"I've made a huge mistake."

As the journalism adviser over the last few years, setbacks have come to be commonplace. No matter how great the staff -- and each year's staff has been great in its own way -- various things have happened, some the fault of the students, some the fault of me, some through nobody's fault but the fallibility of living in a technological age, that have forced the Brave Times to publish an issue after the scheduled deadline. It stinks, and nobody is ever happy when that occurs. This is why getting an issue out on time is considered a celebratory event. Everyone pulls together to create a product that close to 3000 people see on a regular basis and it takes a ton of hard work and dedication that doesn't always come together, so we rejoice when it does.

This is a result of a Google Image search for
"I've made a huge mistake." I don't understand
GOB Bluth's use of the Apple or Microsoft logo.

This year, I've had the most motivated group in all of my years as the Brave Times adviser. Part of this motivation exists intrinsically in each member of the editorial staff, as they are creative go-getters destined for success and great things. However, the other aspect of their motivation exists because I made a short-sighted promise, which is the reason for the Arrested Development quote that serves as the subject line. See, I knew these students were motivated, and I figured I could play on that by promising that if they made each of the first semester deadlines that I would do a backflip.

Adhering to a fairly regular work out schedule for the last five years or so has allowed me to get into decent shape, but the last time I played organized sports was back when I participated in Little League when I was still in middle school. Little League isn't really demanding or rigorous either, at least not the one in which I participated. Suffice to say, I am in shape, but I'm not athletic. Backflips are something athletes due: gymnasts and stuntmen and acrobats and mixed-martial artists after winning a fight; those guys do backflips. I've never attempted a backflip in my life save for when I was standing in a four foot deep swimming pool. Granted, it's been on my bucket list for awhile, but it's a frightening endeavor, what with paralysis a viable consequence of the attempt.

The staff of the Brave Times have been aware of these circumstances, and yet they've still hit every single deadline for the semester right on schedule with the final issue of the calendar year due to be put to bed tonight and published tomorrow.  This has never happened before in my tenure as adviser to the Brave Times. Ever. There were years that the staff stuck pretty closely to a schedule, but not one staff has managed to follow through on an entire semester's worth of deadlines. It's a commendable feat, and I'm pretty proud of them, even if their motivation has been to see me commit to a comic pratfall that might make me lose the feeling in my extremities. They've even gone so far as to label the checklist for the issue the "Backflip Deadline." Now I have to follow through with a backflip attempt. My wife is worried about me.

I've made a huge mistake.

Frosh
On Monday and Tuesday, you presented your individual mythology research projects. I was impressed with most, not so much with some, but never disappointed with the results.

Wednesday, we began to discuss the qualities of an epic in anticipation of reading excerpts from Homer's Odyssey. You needed to finish reading the introduction (ending on page 908) at home, which includes information on the build-up to Odysseus' journey back to Ithaca.

Today, you participated in a small group quiz by summarizing in 3 to 5 sentences an assigned section of last night's reading. We then went on to discuss your summaries. Next, our coverage of The Odyssey began. The layout of the story is surprisingly non-linear, as the first half is told in flashback as we join Odysseus towards the end of his journey home. We'll only be reading excerpts, the first of which is the one dealing with Polyphemus, the cyclops.

Seniors
You received the portfolio guidelines for the lit project on Monday. Hopefully, everyone has held on to their assignments from the lit project over these last few months as it was one of the big points I've harped on since its inception.

We then continued to read Beowulf, concluding it on Tuesday. Beowulf experienced the thrill of victory  by defeating on Grendel's mom and decapitating the already-dead Grendel and then experienced the agony of defeat by losing to the dragon. The guy deserves some slack, though, as he put up a valiant effort in his mid-70's and FOUGHT A DRAGON. It's pretty remarkable, really, and easy to see why the Anglo-Saxons revered the dude. Also, there's always the possibility of a Wiglaf spinoff. That guy has franchise potential written all over him.

There is a bonus assignment dealing with Beowulf on the Files page called Beowulf Revisited. It'll be due December 13 and have a value of up to 40 points. Last year, a student completed this assignment by re-imagining Beowulf's adventure as a series of tweets. Thinking outside the box like that is the best way to go.

Wednesday was reserved for peer editing. I gave those of you who brought a draft the Peer Edit Guide. Those who didn't bring a draft were labelled disappointments. Let me clarify here, too. This is not a difficult paper and should represent your best possible work. I would hope that bringing a draft to class is not completely out of the question, especially since the sole purpose is to improve what you have before turning it in for a grade. It's disappointing to me when students don't take advantage of the opportunities they have to improve, especially after hearing the question "How can I improve my grade?" so many times prior to the fall break. It's also the reason why I'm now more disinclined to offer bonus assignments through the blog. The Beowulf assignment will be a litmus test to see which students are really serious about improving prior to the end of the semester.

Today, we went over last minute questions for the big culminating paper due tomorrow. I am genuinely looking forward to reading these as it's as much a reflection of me as it is you. My goal is for everyone to  have improved over the course of the lit project, whether that's as a reader or a writer, preferably both. The plan is to get these papers graded by December 13, if not beforehand. My wife will be gone all day on Saturday for a work training, so in between stretches to limber myself up for my backflip attempt next week, I want to read as many of the papers as I possibly can that day.

After the Q&A, we started talking about Chaucer. He's often compared to Shakespeare, and I enjoy my basketball analogy enough to repeat it here: Chaucer is to Shakespeare as Dr. J is to Michael Jordan. The former introduced something to his respective fields (iambic pentameter and poetry to English, the slam dunk to basketball) while the latter perfected said something. While we won't be spending much time on Canterbury Tales, I really hope you take a liking to it because fart jokes never get old.

Superficiality, Relevance and Reverence

Little does he know the
fate that awaits him later
today at my hand.

Today is Thanksgiving! My family started a tradition of running the Claremont Turkey Trot three years ago, and we're hoping to keep it going for as long as the Turkey Trot is around. Plus, I like saying Turkey Trot. Just being able to finish it at all this year was an accomplishment considering how sick I was last week; my cough has managed to linger a bit longer than I would have liked, too. I look forward to the day that my breathing doesn't remind me of Darth Vader.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I figured that I should reflect on some of the good things going on in my life as well as offer some bonus points for those of you that pay attention to the Internet presence of your English teacher. Here's the deal: describe to me a thing, an event and a person you have been thankful to have or occur in your life in 2010. Give me a minimum of five sentences describing why. You'll earn five points for each one, totaling 15 points. If you neglect to do all three, bupkis. That's Yiddish for "nothing" and is my favorite and only Yiddish word I know. Deadline for submissions is Sunday at midnight and remember to leave your name and period at the end. Mine are as follows:

Thing - My wife and I bought a house this year. It was a long, stressful and arduous process that had us crying our eyes out in desperation and grinding our teeth in frustration. In short, it was not fun. However, in the months since we've moved in and slowly but surely started to make our house a home, I'm grateful more and more that we toughed out the process. Redoing the floor, hanging pictures and organizing the garage add to the aspects that make the domicile more than just a place for our stuff. I'm thankful for the four walls here and hope that I can remember thinking that some of these things were fun in the coming years when I'm sure they'll feel a lot more tedious.

