Students: Click here and take the survey...please. :)

Questions for Group Discussion: The Night Country by Loren Eiseley

1. In the selection, Loren Eiseley, the narrator, describes a scene in which a group of young people kill a turtle. How did the description of this event make you feel? How would you have reacted had you been in the narrator's place? Have you ever been in a similar situation? If so, how did you react?

2. Have you ever had an experience like the one the narrator had with the gold wheel, in which you found yourself (probably at a young age) somewhere unexpected, neat, or fantastical? Describe this to your group. Did you have a special place you went to as a young child? If so, describe this. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

3. Discuss your "I likes" and "I wonders" with the group about this reading selection.

Click here for Moodle...

Once there, click "Continue to this website..."

Log in the same way you did to the computer.

Click "English 9/ Careers."

Answer "Yes" to enroll in the class.

Click "quiz one, pre-assessment."

Get rolling.

Click here for the Capstone FAQ!

American Literature Poetry Assignment:

You are to write a poem, somehow related to Spring, in any form you want - sonnet form, free verse, etc... It must be at least ten lines long (or four haiku). We will share our poems, in a poetry slam, on Monday, May 1, 2010.

Some information on poetry:
Rhyme scheme
Meter
Free verse

Dramatic Literature Estudiantes: Click here for the persuasive essay reference page.

Novels Class: Click here for the Things Fall Apart Web Search.

Dramatic Lit Pukes: Click here to complete the Macbeth Web Activity.

Novels: Click here for your assignment.

Click here and take the brief student survey...you know you want to.

Novels students - click here for the descriptive essay assignment.

Novels Class: Click here for the World War One Webquest.

Click here for blogger info...

Click here to set up turnitin.com accounts.

American Literature Moops - click here for the Salem Witch Trials/ McCarthyism webquest. Answer in complete sentences (and fully) - the assignment will be due Monday.

Students - click here and answer the survey carefully and honestly.

Juniors: To register for the multiple choice portion of the quarterly assessment test:

1. Click on the Moodle link on your desktop.
2. Ignore the security warning and continue to the website.
3. Enter your user name and password - these are the same as your computer log-in (firstname.lastname/ student ID #).
4. Click on CHS ENGLISH INTERIM ASSESSMENTS 0910.
5. Add yourself to the class.

Juniors: To register for the essay portion of the quarterly assessment test:

1. Go to criterion.ets.org.
2. Click "Add a Class."
3. Enter your user name and password - these are the same as your computer log-in (firstname.lastname/ student ID #).
4. Enter the class ID (englisheca11) and the class password (warrior).
5. You are registered. When you click on the link, answer the prompt fully - this counts as a class grade.

To set up turnitin.com accounts.

1. Go to turnitin.com.
2. If you already have an account (you should) enter your e-mail address and password. (If you've forgotten your password, click on "Forgot Password" and follow the steps.) If you're already enrolled, skip to step five.
3. If you do not have an account, click "New User." Under "New Students Start Here," click on "Create a User Profile."
4. Under "Create a New Account" click on "Student." Fill in all the blanks.
5. The class ID number for 3rd hour is: 3052217; for 5th hour it is: 3052219; for 7th hour it is: 3052220. The class enrollment password for all classes is: dbrugioni.


You should be registered in American Lit 3, 5, or 7.

https://moodle.lakeridge.k12.in.us/moodle/login/index.php

1. Click on the link above.
2. Log in. You log in the same way you log into the computers.
3. Click on the class titled Mr. Brugioni.
4. Enroll yourself in the class.

1. Research the following new weapons that were developed for use in the Great War and explain how they changed the face of war. Weapons to explore: flamethrower, tank, machine gun, submarine, airplane, and 3" mortar.

2. Explain what "no man's land" was and draw an illustration of it.

3. How was gas used as a biological weapon in the Great War? What types of gas were used, and what were their effects?

4. What was life like in the trenches for the typical German soldier?

5. True or false: You should read ch. 1 by Thursday. Answer in 5 pages or less, demonstrating grade-level appropriate control of diction and tone.

6. How did Americans view the war before American involvement? Did this opinion change once the United States was involved? If so, how?

7. What happened at Verdun that made it so notorious?


Click here to start your search. You may also use such search engine sites as Google or Yahoo, or browse Wikipedia. Remember, plagiarism is strictly prohibited! Use vivid sensory details in your answers, and don't be afraid to be unusual. Your answers are due Friday, so get crackin' wieners.
Justin Perez: Draw the following: snake, bear, square, dog.

