Murph's Musings: English 4

Murphy Alert: A Mistake on Your Writing Portion

2010-05-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

There are FOUR (4) options from which to choose. The one marked #3 is supposed to be #4. I am certain that you can figure our where #3 begins and ends. Happy Hunting.

MPM

PS: Be sure to read the Mural Post so you arrived fully prepared to paint.

Murphy Alert: Your Final Exam (One change...)

2010-05-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings: After serious thought, I've decided that this is how your final will work--
1. The vocabulary portion (28-30) is on Friday (5/14) as planned. we'll spend the rest of the class discussing/wrapping Six Degrees.
2. The writing portion is now a Take Home Essay. Allow exactly 50 minutes. You'll be responding to one of several options. In addition to showcasing your insights about the play, academic integrity is the main thrust here (I'll explain). The writing portion is due the day you take your final.
3. The mural aspect is unchanged. Read the message I posted yesterday so you can be fully prepared. We'll speak more about this on Friday.

The Third Theme for Friday's Final AND Next Week's Mural Project

2010-05-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Our third theme revolves around the notion that life is art. We are constantly creating (or being created), much like painters and their paintings...You'll be able to write about this on Friday; but what follows is what I want you to be thinking about for next week's mural project. You are being given a chance to respond to a written piece of art (a play) that you've seen dramatically performed (a screenplay to a film) by way of painting. Pretty revolutionary? Yes. Interesting? Yes. Fun? Yes.

English 4
Senior Final: Part B
7 points
This is what I dreamt. I didn’t dream so much as realize this. I felt so close to the paintings. I wasn’t just selling them like pieces of meat. I remembered why I loved paintings in the first place—what had got me into this—and I thought—dreamed—remembered—how easy it is for a painter to lose a painting. He can paint and paint—work on a canvas for months and one day he loses it—just loses the structure—loses the sense of it—you lose the painting…(46).
As graduating seniors, you are embarking on a journey into the most exciting time of your lives. You will be making choices that affect your future education, future careers, and future families. I hope you feel the enthusiasm for your choices as much as Flan felt the enthusiasm at the beginning of his life journey. It’s difficult not to be eager at the beginning of one’s life (and anxious at the end), but Paul reminds us, “What about the eighty years we have to live between those two inexorable bookends?” (45).
Flan admits that somewhere on his life journey, he lost his way. He states, “I remembered me as I was. A painter losing a painting” (46). We all have moments of doubt, where we aren’t sure we’ve made the right decisions. We all have moments of regret, moments of weakness, and even moments of paralysis. What we hope for ourselves is that we can move through these moments and learn from them. We hope that our lives will remain on track or at least regain it. Half way through our lives, we don’t want to be, in the words of Ouisa, “a collage of unaccounted-for brush strokes…all random” (118). Ouisa is feeling empty and alone.
So, what can you do to avoid the predicament of the Kittredges? How do you remain grounded and connected, especially in a culture that keeps assailing you with messages that conflict with the idea of being grounded and connected. I am asking you to answer the question that Flan poses, “How do we keep the experience?” When Flan and Ouisa talk of the meaning in their life experiences, they mention color. Ouisa says, “There is color in my life, but I’m not aware of any structure” (118). What is the color in your life? This “color” can be something found within or something found outside of your precious self. What is it that gives your life structure or meaning? What can you turn to today, tomorrow, and well into the future that will always provide comfort and direction? Does life have to be an either/or: “Chaos or Control”? Or can you deal with the both/and of life by negotiating the opposites: Chaos and Control—wild color and rigid structure that beget something of a different category?

What I am asking of you now, is to bottle the energy, enthusiasm, and hope that you feel at this stage of your life and pour it out on paper in the form of a mural. Using both color and structure, symbolically or literally depict on the blank white canvas (ok, butcher paper), what gives your life meaning.

Your Homework for tonight: The Imagination

2010-05-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

1. Please write a well-developed (and typed) paragraph of response to each each of the following.
A. Paul reflects in the play: "I believe that the imagination is the passport we create to take us into the real world." (33). Explain what he means by this. Feel free to consider this comment in light of the text that surrounds this passage (i.e. pp. 29-33)
B. What is the most imaginative "thing" you have experienced/viewed/witnessed? Is it an object? An artictic creation? A building? An invention? A place? An act or deed? A speech? Etc. Say what it is and why you think it's imaginative.
2. Check out the clip from the film. You'll see it again soon, but it may help you get a better sense of what Guare is after. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t9St3pTlKQ
3. For those who want to understand better why Paul's choice of "imaginary dads" and Sidney Poitier is so important to the play, read and view the following.
A. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001627/bio
B. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/sidney-poitier/about-sidney-poitier/682/
C. Mr. Poitier speaks about Civil Rights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeyrsGvrINo
D. From "In the Heat of the Night": The First 10 minutes...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kI_GkosWio
and, arguably, the most famous slap in film history (especially given the historical context of the slap): http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=18935

6 Degrees of Separation: Human Web and Small World Theory

2010-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Yes...it's a Kandinsky.

