"Adjectives on the typewriter...he moves his words like a prizefighter..." --Cake

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Homework: September 28

English 11

  • Complete  close reading organizer for the chapters of True Diary you read in class Friday (finish reading first if you need to!). Remember, you have a prompt on the back of the handout to answer, too.
Honors English 12
  • Read ch. 15-17 in "The Body," focusing on Gordie as narrator and the relationships between the boys
  • Wait until Sunday, then spend some time revisiting your personal essay draft-- bring a draft on Monday that's ready for feedback.
Creative Writing
None...stay out of the rain...or go play in it.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Zinsser on Memoir

Your biggest stories will often have less to do with their subject than with their significance — not what you did in a certain situation, but how that situation affected you and shaped the person you became. 
--William Zinsser
Though it's a few years old, this interview is an interesting look at the role of memoirs in our lives. Zinsser suggests that it's not just people who've had crazy lives who should write them, and that sometimes, the regular stories are the ones that need to be told. He thinks about truth, and suggests that it's a writer's job to be as honest as he can about his experiences, and to tell stories that matter.

You can find the interview, as well as an article, here. Zinsser's advice is relative to those of you in Creative Writing class, but also, perhaps, to you seniors in the midst of writing college essays.

Homework: September 27

English 11

  • Read to page 158.
  • Draw a cartoon that could become part of the book--look for a place within the section from 134-158 that doesn't have a cartoon, then draw it. Think about what cartoons in the book usually add to the story (look back on your notes from class).
Honors English 12
  • Read Chapter 14
  • Finish a draft of your personal/college essay
Creative Writing
  • Write the first chapter of your memoir...it's due tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Homework: September 26

English 11

  • Finish reading the "Reindeer Games" chapter in True Diary--up to page 149
  • Revise your "One word to describe a character" paragraph (last night's homework), taking into account our discussion from today. Tomorrow, you should have a first draft and second draft of the paragraph to turn in.
Honors English 12
  • Work on personal essay, at least 15-20 minutes. Start something! Anything! Don't get stuck...
  • Read "The Body" Chapter 13 and be ready to write tomorrow!
Creative Writing

  • Work on the first chapter of your very own memoir! It's due on Friday.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Homework: September 25

English 11

  • Complete paragraph on character from True Diary...use this photo of our notes from the board to help you!
  • Study for your vocab quiz--it's tomorrow!

English 12

  • Read "The Body" chapter 12
  • Study for Vocab quiz
  • We're working on essays tomorrow--bring any specific college essay prompts that you know you have to complete. Mostly, we'll work on a "personal essay" that will fit the Common App.

Creative Writing
  • Complete Reader Response Journal assignment for Chapter 1 of The Tender Bar
  • Work on Weekly Write assignment due Friday--write the first chapter of your memoir!

Monday, September 24, 2012

Homework: September 24

English 11

  • Read to page 134 in True Diary for Tuesday
  • Write a response in your journal to the section between pages 114 and 134. On the "Core Skills" handout (it's BRIGHT green), choose one prompt from "Making Connections" and one prompt from "Synthesize" and respond to each in a paragraph.
  • For Wednesday, study vocabulary prefixes...

Honors English 12

  • Read "The Body" chapters 10 and 11
  • Start studying vocab prefixes for Wednesday's quiz
  • Start working on college essay--check your college applications for questions you'll need to answer for the Personal Essay or Personal Statement.

Creative Writing

  • Reader Response Journal due Wednesday on the first chapter of The Tender Bar
  • Weekly Write due Friday: Write the first chapter of your memoir!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Seniors: Our discussion of "The Body"

Yesterday, we discussed the opening of Stephen King's "The Body." Today, we pulled together some of the main topics from the discussion, in preparation for your close-reading of a passage over the weekend. Here are the notes from the board, for reference:

Tonight's Homework: September 21

Have a great weekend everyone! It's supposed to be nice out, especially on Saturday. Go play outside.

English 11
Read True Diary through page 113. Be ready to write about it on Monday.

English 12
Complete a close reading of a passage from "The Body." Your writing can be informal (you can use "I notice" and "I wonder" as prompts, for example), but should be thoughtfully constructed and about a page typed.

Creative Writing
You're off the hook for this weekend. Go outside, and pay attention to the world, then come back on Monday ready to write!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Tonight's Homework: September 20

English 11     
  • Read True Diary through page 81, and be ready to talk about it in class.
  • Make sure goals are on your website.
  • Revise your paragraph about "Reservation Mathematics" and be ready to share it in class.
Honors English 12
  • Make sure your goals are on your website.
  • Complete the Reflection handout for today's discussion.
  • Read chapters 8 & 9 in "The Body"
Creative Writing
  • Complete "Animal Perspective" writing assignment...click here for more information.


Monday, September 17, 2012

Seniors: Thinking metaphorically...

Here's your assignment, seniors!

First, remember that video about the little duckies? If not, re-watch it here:



If you can't see it, it's probably because it's filtered by the SonicWall in school...sorry. You can check it out at home. 

 Next, write for about 5 minutes on this topic: How is the experience of the ducks a metaphor for coming of age? Think about all of the things that happen, the things the ducks face, and the way they deal with challenges. 

