Fire Up AP Warriors!!

This is it!! The week we've been building up to over the last year - the AP EXAM!!



Ok, it's not going to be nearly as bad as THAT looks!! Is it??

Of course not! You're prepared, you're skilled, you know what "zeugma" means!! Here are a few reminders for the week.

1. For the 12 AP Exam takers on Thursday, please communicate with your AM odd day teachers about being gone. The staff has been informed, but the responsible thing to do would be to get your work TOMORROW or Wednesday since we don't have school on Friday.

2. Don't forget about the AP exam study session on Wednesday. 6:30-9:00 PM in the Community Room at the Bridgman Public Library. You can bring snacks, we just need to be sure we clean up before we leave. We will NOT be in the main library, just the community room inside the front doors.

3. AP English Literature and Composition exam on Thursday at Lakeshore HS. Parking is near the auditorium (north end of the school campus) and between the school and football field (south end of the school campus) Plan to arrive at 7:20 AM so you can park and get to your designated test room on time.

4. On the day of the test, don't forget...



Rule out the two answers you KNOW are wrong - this prevents random guessing
Dress in layers - the room could be chilly or warm
#2 pencils made of wood, not plastic mechanical ones

Click on the title of this posting for a link to the College Board Exam Day tips list. And visit www.collegeboard.com for more information about exam scores and credit policies.

But most of all, remember how insanely proud I am of the hard work you have put into this class and for taking the risk of being my "guinea pigs" as the first AP class at BHS!

Good luck and go with your gut!!

Happy 446th Birthday Will!!

William Shakespeare's birthday is Friday, April 23. In recognition, the city of Chicago has named April 23 "Talk like Shakespeare" day. Click the website link in this post's title.

And for a little Shakespearean fun, see the following website for a plethora of Shakespearean insults http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html
I'm going to click through a few times to see if I can find one from the exchange between Kent and Oswald in Act II, scene ii of King Lear. Insults galore!!

Essay contest for an iPad

Our friends at Shmoop have an essay contest going where the winner receives a FREE Apple iPad!!! How cool is that? Click on the title of this post for more details.

Bonjour!! I guess there's never been a better time to read a book with so much French in it.

I do have a question though... who the heck are " the lovers." They seem to be referred to very often, but I don't understand who they are. Maybe I missed some sort of explanation at the beginning, but I don't know.

Don't be afraid of what you've learned...

This is a song, Blitzen Trapper: Furr, and I was listening to it on my way to Minnesota (!!!) when I started thinking about the Apollonian and Dionysian ways that people live.

The man joins a wolf pack and describes how he turned to the wild and let the Dionysian traits take hold:

"And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong

For my flesh had turned to fur
Yeah, and my thoughts they surely were

Turned to instinct and obedience to God"

Oh the ways that we can relate literature to our everyday lives...

So, as Blitzen Trapper says in the song,

If you're gonna get made

Don't be afraid of what you've learned...

Shmoop

I believe Shmoop came up in Thursday's class. Mr. Noll informed me last fall of Shmoop's literature guides and teacher resources, but like most things, it slipped under the radar. This is my favourite description from the "Why You Should Care" opener for The Awakening

Nowadays, Edna would be an artist – you know, paint always under her fingernails. She’d dig smocked dresses and the skinny jeans trend. Not to mention sexual liberation. But in The Awakening, Edna drowns. And that, more than anything else, tells you why you should care.

Even if you didn't have to read this book, wouldn't the mention of skinny jeans and sexual liberation get you to pick it up? Ok, maybe not...

If you are waiting out the rain and wind like I am (or just being plain lazy on Day 2 of Spring Break 2010) check out Shmoop.

The painting featured in this post is titled The Awakening Conscience by William Holman Hunt

It was painted fifty years before Chopin wrote her novel, but could easily serve as a representation of Edna Pontellier.

Prestwick Pictures

On the way down to Florida I started reading The Awakening. A couple chapters in, I noticed that the picture at the beginning of each chapter wasn't the same, which caused great excitement. As the book progresses, the girl's eyes in the picture begin to open. The pupils and the iris begin to become more defined. Finally the picture isn't the same!

Letting Students Choose Their Own Books?

The Canadian Newspaper The Globe and Mail features a story about how letting students choose the books they want to read makes them better readers. Your thoughts?

Fool by Christopher Moore

This is the book Charlie was talking about in class today. It is written from the perspective of Pocket, Lear's fool, and sounds downright hysterical. Thanks for sharing, Charlie! Click on the post title to access a link to the Barnes and Noble review.

I've got a B&N gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I might just have to pick this one up over break.

Harvard bashes AP courses

Interesting article on a recent book published by Harvard Education Press. There are some interesting views on the value of AP courses and the dangers of "teaching to the test"

It presents some good insights. I'm intersted in your thoughts as "near" alums of the first AP class at BHS.

Is it Spring Break Yet????

The answer is no. Sorry.

But we're close, oh yes, we're oh so close!

Did you submit your Law Day Essay? You have 18 more minutes (as of now) to email your essay along with the required info (see previous post) to David_L_Grumbine@Whirlpool.com

For tomorrow's class: please complete the reading of Heart of Darkness along with your vocabulary list for the novel. You should average around 10 words a chapter (a minimum of 30 words).

Your critical examination question is also due. This should be typed, double spaced, 1-2 pages.

See you Thursday!! And remember, the best reading position for the last chapter of Heart of Darkness is sitting upright in an uncomfortable chair with plenty of light and the book open before you on a hard surface. Reading on the couch, in bed, or in a hammock may result in literary apnea - falling asleep while reading.

Heart of Darkness Audiobook!

I hope this works for everyone :) it helped me through 1984 and this book!

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 on Wednesday, March 31, at 4 PM. I am willing to drop off your essay and don't forget you can email your essay (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)

The essay can be emailed to David_L_Grumbine@Whirlpool.com
or faxed (269) 923-3919

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

Email me if you have any questions. I'd be happy to give your essay a quick look before you submit it.

Citing dialogue from Lear...and MORE!!

If you are citing a dialogue exchange between two or more characters from King Lear, you should SINGLE space and block indent (always use a single space indented block quote when citing more than three (3) lines). It should look something like this:
Goneril: Dad is out of control
Regan: This is true. What do we do?
Goneril: No matter what he says, we're cutting his entourage of
knights and not letting him in to the castle.
Regan: But it's storming and really nasty outside.
Goneril: Seriously, Regan, you're such a daddy's girl.
(act. scene. lines)

If you have additional citation questions, see the website from Colby on the back of the assignment handout or drop an email my way.

And thanks to Allie for this clip of the 1974 production of King Lear with James Earl Jones as Lear. And you thought he was good as Darth Vader...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftW7WcoOuU8&feature=related

King Lear/A Thousand Acres

Please be sure to bring your copy of A Thousand Acres to class on Wednesday, March 10. You will have a writing response on ATA due Friday and depending how long it takes to get through the first part of Act IV, you may have time to get started on your homework.

Remember to bring both the play and the novel with you to each class. On the odd day that we finish early (yes, I know this has yet to happen) you can fill your extra time getting caught up on the outside of class reading.

And speaking of that out of class reading, hopefully you were able to make some headway on A Thousand Acres. We only have three more classes before we finish Lear and Act V is a short act.

ALSO: This is a reminder that your registration and check for the AP English exam is due MARCH 17 (a week from this Wednesday). Checks should be made payable to Lakeshore High School and should be dropped off in the guidance office. Please see me or Ms. Cuthbert if you have any questions.