NEWBIES?

;) How are the newest AP Warriors doing?!

Goodbye for now...

Your last day as seniors (minus David who was at golf districts)

I plan on posting the pictures from graduation, but I still have to load them on my computer at home. I just wanted to thank you all for a terrific year! Your enthusiasm, hard work, and willingness to go along with my general craziness was much appreciated!! We had some great times for meeting as early in the morning as we did!

I wish you all the best of luck as your path leads you away from dear old BHS and into the next chapter - be it local community college or an out of state university. You will always be an AP warrior - never forget the things you have learned from each other. I won't soon forget our adventures together and all you have taught me!

Happy graduation! Happy summer! Happy life!

-MCC

PLANKING: An Epidemic.

I'm not sure how many of you are still checking the blog, but I found this hilarious. It looks like Alex High has invaded the streets..just as she invaded the Conklin household.

Did you survive?

I am hoping you all survived the Velocirapture yesterday. The thought of large, angry dinosaurs sweeping down to bring judgement to the masses makes me giggle. Sadly, if you did not survive, I won't be giggling for long.

If you did survive, I hope you have checked your email for an important AP warrior announcement.

May the raptors have mercy on your soul.

-MCC

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope everyone gave their moms some extra love today! Also, happy mother's day to you, Mrs. Conklin. I think being pregnant on mother's day counts :D Hope everyone enjoyed the fabulous weather today because I know I did. Definitely looking forward to the 70 degree weather all week this week, finally. And I actually read a book outside today... A book for fun... *Gasp!

Nobody bring fruit to the breakfast, I have that covered with a very impressive fruit tray if I do say so myself...

See ya tomorrow!

Everyone Loves a Parade

Blossomtime 2011!!

Hurrah!! The rain held (at least until after the parade was over) and it was a great day for parade participants and spectators.  I got a chance to see Lisa on the Blossomtime float before the parade began. I especially liked the bee hovering above the flower on the back of the float. A nice nod to our BHS Blossomtime Queen!!

Not a great angle on the Baroda float, but it's hard to wave to people and take pictures at the same time. Adam and Anna looked fabulous, as did the 'Green Acres' themed Baroda float!

I LOVED the Las Vegas themed float for Bridgman!! AWESOME!!! The court all looked great, especially Kelsey! I just love seeing our girls all gussied up in their court finery :) And Emily Mead's dad as Elvis was pretty entertaining, too!

 I didn't realize it at the time, but I got a shot of Sam with the color guard just behind Nick Quardokus. The band sounded great!

...and the drum line sounded awesome! There's Chelsea on the base drum closest to the camera!


A great day for the annual Blossomtime Parade and a terrific showcase for some of the finest bands and community representatives in our area!

Don't forget about the post-exam breakfast tomorrow! There will be bagels, OJ, chocolate milk, and whatever other goodies YOU contribute. There are 15 students in our class (in case you do some baking today!)


-MCC

Not School Related

As my titled suggests this isn't school related but please forgive me that for I won't be taking up much of your time.
I just wanted to make a request. Krysta has began her own blog (because we just can't get enough of her mouth in class) and she would really really really love it with cherries ontop if people would pity her and read it! It is school appropriate and i thought it was a little funny so maybe you people could stop by and relate. Thanks and once again, I apologize for taking up precious school space. Carry on!

AP ENGLISH LIT EXAM!!!

So?

Was it better than you expected? Worse than you expected? Do you feel overwhelming relief or the desire to sleep for the next three days?

I hope you enjoyed the goodie bags. That is my favorite part of the AP exam day! Ms. Cuthbert dropped them off at Lakeshore for you this morning since I needed to be at school to supervise those trouble makers, Krysta and Sam ;)

Monday will be our post-exam breakfast/party. I will provide bagels and cream cheese, so if you have a special request, please let me know. I plan on getting a few plain, wheat, blueberry, sesame seed, and everything. If there is a bagel you MUST have, please let me know so I can add it to the order. Please bring something to add to the pot-luck style celebration: mini donuts, coffee cake, fresh fruit, muffins, etc. I will also be providing chocolate milk and orange juice. If you prefer a different beverage, please bring it. I have an electric kettle, so if you would like tea, bring a mug and we can make tea.

I plan on previewing "A Thousand Acres" this weekend, but will have "The Princess Bride" as a back-up. If you would prefer one movie over another, let me know. Last year the AP class wanted to watch "The Importance of Being Earnest" again, so we did. I have no objection to that one either :)

Dress in comfortable clothes - AP T-shirts, sweats, etc. If you STILL have not paid for your AP T-shirt, Monday would be a great time to bring your $17 in to Chelsea so you can wear your AP tee with pride!

Congratulations on a job well done, warriors! Regardless of the scores, I am proud of each of you and appreciate how hard you have worked this year. Enjoy your day off tomorrow and I'll see you on Monday!

-MCC

Poetry

First off, I don't like this guy. Let's get that straight right off the bat. Secondly, OF COURSE we need a month dedicated to some form of literature and personally I think poetry is the smartest choice. There's a poem out there for everyone, and different styles appear to different people. Obviously, this man has not found his poem yet. I can only hope he will in his long, sad, anti-poetry years to come. It pains me to think that he cannot enjoy the thought process that goes into poetry. Maybe he's not a rhyming kind of guy but what about haiku? or maybe he'd like James Joyce (they could have a nice long depressing chat)

All I'm saying is this guy needs to think before he writes. There are MILLIONS of poems out there. SONGS are essentially poems. Most literature could start off as a poem. And for someone who writes A LOT, shouldn't he be able to appreciate something so wonderfully simple yet complex as a poem?

In response to Mr. Bernstein...

OK dude, seriously? Chill...just chill.
Bernstein seems more preoccupied with bashing Poetry Month itself than if there is any poetry worth presenting. He talks about how most poems that "average people" are capable of understanding, are about nothing. Well, he is welcome to his opinions, even though they are wrong...Just because a poem doesn't have some sort of deep hidden philosophical interpretation of the author's view on life, death and where to have the best picnic lunch, doesn't mean that that particular poem is sentenced to the "mediocre" stack.
Whew...take a breath...OK.
Instead of just lumping poetry together into "good" and "bad" Bernstein should try to see the effects that poetry has on people. "In Flanders Field" is one such example that many people know and understand. "Taps" would definitely be an example, even though it is a song. Music is simply poetry that is put to notes and sound. Poetry is something that people hear and see everyday, even if they don't realize it.
Bernstein should take some time off and try to write his idea of "good poetry". If it takes off like a rocket and is an immediate bestseller that has people climbing over his garden wall to get his autograph...we will talk and renegotiate what good poetry is. Until then...Mr. Bernstein can shove it.