Novels class - click here for the All Quiet on the Western Front webquest. Due Friday...

Journal Prompt: Novels/ 6th Hour/ 8/25/09

Think of your favorite stories, novels, and poems. What makes them special to you? Why do you enjoy them? Think of the story we have just read, "A Natural, Shadowless Clearing." How did it relate/ not relate to stories you usually enjoy?

Do you think writers and poets should follow rules, or do you think they should endeavor (always) to do something that's never been done before? Explain - honestly.

Click here for info on creating a Powerpoint/ Impress presentation.

For the End of Course Assessment Test:

Go to https://ineca.questarai.com

Enter the username and password I gave you.

Test hard!

Click Here for Extra Credit!

To set up an account with www.turnitin.com:

1. Go to www.turnitin.com
2. Click “New User.”
3. Scroll down to where it says “New Students Start Here” and click “Create a User Profile.”
4. Click “Student.”
5. Enter your class ID – see below for your class’s ID

1st: 2704310
3rd: 2704312
4th: 2704314
5th: 2704315
6th: 2704318
7th: 2704320

6. Enter the class enrollment password – for all classes it is brugioni1
7. Enter all required fields. Write your password down and give it to me when you’re finished; be sure it’s something that you remember.
8. Click “I agree – create profile.”

Click on the following links and read:

1. Propaganda
2. Loaded Words
3. Generalizations

Click here to take the "Snows of Kilimanjaro" quiz.

Sub Plans for Monday, March 16th:

1st and 6th Hour (10th Grade):

The students should read to the end of ch. 4 in All Quiet on the Western Front on their own. 1st hour left off on p. 66, 6th hour on p. 65. Be sure they are reading and let them know that there will be a quiz on Wednesday. Be sure to collect the books/copied sheets at the end each hour. Also, when they finish, they should work on both the character sheets and the ch. 1-5 responding sheets – let them know that these will be due on Wednesday also.

4th Hour (10th Grade Honors):

The students should work independently. Let them know they must read ch. 10-14 by Wednesday (there will be a quiz). Also, give them the ch. 10-14 vocabulary sheet (collect at the end of the hour) and the ch. 10-19 question sheet (due Friday). Let them know that they also may read ahead.

3rd, 5th, and 7th Hour (American Literature):
Give them the Words to Own sheet for “A Pair of Silk Stockings” (collect at the end of the hour). Then, read as a class the story beginning on p. 568. If they do not finish reading it, let them know that they should do so for homework – quiz Wednesday.


Sub Plans for Tuesday, March 17:

1st and 6th Hour (10th Grade):

Give the students the clause/ sentence structure packet – let them know that it is due first thing Wednesday. They may use their grammar journals if they need to. If the students finish early, they should have read to the end of ch. 4 in All Quiet on the Western Front on their own and finished both the character and responding sheets. (Be sure to collect all copies of the novel you loan out.)

4th Hour (10th Grade Honors):

The students should work independently. Let them know they must read ch. 10-14 by Wednesday (there will be a quiz) and finish the ch. 10-19 question sheet (due Friday). Let them know that they also may read ahead.

3rd, 5th, and 7th Hour (American Literature):

Give the students the clause/ sentence structure packet – let them know that it is due first thing Wednesday. If they finish early, they should have read the story on pp. 568-575. Remind them that there will be a quiz over this story on Wednesday.

1. Go to the Criterion website.
2. Click "Go to Criterion Student Website."
3. If you were a student of this class last semester, click "Log In."
a. If you were not a student of this class last semester click "Add Class."
4. Enter your student ID and password. If you do not know it, see me.
5. If you need to add yourself to my class (see step 3a above), after logging in, enter the class ID and access password. Class IDs are below, and for all classes, the access password is 208.
1st Hour: brugioni1
3rd Hour: dbrugioni3
4th Hour: dbrugioni4
5th Hour: dbrugioni5
6th Hour: dbrugioni6
7th Hour: dbrugioni7
1st, 4th, and 6th Hours: Click on the "Celebrity Role Models" link, read the prompt, and get typing.
3rd, 5th, and 7th Hours: Click on the "Military Service" link, read the prompt, and get typing.

ON THE FRONTIER

A Tartar horn tugs at the north wind,
Thistle Gate shines whiter than the stream.
The sky swallows the road to Kokonor.
On the Great Wall, a thousand miles of moonlight.
The dew comes down, the banners drizzle,
Cold bronze rings the watches of the night.
The nomads' armour meshes serpents' scales.
Horses neigh, Evergreen Mound's champed white.
In the still of autumn see the Pleiades.
Far out on the sands, danger in the furze.
North of their tents is surely the sky's end
Where the sound of the river streams beyond the border.

