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. :)