Block Day, Week 11

* Open

* Review Grammar 21-1

* Enjoy the Posters

* Origins: Genesis (Adam and Eve)

* J10: What does Robert Frost tell us about the origins and definition of poetry in "The Aim was Song" and "Never Again would Birds' Song be the Same"  (1/2 pg or more)?

* Lost Tools of Writing Lesson 2 and Essay (this is a .pdf in iBooks, Notability, etc...or download it again from Focus)

• Because there are exercises with underlining and such, you may open this in a .pdf editor to do your work (besides drafts and such).  Otherwise, continue with notes in your binder. 
• Add to notes: The 5 Common Topics (*going by the paper page: pg. 11)
• Refresh (just look back at your notes as long as you already copied this): Outline Reminder (pg. 18)
• Begin this: Answer all questions you can in class for Parallelism and Practice (pp. 19-24).  Finish this grammar work on Monday. 
• The difference between clauses and phrases
• Parts of Speech (Eight, Traditionally) 
• Parts of Speech again, with articles.  

Next Essay (Schwager):

Prompt: Convince the reader to vote in favor of or against a cause or candidate of your choice.

Context:

• This will be a handwritten practice essay assignment (25 pts).  
• Thesis due Mon., Nov 4. 

Some places to start:
* Voter Guides (for more info.)

• Official State Guide
• Christian Principles 
• Democratic
• Republican

• California Ballot Initiatives 
• District 17 Representative to Congress (Sam Farr, incumbent) vs. Jeff Taylor
• Jill Stein: Green Party
• Libertarian Party
• Mitt Romney
• Pres. Obama
• Fact Check
• CNN Opinion (more liberal)
• NY Times Opinion (more liberal)
• Washington Post Opinion (more liberal)
• Town Hall (more conservative)
• Fox News (more conservative) 
• The Wall Street Journal (usually pretty fair)

 
Audience: Your teacher is your direct audience. American voters are your indirect audience.

Requirements:

• Follow the LTOW model for the THE (structure and parallelism)
• Follow all MLA guidelines.
• Use and cite a minimum of two sources. (See Bedford 55, 56, 57.)
• Include a properly formatted Works Cited page.

Next Essay (Reno): Choose one of the prompts below and fill out the 5 Common Topics worksheet in your LTOW workbook (pg. 11-12 paper text or pg. 21-22 .pdf text). There are several things I want you to understand here: 1) that by asking the questions on the 5 Common Topics worksheet, you can discover (take the cover off of) information that will help you answer the prompt of your choosing, and 2) that a topic is a "place" (topos) you mentally "go" to get the "goods," the riches, the information to help you write well. Remember that to write well you must think well. You must have something to say, and to get something to say, you must ask good questions. Thus, this exercise is to introduce you to five kinds of questions (and sub-questions) you can ask to generate a wealth of information to use in your writing. Enjoy!

Prompts (pick one): 

1. ("How Much Land Does a Man Need?") Should Pahom have gone to the Bashkirs to get land?
2. ("Through the Tunnel") Should Jerry have gone through the tunnel without his mother's knowledge? 
3. ("By the Waters of Babylon") Should John have gone to the forbidden Place of the Gods?
4. ("Trap of Gold") Should Whetherton have risked his life for mere gold? 

HW:

• (Schwager)
• Thesis 
• do pg. 19 of the Lost Tools of Writing
• (Reno)
• Finish THE paragraph that I returned last week (MLA format), making sure you link literary element(s) to the theme (remember that the theme must be expressed in a complete sentence)
• LTOW - 5 Common Topics Worksheet (details above)

Wednesday, 10/31: More

* Open

* Finish reviewing J9 thoughts to notes

* Grammar Review: Block Day

The Origins of Literature

The book of Genesis accounts for our first things. Interestingly, God created the world, the planets, people, and most everything we know by his Word, with words (we don’t know how He made the angels, wisdom, justice, and other things that would have existed before the world, but it stands to reason that it was in a similar manner). Wisdom worked at his side, and the world was fashioned in six days. Was this creation by God a song, as Tolkien describes the great ones singing in The Silmarillion? Could such song waves be the mysterious waves that charge the atoms of every cell, holding all things together by those first reverberating words?