Passing T'ien-Men Street in Ch'ang-an and Seeing a Distant View of Chung-Nan Mountain (1)

The snow has gone from Chung-nan; spring is almost come.
Lovely in the distance its blue colors, against the brown of the streets.
A thousand coaches, ten thousand horsemen pass down the Nine Roads;
Turns his head and looks at the mountains,--not one man!

UNTITLED POEM (ii)

The east wind sighs, the fine rains come:
Beyond the pool of water-lilies, the noise of faint thunder.
A gold toad gnaws the lock.
Open it, burn the incense.
A tiger of jade pulls the rope.
Draw from the well and escape.
Chia's daughter peeped through the screen when Han the clerk was young,
The goddess of the River left her pillow for the great Prince of Wei.
Never let your heart open with the spring flowers:
One inch of love is an inch of ashes.

WANDERER'S SONG

The thread in the hand of a kind mother
Is the coat on the wanderer's back.
Before he left she stitched it close
In secret fear that he would be slow to return.
Who will say that the inch of grass in his heart?
Is gratitude enough for all the sunshine of spring?

Honors Nerds: Click here for the Christmas Truce article.

4th Hour: Once you've read Mr. Limbaugh's speech, go here and anlayaze this one. Another sheet will be provided for you.

1st and 6th Hours: Click here for the World War One Webquest.

Read the following post and fill out the accompanying sheet...

For information on loaded words and propaganda, click on the links.

Descriptive Essay: Due Tuesday, February 2, 2010.

Your paper must be:

1. Typed (at least two pages).
2. Double spaced (no added spaces b/w paragraphs).
3. In 12-point font, Times New Roman (or Thorndale AMT).
4. Proofread.
5. Fronted by a title page (title, your name, class, and date).

Write a descriptive essay about something you think is beautiful (or at least worthy of being described). It can be a scene in nature, a person, an animal, a city skyline, etc…Describe it in detail, and use plenty of colorful words and phrases (including similes, metaphors, personification, etc…see www.brugioni.blogspot.com for details). Show me (don’t tell me) what you’re seeing in a new and exciting way. If you need help, feel free to ask, though it will cost you. J For a list of descriptive words: http://www.msgarrettonline.com/descripwords.html - or just use www.google.com to find them.

You will be graded on:

1. How well you follow the prompt.
2. How well you proofread/ edit.
3. How well you use vivid, descriptive words.
4. Your introduction – was there a main idea? Did you introduce unfamiliar people/ terms to your readers?
5. Your conclusion – did you sum everything up?

“The sun, an hour above the horizon, is poised like a bloody egg upon a crest of thunderheads; the light has turned copper: in the eye portentous, in the nose sulphurous, smelling of lightning.” William Faulkner

To Create Your March2Success Account.
1. Click on https://www.march2success.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=v.home&monitorID=mid137359404&lname=Brugioni..
2. Click "Register Now"
3. Click "Student"
4. Fill in all required fields. Your username is your full first name.last name (chloe.smith), and your password is your student ID number.

If you have already enrolled in March 2 Success, you will need to enter the following information to add me as your site monitor:
monitorID = mID137359404
lastname = Brugioni

Dear Moops: Click here and read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. We will then either have a discussion or (if you're bad) an essay and a quiz. Your call. Read.

Sincerely,
El Brugioni

3rd, 5th, 7th Hours: Click here for the online poetry assignment.

Click here for the World War 1 Webquest. Do all but the "Unreliable Narrator" question.

Click here for the "How to make a blogspot webpage link."

Frequently Asked Questions About the American Literature Research Project.

1. Why can't I type when I first open Impress?
I don't know. But by clicking on "Outline" and beginning to type and then clicking back on "Normal," you should be able to type freely.

2. What do I need on my title page?
You need your title, your name, the date, and the name of the class.

3. What is a thesis statement?
Your thesis is your main idea - your topic sentence. Tell who or what your project will be about.

4. What is a hyperlink and how do I insert one?
A hyperlink is a link to a webpage about your author that you wish to include in your presentation. To add one, first find the website you want to include and copy its URL (web address). In Impress, click "Insert," then click "Hyperlink" and paste the URL (the web address) into the box marked "Target." If you want the link to appear as something other than the URL in your presentation, type what you want it to appear as in the "Text" box. Or you can simply type the URL directly onto your slide.

