Class work for 3/12/10

TGIF. Welcome to the library.

Now that you've done some reading into The Glass Menagerie, you're ready to start thinking about some of its themes: reality, escape, the past, abandonment, failure, race, identity. To do that, conduct a simple word search today into a searchable edition of the text.

1. Click on this link. It should open a full searchable text of TGM in a new window.

2. Using your browser's search function, search for the actual theme as listed above, or words related to it (instead of "escape" try "travel" or simply "go." Instead of "blindness" try "see" or "sight.")

3. On your handout, make note of what you find to be the most beautiful, poetic, or well-written line from the play concerning each theme.

4. Based on the simple word-search you did, circle the theme that appears, at least in terms of quantity, to be the most dominant in the play.

5. Finish early? Grab a book off the shelf and enjoy--you're in the library after all!



Note: you are being watched.

Class work for 3/11/10

Welcome to the library. (Note the books on the walls. Read them.)

In class today, your task is simple: follow the trail of Cormac McCarthy as he tries to escape from you on the World Wide Web. Take notes on the handout the substitute has provided as you go.

Your tasks:

1. Go to his official Random House publisher's page and figure out what three books form the Border Trilogy of his. Link: http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=19680

2. Go to the interview he did for the Wall St. Journal and figure out what he says when people say they have a signed copy of The Road. Also what he thinks about being Irish Catholic. Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529703577274572.html

3.Go to the IMDB site for the movie. Find out how Brad Pitt is involved. Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149624/

4. Read the NYT review of ATPH and identify how someone is compared to Job. Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/17/books/the-man-who-understood-horses.html

5. Go to the WIRED website and figure out how much McCarthy's spent for his typewriters over the years. Link: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/cormac-mccarthys-typewriter-dies-after-50-years-and-five-million-words/

6. Watch the previews for the McCarthy movies I asked you to watch way back when. Link: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cormac+mccarthy&search_type=&aq=f


Note: You, too, are being watched.

Thank Mrs. Magyar and your substitute on the way out.

Here/There/Elsewhere: Welcome, Class of 2010 Bloggers

This is the Honors English 12 Blog for McG.'s section of English 12H bloggers of the class of 2010.

Welcome.

I thought it'd be nice to continue blogging in this old space, despite it being formerly occupied by previous bloggers from the Class of '09. It's like we've moved into your old apartment and there's still a bunch of your stuff here that we might actually use. '09'ers: f you're still with us, great! Read on!

As for the current crop of bloggites, this is where you'll contribute your biweekly musings. A-muse us.

"In my beginning is my end. In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.

...Dawn points, and another day
Prepares for heat and silence. Out at sea the dawn wind
Wrinkles and slides. I am here
Or there, or elsewhere. In my beginning."

T.S. Eliot

Weeks 9+10 Blog

The work:
Even as the time at CM winds down, we refuse to give up on our studies. We paid good money so we are getting the most of our education! (MC) In weeks 9+10 we talked about a hero's journey (in The Red Badge of Courage) and how no matter howm nay die in a battlefield, life goes on. we talked about the flag and how it got a life of its own (FT). We analyzed Crane's poetic form in the story. We discussed the religious themes within the writing as well as the significant themes that relate to identity (PC). We were also assigned a research paper in which we had to compare a youth involved in a conflict to Henry in the book. We researched the information and related it to the book (CS).

The workers:
Manny: I don't understand why he keeps going back home when he tries to forget it (ND).
James: The Glass Menagerie is about finding a man for a woman.(ND)
Pat: It's about changes in society.(ND)
Andrew: The play is about maturity.(ND)
Julio: The Red Badge has a religious theme to it. (ND)
Pat: Crane is not writing a history text about the Civil War, but about war in general. (MM)
Frank: In Crane's poem, I think the desert represents the battlefield. (MM)
Brian: Henry looked at his fellow soldiers as inferiors. (MM)
AJ: Henry has to choose whether or not to stop or fight. (MM)
Pat: Crane bases this chapter on Holy Thursday. (MM)

Words to live by:
"The dead man and the living man exchanged a long look." ~SC
"He had done a good part in saving himself." ~SC
"There is nothing in the world so painful as feeling that one is not liked."
"It is futile!" I said. "You lie," he cried. And ran on. ~SC

Library Visit, 4/6

Here's your assignment for The Red Badge of Courage (why did I italicize that?).


