Goodmorning :)

I am off to work soon but figured I would post something beforehand. I'm approximately 1/4 of the way through Catch 22. I've been super busy and struggling with it still. I'm really trying to just relax and read it. I just finished the part about signing the loyalty oathes. I found that to be comical, because the ridiculous things they were doing doesn't even seem like patriotism or pride to their country. Seriously, I feel really bad for Major Major and I think Yossarian is the only one thats not crazy. True?

Progress

As of today I am more than halfway through Catch-22, which I was extremely excited about. Milo is quite the character... I'm not sure I understand his logic still on how he makes a profit, but I suppose things must be working for him.

Literary Quiz o' the Day winner...

It was on this day in 1613 that a historic literary landmark burned to the ground in London? What landmark was it?

Nicole Pike was the first to respond with the Globe Theatre.

On this day in 1613, the Globe Theatre burned down. It was built by Shakespeare's acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, in 1599. It was a round, wooden building with thatched-roof balconies for the gentry. A cannon was fired during a performance of Henry VIII to mark the King's entrance, the thatched roof caught fire, and the whole theater was lost in an hour. It was rebuilt the next year, but taken down in 1644 to make space for tenements, after the Puritans closed all theaters. A replica, the new Globe Theatre, was built in the mid-1990s.

Nancy Pearl's Best Summer Book List

Librarian Nancy Pearl picks her favorite books for summer reading. Click on the post title and you should be re-directed to the NPR article.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

I sent an email about this, but I figured I would post this on the blog as well. Mrs. Richardson at the Bridgman Public Library has purchased five copies of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the book I referred to as recommended reading at our meeting in June. You can email Mrs. Richardson (carol@bridgmanlibrary.com) to reserve a copy or stop in at the library to check one out. This book is still recommended, not required, but it certainly provides some interesting insights in helping you become a stronger, more efficient reader.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts/reactions if you happen to check this out as part of your summer reading.

Purdue University

Mr. Hutfilz passed this along to me and I thought I would share it with all of you. A little FYI for anyone considering Purdue University.

*As of 2011, Purdue will not even look at an application unless the student has 4 years of high school math
*If their high school offers AP classes and the student doesn't take any AP classes, their application is automatically denied.

Question

In Catch-22, I keep reading about men getting their "gums and toes painted purple" by doctors when they get injured. I talked to my dad and we figured it was some kind of medicine but we don't really know what? Any ideas?

Literary Quiz o' the Day

It's the birthday of the English author, born in Bengal, India, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair.
What was his pen name?

question for conklin

Ok so I have a question on the reading log. So when you have to do the part "The Book says...." what do you do if its not a certain quote you want to talk about, if its something a character did or if you want to comment on a whole page, can you just sum it up?

not sure.....

So I'm not sure how I'm liking Pride Prejudice. I guess I don't dislike it, I think I need to give it more time. Some of it is hard to understand, I have to go back and reread whole pages. Conversations between people is probably whats giving me the most trouble, for example I just finished chapter 10 and Darcy and Bingleys' back and forth argument was a little confusing.

Catch -22

Alright so far this book is not my favorite. At all. I'm a little over 70 pages in and as of now I'm not seeing much of a plot. My dad recently read this book and he said it gets better as you get into it, and I'm hoping that this will be the case. Yossarian is an interesting character and difficult to figure it out. But hopefully more will be revealed as the book goes on. I'm looking forward to getting farther into the book.

yay ap

strange

This was very confuzzeling!!! Thank you Allie for helping me set up a gmail account that I will only use for this blog thing! I'm really enjoying "Catch-22" (sorry, couldnt find underline)MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR!!!! That poor fellow had a messed up life. Some of the characters are strange and I believe that all but Yossarian are insane!

Happy summer to all, and to all a good beach!!

Literary Quiz o' the Day winner...

And the winner of today's quiz is....Jill Bender! Jill was the first to correctly respond to today's literary quiz:

It's the birthday of the author who is responsible for two thriller mysteries that have become Hollywood blockbusters. HINT: a Harvard symbologist appears in both of them... Who is it?

Jill's answer of Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, was received at 8:36 AM. Granted, your insane teacher was up at 5:30 AM, which is why today's quiz was announced at 6:15 AM. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to keep up with us!

Running LQotD tally..
Caroline Pfliger - 10 AP bonus points and $1
Jill Bender - 10 AP bonus points and $1

Tune in next time to see what literary trivia awaits you when we play......
BHS - AP English Lit and Comp's "Literary Quiz o' the Day"

Happy reading...

Music and Books

As you may have noticed on the left side of the blog, I have listed some books I am reading (and the required texts) as well as music for your listening pleasure. Please feel free to comment on what books and/or artists/bands you'd like to see added. This blog's for all of us, and I'd like to make these suggested lists more inclusive. What would you like me to add?