5. How do I add a picture?
Basically, you do the same thing you do to add a hyperlink. Find the picture you want on the web, copy the URL (web address) and click "Insert" and then "Picture" and then "From File." Copy the URL of the picture into the box labeled "Location."

6. How do I add a video or animation?
Find a video on either www.youtube.com or google videos. Copy the URL (web address) of the video and then add it as a hyperlink. See question number four above.

7. How do I copy and paste?
To highlight what you want, either drag the mouse over it or hold down Control and "A." To copy, hold down Control and "C." To paste, hold down Control and "V."

Click here to access the study guide for A Separate Peace.

Click here to play to Lord of the Flies review game.

Click here for health survey!

American Literature Students: Click here for the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism Webquest - Answer carefully and fully and in complete sentences. (This assignment is for Friday. On Thursday, do the Criteron assignment below.)

Criterion Assignment - November 13, 2008.

1. Go to http://criterion28.ets.org/cwe/.
2. Click on "Go to the Criterion Student Website."
3. Click on "Log In."
4. Enter your username and password. For most, the username will be first name, a period, then last name, all lowercase (ex: chloe.smith) and the password will be your student ID number. If this is not the case, and you cannot remember your username and password, see the sub, for he/she has a list.
(Some already have accounts from another class; this is fine, so log in that way. If you cannot log in, type in Open Office and then save to your Ifolders.)
5. Click "Continue."
6. Click on the essay that corresponds to your class: 4th Hour Honors = "Inspiring Teacher," 10th grade = "Leadership," and American Literature = "Fictional Character."
8. Get typing! You should type at least five paragraphs, and have the whole of the hour with which to work. Proofread and edit carefully!

Hawthorne Quiz - 60 points

Answer the following questions carefully, using complete sentences and well-structured paragraphing. Be sure to answer all parts of each question!

1. Why do you think Dr. Heidegger conducted his experiment? What do you think he learned from it? What about his guests – what did they learn? Cite at least three specific examples from the text to support your answers.

2. Were the events of “Young Goodman Brown” a dream or reality? Using specific and relevant examples from your reading, explain your answer in a well-written paragraph.

3. How does Reverend Hooper’s black veil function as a symbol in the story? Trace Hooper’s use of the veil and its effects on him and the people of his community. What does the black veil symbolize?

[Extra Credit] After reading these three stories, you should have a good idea about Hawthorne’s thoughts on human nature. How does he see society? What are his views on human nature? Choose at least one character from each story to illustrate your answer.

Hello everybody. As you can see, I am not here today. You've worn me to the nub, and I need a day to recuperate. (I actually need a year or so, but this is beside the point.)

Anyway, your assignments.

1st and 6th Hours: Get the two Lord of the Flies vocabulary sheets from the sub, and use the one (the definitions) to do the other (the two-sided fill in the blank page). Also, be sure that you have read pp. 1-28 in the novel. There will be a quiz Monday.

3rd Hour: Get the "Minister's Black Veil" grammar sheet from the sub, and do it. The sub will collect it at the end of the hour. Also, finish reading "The Minister's Black Veil."

4th Hour: If you've not already done so, get the new Things Fall Apart vocabulary activity. (Those who didn't attend the field trip have already done it.) Also, be sure you've read ch. 14-19 by Monday.

5th and 7th Hour: Click here to read "Young Goodman Brown." There will be a quiz Monday.

Enjoy my absence and behave. I'll see you Monday (hopefully).

Best,
Signor Brugioni

In some states, legislators have debated whether teenagers should be required to maintain a “C” grade average in school before receiving a driver’s license. Some people think this would be a good policy because having passing grades shows that students are responsible enough to be good drivers. Other people think such a policy would not be appropriate because they see no relationship between grades in school and driving skills. In your opinion, should teenagers be required to maintain a “C” average in school before receiving a driver’s license? In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.
Assignment Name:
Gr 10 Good Grades

To create a Criterion account...

1. Go to http://criterion28.ets.org/cwe/.
2. Click on "Go to the Criterion Student Website."
3. Click on "Register."
4. Type the Access ID and the Password - I will write them on the board.
5. Fill in your information.
a. Your username is your first name, a period, and your last name: daniel.brugioni
b. Your password is your four digit student ID number.
c. If you have an e-mail address, please enter it!
6. Click on the essay that corresponds to your class: 10th grade = "Good Grades," and 11th grade = "Community Service."
7. Get typing!

If you already have a Criterion account.

