BARNACLE BOYS, POWER RANGERS, HANCOCK: What's so hard about poetry???

Congratulations, friends! You have just mastered 12 short poems from the Romantic era. The Romantics are still considered by many to be the most popular British poets of all time. Of course, it takes some work to conquer the style, and I have been impressed at how hard you have all worked to see what I see in "Ode to the West Wind" or "Endymion." Using the mystery sheet to practice using your poetry tools helped, I hope. What was your favorite poem? Which of the Romantics "spoke" to you? Was it the subject or the message? Which of the poet's tools was your ticket into understanding the poem? (Did you recognize the metaphor and identify with it? Or did the meter sound like a song and you found yourself remembering the phrases? etc etc)
Your mission for this blog is to decide on your favorite Romantic poem, rate it on a five-star scale, and then write 250 words explaining to your classmates why it was your favorite. The more specific your reasons, the stronger your comment.  My favorite?  Byron's "She Walks in Beauty,"of course. (see the sidebar at right)
You need to post a comment by 24 April 2010. Grammar and  mechanics count. Proofread, please.

http://bit.ly/99KBxl source of Anne Beatrix Horton image: She walked in beauty

SENIORS: HOW IT GETS DONE

I read Study Hacks, a blog by a (now graduated) college student who strategized his college career more efficiently than I certainly did. I wish I had his advice then........... your mission? respond to this post with your own "scatter shot" attack to the really tough stuff. How do you get it done? I need to know by March 5, 2010.

 from Study Hacks..................

The Scatter Shot Attack
As I explained in my original post on hard focus, learning to concentrate when you don’t want to is a practiced art. A lot of students, however, are so turned off by hard work that they can’t even muster the small blocks of hard focus needed to start building toward something more substantial.

I have a time-tested solution to this issue. I call it the scatter shot attack because it’s comprised of a large number of small tactics — not one magic bullet.

For example, here was my advice to Ron:

* Use Your Autopilot: Make sure your dreaded work is tackled within a trusted autopilot schedule. Having to decide each week when to do this work is an extra hurdle that you want to avoid.
* Use Location: Identify a unique isolated location for each type of dreaded work. When in that location all you’re allowed to do is work. Absolutely no Internet will be tolerated. If you want to go online, or otherwise change mental gears, you have to physically leave the location. No exceptions.
* Be Reasonable: Make sure that you’re scheduling more than enough time for each dreaded task. If your schedule is unreasonably tight your mind will recognize this reality and summon intense resistance.
* Embrace Specificity: Throw out your vague plans to “do reading” or “work on a problem set.” If you want your mind to cooperate, you need to reduce your work to a set of unambiguous and specific actions that will clearly fit into the time set aside.
* (Wo)Man Up: Finally, you need to recognize that throughout life you’re going to have to do work that you don’t want to do. This is perhaps the defining trait of being an adult. College is as good a time as any to recognize this fact, man up (or woman up, as the case may be), and just do it, even if you don’t want to. You’re not sixteen and living at home anymore…

BARNACLE BOYS: Essay on Dramatic Poesy

“I admire him (Jonson), but I love Shakespeare.”

That is how Mr. Dryden ends this excerpt from his “Essay on Dramatic Poesy.” I, of course, am ecstatic that he gives Shakespeare his props. Ben Jonson is indeed one of the giants in English literature, but Shakespeare was the writer I read that convinced me that we are all connected, that a man writing 400 years ago could still understand exactly what a 15-year-old girl was feeling and explain it so that the words jumped off the page and into my heart. I have a feeling that some of you may not feel the same rapture when you read "Sonnet 18" that I did, though, so I would like you to think for a moment of a writer you do appreciate. Why do you love him/her? What criteria would you use to judge your favorite writer against Shakespeare—and have your choice win? Tell us all who would fill in this blank: I admire Shakespeare, but I love ____________________.” Then explain why. Post your masterpiece by 9 February 2010 here.

GANG OF FIVE: WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW......

Well, it is time for the Gang of Five to wax eloquent on a topic of my choosing. I mentioned several times during first quarter that what we are reading in World Lit is "stuff" you need to know. How Gilgamesh saw himself as a king, how Socrates sought to teach Glaucon about knowledge, how Pushkin turned a cliched perception about autumn on its ear, how each of these writers revealed themselves as they wrote--all these examples can only add to your personal life database. Is life all about adapting, about making choices? And how do you make good choices without information? You don't. Hence World Lit and the opportunity to add to the hard drive called your brain.
So.....I recently came across a list of "things you need to know" on a teacher's blog.(See here. Read it. No need to read the comments unless you find  them interesting.) It occurred to me that though the list seemed like a useful one to me, also a teacher, you might not have the same reaction. Is your education providing you with the tools you need? I'd like to hear which items on this list are indeed essential for you and your peers as you assume leadership of your future. More importantly, what items do you think may be missing from the list? I would like a short discussion of those ideas you like along with a description of what may be missing from this article (and your education). Aim for 250-300 words, and I will not complain if you write more. Make sure to see what the others are thinking--it may inform your choices for the list. Your entry should be posted no later than November 25, 2009. Humble me! pic:www.alistairsmyth.com/.../Tree-ofKnowledge.jpg

The Wife of Bath---Wise or Wacky??