Poetry

Wow, this man may be the most opinionated man I have ever seen. And for what? Arguing that poetry isn't worth our time? That's quite insulting to the poets who have made it their lives work to create these poems... While I do agree with him that poetry gets a little lost in main stream media today, it still deserves to be recognized as a form of art. Poetry is meant to be savored, like a good dessert, not consumed quickly like so many people want to do with other literary works. In order to promote this "savoring", I feel that we do need to make the poetry more accessible at first to draw people in, then challenge them with some of the more complicated (and yes, more depressing) poems. Most people have not had the advantage of an AP course like us, so they need those baby steps in order to appreciate poetry, not matter what this extremely opinionated man has to say... And really, how is this promotion of poetry any different than promoting a new book or movie or art museum? These works of art need to be put into main stream advertising in order for people to learn about them and in turn appreciate them.

A risk we take by advertising poetry is the chance that once people read poems regularly, they start to over-analyze them. While many times there is a second meaning hidden in a poem, there are also cases in which you need to just take the poem for what it is. No, that poem isn't about the sacrifices that people have to make in society or about the grim death of a soldier in battle. It really is just about a toad getting it's leg cut off by a lawn mower. But Mr. Bernstein will obviously never experience this problem, because he believes he is far too superior than the lowly people who read poetry... Makes me wonder how intelligent this guy is, because he may as well not read books while he's at it...

Poetry! Merit or No Merit?!

I believe poetry has incredible literary merit, but about 99% of the time, it's over-analyzed. I like to think that most poets use symbolism intentionally, but honestly, I really believe it usually happens accidentally. When people talk, write, draw, sing, or what-have-you, it usually reflects their past and present. I think poetry is a huge example of that. Even if you don't have a purpose when you sit down to write, I think one comes out subconsciously. We over-analyze poetry to the point of murder, and I think that's why I dislike poetry.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Heller!

It's the birthday of the man who asked, "What does a sane man do in an insane society?": American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright Joseph Heller, born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. He didn't begin any story until he had the first and last lines in his head, and the idea for Catch-22 came about after he thought of an opening: "It was love at first sight. The first time he saw the chaplain, 'Someone' fell madly in love with him." He didn't have the character's name — Yossarian — yet, but the story began to unspool from that first line. "It got me so excited," Heller wrote in the Paris Review, "that I did what the cliché says you're supposed to do: I jumped out of bed and paced the floor. That morning I went to my job at the advertising agency and wrote out the first chapter in longhand. ... One year later, after much planning, I began chapter two."

His agent started sending Catch-22 — called Catch-18 at the time — to publishers in 1953, when Heller was about a third of the way through with it. Simon and Schuster paid him $750 up front, with another $750 to be paid upon completion. Heller missed their deadline by four or five years, but eventually delivered it in 1961. They changed Catch-18 to Catch-22 to avoid confusion with Leon Uris's new book Mila 18, and the title has entered the lexicon as a description of an unsolvable logical dilemma, a vicious circle.

Heller published six other novels, three plays, a collection of short stories, and three screen adaptations. He died in 1999, shortly after finishing his last novel, Portrait of the Artist, as an Old Man.

The week ahead...

AP warriors-

It's a big week this week with the "finish line" of the AP exam on Thursday, May 5. Here are a few reminders as we head into a short, but busy week.

TODAY
Saturday, April 30

You may recognize one of our very own AP warriors in the Herald-Palladium today. In fact there is a whole article complete with pictures dedicated to Miss Blossomtime 2011, Lisa Bowman! Great article, Lisa!! Grab a copy of today's paper and check it out. There is also a schedule for next Saturday's Blossomtime Parade line-up.


MONDAY
May 2
We'll be looking at poetry, but thankfully no dead animals or soldiers this time. Remember that I'll be checking off your list of "Top Ten Tough Terms" from the big pink literary terms packet. These can be in word/definition list or flash card form.



TUESDAY
May 3

We'll be doing another timed multiple choice practice test, but this time you'll have the entire hour to work. On the actual AP exam, you'll have 60 minutes for 55 questions - the same as the AP exam. We'll spend Wednesday's class going over the practice test and you'll have a chance to score your results.





WEDNESDAY
May 4

Our last day of class review before the exam!! We'll touch base on a few last minute concerns as well as grade the practice test from Tuesday. If you have an "exam day" questions to ask, this would be a good time to ask them.

Wednesday evening 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
I have reserved the community room at the Bridgman Public Library for our evening review. I will be ordering pizza. Come for part of the time, come for the whole time, bring a beverage of your choosing, and we'll have an opportunity to go over previous exams, do more practice M/C tests, or just blow off some steam before the big day on Thursday.



THURSDAY
MAY 5

AP English Literature exam at Lakeshore High School. You are to report to Lakeshore HS by 7:30 AM. The test will take approximately 3 hours from the time the exam begins (around 8 AM). Following the exam, you are expected to report back to BHS or the Math-Science Center for your afternoon classes.



FRIDAY
May 6

NO SCHOOL - Professional Development day for teachers.
Sleep in, relax, make up your mind between the front seat or the backseat. IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY!!



SATURDAY
May 7

The Blossomtime Parade kicks off on Main Street in St. Joe. Come out to cheer on our queens, Kelsey and Lisa, and the Spirit of Bridgman Marching Band!

Essay Contest...VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Hey guys I did that essay that MCC posted so pleeeaasseeee vote for it! All you have to do is go to the URL below and click vote! It's so easy and super quick! Thanks!

http://www.wyzant.com/scholarships/v1/essay9245_Bridgman-MI.aspx

Is Poetry Helpful? Yes, I think so.

I think poetry is very important although I’m not too fond of it myself. It makes you think more and really tests your intellect by looking for hidden and obvious meanings in the works. Reading isn’t just about reading the easy stuff but tackling the hard stuff too.
Sure, poetry isn’t very popular but nobody really wants to take the time to sit down and take the time to understand it. (Most people don’t want to take the time to read anything nowadays, though.) Once you do take the time at least you’ve accomplished something and that’s always a good feeling. Poetry can help in a lot of ways like learning new vocabulary and reading skills which puts you in a better understanding then before.

(Anti) Poetry assignment

So this guy is NUTS! First of all if he knows soooo much about National Poetry Month and poetry in general, why is he writing this? Why would he spend all that time reading about all this poetry if he hates it? I think he has wayyyyy too much time on his hands!

Secondly, I'd have to agree with his point about the fact that they think poetry should be "good for you" and "safe". Have we not discussed how 99.9% of poetry is the furthest thing from happy? But that's the thing about poetry, just because it's sad, or depressing doesn't mean it's bad. It can still be good poetry. Emily Dickinson was an amazing poet and a ton of her poems were depressing. Even a lot of the poems that seem like they're going to be happy, aren't. So nice try, ARF.

My last point is that the last paragraph that he wrote well...basically I think he might be on drugs at this point. Is his best idea really to stop reading poetry all together? Even the statue of liberty and Mother Goose? Cmon on.

That's all I have to say, sorry mine's not five pages ;)

Poetry = :)

However much I complain about poetry at the time, I do actually like reading it. It is kind of interesting to see what you can decifer from the words. Too often something is blantantly stated; I enjoy the occasional scavenger hunt :)

This guy who wrote this essay clearly has the idea that "Sure, you can have an opinion, but your opinion is wrong." Poetry is definitely beneficial and an important part of literature. Don't you think someone would have done away with poetry if it had no merit at all? It is also a challenge to read but can be the most enjoyable type of literature, if you have the patience.