Person - Speaking of my wife, she's a swell gal. I could not ask for a better friend or partner who makes me a better person. She's funny, thoughtful and knows just the right way to make a bad day good and a good day better. I sometimes wonder what cosmic thing I accomplished to manage to land such a beautiful and charming lady, but I find that it's best not to question such things because I would rather not have this situation unravel. In the immortal words of Rick Astley, I am never going to giver her up and (hopefully) never going to let her down.

Event - To make this saccharine mess all the sweeter, I'm really grateful for the fact that both Angela and I finished our Master's degrees this year. Her accomplishment was a much bigger deal than mine, as I took the long road of waiting a few years between classes, but it's nice to know we're finally done. I'm glad that I'll be able to look at those diplomas on the wall and know that they stand as symbols for the hard work we put in to accomplish a goal we set for ourselves. Sure, the student loan bills will be pretty extensive, but I think everyone is alive to learn more. Getting sheepskins to prove that it happened is a nice touchstone marker to prove it happened.

Frosh
Last Wednesday, you took the quiz on chapters 7-10 of The Greek Gods and we then proceeded to read through the stories of Hermes, Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Those last two are my favorite of the bunch because they are such complete opposites, and the way they end up together is a line straight out of a sitcom or SNL sketch.

Thursday, you had a work day to focus on your mythology research project or the ORU that was due the following day. The final ORU will be due December 10.

And Friday, we moved forward.

Seniors
For Wednesday, we reviewed in-text citations and works cited pages. Sixth period didn't get a chance to finish receive all of the information on the works cited page formatting, so I suggest going to Citation Machine if you get stuck on any of the minutiae of creating your specific entries for your page. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University is also incredibly helpful and always up to date.

On Thursday and Friday, you received time to do research in the library. Hopefully, everyone got a chance to find some relevant and valuable sources.

UFC 123

Former champions clash

The next really big UFC show is the culmination of the current The Ultimate Fighter season when welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre fights Josh Koscheck in Montreal on December 11. However, this Saturday has a pretty stacked line-up that isn't getting all that much press. The two main events will also feature fighters who are all at a crossroads in their respective careers.

Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson - Both of these guys are known for their wrestling, but, when you get two wrestlers fighting in the UFC, it usually turns into a stand-up affair. This fight depends on who can get their takedown because both guys are pretty equal in their striking. Munoz's ground striking is phenomenal and much better than Simpson's. My guess is that Munoz will take a second round TKO stoppage, and it should be a fairly exciting fight.

Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster - Matt Brown, despite the comparisons due to his hard nose demeanor, is not Chuck Norris. Brian Foster is an overall better fighter. It doesn't help that this is basically a must-win for Brown because he's already lost his last two in the UFC. Unless you're Tito Ortiz or Chuck Liddell or another similar caliber fighter, three losses usually equals a pink slip. My guess is that Foster takes a decision.

George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon - Joe Lauzon is one of my favorite fighters because he's a computer programming nerd who often spends as much time playing Call of Duty as he does training. Sotiropoulus has a very difficult name to spell and a tremendous ground game. Joe will be really dangerous in the first two rounds, but George always has really intelligent strategies that will take advantage of the fact that Lauzon gets tired as the fight continues. If J-Lau has shored up that portion of his training, he could really spoil Sotiropoulos' championship aspirations, since a win here could set George up as a contender for the UFC lightweight championship. I will be rooting for Joe, but logic dictates that George will win a really entertaining grappling battle by split decision.


Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch - This is a surprise because after Davis won back in April, he made a big deal about wanting to continue his training for another year before returning to the UFC. And this is his second fight since then. Davis is the best wrestler in MMA and is often referred to as the light heavyweight GSP because of how easily he's modified his wrestling to function in the MMA environment. The rest of his game is green at best, but when a person has a strong of a wrestling base as he has, it's easier to hide the person's glaring flaws. Boetsch has a clear striking advantage and really comes across as a mean dude with vicious knock out power. Realistically, though, Davis will control the action for three rounds, look impressive in taking the mount more than once, and then ultimately do nothing with the advantageous position. But Boetsch has nothing off his back, so I'm going to buck the trend and pick Davis in the second by submission, probably by a head and arm triangle.


Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao - I looked up Falcao and found out that he has finished his last seven fights in the first round. He's a Brazilian that trains out of the Chute Box camp, which means he is used to getting punched in the face multiple times in the lead-up to his fights and he probably has a decent ground game. Harris is best known for knocking a dude out with a pro-wrestling style spinebuster back in July. I'm only picking Harris because he has UFC experience and I like anyone that can knock dudes out with slams. Harris will probably take another, you guessed it, decision, but I would not be surprised if Falcow, making his UFC debut, knocked his head off.


Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn - This is the real main event, as far as I'm concerned, the conclusion of a trilogy that has produced one of the biggest upsets in UFC history and one of the best overall fights in the UFC. Hopefully, this one will answer some really important questions: Is BJ Penn washed up? How will he rebound from back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar? Can he hang against a resurgent Matt Hughes? Will his much lighter weight at 165 lbs. play a factor? Based on their previous fights and his natural talent, the BJ Penn of today should be able to handle Matt Hughes decisively, but the same things were said when Penn fought Edgar both times. And there's just something in my gut that tells me Matt Hughes will take this one. Granted, his stand-up is still leagues behind Penn's and Hughes doesn't have the speed that proved to be BJ's undoing in his previous losses. But there's something to be said for momentum and having one's head in the game, something Hughes always has and BJ only does sporadically. I see the fight ending in the third, either by TKO or decision with Hughes as the victor.


Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida - Both of these guys are coming off of losses, but Machida is the one who is the big question mark, something I wish UFC would have highlighted more in their Countdown special. Coming off his devastating first round knockout loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Machida will have to prove whether or not his chin is as strong as many people thought prior to his last fight. Rampage will definitely oblige him on that. This fight has the potential to be short and exciting if it falls in Rampage's favor, or boring and methodical (illusive is another key word to describe Machida) if it works to Machida's advantage. Rampage has focused so much on stand-up since moving to the UFC that his excellent wrestling and tremendous slams have become a thing of the past. Rampage is the 2010 version of Chuck Liddell in that he uses his wrestling now in reverse as a way to avoid getting taken down and tries to employ a strong counter punching style. Machida, meanwhile, uses crisp striking and really great technical footwork due to his proper implementation of karate into MMA. This plays exactly to Rampage's weaknesses, as people who are able to stick and move give him the most trouble as evidenced by his decision loss to Forrest Griffin.


Ideally, Rampage comes out and bull rushes Machida en route to a knock out victory because that's what worked for Rua, and he had no counter for someone slightly faster who didn't take the time to create angles or set up shots. Unfortunately, 2010 Rampage doesn't fight that way, so while I will be rooting Rampage on and hoping he gets the victory, I foresee a Machida win by decision.

Book 16 of 2010

Book 16

It's yet another book that I finished on the iPad using the iBooks app.

16) The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter
One of the very first entertainment news stories I ever remember giving my active and full attention was the battle between Jay Leno, perennial guest host for the Tonight Show, and Dave Letterman, host of Late Night, for Johnny Carson's spot as the host of NBC's long running talk show. My mom was a huge Dave Letterman fan, often recording it and watching his show the next day. His comic sensibility helped to shape my own because if that type of humor could make my mom laugh, then that's the kind of humor for me. When Jay Leno won out over Letterman for the Tonight Show gig, I was stunned because Letterman was just so much funnier than the Doritos guy. I always thought it made more sense for Leno to take over Late Night and Letterman to get the bump up to Carson's job, but then again, I was 12. This book covers the latest transition, the attempt and failure to avoid the ugliness of the Letterman/Leno fiasco, and NBC's fascination with wanting to have its cake and eat it, too.

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.

Top Numbered Something

McBride writes his own classroom blog called The Active Voice, and he brought up a cool idea when he listed his ten favorite soundtracks. Here are mine.

Angus: Music From
The Motion Picture

10. Wayne's World 2
9. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
8. Orange County
7. Garden State
6. Scream 2
5. Songs in the Key of Springfield - The Simpsons
4. Once More, With Feeling - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2. Mallrats
1. Angus


Please note that the soundtrack to Orange County is not my fancy way of fitting in one of the many soundtracks to the popular FOX teen dramedy, The OC, but is instead a Colin Hanks/Jack Black movie from around the same time.


Frosh
You went to library to conduct research for the mythology project. Remember that the note chart I gave you is for your benefit. I won't be collecting it, but it's a great place to keep all of the information you need for your final product. Tomorrow will look a lot like today did, so come prepared to make the most of your time.

Seniors
In pro wrestling, when someone "cuts a promo," they conduct an interview or monologue as a means to advance a feud that ultimately results in a big time match. Back in the 80's, Hulk Hogan told kids to eat their vitamins and say their prayers while Ric Flair talked about being a wheelin', dealin', kiss-stealin' son of a gun. The 90's saw Steve Austin yell about opening cans of something or other, and The Rock...well, The Rock wanted people to just bring it. Now, John Cena insists that not seeing him is the biggest jab he can hurl at his opponent while Randy Orton usually glowers menacingly while the announcers call him a viper. Cutting a promo has a long and storied history which I think can be traced all the way back to the Anglo Saxons. The whole point is to get people to want to see that final battle between the two opposing forces. What's a better battle than the embodiment of evil and the personification of all things that the Anglo Saxons hold dear? And that is what we get to tackle tomorrow...or possibly Wednesday since we'll also be going over the culminating paper tomorrow and that might take a little while.

Skatescapades

Jealous...?

It sometimes amazes me that there are so many physical things for which I have the capacity to expand my talent and how much those same things can be completely useless. To wit, you'd never know it by looking at me, but I am a terrific roller skater. I'm okay using in-line skates, but my slap a pair of four wheel roller skates on my feet, and I take off like a man possessed, no matter the amount of time that's elapsed since I last tried my hand (or feet, as it were) at the matter. This because there used to be a Roller City skate rink where the Albertson's on Foothill and Vineyard now resides, and just about everyone I knew growing up, myself included, had at least one birthday party there. I honed my skills during those formative years, and it wouldn't surprise me if I would have an easier time riding around on some skates as opposed to trying to ride a bike again.

Like most things in my life, I have my wife to thank for skatescapades. A friend from back in her high school days had a 30th birthday party on Saturday at a roller rink. Coincidentally, the last time I skated was at Ms. Miller's 30th birthday party at a different roller rink. The morning of the event, I could barely contain my excitement to the point that I annoyed Angela with my own version of "Shake Your Booty" by KC and the Sunshine Band, replacing the word shake with skate. This was something that got very old, very fast. Regardless, I was on fire skating in that circle on Saturday. I knew in advance that I didn't even need to work out that morning because of the afternoon plans. During the entirety of the two hours, I only fell once as I attempted to spin to a stop coming out of a turn a little too fast. But my jeans didn't tear and I didn't bleed, so I got right back up and started again. There's a metaphor for life in there. Also, the birthday girl's husband is a bit of shutterbug, so he captured this awesome shot of me mugging for the camera...on skates.

I really think I missed my calling for being a server at Sonic.

Frosh
Last Tuesday, we picked up The Greek Gods from the library and began reading the first three chapters, which you then finished for the quiz that took place on Thursday. It's a no-frills book that provides some pertinent information about the Pantheon as well as several nature myths. Feel free to read ahead, but know that we will be reading portions of some of the stories in class.

Wednesday, we watched a video about the Greek Gods to allow you to figure out which mythological figures interested you the most for your research project. You turned in a page of notes on the video at the end of the period.

Thursday, you took a quiz on Zeus, Hera and Athena. We then discussed your mythology research project. This is the first time I'm doing this particular version of the mythology research project as I am adapting an assignment originally designed by Mrs. Batdorf. I look forward to seeing what you guys produce. Half of the grade depends on your presentation of your final product for which you have to dress up.

Friday, we moved forward.

Our plan for today and tomorrow is to go to the library where you will start your research on your mythological figure. The project is due November 29, and presentations will take place that day and November 30.

Seniors
We finished discussing theme statements on Tuesday and then tackled TLQ guidelines. This will be a pretty vital component to your culminating paper, so get used to utilizing this format.

Finally, after much deliberation, we began reading Beowulf on Wednesday. While we didn't get very far, those first few stanzas are a wonderful set up because the Hrothgar's subjects exemplify everything the Anglo Saxons are not, allowing Beowulf to really shine as the ultimate embodiment of a hero when he arrives. Keep in mind that we are not reading the Seamus Heaney version, nor is it the full text, so I encourage you to check those out if this interests you in the least because it's a fun story buried underneath all of that pesky literature.

