Welcome back!

It's the first day of school--hooray! I hope you're all looking forward to a great year...I know I am.

Here's a photo that I took this summer in my summer camp job. I include it here for two reasons:

1. I think it's hilarious.
2. There are at least two different ways to read it, both of which we can probably relate to. You could say that the guy in the front is doing all the work while the other guy goofs around and gets a free ride. That could be what's going on, but I hope not. I prefer to look at it this way: the guy in the back is super encouraging, providing the guy in the front his own personal musical inspiration. As you head into this new school year, maybe you'll find yourself in the position of the guy in front--working hard, doing your best to get somewhere. Remember you have people to cheer you on and support you, just like the guy with the bugle is doing. And with that, I end my slightly cheesy opening day thought.

Bring on the school year!

NBA readers

I've never been a fan of LeBron James--boo!--but I am a fan of his habit of reading before games, and his apparent obsession with The Hunger Games trilogy. Seems he does have something in common with my students and me.

 But if we're going to talk about readers in the NBA, we have to come back to Ray Allen, of course. Check out this article about his voracious reading habits and his attempts (sadly, often unsuccessful) to turn his teammates into readers. Keep trying, Ray Ray.

Oops...looks like I haven't posted here in a long time!

I've been updating class blogs, but realized I've totally ignored this one. Eesh. Here's a video that's inspiring:

Welcome back to school!

I'm excited to be starting the 2011-12 school year!

Check out this link for the American Studies website. Here, you'll find information about handouts and homework assignments.

Summer reading--Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Here you'll find information and links for the Honors American Studies summer reading book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'll update this post soon!

A great article

Our school newspaper, The Big Red, wrote a great article about the Civil Rights Movement plays that students in the Honors American Studies classes completed earlier this term.

Check it out!

Check out....

Laura Hydro wrote a review of the film Big Fish that was so fantastic, I wanted others to read it, too.

You can find it at our online writing site, here.

Please consider leaving a comment for her!

Congratulations...

...to Hudson High's online newspaper, The Big Red. The paper was honored with the best online newspaper award at the Greater Boston High School Newspaper Competition at Suffolk University.


Check out The Big Red here.

English 12: It's the FINAL countdown...

Hey everyone! Today's the day! This is it...try not to tear up as you finish your portfolio--you'll short out the computers...

Here's what you need to complete today:
* Make sure your Catcher in the Rye essay and your "Stranger in the Photo" essay are both completed, and posted on the correct pages of your portfolio (not as attachments, like the other pieces of writing you're including in the portfolio). The easiest way to post your essays on your portfolio pages is by embedding the Google docs version. I'll show you how to do this. Scan the photo you used for your "Stranger in the Photo" essay and include it with your essay, if you haven't already.

* Complete and post your final essay on the Final Essay page.

* Write your reflections to go on your Analytical Writing and Personal Writing pages. In these reflections, please talk about how you've grown as a writer. Discuss some of your challenges and successes. How does this final piece of writing, the one posted on the page, represent you as a writer?

* Create a portfolio "cover page" on your website. Put a picture on the English Portfolio page, and include your name, the course title, and the year.

* Please complete this course evaluation. I'd really appreciate your thoughtful and honest feedback.

* Make sure that your website, and any documents included in it, are shared with me through Google Docs.

* Breathe a sigh of relief--you're done!

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!