Greetings, (soon to be) College Student:

Here are some links that further explore the notion of "Six Degrees of Separation" Students who want to get the most out of the play will read with delight.
1) Here's the Wikipedia page that we looked at today. It's decent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
2) Check these two bits about the theater side of things. Our play was staged in England this Spring. The first notifies the public about the perormance; the second critiques the production. Ah, drama. Good, informative articles that will help you make sense of things:
A: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/136029-Guares-Six-Degrees-of-Separation-Opens-at-Londons-Old-Vic-Jan-19
B: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/jan/20/six-degrees-of-separation-review
3)This one is for the serious student. Grad school grade: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/swn.d/swn.html
Finally: Play the Six Degrees game with great American luminaries: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/six_degrees_game/index.html
MORE on Monday.

Schedule: 5/3-5/7

2010-05-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Monday: Vocabulary Test (25-27); Vocab 29; Perspectives Series; H/W Read Six Degrees--cover to cover by tomorrow.
Tuesday: Receive graded PWB narratives; Begin Six Degrees; Perspectives Series
Wed/TR: Six Degrees Actors' Workshop; Perpectives Series
Friday: Six Degrees; Perspectives Series

Murphy Alert: Vocabulary Test (25-27) is now on 5/3

2010-04-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

YES, Monday (5/3). Meanwhile: we'll be heavy into our Perspectives tomorrow. And, you'll be reading Six Degrees over the weekend. so locate your copy now.

EVA LUNA Challenge Test: In class (for those who want) TOMORROW. See me.
MPM

Perspectives Series and more

2010-04-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

1. The assignment for the Perspectives Series is loaded in docs.
2. Your Eva Luna Challenge Quiz will be available the week of 4/26. Arrange to take it with me directly.

Assigment for PWB: Creative Writing--First Person Narratives

2010-04-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings: Here it is--

Your job is to write an original, first person narrative that fits in with Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible. Like Kingsolver does with her main narrators, your goal is to create and assume the voice of a character--other than Ruth May, Leah, Adah, Rachel, Or Orleanna-- and write something plausible, authentic, and creative.

1. Choose a Character from the following list: Nathan, Anatole, Brother Fowles, Tata Ndu, Mama Tataba, Mama Mwanza, Tata Kuvundu, Eeben Axelroot, Sr. Therese, or Nelson.

2. Figure out a place in the novel to insert your short chapter. Write the page number. Will your original chapter fit in the beginning, middle, or end of the novel? Your choice. Make your character come alive!

3. Write a chapter from your character's point of view. Your chapter should be between 500-700 words. Besides proper grammar and style, winning chapters will be charcterized by creativity, insight, and, again, plausibility. But be bold. There is much room for originality.

4. Type your chapter/cretive writing piece. Due Tuesday (4/13). 25 points.

Schedule 3/29-3/30; H/W for the break.

2010-03-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

Monday (3/29) Vocabulary 26; Read to 506
Tuesday (3/30) Finish the novel; Reading Quiz; discussion; PWB writing assignment (25 Points; Due Tuesday, 4/13): NOTE: this assignment will be accessible via our blog. I will post it on Wed (3/31)
H/W for Break (Optional and for participation points): Read Allende, Eva Luna and take the Challenge Test on Friday, 4/16. As many as 10 Part/EC Points
When we return from Easter Break, we will be Book Clubbing, Reading Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, and experiencing a highly personalized/fun/thoughtful Final Senior Project.

Then, you graduate, dear friend.

PWB Reading Schedule/Curriculum Outline: 3/19-3/30

2010-03-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Friday (3/19): SSR (30 min)
Monday (3/22) Vocabulary Exam (22-24); Vocabulary 25; Read to Page 375
Tuesday (3/23) SSR/Fontbonne Work Day
Wed (3/24) SSR/Community Building Day
Thursday (3/25): Read to 401; Seminar Day
Friday (3/26): Read to 428: Seminar Day
Monday (3/29) Vocabulary 26; Read to 506; Reading Quiz
Tuesday (3/30) Finish the novel; Receive PWB writing assignment (25 Points; Due Tuesday, 4/13)

Extra Credit H/W for Break: Read Eva Luna and take the Challenge Test on Friday, 4/16. As many as 10 Part/EC Points

When we return from Easter Break, we will be Book Clubbing, Reading Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, and experiencing a highly personalized/fun/thoughtful Final Senior Project.