On Thursday, you completed your fourth in-class timed writing and turned in your annotations and fourth Aritcle Selection.

For Friday, I informed you that I would not be collecting a revision for the fourth timed writing due to an abundance of factors coming together that we don't need to get into here. Suffice to say, we're both getting a break. You also used the period (and I mean that in the loosest possible terms) to work on your CD Creation project, which is still due Wednesday, November 10.

Today, we continue reading Beowulf and tomorrow, you'll receive the guidelines for the culminating paper.

Book 15 of 2010

Book 15

I finished this using the Kindle app on my iPad. And I figured that I should start showcasing the covers here in case anyone is interested in picking any of the books up for themselves.

15) The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
This is the first book that I've finished in a few months for a number of reasons. Back in August, I made the mistake of starting three books all around the same time. Two is usually my max, and, when school starts up, I get distracted with grading so my own reading falls by the wayside. Factor in that this is not ideal for electronic reading, also, because part of reading to me is knowing how close I am to the end of the book because it entails a sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the non-fiction story of the 1893 World's Fair, I didn't realize that the last fifteen percent or so of the book would be filled with notes and source citations. It felt odd that the story was winding down and yet there was still so much left to finish. I didn't see any progress because a status bar isn't the same as a finger flipping through pages. This led me to lose the motivation to continue reading and felt like a big win for physical books compared to digital ones.

And mustard! Honey mustard, at that!

Dynamic Duo!

Yes, Brock Lesnar lost. I still had a great time at UFC 121, though. There are lots of fighters that I will always pay money to see, Brock Lesnar chief among them, but I'm really a huge fan of the sport. The show demonstrated the sport pretty well, both good and bad but more the former than the latter. Even though Jake Shields stunk up the joint and should write a thank you card to the two judges that gave him the win, the rest of the fights were entertaining enough that I still had a great time despite my guy losing.

The night also served as a welcome distraction from the previous two days as things with the dog we adopted did not work out. My wife and I were very disappointed and saddened by the turn of events but feel we made the right decision for us and, hopefully, for her.

Halloween was also pretty fun, and I enjoyed seeing the costumes of the folks who decided to dress up. I included a picture of my wife and I as Batman and Robin. And before I get any snarky remarks (he says as he laughs at the idea of actually getting any kind of comments on the blog), there was a female Robin at one point in the Batman mythos. Her name is Stephanie Brown who started her career under the alias of Spoiler and served as the fourth Robin (there have been five total) for a brief period of time before Batman fired her. She died, came back to life and now has taken on the mantle of Batgirl. Comics are awesome and confusing. A hearty high-five to the person who can name the other four Robins by their secret identities.

By the by, my Xbox came back from its repair trip today and I promptly fired up the Netflix to find that Batman: Under the Red Hood, a direct to DVD animated release from last August, is now available in their Watch Instantly section. If you're a fan of Batman or good (animated) action with an intriguing and at times heart-wrenching story, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. To my mind, it's the best DC animated release so far, even edging out Justice League: New Frontier.

Now it's time to play catch up.

Frosh
On Friday, October 22, I was gone and you moved forward.

Monday, October 25, you took the Elements of Lit test and turned in those notes, which took up most of the period. I've since added those tests to the gradebook. It's definitely a more difficult test than you may have anticipated because there were no multiple choice options and instead relies on your ability to remember your notes. But keep in mind, there was nothing on the test that wasn't also in your notes. That's how I like to operate for your tests so you know how best to prepare for them.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, October 26 and 27, you worked on the Root Words vocabulary worksheet. We went over why root words are important (what with them allowing folks to more easily define new words if able to correctly identify the root) and turned our focus to how many of the roots find their origins in Greek mythology (e.g. narcissist, herculean, titanic).

I collected the assignment on Thursday, October 28, which is when we began our mythology introduction. If you take away nothing else from this beginning portion of our unit, at the very least understand that myth does not automatically equate to something that is untrue. Keep in mind that myths merely explain that which is unexplainable in an attempt to get a better understanding of the world or universe at large.

After moving forward once again last Friday, we concluded the mythology introduction notes today by defining and discussing a few key terms:

• fairy tale
• parable
• legend
• myth (It's kind of redundant, I know...)
• epic
• folk tale

We will be reading some of these in class, and others may or may not show up on a test. (Hint: that usually means they WILL show up on a test.)

You need your student ID cards tomorrow and have an ORU due Friday with a section four that includes a theme statement.

Seniors
Last Friday, October 22, I was gone and you worked on completing the Anglo Saxon laws worksheet in anticipation of our Beowulf reading.

We shifted gears slightly on Monday and Tuesday (October 25 and 26) when we examined the hero journey and hero archetypes, respectively. However, the concept still applies to Beowulf because he's an epic hero. When we start reading the actual (translated) poem this week, it'll make some more sense, but understand that he's the manliest man up to that point in the history of storytelling. If there were a way for me to finagle a reference to The Rock as a manlier man right now, I'd do so, but every attempt I made sounded really weak. Also, neither of these guys stand a chance of losing to Cain Velasquez, so there's no way I would have to eat crow later. Additionally on Monday, you were assigned the theme worksheet which was due today, but I pushed it back one more day so that I could continue checking your theme statements. But more on that in a second.

Wednesday and Thursday, October 27 and 28, we explored evil and all that entails. See, Grendel is the living embodiment of evil and an all around jerk. We're looking at both sides here, but, spoiler alert, the good guy is going to win in the end. At the same time, too often we (in the big picture, humanity sense of we) tend to define things by what they aren't when it comes to difficult concepts like evil. You are all to be commended for attempting to define it on your own, and I look forward to reading the varied definitions you wrote.

Friday, October 29, I began checking your theme statements and continued to do so today. This took a lot longer than I thought and will continue into tomorrow when I plan to really finish checking them. The important idea to keep in mind is that a theme statement needs to be universal and not tied to the text in any way. Remember that just because we framed theme statements as the main idea (or lesson, as some put it) of a story doesn't mean that it needs to be positive. Too many of the theme statements I'm seeing refer to what characters should do or labeling actions as evil. Some of your books are dark and have pessimistic views of the world. The theme needs to reflect that.

I'll collect the theme worksheet tomorrow. On Thursday, November 4, you have your fourth annotation check and Article Selection 4 both due. Don't forget that next Wednesday, November 10, is the due date for your CD Creation project. Finally, your annotations need to be complete by Tuesday, November 16. This is a lot of work, but if you've paced yourself out well, it should be manageable.