Apply your understanding of The Red Badge of Courage to a current conflict in the world. Find a “youth” involved in the conflict and compare and contrast Henry’s perspective of war by the end of RBC with this youth’s story/perspective.

Worth: test grade. Note: test grade will be lowered by one letter grade if you fail to return the book. Due: 1st draft due 4/17, second draft TBD.

Today in the library, determine which conflict you will cover. Note: you won't cover a conflict that another classmate is covering!

• Visit the Global Security "World at War" website. Read about a few conflicts before narrowing down your choices.
• See Mr. McG. after ten minutes of reading have elapsed to "lock in" your conflict. Come to him with a backup choice.
• Sign up for a gmail account if you don't already have one.
• Visit the Google News homepage and do a preliminary search for your conflict in recent news.
• Set a Google News alert for each term you've searched for so you can be alerted each day to new news about your topic.
• Use the word "children" or "youth" or "families" or "kids" or "child" along with your conflict's name to start searching for how children are affected by your conflict.
• Find a specific child's story associated with your conflict. If you find stories of unnamed children, youths, kids, or families, it will be acceptable to tell their stories but just as much citation will be required.
• Check the Internet Public Library for more information on your conflict.
  
• Keep track of your sources as you research. Take good notes.

What do you do when you're done?

• Read the Catholic Memorial Blog.
• Visit the Catholic Memorial website and read recent news.
• Read the other blog entries in the English 12H Blog.
  

Guest blogger: Matthew Connolly '09, Weeks 7/8

The work: It has been a quick two weeks with multiple interruptions, whether it was St. Patrick's Day or Senior Service days. However, that did not stop us from reading Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie. Julio, Martin, Michael, Pat, and Nicholson were kind enough to lend the voices to our reading and analysis of the classic play. Tomorrow we end the text by reciting Tom's final speech.

The workers: While analyzing the play, Connor predicted that Laura's first gentleman caller will be her 'high school crush.' Andrew notices that Amanda 'forces her dreams onto her children.' Kevin made an impressive comparison to The Grapes of Wrath when he noticed that both Connie and Jim from The Glass Menagerie were both going to school for radio engineering.

Words to live by:
"Time is the longest distance between two places." ~Tom
"Just go, go, go..." ~Amanda
"It always came upon me unawares." ~Tom

Term II, Weeks 5+6

The work:
Over the past two weeks we have based our classes around Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 novel The Namesake (MM). We have been crafting essay introductions on different themes of the book, preparing for a test (TT). We wrote these on different themes like education and character development (DP). We focused on other themes like identity, education, marriage, culture clash, and the past. We determined the significance of a namesake and how it affected Gogol's decisions as a first generation immigrant (ME). We talked about our senior service projects and what our first day was like and what we expect to do at our sites over the next eight weeks (FT). Finally, we were tested on "The Namesake" in an in-class essay (MM).

The workers:
Connor: Their marriage is one of mutual respect but also devotion. (MM)
Andrew: Through the death of his father, Gogol realizes how detached he has come to his family. (FT)
Pat: Gogol matured at college...began to think on his own. (ME)
Brian: Between before and after independence...(KW)
Anthony: The author is stereotyping...(DP)
Frank: There must be a complex transformation to get something out of the book...(TT)
John: Lahiri shows the theme of nature. (MM)
Kevin: Education means experiences in [Twain's quote]. (BG)
Julio: agreed with Gogol's culture being an obstacle...(PC)


