WELCOME STUDENTS!

This is a place for us to discuss openly and honestly the literature we are reading. Here we are all just communicating our thoughts on what we are reading. There are no right and wrong answers. However, you are expected to be polite, mature, and on topic.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

READING! READING! READING!

Well, welcome back Class of 2014!  I truly enjoyed teaching you as juniors and I can't wait for this year!  I promise to do my part if you do your part.  One thing you have to do is pre-course readings.  Remember everyone, no matter which semester you are scheduled for the course, has to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Then each of you has to read a novel from the independent reading list.  Here are the novels that have been selected by your peers.  Remember only one person per semester can read a novel. 

First Semester: 
Black Boy
Brave New World
The Catcher in the Rye
The Color Purple
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
The House on Mango Street
The Kite Runner
The Life of Pi
A Member of the Wedding
The Natural
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Optimist's Daughter
Pride and Prejudice
We Were the Mulvaneys

Second Semester:
All the Pretty Horses
All Quiet on the Western Front
Brave New World
The Catcher in the Rye
The Color Purple
In Cold Blood
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Gathering of Old Men
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Jane Eyre
The Life of Pi
My Antonia
A Picture of Dorian Grey
Pride and Prejudice
The Road
A Separate Peace
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn






Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Good-bye, Class of 2013

I had hoped to be back at school before you leave, but since most of you will be exempt from exams, I want to say good-bye here.  It is hard to believe that our two years together are coming to an end.  I hope that along the way that you have learned some things about writing and literature and analysis that you will be able to use in college, but more importantly, I hope that you have learned a little about life and that anything worth having is worth working to obtain.  I had planned to give each of you a copy of this before you left my class, but I will have to settle for our blog.  As you read "Desiderata", allow yourself to truly understand its meaning.  It is my last lesson to you.   Congratulations as you graduate.  Now go and make this world a better place.  I am counting on you!


Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

(Found in Old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692)

 

Friday, May 3, 2013

I WILL SURVIVE!

Congratulations to the island survivors.  They don't have to take the final test on Lord of the Flies.  Way to go, Grant, Blake, Shannon, Anna, Brayley, Alyson, Breeley, Hannah, Corey, Jonathon, Marissa, Samantha, Aaron, Cassidy, Kasey and Katelyn.