Happy Banned Book Week!

This is Banned Book Week, sponsored by the American Library Association. It's an occasion to reflect on the freedoms we have in this country. It's also a reminder of how we must be viligant to retain those freedoms. More information on Banned Book Week is available here:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm
Head to the school library and check out a banned book ASAP!

Ultima is no Picnic

Here's the prompt for the "Picnic" bonus essay. Performances are Saturday night at 8:00 PM and Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM. I've already been twice, so you won't see me there (with seating limited, I hate to take up a space that someone else could use). Be sure and get your program signed by either Mrs. Tolleson or Miss Aker.

Picnic Bonus Essay
Research the economic future of small town America in the period immediately after World War II. Consider the importance of agriculture, as well as job opportunities for young men and women. Why do so many of the young people in Picnic seek to escape?
Write a well-researched, thoughtful essay of at least 1 page )double-spaced, Times New Roman 12), but no more than 2 pages.

I considered posting the vocabulary and study questions for the first three chapters of Bless Me Ultima, but decided against it because if you weren't there Friday, you don't have the book anyway. I'll pass it out to those who were absent Monday.

Grammar Week Continues

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/020.html

Here's today's quote: "When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored." - Eric Hoffer

We will finish up studying grammar in Chapters 1 & 2 Wednesday. Your grammar exam over the materials studied will be on Thursday. The vocabulary quiz has been moved to Friday this week.

Week 5 Begins

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/019.html

Here's today's quote: "A room without books is like a body without a soul." - Cicero

Homework tonight: Exercise 3, Page 16 in your grammar textbook.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Here are the vocabulary words for this week:

1. A (AN): “not,” “without”
amoral (adj)
amorphous (adj)
anemia (n)
anesthesia (n)
anhydrous (adj)
anomaly (n)
anonymous (adj)
anoxia (n)
aseptic (adj)
atheism (n)
atrophy (n)
antonym- hypertrophy (n)
atypical (adj)


2. ARCHY: “rule”
anarchy (n)
autarchy (n)
hierarchy (n)
matriarchy (n)
monarchy (n)
oligarchy (n)
patriarchy (n)'

Your home work is Exercise 2A on page 8. Do 1-10.

Remember I offered you extra credit for seeing "Picnic". More information on the play is available here: http://www.thespiansr.us/

Have a great weekend!

Hang in there baby, Friday's coming!

We're about to wrap up Week 4. Tomorrow we will finish up the film, "To Kill a Mockingbird". We will then begin our 1st week of grammar. If you haven't yet been issued textbooks, you need to go to the bookroom before or after school or during lunch to make arrangements.

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/017.html

And here's today's quote: "Do you love me because I'm beautiful, or am I am beautiful because you love me?"

- Oscar Hammerstein III

In Living Black and White

No one mentioned it today, but students usually comment when I show a black-and-white film.
Here's a link to an article that discusses the attitudes of youth toward black-and-white, among other things.
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_urb-black_and_white_movies.html

Here's a link to today's poem:
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/015.html

Here's today's quote: "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus

New Vocabulary

Here are this week's vocabulary words:

VOCABULARY—LIST 3
1. EU: "good," "well," "advantageous"
(EU means the opposite of DYS.)
eugenics (n)
eulogize (v)
eupepsia (n)
antonym- dyspepsia (n)
euphemism (n)
euphonious (adj)
antonym- cacophonous (n)
euphoria (n)
euthanasia (n)
euthenics (n)
2. MACRO: "large," "long"
macrocosm (n)
antonym- microcosm (n)
macron (n)
macroscopic (adj)
antonym- microscopic (adj)
3. MICRO: "small"
microbe (n)
microbicide (n)
microcosm (n)
antonym- macrocosm (n)
microdont (adj)
microfilm (n)
micrometer (n)
microscopic (adj)
antonym- macroscopic (adj)
microsecond (n)
microwave (n)

Notes for Today

Here's the link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/012.html

Here's today's quote: "Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun." - Colleen C. Barrett

Notes on To Kill a Mockingbird:
In chapter 26, we have a strong example of Scout's innocence. Scout doesn't understand why her teacher hates Hitler for his treatment of the Jews, yet hates blacks. She is beginning to see that adults can be inconsistent, even hypocritical. This is a kind of an awakening for Scout.

September 11

You were quite young on September 11, 2001.

Here is a portion of the Today show from that morning.

The video is from the NBC affiliate in NYC.

The video begins around 8:30 et, and continues until shortly after 9 am.

You will see how the coverage occurred in real time.

http://www.archive.org/details/nbc200109110831-0912

Quote and Poem

I almost forgot to post these for you!
Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/011.html

Here's today's quote: "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." - Pablo Picasso

Vocabulary quiz tomorrow!

Creativity

Here's the link to that article about television's effect on creativity: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/08/31/daydream_achiever/?page=full
And while we're at it, here's a link to the Catalyst--we just posted an article about the effect on reading on creativity: http://my.highschooljournalism.org/tx/temple/ths/

So if reading boosts creativity, and television hinders it, which should we be doing?

A little additional information about the man behind today's quote

It was on this day in 1981 that Pablo Picasso's famous painting "Guernica" was returned to Spain to hang in the Prado Museum in Madrid. The painting depicts the suffering in the city of Guernica, the capitol of Basque Spain, after a German bombardment in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso exhibited the painting in Paris, but then sent it to New York and refused to allow it to be shown in Spain until the rule of General Franco ended. Pablo Picasso, who said: "Painting is not made to decorate apartments. It's an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy." (Information courtesy of The Writer's Almanac; picture courtesy wordpress.com)

Happy Tuesday!