1. Go to http://criterion28.ets.org/cwe/.
2. Click on "Go to the Criterion Student Website."
3. Click on "Add Class."
4. Enter your username and password (I will give it to you.)
5. Click "Continue."
6. Type the Access ID and the Password - I will write them on the board. Click continue.
7. Click on the essay that corresponds to your class: 10th grade = "Good Grades," and 11th grade = "Community Service."
8. Get typing!

Click here for the Afrika Webquest. You may e-mail me the answers - brugiond@yahoo.com - or save them to your Ifolders. Answers are due Wednesday.

Click here to play the Lord of the Flies Game.

Richard Connell Web Quest

Where was Richard born?

What are the titles of five Richard Connell novels?

Name three of his short stories.

How much would a copy of The Mad Lover cost online?

How many of his stories remain in print today?

To create a blogspot webpage...

Go to www.blogger.com.
Click on “Create Your Blog Now” – an orange arrow.
Fill in your personal information.
Password should be one you will remember. It can be the same one you use for Myspace or Facebook.
Your display name is your full name.

Be sure to click the “I Accept the Terms of Service” box, and then click “Continue.”
Your blog title is whatever you want it to be. Example: Mr. B’s Blog.
Your URL is your web address. It cannot have spaces. An example: http://www.snakeday.blogspot.com. This is what people will type into their web browsers to access your page. If the URL is already taken, choose another.
Click the “Continue” arrow again.
Choose a template, click on it, then click “Continue.”
Click on “Start Blogging.”

To publish:

Type directly into the text box…or paste from the word processor, and then click “Publish Post.” You may add a title (“Reflection” or “Persuasive Essay” if you want.)
Click “View Blog” to see your post.

If you already have a blog, but have forgotten the password:

Go to www.blogger.com and type your e-mail address into the login box.
Click the small question mark next to the word password above the password login box.
If you know your blog’s URL (the website address - www.snakeday.blogspot.com -) enter it. If you don’t, just reenter your e-mail address.
Type in the word they have given you.
Log in to your e-mail account, open the message from blogger, and follow the directions to retrieve your password information.

"One by one, the guests arrive - the guests are coming through." - Leonard Cohen

Welcome back to school! Though it is summer still, I will endeavor to make your first days back bright, fun, comfortable, and productive.

Check back here often for make-up work, quizzes, tests, pictures of Mr. Brugioni when he was in his awkward adolescent stage, links to stories, etc...

Click here for the best dunk ever.

"Granny Weatherall" Quiz - 50 points

1. Who takes care of Granny?
2. What is the main event of the story?
3. What event does the title of the story refer to?
4. Describe Hapsy - be specific!
5. Who did Ellen marry? Describe her relationship with this man.

Odyssey Quiz

1. Why is Odysseus able to withstand Circe's charms?
2. Whom does Odysseus visit in the land of the dead?
3. What prediction does Circe make to Odysseus about his journey home?
4. What two monsters does Odysseus pass after facing the sirens?
5. What do the men do on Thrinakia that gets them into trouble?

Act 5, Scene 1 Quiz



1. What bad omens does Cassius report to Messala?

2. What do Brutus and Cassius say to each other just before heading into battle?

3. Who leads the forces opposing Brutus and Cassius?

4. What does Anthony call Octavius?

5. The battle takes place on Cassius' ___________ on the plains of ___________.

1. What does Harry dream about at the end of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"?


2. What is the meaning of "Ngàje Ngài"?
a. Beware the Leopard
b. House of the Holy
c. House of the Leopard
d. House of God

3. What secret does Harry never confess to Helen?
a. He was unfaithful to her.
b. He never loved her.
c. He gave his last morphine pills to Williamson.
d. He lived in a poor neighborhood of Paris when he was a boy.

4. What is Harry referring to when he says, "Never believe any of that about a scythe and a skull"?
a. The use of mysticism to cheat death
b. The traditional, African symbols of death
c. The traditional, Western symbols of death
d. The legend of what lay at the summit of Kilimanjaro

5. Respond to the story. How would you feel if you were in Harry's position? How would your reaction compare/ contrast with his? If you were in that situation, what memories would you ponder? What do you want to write about before you die? Use specfic and concrete examples from the story to elucidate your points.