Ronnie Pallares

Ronnie Pallares

Driving around Rancho Cucamonga, I always make a point of looking at the flags posted on street lamps that display pictures of local servicemen and women. The reason I do this is because of Ronnie Pallares. His was the first flag I ever noticed about a year and a half ago, while driving down Haven Ave.

As many of you may have heard, Ronnie Pallares, an Alta Loma graduate from the class of 2008, died in combat last weekend when insurgents attacked his unit stationed in Afghanistan.

Ronnie Pallares was a student in my English class during his senior year. During the first week of school, when everyone did their introductions, he stated without any hesitation that his post-high school plan was to join the Army. That was the motivation he had to graduate and the moment he started having trouble in the class, he immediately re-doubled his efforts to make sure that his goal could be realized. Besides that dedication, I remember his laugh and smile most. He never said an unkind word during his tenure in my class.

When an army recruiter came to speak that year, he and Ronnie were already familiar with one another. The recruiter took the time to single Ronnie out because he had already made the commitment to join, dependent on his graduating that June. I had no qualms telling him that he had nothing to worry about when it came to Ronnie.

I'm proud to say that I knew Ronnie and sad that it took his passing to dedicate my thoughts his way. He did what I know I couldn't, and he'll always have my respect and gratitude for that.

Why Brock Lesnar never kept a beard during his WWE run will forever elude me.

With Veronica Mars arriving tomorrow, I'm left to wonder how Spider-Man will handle having another dog in the house. He's always had the attitude of a much bigger dog. Whenever he's hung out with them, he likes to put the bigger dogs in line by rough housing in an attempt to get the larger canines to chase him around. Dogs his size or smaller are another matter. He's always had a rough time with those dogs, getting a distinct growl going or just walking away from them altogether. It's going to be quite the adjustment for him tomorrow, but I'm hoping he figures it out.

Frosh
We continued reading The Scarlet Ibis. The older brother can be a bit of a jerk, but you haven't seen the worst of him yet. Keep track of those details and their larger meaning on the story chart. You are getting plenty of time to do this well since it isn't due until Tuesday, October 25.

Seniors
You worked on the Anglo-Saxon laws worksheet, which will be due at the end of class on Friday. Remember that examining the laws a society enacts is the best way to analyze the values that society holds dear. Tomorrow, the the third Article Selection is due, and I'll be checking your books for the next sections annotations. Be prepared to dive deep into the timed writing because there's more asked of you on this one than on any of the previous writings we've done in class before.

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN
Here's a video of Brock Lesnar giving an F5 to a shark.

Introducing Veronica Mars the Dog

Say hello to Veronica Mars (the dog).

My wife has never been able to solely name a pet. She's the youngest of three kids, so the pets her family had were named by her older siblings. When we first discussed getting a dog, I jokingly said that we should name it Spider-Man, and the name stuck once we met the undersized dude. Ever since we bought our house, we've been in the market for another dog. Angela, throughout all of the talk of adding a new furry friend to our household, has been insistent that she get to name our new addition. For a long time, she had her heart set on French Fry, no matter the dog we inevitably get. I fully supported this because of my love of the cartoon show, Futurama, as I could call the dog Fry. Once the naming pendulum swung back my way, it would make room for me to add a Bender to our brood, allowing the two to have intergalactic adventures. Never mind that I'm thinking two dogs in the future, I wanted the opportunity for matching names.

We were also waiting for the right time to add a new pet. One of the many things life has taught me is that there's never a right time for anything. Things just happen because the universe is equal parts random, beautiful and ugly. Which is why, despite the fact that we've had a weekend trip in place to attend UFC 121 for months, we still decided to adopt a three year old tricolor beagle from Rancho Cucamonga Animal Care & Services, which is a local no-kill shelter. We've been checking the site regularly for the past few weeks, and "Sadie" popped up. The moment my wife saw the picture (which is not the picture above, unfortunately), she immediately thought the dog was on some sort of caper. When anyone thinks of capers in the Talbot household, Veronica Mars, a short-lived detective show that launched the career of Kristen Bell, immediately comes to mind. The name suits her well, another reason that my wife is awesome in ways that words can't fully describe.

How Spider-Man will react to Veronica Mars back at our house will be another matter for another day. The two met and didn't hate each other, which is a promising sign. The shelter has to spay Veronica Mars before we can take her home, and the earliest that can happen is Thursday.

Frosh
We began reading The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. While reading the tragic tale of Doodle and his older brother, you'll be on the look out for details that lend themselves to larger meanings. The story chart, which is due Tuesday, Brockctober 25, will need to have ten of those details along with the larger meanings in order to receive full credit. Additionally, you'll need to create a theme statement for the overall story; hopefully the chart will aid you in doing so. Look for patterns and motifs, especially Hurst's use of color.

Seniors
Today we started our unit on Beowulf by looking at a brief history on Anglo Saxons. It was a pretty tumultuous time in what is now known as England, but it makes for some fascinating bits of information. We'll look a little bit more at the historical context of the time period in the coming days. The key thing to remember is that Beowulf represents a transition between the pagan ways of the past to the newer ideas Christianity represents.

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN
As excitement for Brocktober 23 continues to build, let's take a look at Brock Lesnar's debut fight in the main event of K1 Dynamite USA's show at the LA Coliseum back in 2007. Just three short years later, and Brock is the UFC champ. The amazing thing about this show is that the guy made his MMA debut in the main event of a major non-UFC pay per view. Sure, it did lousy business because any company not named UFC has a hard time doing anything right when trying to market a big event. Still, Brock Lesnar's debut!

Spirit of 76 (Entries)

Who's the Teach?

While not a milestone entry by any means, I do like all of the patriotic connotations that come with number 76. Also, the gasoline is also a perk, especially if they give it to me free for the product integration. You hear that, Unocal? I'm on your side!

Since my jaw decided to be a jerk Tuesday, I spent a little time in front of the television. I tried to be productive during the first part of the day and largely succeeded as I read a hefty portion of a book I've been meaning to tackle. Eventually, when I turned on the TV, I saw this new A&E show called Teach: Tony Danza. And I'm conflicted.

Tony Danza is an older gentleman who was a well-known actor back in my formative years whose star has fallen a bit recently. He's best known for his role on a show called Taxi and his own starring vehicle called Who's the Boss: in both shows he played characters named Tony, which has been a bit of a running joke about the guy for his entire career. He may not be good at responding to names other than his own. This A&E reality show focuses on Danza taking a job as a 10th grade English teacher in urban Philadelphia. While this sounds like a horrible SNL joke, it's real, and the opening of the show tries to immediately cut down criticism by noting that the titular figure originally went to school and earned a bachelor's degree in History with an intent to become a teacher. There's good and bad that goes along with the show, so I'd prefer to break it down that way.

