DDS English Blog 2009-2010

Dear 8th Graders,

READ THIS ENTIRE POST CAREFULLY!
(PART OF THIS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT IS ABOUT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS.)

You did an amazing job reading and discussing Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt! As you recognized in your groups, Lincoln served as both a symbol in the novel, and as an inspiration to Jethro’s character.

Lincoln’s life and death affected America on a profound level, and his assassination inspired this now famous poem

by Walt Whitman:

“O Captain! My Captain!”

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Carefully re-read your copy of the poem (probably more than once) with a pencil in hand. You must annotate this poem! (i.e. underline, add notes, your questions and your thoughts on the meaning, etc.)

Whitman wrote this poem as a metaphorical tribute to Lincoln. Two basic questions to ask yourself as you read and we discussed to some extent in class are: What metaphor has Whitman created? (This means you need to figure out who the captain represents.) Who or what does the ship stand for?

After you have done this, think about a person in Across Five Aprils who inspired you. Then write a metaphorical tribute poem about that character. (Jethro, Ellen, Matthew, Tom, John, Bill, Nancy, Jenny, Shad, Ross Milton, etc.)

Ask yourself:
–Is there a metaphor for the role they played in the novel?
–Is there a metaphor for the personal journey they experienced during the Civil War?

The poem does not have to rhyme, nor does it have to be as long as Whitman’s, but you should have at least one powerful line that repeats, and at least three stanzas.

Finally!!

1. Post your poem here by Monday morning, 8am at the very latest, and remember to have a hard copy in class ready to hand in to me.

2.You are also required to hand in your annotated copy of the poem above.

If you have questions, email me!! Okay, now….have fun, take a risk, don’t feel you have to choose Jethro. There are many excellent characters in this novel who warrant your admiration.

Good luck,
Ms. Roberts

P.S. If you’d like to write about a “bad” character in the novel, for example Guy Wortman, you may do so, but it shouldn’t laud the character’s actions. Instead, it would illustrate his journey and what he stands for in the novel.

Dear Seventh Graders,

Tonight you will be writing an epistolary poem either to the person whose quilt panel you chose or as that person to someone they care about.

What is an epistolary poem? It is a poem that is also a letter, in which the speaker refers to her/himself as “I” and addresses a particular “you.”

Ground yourself in a particular occasion related to your person. Be aware of setting, circumstances, time, and events. You may want to describe a certain time, place or experience in sensory detail in the letter. Since the voice, word choice, and described details are geared to a specific person, a stranger steaming open the “poem/letter” would have the feeling she/he was eavesdropping on something private.

Some Hints & Suggestions:

Even if the speaker doesn’t completely understand (at least at the beginning of the poem) why s/he has a need to be talking to the “you,” there should still be a sense of urgency about what is said. The voice of the speaker, the selection of details, the items included or conspicuously absent should all be determined by the relationship and circumstances between the “I” and the “you” so, during the writing process, be very specific in your own mind about what’s going on between these two people, both at the moment of the writing and in the past.

Where are they?

Are they together or apart? Why?

Were they together in the past?

What is their story, together and/or separately?

What occasion gets the speaker to begin at the moment of the poem?

Answering such questions will give the speaker a wealth of detail to draw on in the poem, and in turn will give the reader a means to enter into this world.

It is better and easier to have more details than you need and then to weed out the excess than to be forced to create from thin air in the midst of the poetry writing.

Finally, email me a copy of your poem. Do not post it.

Take care,

Ms.Roberts

Dear Seventh Graders,

Tomorrow we head off to Albany to see seventy panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson once said:

“America is not like a blanket – one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt – many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.”

Tonight would you please write a poem in response to his words, but think about the community at DDS. What kind of a quilt do we make at our school?

Your poem can rhyme, but it doesn’t have to.

In class I asked that you post this poem here on the blog, but instead I would like you to email it to me.

I look forward to your poems!

Take care,

Ms. Roberts

Dear Seventh Graders,

Thinking over what you have read so far in The Little Prince, answer the three questions below in relation to your understanding of the book and your own experience. Please provide one quotation in one of your three answers and please remember to cite it.

1. What is friendship?

2. What is wisdom?

3. What is important?

As you may have noticed, these are very OPEN questions. There is not a “right” answer; there is simply your answer and how you connect it to the book.  Enjoy!  (Each answer need only be a few sentences each.)