6. Summarize the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in your own words.

Ambrose Bierce
The Boarded Window
In 1830, only a few miles away from what is now the great city of Cincinnati, lay an immense and almost unbroken forest. The whole region was sparsely settled by people of the frontier - restless souls who no sooner had hewn fairly habitable homes out of the wilderness and attained to that degree of prosperity which today we should call indigence, than, impelled by some mysterious impulse of their nature, they abandoned all and pushed farther westward, to encounter new perils and privations in the effort to regain the meagre comforts which they had voluntarily renounced. Many of them had already forsaken that region for the remoter settlements, but among those remaining was one who had been of those first arriving. He lived alone in a house of logs surrounded on all sides by the great forest, of whose gloom and silence he seemed a part, for no one had ever known him to smile nor speak a needless word. His simple wants were supplied by the sale or barter of skins of wild animals in the river town, for not a thing did he grow upon the land which, if needful, he might have claimed by right of undisturbed possession. There were evidences of "improvement" - a few acres of ground immediately about the house had once been cleared of its trees, the decayed stumps of which were half concealed by the new growth that had been suffered to repair the ravage wrought by the axe. Apparently the man's zeal for agriculture had burned with a failing flame, expiring in penitential ashes.

The little log house, with its chimney of sticks, its roof of warping clapboards weighted with traversing poles and its "chinking" of clay, had a single door and, directly opposite, a window. The latter, however, was boarded up - nobody could remember a time when it was not. And none knew why it was so closed; certainly not because of the occupant's dislike of light and air, for on those rare occasions when a hunter had passed that lonely spot the recluse had commonly been seen sunning himself on his doorstep if heaven had provided sunshine for his need. I fancy there are few persons living today who ever knew the secret of that window, but I am one, as you shall see.

The man's name was said to be Murlock. He was apparently seventy years old, actually about fifty. Something besides years had had a hand in his ageing. His hair and long, full beard were white, his grey, lustreless eyes sunken, his face singularly seamed with wrinkles which appeared to belong to two intersecting systems. In figure he was tall and spare, with a stoop of the shoulders - a burden bearer. I never saw him; these particulars I learned from my grandfather, from whom also I got the man's story when I was a lad. He had known him when living near by in that early day.