Words to live by:
"He remembered his father's footprints in the sand." ~Lahiri
"He's a telephone man who fell in love with long distance." ~Williams
"Don't let your schooling interfere with your education." Twain
"In America, anything is possible. Do as you wish." ~Lahiri
"The name...was the first thing his father had given him." ~Lahiri

Term II, Weeks 3+4

The work:

Within weeks 3-4 of the second term we have done a lot of work. We finished reading Death of a Salesman and we have memorized a few lines from the play and recited them in class with a partner (MM). We had an acting competition and my partner and I came home with the gold! (MG). We had the chance to then watch the scene played by Dustin Hoffman and John Malcovich (DP). To finish Death of a Salesman we wrote a paper analyzing the themes of the play (EO). We then began the novel The Namesake and discussed the beginning of the novel with the history of Gogol (CS).

The workers:
Kevin: They are waiting for what the name will be. (CS)
Dan: Willy and Biff were very physical in the final scene of the movie. (BG)
Pat: The kiss is a betrayal scene. (JG)
Martin: The Namesake is better than Huck Finn. (JG)
Julio: Education serves as an obstacle for Gogol. (ME)
Matthew: Willy is just as loyal to people as people are to him. (JG)
Manny: In hte video Willy showed a lot of emotion. (ND)
Anthony: Biff likes to take things and is disloyal to himself. (EO)
Andrew: They go south, into Manhattan. (KW)


Words to live by:
"Do yourself a favor. Before it's too late, without thinking too much about it first...see as much of the world as you can. You will not regret it. One day it will be too late." ~Ghosh, The Namesake

"Be liked and you will never want." ~Arthur Miller

Term II, Weeks 1+2

The work:

As we began the 2nd semester we started reading Death of a Salesman. We have discussed many themes that are in the play such as loyalty, family, and being a man. We have also discussed the problems Willy has been encountering with his job and his family life (JG). We went over the poem "Telephone Poles" and talked about the simple insight of the poem into life (DP). We went online to get different critics' quotes on themes of Death of a Salesman (TT). We also memorized an Act II speech by Willy. We ended the week watching Act I of Death of a Salesman (CS).

The workers:

Dan: Willy isn't getting into accidents--he's trying to hurt himself. (BG)
Todd: Cummings uses part to whole translations--synecdoche. (FT)
Michael: The green lights represent the American Dream (FT).
Martin: Biff is struggling with school (JG).
Pat: Biff thinks that he is extremely important and says that he controls New England (JG).
Andrew: Biff lost all his confidence and he's falling out of his father's good grace (BG).
Kevin: ...took his helmet off, and pointed to Willy (CS).
Dan: Willy is too concerned about what others think of him (TT).
Martin: Both Biff and Prince Hal are trying to find themselves (DP).



Words to live by:

Don't make mountains out of molehills. ~Linda
Never leave a job till you're finished. ~Arthur Miller
Certain men just don't get started until later in life. ~Willy
A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man. ~Linda

Blog, weeks 13+14

The work:
(guest blogger, Michael E)
"The past couple of weeks we have been focusing on poetry. We have explored the different forms and types of poetry. We read fourteen chapters and answered a set of questions for each section. We have memorized several poems and also wrote three poems in imitation of those from the book."

The workers:
Julio told the class that Rage Against the Machinehas socialist views and it is very appropriate that they cover "The Ghost of Tom Joad." (PC)
Andrew: "She let that one incident ruin her view of Baltimore." (ME)
Kevin: "He uses different poetic terms such as apostrophe." (ME)
Andrew: "When a leaf falls it dies alone and when we die we fall and are alone" (BG).
Nicholson: "The poem uses alliteration to further the them." (DP)
Brian: "The eagle is known as a strong majestic symbol" (DP)
Michael: Langston Hughes use a lot of rhyme...(JG)
Martin: He would feel it is good passion. (MM)
Pat: Steinbeck would agree with them because they are socialist (MM)
Julio: It is talking about her drinking air and sitting in the open air enjoying the angels that swing their snowy hats. (ND)
Andrew: You don't know what comes next because there is no pattern or scheme." (AJ)