Then, you graduate, dear friend.

The lecture links from Wed/TR are here...

2010-03-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

Check documents for the links; It wouldn't hurt to take some time to do extra research about the history of the Congo. It will help you with the final assessment.

Yearbook wants your...Senior Quotes

2010-03-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

I still recall my senior quote...from back there in 1986. It was "Can you imagine us years from today/Sharing a park bench quietly/How terribly strange to be seventy." (a Simon and Garfunkel lyrinc from like 1967, that's how I flowed).

In any case, yours might be different: SO

"It is that time of year when Seniors get to leave their mark in the yearbook, through quotes
Here are the guidelines for quotes:
All quotes must be no longer than 50 words, school appropriate and must include the name of the person being quoted.

Email all quotes to yearbook@carondeleths.org Deadline is March 29th. No exceptions."

Character Sketch...AND: Girl Scout Cookies are IN...!

2010-03-01T10:55:00.001-08:00

That's right. I'll be happy to complete your order starting tomorrow.

As for the Character Sketch, it's loaded in docs...

And don't forget your PWB Reading Schedule (on post below)

Reading Schedule/Curriculum Outline: 3/1-3/15

2010-02-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

Monday (3/1): Vocabulary Test (19-21); Poems/Songs Due (typed); Vocabulary 22.
Tuesday: Have PWB "Genesis" Read: Lecture/Discussion on PWB: "Genesis".
Wed/TR: Read PWB to page 124.
Friday: Read to page 152.
Monday (3/8): Read to page 186; Vocabulary 23
Tuesday (3/9): Read to Page 214.
Wed/TR: Read to Page 236
Friday (3/12): Read to Page 278
Monday (3/15) According to D-Tuck, there is no school today. But Beware the Ides of March, Tucker.
Tuesday (3/16)Read to Page 324; Vocabulary 24
Further Pages: TBA...

Week of 2/22-2/26

2010-02-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

Greetings: Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday. We will be returning to Africa (and elsewhere) as we journey with Barbara Kingsolver and her novel, The Poisonwood Bible (PWB).

Here's what one good writer wrote about Kingsolver's novel: “There are few ambitious, successful and beautiful novels. Lucky for us, we have one now, in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible . . . this awed reviewer hardly knows where to begin.” — Jane Smiley, Washington Post Book World
If you want to click on the publisher's companion web-page: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060786502/The_Poisonwood_Bible/index.aspx

In any case, here's the plan for next week:

Monday: Vocabulary 21 (Test, 19-21, next Monday); Begin Vocabulary 21 Writing assignment (write a poem or song using eight of the Ch.21 words. Typed--Due 3/1); Begin PWB. Bring it to class today. I will not rule-out a text check.
Tuesday: PWB SSR (Specific pages TBA)
Wednesday/TR: Lecture/Discussion (PWB); SSR
Friday: Lecture/Discussion (PWB)

Murphy Alert

2010-02-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings: I'll be missing period 1 tomorrow and will miss you all very much. I am leaving D. Tucker in charge. David: we'll be streaming a film from Netflix. Please make sure this happens and that the viewing quality is optimal. You'll have all the info you need when you arrive in the AM.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying your wikispaces. Our last group will go Friday. Holy smokes...reprieve upon reprieve.

Greetings; Homework for the long weekend

2010-02-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hiya:
Congratulations are in order as I am truly impressed by your Wiki-ness. This is to say that your presentations have been generally excellent. I am looking forward to reading all of your web-pages and should have the evaluations done in about a week.

For Tuesday (2/16): Literary Term/Elements of Fiction Quest. I have changed the point value from 20 to 25; There will be a wordbank, etc., and use the Bedford definitions (in most cases) as your main source. You'll be working on Vocabulary 18 after the Quest (so, as always, bring your text.)
For Wednesday/Thursday (2/17-2/18) Please sample all the wikispaces (from all three of my classes) from 2010. Then write your evaluation--- Your type-written evaluation should respond to/ address the following.
1. Thinking of this project as a teacher would, what are its benefits? What are its liabilities (Pros/Cons)
2. Thinking of this project as a student does, what are its benefits/liabilities?
3. What was your favorite part of this project? How can it be improved?
4. What was your personal contribution? Are you proud of your work? Are you proud of your team?
5. Comment on your team dynamic. You are all receiving the same grade. Is this fair, is this just, is this right?
6. Finally: Choose the Three Best Wikispaces of 2010. Do not choose your own...
7. Bundle all of this into a well organized response of no more than 300 words.You can respond in the classic way (1-7) or execute a more mature response by putting all of this into connected prose. Your choice. It is worth seven (7) points.