Also, poetry should never be compared to smoking. I'm pretty sure reading can only benefit your well-being and doesn't slowly destroy your ability to take in oxygen.

Poetry is it important?

Yes I believe poetry is very important especially in literature. There should definitely be a month dedicated to poetry. It is important because it helps people think outside of the box and look for hidden meanings. Poetry makes people READ instead of just skimming the surface. This guy has no idea what he is talking about, the fact that he does not want a month dedicated to poetry it rather sad. While I admit I'm not the biggest fan of poetry I see its importance and I do enjoy some poetry, it depends on the writer. I loved "Hopscotch Harlem" or whatever it was called by Maya Angelou and some other poems by other other poets that we read in our Perrine.

Assignment

Well I don't really like this guy... He is very negaitive. Every person enjoys different things. Just bcause poetry isn't his cup of tea, doesn't mean it should not be studied the way it is. No one is forcing him to like it, so BACK OFF!!!!

Sometimes we do overanalyze some poetry, but sometime that leads to great discussions and fun discoveries within the writing. I enjoy some poetry. It's crazy how just a few small lines can mean so much and can create such intense emotion.

I'm a fan

Poetry assignment

First off, I feel like this guy knows way too much about poetry and writing to not like it.

I disagree with a lot of what he said. Just because he doesn't like poetry doesn't mean he has to ruin it for everyone else. To me, this Bernstein guy seems like an arrogant @*$&*%&^%$! Haha :)

I started out not liking poetry. However, the more I read and the more we discussed as a class, I began to understand it, which helped me appreciate it a lot more. Now, I really like poetry. I think poetry most definitely (in a valley girl accent) has a spot in our literary study. I don't think it is absolutely vital for someone to know about the intense poetry if the really don't want to, but I do think it helps the reader understand other things more easily. For example, after doing the poetry unit, King Lear was not easy to understand, but I had more patience than I did at the beginning of the year with other hard "works of literary merit" that we have completed. So maybe it isn't totally necessary but it "exercises the mind", which I enjoy!

Along with getting a good brain workout comes the analysis of poetry. This is something I really struggled with at the beginning of the year and sometimes still, but it comes a lot easier now that we have discussions. We can absolutely go too far with analyzing. However, it's fun sometimes! Honestly, think about how boring our class would be if we didn't over analyze.

So basically, I think that guy is a jerk. He can diss poetry in his mind if he wants, but leave it alone. He's wasting a lot of energy on something he hates!

Poetry...who needs it?

In celebration, or rather protest, of National Poetry Month, I'm passing on this essay from Charles Bernstein entitled "Against National Poetry Month As Such." He basically argues that there should not be a month dedicated to the reading, writing, or celebration of verse.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. You've survived a unit focused solely on poetry. You've read poems about the scandalous cutting of hair, the massacring of frogs, the abuse of children....and maybe there was a happy poem in there somewhere...Maybe?

Regardless, you all have your own opinions on poetry and its merits (or lack thereof). Are poems "much ado about nothing" or do they have a place in our literary study? Can the readers and interpreters of poetry go too far when analyzing verse, or do some of you delight in the scavenger hunt that ensues when a poem is read and dissected before your very eyes?

Please post a response to this essay and the questions I have posed before next Monday, May 2
You WILL be receiving a grade for your participation, so no post = no points.

Even if you don't care for poetry, I still want to hear from you. Heck, Charles Bernstein feels that poetry shouldn't have its own month, and he wrote a five page essay on why not!

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044106.html

Happy Birthday, Will!!

Sadly, I'm a bit late getting this to you, but today is William Shakespeare's 447th birthday, as well as "Talk Like Shakespeare" Day. Because it falls on a weekend this year, I tho kit might be appropriate to observe this solemn occasion on Monday. Check out this website, sponsored by the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, for ways to celebrate Elizabethan-speak, as well as the Bard's birthday.

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/

Methinks tis time for these cross-gartered knaves to learn to speak the Queen's English!

Merry perusing and scribbling!

MCC

Scholarship Opportunity

Click on this link for a great scholarship opportunity for seniors. Write an essay in 300 words or less about the most important teacher, tutor, or coach in your life. Get people to vote for your essay by emailing them a link, posting it on Facebook, posting it to our blog, or Tweeting about it. Get more votes than anyone else and voila! FREE MONEY FOR COLLEGE! Woot!

It looks like everything can be done right online, but I would recommend proofreading your essay before submitting it.

http://www.wyzant.com/Scholarships/

Please post to the blog if you submit an essay so we can all vote for you!

Happy writing!

-MCC

Pride and Prejudice

Let me just start off by saying I loved reading Pride and Prejudice. This type of novel, with it's time period and more formal language, has always been at the top of my list of books worth reading. Some of the words, admittedly, were a little hard to understand, but by reading the passage around them and using a little common sense I was usually able to figure them out. As a whole, this book was extremely fun for me to read and is called a classic for a reason. You know what I think? Those college students are just too lazy to put forth a little brain power to try to figure out the "long words" and the formal language Austen uses. It's a shame they do not appreciate a book of literary merit like this, but high schoolers can (although I did feel a bit bad for the boys in our class. What high school boy would willingly read a romance novel?) Hope this helps Dr. Chesley realize that there is still hope for society... :)

P&P is for me!

I figured rhyming was a great way to start off this post. First, I throughly enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. However, I have always enjoyed the novels or movies set back in different time periods. The wording was a bit difficult to understand at first but as soon as you got the hang of it, it was fine. I think in order to develop an appreciation for Austen's writing, you need to give it time. Just like in life, you cannot judge things solely on your first impression. I think Dr. Chesley should know I am a fellow Austen supporter! :)

A host of golden daffodils!

The entry below was from "The Writer's Almanac" from American Public Media on Friday. Since it's spring and the daffodils are blooming, I thought this was appropriate. It's also a nice warm-up for the poetry review we'll be doing for the AP exam. The daffodils at left are being battered in today's wind on the side of my house.

It was on this day in 1802 that William Wordsworth (books by this author) was walking home with his sister, Dorothy, and saw a patch of daffodils that became the inspiration for one of his most famous poems.
They were returning from a visit to their friends Thomas and Catherine Clarkson, who lived on the shore of Ullswater, the second largest lake in England's lake district, a beautiful deep lake, nine miles long, surrounded by mountains. The Clarksons were good friends. Thomas was a fierce abolitionist who had made it his life's work to end slavery. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, also a neighbor in the Lake District, wrote: "I once asked Tom Clarkson whether he ever thought of his probable fate in the next world, to which he replied, 'How can I? I think only of the slaves in Barbados!'" Apparently Tom wasn't a fan of poetry, either. But Dorothy Wordsworth and Catherine exchanged letters. Later that year, Wordsworth got married, and he and his wife, Mary, named one of their daughters after Catherine. They all enjoyed the Clarksons' witty and intelligent conversation.

