Dear AP English Class:

I hope this year has been going well as far as reading etc. I am in English now at Michigan, and couldn't help but think of you all. Hopefully everyone dutifully checks the blog so you will see this post.

Love,

Jill

Rape of the Lock

I just wanted to add a few thought of my own about The Rape of the Lock... Although I was a little worried at first about reading an epic poem and all of the "old English" language that comes along with it, I now find myself falling in love with this poem. I love how everything is exaggerated and I can even understand most of the language in the poem. The fact that the poem ties in with Greek mythology is absolutely brilliant as well, and makes the poem very interesting for me. So far, The Rape of the Lock ranks right up there with Pride and Prejudice and I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings on my list. We'll see if it gets any better/worse as time goes on...

Hope to see you all at the swim meet tomorrow, we need all the cheering we can get as we face off against St. Joe. I'm nervous already!!

Study Guide for Rape of the Lock

Hey AP Warriors!

The website I've been using to help with Rape of the Lock is http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/Pope.html It's really helpful and really nice if you forgot your book at school! haha! Enjoy!

F in Participation?!

NO WAY. I think it is because of my lack of blog-posting, so here we go. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an amazing book. It really made me appreciate my life. From growing up in a segregated and horribly racist community, to being taken advantage of and eventually raped by her mother's boyfriend, to finally learning about herself in ways she never knew and having a son because of it, Maya Angelou's life was incredibly eventful. Not always in a good way, either. I give Maya a lot of credit for the hard life she lived. As I was reading this book I related times in my life to it, and thought, I had it so lucky. When my parents divorced, as a six year old, I thought my world was over. However, being sent on a train with no adult as a six year old in the same situation with just tags around your neck is much worse. I am extremely lucky to have the life I do, considering my parents divorce. Many kids don't have nice lives, just like Maya, when their parents don't stay together, so it makes me proud that I have been able, thanks to my mom and step dad, to keep my life organized and sane, even. I feel like if I didn't have my parents to influence me like they have(for the bad qualities as well, mind you), I would have had a fall just like Maya did. However, towards the end of the book, she picked herself up again, and I give her props for that as well. It's not easy to pick up your life from something bad, and it took a lot of determination and bravery on her part.

Well, I think this post is sufficient. I hope everyone else loved their third book. However, I know it was not as good as the one that Lisa, Kelsey, and Alex chose with me! :)

Book 3: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Okay, my third book is definitely my favorite so far. It's REALLY good. I know that Alex and Lena are reading it too...I'm not sure who else. What do you guys think? It's one of those books that I just can't put down. It's strange because for some reason I thought this book would be my least favorite.

Reading

So I LOVE to read and I have sooo many books I want to read and that I've wanted to read over summer but I haven't been able to because of AP books. Is this a problem for anyone else... or just me?

Book 3

I am reading the same book as Lena, and so far it is quite good. I was wondering, however, if we need to do the Reading Log and Vocab like the last two books? I'm assuming we have to, but it would be great to know for sure before I get too far into the book :)

One whole day of school down, so many more to go... We can do it though! Good luck with homework all of you, I know I'm going to need all the luck I can get...

BOOK THREE :)

So, to be honest, I really, really disliked Pride and Prejudice. I thought that I didn't like Catch-22, but the more I read P&P, the more I realized that Catch-22 isn't so bad. When I looked back on it I thought it was funnier than when I was reading it. It took me forever to read Pride and Prejudice, or so it seemed. I just felt like it kept going, and going, and going, and going, etc. But oh well, on to book three! I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has started out as a really good book, actually. I was uneasy about it considering the lack of interest in the other two books, but this one has caught my attention. I love Maya and Momma. I'm only on chapter 10, I believe. So far it's wonderful!

Hope everyone else is doing well with their books!

Who else is reading the same as me?
What do you think of it?

Welcome Back!

It was great to see your smiling faces this morning! Hope you had a wonderful first day of your senior year!!

I forgot to mention an exciting Shakespeare opportunity in our own backyard. This week, a performance of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed at Notre Dame's Washington Hall by the Actors from the London Stage - a professional acting company from London. The performances are Wednesday - Friday, September 8-10. I was thinking about heading down for the Thursday performance since there is a home football game on Friday. The performance is at 7:30 and we will carpool from BHS. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP so I can order tickets. Reply to this post or email me at sconklin@bridgmanschools.com  Student tickets are $12.

For more information about the performance, click on the post title above to be directed to the play's web page.

See you in class on Wednesday!

:3 Time for Number Three

I had such a difficult time with Pride and Prejudice. From the sound of it, I'm the complete opposite from everyone else, haha. I'm excited to read Frankenstein, though! BUT I'm wondering, Who else is reading the same book? If you are, you should definitely let me know! :)

P&P

Well, I finished Pride and Prejudice. It seemed like it was longer than Catch 22 but it was definitely an easier read for me. So yeah. Now I guess we just wait to school starts...darn.

Dear Old Books

The assignments for Book #2 of your summer AP reading trickled in during the end of the week before the Friday deadline. Thanks to those who were so prompt in getting your work in. I'm working on some homework of my own, due September 1st to my grad school mentor. It may be cliche', but I do feel your pain with the summer assignments. It's been a while since your fearless leader has had homework!

Click on the title of the post for an article from the UK's Telegraph newspaper regarding the Oxford English Dictionary. You may recall me mentioning the premier authority on the English language. Only two complete OEDs have been published (they take several decades to compile) and it looks like the third OED will NOT be available in print. Read the article to find out why. And I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this...

Book #3, the book you are reading along with other AP students in smaller groups, should be completed by Wednesday, September 23. This will follow our discussion of Catch-22 and Pride and Prejudice, as well as the test over these two books. It would be a good idea to review your reading logs for Book #1 in the days before we come back to school.

Enjoy your last week of freedom! I'll be at school on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, so if you're around feel free to stop by my room.

Happy reading!

-MCC

P and P

Im finished with P & P!! YES!! I never write out the whole title because I can never remember how to spell it!! I always get the "Pride and__" but I always have to look at the book to figure out how to spell the second word and it drives me crazy! :)

mwahahahaha!!

DONE!!!!! :) This makes me very happy indeed!

Here we go...

8 days and 41 chapters to go...

:/