Vital Info Regarding Our Project

2010-02-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

1. Your Quest has been moved again. It is on Tuesday (2/16)
2. I have posted the How To Present Your Wiki-Space assignment in "Documents."
3. Keep pondering what Children's Lit Book you want to read for your BC. We'll decide the week of 2/16.

Your Quest (half quiz/half test) had been moved

2010-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

From Friday (2/12) to Wednesday (2/10--period 1) and Thursday (2/11--periods 2 and 6).
The quest is on ALL literary terms listed on the Assignment sheet. There will be a word bank.

Friday Funday has been moved...

2010-01-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

...to Monday. I have to stay home with my youngest tomorrow. We'll do a flip-flop: we''ll work on Monday's plan tomorrow and move our a little bit of community fun--after your Vocabulary quiz (16-18)-- to Monday. In the interim, feel free to make your Short Story Web Pages sparkle with insight and vitality.

For tomorrow, we're going to begin work on the next installment of our year-long Outside Reading adventure. This paticular OR project focuses on Children's Literature and emphasizes community, memory, ethics, and education. It will be a group event (with groups of your own making) and will be as memorable as you make it. So, here follows what your noble substitute teacher will instruct you to do:

1. Get into groups of three to five people. If you "group-up" with the usual suspects, you are missing an opportunity. For those who have experienced a Kairos retreat, you know, in a special way, what I'm saying. Please, be an agent of grouping "outside the box." I DARE you.
2. Recall/ponder your K-8 reading experiences. Recall the books your parents and teachers read to you aloud as you have grown. What are your favorites? Why? Discuss.
3. Distinguish between Children's books and Children's literature. What is the difference?
4. What book would you (and, by consensus, your group) like to read/re-read. Is there a book that you really wished you had read? Is there a gap you'd like to fill?
5. I'd like you to consider the Caldecott winners (Children's Books) and Newberry winners (Children's Literature). You can also make a case for a book that is classified as "Young Adult Literature". More on this later.
6. So, Over the weekend check the following sites (Below). They will help you to remember and select a good text. You may select a text that is not on the list, but please provide a solid rationale. I'll expect the formal announcement of your groups/texts by next Friday (2/5). I will issue your assignment on that day as well.
7. If you have any remaining time, organize your weekend work-plan for your Short Story Web Project.

Click Away!
Children's Books: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm

Children's Lit: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm

Young Adult Lit:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/printzaward/Printz.cfm

Flickernotes 2010: Homepage

2010-01-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

http://flickernotes2010.wikispaces.com/

A good model for your Flicker Notes

2010-01-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

Is here: http://thefreeradioperiod4.wikispaces.com/

And here: http://thechildwhoraisedpoisonouss.wikispaces.com/

The list of teams and team members...

2010-01-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

is posted in docs...

Stage Two Cometh

2010-01-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

Preview your assignment in Docs...

Final Readings; Stage one ends Friday (1/22)

2010-01-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

For Wed/TR: Please read Duong Thu Huong, "Reflections of Spring" (227) and Tobias Wolff, "The Night in Question" (637). You'll have about 40 minutes of class time to finish the readings and/or write your reading journals. You choose. In any case, the journals are due on Monday (1/25). Eight stories= 16 points. Effort is the main thing here.

For Friday: Please read Francine Prose, "Talking Dog" (502). You will be receiving the assignment for Stage Two on Friday as well...and your groups will be formally announced.

For Tuesday...

2010-01-16T22:42:00.000-08:00

Please read E. Danticat's "Night Women" (P. 196). It's short, but powerful. Also, if you really want to get into what writers do, take a half hour and watch this: http://fora.tv/2008/04/01/Tobias_Wolff_in_Conversation

Literature is life. You love a good story; reflect upon why this is...

Make sure your reading journals are in order...

Greetings; Readings for 1/11-1/15

2010-01-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Students,

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was grand and that you've had a chance to hang-out and play with dear family and friends. Here are your readings for next week. There are no reading questions, but arrive prepared. We are beginning a unit that is both pleasant and highly involved. Lots of hands-on work...More on this TBA. Meanwhile:

Mon (1/11/2010): Vocabulary 16.
Tuesday (1/12) Please read (and all of the following readings are from The Art of Story): Ken Saro-Wiwa, "Africa Kills Her Son".
Wed/TR (1/13-1/14) Raymond Carver, "Are These Actual Miles?" AND Russell Banks, " My Mother's Memoirs. My Father's Lie, and Other True Stories".
Friday (1/15) Sandra Cisneros, "Never Marry a Mexican".