Regardless, we were made in God’s image, so we should and do love to create with our words. Proverbs reminds us that the fruit of a good tongue is a tree of life, that we can work with our hands or with our words, generally, to earn our keep, and that words well-chosen will bless and heal the hearer and win you the favor of those God has chosen to rule. Words are powerful. This is one reason Christ reminds us to speak honestly; when we speak falsely, we tarnish the image-bearing we and our words should carry, and we become less human, less glorious.

Returning to literature, we note that it stems from the Latin word for letters. So, when do these stories become things written down? That we cannot tell, for so much is destroyed. Yet we know that God created Adam and Eve ready to converse, and that our first generations were mighty in their arts. It stands to reason that literature began in those first generations. The first quoted words uttered by a man that anyone thought worthy of recording form a poem:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh:
She shall be called Woman
Because she was taken out of Man.”
(Genesis 2:23)

            Poetry is what happens when we pay more attention to the way of words.  Thus, poetry is a kind of elevated speech.  With prose, we mean to communicate a particular meaning.  With poetry, the medium, the form, the way, the sound, is elevated in importance.  

            In recent generations, many writers found it good to put their artistic energies into prose, and the distinctions between prose and poetry have blurred some, but we still recognize an obvious difference between the news in the the Sentinel and a poem by Billy Collins or Robert Frost.  Just as speech differs from song, prose differs from poetry.  This language crafting is innate in man, part of the image of God in us.  Thus, every culture has poetry.  Song is poetry.  You know poetry.  We all, somehow or other, enjoy poetry just as well all enjoy a splendid BBQ meal (poetry) to munching on dirty vegetables just pulled from the earth (whatever happens to come out of my mouth).  Is the prepared meal (poetry) artificial, prepared, doctored, unnatural?  Yes, and oh, the glory of it!



HW: None

Tuesday, 10/30: Grammar

* Open

* Tutoring Note

* Grammar

• Go to 21-1 (Grammatical Sentences, 21)
• Read all of 21
• Copy rules for 21b-k (lots of rules)
• Do ex. 21-1 letters and numbers (you may simply write the noun(s) and verb(s) that agree...you do not need to copy the entire sentence)

* If you finish early, here is Wednesday's class assignment: J10: What does Robert Frost tell us about the origins and definition of poetry in "The Aim was Song" and "Never Again would Birds' Song be the Same"  (1/2 pg or more)?

HW: Grammar 21-1

Robert Frost: "Never Again Would Birds' Song be the Same"

He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the day long voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.
Admittedly an eloquence so soft
Could only have had an influence on birds
When call or laughter carried it aloft.
Be that as may be, she was in their song.
Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed
Had now persisted in the woods so long
That probably it never would be lost.
Never again would birds' song be the same.
And to do that to birds was why she came.



Scholars' Thoughts on This Poem

James Chapin's "Robert Frost in New Hampshire"; if you already know something of the poet, can you tell me why this painting fits the subject (Robert Frost) so well?

Morning Writing Tutorial

English teachers are offering times to meet and tutor writing one-on-one (it's free).  Generally, this is a morning situation (7:30-8:00 am).  Sound good?  Sign up on the clipboard on Mr. Schwager's door (B22). 

Here is the weekly schedule (7:30-8:00 am unless noted otherwise):

Monday
-Roth, S5
-Danielski (3:30-4:00pm), B26

Tuesday
-Holzclaw, B24
-Basilius, B23

Thursday
-Reno, A26
-O'Donnell, B25

Friday
- Schwager, B22
- Rigby, B21

Monday, Oct. 29: Origins of Poetry

* Open

• Chesterton Memorization

* J9, Please respond to the following questions (in class):

•  What is a poem?
•  What is the oldest poem you can think of?
•  What is your favorite poem or favorite thing about poems?  Has a poem or type of poem ever bothered you?  Explain.  
•  What is your best or worst experience you have had interpreting a poem in an educational setting?

Reno:

• Finish poster
• *Reno's class: Read Leo Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need" (Red lit book in class) and do the following journal:
  
  J8(B) - "How Much Land Does a Man Need" (half of one hand-written page)
• What is one of the main themes of this story? Remember that a theme is a general statement that identifies an author's view of some aspect of life. Also, the theme must have a subject and a predicate. In other words, it must be stated as a complete sentence.
• How many ironies can you identify? Explain them.