< 2 > One day Murlock was found in his cabin, dead. It was not a time and place for coroners and newspapers, and I suppose it was agreed that he had died from natural causes or I should have been told, and should remember. I know only that with what was probably a sense of the fitness of things the body was buried near the cabin, alongside the grave of his wife, who had preceded him by so many years that local tradition had retained hardly a hint of her existence. That closes the final chapter of this true story - excepting, indeed, the circumstance that many years afterward, in company with an equally intrepid spirit, I penetrated to the place and ventured near enough to the ruined cabin to throw a stone against it, and ran away to avoid the ghost which every well-informed boy thereabout knew haunted the spot. But there is an earlier chapter - that supplied by my grandfather. When Murlock built his cabin and began laying sturdily about with his axe to hew out a farm - the rifle, meanwhile, his means of support - he was young, strong and full of hope. In that eastern country whence he came he had married, as was the fashion, a young woman in all ways worthy of his honest devotion, who shared the dangers and privations of his lot with a willing spirit and light heart. There is no known record of her name; of her charms of mind and person tradition is silent and the doubter is at liberty to entertain his doubt; but God forbid that I should share it! Of their affection and happiness there is abundant assurance in every added day of the man's widowed life; for what but the magnetism of a blessed memory could have chained that venturesome spirit to a lot like that? One day Murlock returned from gunning in a distant part of the forest to find his wife prostrate with fever, and delirious. There was no physician within miles, no neighbour; nor was she in a condition to be left, to summon help. So he set about the task of nursing her back to health, but at the end of the third day she fell into unconsciousness arid so passed away, apparently, with never a gleam of returning reason. From what we know of a nature like his we may venture to sketch in some of the details of the outline picture drawn by my grandfather. When convinced that she was dead, Murlock had sense enough to remember that the dead must be prepared for burial. In performance of this sacred duty he blundered now and again, did certain things incorrectly, and others which he did correctly were done over and over. His occasional failures to accomplish some simple and ordinary act filled him with astonishment, like that of a drunken man who wonders at the suspension of familiar natural laws. He was surprised, too, that he did not weep - surprised and a little ashamed; surely it is unkind not to weep for the dead. "Tomorrow," he said aloud, "I shall have to make the coffin arid dig the grave; and then I shall miss her, when she is no longer in sight; but now - she is dead, of course, but it is all right - it must be all right, somehow. Things cannot be so bad as they seem."
< 3 > He stood over the body in the fading light, adjusting the hair and putting the finishing touches to the simple toilet, doing all mechanically, with soulless care. And still through his consciousness ran an undersense of conviction that all was right - that he should have her again as before, and everything explained. He had had no experience in grief; his capacity had not been enlarged by use. His heart could not contain it all, nor his imagination rightly conceive it. He did not know he was so hard struck; that knowledge would come later, and never go. Grief is an artist of powers as various as the instruments upon which he plays his dirges for the dead, evoking from some the sharpest, shrillest notes, from others the low, grave chords that throb recurrent like the slow beating of a distant drum. Some natures it startles; some it stupefies. To one it comes like the stroke of an arrow, stinging all the sensibilities to a keener life; to another as the blow of a bludgeon, which in crushing benumbs. We may conceive Murlock to have been that way affected, for (and here we are upon surer ground than that of conjecture) no sooner had he finished his pious work than, sinking into a chair by the side of the table upon which the body lay, and noting how white the profile showed in the deepening gloom, he laid his arms upon the table's edge, and dropped his face into them, tearless yet and unutterably weary. At that moment came in through the open window a long, wailing sound like the cry of a lost child in the far deeps of the darkening woods! But the man did not move. Again, and nearer than before, sounded that unearthly cry upon his failing sense. Perhaps it was a wild beast; perhaps it was a dream. For Murlock was asleep. Some hours later, as it afterward appeared, this unfaithful watcher awoke and lifting his head from his arms intently listened - he knew not why. There in the black darkness by the side of the dead, recalling all without a shock, he strained his eyes to see - he knew not what. His senses were all alert, his breath was suspended, his blood had stilled its tides as if to assist the silence. Who - what had waked him, and where was it?
< 4 > Suddenly the table shook beneath his arms, and at the same moment he heard, or fancied that he heard, a light, soft step - another - sounds as of bare feet upon the floor! He was terrified beyond the power to cry out or move. Perforce he waited - waited there in the darkness through seeming centuries of such dread as one may know, yet live to tell. He tried vainly to speak the dead woman's name, vainly to stretch forth his hand across the table to learn if she were there. His throat was powerless, his arms and hands were like lead. Then occurred something most frightful. Some heavy body seemed hurled against the table with an impetus that pushed it against his breast so sharply as nearly to overthrow him, and at the same instant he heard and felt the fall of something upon the floor with so violent a thump that the whole house was shaken by the impact. A scuffling ensued, and a confusion of sounds impossible to describe. Murlock had risen to his feet. Fear had by excess forfeited control of his faculties. He flung his hands upon the table. Nothing was there! There is a point at which terror may turn to madness; and madness incites to action. With no definite intent, from no motive but the wayward impulse of a madman, Murlock sprang to the wall, with a little groping seized his loaded rifle, and without aim discharged it. By the flash which lit up the room with a vivid illumination, he saw an enormous panther dragging the dead woman toward the window, its teeth fixed in her throat! Then there were darkness blacker than before, and silence; and when he returned to consciousness the sun was high and the wood vocal with songs of birds. The body lay near the window, where the beast had left it when frightened away by the flash and report of the rifle. The clothing was deranged, the long hair in disorder, the limbs lay anyhow. From the throat, dreadfully lacerated, had issued a pool of blood not yet entirely coagulated. The ribbon with which he had bound the wrists was broken; the hands were tightly clenched. Between the teeth was a fragment of the animal's ear. top

Write a poem, of at least ten lines, relating in some way to either winter or spring. You will present your poem (out loud) on Wednesday, February 4, 2009. Be sure use plenty of sensory details, and to describe things in fresh, new ways.

Use the following links to help your writing.

Alliteration: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/alliteration.html
Assonance: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/assonance.html
Slant Rhyming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_rhyme
Internal Rhyming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_rhyme
Extended Metaphor: http://www.changingminds.org/techniques/language/metaphor/extended_metaphor.htm
Onomatopoeia: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/onomatopoeia.html

The House With a Clock in Its Walls Webquest.

Answer the following questions (with the word processor) and e-mail your answers (either as an attachment or inline text) to brugiond@yahoo.com - or print them.

1. In what city is the novel set? Describe it.
2. What is Lewis's dad's name?
3. Name three other novels featuring Lewis.
4. Describe Lewis in a few well-written sentences. Then draw a picture of him.
5. Where did the "Black Hope Horror" haunting supposedly take place? Describe it.
6. Do you believe in ghosts? In a well-written paragraph, tell why you do or don't, and try to convince others to see your side.
7. Respond to this picture in any way you see fit.

