The Conclusion

Read over every blog you have posted over the course of the 2009-2010 school year. Some of you have completed more posts than others, including extra credit posts.  Look back on your writing: what have you learned, what have you written, what is your blog is all about?

Write a comprehensive conclusion to your blog - consider your English blog as a body of work and reflect on the meaning and significance of it all. This should be a creative, complex, and encompassing post: the more you write and the more you reflect on, the better your grade will be. Consider a minimum of 500 words as a guideline for length. However, quality trumps quantity.

Also, include a quotation that supports your message as to the meaning and conclusion of your blog. This quotation can be from anywhere - To Kill a Mockingbird, Benjamin Franklin, a lyric from a song...anything that reflects the meaning of the body of work that is your blog. Be sure to embed your quotation in a way that clarifies its relevance to your message.

This blog post is meant to give a clear, reflective conclusion to the year-long blog assignment. The more reflecting you do on your past blogs, the higher your grade will be. If you have fewer blogs than were required, go into more detail to compensate for your lack of assignments on which to reflect. Feel free to include photos, videos, or other enhancements to wrap up the blog with a bang! You may want to include your extra credit project in this post.

Due Wednesday, June 16. Comments are encouraged!

Essay Writing: Challenges and Conquests

One of the most important skills you should acquire in 9th grade honors English is essay writing. After you turn in your Romeo and Juliet essay on Friday you should feel accomplished - you should know how ot construct an original, insightful thesis and how to support it with embedded quotations and meaningful analysis.  You should even be able to apply the ideas in your thesis to the broader world in general.

Write about acquiring these skills: Are you now an accomplished essayist? Do you know what literary analysis is all about - its purpose, challenges, and rewards?

Write two paragraphs in response.  The first paragraph should address the aforementioned questions. In your second paragraph, use the rubric to discuss where your shortcomings are - is there anything from the "B grade or lower" list that you think your essay might fall under?

Post and comment by Friday, May 21.

Summer Reading List

Okay, we still have 30 days of school until summer vacation, but I'm already thinking about what I'm going to read this summer when I'm no longer reading for school. How about you? If the answer is no, think about it now.

Imagine it's summer vacation. It's warm and sunny; there are no assignments waiting to be completed. What will you choose to read, just for pure enjoyment?

Come up with at least two titles for your summer reading list - two books you want to read just because you like to read. Your blog post should give the titles and authors of two prospective summer reads and a brief description of why each title is on your "summer reading list."

Of course I realize most of you will be reading The Good Earth for Honors 10 next year, so you'll have to envision it's the beginning of summer and that the required book is still far from being due...

Your summer book list is due Friday, May 14. Post and comment - you may get some great ideas for summer reading by checking out your classmates' blogs.

Theme and Motif: Fate and Dreams

Many great ideas for blog posts were suggested in class today. In keeping with preparation for the upcoming essay on Romeo and Juliet, I'm choosing two ideas that relate to theme and motif in the play. Pick one of these two options to blog about this week:

Option 1: Fate. The characters in Romeo and Juliet believe that much of what will happen in their lives is determined by the positions of the stars and heavens occurring at birth. Research the unique astrology associated with your birthdate and time and discuss in several paragraphs whether or not you think your findings have any relevance to your own life. Tie in your findings and your feelings about astrology to the theme of the predetermination of fate in Romeo and Juliet. Use examples throughout act three as support.

Option 2: Dreams. Dreams and the dispute over their relevance help set the stage for what will happen in the play. Dreams become a motif - characters have premonitions and do not act on them, often resulting in negative consequences. Write about a dream or feeling of foreboding you have experienced and what action, if any, you took to prevent it from coming to fruition. Also, which character's opinion of dreams do you more closely align with and why: Romeo or Mercutio? Finally, discuss the impact of the motif of dreams throughout the third act of the play, with several examples supporting your ideas.

Choose one option and address each aspect of that option, writing several thought-provoking paragraphs in response. Your response should reflect a sensitive understanding of the theme of fate or motif of dreams in the play through act three.

Post and comment by Friday, May 7.

Taylor Swift Off Limits

Okay, too many of you are posting Taylor Swift's "Love Story." From now on, that reference to Romeo and Juliet is now off limits. If you used it prior to this post, it's okay (but kind of unoriginal!)

Push yourself to write about something no one else has thought of!

Due tonight, with a comment.

Culture Shock

As you immerse yourself in Romeo and Juliet you should be becoming aware of the pervasiveness of the story's impact on modern culture. References to the play are everywhere - from kung fu movies to rappers to current box-office date flicks. The enduring characters are even given modern voices and personas via Twitter.

Find something (preferably something not referred to in the previous paragraph) that references the timelessness of Romeo and Juliet. You could find a picture, post a link to an article, embed a video, copy song lyrics or just blog about a specific instance where you noticed the play being referenced in modern culture. See the bulletin board in class for inspiration.

Make sure the reference is clear and your reaction to it is clearly and cleverly conveyed...as always, quality writing is worth the time.

Post and comment by Friday, April 30.

Extra Credit Blog: English Reflection

Here is your extra credit blog assignment, due Monday, April 12.

You have been blogging about English class for seven months now. Your blog posts are primarily assignments requiring you to respond to literature and the content of the class. For extra credit I'd like you to come up with an original blog post that reflects on your English experience. The blog is your personal place to write about English class - make your response personal and an example of your own creative flair with words. When I read your post I should think, "that is so (insert your name.)"

We've covered a lot of material since September - you've memorized and recited poetry, diagrammed sentences, read and annotated classic novels, and probably said or heard the word "motif" more than you would have ever thought possible. What do you have to say about all this?