The Blogging Burthen

Well, because I said I would write the blog, I'm doing it. It's all for you, kids!

Today we looked at a sampling of AP multiple choice questions - they'll get easier, don't worry. Then, for homework, I have asked you to read up to the end of page 5 (second to last paragraph) in the essay about Education as Lite Entertainment (can't recall the whole title). It is the one I gave out in class today. Please annotate and read, so we can review in class on Monday, and do some work with it.

Must go recover from playing the handsome prince to my daughter's Sleeping Beauty! Seriously. I get all the good roles: grandmother, stepmother, even grandfather sometimes. Handsome Prince, with a cool horse I might add, is quite a step up for me. 

Have lovely weekend!

Ms. Mountain

Apologies to Figure Skaters Everywhere

Dear Disney On Ice,

I am sorry. Much of the skating was really awesome. For example, how about those aliens dancing on their knees? Or Barbie surviving all those lifts with Ken? What about those skaters in the pig costume - two people in one costume doing jumps - now that's talent! I humbly admit, I was wrong.

So, let's glide on to another topic (weak segue, I know, but it's not always so easy to be amusing.)

Your homework: Please write your own Talk to Teachers. This is not a 5000 word essay, people. Merely two pages in journal format. Try to emulate Baldwin's tone and style. I suggest you examine a few paragraphs very closely and try to copy the sentence structure. Does he really get rolling with a semi-colon list like Emerson? Dose he use asyndeton or polysyndeton like Joan Didion? Remember, the point here is that you can learn from reading, and yes, to some extent, copying the rhetorical style of great rhetoricians.

Off to practice some cross overs and my camel spin! 

Concise

Last day we did an in-class. For homework, please read and highlight or annotate the handouts on conciseness, and then do all three exercises. This is quite time-consuming, so you should break it up over a few days. If you did not pick up the handouts, there are extras on the overhead cart in room 407.

See you Tuesday.

The Story of Ms. M. and the Italian Shipyard

The Port of Antibes, France

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago - o.k. not that long ago - Ms. Mountain, known to you as Patti Mountain for the purposes of this story only, went backpacking around Europe. While in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, she heard about working on private yachts on the Cote D'Azur in France. So, Patti headed off to the south of France and went to a huge port called Antibes, where interestingly and irrelevantly, Picasso once lived and worked. There, she met Giacobbi Giancarlo, or Captain Carlo, who hired her, after her job interview in French, as a deckhand and stewardess to work on the motor yacht, Kiss. 
As luck would have it, the aforementioned Kiss was in Genoa, Italy in the shipyard, Cantierri Marsic. So, because Patti was, at that time, considerably more naive and trusting than she is now, she got into the 52-year-old captain's Alfa Romeo with him and sped at 150km/hour down the twisting coastal highway to Genoa. Not entirely idiotic, she did phone some friends in France and tell them that if they didn't hear from her by 9:00 a.m. the next morning to call the police. Then she slept overnight in the boat, docked in a port that was closed and deserted for the winter, in the same cabin - different bed - as the captain. Keenly aware of the potential danger of such a situation, she slept with one eye open and her Swiss Army Knife at the ready in her pocket. Fortunately, the captain was a genuinely good, fatherly figure, and he took Patti to work in the shipyard on the boat with the Italian shipyard workers until it was ready to set sail for Sardinia. Unfortunately, he hired another deckhand named Ivo, who was a nice enough guy - naive Patti really liked him and lent him money -  but he was a heroin addict, and he had to be fired. No, Patti didn't ever get that money back, but she learned a valuable lesson about drug addicts and cash. And so, that is the story of how Patti Mountain, destined to become your English teacher, once worked in an Italian shipyard. Next time I see you, I'll tell you about the Arabian Prince and Princess. Seriously!

Sardinia; scene of the Arabian Royalty

So, in APE today, we wrote a metacognitive journal - that sounds so impressive - about the strategies you use for comprehension when reading a text like R.W.E.'s. Then we read the essay titled "The Uncommon Reader" and examined, in depth, how reading is an active process. 
For homework: please do the Questions on Rhetoric and Style, page 108, # 6, 10, and 12. Then please write a paragraph or multi-paragraph response (not an essay) to question # 1 or 3 from the Suggestions for Writing section. Remember there will be an in-class essay, AP style, next day.

Reading Ralph

Hi Folks,
Hope you have a great weekend! 
Homework: Paraphrase paragraph 10 of the essay from "Education" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Then, finish reading the essay. I suggest that you read for meaning by taking notes or writing down a short point form summary of each paragraph or section of the essay. 
As you read, ask yourself how you are figuring out the meaning - what strategies are you using to decode the language and syntax? Are you looking up words as you go? Are you trying to understand words in context? How can you transfer what you are doing with this text to other pieces of text in other disciplines or situations?
I'm off to the annual AP conference tomorrow - going to an essay-writing workshop, so I can continue to share my love of essays with you. I bet that makes your weekend! Can't wait until Monday to tell you all about it!
Ciao!
Ms. M