For Power Rangers,  Hancock, and BB: The Wife of Bath is one of my favorite Chaucer characters because she is so much bigger than life. She is funny and domineering,loud and opinionated. She is past her prime, yet her experience gives her an edge. Much of what she says is true. She may not seem that exaggerated to you, since loud, bossy women are not such an anomaly today. But in 1400, she must have shocked and delighted her companions (and husbands?). Her story of chivalric love is modern too--kind of a medieval "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" perspective on relationships. Will we ever understand each other?
Some think that her answer to 'what women want' is contemporary too, at least if you listen to hip-hop, country or pop music radio. Women want to be in charge! Think of Carrie Underwood keying her boyfriend's SUV or Mary J. Blige's 411. I am sure you can think of many more that express similar thoughts. Ladies, is this who you are? Gentlemen, are you really all that cynical? Your mission: post a response of 200 words on what your gender really wants in a strong, lasting relationship. Make sure you list specific attributes, just as the Wife did. You may look at the issue from more than one angle, but you may only write about your own gender. When you are finished, we will tally your replies for a class discussion. Yes, this means that I am trusting you to censor any inappropriate words or thoughts. Remember, this will be on the web. Due11.9.09.  Begin.

MULAN, HANCOCK: Stereotypes and High School UPDATE!! Scroll down!!

How does this dancing football sequence from the TV show GLEE overcome high school stereotypes? Is there a high school stereotype that applies to you? How are you different from that stereotype? Give me 200 words with your answers to these questions by next Tuesday, October 13. Use standard written English and PROOFREAD!!

THE VIDEO IS NOT LONGER AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE, SO IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THIS BY NOW (OCTOBER 25),  IT IS TOO LATE.

UPDATE: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE STEREOTYPES BEING SMASHED HERE????

THINGS FALL APART (Skeeter Vs, Supertroopers)

The District Commissioner reveals something about himself in the last scene of Things Fall Apart: he is planning to write a book about his experiences with the Ibo. As he orders his men to cut down Okwonko's dead body, he daydreams that "one could almost write a whole chapter on Okonkwo (sic)..." There is dramatic void between his intellectual assessment of the situation and the passion extinguished by the violent end to Okwonko's life. What do you think the Commissioner would include about Okwonko in his book? Write me a hypothetical paragraph in the Commissioner's. Consider his interest in the episode and his perspective on its meaning. Due September 25.
UPDATE: REVIEW THE ENTRIES BELOW FOR STYLE, POV, CONTENT. CHOOSE THE ONE YOU FEEL IS BEST. CUT AND PASTE IT INTO A WORD DOCUMENT, AND COMMENT ON WHY YOU JUDGE IT SO HIGHLY. MLA FORMAT. PRINT IT OUT. DUE AT THE END OF CLASS TODAY. IF YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN, IT HAD BETTER BE GOOD.

CAN YOU SPIT IT? Mulan, Hancock and Barnacle Boys

Though we have just started reading Beowulf, we have already seen some of the techniques used by the scop that must have originated in the original sung (recited) version of the poem: alliteration, kennings, repetition, musical accompaniment, etc. The British literary tradition is not the only literature that started as songs and vocal poetry. Many of the world’s cultures still practice vibrant oral traditions to entertain and inform. Performance poetry, such as the kind seen on Def Poetry Jam, carries on this tradition in America today. And rap music born in the 1980s taps into historical African traditions to express American culture in a thoroughly original way, which is still advancing and morphing into the 21st century.
Consider your favorite art expressed through the voice: the music you listen to. How does your favorite artist express our culture? Which artist do you believe will be considered representative 50 years from now? (That will be 2060.) Choose an artist and a song and convince me that he/she will be remembered as a true artist, just as the Beowulf scop is remembered. Use specific examples fro the song to support your opinion; discuss genre, subject, themes, purpose and techniques to support your choice. Write at least 200 words or one text box on the blog’s comment page. If you do not finish today (9/18), I will still count it as "on time" if you post by 9/21.

Hope you all all a great summer-I did. For those of you who have not blogged yet, this will be fun (as fun as writing gets), and there are plenty of people in my classes who can help. Notice the sidebar on the right: I will be posting links throughout the year, most of which should provide emergency writing/reading assistance. Some of them are just cool.
You also need to think about the summer books--I've set up a poll on the right for you. You need to choose which book was your favorite this summer, and vote in the poll.
Last but not least, each year my classes vote on a class team name taken from the ranks of the most famous superheroes in our culture. For those of you in World Lit, you have a chance to broaden the choices beyond our shores. I reserve the right to stop you from making a big mistake in choice of "hero." Three years ago, a class voted on "powerpuff girls" and the guys had trouble answering to that for nine months! Can't wait to meet you in September.