Ketchup

This is awesome. I wish I either
owned this costume or that
my face was Photoshopped
in place of this guy.

I'm very behind. Hence, I need to CATCH UP. See? This is what an English degree gets you: a stranglehold on puns.

Frosh
Monday, September 12 - I assigned your newspaper project. This is a big deal assignment, done in groups, where the goal is to create a newspaper from the point of view of the animals from Animal Farm. The newspaper could either be an official publication under the watchful eye of Napoleon, or it could be an underground newspaper meant to subvert the reign of the pigs. Either way, it has four sections and each person in your group is responsible for at least two articles. However your groups decides to lay it out in terms of size and page length is up to you. This is a chance to be creative and make something that looks visually interesting and exciting, so here's hoping you all do that.

Tuesday, September 13 - While I was gone at a district conference, you used the day to work on the newspaper project.

Wednesday, September 14 - Lather, rinse, and repeat, since the conference was two days long.

Thursday, September 15 - We revised Jane Schaffer-style chunks in class, making sure that you had a concrete detail sentence followed by two commentary sentences. You took what we did in class and created two more chunks based on the characters about which you had already written.

Friday, September 16 - You received another in-class work day to further your progress on the newspaper project.

Monday, September 19 - We began looking at the elements of character in class. The first of our two big ideas was to understand direct and indirect characterization. Keep in mind that direct characterization is easy, as it's a stated fact the narrator states about the character, while indirect characterization requires analysis on the part of the reader based on the actions, words and descriptions of the characters. The other big idea is to focus on internal and external conflict. Emotionally struggling with an idea is internal, while physically struggling against an outside force is external.

Tuesday, September 20 - Yet another meeting prevented me from being present in class despite being present on campus. You read "The Interlopers," containing one of my favorite single word endings in a short story, and completed the characterization sheet to the best of your ability.

Wednesday, September 21 - You received yet another day to work on your newspaper project.

Thursday, September 22 - Read the description for September 21 because the same applies here.

Friday, September 23 - We finished going over the elements of character, exploring flat and round characters as well as static and dynamic characters. Remember that round characters can be static or dynamic, while flat characters are always going to be static. Also, we discovered how detrimental poor directions can be on assignments when I am not present, and I asked you to revise your characterization worksheets with more specific instructions.

Seniors
Monday, September 12 - We listened to Blues Traveler's "The Hook" and explored the idea of saying a whole lot while claiming to say nothing.

Tuesday, September 13 - I was gone, and you read the poem "Autumn Begins in Martin's Ferry, OH," answering questions that accompanied the poem.

Wednesday, September 14 - You received a reading/annotation day for the lit project.

Thursday, September 15 - After turning in the first Article Selection assignment, you took the lit terms test covering the second set of terms. Following the completion of the quiz, we reviewed the concept of ethos, pathos and logos. It was review for most of you, which is fine. No one ever hurt themselves by learning more about a concept.

Friday, September 16 - We furthered our foray into argumentation by covering different logical fallacies. The idea is to understand that while someone can have a strong or salient point, he or she can weaken their argument by committing these fallacies. So don't do that.

Monday, September 19 - We finished covering the logical fallacies. You received the op-ed assignment where you got the chance to see SO MANY logical fallacies in action.

Tuesday, September 20 - While I was at yet another meeting, you continued working on the assignment from the day before.

Wednesday, September 21 - The period was the final reading/annotation day prior to the first annotation check where you had to have the first 25% of your lit project book read and annotated. Hopefully, you used it well.

Thursday, September 22 - You used the class period to complete the first of four in-class timed writings. You received two prompts, one a little easier than the other but with a higher degree of difficulty, and wrote for the entire class period. After finishing the timed writing, you turned in your books for the first annotation check. The revision of the timed writing, which needs to be typed in MLA format, is due Tuesday, September 27.

Friday, September 23 - I returned your books and your first article selection. I utilized the comment key when grading the latter and gave you a copy of the same. We used the period to explain the different facets of the comment key, and I hope seeing a tangible usage of the comment key on your assignment emphasized its importance.

Been hit with a few shells, but I don't walk with a limp.

Spider-Man is not as
adept as 50 Cent at
surviving wounds
unscathed.

After a nice getaway weekend where Angela and I spent time with my parents, we picked Spider-Man (the dog) up from his pet hotel stay. Like always, he was very annoyed that we left him anywhere else in the first place but ultimately glad to see us.

We played around with him, and he managed to pass out early like he always does when he's spent a few days away from home. Unfortunately, after an uneventful morning, I came home to find that he looked like he was walking diagonally. After a few minutes of trying to assess the situation, I noticed that Spider-Man (the dog) began to favor his left forepaw and had a distinct limp.