More readings for the week of 1/18-1/22...

Homework, etc.

2009-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

1. I will be posting instructions for your reading selections from "The Art of Story" on or around 1/5.
2. For those who have yet to post their Frakenessays on Turn it in.com, you have one more day: Final-final is 12:01 AM, 12/19.
3. Merry Christmas! See you all in the New Year.

Turnitin.Com

2009-12-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

I cannot grade your paper if you did not submit to turnitin.com. You will receive a zero until you remedy the problem. You have until 12/17.

You will have homework over break...

2009-12-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

...And it will be readings from your short story text : "The Art of Story." So,
1. Please locate the book and bring it home for the holidays.
2. You will also have to procure (by 1/21) a new outside reading text for your Book Club assignment. Start thinking about a strong, interesting and dilligent Reading Group with whom you can work. We will begin first thing next semester.

A Note for those who have been approved for first semester extra credit (and you know who you are): Submit your reviews--via email to me (mmurphy@carondeleths.org)-- by the appropriate date.

For those who wish to do Franken extra credit (which will help your third quarter grade), the assignment sheet is loaded in docs. Take advantage, I won't be offering much EC next term...

Extra Credit...

2009-12-11T19:31:00.001-08:00

...is now closed. Only those who submitted their intentions in writing can move on to the next phase.

Regarding Friday's "Inforumal" Forum

2009-12-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

We will be debating one main question: Shall we continue embryonic stem cell research?

You are either for or against; a yes or a no; a pro or a con...
Your job is to build an arsenal of reasons to support your position. Dilligent and effective debaters will not only have multiple reasons (i.e. volume), but multiple kinds of reasons (i.e type--moral, scientific, economical, social, religious, etc.)
You earn valuable points based on your preparation (research) and your execution (style, etc.); high marks for those who mind and report their sources.
And: if you weave in Frankentext, all the better.

Also: I have loaded a Review Sheet for your final exam in Docs...

Stem Cell/Cloning/Bioethics Doc Loaded...

2009-12-08T18:13:00.001-08:00

...so begin reading if you want to get a leg-up on the competition.

Important Information...

2009-12-07T18:45:00.001-08:00

...is now posted. Click on our "Class Documents" link and get yourself into the KNOW. Those hunting for extra credit must submit their intentions to do so by Friday, 12/11. There is a "How to Sheet" located in docs.

Syllabus Adjustment: 11/23-24

2009-11-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

You will have noticed that, on the syllabus, there is a homework assignment due (three notable quotes/three good explications) on 11/23. As I mentioned in class, this assignment is postponed. I'll go a little further: it's now cancelled. It was meant to be an essay-building exercise for the take-home aspect of your final; those who want to do well on their final will still do the assignment (but as a personal exercise). Find good passages on any of the themes that you see emerging from our reading of the novel (thus far and as we go on) and from the ER packet (The collison between the Rational and Romantic, Prometheus, The Gothic, Frankenethics, and more). You will do better on the final and save time if you work as you go...

FrankenExtra-Credit will not save your bacon. I will be offering a cool assignment, but the points for it will go on next semester's grade. Also, you will have homework over the break: Short Stories. I know...you're welcome!

Don't forget: Vocabulary Test: (10-12) Monday.

Meanwhile, check these clips out. They are from Ken Russell's 1986 film "Gothic" (which is about the Shelleys and their friends on Holiday in Switzerland). The film tries to capture Mary Shelley's experience as she ruminated about writing Frankenstein. And it has unsettling gothic aspects of its own...
1. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2hl5Ee5_1E&feature=PlayList&p=8966F6CDFF883EA7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3
2. Percy Shelley being definitively Romantic (for mature audiences only...): On second thought...clip denied.
3. Finale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHXVOvz723c

Weird? Yes. It's your job to be able to articulate why.

Periods 1 and 2 Only

2009-11-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

Young Men, you may be familiar with this ESLR:

"A De La Salle graduate is a Man of Integrity
Who respects himself and others
Embraces social and personal responsibility 
And nurtures a healthy lifestyle."

Young Women, you should be familiar with this ESLR:

"A Carondelet student is a Gospel-centered woman who
demonstrates Christian moral values while reocognizing and
evaluating many points of view."

