Creative Writing Prompts

Check out this link: Prompts for Independent Writing

It will allow you to access a bunch of different websites that might provide an interesting or useful prompt for you.

Analyzing The Hunger Games

We’ve read Parts One and Two of The Hunger Games. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the plot, characters and setting. We know that, basically, The Hunger Games is about a young woman named Katniss who’s competing in an event called the Hunger Games that’s held every year in Panem.

However, there’s a lot more to the book than that basic plot summary. Today, we’ll examine that next layer of the story. Here’s your job:

First, consider this statement: The Hunger Games is a book about _________________

Fill in the blank with one of these words:  CONTROL  FRIENDSHIP  POWER  LOVE  FAMILY  BETRAYAL STRENGTH

The word you’ve chosen will be your TOPIC.

Next, you’ll consider this question: So far, what does the book SAY about the topic you’ve chosen? As you write, you’ll be developing your BIG IDEA.  Write about your choice of topic, using evidence from the text to support and analyze your idea. Remember the work you did yesterday…what did it tell you about the story? Incorporate evidence into your writing, and make sure you analyze the evidence for your readers, helping us understand your big idea.

When you’re done, add your response to this post by commenting (let me know if you’re having trouble doing that…)

Your response should be at least one to two thoughtful, detailed paragraphs. It should include specific evidence from the story, and should avoid plot summary. It should be clearly written and organized. Don’t forget to proofread!

The Hunger Games: Names and references

The Hunger Games is full of imagery, character development, and symbolism. Names are especially significant, and so are some historical references. We'll examine some of those things today. Make sure you jot down some notes in your journal.

First, let's take a look at the name of the country: Panem. Skim this article to find the reference--where did the name of the country come from? What does it mean?

Now, let's look at some character names: Katniss, Gale, Rue, Cato (check out information here about a couple different Roman guys named Cato), Primrose (or, Prim). Peeta is likely a variation on Peter--check out the etymology of the name Peter. Also, there are a lot of references in Roman history to people named Cinna. One of them was killed for his role in conspiring against Caesar; another was a poet who was killed because he was mistaken for the guy who helped assassinate Caesar. In fact, a lot of the names of the folks from the Capitol are from Roman history.

Think about this question: How do the origins of the characters' names help us understand the characters better?

Next, check out this link, to the Greek mythology story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Interesting, eh? Think about the ways that this story and The Hunger Games are similar.

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pumpkins that my friends and I carved!





And, if you're looking for some Halloween-y reading, try this:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

A couple of great blogs...

It's really easy to start a blog!

Here's a great one about books, written by a fifteen-year-old from Seattle.

Book Crumbs

And, this one's by a woman who likes food, books and travel. She reviews all kinds of different books, and has a really interesting perspective. She also includes a lot of links to additional interesting blogs...

A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

"The Lottery"--a pretty disturbing story...

"The Lottery" is a short story that was written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. There have been some film versions made, including this one from 1969--an "educational film."

English 12: Books we recommend

A quick conversation after independent reading today yielding the following list of books we've read recently, or maybe a long time ago, that we really liked and think other people might like, too!


We'll update this list throughout the year, with more recommendations...


Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Holes by Louis Sachar
So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Stephen Colbert reads "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury

Public Radio International's show Selected Shorts is pretty awesome. On it, famous people read great short stories. Here is a reading, by Stephen Colbert, of Ray Bradbury's short story "The Veldt."

Part One


Part Two


Part Three

Get me into college, part 2!

Here are a couple more sites to take a look at as you write your essays. The College Board generally recommends that your admissions essay is around 500 words, while other sites say 600-900 words. A good goal is an essay that's a page long, single spaced. You don't want the admissions folks to have to read for a long time; they'll only have a few minutes to read yours, so you want it to be awesome.

Here's the site from the College Board (you know, those SAT folks) that talks about essay writing.