Words to live by:
I took the one less traveled by... ~Frost
I wonder where I'm gonna die...~Hughes
The day brings obstacles to all. ~Robert Browning
Do not go gentle into that good night. ~Thomas
The truth is, we were born. ~Atwood
The time was neither wrong nor right. ~Frost

Blog, Weeks 11+12

The work:
A lot has happened in room 26 in the last three weeks (MC). We read further into The Grapes of Wrath and further discussed some reoccurring themes. We completed our character response drafts and we will analyze and create a response to one character from the story. We composed "found poems" using the theme and text. We shared them with the class. Later, we went over some old Woody Guthrie folk songs about the dust bowl. We took a look at Steinbeck's views on migrant workers and took our own stances (PC). We talked about the Joad family's experience on the hooper farm, their travels to a Hooverville, and the conditions for workers in the early 1900s. Money, gas, and food were necessities for everyone and the more work you did the more you got (FT). While reading the book, we also watched the movie. It was obvious to tell that they weren't the same (Anon).

The workers:
Brian: never had seen someone selling themselves for work (MM).
John: they all want to go to California because they have the dream (MM).
Anthony: His found poem did not tell a story (TT).
Kevin: He's trying to give people inspiration to get through hard times (ME).
Pat: grandpa's death was less grim in the movie (DP).
Michael: the fields could bear food but they're not able to be worked (DP).
Andrew: work well and time will pass by (KW).
Martin: the pictures show us the base of human suffering (MM).
Julio: I wonder what it's like out there--[found poem line] (MM).

Words to live by:
"All that lives is holy." ~W. Blake
"I think, therefore I am." ~Descartes
"The sweet smell is a great sorrow on the land." ~Steinbeck
"He was alive and that's what matters." ~Jim
"But it can't kill me Lord, and it can't kill me." ~W. Guthrie
"They's a lot of things against the law that we can't he'p doin'." ~Pa

Weeks 9+10 Blog

The work:
These past two weeks we focused on the book The Grapes of Wrath and its themes (CS). We went through the book and tried to match up good quotes with the characters (KW). We were given an assignment in which we will choose a character and write an analysis of that character (ME). We have also been analyzing the book. For example, we learned about Steinbeck's way of "panning" the scenes of the odd-numbered chapters through chapter 13 (MC). We have written a paragraph that tries to match up with the turtle paragraph in the novel which is as descriptive (MM). We've also looked at the important symbols such as reproduction, death, the past, nature, and "a man" (MM).











Reading on the T is fun.








The workers:
John: "The turtle was just trying to survive, not interfere." (DP
Michael: "You feel for the oathead because you want it to succeed." (EO)
Kevin: "man cares/helps for nature." (MM)
Conor: "If they try to kill him he will kill three of them" (MM).
Frank: "The first paragraph [of chapter three] is one sentence long" (MM).
Michael: "Granpa is so good at reproducing" (TT).
Pat: "[the title comes from] Battle Hymn of the Republic." (TT)
Andrew pointed out that no characters die in the scene. (PC)
Nicholson said it represents how man is both good and bad. (PC)
Martin: "it may be trying to plant itself..." (ME)


Words to live by:

"You're bound to get idears if you go thinking about stuff." ~Tom
"There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue." ~Jim
"Maybe the Holy Spirit is the love between men and women..." ~Jim
"That's what makes it ours--being born on it!...ain't no piece of paper gonna move me!" ~Muley

Blog, Weeks 7 & 8

The work:
During the final weeks of the first quarter we continued reading Henry IV (JG). We have been touching upon fatherhood and relationships in the book (BG). Henry IV is a scandalous play thus it is only seniors who read it! (unsigned). We had a nice little break in the middle and saw a documentary on Shakespeare's childhood (MM). Once we were done reading, we had to choose a character, choose a term, and write a paper on the character (EO). We learned a lot about how Shakespeare makes his audiences laugh with superiority, incongruity, and even verbal humor. This gave us the opportunity to act out scenes with our classmates, and try to give creatively crude comedic performances (MC). We also began to go over John Steinbeck and his novels such as Travels with Charley and The Grapes of Wrath (ME). The class went over a little of Steinbeck's background to become familiar with him (AJ).

