BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME (or a dollar or a lira)?

Hope you enjoyed listening to the ballads and Depression-era music yesterday. I especially liked the song, Brother Can You Spare a Dime? by the Weavers. (Speaking of music, the two new stanzas written by ZP and AB were pretty amazing, too! That will be a hard act to follow for the rest of you ballad lyricists, eh?)

Here's looking at the rest of the week:

• THURSDAY:

Definitely looking forward to hearing the AP English class sing newly written verses of the Ballad of Tom Joad on Thursday. Bring your two stanzas written on the OHP acetate sheet. (Wonder what Woody Guthrie [1912-1967] would think of our tampering with his ballad? Hope he doesn't turn over in his grave! I'll post some of the new verses on this site.

In addition, don't forget to bring your notes (bullet points? outlines?) for both GRAPES OF WRATH writing prompts to class on Thursday.

• FRIDAY:

1. Vocabulary list 4 quiz. Be ready to write the vocabulary words, their meanings, and sentences.
2. Read to p. 122 in THE GRAPES OF WRATH.

• WEEKEND: No homework. Enjoy your time away!

THURSDAY, 8 October is the next time we'll meet after Friday's class. Whew! That's three whole class periods of vacation and "retreating." For class that day be sure you've read through chapter 17.

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P.S. Since we've been talking about California tent camps during the Depression, I thought you'd find this CNN link interesting: HOMELESS FIND TEMPORARY HOME IN TENT CAMPS. This article appeared today on the CNN website.

P.P.S. And here is the link to the BBC's dust storm article and pictures from Sydney, Australia, taken 23 September: DUST STORM.

-- Mrs. S.

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text (c) pjfs 2009.
photo: microsoft clip art.

PARODY PICS POSTED

Did you notice that EY has posted the pictures from your King Arthur parodies on the bulletin board in our classroom? Here is a sampling of what she's posted. HILARIOUS stuff! She also has all 129 pictures on her Facebook page, so check them out! Great pics, EY! Thanks!



-- Mrs. S.

P.S. How about the alliteration in the title! Not bad, eh?!

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text (c) pjfs 2009.
photos: ey 2009.

Similarities Between John Steinbeck and Dick Francis?

In class today, I spoke about connecting the dots--seeing links and similarities between things that may, from a casual glance, have nothing in common.

Here's my point: When you start making the connections between what you are learning in your classes (English, Science, History, etc.), education starts to be fun. You're on the road to life-long learning that will keep you current and give your brain a much-needed workout on a daily basis. When you see similarities between great literature (J. Steinbeck) and popular fiction of the day (D. Francis), people will think you're crazy, but what a brain-zing!


Pushing your brain, expanding your knowledge, and seeing the connections: it's a heady experience. (Pun intended!) Try it! You'll like it!

-- Mrs. S.

P.S. Just wait: Some day soon researchers will show that "connecting the dots" is the perfect antidote to Alzheimer's Disease.

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text (c) pjfs 2009.
picture: thismodernworld.com

Muddy Moats

Today in AP English we watched clips from A Knight's Tale, Camelot, Sword in the Stone, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hilarious. Besides being good fun, did you get the point of our watching these? (e.g., looking at different portrayals of Arthurian legends and noting how these reflect purpose, audience, tone, and themes)?

Next up: it's your turn to prepare your own parodies of stories from the Arthurian legends. These are due on Friday.

P.S. I found Arthur's paper castle and have installed it our classroom as part of our unit. Interestingly enough, the green grass and blue moat paper have turned brown with age. Hmmm. Must have gone muddy.

-- Mrs. S.




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text and castle pictures (c) pjs 2009.
Monty Python photo: 353review.com

Hail and How-de-do (as King Pellinore would say)

Hail!* and welcome to the AP English Literature blog. This is a place to post pictures from class and links to items of interest or things we've discussed. Enjoy!

Here's the first link: a summary of Joseph Campbell's quest stages for the archetypal hero.

--Mrs. S.

*Don't you just love the passage in Once and Future King (pages 62-63) where King Pellinore is confused by Merlyn's greeting, thinking the wizard is speaking about the weather?!

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P.S. I was looking for a better profile picture of myself. When I googled "old and tired" (which is how I feel most of the time), I found this picture. It just fit. I used this picture on the engrade intro page. Did you notice? LOL.