Your assignment (due tomorrow for Per.1 and Thursday for Per. 2):
Young men: respond to your ESLR in light of this morning's events. Use as many vocabulary words from Chapter 11 ("Wrongdoing and Justice") as appropriate.
Young women: respond to your ESLR in light of this morning's events. Use as many vocabulary words from Chapter 11 ("Wrongdoing and Justice") as appropriate.

Please type these responses.

Murphy Alert: Schdule Change

2009-11-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

The Final Version of your College Essay is now due on Monday (11/16). No further changes at this time...stick to the syllabus.

Your Frankensyllabus...

2009-11-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

Is loaded in my PB Works page. Go to "Useful Links," click on the appropriate banners, and off you go...

College Essay Unit Begins Next Class Session...

2009-11-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Our college essay/creative writing unit begins Wed/TR. Bring a prompt you can use. Everyone will be writing something for this unit, whether you can use it for admissions or not. 25 points are on the line...But it's not about points...or is it?

In any case, here's the schedule, College Essay-wise:
     Wed/TR (11/4-5): Group Chat/Prewriting
     Wed/TR (11/11-12): Handwritten Rough Drafts Due (5 points); Writer's Workshop/Peer Editing
     Friday (11/13): Final, typed drafts due (15 points) attach Peer Editing sheet (5 Points).
Note: 1) Essays can be of any length (stick to the parameters of what the university wants); 2) Scholarship essays are permitted; 3) Original work only...don't double-dip an essay here...disohonest; 4) I have topics for those that are in need...

And: locate your copy of Shelley's Frankenstein. Bring it Friday (11/6) and until further notice.

Othello Exam Tomorrow: important information....

2009-11-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

1) Bring your texts...you MIGHT be able to use them for the essay portion.
2) The test is worth 60 points (not 50)
3) We will begin exactly when the bell rings; this test will take forty-five minutes for most of you...some faster, some...well...slower.

Note: 1) Our college essay/creative writing unit begins Wed/TR. Bring a prompt you can use. Everyone will be writing something for this unit, whether you can use it for admissions or not.
2) Locate your copy of Frankenstein. We begin Friday.

Prep for tomorrow's class...

2009-10-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

1) Make sure your questions for acts 4 and 5 are completed. We'll look at several of them...
2) Please complete your vocabulary writing assignment for Lesson 9. You are to type a piece--employing a literary form of your choice (short story, poem, creed, recipe, etc.)--on the topic of "Normality/Abnormality. Use words from lesson 9 and highlight each.
3) Our other focus is on Emilia. Reread 4.56-101 and 5.85-250; be sure you understand what's happening in the passages and that you can translate what Emilia is saying.

10/20-11/4

2009-10-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Murphy Alert: Your OR responses are now due Tuesday (1027). For those who already are well on their way with this assignment, you have the chance of earning two (2) EC points for sticking to the schedule and turning the thing in tomorrow.

Current Syllabus:

Tuesday/Wednesday (10/20-10/21): Bring your completed ACT 3 questions to class; We'll work on Othello, ACT 3.
Thursday (10/22): Finish Act 3.
Friday (10/23): Have ACT 4.1-2 read; Bring completed Study Questions for 4.1 and 4.2.
Tuesday (10/27): Vocabulary 9; OR letter due (see below); Have Study Questions for 4.3 ready to go.
Wednesday/Thursday (10/28-29): Act 5 (precise questions TBA)
Friday (10/30): Act 5; closing discussion.
Monday (11/2): Vocabulary Test (7-9); Vocabulary 10; Brief review for Othello Test (Are your Questions in order? Are your notes in good shape?)
Tuesday (11/3): Othello Test.
Wednesday/Thursday (11/4-5): Begin Shelley's Frankenstein.

Here is the assignment for the OR LETTER:

English 4
Outside Reading
Assessment #1

Directions: Answer all questions on a separate piece of paper. Handwrite this assignment (and take pride in being as neat as possible). If you need more space, attach another sheet.

1. Identify the book's title, author's name, copyright date, and number of pages.
Underline the title, or italicize all words in the title.

2. Cite a memorable passage of no more than thirty words or three sentences from the
book. Copy word for word a short passage that you think is worth remembering. Explain
why you have chosen this passage from the book.

3. Describe your first impression of one character or event that you find interesting. Give
at least three items of information in the text that generate this impression. Cite properly.

4. Identify what causes a significant change in one character, and describe the results of
that change. This change may be the consequence of a choice, a conflict of some kind
that has to be resolved, a display of some outstanding trait like courage, or even the result
of an action or event that occurs during the story.

5. To highlight the significance of this book for you, read all of the following questions
below and then write a response to at least one:
*What discovery did you make as a result of reading this book?
* How has this book changed your thinking or feeling?
* How has the book affirmed or challenged your opinions or view of life?