Dorothy and William had left Dove Cottage at the end of March for a round of visiting friends, including Coleridge. William left Dorothy with the Clarksons for eight days while he went to Yorkshire to visit Mary, the woman he would marry six months later. On Monday, April 12th, Wordsworth left Mary to head back to his friends' house. He got caught in a snowstorm and his horse needed new shoes, but he plodded on to stay at an inn for the night, and during the ride he wrote a poem, "The Glow-worm," which begins:

Among all lovely things my Love had been;
Had noted well the stars, all flowers that grew
About her home; but she had never seen
A glow-worm, never one, and this I knew.

He made it back to the Clarksons' the next evening, spent a day with friends, and after dinner on the 15th he and Dorothy set out to walk home. It was many miles back to Dove Cottage, but they were used to long walks, and took it slowly, stopping often either to seek shelter from the weather or to admire things they passed.

Dorothy wrote in her journal: "It was a threatening misty morning — but mild. [...] The hawthorns are black and green, the birches here and there greenish but there is yet more of purple to be seen on the Twigs. We got over into a field to avoid some cows — people working, a few primroses by the roadside, woodsorrel flower, the anemone, scentless violets, strawberries, and that starry yellow flower which Mrs C. calls pile wort. When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park we saw a few daffodils close to the water side. We fancied that the lake had floated the seeds ashore and that the little colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing ever changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here and there a little knot and a few stragglers a few yards higher up but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity and unity and life of that one busy highway. We rested again and again."

For his part, William didn't write anything about the daffodils for at least two years, maybe more. No one is sure when he wrote the poem "I wander'd lonely as a cloud," but it was published in 1807. It didn't get a very good reception. One critic wrote, "He thinks it worth while to give a tame, matter-of-fact account of some daffodils blown about with the wind, because he thought of them afterwards." Another poet said, "Surely, if his worst foe had chosen to caricature this egotistic manufacturer of metaphysical importance upon trivial themes, he could not have done it more effectively." But these days it is one of Wordsworth's most famous poems, and when the BBC conducted a nationwide poll in 1995 for the country's favorite poems, it was ranked number five.

Wordsworth's 1807 version of the poem was only three stanzas long, 18 lines. When he revised it in 1815, he tinkered with some lines — changed "Ten thousand dancing in the breeze" to "Fluttering and dancing in the breeze" — and he added another stanza, the stanza that is now second and begins, "Continuous as the stars that shine / And twinkle on the milky way ..."

Not only did Wordsworth probably reference Dorothy's journal for inspiration, but his wife, Mary, came up with two lines: "They flash upon that inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude." William said they were the best lines in the poem.

What?!

I'll keep this pretty brief. I did not enjoy Pride & Prejudice, but I respect it as a well-written novel. It was revolutionary, and that's why it's so famous today. There is a massive difference between liking a book and recognizing WHY it's generally considered a great novel. Though I disliked it, I'm glad I read it because it helped me grow as a reader. I can now also say, "That was a tough book, but I got through it!!", which I am proud of.

As college students, they shouldn't be complaining about big words. Get out a dictionary or instead of facebooking during class, try googling the words! :)

Is Pride and Prejudice worth it?

Yes I believe Pride and Prejudice is worth reading. It was not my favorite book to read because it was a little slow in the beginning but I ended up enjoying it. This book is a great literary work and while it may not be for everyone it's well written. Students should be excited about learning and feel proud about reading a classic. The fact that some students were saying that Jane Austen uses to big of words is really sad. I mean seriously there is a wonderful invention called THE DICTIONARY! Plus if you continue reading you can get the jist of what the word means. I can understand how some students say that her reading can be laborious but it picks up a lot during the second half of the book. All in all I truly believe Pride and Prejudice is worth reading it is a classic.

Classics

So I'm on Facebook this morning, and looking through some of the quizzes people have taken (most of them are so dumb...). But I come across one that said "Which Books Have You Read (out of 100)." I clicked on it, and it was that list of 100 books Mrs. Conklin was talking about! Of course I felt that I needed to take the quiz, and found that I have read 17 of the books... I feel pretty ok about that, although I know there are a few on the list that I should have read by now. Looks like I have a summer reading list :)

Is P&P worth it?

I personally had a rough time with P&P, not because it was too hard or Austen used "Big words". I just simply didn't like the plot..because...well...I'm a guy. I will say that the lessons are good ones and I understand what Austen is trying to say. The main problem is that people don't really Read anymore. Sure, you read your email or text but that's not the same. There is a gap between Dr. Chesley and his students. He wanted to understand or at least worked at understanding Austen. His students are in college! They should be excited to learn (especially since they are paying to be there!) I believe that Pride and Prejudice is worth the effort; most just are not willing to put forth the effort to try.

Matched - The book like 1984

Just in case anyone was missing 1984, the book I brought up in class today is very, very similar. It's part of a trilogy and the next one doesn't come out until November of this year but it's awesome :) Here's the title of the book and the author for anyone who is interested: Matched - Ally Condie

Is Pride and Prejudice worth reading?

As I mentioned in class today, my mentor from Aquinas, Dr. Chesley, is coping with complaints in his Intro to Fiction class this spring from students who don't enjoy Jane Austen's classic of Regency England.

Most of his students don't like it.  Some complain that Austen uses too many big words.  Others say she's tedious.  One said she doesn't like the book because sometimes the narrator says one thing, but it means something else.

You read P&P for summer reading, on your own, with little instructor guidance (other than the occasional blog post). I want to hear your thoughts - good, bad, or indifferent - on your reading experience and your overall impression of Pride and Prejudice. Is this a book worth reading?

REMINDER: Law Day essay contest

This is just a reminder that the deadline for the Law Day Essay contest, sponsored by the Berrien County Bar Association, is due this Friday, April 15, at 4 PM.

You can mail, fax, or email your essay of 500-800 words with the following information:


Student's name
Home address
Email address
Home telephone number
Sponsoring teacher and high school - (Sarah Carter Conklin/Bridgman High School)

If mailing your essay, please use the following address:

Berrien County Courthouse
Attention: Honorable Gary J. Bruce
811 Port Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085

The essay can be emailed to Judge Gary J. Bruce at gbruce@berriencounty.org
or faxed to Judge Bruce's office at  (269) 982-8614

Winners of the contest will be selected at the sole discretion of the selection committee and will be based upon: Composition, Theme, Creativity, and Details/Research

This is a great opportunity to flex your writing muscles and do some interesting research on the long history of legal defense in our country. If you are interested in getting some help with your writing, please let me know as soon as possible.

Email me if you have any questions about the contest itself. For those of you who have a draft in progress, I'd be happy to give your essay a quick look before you submit it.

Happy writing!!

-MCC

Good Bye Spring Break....

So I hope everyone has had a great break! I made it to Chicago and back without any "scary" moments. No one tried to steal my phone or reach into my purse :) I did wear tennis shoes though and took pictures, so people could tell I was a visitor :/ How is everyone liking the Awakening? My mom is loving it... I was reading it aloud in the car on the way to a college visit and she was sitting there with her eyes closed "envisioning" the story (don't worry, dad was driving and is eyes were open!). I am enjoying the story myself. See you tomorrow! -Lisa

Typo!

