At Last - An Update!

Hello Young Learners!

You see, I have not forgotten you. I was at yoga tonight, and I had a complete brainwave - Downward Dog gets all that blood rushing to your brain, you know? I thought (you will love this) that I could devise a cool and exciting assignment (see? it sounds good doesn't it?) that will get each of you - yes, no one will be left out - writing one blog between now and the end of the year. You can send it to me by email when it is your day, and I will publish it! Can you stand how awesome that is? It would go like this: you simply write an engaging summary of the day's lesson and maybe add one or two interesting thoughts of your own and perhaps one link or picture that you find appropriate. Easy and sooo fun, right? Of course, you could earn some marks for your efforts too. Then we collectively take responsibility for the blog, and you all gain practice in establishing your own voice while writing for an audience and getting published. That is quite beautiful, especially in you have the English teacher mindset. 

More on that later. Today, we had some great AP multiple choice practice - sincere thanks to all of you who shared your mistakes with the class to get clarification. I think the whole discussion was quite helpful, and I was reminded once again you (I) must read carefully and look back at each word, phrase, or passage when it is mentioned in the questions. We also reviewed, and I suggest you finish reading the handouts, how to write the persuasive essay. There are some good tips on those handouts, and don't forget REHUGO.

Homework: I asked you to begin reading Martin Luther King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail. It is a great example of argumentation and refutation.  Read to half way down page 265, finishing at "unavoidable impatience". 

For Tuesday: Please study for the vocab test on the words from Vocabtest.com - Level 1 Senior (not AP). Remember to try a few different versions of the practice tests to practice enough. 

On Friday: You will write a practice persuasive essay in class and continue to work on Martin Luther King's essay, which will be due Tuesday. 

Multiple Choice Boot Camp

Hi again, all!

I just read some great comments by the lovely Sophie and Nicole - Orwell's language is wonderful, don't you think? If he were your English teacher, you certainly would want to proof and edit your work. He obviously didn't suffer fools gladly (I really like that expression along with "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things" from Julius Caesar). 

Anyway, a few quick thoughts before I am rendered incommunicado by the job action. For Thursday, as mentioned in the previous post, you need to bring your multiple choice questions - all ten of them - to class. You will also need the written answers with explanations. The plan is you will test some other students. Of course, you will test each other only after I test all of you with the logical fallacies quiz - must make that up this weekend! Finally, I hope to give out the movie assignment for Spring Break. Yes, I am asking you to watch a movie for homework. Could this class get any better - no need to actually answer that question! :) 

Have a great 5 days away from school, but remember, you can always keep learning. Read a book! 

Yes, I guess for fun and excitement on a Saturday night, I write the blog for my students - not sure if that reflects well upon me or not. I'd love to report that I am off to some fabulous soiree, or a late dinner at an exclusive restaurant, or to the opera, or the theater (said with appropriately snooty English accent), but unless something good is on the tube, I'm just off to sleep. Oh well - have fun yourselves ... or study for the AP exam - also fun!

See you Thursday!

Orwellian Times

Hello Young People!

I thought I would give you a quick reminder of the homework assigned for tomorrow. You need to read up to page 536 of George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language". The essay has loads of fantastic vocabulary, so you will likely need to spend some solid time looking words up - try making a vocab list for this one. Also, attend to Orwell's fantastic phrasing and venomous attitude towards the "catalogue of swindles and perversions" which is destroying the language. 

Of course, for the few of you who did not do last day's homework - choosing an AP style passage from one of the recent essays, and writing the 3 multiple choice questions and complete answers with an explanation for each - you should do that too. Finally, for those of you who did not complete the outline of Eric Liu's essay, I strongly advise you to do that too. The homework in this class really will contribute to your learning; and I hope I have demonstrated the need to read widely and well in order to write well. There is a clear and proven relationship between these two endeavors. 

Regrettably, we will not be meeting on Tuesday next week, but here is some information to prepare you for the following class. 

For Thursday: 

• Please have your 10 multiple choice questions ready. 
• There will be a quiz on logical fallacies. The following terms are fair game: 

1. equivocation
2. slippery slope
3. red herring
4. straw man
5. ad hominem
6. non sequitur
7. post hoc ergo propter hoc
8. faulty dilemma
9. bandwagon appeals
10. begging the question
11. faulty analogies
12. hasty generalizations. 

I leave you with these words from the essay, which I love: Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. 

Bonus marks to any student who is able to show up on Thursday with his / her own favorite quotation from this essay; of course, it would really be a bonus if you were to post the quotation into the blog as a comment! 

Off to eat my beautiful dinner prepared by my husband - ladies take note!