PLEASE BRING YOUR BOOK (you know--that cool one with the white cover that has that name...what's that name? Oh you know what I mean!) TOMORROW (Monday) TO CLASS.
SPREAD THE WORD!!!!
***Actual Blog question posted below***
Sunday, September 28, 2008
"I Am Whatever You Say I Am..."
Ahhh...the unwitting brilliance of Eminem. What ever happened to him anyway? Well, where ever he may be, he gave us this week's blog question so clearly he has not outlived his usefulness!
How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...". I know I've said it at least once in the past month! In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?
It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make? One of the overwhelming-but certainly not the ONLY-theme of last week's "Shooting an Elephant" asks us, however indirectly--don't you just love subtext?-- to evaluate such a question. Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences. My question is: Why? Why do we care? Why is it important? Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us? Or do they? Be honest with yourself when you answer. After all, it's just us.
(400 words/55pts)
How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...". I know I've said it at least once in the past month! In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?
It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make? One of the overwhelming-but certainly not the ONLY-theme of last week's "Shooting an Elephant" asks us, however indirectly--don't you just love subtext?-- to evaluate such a question. Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences. My question is: Why? Why do we care? Why is it important? Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us? Or do they? Be honest with yourself when you answer. After all, it's just us.
(400 words/55pts)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Happy Birthday to the Awesomest AP Lang Teacher Ever!!!!!!!!
Everyone wish Bunje a digital happy birthday! Help make this the best birthday ever! It's not too late to come and join the fun! This will be up forever in order to make Bunje feel better whenever she's feeling a little gloomy, so comment away anything that will be inspirational will do!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
All Creatures Great and Small...
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." --Mohandas Ghandi
Even if it wasn't Ghandi that said that, I, animal-lover to the core, would believe it whole-heartedly. Now, in some cases, this makes me a hypocrite because despite my aforementioned affinity for creatures of the four-legged variety, I am NOT a vegetarian. Barbecued chicken or steaks on the grill are way too good for me to pass up, and I NEVER met a burger I didn't like. However, I have been known to start fights with strangers at the dog park because of what I believed to be unnecessarily harsh treatment of their dogs, and I also think the punishments for animal cruelty should be higher than what they are currently. Don't even get me started on Michael Vick. I feel the need to mention all of these things for those of you who are still vexed by my whimsical fascination with fainting goats!
Anyway...
One of the main things that struck me about Alice Walker's essay (the selection for your reading log this week) was her steadfast belief in the idea that animals possess human emotions, i.e. love, despair, loneliness and happiness. There are so many things going on in "Am I Blue" and I am anxious to discuss them with you all during class, but for now, I want you to focus on the notion of anthropomorphism (very similar to personification) so if you are unsure of its definition, please look it up.
First things first--do you have a pet?
What kind? What is his/her name? How did you choose that name?
Do you believe that you can communicate with your pet or with animals in general? Can they communicate with you?
How do you know?
What is your take on the activists that spend hours campaigning for the rights of animals? Are they wasting their time frivolously when they could be helping human beings out there in the world? Do animals even HAVE rights? Should they? Should there be a limit to what people do for them? If so, what is it?
(400 words/45pts)
Even if it wasn't Ghandi that said that, I, animal-lover to the core, would believe it whole-heartedly. Now, in some cases, this makes me a hypocrite because despite my aforementioned affinity for creatures of the four-legged variety, I am NOT a vegetarian. Barbecued chicken or steaks on the grill are way too good for me to pass up, and I NEVER met a burger I didn't like. However, I have been known to start fights with strangers at the dog park because of what I believed to be unnecessarily harsh treatment of their dogs, and I also think the punishments for animal cruelty should be higher than what they are currently. Don't even get me started on Michael Vick. I feel the need to mention all of these things for those of you who are still vexed by my whimsical fascination with fainting goats!
Anyway...
One of the main things that struck me about Alice Walker's essay (the selection for your reading log this week) was her steadfast belief in the idea that animals possess human emotions, i.e. love, despair, loneliness and happiness. There are so many things going on in "Am I Blue" and I am anxious to discuss them with you all during class, but for now, I want you to focus on the notion of anthropomorphism (very similar to personification) so if you are unsure of its definition, please look it up.
First things first--do you have a pet?
What kind? What is his/her name? How did you choose that name?
Do you believe that you can communicate with your pet or with animals in general? Can they communicate with you?
How do you know?
What is your take on the activists that spend hours campaigning for the rights of animals? Are they wasting their time frivolously when they could be helping human beings out there in the world? Do animals even HAVE rights? Should they? Should there be a limit to what people do for them? If so, what is it?
(400 words/45pts)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Men Are From Mars, Women are From Venus? Frankly, I'm Offended.
From its opening passages, one of the premises of Their Eyes Were Watching God is that there are inherent differences (beyond the physical) between the ways in which men and women experience the world.
In your experience, is this true?
Why or why not?
What have you seen, heard, read, and/or experienced that makes you think as you do?
Who has it easier? Explain.
Would you want to trade places, even for a small amount of time with the opposite sex? If so, what would you want to know (school appropriate, please!)? If not, why?
(450 words/65pts)
In your experience, is this true?
Why or why not?
What have you seen, heard, read, and/or experienced that makes you think as you do?
Who has it easier? Explain.
Would you want to trade places, even for a small amount of time with the opposite sex? If so, what would you want to know (school appropriate, please!)? If not, why?
(450 words/65pts)
Friday, September 5, 2008
In the Beginning...
Welcome to your very first 204 blog post. We will be using this blog frequently, both as a tool and a resource to get the most out of our time, and as a place we can go to share thoughts and valuable information and ideas whenever we need to. Each week, there will be a question posted that you all must respond to in the allotted amount of time. These questions may be a jumping off point to class discussions, a support activity to lend insight or knowledge to what we are doing in class, or simply a thought-provoking way to get you to look at the world around you and marvel at your place in it. These questions will not be simplistic, and they should not be done when you only have 5 or so minutes on the computer; rather, they are questions designed to make you think and your posts should reflect that. You will be graded weekly on your responses by their content, so I would encourage you to try to not leave them for the last minute. Each one will have a word minimum, but don't be discouraged by that. I care much more about the quality of the thought you put into your responses rather than the quantity of the words you use.
Now that the formalities are finished, I would like you to consider the following: You are now entering your junior year. Some people say that this is the toughest, most demanding year of high school for a variety of reasons. What do YOU think? Do you have any expectations about what this year should bring? What are you hoping to get out of your AP Lang class and your junior year in general? What are your fears about this class and/or about 11th grade? Are you where you want to be academically, socially, physically etc? If so, how do you know? If not, why do you think you aren't? (300 wrds/25pts)
Now that the formalities are finished, I would like you to consider the following: You are now entering your junior year. Some people say that this is the toughest, most demanding year of high school for a variety of reasons. What do YOU think? Do you have any expectations about what this year should bring? What are you hoping to get out of your AP Lang class and your junior year in general? What are your fears about this class and/or about 11th grade? Are you where you want to be academically, socially, physically etc? If so, how do you know? If not, why do you think you aren't? (300 wrds/25pts)
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