Favorites

Since we are moving in to grammar, these blogs will be a little more abstract. I'm hoping next week to do a very interesting blog but I want to talk to you before we attempt it. Curious? Good. For this response I want you to pick three favorites. The three will be a book, movie, and song. For each of those you are to give a review and explanation behind why it is your favorite. This might seem juvenile, but I feel that you can learn about yourself by thinking about what my be your "favorite" and why.


The rubric still applies. In this case the quote would be maybe a line from a song, movie, or book.

The More You Know

Even though I didn't see many of you with tears in you eyes during our discussion of The Scarlet Letter, I hope those of you that read the entire book at least gained some new ideals about forgiveness and sin. For this response I want you to delve in to your personal feelings about this book and how you feel about the themes that were presented. You can argue for or against any of these ideas. Do you think this perspective of sin and repentance is right or wrong? This is your chance to be an "expert" on this book.

I want to thank you for you blog responses last week. Everyone turned in very good work. The blogger award for last week goes to Bryson. What is this Mr. H? It's new. I realized I need to respond more to your responses. My last question on that blog was a little ambiguous. I wanted each of you to think about the purpose of staying connected to what is happening in the world around you. Unfortunately, many people don't realize this till much later in their life. Some blame it on adolescence, but I feel that each of you is capable of going beyond yourselves and caring for those around you.

Remember to follow the rubric.

Events

For this blog I want you to discuss a current event. This can be anything you choose to talk about. What you need to do is read a few articles on the subject and report on it (quoting from the articles) and then form an opinion and develop that opinion. Can you think of why this would be relevant for you to do?

The Letter A

Even though we are only a few chapters in to The Scarlet Letter, each of you should already be identifying some themes and making some predictions. Some questions you might not be thinking about: In what ways could The Scarlet Letter be read as a commentary on the era of American history it describes? What is your perception of Pearl?

I also want you to think of some predictions and questions you hope to follow up on as we continue to read.


yoteach10@gmail.com

The Minister Dude

As you were leaving class today a certain student was confronted by Mrs. Gilbreth about his comment about the Minister being "crazy". I don't mean to pick on this student, actually I intend to do the opposite. The comment is legitimate, and the discussion that follows is very important. This is story is a parable (we should all know what a parable is from Sunday school), so there is a lesson to be learned from it. But if the minister is crazy can we be expected to learn from him? Even if you don't think he is crazy you can at least discuss if the method the minister used for his lesson was appropriate. How was it effective? How was it not effective? Finally, I want you to talk about some "veils" in your life and the life of others. These questions sound generic, but I strongly believe that as Christians this is one of the strongest weapons Satan uses against us. We use this veils to hide and in turn become passive followers instead of active servants. I could go on for awhile about this, but I will let you discuss.
Remember to look at your rubrics for the blog and to leave your name.

P.S. Great class today Juniors!

I would prefer not to. Unless it's a blog response...

How would you deal with someone like Bartleby?

No blog!

I apologize, but there will be no blog today. There will be one later this week.

Walden

Thoreau, during his two year seclusion, was able to break free from his shell by going within himself. I want you to discuss the idea of living "deliberately" as it is discussed by Thoreau. Make sure to refer to several passages (this means you will need to quote in your response) and discuss what your understanding of living "deliberately" is in terms of what we have read.

Emerson's Nature

We are going to get a little creative with this blog response. Now that you have read the excerpt from Nature, I want you to think of a natural scene. It could a forest, a beach, or whatever comes to mind. Now I want you to think of two of the elements you see in the scene. This could be a tree, a leaf, or anything you see. Go ahead and describe that element. Once you have described the element I want you to write a poetic response to the element. This response can be a feeling or a thought. If Emerson was writing this blog response he might pick stars and write that they are "envoys of beauty" [that] "light the universe." He might describe that he feels: "reverence, because . . . they are always inaccessible."
The reason for this assignment is to have a better understanding of Emerson before our class tomorrow. Remember your name, and email me with any questions you might have (yoteach10@gmail.com).

The Masque of the Red Death

For this post I want you to respond to some of the symbols that are used in "The Masque of the Red Death". I know some of you are the type that wishes we could simply read stories and take it at face value. The issue with that, though, is that most authors WANT us to look deeper. The art of literature is the ability to convey a message poetically instead of directly.
Even though the story is short, it is filled with strong images. Now that you have read the story, I want to you to interpret the possible meanings behind the following aspects of the story. What could they possibly symbolize?
One sentence is not enough to show me that you have put thought in to this post. Remember to write your name at the end. Go ahead and copy this list on to your comment and follow each with you interpretation.

The Red Death
The 7 colored rooms (What could each color mean? What do they mean all together?)
The clock in the black room (Include what it means when the clock strikes midnight)
The masked figure



-Mr. Heiderich

The Blog and the Sorcerer's Stone

If you are like me, it is easy to get wrapped up in your daily life and forget that there are other people actually living outside of Abilene! As strange as it might sound, it is true. I hope each of you has at least heard something about the situation in Haiti. It has been mentioned in pretty much every TV show I have watched the last few weeks, and I have come across it numerous times on the Internet. For this blog assignment I want you to dig a little deeper. Search on the Internet and find an article that either covers the actual event or talks about the relief efforts that are going on. In your comment I want you to give me a paragraph summary of the article. In a second paragraph I want you to respond to article and tell me how you feel about the situation. At the end of your comment I want you to copy and past the link that will take me to the article you read. As always don’t forget your name if you want to receive credit.

Think of this assignment as your soapbox. This blog is a chance to give your opinion. This is your voice. Remember that your grade is based on if you are able to develop an opinion and express it. If you have any questions feel free to email me at yoteach10@gmail.com. Since I did not fill out the questionnaire that was assigned last week feel free to ask me a question and I will try to answer it on the next blog.

Let’s all hope for some snow on Thursday!

Jan. 19th

Hello Students,

For this first post, add a comment to this thread that responds to 5-6 of the following questions AND the last question.

* What is your name and what would you like to be called? Do you have any embarrassing nicknames? If so, please explain.

* Where are you from? Tell something unusual about your hometown.

* What music do you listen to or what kinds of films do you enjoy? Lists are of course boring, so you might explain what attracts you to specific bands or movies.

* What have you done while at ACS that makes you most proud?

* How comfortable are you on a computer? What do you do most often when online?

* What do you enjoy reading or doing when you have free time?

* What else would your best friend tell about you?

* Do you enjoy traveling or going on long trips? Describe a memorable trip out of the state or out of the country.

* What do you enjoy about English? What do you dislike?