HW: Read Robert Frost's "The Aim was Song" and "Never Again Would Birds' Song be the Same" below.

Homecoming, Day 5; Friday, Oct. 25: Poster

* Open

* Finish your Poster

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Party Time!

Feasting is fabulous!  We usually have a class party each quarter.  The goal is to be as period appropriate as possible in food selection and attire.

You may get up to 3 points extra credit in your homework category (2 points if you make something yourself or find something unusually appropriate for our period; 1 point for a normal store-bought item or bringing in disposable utensils; 1 point for dressing in period appropriate costume that also conforms to MVCS dress code).  Whenever possible, keep your items as local as possible (something you bake at home or is grown or made locally...or something thematically related to our recent reading). The party is often near the end of the quarter.  You will take a quiz (usually memorization and one or two reading questions); we will enjoy our party refreshments and watch a video related to our quarter's reading.

Here are foods we generally need.  Sign up on the board...usually the Tuesday previous to the party:
* Baked goods (ginger snaps, apple pie, brownies, etc.)
* Drinks (water, lemonade, etc.)
* Fruit (strawberries, apple slices, etc.)
* Other: lemon curd, whipped cream, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, dried fruit

Here are necessary disposable items to enjoy our food and drinks:
* Cups (paper)
* Napkins
* Plates (paper)
* Utensils (forks, knives, and spoons)

Other possibilities:
* Perhaps bring in a water boiler and tea.

Be sure you take your containers and such with you at the end of the period.  

Thursday, Oct. 25: Bright and Nerdy

* Open

* Posters

• Weird Al's song "White and Nerdy" is legendary.  Notice that "[he's] fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon." Klingon?  That's right, the language of the Bad Guys in Star Trek.  If Spock (who was Vulcan, not Kingon) was really as evil as Dr. Mayfield (his character in Columbo), Klingon would have been his mother tongue...and Dr. Mayfield would have blown stuff up.   
• It's too early, but here's something Bright and Nerdy

• Irony can be terrible: Segways are Very Nerdy

Wednesday, Oct. 24: Continue...

* Open

* Finish the video (for any classes that need to)

* Reno's classes:

• Discuss your journal and story

* Schwagers classes: Let's make some posters.

• Group work: 3-4 students per group
• Draw up a poster that includes the following
• Some memorable images from the tale
• 22" vertically in size (any width)
• Class period and names of the people working on the poster
• The title, author, and approximate date it was published somewhere on the paper
• Three+ great quotes
• Five+ literary terms that are important to the work
• If possible, draw or connect these terms to images on the paper
• If the term is challenging, be sure to include a definition
• The theme does not have to labelled as the theme (it's generally clear enough without that)

* Helpful links:

• "Esther"  (circa 300 B.C.; possibly written by Mordecai)
• "Ali Baba and the Forty Robbers" (author unknown; tales probably dates to circa A.D. 1,000)
• Edgar Allen Poe (Vol. 2) (lived 1809-1849)

• "The Mowing of a Field" by Hilaire Belloc (lived 1870-1953)
• "A Piece of Chalk" by G.K. Chesterton (published 1905)
• "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Arthur Conan Doyle (published 1892)
• "The Vanity of Human Wishes" by Samuel Johnson (written in 1749)

HW: None

Schwager's Classes

Please bring pens, pencils, crayons, chalk, quills, ink pots, etc. tomorrow (Wednesday)!  We are going to be drawing on butcher paper. 

Tueday, Oct. 23: Homecoming Day 2

"Excuse me, sir, just one more question."

* Open

* Review Grades

• To check all my grades

1. Go to "assignments and grades"
2. Click on "English II"
3. Top right corner: Click on Quarter 1

• Quiz: Holly, Stephen, Lucas

* Finish Video

• Notice the plot inversion of a general detective tale (traditionally, the crime has already been committed, and the viewer learns with the detective.  In Columbo, you watch the crime at the outset, rather in medias res, and see how the detective can assemble clues to uncover an otherwise "perfect" crime. The viewer already knows the villain!  This made the show much more challenging for the writers.  With that element of surprise missing, producers had to strengthen other elements like character, dialogue, atmosphere, and realistic setting...which they certainly did.)
• Notice how Columbo is a keen and very shrewd detective (like Homes), yet he appears a genial, disorganized, and rather goofy man.  This is more in line with Chesterton's priestly detective, Father Brown.

