Swarm!

Ack! Nothing like coming home to find ants crawling around the house. Of course, from the ant point of view, I'm sure there's nothing like the vacuum coming to suck you up; all beings in this house are equally shocked. Well, not equally, I guess. I'm still here. 
Anyway, on to today's class and some homework. We spent the whole class on The Things They Carried. Some topics we covered include: points of view; Jimmy Cross and the savior motif; the use of vignettes to recreate memory and the chaos of Vietnam; the non-linear plot line and the lack of clear chronology, which also replicates memory and the disorder of the Vietnam experience. In addition, I spent much of the class reading "On the Rainy River" out loud - sorry if that was just too long - it was much shorter in my head last night - anyway, the emerging themes in this chapter / story include the shame / embarrassment that drove Tim O'Brien to war: "I was a coward. I went to war." Note too, the irony that he saw war as the cowardly choice. Another theme is the immorality of the Vietnam War and O'Brien's view of the war as unjust and inexplicable. He refers to it as "Certain blood shed for uncertain reasons." Of course, another emerging theme, which is really layered throughout the entire work is the notion of truth versus reality and how to capture the truth, recreate the truth, or embellish the truth to make a story true. Is it more true if it's not true? In war is there really a single truth? 
Anyway, you should be reading the novel. I would advise you to read up to page 110 for Thursday and then up to page 154 for Monday. Of course, you can adjust that schedule as long as you reach the final goal of finishing the novel late next week. But, it is much easier to read 25 pages a day or so than 100 pages in one go. 
Research Project: By next class you should definitely have read your two essays assigned last week. You should come with a research question based on those two essays. Note, Aliya had to read a third essay to come up with a good research question - try to think of a topic that is not too general and could actually be answered in a 5-10 page paper. In the library, you will need to find seven sources you could use to write a paper to answer your research question. 
Whew! That's a lot. There's work everywhere. Kind of like those ants! 
Must go exterminate. 
See you Thursday!

Ethical Dilemmas

Hello,
Hopefully you have all had the weekend to calm down after the heated and terrific class discussion we had last day. It's easy to see how Parliament or the UN can have trouble making decisions or coming to agreement on various issues when our class can have such differing views on one issue. Also, it occurs to me that our conversation was good, but there is something questionable about the privileged few deciding what part of their relatively enormous wealth to share with the less fortunate. Do you see what I mean? For the conversation to be more meaningful and authentic, it would be much better to have the voices of those in need balancing our own. Maybe I'll hear from you on this point next day; I'm guessing not everyone agrees with me. 
Anyway, for homework by Tuesday, please read two of the essays in one of the sections we have not studied during the course. Remember that you need to have read one central essay and one other major essay from the chapter.  
Hopefully that all makes sense. We will look at Kiva on Tuesday, and discuss The Things They Carried some more. By the way, I know some of you have read the whole book already, but just to say, it is so well-written! I was reading over On the Rainy River, and it is hard to find any single sentence that is not incredible and loaded with meaning. It is so gripping and perfect - try to appreciate the genius while you read!
See you Tuesday.

Post A.P.E.

Hi again,

To start, I must apologize for being like Gregory House in the above photo before the exam. Sorry I did not write to you - that was a missed opportunity, and I do feel badly, Stephanie and others who missed my encouragement. Anyway, I was super happy to hear how well it went for you, and it was nice to see smiles on your faces today. I gauge a class as successful when no one cries! (Well, maybe there are a few other criteria!) On the other hand, I should have emulated House,as above, in today's class. Sorry, Aidan! To be honest, it would never occur to me you would watch anything I would watch - I imagine you all watching much more exciting forms of entertainment. Sorry for the spoiler! 

Anyway, on to the next exam. To that end, after we read the article about the growing concern over aliteracy,  we looked over the outline and terms for the English 12 Exam today. I think it should be fairly manageable for most of you, but you will need to remember to write a more formal, five paragraph essay for the synthesis question and a more personal essay for the other essay. Terms-wise, I think you know most of the terms, but again, you are well-advised to review the terms. You did a great job of studying for the AP exam - a lot of you told me about your studying - so keep up the effort for this exam too.

We also discussed the beginning of The Things They Carried today, and you discussed some of the questions in your groups. I'll give you more notes and we'll talk about it again next day.

For homework, I assigned a journal based on the two essays you were to have read for today: "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" and "Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor." Homework: The journal topic due next day is:

Consider the Singer and Hardin essays. With clear reference to the texts (I want to see your specific understanding), take a position and agree / disagree / qualify the arguments being made.

This requires discussion of both texts in a synthesis-like manner, much as is required on the English 12 exam. 

The Final Countdown

Yikes!
I don't know if anyone else noticed, but we are nearing the AP exam with shocking rapidity! That's right, the AP exam is May 16 at 8:00 a.m - you should be there at 7:45 for sure! You have 12 days left to study - review vocabulary lists, practice multiple choice, and write some essays with AP prompts. We have 4 classes left to review and practice together. Can you feel the pressure? Are you reading this post - I HOPE so!
Our class today was awesome don't you think? Can I pick those baby sitters or what? Hopefully they gave you some insight into what to expect at university and the kind of writing that will be required. University sounds hard, doesn't it? But, the good news is, you are well-prepared to dive in and make a splash.


FOR HOMEWORK: 

1. Please write 500 words in response to Chris Hedges' essay. Seriously. Write a persuasive piece, a rhetorical analysis, or a synthesis among his essay and some other texts we have read. Be clear to identify the topic you are writing about and refer to the text with supporting quotes and details. This is not a formal essay - just write a good journal; imagine it is a practice AP question. 
2. Vocabulary Quiz on Unit 4 on Monday.
3. Then you should study! Michael, Dallas, Eva - the study group should meet soon!

Have a great weekend.
Ms. M