My better half was still at work, so I took him to the emergency vet clinic where the doc diagnosed him with soft tissue damage. Basically, he sprained his ankle. Or dog ankle. At least, it was the dog equivalent of an ankle. My guess is that he did it while chasing a bird that he thought was playing with him or by being too nosey around a portion of our chain link fence and getting caught in it. There weren't any "deformities" like a cut or a bruise or noticeable broken bone anywhere, and his neck had the full range of motion, which are all good signs. She prescribed some (expensive) pain medication and we have to keep our boy confined while we're gone for the next week to insure that he doesn't start running and jumping around too soon and do more damage to himself. Seeing my spry, three and a half year old dog limping, though, was not a pleasant sight, so I hope Spider-Man (the dog) is back to normal really soon.

Frosh
Last Wednesday, you completed the second research day for the mythology project. This doesn't mean that your research is done, necessarily, just that we won't spend anymore class time researching in the library.

Monday, you completed the quiz on Poseidon, Hades and Demeter. We then read about the birth of Apollo and Artemis and followed that up with a detailed look at why Artemis is a perfect fit for MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen.

Beowulf via
BetterBookTitles.com

Today, we discussed creating a proper MLA formatted works cited page. The handout gives you the proper punctuation and information needed. The first entry is for a book; the second is for an online resource. Remember that all entries need to be listed in alphabetical order according to the author's last name. If you need further assistance, I always use Citation Machine. We then discussed Apollo, who went on to eventually get his own theatre, and some of his progeny. Expect a quiz on these folks tomorrow.

Seniors
On Wednesday, you finally got the chance to turn in your CD Creation projects. I graded them the following day, and it's hard to put into words how truly impressed I was on a whole with everyone's work, especially compared to last year. My first attempt at doing this project didn't go very well and I'm glad that the tweaks and changes myself and Ms. Windt made to it worked so well. Of course, you folks were also a vital component as well, and for that I thank you. Good job.

That day we also experienced the big showdown between Beowulf and Grendel. We'll resume the story of the Danes' favorite outsourced exterminator when we return from the fall break.

Monday, we discussed thesis statements and my version of the ATSO3. Utilize the ATC3(or 4) (author, title, claim and 3 or 4 sub-topics) correctly, and you will have yourself a thesis statement that is pure analysis. At least, that is, if it's written well and flows as a sentence. Just including the parts and not paying attention to the whole will hurt your thesis. Make sure that anything you write in the paper can tie back to your thesis, as it serves as the road map for the entire paper. I'll be hammering this point home in ways that will ultimately annoy you, but it's my hope that everyone gets the idea that a thesis is the most important sentence in your entire paper.

Today, you completed the final timed writing and turned in your fully annotated books. The optional revision, which will take the place of your lowest scored, previous timed writing, is due Friday. If you opt to not complete the revision, the in-class portion will still be due that day. And Thursday, you will turn in your final article selection. We're in the home stretch now. Keep December 3 on the brain in the meantime.

Brocktober Beards

BROCKBEARD

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of beards despite the fact that I can't grow one myself. My dad, who has always been a hero of mine, has had a beard for my whole life and the entire length of his marriage to my mom. There was a brief respite in the mid-90's where he went from a full beard to a van dyke goatee when that was the in-thing to do. Otherwise, though, beard all the way! Unfortunately, my beard gets patchy on the sides, which is the most important part of a full beard. Since many people always want most what they can't have, my lack of beard-growing ability only fuels my appreciation for beards more. Heck, that's at least 20% of the reason why I'm friends with McBride.

Imagine my surprise when I watched UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez tonight and saw that Brock Lesnar, my favorite fighter and UFC Heavyweight champion went and grew himself a mountain-man beard. As if the guy didn't look enough like a viking already, he decides to go and seal the deal with the manliest facial hair around. He really does seem poised to take over The Rock's position as my number one man-crush.

Frosh
Today you turned in your setting questions, and we went over the elements of irony. Keep in mind that you need to be able to differentiate the three kinds of irony. Tomorrow, we look at Alanis Morissette's version of irony.

Seniors
Everyone used the period to catch up on reading and annotation. Tomorrow is our second writing day. This one won't have an easier prompt, and I will be looking at the revisions closer this time around. Make sure to avoid first and second person and to keep the summary to a minimum. The revision for tomorrow's timed writing will be due Wednesday, October 13.

And, if you're reading this in time, don't forget that your second annotation check will take place tomorrow and to turn in your latest Article Selection.