Last Call for Okies

I made cookies today: They're called "Okies." Now I'm sitting at my desk, eating Okie cookies and reading your Okie papers. Very fitting.

Here is the recipe, if you'd like it. Very easy to make.

1/3 c. shortening

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. coffee

Mix all together. Roll into small cookie-sized balls. Put on greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes. Yum!

-- Mrs. S.

P.S. The recipe for tried-and-true Okie coffee--same as cowboy coffee--is as follows:
1.Pour a gallon of water into a metal bucket.
2.Add one pound of coffee.
3.Place over a campfire and bring to a boil.
4.After an hour, drop in a horseshoe.
5.If the horseshoe sinks, add more coffee.

Editing Time!

Time to set up your own blogs and do some serious editing on your satire piece. (If you didn't write the satire, no problem. Edit the essay you DID write for that assignment.) These four steps are to be finished by class time on Monday.

1. Follow the directions (handed out in class on Friday) for setting up your blog.

2. Save all your blog settings--then give me your url address so that we can link everyone up in order to make comments.

3. Type your satire piece in Word. This was returned to you a few weeks ago.

Make grammar and punctuation corrections as you go. Then, follow the suggestions made in last night's reading, "Writing: Re-Vision and Revision." I'm serious! Try what the author advises: Read your essay three times exactly as suggested. Follow the strategies for revising. Chew on it. Think how you can make it funnier. More witty. More biting. Pithier. More ironic or satirical.

What you have is GOOD, but some rethinking and serious editing could make it GREAT. This is how you learn to be truly professional and a better writer to boot!

4. When you're finished with your rewrite, post it as your first blog entry. Do this by copying and pasting your Word document into your blog post box (compose).

That's it for now! Stop dreading the rewrite and JUST DO IT! Woot! Woot! (to quote JL). This is going to be FUN!

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OTHER HOMEWORK ALSO DUE ON MONDAY:

• Grammar exercises through page 188.
• Write definitions and sentences for vocabulary list 7.

Learning from the Joads

Yesterday in class, as I watched the 1940's version of The Grapes of Wrath, I thought, "Wow! Their problems make mine look small. The Joads really had a hard go."

It got me to thinking about James, Jesus' brother, who wrote a letter in 45-50 AD. In that letter, James calls folks to persevere in the midst of trials and difficulties. He doesn't say "if you face trials." Rather, it's "whenever you face trials."

We want to believe that life should be easy and happy--and if it's not, something's wrong. But that's not always true. In life, difficulties are a given. "So," James says, "you need a different perspective." He's not asking his readers to pretend happiness (while secretly--or not-so-secretly--wallowing in their misery and pain). Instead, James is saying, "Hey, aren't you lucky! You have a chance to grow and mature as a person! Yay! You can learn perseverance--and deepen your faith in God in the process! Let's see the true depth of your character as you react under pressure. Then you'll know who you are and how much more you need to grow."

What am I picking up from the Joads? Learn from my difficulties; stop trying to squirm out of them. Persevere. Grow. Be thankful for what I have.

What about you: what kernels of truth have you picked up?

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text (c) pjfs 2009photo: matchcuts.wordpress.com

GRAPES OF CHANGE

Hope you enjoyed the two video clips from the Discovery Channel about the Dust Bowl and the social impact of The Grapes of Wrath. Here are some additional questions to ponder:

1. What is Steinbeck's intentional bias? Is bias a good or bad thing? Can bias be avoided?


2. How does The Grapes of Wrath enlarge our understanding of the 1930's--particularly of the "have-nots" in California?


3. How does Steinbeck garner our sympathy for the Okies?


4. Explain why some might find the book offensive or vile--to the point of burning or banning the book.


5. Why might awarding this book a Pulitzer Prize--and later a Nobel Prize--be controversial?


6. What other novel(s) have you read like The Grapes of Wrath that examine the problems of its/their times?

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Steinbeck map: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0181_10.jpg

Of Protagonists, Parodies and Irony

RMcL captured the videos made of your Arthurian parodies. This week AB copied them to my external hard drive so that we can watch them in class one day soon. I watched them again this morning so that I could give you each a grade. Everyone got 15/15...how could I give anything less? (Hmmm. Maybe we'll have to show parts at your graduation ceremony or at the senior banquet?)

And since I've got parodies and irony on my brain today...

If you're familiar with the old cartoon Dudley Do-Right of the Canadian Mounties, you know that in every episode, antagonist Snidley Whiplash ties helpless heroine Nel Fenwick to the railroad tracks. Each time, the bumbling protagonist, Dudley Do-Right, arrives in time to save Nel from being run over by the train. The cartoon parodies melodramas and silent films of the turn of the century. It was featured as part of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show which I used to watch as a child.