So this is really quite amazing that I noticed this, and also very random. I never notice things like this. But in the book, on the page that Chapter 38 starts on, as usual it says 38 in the background but then it says Chapter XXXIII. XXXIII is not 38. It's 33. They have it right in the back with the vocabulary. But that is definitely NOT 38. So apparently there are TWO chapter XXXIII's in this book. Huh. :)

"Hasn't Tim Burton Seen the Nightmare Before Christmas?"

Ok so today, a colleague of mine was discussing some baby names. She expressed to me how she would just love to name her daughter Sybil but couldn't because of that really disturbing movie with Sally Field. I stated that I thought that the name Sybil was wretched anyhow so thank God for the justice of horror films. She then brought up this interesting argument:
"I love the name Sybil."(her)
"It sucks"(me)
"You suck, its only creepy because of that movie with Sally Field. Anyway Mrs. Conklin
was thinking of naming her daughter Regan and thats creepy like from the Exorcist."
"Darling, Regan is from King Lear."
"Yeah sure, anyway I'm sure Mrs. Conklin's never seen that movie."
"...Thats a Shakespearean novel...she's an English teacher...of course she's read it."
"Oh..."
"That's like saying Tim Burton's never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas ya dope."

So i was thinking and talking about you kids today! Spring Break is almost over (feeble defeated fist pump).

As seen in King Lear...

While I was in Chicago at Urban Outfitters, I found this iPhone case. Sadly, it is only for the 3G and 3GS, otherwise I would have purchased it straightaway!! Another sign of Shakespearean language in our 21st century vernacular :)

I hope you have had an enjoyable spring break. Despite today's rainy start, it hasn't been all bad, weather-wise. I hope those of you who traveled near and far had safe trips without incident. I have a fun story to share about my trip in to Chicago and will save it for class on Monday.

Just a reminder that your reading logs for The Awakening are due on Tuesday, April 12. They can be hand written or typed. you are not expected to keep a vocabulary log for this novel. We'll begin our discussion of Kate Chopin's work on Monday, so please be sure to have completed the reading by the time you arrive in class on Monday.
Happy reading and relaxing!
-MCC

Urban Dictionary: Word of the Day

There is no escaping this. None.

April 8: Friday

The day after Thursday and before Saturday, according to Rebecca Black. Also the most annoying day of the week now.

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday

FUN FUN FUN.....not really

Since I have been hearing the song "Friday" quite a lot lately, I was excited to read this article. Simply because of the nature of the song, I found the article quite difficult to read withou laughing. However, the analysis just proves what I already knew; 13 year olds should not write their own music or auto tune their voices to a ridiculous extent. Now, a little off topic, if you are in the mood for a laugh, YouTube "death metal version friday". It's extremely entertaining, especially if you dislike the song :)

Oedipus Rex in real life!!!!!

While I was on my overnight visit to Hope College, I sat in on an intro to psychology class. What else did the professor reference in class but Oedipus Rex?! I pratically jumped out of my seat; Literature is everywhere! :)

Grasshopper by Ron Padgett

A great spring poem for spring break and national poetry month.
Enjoy!

Grasshopper
by Ron Padgett

It's funny when the mind thinks about the psyche,
as if a grasshopper could ponder a helicopter.

It's a bad idea to fall asleep
while flying a helicopter:

when you wake up, the helicopter is gone
and you are too, left behind in a dream,

and there is no way to catch up,
for catching up doesn't figure

in the scheme of things. You are
who you are, right now,

and the mind is so scared it closes its eyes
and then forgets it has eyes

and the grasshopper, the one that thinks
you're a helicopter, leaps onto your back!

He is a brave little grasshopper
and he never sleeps

for the poem he writes is the act
of always being awake, better than anything

you could ever write or do.
Then he springs away.

Happy Books

This just proves the point of not reading many happy books this year. :/ Oh well. P.S~ The Awakening is awesome. :)

It's Friday

Please click on the title of this post for a link to an insightful rhetorical analysis on a current craze in popular culture.

I hope you find it as enlightening as I did. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts.

-MCC

National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, and in celebration of 30 days of verse, the American Academy of Poets has a variety of activities dedicated to the celebration of poems, poetry and poets.

I'm going to attempt a few celebrations of my own in the classroom and in the English wing of the school. Sadly, we'll be 10 days into the month by the time we return from break, so you'll have to start the celebration on your own :)

Here is a link to 30 ways to celebrate poetry throughout the month.
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/94?utm_source=npm_newsletter_033111&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=npm&utm_term=30_ways

And for those of you on Twitter, 30 poets will be "tweeting" during each day of the month. Here is a link of the poets who will be participating.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22260

There's even a "Poem Flow" app for your iPhone!
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21303

And mark your calendars....April 14 is Poem-In-Your-Pocket Day. I'll be printing poems to share if you don't have a favorite poem to keep in your pocket that day.

Happy spring break, happy reading!

MCC

1984 is here in 2011...

I was watching the news and they were talking about new traffic lights that had cameras mounted in them that could take pictures or live video of people commiting traffic violations. They also talked about special cameras in police cars that can scan your license plate and plug it into a database automatically and pull up any violations (any!) you might have on record. The newsman concluded with: "And remember folks, Big Brother is watching YOU!" and they faded out with an eye on the screen, roving about...is my TV a telescreen now too?!

Online Writing Lab

Click the title of this post for a link to the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. This particular link shows you how to format short and long quotes from a novel or play. For the parenthetical citation for a play, see the back of the assignment rubric (green sheet).

We'll conference tomorrow in class. Be sure to bring your completed peer revision sheet and both copies of your rough draft (if you have more than one) I'd like to see the changes you have made following your peer revision session. Plus, if you have any questions about the themes, quotes, or format for the paper, we can discuss those during our conference tomorrow.

Happy writing!!

MCC

Out of Print Clothing

Check out this terrific website that sells literary T-shirts.
You may recognize a few of the titles. They are a bit
expensive, but that's the price you pay for witty fashion!
:-)

Two things.

FIRST. What I'd like to say first is that the mom is nuts for blaming the school for something like that. This girl is four! Not every preschool or kindergarten can teach a toddler Japanese, lady. I think a lot of parents expect WAY too much from their kids; this lady is exhibit A. I'm not a mom so I can't really know what goes through the mind of a mother, but one would think that while children are so young, the moms would let those four year olds be four year olds. Little kids are too dang cute to waste personalities! :)

SECOND. I CANNOT WAIT TO DISCUSS 1000 ACRES! This book has totally taken over my life. from reading what I was supposed to while I was gone (which I need help with questions by the way) it is all I can think about. My mind just keeps going back to the book! I absolutely love it :)

THIRD. I created a FB event for my graduation party! If anyone from this class didn't get an invitation by accident, YOU HAVE NOW BEEN OFFICIALLY INVITED. :)

A Thousand Pages?

Nope, just Acres.

If you have read up to page 250 (or are nearly there) you may disregard the next sentence.

For those of you that have not read that far, you need to make some serious progress this weekend.

Here's what the upcoming week holds:

We will be finishing King Lear on Wednesday and will begin discussing both works over Wednesday and Thursday's classes. The test over Lear will be Friday.