The workers:
"He was pleased with death" (DP).
Todd pointed out that in the beginning of the play the Earl of Douglas was real and ordinary. (FT)
In the beginning the Earl of Douglass was real and ordinary--Todd. (AD)
Incongruity humor is where the humor does not relate to itself--Anthony (TT).
Julio chose to write about Prince Henry as a farcical character--Manny and Andrew both gave him good examples of topic sentences (MC).
Falstaff is both a knight showing chivalry and a drunk--Nicholson (MM).
Steinbeck died from a heart problem--Pat (AJ).
Shakespeare wasn't a peasant, he was in the middle class--Kevin (MM).
He can summon anyone, but they won't necessarily come--Anthony (unsigned).
Andrew pointed out Steinbeck's references to death (PC).


Words to live by:


"I'll be a madcap once in my day." ~Prince Hal
"You can never go home again." ~Thomas Wolfe
"Literature is as old as speech." ~Steinbeck
"In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God." ~John 1:1

Weeks 5/6 Blog

The work:

The past two weeks we started off revising our college essays. We looked at a few chosen examples of good body paragraphs and opening lines from fellow students’ essays (ME). We have been discussing Shakespeare’s life, terms, and his play Henry IV (BG). We got farther into Henry IV, we saw the story change as the rebellion against Henry begins to take swing (PC). We have been given a couple reading comprehension quizzes and a bunch of new vocabulary words having to do with drama (MM). Throughout the course of the two weeks many scenes from the play were acted out in class, making the lines more understandable (AJ).

The workers:

Anthony: “Who knew a smile could cause so much sadness?” (JB)

Todd: “If a word did not fit then Shakespeare would make up his own words.” (MM)

Connor: “The sun and son revolve.” (MM)

Patrick: “Falstaff provides comedy throughout the play.” (AJ)

Manny: “…so much to keep the reader going.” (AD)

Kevin: “His birthdate is unknown, the only record is his baptism.”

David: “…release the prisoner.”

Nicholson: “…they will go against the king.”

Words to live by:

-Never use a long word where a short word will do. ~George Orwell

-My reformation, glitt’ring over my fault, shall show more goodly and attract more eyes. ~Prince Hal

-If manhood be not forgot upon the face of the earth, than am I a shotten herring. ~Falstaff

-They come like sacrifices in their trim. ~Hotspur

Weeks 3/4 Blog

The work:

The past couple weeks, we have been working on our college application essays. This is obviously extremely important for the future of all members of English 12 Honors. We have been reading, writing, and revising essays (TT). The class has received handouts of numerous essays and we were asked to read them to find the good and the bad (AJ). We were given the top ten tips for writing a college essay so there would be less error in our own. Baez faced off against the class in a vocabulary battle using words from Colby Kennedy's essay (FT). We read non-CM and CM students' essays for college and that gave us a feel for how our essay had to be written for college (EO). The class favorite for essays written by previous Knights was Steve Walsh '08's, who wrote about Mr. Buckley (BG). We wrote solid first drafts to set a frame up for our essays (PC). We went up to the library to look up quotes (KW).

The workers:
"The mirrors show symbolism in Emilia C's essay." ~Manny M. (AJ)
"First impressions, stereotypes, relationships built." ~Francis T. (MG)
"He has taught me to never give up until the job is done." ~Kevin W. (CS)
"...dividing it up so it is not boring." ~Anthony J. (KW)
"Mom, can I borrow twenty bucks?" ~Anthony J. (KW)
Matin pointed out to the class the importance of a thematic structure through the paragraph setup. (PC)
"Everything was good about her essay until she started listing her own accomplishments and bragging about herself." ~Kevin W. (ME)
Andrew talked about his two older brothers and how he wanted to be like them [as a kid]. (BG)
"It was just a big joke, but very unique." ~Brian G. (AD)