The Bad

• None of the particulars are laid out to the audience. From what I can gather, Danza has one class of 26 students, all of whom volunteered for or asked to be in the class, along with a "teaching instructor" who has the job of monitoring him all day, every day. This means that Danza is really more of a student teacher. That's probably in the best interest of the students, but it doesn't really explore the reality of the profession, especially that of an urban high school.
• Some of the administrators are incredibly condescending towards Danza. On the first day of school, Danza forgets to sign in and an assistant principal chastises him loudly in front of students and other teachers, going so far as to emasculate him by ordering him to stop being vain and put on his glasses to sign on the correct line. People are people and none of them are perfect, and despite any problems I've ever had with an administrator, and, granted, I've had very few, none has ever been so unprofessional as to berate me in front of students or colleagues. This is probably more of a problem with this particular school and that particular administrator. It's possible that she didn't appreciate the idea of an actor making a reality show mockery of a school she adores. Either way, it made Danza look incompetent, her look mean and the school look bad.

The Good

• The guy cares. At one point his instructional coach asks if Tony has cried yet today at which point he breaks down. He cries three to four times in the first episode alone, and nothing about his tears feels disingenuous. Trust me, I've seen plenty of episodes of Who's the Boss? and Tony Danza is not that great of an actor.
• However, what the show gets right is that caring isn't enough. Tony's good intentions aren't enough to make him a good teacher. It takes experience and failure before a person can start to learn how to teach effectively, let alone well. I still feel like I need to be vigilant in making sure that I don't become complacent as a teacher. The students think Tony's first test isn't fair and feel that he grades it too harshly. However, his first instinct is to blame it on the students not reading. Like most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. After six years as a teacher at ALHS and two years prior to that as a sub, I'm still getting the hang of making sure that any assessment I utilize works well and truly gives me an idea how much or if students learn to be critical thinkers. The show showcases this idea remarkably well.
• My favorite parts of the show are the interviews with the students. They give completely honest opinions about Tony, and so far those reviews are rarely glowing. It makes me wonder what my students think of me, or what they thought of me when I was starting out. I know I'm better at my job now than I was when I started and would like to think that those kids from the past would benefit from what I've learned in the years since they were first in my class. 
• In a tumultuous time in education, when so many people are Waiting for Superman, it's nice to see a show dealing with education that doesn't make it, the institution or the people running the show out to be such abject failures. Sometimes, teachers do a good job, even the new and inexperienced ones who are having their hands held. I appreciate that most of all.

So check it out. The show repeats on A&E all of the time between the shows about paranormal children and people with debilitating drug habits.

Frosh

Friday, we moved forward.

Today, we finished off the Elements of Theme notes. Please keep in mind the theme statement checklist. You'll be incorporating a new section to the fourth Outside Reading Update, which is due this Friday. This new section will be worth ten points and require you to create a theme statement for the book you cover for the update.

Seniors

Today and Friday, we worked on creating level questions and converting those level questions into viable theme statements. I also increased the value of the CD Creation assignment to 150 points, the breakdown of which can now be found here. 

I love when my classes feel serendipitous. 

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN:

This week, I'd also like to extend the excitement for Brocktober 23 by posting reasons why I think Brock Lesnar is awesome. Back when he was in the WWE and was training to look as intimidating as possible instead of to become a human wrecking machine, the wrestling company released this video in anticipation of his Summerslam match with The Rock. Please note that at the one minute mark how he starts to modify his push-up routine because he was tired of the ground getting in the way.

UFC 121

I'm scared for, but confident in, Brock.

Here's a breakdown of the main card of UFC 121 taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, which I will be attending and purchasing on PPV because I am a crazy Brock Lesnar fan. My wife fears for my safety when we attend the event because I tend to scream myself hoarse first and ask questions about my actions second. If I'm not in attendance on Monday, October 25, everyone will know that I  had a good run and left this mortal coil witnessing what I love: watching grown men punch each other in the face.

Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - Ever since his loss to Randy Couture, Gonzaga's role has been that of a gatekeeper. He beats the people who don't belong in the upper echelon and loses to the folks that do belong there. To wit, Gonzaga has defeated losers like Justin McCully and Chris Tuchscherer and lost to once and future title contenders in Shane Carwin and Junior Dos Santos. This is a big test for Schaub who has never been out of the first round and who has earned each of his wins by KO or TKO. Gonzaga also has a suspect chin, so I'm picking Schaub by KO in the first, especially since the latter's striking is a lot more technical than the last two guys who knocked out the former.

Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill - Ortiz is washed up and broken down. The game has passed him by but he's a good enough talker that he can get people into his fights and still has value as a draw...to an extent. His days of headlining pay per views are over, and his drawing power has eroded due to the fact that he's the MMA equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. More than any other fighter, Ortiz always claims to have never felt better and be 100% healthy before a fight and then list a litany of injuries following his eventual loss. Meanwhile, I've never felt that Hamill is as good as his record and Joe Rogan makes him out to be. His win over Jon Jones is one I consider a loss, since the fight should have ended prior to the disqualification of Jones; it was the shoulder injury he received that really ended the fight for Hamill and not the multiple 12 to 6 elbows. But it happened. Hamill also didn't deserve the win over Jardine, but that goes more towards the problem of MMA judging, which is another topic that deserves its own post entirely. Despite the fact that I don't think too highly of Hamill in comparison to others in the light heavyweight division, this is his fight to lose and the only way I see that happening is if he lets Ortiz get in his head. Hamill can, and probably will win by decision, but that's only if he doesn't let Ortiz's earlier comments about Hamill being deaf or the fact that Ortiz used to be his coach on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter get to him.

Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago - Speaking of guys who aren't as good as they appear, we have Paulo Thiago. Thiago has terrible striking -- he always keeps his hands low and his chin way out despite having some knockout power -- and was outclassed on the ground in his last fight by Martin Kampmann, an area that is supposed to be his bread and butter. Diego Sanchez is a natural lightweight who refuses to accept that he should be fighting at 155 lbs. because he'd rather eat Double Downs while chanting "YES!" to his Tony Robbins tapes. But he's completely unrelenting and moves like a tornado, staying active whether he's standing up, in the clinch or on his back. Both guys are coming off of losses where they were completely neutralized in areas that are normally their strengths. Ultimately, I really dislike Paulo Thiago for reasons I've never been able to fully articulate other than he looks like Nosferatu with hair and the fact that his training footage always mentions his job with the Brazillian Special Police Force and shows him carrying around a machine gun. That just doesn't seem fair. The last I heard, he's back to training with Greg Jackson, which means that instead of winning by TKO in the second, Sanchez will probably walk away with the decision.

Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann - This is Shields inaugural UFC match-up in the welterweight division after leaving Strikeforce as their middleweight champ and beating Dan Henderson pretty decisively. He's riding a 14 fight win streak and trains at the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu gym, home of the Diaz brothers and Gilbert Melendez. Anyone else with that win streak in the UFC would automatically get a title shot, but since Shields hasn't fought in the UFC before, he has to face a calibre opponent first. Should he win, and I see Shields possibly doing so by decision (even though I'm officially calling for a first round choke out submission by Shields), he's almost guaranteed to get the next shot at the winner of the GSP/Koscheck fight that happens in December. Kampann is no joke, having the better stand-up game and the ability to neutralize Shields' submission attempts even if he can't best him grappling. But Jake Shields is a grappling wizard while Martin Kampann is just very good. While there's a possibility that Shields could get the submission victory, the more likely scenario is that he maintains top position and gets a Jon Fitch-like victory on his road to fighting for the welterweight championship.

Unfortunately, there's also the issue of Jon "The Most Boring Fighter Alive" Fitch standing in the way, whose sole loss in the UFC has been at the hands of GSP. On paper, Fitch is the most deserving of a title shot in the division, but the problem is that GSP dominated him in every facet of the game in their first fight and Fitch is largely the same boring fighter whose style has not evolved in the least in the intervening two years. In fact, Fitch hasn't finished a fight in since 2007. He's a grinder that wins on points. There's nothing wrong with that from a sporting perspective, but, man, is it ever boring to watch as a fan.

While many fans balk at the idea of rematches, I see nothing wrong with them, and they usually do well for business. However, there has to be a desire for the rematch in some way. The first BJ Penn/Frankie Edgar fight was an incredibly close battle where one could make an argument for either guy as the winner. Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua fought to a controversial decision where it was largely believed that the wrong man won. Both of those fights lead to rematches that did much bigger business than the original. But the first GSP/Fitch match was completely one-sided, and Fitch has not done anything since then in winning to show that the outcome would be any different. Yes, he deserves a title shot, but it makes better business sense to allow Shields, provided he prevails over Kampmann, to get the next match for the welterweight belt.

Of course, when Fitch does get his next title shot, he may not even take it if Josh Koscheck prevails on December 12 against Georges St. Pierre. That's another matter entirely, and I've spent too long discussing Jon Fitch during the space reserved for the Shields/Kampmann fight.

Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar (c) for the UFC Heavyweight Championship - To properly put this fight into context, I have to revisit July 3, the night of UFC 116, when Brock Lesnar made his triumphant return to the octagon from a near-crippling illness to fight interim champ, Shane Carwin. My brother and his wife hosted the pay per view event at his apartment and I was the most excited I've been for an MMA event since, well, the last time Brock fought Frank Mir; except that fight felt like a no-brainer. Brock had proved that he had learned his lesson in adapting his strategy to a fight in his bouts with Heath Herring and Randy Couture, and taking on Mir was going to be a cake walk as long as he made sure to keep a sound strategy in mind. Then he turned Mir's face into hamburger midway through the second round at UFC 100.

But this fight was different. Shane Carwin was as strong as Brock and had the kind of striking that made men's mouthpieces fly into the third row. He proved it in the opening salvo by absolutely destroying Brock in the first round, almost to the point that I thought it might be stopped. Lesnar weathered the storm and managed to even get up towards the end of the round after Shane Carwin had punched himself into exhaustion. Meanwhile, in my brother's apartment, I about lost my mind. His computer was in sleep mode on the other side of the room; my reaction was so animated, so out of control, and involved so much jumping up and down that the computer woke up. I made no apologies, though, and when Brock Lesnar secured the head-and-arm triangle in the second round for the submission because Shane Carwin was so gassed that I probably could have beaten him, I sank to my knees like it was me that had earned the victory. Really, all I did was amaze friends and relatives alike with my undying admiration, dare I say man-crush, for the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

So I'm rooting for Brock Lesnar.

Cain Velasquez is going to make it a long night of anxiety and teeth-gnashing fear, though. Back when Brock Lesnar's feud with Frank Mir was in full swing, MMA enthusiasts talked about Shane Carwin, Junior Dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez as title contenders who were ushering in the era of the true heavyweight, as many were closer to the upper limit of the 265 lbs. weight limit in the division as opposed to the dark days of housing lazy light heavyweights and guys that Pride didn't want to employ. Carwin tried and failed while Dos Santos gets the winner of this fight. My heart and soul are behind Brock even though Cain presents two very real problems for Brock: Velasquez has much better striking and a gas tank that appears to be unlimited. Velasquez has won all but two of his eight fights by TKO, but it's another statistic that's somewhat deceiving. The technical knockouts have come by way of a non-stop barrage of punches, and he's only knocked one opponent unconscious, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a man whose best days are behind him. Without taking anything away from that win, Cain is largely considered a guy that doesn't have much in the way of knockout power, but as someone who uses his excellent wrestling and endurance to wear out heavyweights until they are too tired to be able to defend themselves from his strikes. For just about any other heavyweight, I would see Cain winning in that fashion. In fact, the longer the fight goes, the more it favors Velasquez, which is the reason most heavyweights fail to go into the deep water of the championship fights.

But Brock Lesnar is not most heavyweights. He. Is. Brock. Lesnar. He's a man and a half that eats tractors for breakfast and doesn't care that he has a phallic object tattooed on his chest because he can rip most ordinary men in half with his bare hands. He is a man that chooses to do push-ups on chairs because THE GROUND GETS IN HIS WAY. He's taken Shane Carwin's worst punches and managed to come back with a smile on his face. Brock has to cut weight to make the 265 lbs. weight limit but has the sort of speed that would put many welterweights to shame. His wrestling has proven to be more dominant than anyone else in his division. And, ultimately, that's exactly what it is: his division. My official prediction is Brock winning by TKO in the third.

That long promised Level Questions Example

We're going to skip the preamble tonight. Check it out next time as I have a bit to say about the new television show, Teach: Tony Danza.

Frosh
You worked on grammar when I was gone on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we finished going over the Elements of Fiction and you received the examples assignment. Remember that you'll be finding five examples of any of the elements we went over. You'll then fill out the following:

1. Element
2. Story
3. Quote from the text
4. 2 - 3 sentences explaining how the quote qualifies as that element

This will be due on Monday, October 18.

Today, we began going over the Elements of Theme, which is the final Element of Lit and the most important one.