Vocabulary Words:
dysentery (n) an infectious disease marked by inflammation and ulceration of the lower part of the bowels, with diarrhea that becomes mucous and hemorrhagic.

dysfunction (n) malfunctioning, as of an organ or structure of the body.

dyslexia (n) any of various reading disorders associated with impairment of the ability to interpret spatial relationships or to integrate auditory and visual information.

dyspepsia (n) deranged or impaired digestion; indigestion
{antonym- eupepsia (n) good digestion}

dysphagia (n) difficulty in swallowing.

dysphasia (n) inability to speak or understand words because of a brain lesion.

dystrophy (n) faulty or inadequate nutrition or development.

Today's Quote: "Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own."-- Sydney J. Harr

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/010.html

In To Kill a Mockingbird, we discussed Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell's testimony, as well as the testimony of Tom Robinson. We have an example of the theme of benevolence when Tom admits that he helps Mayella because she doesn't have anyone else to help her. We have an example of the theme of innocence when Dill is so upset over the way that Mr. Gilmer is questioning Tom. He is too young and innocent to realize the way the world often works. Does injustice upset you, or do you accept it?

Meanwhile, in Maycomb.....

We didn't have time to discuss the novel today, but at least we took care of those pesky vocabulary words.

misandry - hatred of males
misanthrope - a hater of humankind
misanthropy - hatred, dislike, or distrust of humankind
misogamy - hatred of marriage
misogyny - hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women
misology - distrust or hatred of reason or reasoning
misoneism - hatred or distrust of what is new or represents change
misogyny - hatred of women

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/009.html

Here's today's quote: "Argument is the worst sort of conversation." - Jonathan Swift

Now, a few points over To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 16 begins with Scout crying when she went to bed after fully realizing what happened with Atticus and the men in front of the jail. The next day, the children disobey Atticus and go to the trial. Scout overhears some men talking about how Atticus was assigned to this case. She thinks it's strange that he hadn't mentioned that he didn't choose this case, but that it was chosen for him. The courtroom is packed, so Scout, Jem and Dill have to sit upstairs with Reverend Sykes and the African-Americans.

In Chapter 17, the trial gets underway. Sheriff Heck Tate testifies about his involvement in the case, then Bob Ewell gives his testimony about the alleged rape of his daughter, Mayella. Atticus makes a point to ask Sheriff Tate about which side of Mayella's face was hurt. (Hint: this is important.) We're given a picture of the Ewell family as an absolutely wretched family, poor, dirty and hungry, living down by the dump. After Atticus cross-examines Bob Ewell, Jem is happy. He thinks there's no way in the world for Tom Robinson to be convicted now. Do you know why he thinks this?

Guilty Pleasures Department

Sunday night, Fox premiered a new TV show that features people trying to fit through holes in a wall. It's based on a Japanese program. I checked out a clip of the Japanese version, and it is considerably harder. This has nothing to do with English, but you might make a stretch and call it a geometry lesson. At any rate, it's the weekend, so enjoy this funny clip! (It's in Japanese, so don't worry about trying to figure out what they're saying!)

How About a Little Vocabulary Action?

VOCABULARY—LIST 2


1. MIS: “hate” (MIS means the opposite of PHIL.)

misandry (n)
misanthrope (n)
misanthropy (n)
misogamy (n)
misogyny (n)
misology (n)
misoneism (n)




2. DYS: “bad,” “ill,” “difficult”

dysentery (n)
dysfunction (n)
dyslexia (n)
dyspepsia (n)
antonym- eupepsia (n)
dysphagia (n)
dysphasia (n)
dystrophy (n)

Point of View

Remember, there are two types of point of view:
1. The literary type, such as 1st person, 3rd person omnicient or 3rd person limited
2. The generic type, such as when we say, "try to see things from my point of view".

We have to deal with both types in To Kill a Mockingbird, so be sure that you understand which one we're talking about. If you have a question, ask!

Enjoy the pep rally tonight!

Quiz Tomorrow

Don't forget we have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow. Study!

Today's discussion centered around the themes of benevolence (when Atticus gives Mrs. DuBose a pass because she's an old sick woman), and courage (when Atticus shoots the dog AND especially, when Mrs. DuBose fights to get off morphine). Atticus wanted Scout and Jem to see a different kind of courage. Did he succeed?

Today's quote: "He who angers you conquers you." Elizabeth Kenny

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/006.html

Week 2

I'm happy so many of you did so well on today's quiz. For those who didn't, let this serve as a wake-up call to read! Be sure to come see me before or after school if you have any questions. If you need directions to my regular room, just ask!

Remember we talked about the theme of benevolence, when Boo puts the blanket over Scout's shoulders during the fire. That's also an instance of foreshadowing the climax of the book. We also talked about the theme of innocence/loss of innocence, when Scout asks Atticus the meaning of the racial slur she hears at school, as well as when Scout overhears Atticus and Uncle Jack talking, only to realize years later that Atticus knew she was listening, and wanted her to hear what he was saying.

Here's a link to today's poem: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/005.html

Today's quote: "The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children." - Clarence Darrow