Friday, August 29, 2014

Life of Pi Reading Schedule 2014-2015

Hi. Here is our schedule for Life of Pi. Please keep up with the schedule. Honors students, remember that you need to read the assigned chapters from Foster's book concurrently.

Friday, 9/5 - Part I Due. Please have 12 notes for the seminar on this date.

Thursday, 9/11 - Honors Essay 1 due.

Thursday, 9/18 (period) or Friday, 9/19 (periods 6 and 8) - Part II due. We will listen to Part III this date.

Monday, 9/22 - Final seminar. Please have 12 notes for the seminar on this date (includes both Part II and Part III - you don't need a dozen notes each, but rather total for the two parts).

Friday, August 29

Freshmen: Today our focus was on conclusions and how to craft them in free verse poetry. Please revise your previous two poems for this principle, and then craft a third original poem that adheres to the four principles of free verse that we've covered. Please also read twice over the long weekend for 20 minutes.

Sophomores: Today we had a quiz and discussed one method of interacting with the text in preparation for our first seminar. Please have a dozen notes for Part I of Life of Pi. These notes should reflect what you were thinking about as you read Part I, and may take the form of either statements (observations or ideas) or questions that you would like to discuss. Please note the page number that coincides with where you had that thought, the passage that inspired it. See the reading schedule for Life of Pi that I have posted as well.

Sophomore Honors: Today we had a quiz and discussed one method of interacting with the text in preparation for our first seminar. Please have a dozen notes for Part I of Life of Pi. These notes should reflect what you were thinking about as you read Part I, and may take the form of either statements (observations or ideas) or questions that you would like to discuss. Please note the page number that coincides with where you had that thought, the passage that inspired it. See the reading schedule for Life of Pi that I have posted as well. Remember, your first essay on Foster's text is due on 9/11, so you should be reading the assigned chapters from his book as well.

CNF: Today we had a seminar on the Introduction and Chapter 1 from Blink. This weekend, please go to http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/ and take the Big Five Personality Test referenced in Chapter 1. Write down the results. If you would like, please have someone (friend, parent, sibling) take the quiz as well, answering for you rather than for themselves. Then compare how you see yourself compares with how they see you.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Thursday, August 28

Prediction: Utah 49, ISU 10. Mark it down.

Freshmen: Today our focus was on the question, How should a free verse poem begin? We focused on beginning in the midst of things, beginning in the middle. Revise your first poem for this principle, if necessary, and craft an original poem based on the three principles we have covered so far. Your poem should be typed and focus on a different first-hand experience than your first poem.

Sophomores: Today we began Life of Pi. Read everything through Chapter 6 (this means finish Chapter 6 as well as the chapters that come before it) for Friday.

Honors Sophomores: Today we began Life of Pi. Read everything through Chapter 6 (this means finish Chapter 6 as well as the chapters that come before it) for Friday. You should also begin reading from Foster's book; your first essay for the Honors project is due on September 11.

CNF: Today we finished reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 from Blink. If you didn't do this in class, please do so for homework tonight. You should have a dozen notes, as well. These notes can take the form of questions or comments, and should act as a transcript of what you were thinking about as you read the text.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tuesday, August 26 and Wednesday, August 27

Freshmen: Today we focused on our first two principles of free verse poetry, that being the importance of using I and avoiding participles. Your task tonight is to write a free verse poem about a personal experience that adheres to the principles we covered today. Additionally, the poem should be typed, and I suggested you write as small as possible - choose an ordinary experience, and find what's profound in it. Write about an experience that takes place over a very short period of time. Include lots of specific details (objects, descriptions, etc.). Your poem is due Thursday. Please read for 20 minutes Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sophomores: Today our focus was on getting an introduction to the Tao te Ching. We will begin Life of Pi on Thursday.

Sophomore Honors: Today our focus was on creation myths, their commonalities, and what those commonalities reveal about humanity. Please post a comment on today's post in response to the following prompt: What common elements do we see in various creation myths, and what do these commonalities reveal about humanity? Your response should be a couple of paragraphs long; please sign it with your first name and English period.

CNF: Today we began reading the introduction and first chapter from Blink. We hope to finish these two sections it by Friday or Monday.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Monday, August 25

Freshmen: Today we began a study of free verse poetry. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes; be sure to bring your book to school on Sunday.

Sophomores: Today our focus was on the creation myths you brought to class today. Please post a response to the following prompt, and in your response, please address what another student has said. Your response should be a paragraph or so, and at the end, please sign your name and period. Prompt: Creation myths from a number of diverse cultures share the same elements. What do these common elements, and the fact that many creation myths have similar elements, reveal about the human race? We will begin Life of Pi on Thursday.

Sophomore Honors: Today our focus was on an introduction to The Tao te Ching. You should finish reading that introduction for our next class period. Bring your creation myths as well. We will begin Life of Pi on Thursday, so you may want to start reading a chapter from Foster's text that correspond to it before we begin.

