Tuesday, September 27, 2016

What was he thinking?

Having read Thinking as a Hobby, consider the different ways that the statuettes are positioned. Golding is pretty clear that their positioning indicates a philosophy of life held by he or the headmaster at various points in time. Think about the elements symbolized by these three statuettes: the thinker, the leopard, and the Venus de Milo.


Your task is to lay out the three different arrangements from the essay. Then explain what each arrangement means in the context of the article.  What philosophy does each arrangement represent?

I would contend he reveals more about himself than perhaps he meant to in the final arrangement. What might he have revealed that he did not intend?

Please blog your writing on this.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Students of the World

Doing well in AP Lang as well as life requires that you become a student of the world. Part of that entails reading and thinking about a wide range of ideas and issues. Reading in a generous, curious, and open-minded manner that allows you to learn and grow. Beware of reading in a way that simply deepens ruts, whether those be partisan, personal, or institutional. Read in a way to stretch yourself and to understand the world around you.

Don't be afraid to read things you think you may disagree with. Aristotle once said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Grow an educated mind.

To help us accomplish this, I've set up a Google Classroom that is private to us. There you can post things you've read. Articles, book summaries, poems, whatever. Seek out material that stretches you. Read material educated adults read such as the Atlantic, Harpers, the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc. Read what others post. Comment on the ideas in those articles. Discuss them with each other. Become students of the world.

There is a link in the upper right to Classroom. You have all been invited to join (see your school email or just go to classroom.google.com, log in using your school Google account, and accept the invitation). You all have posting and commenting permissions. There are Google Classroom apps available in both the Play and App stores and Classroom is available online as well.

Get started.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Patterns of Development

Read pages 13-26 in the TLC book. Do the assignment on page 26 on your blog.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Rhetorical Einstein

Even geniuses like to ride bikes!
In the Language of Composition book (the TLC book), read pages 1-10 and do the assignment on pages 9-10 for tomorrow.

Bring this in on paper. We will try to get our blogs set up in the next day or two.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Looking Deeper

Look at the article from Friday in terms of these three images. What is behind the author's words, opinions, fears, etc? What is the iceberg behind this essay? Write your thoughts about this on the actual essay or on an attached sheet if you don't have room.