Written Posthumourously

Sad to say, I am no longer funny. Or rather, amusing. At least not at this time of night when I have just remembered to do the blog now that I have picked up kids from school and daycare and made dinner and unloaded the dishwasher and helped do the dictee and read Olivia the Pig stories and brushed teeth and hugged and kissed three kids goodnight. And I haven't even started the laundry yet! Not that I'm complaining; this is my life, and truth be told I love it, but my goal here is to give you a glimpse, a mere glimmer, into a world that is not your own, to in some small way explain my "other life" to you, so that when I forget the blog or seem a bit dazed, you will understand and cut me some slack and not make comments about how my not writing the blog stops you from doing your homework. Get it?
To recap in detail, but quickly because I am tired and want to go to bed, in today's class Stephanie gave an extension on the book $, so you can bring your $17 on Thursday if you like. We came to a consensus on the day for the next in-class analysis -  that would be Monday, November 7th. Then you worked on the paragraph exercises, and then we began to read Ralph Waldo Emerson together. Hopefully by reading the text out loud and discussing it, I will help you transcend some of the impenetrable qualities of his writing to better pursue your "naturel" and achieve your preordained genius. 
HOMEWORK: Complete the paragraph exercises (#1-6) on the photocopied handouts I gave you today in class. For exercise 6, you do not need to complete question C because it is cut off. 
Goodnight; Sleep tight; Don't let the bedbugs bite. 
Lorimey: picture of the furniture to be posted later. Sorry ... too tired.

On Alchemical Transmutation

In today's class, we reviewed your efforts with the Joan Didion questions. I want you to think about evaluation in English as somewhat like a conversation between you and me. You are given opportunities to "tell me" what you know, and I can only mark what I "hear" (or see). I may suspect you know more than you write down, but unless you provide substantive evidence of your understanding and insight, I can't alchemically transmute your good intentions to good marks. Hot dang! I knew I could work that in there - thanks Francine Prose! 

Speaking of Francine Prose, we did speak of her and her essay at length. Hopefully our discussion clarified any confusion and helped you come away with a solid understanding of her key points and her prose (Prose). We wrote a journal entry in class about what you perceive as the aims of education, and then for homework you need to complete questions 1,2,4, and 7 on rhetoric and style on page 100.

Off to Sparks and Brownies tonight! See you Wednesday.

Tight and Bright

Who thinks of these things anyway? I was really yearning for my sunglasses all class today, but you looked great. I also want to commend you on powering through the in-class writing - I know it's hard work, but it will pay off.

For homework, please read Francine Prose's essay on page 89 (I think). I would like you to annotate or take notes as you read and be sure to look up words you don't know. Her use of language is terrific, and there are many adjective noun combinations worth emulation. Consider, "vestigial teenage psyches", "sentimental middlebrow favorites", "sententious epigrams", and "sophomoric ruminations". Thus the need, I suspect, for a dictionary.

Enjoy the weekend, and please try to bring your $17 should you wish to buy a test prep book.

Have a great long weekend!

The Art of Stealing

Today we followed up on the Joan Didion questions, and I have asked you to read the article, The Stealing Never Stops for homework. Once you read it, please write a paragraph explaining how Joan Didion has influenced younger writers, as discussed in the article. In contrast to the title of this post, the intent here is not to encourage you to plagiarize, but rather to promote the idea that you can model your own writing after that of great writers. If you are interested in the book I was telling you about in class, you can find out more here.

We also reviewed the grammatical errors worksheets, and spoke about sentence fragments and the Oxford comma - people everywhere must be so sad to miss out on our class!

Next day, we will have our 50 minute in-class rhetorical analysis, and then move on to the beginning of our education unit.

Don't forget your $17 to bring to Lia or Stephanie this week or next.

The Mentalist is on ... must run.

Sunny Sunday

Hello all you Sunday Bloggers (not sure what that means!), but anyway, here is a brief and important message from Stephanie Marshall-White. In order to purchase the test-prep books, she will need $17 per person to pay for the book plus tax. If you happen to read this, could you please bring the money, if you are interested, to the next class? If you know anyone who might not read the blog, perhaps you could pass this message along?

Thanks and see you Tuesday, which, with any luck, will be sunny as well.

Ms. M

The Quest for Clarity

In order to plump up the population of our class today, which had dwindled noticably, we invited a number of Japanese students to join us. I am not sure they were grooving on the rhetoric, but they were certainly quiet and well-behaved! Speaking of Will, I want to thank him and Lorimey for reading their Joan Didion journal efforts out loud today. The examples read provided good insight into how to write a journal entry: the journal should show depth of thought, generally clear writing, and a solid understanding / ability to interpret the text we read.

We discussed Joan Didion's essay, On Keeping a Notebook, and we looked at some information about who Joan Didion is. Further, I gave some preliminary feedback on your ad analyses. It seems to me that we need to work on attention to detail and structure in writing, so that we have clear paragraphs, clear sentences, and only say exactly what we mean when writing. None of this is easy, but with practice and EFFORT, you can improve your written work significantly.

Homework:

I gave time in class to work on the Joan Didion questions, and then gave out some more homework: some notes on common grammatical faults with three practice exercises.

Important Note: There will not be an in-class analysis on Tuesday - it has been moved to Thursday. Also, when doing the Joan Didion questions, note that paragraph 5 begins with "My first notebook"; paragraph 6 begins, "So the point of my keeping a notebook ...". That should help you clarify where to look for the answers.

Have a great weekend!

SLLIDDTOP

Hello all,

In today's class we exchanged paper to start; I gave you back your marked homework, and almost all of you gave me your completed ad analysis. Then we moved on to look at another analysis acronym (SLLIDDTOP), and we reviewed a sample AP analysis question to prepare for your in-class analysis on Tuesday, October 18th.

Homework:

• Please read and grade the student sample essays according to the 9 point scale provided.


• Please study for the terms test on Wednesday. If you were absent, please get the terms from another student. You will need to write the test.


• Please indulge in eating and being grateful for all our good fortune this weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

All Hail Caesar!

