december 13

JOURNAL TOPIC:
[force of habit. still, I'm wondering: are you thinking anything interesting?  bet you are.  or maybe you're just wondering why I'm not capitalizing anything here ee cummings style.  what if you got in the habit of writing your thoughts down on a regular basis without being asked?  what would that do for you?]

AGENDA:
1. Return/discuss essays
2. Final planning & big questions

HW:
Be a better person today than you were yesterday.

just so you know i wasn't kidding

After making those comments in class just now I looked back to see if I could find this... Check out the date.  At least once a semester ever since.

december 12

JOURNAL TOPIC:
[Just kidding.]

AGENDA:
1. Return/discuss essays
2. Summative assessments for the semester
3. Planning for the week

december 9: fall semester final essay prompt

According to author Salman Rushdie:

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep." 

Ordinarily, a student's job is more like, "Get to class on time, do your homework, stay out of trouble, get good grades, and make adults proud of you."

Today you are a poet.

Analyze Rushdie's quote and contribute your own verse(s).  Write an essay in which you explain yourself as a learner in this course.  Describe how reading the texts and listening to discussion has advanced your thinking and enabled you to more effectively participate in the world outside high school.  In the process, address as many of the elements below as you can.  Please remember to do a pre-write (heaven knows you'll need to organize this!) and if you use this semester's vocabulary words please underline them.

• Explain the theme, tone, and mood you associate with Rushdie's words, and analyze in terms of diction and syntax
• Address ethos, pathos, and logos as rhetorical tools (and use your own truthful premises and sound reasoning to persuade the reader)
• Explain how the juxtaposition of this quote with the role of the student addresses intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
• Include at least three examples of literary devices and/or quotes (with citations) from this semester's readings that illustrate and/or support your points

Please make sure to use blue or black ink.  Please write on one side of the paper only and write your name on all pages you submit.  Please (please, PLEASE) proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  And-- however perverse this may strike you-- have fun.  You have learned a great deal this semester; this is your hour to show off.

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/salmanrush107281.html

healthy kids survey

Please take the Healthy Kids Survey.  If you'd like the grade bump on your final (and why wouldn't you?!?) please complete the survey and post the the image on the last page (see below) to your blog by Monday morning.

Here's how to take the survey and post the image:

1. Go to surveys.wested.org/chks/YD696PW?lang=en
2. Enter School Code (case sensitive): WQ27QE
3. Take the survey
4. Take a screen shot of the last page and post to your blog.  It looks like this:

december 8

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Beginnings" by Chicago]

This is your last journal entry for the semester.

What have you learned in this course so far?  About English/rhetoric/story/communication?  About learning?  About yourself and what you want out of life?  About [?]?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Final review

HW:
Get a good night's sleep and look forward to tomorrow's exam in a post entitled WOW, THAT WAS QUICK

december 7

JOURNAL TOPIC:
*Surprise!* What a terrible thing to say on the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Homo Sapiens are the only animals that contemplate our futures (and imagine our own deaths)-- why is it important to remember the way things were even as we contemplate what will come? 

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Final review