* If you finish early, read some more previous student work (also see the literary magazines in class).

*Reno's class: Read Leo Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need" (Red lit book in class) and do the following journal:

J9 - "How Much Land Does a Man Need" (half of one hand-written page)

1. What is one of the main themes of this story? Remember that a theme is a general statement that identifies an author's view of some aspect of life. Also, the theme must have a subject and a predicate. In other words, it must be stated as a complete sentence.
2. How many ironies can you identify? Explain them.

* Hillary Guerrero and April Tan, please visit Mrs. Basilius in B23 some time this week.  Thank you!


HW: None

By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét

 

1     The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the son of a priest. Afterwards, both the man and the metal must be purified. These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods—this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its name though we know its name. It is there that spirits live, and demons—it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning. These things are forbidden—they have been forbidden since the beginning of time.

Party Monday, Oct. 22

* Open

* STUDENT HAPPENING TO READ THE BLOG THIS WEEKEND: PLEASE BRING THE THING YOU SAID YOU WOULD FOR THE PARTY...OR SPOCK WILL APPLY HIS VULCAN NERVE PUNCH (AKA "VULCAN DEATH GRIP").

* It's the beginning of homecoming week and the end of quarter 1.

• Reno's classes watch "Into Thin Air"



Vulcan greeting...not the nerve punch

• Schwager's classes watch "A Stitch in Crime"

 HW: J8 How does an element relate to a the theme of a student's work (see blog, choose a story or poem)?  Or, how might the student have made an element work better in a given piece, given the theme? (Any length). 

Block Day, Week 9

* Open

• Prayer
• Hopkins (we will be memorizing Chesterton next)

* Please read my post on earthquakes and our drill today.  

* When your are finished: We are transitioning from short stories to poetry.  Please read a few examples of student creative writing from the past (click this link to go to the creative writing blog).

* J8 How does an element relate to a the theme of a student's work (see blog, choose a story or poem)?  Or, how might the student have made an element work better in a given piece, given the theme? 

* Review anything remaining from J5, 6, or 7.  Collect 6-7.

 * Party on Monday.  Let's plan:

• The weather is to be partly cloudy with a high of 67 degrees, so hot tea is fine.
• Tea
• Iced tea?
• Lemonade 
• Cups that can take tea
• Plates
• Napkins
• Spoons, knives, forks (plastic)
• Honey
• Baked goods
• Milk?

* Fun: Columbo and Young Spock: "A Stitch in Crime" (2.4)

HW: PARTY!; J8 due Tuesday; Homecoming week: Germanic Myth Theme for Sophs

David Swanger to Visit on Monday, Dec. 3

Honors Classes: David Swanger from UCSC will be visiting on Dec. 3.

Contests

Here are poetry, story, and essay contests for you to consider.  Dates given are generally due dates, so send them in BEFORE that date.  For the most part, I only list contests that are free for you.

Wednesday, Oct. 17: PSAT

* Go to your fourth period class at the beginning of the day.

* Periods after that are 21 min. each

* J6 Discussion

• Collect J7 and J6 from per. 1-2
• Collect J6 from others

* Party: Monday (Schwager and Reno)

• Bakers can bake on Sunday without any problem. 
• Homecoming week is beginning.
• What will you bring? (Everyone bring something.)

 HW: None (Schwager); THE (Reno) - one page, typed, MLA formatted.

PSAT Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 16: PSAT Tomorrow

*Open

* Schwager's classes, at least, have much to review:

• Poetry Readings
• Journals 5: Best lines!
• Journal 6: Themes
• Journal 7: Allusion

* My happy dwarves, Shall we breakfast like hobbits on our block day?

• Tea
• Water
• Boiler
• Honey
• Knives, Spoons, Forks
• Napkins
• Crackers, Muffins, or Other Dainties

* Review grammar where your practice PSAT shows that you need it.

*Reno: Please select your favorite short story you've read this quarter. Consulting your journals and Turco, please address what the theme is and also how the author shows this theme (1 full page, typed, MLA).

HW: Contest or reading due

"A Second Childhood" by G.K. Chesterton

From The Ballad of St. Barabara and Other Verses; published by Cecil Palmer in 1922.