You are expected to have finished A Thousand Acres by Thursday, March 24. The reading logs are due on Friday before the test.

If there are questions, let me know.

Happy reading!

-MCC

Baby Einstein?

So that lady is not too bright.

Hey maybe she should sue the creators of Blues Clues because last night when she attempted to "skadoo" into her kid's picture she just ended up with a fat lip and a confused child. I mean were they physically strapping the children to tables and carving their brains out (that would be more than slightly creepy)? If they didn't then, honey, you've still got years to go before your child starts showing any signs of failure to get with the Ivy League league let alone acceptance into the schools. I wonder did she get into one of her prodigy schools? If not, she needs to sit down.

And whats happening to the kid? Did it find the cure for cancer while its mother was raping preschools of their money?

Ridiculous

This article, and the girl's mother, is absolutely crazy. First of all, who pays $19K a year to send their kid to PRESCHOOL? Rich people these days... But seriously, the girl is 4 years old and quite honestly should not have pressure on her to do well in school quite yet. It is preschool after all. I have never heard of any preschoolers working on test prep to get into an ELEMENTARY school. Seriously, I do not know how schools can test a child's intelligence at that young of an age anyway because they have had virtually no schooling other than what they learn at home. If the preschool was telling the mom that they could prepare her daughters for standardized tests, I do agree that was a scam. But honestly, when the school promised "age-appropriate curriculum" what did the mom think that was? Calculus and quantum physics? While learning shapes and colors may be a little basic for a four year old (I may be wrong, can't really remember what was "basic" when I was four :D ), it is preschool for crying out loud, where kids ARE dumped together regardless of their age (and ok what 2 year old goes to preschool?! Jeesh...) and where kids ARE taught basic knowledge so they have a good foundation for later on. The girl has her whole life to get into an Ivy League school, so this mother should realize that her daughter is just fine educationally and just drop the lawsuit (and the way-too-expensive school too...). I may not be a mom, but I do know this: the girl's mother should enjoy just spending time with her young child. That is really the most important thing to worry about when your child is four. She should steer her child to do well academically and can put her into a good school later on if she wants, but should also let her daughter have a choice. What if she doesn't want to go to an Ivy League school? Plain and simple, the daughter does not know what she wants at the age of four, so the mom needs to back off on the pressure she puts on her child and on the ridiculous lawsuit she is filing.

A little early for panic...

Ok, this lady is officially freaking out over something that is not that important. First off, her daughter is four and focusing on making friends, not eighteen and trying to apply to colleges. I understand how early education can be important, but too much pressure is being put on the child. Also, wait more than three weeks before yanking your child out of school and blaming them when you haven't even given them a chance. Perhaps the school hasn't been doing a good job teaching the children but with a pricetag of $19K per year for nursery school, I'm sure it's top notch. On a side note, some parents won't even pay that for their kids to go to college, let alone preschool!!! If you have that much money, you should be able to be appeased. I strongly dislike that people think that everything should be perfect in a not perfect world. Okay, I'm done ranting :)

Wow

Personally, I find this lady is a bit out of sorts. Her daughters only four. There's some essential things she still needs to learn obviously before she goes through a curriculum. Maybe she should have waited more than 3 weeks before she pulled her kid out. Or maybe it's just possible that her kid isn't ivy league material. Has she ever thought of that?! *annoyed fuming because people can spend that kind of money and just waste it*

Blame Schools

I don't believe that it's the school's fault. I agree with Chelsea that maybe the school was neglecting to teach the child certain things. However, it is also up to the parents to help teach their child too and make the child interested and excited about learning. It cannot be put up to the school entirely to put a thrill into learning because it should start at home with the child. Then it should continue with the good school.

Blame Schools?! What?!

I absolutely disagree with blaming schools for students not being prepared for college. Sure, there are some situations where schools neglect certain needs.

Other than that, though, I think parents should keep an eye on progress. It's easy to see early on if students are going to be ready, in my opinion. There are only so many things that schools can do. If a student refuses to learn or doesn't want to learn, there's a boundary that schools often can't break, no matter what.

Is School to Blame?

There's been a lot in the news lately about the teaching profession. Some feel that teachers are overpaid for their "part-time jobs" and that the perks teachers receive should be eliminated because workers in the private sector don't receive the same health, dental, and vision coverage. For those of you considering a career in education, this will be a topic of discussion in your classes in college next year.

You don't hear a lot about schools being blamed for not preparing students for the college; usually the blame is doled out on teachers. Click on the title of this post for an article about a mom in Manhattan suing the school her daughter attends because it's not doing an adequate job of preparing her for college.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. No, it's not related to King Lear or A Thousand Acres, but it's still discussion worthy. And while there is NEVER enough time in our daily class for discussion, it's always nice to get a little blog-chatter going.

Happy reading!

-MCC

Plagiarism and Politics

Click on the title of this post for an op-ed piece from the New York Times about politicians (and other grown-ups who should know better) and plagiarism. When adults do it, they don't just fail the assignment on the assignment. Check it out... 

Registering for the AP Exam

AP warriors-

A friendly reminder from your local AP English teacher that the registration fee for the Thursday, May 5 AP English Literature and Composition exam is due Wednesday, March 16th, to Ms. Cuthbert.

A check for $87 should be made payable to Lakeshore High School. Giving your check to Ms. Cuthbert automatically registers you for the exam. There are no additional forms you need to complete.

If you have questions about the day of the exam, please contact Melinda Grashius or Kim Klotz in the guidance office at Lakeshore High School at (269) 428-1579.

If you have questions or concerns about taking the exam and would like to discuss it with me further, please email me. You are not required to take the exam, but I certainly don't want anyone to feel that they shouldn't take it.


Click on the title of this post and you'll be directed to the link for AP credit policy search window. Type in the name of the prospective college or university you may be attending next fall (or transferring to later) and you will see what scores are accepted for credit on the AP Lit exam. Remember, there may be different scores for different AP exams.

It's the weekend. Hopefully you have some extra time to ask Mom or Dad for a check. Put it in an envelope, tuck it in your copy of King Lear or A Thousand Acres so you remember to bring it to school.

Happy reading!

-MCC

Autobiographical Statement

You'll be getting your autobiographical statements back from Wiz tomorrow. I have asked several of you to revise and re-submit your statement for Friday. There were some grammatical and diction problems that I brought to your attention for correction, and I want to see BOTH your rough draft (the one I corrected) and your revised final draft on Friday.

Some of you were NOT asked to re-submit for Friday, however, I found some kind of grammatical or diction issue in all of the statements I read. Please be sure to make the necessary corrections for your senior portfolio.

Once you have revised your statements, would you mind emailing a copy to me? I'm always looking for GOOD examples to show future senior English classes, and the ones I received this year were excellent!

Happy March!! Didn't I tell you this month would bring good things? The sun is shining, you didn't have to come to school today, it's Lena's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LENA!), and all is right with the world!!

Stop by tomorrow afternoon if you have any questions. Don't forget - if you missed class on Monday, you need to see me tomorrow or Thursday to make up the Shakespeare video and notes.

