them tomorrow so that we all understand.

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Multiple Choice Advice

This is good, concise, test-taking strategy for the multiple choice section of the AP test. 

Barbara V. Swovelin English Language and Composition, 3rd Edition. 1 May 2008
<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-305363,articleId-31663.html>.