Some interesting attire today, people. Hopefully, with the strategic use of safety pins, nothing else was on display! They're called SAFETY pins for a reason, I guess.

Today we engaged in a verbal rhetorical analysis of JFK's inaugural address. Keep track of some of the new terms you are learning: anaphora, zeugma, chiasmus, etc.
Stephanie will be facilitating the purchase of the test prep books: 5 Steps to a 5, which is now $16.02. Too much, do you think? More about this next week, and thanks again, Stephanie Spaghetti. Very helpful! Note that spaghetti is Italian, so ties in to Roman history. Actually I think spaghetti was really invented in China, but ...
For homework, please work on your Ad Analysis, which is now due on Thursday, October 6th.
Have a great weekend!
Ms. M 

Analyse This

Yesterday, which is about 7 loads of laundry ago, according to my calculations, I gave the analysis assignment for the print ad you chose. The assignment is due next Tuesday, October 4, which is also my brother's birthday. I knew you would want to know that. 

In class, we also reviewed my feedback to last year's class, so you could see some good examples of what to do and what not to do. 

For homework please do the questions on Kennedy's inaugural address, page 55: Diction questions 1-4; Syntax questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9. We will watch the speech in class tomorrow, and discuss the impact of those hortative sentences, the anaphora, and the archaic language. Then you can begin doing some work on your ad analysis.

Must go fold all those clean clothes now.

The Queen Speaks

So, from the title of this post, you may mistakenly think I am referring to myself. Have no fear, we would not wish for such confusion to transpire. We would simply remind you that today we showed you the Queen (of England's) speech following the death of Princess Diana. We also shared Earl Spencer's eulogy for his sister, which almost made us cry - could you tell? (You do know about the Royal "we" don't you? If not the entire hilarity of this post is wasted!)

We also reviewed some specific types of Tropes and Schemes - that is the use of artful diction and syntax. You can look at chiasmus, antithesis, and antimetabole for more great examples. 

Homework: Find a great print ad for analysis and transport it to class for Monday. Please do the assignment on page 48 and be prepared to hand it in on Monday. 

Have a most excellent weekend!  

Must tend to the three princesses. Bye!

Stephanie Spaghetti and Melissa Milk

Wow! What a fun class! Don't tell anyone.

After today's class, I hope you are getting a good idea of what would be expected in a more formal rhetorical analysis. We will write an analysis of an ad next week, following our group efforts today. Next day I'll hand back your Einstein homework, and we'll review how to write about ethos, pathos, and logos. There are still a few errors cropping up in that regard. 

Homework for Dallas Doughnuts and all you others is: read page 26-48. Pay close attention to the various articles about Diana's death, which we will discuss in class next day. Be sure to take notes on the terms in the Analysing Style section of the text. There will be a terms test in the not-too-distant future.

Must go fetch my young 'uns!

Susan Sontag's Death

I forgot to mention in class today that I was reading an article about Susan Sontag and her life and death. She died in 2010. She is referred to as an aesthete and "the Dark Lady of American intellectual life." An aesthete is defined as one who is particularly sensitive to beauty and art; if you read the article, you will get a glimpse into the pursuits of one of the American intellectual elite referred to in the Sontag article from the New Yorker. Interestingly, she had a long-term relationship with famous photographer Annie Leibovitz, who has taken amazing photos of many famous people including actors, actresses, politicians, and musicians. If you read the article on Sontag, tell me in class on Tuesday!

OK, enough academia for today. In class you handed in your assignments on the Einstein letter; we read How to Teach a Child to Argue, with some good personification of ethos, pathos, and logos; we read the handout on visual rhetoric, and reviewed Joliffe's Framework for Rhetorical Analysis; I gave out the list of terms for AP; and finally, I asked you to please read up to page 26, and take notes on methods of development. 

The aim here is to prepare you for several upcoming analysis assignments. Oh the fun is just beginning! I can feel the excitement already! 

Have a great weekend -I am hosting a Hawaiian party for 9 little girls. Must go try on my grass skirt and practice the Hula.

See you Tuesday!

Oh the Shame!

Hi Folks,

Sorry this is a late one. I have been hiding in shame due to the discovery of my typo in the parent letter. How humiliating. Oh well, there will be more errors, let me assure you. Again, you can learn from my mistakes - always proof read. 

Last class we basically reviewed and discussed the article on Active Reading.

Your homework was to read page 1-10 of Chapter 1, and do the assignment on page 9. 

See you in the morning!

Rising Tree Who Are You?

Hi Folks!

I just read the comments on the blog, and shockingly only 5 people left me a comment. Let's see; if I was grading myself on successful instruction, and I got 5 out of 28, that's not too impressive is it? Hopefully more of you read the blog than commented. Those of you who did, and I know who you are, thank you! Well ... I don't know who Rising Tree is. Let's guess ... someone tall? Someone who is growing? Someone who is high and green ... hmmm ... hard to know.

Aristotle 

Anyway, in today's class, you were all so keen and nice. I am psyched! (Do people still use that term, or is it so 1980?) We basically went over an introduction to rhetoric, and I got you to venture into your very first rhetorical analysis. Sounds scary, but in fact, it was quite easy, right? Here is a little link to Aristotle, Father of Rhetoric, in case you are yearning to know more. He was quite important, you know. And clever. I guess that goes without saying what with the whole "Father of Rhetoric" title and all. In fact, the title is in question. Aristotle considered Empedocles to be the F.O.R., and Homer (not Simspon) also has earned this title. Interesting, no? Maybe I could be the Mother of something. Keep it polite, people. 

Your HOMEWORK is to actively read the handout on Reading: Active Reading and the Writing Process. 

