The tradition begins...

We have covered a great deal about the Anglo-Saxons and the historical period in which they ruled and changed England and developed our language. They were an interesting society. What are two things you found to be interesting about the Anglo-Saxons? Explain why. I will begin with a comment. You must not repeat my idea, but respond to it and add your own new element. The next person must respond to your post and add a new element. (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Friday, January 24, 2014.)

I think I will read...

Today, we completed the oral book presentations.  You listened as your fellow classmates reported on several novels.  Which novel report sparked your interest?  What did you learn about the novel that has peaked your curiosity?  (The deadline to post a response is midnight, January 22, 2014.)

A Pinch of Salt in the Gumbo

Today, we talked about Gaines' use of local color and Regionalism to create verisimilitude in A Lesson Before Dying.  Select a passage from this novel that you think most presents this local color and helps to increase the novel's verisimilitude.  Quote that passage and tell us what in it you truly could hear or visualize.  ( The deadline to post a response is midnight, Friday, January 17, 2014.)

Up the Down Staircase...

Last year, we read the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.  (I have a poster of this poem behind my back desk.) I have placed it below this post, in case you have forgotten it. My question to you is this: How does this poem relate to the novel A Lesson Before Dying?  The speaker in this poem could be one of several characters in the novel.  Select one character from the novel and explain this voice to Jefferson or Grant.  Explain how and why this character could say these words to either Jefferson or Grant.  CATCH:  You may not select the same character as the person who posted prior to you. (This post closes at midnight on January 14, 2014.)

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
--Bare.
But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Down the river

Here is another opportunity for those of you who have AP English IV second semester to get some extra credit prior to the beginning of class.  As Huck and Jim travel the Mississippi River, they learn many lessons about mankind.  Select one episode and explain what lesson is learned during this event and how he changes/matures Huck.  (The deadline
to post is midnight, Dec. 26, 2013.)

The newest members of KPU

You have been a blessing in my life.  I have thoroughly enjoyed our two years together.  You are all amazing people--intelligent, caring, and diligent.  The world is a better place because you are in it.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives. 

Stone walls do not a prison make...

Today, as we read poetry by John Donne, William Shakespeare, and Richard Lovelace, we also mentioned Nelson Mandela and the fact that the world is both better for his having lived and less for his having dead.  We talked about the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley.  Here is the poem. (Mandela wrote the last two lines on the wall of prison cell.) Select a work of literature that you have read that conveys the same theme as this poem.  Explain how it does so.  (The deadline to post a response is midnight, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013.)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.