CNF: Today we focused on decision-making and biases associated with various decision-making processes.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Thursday, August 21 and Friday, August 22

Freshmen: Today our focus was on public speaking, and the behaviors effective public speakers engage in. This was preparation for our Prayer and Great Thoughts Talk assignment. You've all signed up for a day, but you don't need to wait until right before it's due - prepare early. Please go to Ted.com, watch a Talk, and post a comment in response to this prompt: What effective technique did the speaker of the talk use, and why is this technique so important?

Sophomores: Today our focus was on some of the literary ideas of Joseph Campbell as it relates to mythology and myths. Using the think sheet you used during the interview, please respond with a paragraph or two in answer to the following prompt: Summarize some of Campbell's most important ideas about myths and mythology. Bring the creation myths you found to class on Monday.

Honors Sophomores: Today our focus was on some of the literary ideas of Joseph Campbell as it relates to mythology and myths. Using the think sheet you used during the interview, please respond with a paragraph or two in answer to the following prompt: Summarize some of Campbell's most important ideas about myths and mythology. Bring the creation myths you found to class on Monday. Honors students, finis the two assigned chapters from Foster.

CNF: Today we focused on a few different forms of non-fiction. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish the episode of Radiolab that we were listening to, so if you are interested in finishing it, you can find it at http://www.radiolab.org/story/110206-finding-emilie/

We will begin Blink on Monday. If you have your own copy, great; if not, I have extras.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wednesday, August 20

Freshmen: Today our focus was on introducing the Letter to the Editor assignment. It is due on or before October 9. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes tonight.

Sophomores: Today our focus was on creation myths and the common traits they share. You were assigned a particular culture, and your job is to find a creation myth from that culture, read it, and print it so you can bring it to class. Please post a comment on today's blog post in response to the following question: What common elements are found in these creation myths, and what do these commonalties reveal about humanity? Please put your first name, last initial, and period at the bottom of your comment.

Sophomore Honors: Today our focus was on creation myths and the common traits they share. You were assigned a particular culture, and your job is to find a creation myth from that culture, read it, and print it so you can bring it to class. Please post a comment on today's blog post in response to the following question: What common elements are found in these creation myths, and what do these commonalties reveal about humanity? Please put your first name, last initial, and period at the bottom of your comment.

We also covered this semester's honors project. Due for Monday are the chapters from How to Read Literature Like a Professor titled "Introduction" and "Interlude: One Story."

CNF: Today we focused on some elements of how non-fiction is constructed. I'd like you to view or listen to something that is non-fiction tonight and make a mental note of how the piece is put together. Also, I realize I forgot to post the prompt I had asked you to respond to last night, so I am doing here. Please write a short response, ideally responding to what others have said. Sign your comment with your first name and last initial. Prompt: What kind of decision-making is better, snap decisions or meticulously made decisions? Explain.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Tuesday, August 19

Happy first day! Remember to use this blog to help you track what we do in class and to keep current with the homework.

Freshmen: Today our focus was on an overview of the course. We read the poem printed below. Please reread it, and post a comment on today's entry that answers the following question: Why read this particular poem the first day of school? What does the poem say that makes reading it the first day of school appropriate? Please put your first name, last initial, and the period you have English at the bottom of your response. The rest of your homework is to read for 20 minutes (and bring that book to school tomorrow) and have your parents read and sign the disclosure and return it tomorrow.


Valedictorian

I shall reject
the curve
and fail
with an A.

The table of elements
will not be
memorized by me.

And I will not
regurgitate facts
like an outdated
spreadsheet.



I will remember
what is pertinent,
not for the test,
but for life

and become
the valedictorian
of me.

-Laura Menssen, Brighton High School ‘94


Sophomores: Today our focus was on an overview of the course and an introduction to our quarterly prayer assignment. Check out the website listed on the previous post so that you know where to find each entry of The Tao te Ching. Your homework is to bring your disclosure back to class tomorrow.

Sophomore Honors: Today our focus was on an overview of the course and an introduction to our quarterly prayer assignment. Check out the website listed on the previous post so that you know where to find each entry of The Tao te Ching. Your homework is to bring your disclosure back to class tomorrow. Be sure to bring a copy of Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor to class tomorrow.

CNF: Today we got an introduction and overview of the course and the philosophical concepts that inform the course. Please have your parents review the disclosure and return it tomorrow.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Tao te Ching Link for World Literature Prayer Assignment 2014-2015

Hi. As I said in class, because an extra section of World Literature was added to my course load, we don't have enough copies of The Tao te Ching for everyone to take a copy home. However, there is a website that has each entry from the translation that we use: http://terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html#Kap01

When you prepare your prayer assignment, go to this website for the text, and feel free to research your entry using other sources as well.