See you Wednesday!

Welcome to English 12 AP!

My "book photo" - I'll explain in class!

Hello all!
This is your first chance to view the AP Blog for this course. Mostly I will keep it short; this will be a place to check for homework you missed or links or docs I may post from time to time. You should also play with the fish because it is fun! But, the main idea is for you to take responsibility for your learning.


Here are my expectations for your behaviour in this course:

1. Be polite. This takes a number of forms and covers many occasions. For example, do not sneer at comments or questions from your peers - you are all in this together and you are all learning. Truly there are no dumb questions. Be supportive of one another and of me, please. So, yes, I will say it, please don't sneer at me either. I'm trying pretty hard to do a good job, and it's not as easy as it looks, so give me a break! Moreover, please don't talk while anyone else is talking. I give you lots of time in this class to work with each other, and I really don't relish talking to you all class - it's not that fun! - so, when I am saying something, it's because I actually think you need to hear it. Listen and learn from me and one another. 
2. Limit your emails to me. You or your parents may contact me by email in case of an emergency or if there is an issue your parents wish to discuss. Please avoid emailing me on weekends, Christmas holidays, Spring Break, etc. Also, avoid emails at 11:00 p.m. when your assignment is due the next day. These types of emails will get you nowhere. Also, I am your teacher, so all emails should be appropriate and, as noted above, polite. I will respond to your emails when I am working, and not in the off hours. It is advisable to see me in person at lunch or before school on day 2 if you have concerns, questions, or need extra help.
3. Understand you EARN your mark in this class. I do not spend time thinking about how much I like you and then attach a mark to my personal opinion of you. I actually mark your work. That means I give lots of feedback in red or other colours, and I hope that you use the feedback to consistently improve. I also make sure to provide criteria for the assignments, student examples when I can, and published examples for everything we do. I give generous and reasonable time lines for assignments. The path you should take is to prepare the assignments early and save time for revision, rethinking, editing, and perfecting. You have the opportunity to hand in your best work, and you should do so, if you want to EARN your best mark.
4. You will not all earn A's. It is not impossible, but it is highly unlikely. I have been doing this job for a long time, and, as a result, I have marked tens of thousands of essays. Overall my marks are pretty accurate, and I have substantial expertise in the marking arena. I am happy to discuss marks with you calmly, respectfully, and maturely, and I may even change your mark on occasion, but try not to take the mark personally. A person who earns a C is no better or worse than one who earns an A. I know that. We are all still learning! 
5. Be responsible. It's only one year now until you are potentially in university. This class is at the university / college level. Let's start moving towards that level now. In other words, I will still help you like a high school teacher does, but you should be relying on you (not your mom or dad) to help yourself as much as possible. Don't forget your books, or sleep in, or fail to complete your assignments. Do show up with a pen and paper! No matter how sweet, adorable, cute, or funny you think you are, that kind of behaviour is not permissible anymore. If you mess up, 'fess up, and try harder next time. I'm quite nice, but don't take that as permission to try to get away with as much as you can. Remember you, and your behaviour, EARN the mark you get. 
6. Finally, try hard to learn something. This course is quite intense, but it is also really interesting. I love seeing students thinking about and wrestling with new ideas. You will get a chance to write in forms you've never written and to read ideas and writers you've never read. Open yourself up to all that is new this year, accept that there are lots of things you don't know yet (same for me!), and have fun learning. Because it actually is fun. Really! 

Good luck, and welcome again. Let's have a great year!

English 12 Provincial

Today you handed in your final research papers. If you were away today, please email your papers by end of the day today, then bring your doctor's note to me on Thursday. Thank you to all of you who made the effort to get your work in on time.

We went over the provincial exam today and practiced questions and reviewed appropriate format for the paragraph and essays on the exam.

Note: the exam is worth 40% of your mark, so it is worth attending to the requirements and reviewing the sample exams online, as explained in class today.

Thursday is your grad rehearsal. Please come to class as normal, and I will take you to the gym for the rehearsal as per instructions.

The Things They Carried Unit Test make-up test: Thurdsay at 3:10 in my room.

Must run - grade 8's await.

More on TTTC

Hello all.
Not too much to report this week - basically your two tasks are to finish reading The Things They Carried and to work on your paper. I strongly suggest you spend some serious time on Monday researching and writing. I will stop short of begging, but again I urge you to finish the paper on time - I just can't accept any late papers at this time of year. After 17 years of education, I trust you have the skills to meet the deadline - June 7th!
Remember the Test on TTTC is on June 3rd - next Friday.
If you missed yesterday's class make sure to get the notes on TTTC, and you should probably check out Spark Notes or something to review the themes, symbols, etc. Have a good one - pray for sunshine - I can't take much more rain!

Researching Research

Today's class was hopefully helpful in terms of getting you started on your research. I certainly learned a few things from Mrs. Berry's presentation, and she told me many university-bound students are asking for that kind of information all the time.
About the research paper: keep in mind that narrowing your topic to a specific focus and actually getting the research done is a large part of this assignment. You can use The Visitor as a gateway to your topic, and you can focus on detention and immigration entirely, if you like, or widen your take on the topic to contain one or several other examples of government action toward individual liberties. Try to keep a thread of The Visitor running through the paper, but the film does not have to be the major focus.
It seems to me it would be helpful for you to have more feedback earlier in the writing process, so I hope to talk to you about your research and your specific thesis late next week. What I'm saying here is get as much done now as you can! Even though it is summer weather, try to push yourself for a few weeks more. You will be free of all of this soon enough. This really is not the assignment to leave to the last minute.
Homework: Please see the previous post for reading assignment and question assignment. Also, don't forget that the novel test is on June 3rd, and the paper is due June 7th.