The ironic--and therefore funniest--part of each episode is that Dudley is in love with Nel, but she doesn't notice because she is so fond of his horse.

When my niece and I saw the railroad tracks at Denver's Bellview Park this summer, it was just too tempting not to reenact "Nel on the tracks." You've already seen this picture on my Facebook account. Now I'm adding the cartoon pics as well.

As a child I remember thinking, "That doesn't make sense: why does Snidley always put Nel on the tracks--and why doesn't she run away when she sees Snidley slithering up?" I still don't know the answers. Perhaps these are some of the great mysteries of life.

--Mrs. S.

P.S. When I posted the picture on Facebook, someone informed me that it is against the law in the US to lie down on railroad tracks. Gulp! If the tracks are for a pint-sized, model railroad that only runs occasionally (i.e., when the railroad enthusiasts* take it out of the barn), is it still breaking the law?

*Or is that the ferroequinologists?
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text and photo (c) pjfs 2009.
cartoons: images.bcdb.com

BUDDING BALLAD-WRITERS? YEE-HA!

GOOD JOB on the lyrics writing!!! Yep! Trying to sing your new verses to The Ballad of Tom Joad was a hoot! Here they are--in case you want to sing them again:

Casy been thinking, been walkin' aroun' alone
He ain't a preacher no mo'.
He figures tghey ain't no right and wrong
Jus' people tryin' ta find a hoam,
Jus' people tryin' ta find a hoam. -- SBF & EM

Then the preacher turned to Tom to say,
"I no longer a preacher be.
The reason is simple I tell you,
I don't got the Spirit in me,
No more of the Spirit in me." -- SV & JL

The three cooked rabbit and ate the meat
Then they saw the spotlights of a car
They ran to the cotton fields and hid themselves
And the three were safe and watched the car go far,
The three were safe and watched the car go far. -- JL & JA

Casey, Joad and Muley
had a rabbit feast
They sat around the blazing fire
Saying life nearly had them beat
Oh yes, life nearly had them beat. -- JS & CP

So the camped out on the Joad place that night.
Tom wolfed down that meat.
Muley just went rambling on and on
Thought he couldn't be beat,
Thought he couldnt be beat. -- AW & RW

Later that night Muley told the tale
About how they had gone
His uncle's house was where they're at
They should head out there come the dawn,
They should head out there come the dawn. -- SB & TYL

'Bout to close their eyes when the sheriff come along,
crouched down low in the cotton
old sheriff got fooled once more
Tom hopes he's not forgotten.
Tom hopes he's not forgotten.--AW & RW

Tom Joad was too lazy to walk
to his uncle's place
So Muley said they could stay at his house
Which had a lot of outdoor space
It had a lot of outdoor space. --JS & CP

Then Joad and Casy followed old Muley
Because he knew a place where they could stay
Joad recognized the place as his childhood cave
which he and his brother had dug in May,
He and his brother dug in May. -- JL & JA

Little ol' Muley decided to stay.
Tom Joad walked on by.
Headed for the neighbor's farm:
They were sure Muley's gonna die.
Were sure Muley's gonna die. -- SV & JL

As Tom and Casy went to find the Joads,
They talked of Uncle John
How his wife died from a busted gut
And now he always had a wrong,
Yes, he always had a wrong. -- NB & NB

So Tom Joad walked down and saw his Pa,
He said, "I'm out on parole!"
He walked inside, said, "Ma, Hello!"
Then she had peace in her soul,
Yeah, she had peace in her soul. -- NB & NB

Old Tom's fambly, they need wheels
Good used cars, run clean.
Movin' West, can't take this dust
The times, they sure is mean,
The times, they sure is mean. --EM & SBF

Cars for sale here and everywhere
Used cars, checked cars--but cheap.
A car was bought by Pa and Al
Though it was junk they had to keep,
Though it was junk they had to keep. -- TYL & SB

Grampa the daft old coot he could not dress himself
His fly was always open wide
Although he tried and tried he never got it right
He only cussed and whined.
He only cussed and whined. -- EY & AM

His wife old Granma Joad she was a fiesty gal
She clear shot off Gramp's hide.
The Sperit came and she began to hoot and shout
"Praise Gawd for vit'tory!" she cried.
"Praise Gawd for vit'tory!" -- EY & AM

Well Mr. Joad decided to bring the pigs
But packed and salted instead.
So Noah, Al, Tom and Pa went down
And chopped off both their heads,
And chopped off both their heads. -- AB & ZP

And so they dragged the lifeless pigs to the house
pulled out all their entrails
They cleaned the bristles off the skin
And hung them by their tails.
Oh yes, they hung them by their tails. -- AB & ZP

The Joad family packed up ready to go
Making sure they weren't leavin' anything behind
Ma Took a last breath and looked
In California not sure of what she'd find
Not sure of what she might find. -- RL

text (c) AP English class 2009.