 Then, make up three metaphors about your own life. Try not to go the Forrest Gump route (yes, it's true that "life is like a box of chocolates," but try to be more original!). You could think about how your high school soccer career was like a boxing match. Think about some interesting and unique comparisons. 

After you've come up with three, pick one and freewrite for 5-10 minutes. 

 If you didn't get a chance to finish your goals, which you likely didn't, work on those over the next couple of days, too.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Bennington College Young Writers Competition

Check out the Bennington College Young Writers Competition. You can read the work of past winners, and consider entering yourself. You might win some money! The deadline is November 1.

Creative Writing: Who's Telling the Story?

In class, we're reading a pretty ridiculous story by Woody Allen, written from the perspective of a very intelligent cow. You'll play with perspective this week with a weekly write that tells an animal's side of the story.

Here are a few different animal stories you might use to inspire your own animal-voiced story:

A coyote is pulled from the Charles River, after initially eluding capture: read it here!

A turkey attacks a mailtruck on Cape Cod...does it belong to the Kennedy family? Ethel Kennedy says yes; a farmer says no. Click here!

A snake slithers away from her owner on a Red Line T train in Boston, and hides in the train for over a month. She was eventually discovered and returned to her owner. Check it out!

Last year, you may have watched the Super Bowl, but did you catch any of the Puppy Bowl? Complete with a kitten half-time show, a blimp "manned" by hamsters, and chicken cheerleaders...and no, I'm not making this up. Read about it here!

Do you have another idea for an animal story? Check in with me! It must be based on an original article or event.

As a reminder, your job for your weekly write is to tell a story from the perspective of one of the animal protagonists. Was the coyote purposefully avoiding capture? What's that turkey really up to? What did the snake do for a month on the train? Does that chicken really like being a cheerleader?

In your weekly write, tell the animal's perspective, by creating a narrative voice and a storyline. Think of "Udder Madness"--the story of the diabolical, know-it-all, clumsy-but-clever cow who plotted murder. Your coyote, turkey, snake or puppy/kitten/hamster/chicken won't have the same voice or story as that cow...what will its story be?

Friday, September 14, 2012

Seniors: Some questions for Pleasantville

Click this link for some questions to think about as you consider and write about the film Pleasantville. You don't need to answer them, but they might help you think about different aspects of the film.

Your question, to which you should write a page-long response: How is Pleasantville a coming-of-age story? Talk about story and production elements.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Some resources for you college-bound seniors, and an assignment

The college-search process can be overwhelming; here are some resources that might just help make it a little more manageable.

The New York Times has a blog called "The Choice." It's all about the college admissions and financial aid process. There are eight high school seniors who are blogging about their college searches...you can check it out here.

The University of California, Berkeley has a website that gives some guidelines for writing the personal statement, or college essay. The ideas they share are relevant for all personal essays, I think. They even have an example essay that they've broken down in structure...explore the links!

Lastly, for now, the online and print magazine Teen Ink has a College Guide section. Teen Ink publishes the writing of teenagers from all over the country. Check out this link, to see a whole lot of example college essays. Honors seniors, please read a few of them, and choose one that you think is especially strong. We'll talk about it in class; for now, go ahead and post a link to it below, with a reason why you've chosen it.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

La Maison en Petits Cubes

We're using this fantastic, Oscar-winning short film to study and analyze film elements.

La Maison en Petits Cubes from istever on Vimeo.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Writing college essays

Hello, high school seniors!

I'm sure you're thinking a lot about writing your college essay (or, you're thinking a lot about how you're nervous about, concerned about, or trying to avoid writing your college essay). We'll talk a lot more in class about writing this personal essay, but for those of you who are looking to get started, here's a great resource. It's a list that someone compiled of over one hundred essay prompts. Since the Common App allows you to choose any topic you'd like, these prompts might help you develop an essay idea. Happy writing!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Coming of Age books--Honors English 12

A cool image and quotation...it came from here.
On Friday, we checked out the movie trailer for the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's based on Stephen Chbosky's novel of the same name, and it's a coming-of-age story about a freshman who's trying to find his way in the world and is befriended by a couple of seniors at his school.

As we discussed in class, there are MANY books and movies that fit the definition of a coming-of-age story, or a bildungsroman (a novel about coming-of-age), partly because this genre is so relevant to so many of us and our own experiences.

In Honors English 12, in addition to our in-class novels and texts ("The Body," Catcher in the Rye, Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein), students will read an independent book in class and outside of class. Students should choose a book that has a coming-of-age story as its basis...it may be a novel or a memoir. We'll talk in class about some choices; additionally, please post recommendations below! One cool website that has some suggestions is this one.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Purple Heart radio story

We talked in English 11 class today about the role of awards in our lives. We discussed the significance of earning awards, and how sometimes awards help us recognize our achievements. In connection with the book Purple Heart, we listened to a report that was part of an investigation into the awarding of Purple Hearts to soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injury. You can find the article by clicking here. In class tomorrow, we'll talk about the impact that this report had on these awards for soldiers.

Here, you can find our notes from the discussion about the report. I'm sure your notes are more complete than mine!