Carry on, warriors.

-MCC

This week 28 February - 4 March

So long February, don't let the door hit you on the way out!

I don't know about you, but March always puts me in a better mood. Spring is on its way, the holiest of high holidays, St. Patrick's Day, arrives in the third week of the month, and we're that much closer to longer, warmer days when we spring forward for daylight savings time. What could be better??

Well, for starters...Reading Shakespeare!!

Here's an overview of the week with some reminders for those who will be gone on Monday for choir festival and Science Olympiad.

Monday - You'll be viewing an A&E biography on William Shakespeare and taking notes on a video guide. I'm collecting this as an assignment, so if you are leaving for Science Olympiad, I expect you to come in after school to make up the viewing. This can be done Wednesday or Thursday. Please make arrangements to do so and let me know when you will be staying after.

Choir doesn't leave until 9, so the choir members should be able to see all of the video and get the notes.

Alex and Julio - be sure to grab your copies of King Lear and handouts from the absent folder.

Tuesday - Enjoy your day off!!
If you didn't show me your resume at the end of class Friday, I'd like to give it a once-over before the end of the week. A few errors were spotted in the ones I did see and I'd like to make sure you are making those corrections for the final copy for your senior portfolio. If you haven't finished your resume, Tuesday would be a good day to do that.

Also - don't put off A Thousand Acres. I'm finalizing a reading schedule that shows the progression of the play and the novel so you can see how far you should be while we read the play. It would be of GREAT BENEFIT if you read up to page 19 of Acres by Wednesday because that is roughly where the action of King Lear  begins to parallel the novel.

Don't forget that you are expected to complete a reading log for A Thousand Acres (no vocabulary list). Feel free to offer insights on the character, tone, themes, plot, etc., as well as make connections between the novel and the play. It's important that you work to recognize the similar themes and make distinctions about how Acres adapts those themes for a modern setting.

Wednesday and Thursday - Mr. Wismer is subbing for me in his room, so please report to Wiz's room on both days for class. He will have the lesson plan, Act I reading list, and Act I discussion questions for you. You should roughly be able to cover Act I, scenes i-iv (probably not all of scene iv, but part of it).

Do your best to answer the discussion questions as you read the play. We'll go over the more difficult questions together on Friday.

If someone has signed up for a part, but is absent that day, could one of you please fill in? There were several parts that were not spoken for in class on Friday. Alex and Julio, be sure you sign up to read during one of the days. If everyone has read and there are still parts available, it's fine if you double up. And remember...no read=no participation points.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are absent either Wednesday or Thursday, be sure to make up the reading for Lear on your own. Communicate with your classmates about how far they read so you know where you need to be for the next class.

Friday - We will go over discussion questions, discuss the opening scenes of Act I, and finish the background lecture I started on Friday.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

-MCC

Shakespeare

URGHH!!! I'm a day late but it's better than nothing!

I believe Shakespeare deserves all the credit he has received over the years. When first studying his work I was skeptical due to his time period and writing style. Fortunately, I ended up loving his work and actually enjoyed studying it also. The say his writing flows is unbelievable and he is very talented.

I believe if he tried starting his popularity in today's society it would be different. Since everyone has access to the Internet and a proper education, there are many different personalities that have a say in what is "good" or "bad" literature. During his time not many people had the opportunity to learn like we do now. If he was to get started in today's society he would have many more critics. It seems like many people jump to conclusions and like to complain about things so they would try to shut down his style before even giving him a fair chance. Many times today people do not like diversity so his older style would have a difficult time becoming well-known.

However, for the people who do take the time to read his work and give it a chance, they would discover his talent and beautiful work quickly. I believe that from that point on people would learn that he is a very talented man who deserves recognition. As for contemporary authors who could stand beside Shakespeare, I am not sure. Many times I wonder if some of the talented dramatists and poets of today would be more popular if they lived many years ago when people weren't so critical and not everyone had the opportunity to have a good education.

-Lisa :)

Shakespeare

I believe that Shakespeare is every bit deserving of the fame he has. He has written many stories, many of which are interesting. Some of them may be over hyped, but most of them are for the right reasons.

I do not think another Shakespeare will happen. The world is not focused enough on musical plays and literature. There may be another person equally as famous, but it will be for a different reason.

For the third question, I think that there may be many authors just as good as Shakespeare, but they are unrecognized. The world today does not value these things as much anymore, as I said in the last question. Many great works will appear, but they will never be placed alongside Shakespeare.

Shakespear today

I personally don't believe that he would've had as great as impact today as he did in his time. I think he's a good writer and definitely would've had a name. I don't think he was as good as all of the hype, just that compared to writers of his time and the drought of good workers in literature, he seemed like the best thing. Not to understate him because the guy can write, just that I personally don't think he deserved to be followed around by disciples with palms in their hands. I think that, nowadays, there are a lot of writers. A good majority of those writers actually are good, but only a handful are really noteworthy. However, those that are noteworthy are excellent!

Krysta

King Lear/Shakespeare

I believe Shakespeare deserves all of his popularity because his work is actually very good. However, I do struggle understanding all that he says because it's complicated. Many authors today are good writers but I don't believe that they can compare to Shakespeare. The reason being is what Shakespeare wrote was so different and better than what other authors can do. I enjoy the authors of today but none of them can stand next to Shakespeare in comparison.

Shakespeare

I think Shakespeare does deserve the popularity that he has earned as an influential poet and dramatist. His works are read in schools and everyone knows Shakespeare’s name. I agree with Meg about his work being beautifully written. As time continues to go by Shakespeare has kept his popularity instead of it diminishing.
I don’t think that another Shakespeare is possible in a world where just anyone can write. I also agree with Alex that since literature is being mass produced it isn’t as special. That is one thing that I think is so great about Shakespeare’s work, there weren’t as many writers back then so he stood out more.
Personally I don’t think there are any contemporary authors who can earn a place by Shakespeare. Shakespeare was a writer of great works and people who write now may write good pieces of literature but they will never be on the same level to me.

King Lear

Hey look at me, I'm actually getting this assignment done early :)

From what I have read of his works, I think that Shakespeare completely deserves the popularity he has earned over the years. He wrote some of the greatest literary works that are still studied to this day. Between the struggles with being accepted by society and bringing a new art form into light, Shakespeare worked hard to earn recognition, and I think that he should be celebrated for this. It is just unfortunate that it took so long for Shakespeare to get the attention that he deserved all along.

With all the technology these days, I completely agree with Kyle in that someone like Shakespeare could become well known much quicker and earn more recognition through modern communication. That being said, I still do not think that it would be possible to have another Shakespeare in our modern society. People just do not appreciate great literary works like they should anymore because most literature is mass produced and is not as special. Shakespeare's works were meant to be appreciated and thought about, but people today just do not have the patience for longer poems and plays. Even though it would be great to have someone as inspiring and great as Shakespeare to change our views of literature, I do not think someone like this would be successful in our fast-paced society.