6. One positive comment about book:

7. One “constructively critical” comment about book:

8. “Overall, I give this book thumbs up, or thumbs down? One thumb up and one down?”

Week of 10/19-10/23

2009-10-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

Monday (10/19): Vocabulary 8; Outside Reading Session (Bring your text, or else); Receive OR assignment (due Friday, 10/23); Receive ACTS 4 /5 questions.
Tuesday/Wednesday (10/20-10/21):Bring your completed ACT 3 questions to class; We'll work/finish Othello, ACT 3.
Thursday (10/22): Have ACT 4 read; Bring completed Study Questions for 4.1 and 4.2.
Friday (10/23): OR letter due; have Study Questions for 4.3 ready to go.

Here is the assignment for the OR LETTER:

English 4
Outside Reading
Assessment #1
Directions: Answer all questions on a separate piece of paper. Handwrite this assignment (and take pride in being as neat as possible). If you need more space, attach another sheet.

1. Identify the book's title, author's name, copyright date, and number of pages.
Underline the title, or italicize all words in the title.

2. Cite a memorable passage of no more than thirty words or three sentences from the
book. Copy word for word a short passage that you think is worth remembering. Explain
why you have chosen this passage from the book.

3. Describe your first impression of one character or event that you find interesting. Give
at least three items of information in the text that generate this impression. Cite properly.

4. Identify what causes a significant change in one character, and describe the results of
that change. This change may be the consequence of a choice, a conflict of some kind
that has to be resolved, a display of some outstanding trait like courage, or even the result
of an action or event that occurs during the story.

5. To highlight the significance of this book for you, read all of the following questions
below and then write a response to at least one:
*What discovery did you make as a result of reading this book?
* How has this book changed your thinking or feeling?
* How has the book affirmed or challenged your opinions or view of life?

6. One positive comment about book:

7. One “constructively critical” comment about book:

8. “Overall, I give this book thumbs up, or thumbs down? One thumb up and one down?”

What's Happening: 10/9-10/16

2009-10-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Halloa:

We're taking a step back, curriculum-wise, so that you will take the next week to focus on getting yourself in order in regards to applying for college. I don't care if your deadline is miles away, work on your apps now (or shop colleges, make contacts, etc). You'll be happy you did. Moreover, our curriculum is pretty hard-going from All Saints Day until we break for Advent/Christmas. In short, now is the time.
Our schedule:
1. Friday (9/9): Receive graded "Divided Duty" papers; Compose Shakespearean insult/compliment. What page are you on in your OR book?
2. Monday (10/12): Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day. You know why, Colonialism experts. Work on your apps, etc.
3. Tuesday (10/13): Vocabulary Exam (4-6); Turn in translated insults/ compliments; Citing Drama Worksheet. (Note: No OR that day, but your OR response is due on 10/23 NOTE CHANGE...more on this TBA.)
4. Wed (10/14): Get deeper into your college app experience. Our college essay writer's workshop begins the last week in October.)
5. Thursday (10/15): Have act 3 of Othello read (there will be a short reading quiz); Next we will look at Cassio, bad drinking, and the theme of "Reputation" (from the end of Act 2); and begin Act 3...
6. Friday (10/16): Act 3.
7. We'll do Acts 4 ad 5 durng the week if 10/19-10/23. Last OR reading session on 10/19...Letter due on Friday, 10/23.
8. Your Othello exam is scheduled for Tuesday, 10/27.

Your Obligations: Week of 10/5-10/10

2009-10-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

1. On Monday, we'll be experiencing the glories of chapter 6 in our vocabulary book. Also, we'll have our first session of outside reading. Bring both texts...or else!
2. On Tuesday, we'll be focusing on "Honest Iago" and the last bits of Act 1 of Othello.
3. For Wednesday (W) and Thursday (TR): have act 2 of Othello read and ready.
4. For Friday: additional curriculum on Act 2 of our play.

Othello Homework: For W/TR

2009-09-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Scholars,

Here is your homework:

1. Read Act One of Othello. Fair warning: I give pop reading quizzes...to encourage you to read, to keep you honest.

2. In a well constructed paragraph, respond to the following: What do you make of the exchange between father and daughter (1.3.173-196)? Briefly describe "divided duty" and then choose a side. Who do you support in this little debate? Type this, as always. And: Good students will cite the text and offer thoughtful commentary.