More Bloggage

O.K. I have three minutes to write this before I go to pick up the kiddies!
Today I handed out The Visitor questions. They are due Tuesday - and now that you are reading this, you may as well do them all. Question 3 and 4 are pretty much the same, so you could combine those answers. Please answer in complete sentences - the answers don't need to be endless, just thoughtful, intelligent, and complete.
We then had some notes / terms on poetry and some chat about the English 12 exam. Following which we dissected a poem about the Vietnam war - despite Zach and Dylan's misgivings about the activity.
Finally, we had some discussion about "The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong", and the role of female characters in The Things They Carried.
Please read: "Stockings", "Church", "The Man I Killed", "Ambush", and "Style" (p117-136) for Tuesday as well.
You can see you should start on some of this homework before Monday night, right? And that is the kind of helpful hint you won't be getting at the Uni!
Ciao!
Ms. M

The Visitor

Today we finished viewing The Visitor. I handed out the Research Paper Assignment, and we will go to the library to begin research on Friday. Mrs. Berry will be giving you some guidelines about where to look for research material and how to access academic journals - you will need this information for university, so it should be very helpful!

Homework: Please read "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong." (up to page 110)

Wednesday we will discuss The Visitor further - there will be a handout with questions. We will also carry on with The Things They Carried. There will be a test on the novel when we finish reading it, so you should be mentally prepared for that.

See you Wednesday.

Congratulations!

Well, as I mentioned in class, congratulations are in order. You have done a lot of work this year and learned a lot, I hope, to get ready for tomorrow's exam. Take pride in your accomplishments thus far, and go in to the exam knowing you have already done well. Good luck to all of you!

In our class today, we read an article about Obama, Osama, and propaganda; discussed the editorial changes to the new version of The New Testament; and read Stephen Lewis' speech, AIDs Has a Woman's Face. The speech is great, and the issue is critical, so it is well worth the read.

Again, best wishes for tomorrow, and we will start a movie assignment in class on Thursday, so attendance is necessary.

Must go teach up some grade 8's ...

REHUGO Revisited

Today was a bit of a whirlwind. There were a few casualties from the AP Calculus Exam, but overall, we got quite a bit accomplished. What happened to Taylor, I wonder?
Anyhoo, I quickly reviewed the use of quotations for support, and tried to remind you to incorporate them as seamlessly as you can in your essays. I also collected the synthesis essays you wrote in response to the prompt from your textbook.
Next, we reviewed the meaning of REHUGO (readings, entertainment, history, universal truths, general knowledge, and observations). We discovered that Universal Truths are mostly funny so are not too critical for you to think about.
I also assigned a fair bit of reading in the hope that you might consider a few more issues before the exam.
Please read:

• The Real New York Giants (p.471)


• AIDS has a Woman's Face (p. 382)


• New and Newer Versions of Scripture (p. 405)


• the blue handout with the two articles about the Mortensen scandal.

These are all quick reads, and you got some work done in class. Please spend your time between now and Tuesday reviewing for the exam.

Thanks and good luck!
Ms. M

Obama on Osama

Rhetoric in action! Today's class focused almost solely on a rhetorical analysis of Obama's speech and Harper's short announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. I thought that was a great class discussion, and I appreciate all the insightful contributions. Thanks.

For homework, I asked you to please write the synthesis essay (only a draft / 40 minute attempt) in response to the question in Chapter 3, for which you have prepared your outline. The question and sources appear on page 74. The question is whether or not high schools should make community service mandatory.

Megan, Michelle, and Taylor, you may hand this assignment in later, as you are writing AP calculus on Wednesday. Study your calculus!

Note: I just found this website called the Grumpy Grammarian - remind you of someone? Anyway, the latest post is entirely timely and appropriate for you to read. Take five minutes - it's great!

Must go think about my democratic responsibilities ...

Oliver Goldsmith

Today we:

1. Reviewed multiple choice practice questions


2. Discussed / reviewed the Oliver Goldsmith essay and vocabulary


3. Reviewed some literary terms from the parallelism homework


4. Began an essay review in groups to be continued next day.

Homework: Study!

Happy Easter!

I don't know why, but I am so excited you are graduting! Don't misread that - I am excited for you, not happy to be rid of you. Seriously, it is soooo soon now, and then the world's your oyster, Bob's your uncle, the future's wide open, and all that stuff. I think I'm envious; I also think when you start a successful hight tech company and you need some solid corporate training you should remember dear old Ms. Mountain, and keep in mind that you could hire her; she's professional, she's nice, she's organized, and she's good with the language! (note the parallel structure - it's everywhere!). Something to think about. Just planting the seed. Remember, it's who you know and all that jazz.

Anyway, this is supposed to be about what you know, so let's stay focussed.

Today we:
Finished questions "On the Rainy River" and began to discuss them; reviewed some emerging themes from the novel; and read two great sample synthesis compositions from your classmates, Vincent and Jon. Good work!

For Homework:
1.Practice multiple choice package to be completed this weekend (give yourselves 60 mins)
2.Read p. 929 - Interview with Chris Hedges
3.Read p. 932 - Oliver Goldsmith - find 10 awesome vocabulary words and their meanings from this selection. The language is terrific here, and you will use the words or come across them frequently.
Have a happy, hoppy Easter weekend! (an example of alliteration).