While Shakespeare has inspired many modern works (just look at "West Side Story"), I do not think that anyone in the recent past could be compared to him or other great authors from history. Over the centuries, writing has become less and less appreciated and authors have stopped caring about writing "great works." The quality of these literature has declined in my opinion, so cannot be compared to Shakespeare's works. Even though there are authors and poets that are very well known, none have been appreciated for as long as Shakespeare.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, and I don't know about you guys but I am really loving seeing the rain outside :)

King Lear Question

For the first part, yes I do believe that Shakespeare deserves the popularity he has. His pieces are wonderfully written, contain fantastic plot lines and are some of the best works ever. If someone works hard enought to produce all these works, he definitely deserves all the credit.

Even though today's culture provides many different ways to express oneself, I don't think another Shakespeare is possible. Just like some old movies are NOT meant to be remade, one can never redo what Shakespeare without it being tacky and not measuring up to his work. If something isn't broken, don't fix it.

And lastly, I am really not sure if any authors are similar to Shakespeare today. Honestly, the books that I read are not written by any similarly Shakespearian authors. Since we are going to read "A Thousand Acres", which is based on a Shakesperian play, I would assume that author is sort of Shakespeare-esque.

I hope this is the kind of answer you wanted. I hope everyone is having/has a great four-day weekend!

New York Times

First, I do believe that Shakespeare does deserve the credit that he has been bestowed hundreds of years after his death. It certainly must take a lot of talent and determination to write a play or collection of poems, let alone composing really good ones. Especially since they are still referred to in this day and age.
Second, I think that Shakespeare could have survived in today's high-tech world. It is with frightening ease that we can send and recieve information, even on a global scale. It would be much easier for his plays to be heard about, shown and praised with the internet and other media that we have today.
Third, I am not 100% confident that a 20th or 21st century author could come up to par with The Bard. Writing styles of this day are different than they were when Shakespeare was alive. The world has undergone some growth. The language that we write and speak, though fundamentally the same, has changed as well. So, no, I don't belive that any modern writers could compare with Shakespeare because they are so different already that it would be unfair to compare the two.

NY Times Response

Yes I read Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade, but other than that I really don't know a lot about Shakespeare. I absolutely loved Romeo and Juliet, however, so I can say that from my experience, I think he earned and deserved it. I'm not sure if he became popular during his own time or not, but I have a feeling though maybe he was known during his time, his real popularity and respect came much later.

To respond to him being as popular today with the internet and such, I think it could happen. But, just like it was back then, I don't think he'd be extremely respected until later after his death. I only think this if he had not existed before, though. Knowing him now, I don't think there's anyone now who could replace him or even "out do" him in his level on the "FANTASTIC LITERATURE" (hhahaha) scale. I can't make up my mind though, because from another angle, he might be even bigger than he was then because of the internet. Information spreads like wildfire now, so maybe he would be known and respected even quicker!

I don't know too much about him, like I said, so I don't have a very intelligent response, but that's what I have :)

Reponse to Shakespeare :)

Okay. So I just typed my whoooooole response...and it's gone. I don't know where it is. Somewhere in the world wide web...this is unfortunate.

I guess I really don't have a choice but to retype it :(

As for the first question, I do believe that Shakespeare deserves the popularity that he earned. I mean, he EARNED it. He wrote great literature and worked very hard and people love it, so yes he does deserve it.

I don't think another Shakespeare is possible. If it is, it will be very difficult. Shakespeare changed English literature and made a huge impact. I don't think anyone will ever be able to do that.

My previous answer also kind of answers the third question about there being any comtemporary writers like Shakespeare. And again, I don't think there are. I don't read very much "hardcore" literature, but I have heard that John Donne and John Milton are VERY good writers, but still not as good as Shakespeare.

So I hope this post went as it was supposed to...I wasn't really sure how long it was supposed to be but I think this should cover it :)

*excitement*

I just wanted to say how excited I am to read King Lear with everyone!!! It's one of my more favored Shakespearean dramas and I hope you will enjoy it as I have. Now I just have to make sure I keep my mouth shut so I don't give away the ending! :) Plus I've never read it with a group before so it will give the story a whole new dynamic. Yay reading! ^.^

Would the Bard Have Survived the Web?

There is an interesting op-ed piece in The New York Times today about whether or not Shakespeare would be as popular in a world where internet piracy, eBooks, and file sharing are as common place as status updates.

As we start our journey with King Lear in the next unit, I'd like to hear your thoughts on Shakespeare. Does he deserve the popularity he has earned as an influential poet and dramatist? Do you think another Shakespeare is possible in a world where writing and internet communication have become accessible to everyone and not just the "learned"? Are there any contemporary authors (think 20th and 21st century) that could earn a place alongside Shakespeare and other well-known writers of literary history? A little 'food for thought' as we set sail for the kingdom of Lear.

I'd like to see a response from each of you before next Thursday, February 24. We'll be launching into Lear then and I'd like to get a feel for your views on Shakespeare and his influence.

Lions, tigers, and $@&%, oh my!

AP warriors-

A question has been posed about the selection of songs with colorful
language in the lyrics. As long as the song doesn't rely on the naughty bits as the main theme, a bleep or three are fine. Example: Cee-Lo's "Forget" You" is out.

Any concerns, drop me an email or ask in class.

Rock on, warriors, rock on!

MCC

Irony

Where was this video when we were discussing irony during the poetry unit? Check out the other What You Ought to Know videos on YouTube. Great stuff!

CATCH-22!?!

Remember in the summer when Mrs. Conklin told us it is everywhere? Well, IT IS. Though all of us have talked about how many Catch-22 situations there are in every day life, I'm still shocked every time I hear it. Last night I went to the Economic Growth Alliance meeting at the beach house, and the presenter made a reference to it. I wanted to scream! There were no AP Warriors to understand what I was going through hahah :)

Blog Bam

Just racking some participation points! Who's excited for the Dubliners test?!?!
Oh but a real discussion: did you guys think that Dubliners was a wholly pessimistic book like the question suggested? I thought no but i wanted to hear your thoughts!!!
happy hunting
krysta

Due Dates

I just want to make sure of the due date of the paper. It is on Friday, correct?

Yaaaay for the snowpocalypse!

How is everyone's snow day? I'm actually doing our paper right now, and I've only talked about two stories so far and am at three pages. I didn't think I'd know enough about the stories to even get two pages but now I'm having trouble cutting it down! Maybe I'll make the font smaller? Hope everyone is doing okay with the paper. It's taking a long time but not too hard!

Ivy Day in the Committee Room

I don't understand this story at all as far as epiphany or paralysis go. Does anyone understand it that could explain this to me?

Dubliners Writing Assignment

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous day off! I am really having a problem with how to address the topics of paralysis and epiphany. I undestand where they are used, but I am not really sure what Mrs. Conklin wants us to write. HELP ME!!

I have started reading Dubliners also and for the people who havent started reading it yet: Dont jump right into the story. Read the notes that are in the book before the actual stories start. This helped me a lot. It helped me understand what I was going to be reading and what to look for in the stories. Hope this helps!

Two Gallants

I've gone through each story a few times, trying to figure out the paralysis or epiphany. The Two Gallants doesn't make any sense to me, what is Joyce talking about?