Words to live by:
"I do not promise you ease. I do not promise you comfrot. But I do promise you these hardships: weariness and suffering. And with them, I promise you victory." ~Giuseppi Garibaldi
"Inaction is acceptance; always question." ~Austin Stewart
"There is a way through pain. And that way is through each other." ~Tony Dungy
"The moment of change is the only poem." ~Adrienne Rich
"But I have not yet gone to college." ~Hugh Gallagher

Library Visit 10/2

Here are some things I want you to accomplish in the library today:

Get a good quote for your essay. Visit Bartlett's Quotations and the Columbia Book or Oxford Quotations. If you're writing, for example, about the day you learned to tie your shoe, you might search for quotations with these terms: shoes, success, trying, childhood, failure, learning, education, school, innocence, breakthrough, discovery. If you're writing about everything your sister has taught you, try these terms: sister, siblings, sisterhood, family, lessons, rivalry, education, childhood, adolescence, growth, maturity, etc.

Find some data for your essay. Writing about the Home Run Derby? Find out record holders and dates of the first one. Writing about Iraq? Get the current death toll. Writing about frialators? Find out how hot they get in Celsius. Writing about Franklin Park Golf Course? Find out the age of the golf course and yardage for the hardest hole there. Search the New York Times and the Internet Public Library. Try EBSCO and JStor and InfoTrac. (The librarian has the passwords.) Don't forget to interview primary sources and quote them. Also consider making a phone call.

Today you might also type your college application essay. Go to Gmail and get an account if you don't have one yet. Email it to yourself at home if you want to work on revising it there.

Final drafts due: Monday. Weight: test grade.

[Note on your second drafts: you have a "promise of a grade" on it. e.g. -->a. This arrow w/a grade indicates that if you do nothing to this draft by Monday, the grade will remain an A. If you want an A+, you need to do some of the above things or whatever else I recommended on your second draft.]

No, I'm not obsessed with marriage: weeks 1/2 blog

The work:
Through the first few weeks at the start of our senior year we have begun to read fictional short stories (EO). There were a variety of short stories ranging from safaris in Africa to the story of the Lottery where stoning someone to death every year's a tradition (JG). We have read about literary and commercial stories, round and flat characters, and symbolism (MM). We learned that Hemingway said the way to write a short story is to use an "iceberg" format--which is to show simply the tip of the iceberg (MG). We have elaborated (on) the parts of a story by detailing the exposition to the resolution and the processes in between (CS). We related Edgar Allen Poe's methods of singleness of effect and unity of action with each story (FT). The theme of many stories that we've read is marriage (NN). We discussed story terms like climax, "in medias res," and exposition in the stories to which they apply (MM).

The workers:
Manny: "the child is greedy and is only riding because of the vision of money." (MM)
Todd: "The turning point of 'How I Met My Husband' was when Edie realized the letter will never come." (AJ)
Michael: A white elephant is something no one wants to talk about. (KW)
Anthony: Old Man Warner feels that it has to be done for tradition. (KW)
Connor: "In 'Macomber' both tangible and intangible things die--such as his marriage, himself, and the lion." (FT)
Andrew: "Macomber is a coward because he ran away from the problem." (MG)
Martin: In Macomber, there are many conflicts--Francis v self, Francis v lion, Francis v. Wilson. (MM)
Kevin: "Summers' attitude is encouraging." (EO)


Words to live by:
"But a wind sweeping in from nowhere blows his white words back and back into the past." ~Murakami (as observed by CS)
"If you would pray, Jesus would help you." ~O'Connor (as observed by FT)
"It's not fair." ~Jackson (as observed by KW)
"Luck is what causes you to have money." ~Lawrence (as observed by AJ)

Welcome to English 12H

Welcome to the English 12H Blog. Read up on last year's blog to give you an idea of what you can expect out of this experience.