The Destruction of Culture

It is time to STUDY. You should definitely have a plan to review starting now for the AP Exam. I did overhear someone say, "I never study for English." Throw out that bad habit and study, people. It will be worth it! You need a bit of destruction of your own overly relaxed culture - time to jet it out! In last week's completely unscientific poll, you identified these as your top priorities for review:

1. Synthesis


2. Multiple Choice


3. Terms


4. Overall review for each type of essay

To that end you wrote a synthesis today. Then for homework, I assigned page 339 - 342 and exercises on page 345. Do Exercises 1,2,3, and 5. (NOT 4). Do the reading before you do the exercises - this will help you review the idea of parallel structure and the terms associated with it: zeugma, anaphora, antithesis, and anitmetabole.

Bloggedy Blog

OK: let's make this snappy. Today we:

1. Reviewed how exam scores are calculated - this was quite positive news!


2. Reviewed where you are at (awful clause) with your preparations for the almighty AP exam and how I might continue to help you - PLAN AHEAD, PEOPLE!


3. Began questions on "On the Rainy River" (don't do any others on that handout.)


4. Homework: Read Chris Hedges' from "Destruction of Culture" p. 922

Note: Many of you had concerns about your knowledge of rhetorical terms. I found this link at About.com, which has the top 100 terms from the exam and great explanations linked to each definition. Check out encomium.

Byebeddy Bye. Sorry for the short blog - just not feeling too chatty aujourd'hui!

A Flawed Method of Gauging Understanding

So claims the exam-prep book we are working with. But then, it quickly counters, "Get with the program! It's a necessary evil." So, we spent more time on this evil today - ironically in response to Norma's request. Yes, the Norma who had to write the DELF exam today, and so missed all the multiple choice fun! Oh well. You people will be soooo happy to never write another exam in your life - that's the best part of your 30's and 40's. Well ... there are a few other good things too! :) Homework: Just to prove that she is not as predictable as you think, Ms. Mountain did not assign any more reading today. (It's awkward talking about myself in third person.)

1. Instead, I (that's better) want you to do some viewing: Look at the painting and sculpture on pages 315 and 316 of your text. Answer questions 1-3 on page 316.


2. Then take a look at this website for The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Take a look at the photo gallery and the interactive panoramas (scroll down on the photo page). The 360 cameras give a good idea of what the site it like. Then go back to the main page and read some of Today's Wall Casualties. If you click on the INFO PAGE for any of the soldiers, you get a sense of how long they served and the conditions in which they were killed. There is also a link there to comments and pictures from others. It is very mvoing to read about some of the fallen soldiers and will offer greater perspective to the novel, I think.

Ciao!

"Too Frightened to Be Cowards"

Today we read and discussed the first story / chapter of The Things They Carried. We touched on some of the overarching themes and the multiple plot strands in the first story. By now you should have read the pink handouts, and I added a few blue handouts with some notes and terms on "The Things They Carried"; "Love"; and "Spin". You should read those handouts and familiarize yourself with the literary terms: verisimilitude; dynamic and static character; vignettes. For homework, you need to read up to page 84: "Enemies", "Friends", "How To Tell A True War Story", and "The Dentist". Have a lovely weekend!

Write On!

How fun was that? Yikes. I feel like I'm in Grade 12, and now I want to compare the questions with you. What did you write? Did you like that one? Why couldn't I think of anything too interesting to write about money? I opened with Donald Trump, but other than that ... Man, you kids have the hard life! Anyway, hopefully you are recovering nicely and will have time to kick back and relax and read up to page 51 in the novel. Also read the handout about conscription please - part of the pink package I gave out last day. See you Friday!

Lest I Forget

No, this is not a post about Remembrance Day, although in today's class we listened to a podcast about The Things They Carried and the impacts of war and the memories of war that remain when a soldier returns home. Look, there's Tim O'Brien now! My title is actually self-referential - I don't want to forget the blog again.

• We reviewed the in-class you did on Huxley / Orwell / Postman. I gave pointers and feedback in preparation for next day's in-class writing.


• You then signed out copies of The Things They Carried.


• I also went over the idea of a syllogism today. The term came up on the sample multiple choice I gave last week - check out the link because it's worth reviewing.

Homework: I assigned page 1-26 for homework, and you need to read the following handouts: Tips on Reading Linked Short Fiction; The Intro; About the Author.

Doh!

So sorry - forgot all about you! Since we are the action family lately, I've been too busy skiing, working out, taking the kids to mountain biking and skating and attending birthday parties to even think about school. So, let's be quick about this - I've got things to do! Last day:

• We reviewed the homework questions from Ch.3


• We then did a practice of several different AP essay questions in groups of 3 - will discuss those more tomorrow.


• Homework: Finish reading to page 74 in the text (Ch. 3) and then read page 84 - 85.

Oh- I did mention some sort of treat for tomorrow right? I am now bribing you to come to class! The attendance last day was almost record breaking - see what we can do tomorrow. Monday - you love it - don't deny it!

See you then!

On Pope and Dryden and Androcentricity

Today's class was all about multiple choice and synthesis.

I gave some pointers about using your pointer finger while reading the multiple choice passages - I did it, and it worked for me! - and you all wrote half of the diagnostic MC questions I have in my test prep book. Just for interest's sake here is some information about Enlightenment poet, Alexander Pope and more info about John Dryden, poet of the English Restoration. There was also a passage written in 1911 about "the inextricable confusion of politics and warfare" as part of "the stumbling block in the minds of men." In short, the author was critical of an androcentric world view.