Seniors
My jaw betrayed me on Tuesday, so I wasn't there, and you had a reading day.

Wednesday, we started going over level questions.

Mad Men

Today, you took the lit terms test that covered both sets of terms, and then we finished going over the level questions, an example of which is below.

Mad Men is an excellent show, and the episode that aired on August 29 provided the inspiration to complete a series of level questions.


Level 1 (explicitly from the text): Where did Don Draper first meet advertising executive Roger Sterling?

Answer: Don Draper met Roger Sterling at a fur store. The two later met for lunch where Roger offered Don a job, although the former was too inebriated to remember doing so. Many years later, Roger claims to have "discovered" Don.

Level 2 (implicitly from the text): Why is Don Draper interested in getting a job in advertising?

Answer: Dick Whitman took on the persona of his commanding officer, Don Draper, after the latter was killed in an accident during the Korean War. Whitman was unsatisfied with his life and felt like he did not belong with his family, so he took the opportunity to assume a new identity and craft a more preferable life. As Don Draper, he is able to mold himself into the man he wants to be. Advertising is a natural fit for this Don Draper; it is the one of the few arenas where someone is able to take a simple product and perfectly shape the image other people perceive, much like Draper/Whitman himself.

Level 3 (beyond the text): How does advertising reflect the people it targets?

Answer:  Advertising shows people the idealized version of the things they desire. In reality, the product never looks as good as the ad. Truly great advertising does not sell a product as much as it does a life style. People prefer to see themselves as the best possible version that they can imagine, regardless of if that is true or even possible. Advertising represents a lie that people sell themselves. It is meant to show human beings at their best but actually shows them at their worst.

Theme: A career provides a person with the opportunity for self-discovery.

ITEM! Old timey news radio voices are my favorite kind of radio voices.

ITEM! Rhys Ifans, he of Notting Hill, The Replacements and constantly getting mistaken for Paul Bettany fame, has been cast as the villain in the latest Marc Webb directed Spider-Man reboot picture leading to speculation as to which of the webbed wall-crawler's rogue's gallery he will play. Smart money is on the Lizard.

ITEM! The air conditioning malfunctioned for most of the day in the B building resulting in hotter than normal temperatures and a teacher in a sour mood in room 37 who didn't expect to sweat through his shirt in such a short amount of time.

ITEM! Brett Favre is allegedly a dirty, dirty old man.

ITEM! In developing news, above-mentioned sourpussed teacher has experienced a strange clicking pain and swelling in his jaw which has made the rest of the day hard to bear, leaving his presence at the school tomorrow in question.

ITEM! Noted British graffiti artist Banksy directed a decidedly dark and pointed opening couch gag for noted television show The Simpsons this past Sunday. Banksy, known for being elusive and notoriously difficult to track down, directed the opening which features an Asian sweatshop manufacturing Simpsons merchandise to the detriment of cats, dolphins and unicorns everywhere.

Frosh

On Thursday, you turned in your third ORU, and then we listened to Alanis Morissette's song, "Ironic." Hopefully, you used the time wisely and finished the assignment by the end of the period.

Today, we started going over the Elements of Fiction, which is my catch-all name for everything that I think you need to know but didn't warrant its own "element" title. Sure, I could spend an entire day discussing symbolism, and it's worth knowing. However, there are broader topics we need to cover that are more vital to the rest of the year, so we're going to focus on those things first. If you're interested in symbolism, though, ask me sometime and we can discuss it. I like those kinds of talks.

Seniors

Thursday, you had your second writing day. Since there was no school on Friday, thus you didn't get your books back in time because of the second annotation check, that means the revision will not be due until Wednesday, October 13. You also turned in the second article selection assignment. There were far fewer for me to grade this time around; that's great for the fact that it didn't take me that long to get them back to you, however, everyone should take note that the more free time I have due to a lack of grading usually means that your grade will conversely suffer. Those of you that turned the assignment in, kudos! Those of you that didn't, boo!

You received the Lit Project Problems assignment today, and I hope everyone takes the time to take into account these errors, which, while not as prominent as prior years, are rearing their ugly heads more often than I would like considering how many times I've explained them so far. Everyone worked on that for the period, and, health permitting tomorrow, we'll discuss the answers.

P.S. You may or may not have noticed that I've been providing links to PDF versions of assignments I've handed out in class using Google Docs. I'm hoping that this is helpful to those of you who may have missed class. If successful, it may provide me the excuse to finally delete my Teacherweb site that I find to be a pain to update and allow me to focus everything here instead. Streamlining my Internet presence may be the way to go in order to make it easier for students and parents to keep up with the events in class.

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.

Brocktober Begins

Get used to a lot of talk about Brock Lesnar as Brocktober 23 gets closer and closer.

In the meantime, the reason for my, as one student put it, "Negative Nancy" attitude recently is that my family had to put down Hershey, the dog I mentioned two weeks ago. And it's been rough.

Frosh
For Thursday, we began to cover the elements of setting and you turned in the inference chart. Friday, forward was the name of the game. Monday, we finished our setting notes and you received the following questions:

1. What kind of place is the story set? Season, climate, time of day?
2. Are the characters in conflict with their setting?
3. Does the setting help to understand the nature of the characters?
4. What kind of atmosphere does the setting create?  Would you avoid it or like to live in it?

You'll apply the questions to The Most Dangerous Game, Cask of Amontillado and Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. The point of all of this is to connect the idea that setting has a tremendous influence over mood and tone, and, without it, a story can lose much of its luster. Today, we'll continue reading A Christmas Memory, and anything left will be part of your homework tonight.

Seniors
Last Thursday, you had one last work day in class to work on your Persuasion Portfolio, which I will collect today. Friday, I assigned your CD Creation assignment which also came with format guidelines. The CD Creation assignment will be due November 10. We began a discussion about the Radical Honesty movement, tying that in to our discussions about Truth (with a capital T) and what that actually means when we all take a minute to stop and think about it. The article can be found here.

We finished that discussion on Monday and then moved on to discussing what analysis looks like. Always remember that summarizing, while a valuable skill, is not analysis, which is our goal for this lit project. I desperately want you to come away from this project with the ability to analyze literature and, ideally, the world around you at large. One way to focus on analysis and avoid summary in your timed writings and your culminating paper is to write with the assumption that the person reading your papers has already read the text in question. We'll be discussing this at length once we start talking about theme in the next week or two.

Today, we'll go over the Persuasion Portfolio's point distribution and I'll be giving you a proofreading assignment in order to better help you identify some problems I found in the timed writing revisions.

One more thing to keep in mind is that there will be a test covering both sets of lit terms on Thursday, October 14. Don't let that knowledge fall out of your brains just yet.