Finally, please print out a hard copy to hand in to me on Monday. If you have printer difficulties please email me so I know in advance. Thank you!

Take care,
Ms. Roberts

Dear Eighth Graders,

Today you listened to a song  in class (okay, half of you listened today, the second half wasn’t given the opportunity!). The song was “Shiloh” by David Berkeley. We are also reading Irene Hunt’s Across Five Aprils. How does this song connect to your understanding of the novel, the Civil War, and Jethro’s journey so far? Does it support any of your analysis thus far about the book? How does it do that?

I tried to find a YouTube video of the song, but it’s not available. The complete  lyrics are also not on the web, so I hope you took good notes!

I look forward to reading your comments. Please print out a hard copy of your work to hand in to me tomorrow, if you can’t, email me.

Take care,

Ms. Roberts

Dear Eighth Graders,

Below is the sample personal narrative from the DDS archives. Mr. Day and I would like you to read it over carefully. In your comment below please discuss one aspect of the narrative that “works” and one that either “needs work” or simply doesn’t work.  This translates into you making two comments: one positive and one negative.  Please do your absolute best to be unique in your commentary as we discussed in class.

Take care,

Ms. Roberts & Mr. Day

SAMPLE PERSONAL NARRATIVE:

“Hurting My Hip”

Hurting my hip was a good and bad thing. It made me realize that I needed to take a break and that sometimes my body was under a little too much physical stress. But unfortunately I couldn’t practice with my team for a week and I was forced to miss a game and cheer from the sidelines.

Hurting my hip was a life changing experience for me. By suffering a lot of pain I learned that sometimes you just need a break, and even though you don’t want to stop playing something you love, you have to because your body can’t handle anything else. While visiting the doctor I learned that if I didn’t stop playing it wouldn’t heal, and it would become a long-term injury, and would affect my athleticism for the rest of my life.

Finding this out really made me think about how I wanted to live the rest of my life. Knowing that it could permanently keep me from playing sports made the decision for me that I needed to take a break. My mom told me, “You can decide, but your body will make the real choice. You need to realize whether you want to finish the season and never play again, or miss one game and be able to play for the rest of your life.”

So voluntarily I sat out at the next game. I cheered from the sidelines, and some how I think that day actually improved my field hockey playing. It was an entirely different prospective I had from the bench. From there I could see every mistake, every bad move that some how affected the team. I finally understood what the coach had been talking about. I now knew that when we all we clumping by the ball, that everyone needed to spread out so there were passing options, otherwise we were stuck. The pictures literally appeared before my eyes.

That game changed my field hockey playing career forever, it truly showed me that there was always a bigger picture that someone was thinking of, whether it was my mom, my doctor, or my field hockey coach. This taught me that I needed to sometimes look at things from the outside, instead of just worrying about the present. Hurting my hip was a good and bad thing. It helped my field hockey playing, my perspective on my future and my current life, and most importantly to trust my body and do what is best for me.

Dear Seventh Graders,

Welcome to the English blog! Below is the assignment for tonight.

Please remember to proofread your post.

Your Assignment:

Find a quotation from Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer In A Day” that captures either the setting, character OR the mood. Please include at least one sentence that explains your choice. Please remember to type it up and hand me a hard copy tomorrow.

Good luck with your first online assignment!

Take care,

Ms. Roberts

Dear Eighth Graders,

Below is the question for tonight’s homework. Post your response and cite at least one quotation, from Act I or Act II, that supports your position. Please use complete sentences, spell check and proofread!

At this point in the play, which character, Romeo or Juliet, acts more rationally about love, and why is this so?

BONUS: Does anything about their behavior illustrate that it is their destiny to be part of a doomed romance? Or are they simply making poor choices?

Remember to sign your name to your post AND to print out a hard copy of it to hand in to me tomorrow morning!

Take care,

Ms. Roberts

Dear Seventh & Eighth Graders,

I finally did it! The English blog is online and so are various assignments, forms, etc.  Future comments and posts should appear below this initial welcoming post.

On the left you’ll find the current vocabulary lists and when the homework associated with them comes due. You’ll also find the vocab quiz schedules on the left.

I’m excited for this year’s blog! I can’t wait to read what you have to say! Finally, feedback on this blog is encouraged! Let me know what you think, what works, and what doesn’t!

Take care,

Ms. Roberts