For homework, I have asked you to read page 61-68 and do the assignment on page 66-68 of your text. This is intended to get you thinking about writing a synthesis assignment, which essentially is the goal of most university academic essays no matter what the discipline. This kind of essay will also be part of the English 12 exam.

You also handed in your movie reflections today. They look good so far - you watched some pretty distrubing movies! From world poverty to letting human populations balance themselves naturally to bombing the Germans this class has been quite the downer lately. We need to find some feel good moments - The Things They Carried is next on the curriculum, and there's nothing uplifting about that! We need a comedy, people!

Go have a laugh, and we'll get depressed again next day!

The Singer Solution

I hope after today's class all you morally and ethically questionable people are able to enjoy your vacations. Yeesh - how stressful for you! Italy, Hawaii, Mexico - how can you possibly have fun after reading Peter Singer's essay? Luckily I am not going on a vacation - I'll just stay home and give my income to charity. But, seriously, I hope you all have a great, well-deserved break! Also, seriously, I am not going on vacation - hopefully there is a small pang of sympathy for me. You could bring me a grain of sand or a postcard just to show you care!

Today's class:

• We collected the $ for the AP exam; Emma you're in!
• I handed out and discussed the movie reflection assignment to be done on Spring Break.
• We read a couple of articles from The Onion to give an overview / preview of satire.
• We watched a You Tube video about the Freedom Riders and the Civil Rights movement.
• We discussed Bertrand Russell and The Singer Solution.

Homework:

• Movie reflection assignment.
• Read page 324 Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor and page 333 In Westminster Abbey.
• Have a great Spring Break!

Dream a Little Dream

I have a dream that one day, on the golden beaches of Hawaii, the son of my in-laws and the eldest daughter of my parents will be able to sit down together at the table of relaxation.
I have a dream that my three little children will one day live in a happy, healthy home of their own where they will not be cared for by the labours of their mother but by the labours of their own.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every paper shall be marked, every report card shall be written, the sentence fragment will be made complete, and the run-ons will be remediated, and the glory of the English Language shall be revealed, and I will live happily ever after.

Today's class:

• In-class essay - 40 minutes
• Vocab test Unit 6
• MLK I Have a Dream video and speech

Homework: Read The Happy Life, by Bertrand Russell (page 317) and The Singer Solution to World Poverty (page 319). Actually, reading that last article will basically ruin any plans to go to Hawaii ever - you'll see what I mean!

Off to love those children while they still abide with me!

Analyse, Hypnotise, and Synthesise!

Hello,

Does that title look odd to you? I have to say I have some issues with the question of suffixes here. To my eye, "analyse" looks fine. But "hypnotize" should be spelled "ize", shouldn't it? And "synthesize" even more so! I found an article that debates the whole issue and suggests either is fine. I know, I know. All you evolutionary linguists out there would just tell me that language is organic and is constantly changing, and change is not bad, etc., etc. Even if our language is all Amercanised (ized) now? O.K. I'll let it go.

Whew. On to today's class:

• I gave back your essays. I am pleased to see the effort, effort, effort you are putting in here. The proof-reading and revisions were great on many of your papers. As I mentioned, this was quite a complex task, so congrats to you for working hard.
• We next looked at a sample synthesis essay from the AP exam. Ultimately, the College Board is trying to ensure you are prepared to write a coherent, well-researched paper in college / university. You need to be able to incorporate multiple sources into a paper that represents your own new ideas and new understandings in whatever field of study you pursue.
• Finally, we discussed the MLK Letter a little bit. Hopefully you have all read it by now and have taken some time to appreciate not only its immense historical, political, and rhetorical significance, but also King's adept use of language, metaphor, contrast, repetition, etc. Did any of you read the essay I posted in the last blog? You should. Really.

Next day: Vocab Unit 6 Quiz; in-class writing practice for 40 minutes; MLK video.

Off to pick up 3 kids and a Tylenol. (That would be a good name for a band!) All that marking has given me a massive headache. But, you're worth it, right? :)

Anthropomorphism and other fun stuff

Today's was a pretty relaxed class. You read various articles, which may give you something to include on your AP essay. Anyway, just so I've said it, now is probably a good time to read the paper, watch the news, read a novel of substance (I know that smacks of judgement, but it's probably not the time for Harry Potter - I love Harry Potter, but still ...). I will give you a film assignment for the break, so you can watch some movies (again, probably not HP).

Thanks to Michelle for bravely going to the front of the class alone (insert scary music here). Good work - you brought up a solid amount of important information about MLK's letter.

There is a great rhetorical analysis essay about Letter from a Birmingham Jail here. You should all read it. Seriously.

Homework: finish reading MLK's Letter and study Vocabulary Unit 6; Quiz and in-class practice writing next Wednesday.

Reminder: Bring your AP $105. Please remind me to remind you.

Note: anthropomorphism is giving human qualities to animals, non-living things, material states, and objects or abstract concepts; personification is where a thing or abstraction is represented as a person.

Well off to my weekend of drudgery - laundry, cleaning, cooking, laundry, cleaning, cooking, mark 23 essays, do report cards ... you see, not that fun. Sitting in class looks pretty good when you think about it! :)

Thank You for Arguing

Hello,

O.K. - First off, I have to give credit for the title to a T-Shirt you can order from the rhetoric guy. Nonetheless, it is appropriate for today's class. We were all about the argument today.

We reviewed a number of documents:

• A terms handout with terms for AP multiple choice
• Your practice essays were handed back.
• I gave a multi-page handout about the argumentative essay on the AP exam.
• I shared a sample essay with you.
• We reviewed a document about "working the prompt".

