Wednesday, May 6, 2009

"Visitation" by Brad Watson

6th and 8th period:
What is your response to the story on the following levels: emotional, intellectual, artisitic, social?
Choose one or combine them all in your response.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

"Garden of Forking Paths"

As this story could be on your final, please respond in a thoughtful manner.
Post your thoughts on Borges's story, his control and creation of tone, and the tightly-wound plot.
There is no need to include textual support, though you should directly refer to the text.

Monday, April 27, 2009

"Araby" questions

“Araby” Questions

Answer thoroughly in complete sentences with textual support.

  1. It can be said that this story is so completely told from one narrator’s point of view that the characters, the surroundings, and the weather are colored by his feelings. How do you suppose North Richmond Street, the boy’s house, Mangan’s sister, and the bazaar would look to a detached observer? Does Joyce hint that there is another point of view? If so, how does he do it?
  2. How does the narrator’s description of the house, the street, and the weather reflect his attitude toward them? What might this setting reveal about the emotional lives of the characters? What doe the references to the former tenant of the house add to the story?
  3. What common element relates Mangan’s sister and the bazaar in the boy’s mind? Explain the experience in the bazaar as a symbol of the boy’s quest and his disillusionment.
  4. What does the last sentence of the story signify? Does it alter your thinking about the story as you consider it in retrospect? Explain. In what ways was the boy a victim of vanity?
These are due Friday, 1st May. All classes.
Link to story: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/araby.html

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Endgame responses

Please respond to two of the following three questions:
Your reponses need to be between 5-10 sentences minimum.

1. How does Act Without Words help illuminate any themes from Endgame?
2. How did viewing the filmed production of Endgame affect your understanding of the play?
3. This is a fun one. In what ways does the YouTube clip represent the spirit of style of Samuel Beckett's Endgame?

for question 3, enter in Beckett Charlie Rose in the YouTube search bar.
Good luck and I look forward to reading your work.

Friday, March 13, 2009

School Cancellation

For those in 6th and 8th, your essays are still due. Please email them to me and we'll take care of the rough drafts later. Be sure to read "The Guest" by Albert Camus and post the response.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

"The Guest" by Albert Camus

Answer the following question in 2-3 paragraphs:
Who is the hero of the story? Support your answer with specific references to text.
A link to the story is at http://www.cis.vt.edu/modernworld/d/guest.html
Have a good break.

Monday, February 16, 2009

7th period

here is the thread for 7th period's Kafka conversations...

Thursday, February 12, 2009

8th period

Here is the space for 8th period's graphic novel work.

6th period

Here is the space for 6th period to communicate about their graphic novel.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

5th period-Metamorphosis work

Here you go 5th period. To other classes, please keep this space for 5th period.
Thank you.

Monday, February 9, 2009

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Post all responses here.
Remember, write about your overall to poem, or write about how the epigram from Dante relates to the speaker.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Robert Browning

same same,
same as it
ever was

Friedrich Holderlin

same as it ever was

Heinrich Heine

same as it ever was

Rosalia de Castro

same same same

John Keats (aside from "Grecian Urn")

Header=poem's title

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Header=poem's title.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Do you sense a trend? Poem's title=header.

William Wordsworth

For all responses, use the poem's title as header.

William Blake

For all responses, please use the poem's title as a header.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Romanticism (parents)

Hello parents...here is another opportunity for poetry to enter your lives. Please post your response(s) under this thread and include your student's name somewhere in the response, as well. Thank you!

Romanticism (students)

Here is where I would like you to post your responses to the poems. Remember this is a public forum, so keep your language formal and respectful.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Welcome!

Welcome all classes to my first-ever attempt at blogging and, more importantly, generating conversations across all five English classes. Let's all go on this journey onto the information superhighway together...