And here's a pretty interesting and useful site from Teen Ink that also talks about essay writing.

Have ideas about the economy and about the arts/arts education?

The folks at the White House have kicked off a series of Tuesday Talks, where they're hosting live chats about current issues. You can find out more information here. Today's topics are the economy and the arts and arts and humanities education. Get involved in the conversation, or read the transcripts. You can even ask questions on Facebook!

Get me into college!

In class, you'll be working on your college application essays. Even if you're applying to a school that doesn't require an essay, or you're not planning to apply to college yet, you'll still write an essay for class. The skills of writing a personal essay are important--personal essays are all about choosing the right topic, writing clearly, and writing with voice.

There are a lot of resources out there about writing the college admissions essay. There's no easy answer; there's not one way to do it. You'll want to read some examples, and then you'll want to spend a lot of time writing drafts, editing drafts, and fine-tuning your essay before you start mailing it off.

Here's a pretty solid resource for college admissions essays/personal essay writing. Here, you'll find tips and models that might be helpful for you as you write your own.

Here's a link to the forms for the Common App. You can find the essay questions if you click on the "Application (student form) only" PDF and look to page 4.

Good luck!

EN12: Charlie and Billy are tough guys...

...or at least that's what we figured out from the way they use language. In Chapter 4 of "The Body," Vern listens to Charlie and Billy talk about seeing the body of a missing kid. They're trying to sound tough (they use crude language, and talk about how they don't care), but it's clear they are still thinking about it. Here's a picture of our quick notes from pages 302-3.

You guys seem to "get" this interaction, and you also "get" how King uses the dialogue of the two characters to show how they feel. They're feeling vulnerable, but they're trying to cover it up.

Hudson 35, Assabet 0: Running wild - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

Photo by John Thornton/Daily News
and Wicked Local

Great interviews with Victor and Karl--congrats on a big win!

Read the article here:

Hudson 35, Assabet 0: Running wild - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

Oops....

The last post was last year's speech. Oops. It was still great, though...right?

Here's this year's speech:

A "Welcome Back to School" message from the President of the United States

Today, President Barack Obama gave a speech welcoming students back to school and encouraging them to do their very best to get the most out of their education.

Here's the speech, which is preceded by an introduction given by a high school senior. Can you imagine introducing the President of the United States?!

EN12: Alexie's "Indian Education"

Originally posted September 9, 2010

As we discuss "coming of age" literature, we'll obviously spend a lot of time talking about school, and the lessons we learn at school. School teaches us much more than English, history, health, science, and math; it also teaches us how to work with others and to be responsible. We learn just as much from our experiences in school as we do from our teachers (yes, I'll admit that...)--it's all about how we handle things, and the lessons we take away.

Today in class we talked about Sherman Alexie's powerful piece, "Indian Education." We discussed the lessons that the character/narrator, Victor, learned while in school. We'll continue to discuss this story and these lessons--were they "right"? Here's the basic breakdown that we talked about today:

Ewww...the board looks pretty dirty, but the ideas are genius.

EN 12: Pictures of your summer...

Originally posted on September 7, 2010

Please go ahead and check out all of the photos in this slideshow.

Then, choose one that you think best represents/symbolizes/depicts your summer. Write a short (1-2 paragraph) personal essay (use 1st person) explaining why you chose the photo you did. Make sure you include details about your summer experience!

EN12: Summer Reading

original post September 7, 2010

OK, everyone, here’s your summer reading info. You can check out the brochure here, so you’ll be able to access the information you need to choose your book and complete your project. Remember, the project is due on Friday the 17th.

That old blog...

I'll be moving some of the content from my old blog over to this one. You can click here to access the old site.

This new site...

...is a replacement for my old site--I just wasn't a fan of the old hosting program any more. So, I'm transferring to this one! I'm working on moving a lot of the content from the old site to the new one, so you'll notice that all of the posts right now will have the same date. Oh well...