Homework: Essays due and must be handed in on Thursday. Make sure they are persuasive - not just information about your research; take a stand and ARGUE. Also, be sure to include in- line citations and a Works Cited page, as explained by Mrs. Berry.

Next day: Michelle will give a presentation on the beginning of MLK's Letter. Thanks, Michelle!

Yakety-Yak - The Teacher's Back

Hello everyone!
Today's class was all about talk, and although I went on and on about various topics, I hope it was informative.

1. First off we reveiwed, to some extent, the killer multiple choice test you wrote. The upshot was the questions were very tough, and there was not always one clear right answer, so the marks will not count.
2. We then reviewed the sample student essays you marked for homework. One point we discussed at length was the use of concrete examples to support your argument, and the variety of examples that would be suitable. For example, students included references to many movies and some novels in their responses to those questions.
3. Finally, I assigned more reading, - up to page 270 in the Martin Luther King essay - and I handed out the peer-editing sheets for the essay, which is due next Thursday. You must have peer-editing done and included with the essay.

Remember, for this essay, I want to focus on your ideas and incorporation of suitable support. I really don't want to be side-tracked by editing errors, run-ons, fragments, and spelling mistakes. Please proof-read and make sure your essays are well-organized; each paragraph should have one controlling idea.

O.K. enough chatter for now. Off to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I'm sure you could work that into an AP essay, couldn't you?

Cowabunga Hayakawa!

Yeesh! Once again, we did not manage to get to that essay. Sorry. Perhaps next day, I will plan for you to review the essay in groups - you can discuss what you see as the claims, the warrants, the counterarguments, etc.

Today we had a great presentation from Mrs. Berry about citations. Here are a couple of links she sent - one for getting your essay marked, PaperRater, and another for detecting plagiarism, Plagiarisma.

Then, we read an article for teachers by Renee Shea, one esteemed author of our textbook. She explains different approaches to writing the persuasive essay. Hopefully this will be of help to you while facing the AP exam.

As mentioned, I will be absent on Thursday, but will be in the school. Be good - that goes without saying - the last TOC wrote, "These students (you) just teach themselves!" How nice!

Homework: write the introduction and thesis for the persuasive essay I assigned (on one of the essays we have read) - the white handout with four choices on it, not the pink AP prompt. Get it? Hope so.

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday, C!

Yes, my daughter is 8 years old. I am hosting the big party tonight - 15 little kids - do you think I can handle it? Anyway, take a peak into Fun 4 Kids if you're at Park Royal tonight - the woman going crazy will be me!

In today's class, you gave me some helpful and hopefully insightful feedback, in the form of a journal entry, on the four essays you read and presented to the class. Thanks, and I apologize that it took so long. Also, I am sorry we didn't really get to discuss the Hayakawa essay today. I know you are all busy, so I don't like to make you do work when you don't have to. The good news is I hope that essay will serve as an example for argumentation and may help you write your own persuasive essay, should you choose the topic of bilingualism.

I did handout a sample AP prompt for you to consider. How would you write a persuasive essay in 40 minutes on that topic? Next day, we will look at some feedback from a marker about that essay, and different approaches students took. Also Mrs. Berry is coming to teach you about MLA format next class, so that should be exciting! You know Mrs. Berry the marathoner, the triathlete, and the librarian. How cool is she?

Anyway, I just ordered some books from Amazon for us - all AP Prep Books. There are online forums about test-taking for the exam too, in case you want to look.

I'm off to party - not the way you imagine, Ali!

Have a great weekend - with no homework - you are soooo lucky!

Testing, Testing ...

Today's class was a good chance for you to practice mulitple choice questions in a similar fashion to the AP exam. Most of you finished 30 questions in about 40 - 50 minutes. You can see there will be a fine balance between speed and accuracy on the exam. Keep in mind the actual exam has 55 multiple choice questions in 60 minutes.
One person left with a textbook that is mine - please return it.
For homework you need to read the Toulmin argument handout explaining the structure and offering tools for analysis of an argument. After reading that, please read Hayakawa's essay Bilingualism in America and annotate the essay or take notes about the parts of the essay you consider to be the claim, warrant, data, counterargument, rebuttal, etc. What is the thesis of the esssay?

Also remind me about the $25000 scholarship opportunity.

See ya!

Wrangling with Technology

O.K. Let's try this: here are the links to the three - make that four (thanks, Norma!) - presentations you have sent me. I have changed the sharing settings, so I think this works now.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ac_89em3huv8ZGRmcnh2ZGpfNGR2Yzhiamti&hl=en&authkey=CP3YksgH

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ac_89em3huv8ZGRmcnh2ZGpfMGY2NHhwY2Q0&hl=en&authkey=CIqYsMIJ

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ac_89em3huv8ZGRmcnh2ZGpfOGM5OWM0amd6&hl=en&authkey=CIenmt0D

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ac_89em3huv8ZGRmcnh2ZGpfMTZjOGdxcTdmeA&hl=en&authkey=CJ6Z7e0H

I think they are in order - Notes of a Native Speaker 1 and 2; 3 and 4; then Mother Tongue; and Aria. It has only taken me 40 minutes to work this out - but I'll be faster next time.

In class today, we finished the presentations, began to review the fallacies (know terms like Straw Man, Ad Hominem, Red Herring, Hasty Generalization, Begging the Question, Post Hoc for the test.)
More on these later.

Also, you should read the handout for the essay topics I gave. I will have you prepare a thesis for next week although the assignment will not be due for three weeks.

Reminder: Grad write-ups need to Mr. Luchsinger by Wednesday! No text talk!

Multiple Choice Test Wednesday!