Dross: the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal. 

"Enormous night arise/ A cloud that is larger than the world":

• Matt 24:28 and following: [Jesus speaking of a great destruction] ‘The sun will be darkened,/ and the moon will not give its light;/ the stars will fall from the sky,/ and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 
• See also Rev. 1:7

"And a monster made of eyes"

• Rev. 4: And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.  And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

• Who are these creatures?  Here is an interpretation from the Bible encyclopedia: "The four living creatures in Revelation 4:6 are not under the throne but "in the midst of the throne" (the American Revised Version, margin "before"; see Revelation 7:17; compare Revelation 5:6) and "round about the throne." They are also cherubim, and seem to represent the four beings that stand at the head of the four divisions of the creation; among the untamed animals the lion; among cattle the calf or ox; among birds the eagle; among all created beings the man. It gives "a perfect picture of true service, which should be as brave as the lion, patient as the ox, aspiring as the eagle, intelligent as man" (Milligan in the place cited.). They represent the powers of Nature-of the creation, "full of eyes" as denoting its permeation with the Divine Reason, the wings signifying its constant, ready service, and the unceasing praise the constant doing of God's will. The imagery is founded on Ezekiel as that had been modified in apocalyptic writings and as it was exalted in the mind of the Seer of Patmos." (W. L. Walker) 

• Greek Mythology: Argos Panoptes. From Wikipedia:
  The epithet Panoptes, reflecting his mythic role, set by Hera as a very effective watchman of Io, was described in a fragment of a lost poem Aigimios, attributed to Hesiod:^[3]
  

  And set a watcher upon her, great and strong Argos, who with four eyes looks every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.

"The latchet of my shoe": 

• John 1:24ff: And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked [John the baptist], and said to him, Why baptize you then, if you be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there stands one among you, whom you know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's lace I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

"Shake the dust from off my feet"

• Matthew 10: 5ff: These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor money for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till you go there. And when you come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come on it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Monday, Oct. 15: "The First Seven Years"

* Open

*Reno's: Poetry Recitation

* Honors

• Mr. Schwager has a cold.
• You will continue your study of short fiction today.
• When I return, we can review what you've covered.
• I will give you credit for your poetry reading and contest entries when I return, so no need to email me.
• Today, you will read "The First Seven Years" by Bernard Malamud.
• After you read this, answer the following questions:

J7:

1. What reason did Miriam give in protest against Max as a suitor?
2. The title and subject of this story allude to Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 29 (to "allude" is to call up something from the past; to play on a theme; to refer to a previous story, person, event, etc.). Read Genesis 29, and explain how this story alludes to Genesis 29.
3. Do you think Miriam and Sobel will marry? Explain.
4. What would be a good sentence that captures the theme of this story?

HW: Journal 7

Block Day, Week 8: CWP and Story

* Open

* Collect CWP

* Review Grammar

* Make sure you submit your CWP to turnitin.com by midnight tonight.

* You could go to the reading at 6 pm at the Watsonville library tonight.  Bring a friend or parent.

* Today, read a second story:

• "Trap of Gold": Adventure
• "By the Waters of Babylon": Sci-Fi
• "Through the Tunnel": Realistic
• "The Man Who Would be King": Dark
• "The Gift of the Magi": Bright
• "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier": Holmes

 * J6: What is the theme in each of your two tales?  How do other terms that you have learned support theme in each case.  Write 1/2 page for each for a total of one page of work. Renos' class: You may write about two of the first three tales.

HW: J6, Reno's class: Poetry Recitation of Hopkins' "Pied Beauty"

Wednesday, Oct. 10: Adventure!

* Open

Adventure, matey!

* Schwager:

• Binder Check
• Read one of the following
• "Trap of Gold": Adventure
• "By the Waters of Babylon": Sci-Fi
• "Through the Tunnel": Realistic

* Reno 

• Work on CWP and binder: both due Thursday (I'm happy to check your MLA formatting).

• If you're all set, please read "Trap of Gold" today and "By the Waters of Babylon" tomorrow . . . or in reverse order.  

HW: 

• Reno: CWP, Binder check. Print your CWP to turn in tomorrow; also submit your work to turnitin.com

• Schwager: CWP, Finish reading your story. 

October 8-12 Schedule