For Next Week (9/28-10-2)

2009-09-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

For Monday (9/28): How about your college applications? The early bird gets the worm. Fight procrastination today, superhero/heroine. And: have you procured your OR book yet? It needs to be in hand one week from today.
For Tuesday (9/29, The Holy Feast of St. Michael and all the Archangels): Bring your vocabulary text. There will be Othello homework for Wed.
For Wednesday/Thursday (9/30, 10/1): Have Act One of Othello read.
For Friday (10/2): Othello Readings/questions.

NOTE: For our Othello unit, there will be a Test with a writing component--three weeks, or so, from now. After that it's Frankenstein and our College Essay "Writer's Workshop."

Outside Reading: Your List and Some Directions

2009-09-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

1. Peruse the list...Consult Amazon.Com to find further information about the book.
2. Choose three that interest you. Write them down on a piece of paper and have them ready for next class session. Once your novel is approved, you'll have a week to procure your book.
3. And: Bring Othello to our next session.

Here is the List:

English 4
Approved Senior Outside Reading List
(Abbreviated Version)
Dr. Murphy
Fall 2009

Fiction
Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist, other
Roddy Doyle, The Woman Who Walked into Doors
Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep
Nick Hornby, About a Boy; How to be Good; High Fidelity
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let me Go
Ron Hansen, Mariette in Ecstasy
Russell Banks, Rule of the Bone
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
T. Correghesan Boyle, Tortilla Curtain; other
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
Terry McMillan, Mama
Leif Enger, Peace Like a River
Ian McEwan, Atonement
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany; The World According to Garp
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor
John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
Tobias Wolff, Old School
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
George Orwell, 1984
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Turn It In Info: Register Today!

2009-09-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

The password for all classes is “murphy”:

English 4, period 1; 2894043

English 4, period 2; 2894045

English AP Lit, period 3; 2894046

English AP Lit, period 5; 2894048

English 4, period 6; 2894050

Thursday Update

2009-09-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

1. Looking forward to our poetry day tomorrow...The blood-dimmed tide is loosed! 15 points.

2. Good luck on revising your colonialism paper. I'll be posting Turn it In instructions tomorrow (you'll have to register, etc). You'll be turning in a hard copy (along with your partner's editing sheet and your first draft) on Monday. Remember to include a schnazzy title...something other than "Colonialism Essay."

3. Remember: Your Vocabulary 3 writing assignment is also due Monday. Your topic is "The High School Dance" and you can utilize any form (poem, song, narrative, news report, recipe...etc.). You are to use all ten words from the lesson. Type this and underline (etc.) the words. 10 points.

4. Finally, your first vocabulary exam (1-3) is on Monday as well. Wow. Monday is going to be quite a day.

5. Kai people. Welcome back. Show us your ways. LTF.

Greetings

2009-09-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Glad you checked-in. Important info will be posted tomorrow. Meanwhile: memorize Yeats' "Second Coming" for Friday.

Friday Update

2009-09-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Scholars:

1. Remember: The due date for your Colonialism responses has been changed. For Period 1 it'now Wed (9/16). For 2 and 6 it's TR (9/17).

2. Recitations for Yeats' "Second Coming" are on Friday (9/18)

3. Vocabulary Test (1-3): Monday (9/21).

4. See you Monday...we'll do lesson 3 of our vocab. and finish viewing The Constant G.

Colonialism, The Constant Gardner and Things Fall Apart

2009-09-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

English 4
Dr. Murphy
Colonialism, The Constant Gardner and Things Fall Apart
25 Points

Over the next week or so, we’ll be wrapping-up our consideration of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. One of the most important themes in the novel is that of “Colonialism.” It is a theme prevalent in both the novel and the film we will be watching this coming week. At the end of all this, you will be writing a short reflection on “Colonialism” that will be due on Tuesday, September 15. In order to do this well, you will need to take these steps.

1. Acquaint yourself with the definition of “Colonialism” Read the introduction, section 1, and section 3 from this link by 9/9-9/10. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/
2. Read Article on Achebe: http://www.postcolonialweb.org/zimbabwe/sofield/6.html
3. In a well written response of 500-700 words, address the following:
A. Define/introduce the concept of "colonialism".
B. What is Achebe’s view of colonialism? Use an example or two (qt.) from the article on Achebe and one or two from TFA.
C. How does the theme of colonialism as it appears in The Constant Gardner relate to TFA? Give a couple of examples and feel free to refer to this article: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/
D. To conclude, what do you think about all of this? Again: this part is due on 9/15.

Note: If you want, cruise these links. They’ll help you better understand what this is all about.
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/achebe/achebeov.html

Finally, poetry recitations begin on 9/16-9/17. More on this coming soon…

The Heart is Abloom

2009-09-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town

You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere

You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day