Some links to help your search:

Lewis Barnavelt, New Zebedee, John Bellairs

Green Flash

She said meet me on the shoal
Where the red moonlight lingers
Where hot wind whispers on the boles
Bright waters glowing with green flash
She led me down to the banks of Mbini
She said my friend you’re so cold and dead
She wrapped me in her silence and then began to sing
While the shadows fell on my riverbed

We’ll lean on the soft machines
And make up rhymes to the sun
And drink tea over maps of islands
And drop foreign coins in fountains

The dust of spirits
Hums low malaguenas
Of painted landscape
Of broken circle
I’ve many questions
For the boatmen
Who haunt the shoreline
Of el Rio Bonito
I woke at dawn to the rattle of rain
When the mist draped over the thick yellow river
She caressed my skin with the music of whispers
We descended to the banks and knelt in the eddies

I said I can’t open my eyes
I said I’m hot and river blind
I’ve lain through this echoing evening
In dim purgatorial musings

Onchocerciasis
A swarm of insects
A backlit canvas
Of dancing shadow
I feel the light falling on swollen arms
The purging of springtime’s network of rivers
I feel the soft gasp of memory’s fading
Licking my wounds with her sweet muddy tongue

The locusts buzz and hum
I murmur that all is darkness
I’ve lost the streets and the cities
The bending hills of forgotten islands
I dream of Coriolanus
The doomed march of rotten heroes
I dream of airports and slums
The slow lap of waves on a rowboat

Click here for Shakespeare's Online Text.

Background on the Salem Witch Trials - Use these links to answer the questions below. http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/

1. Approximately when did the Salem witch trials take place?

2. What are some possible causes for the hysteria in Salem?

3. Who was Samuel Parrish?

4. Who was Tituba?

5. What event concerning the Parrish children ignited the hysteria?

6. Who was Cotton Mather?

7. What types of punishment were used for those accused of witchcraft?

8. What happened to those who did not confess to witchcraft?

9. How many lives did the Salem trials ultimately claim?


Background on McCarthyism - More links, more questions. http://encarta.msn.com/

1. What did Senator Joseph McCarthy have to do with the Red Scare of the 1950’s?

2. What political situation prompted the hysteria during the Red Scare?

3. What is the HUAC and what did it set out to do in the 1940’s and 1950’s?

4. What were blacklists and who was most likely to be named to these lists?

5. What happened to those accused by Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC?

6. What kinds of trials or hearings were held? Were they fair or not?

7. What questions were accused people asked?

8. How many were found guilty? Any famous people?

9. What ultimately happened to his investigation?

Barfs: Click here to read the article. Then go to your blogger page and respond to the following prompt.

What did you think of the article? How do you think Paul Baumer would react to it? How might one use this article to reinforce an arguement that war is futile and unnecessary?

Here is the address for Ifolders:http://moodle.lakeridge.k12.in.us/ifolder/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fifolder%2fiFolders.aspx!
Type or copy it into the URL bar if the link to the right doesn't work. You can also click here.

Freshmen: Click here to read the modern-text translation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

World War One Webquest

1. Research the following new weapons that were developed for use in the Great War and explain how they changed the face of war. Weapons to explore: flamethrower, tank, machine gun, submarine, airplane, and 3" mortar.

2. Explain what "no man's land" was and draw an illustration of it.

3. How was gas used as a biological weapon in the Great War? What types of gas were used, and what were their effects?

4. What was life like in the trenches for the typical German soldier?

5. We've discussed (briefly) the concept of an unreliable narrator. (Think of the multi-named protagonist from "Reconnaissance.") What are the characteristics of an unreliable narrator? How does this effect/ affect the plot of a story?

6. True or false: You should get a copy of All Quiet on the Western Front by Friday. Answer in 5 pages or less, demonstrating grade-level appropriate control of diction and tone.

7. How did Americans view the war before American involvement? Did this opinion change once the United States was involved? If so, how?

8. What happened at Verdun that made it so notorious?

Click here to start your search. You may also use such search engine sites as Google or Yahoo, or browse Wikipedia. Remember, plagarism is strictly prohibited! Use vivid sensory details in your answers, and don't be afraid to be unusual. Your anwsers are due Wednesday, so get crackin' weiners.

Daniel: Draw the following: snake, bear, square, dog.

To the freshmen: You should have the following grammar journals completed.

11. Complements
12. Direct Objects
13. Indirect Objects
14. Object Complements
15. Sentence Combining/ Predicate Nominatives
16. Predicate Adjectives
17. Prep. Phrases
18. Adjective Phrases
19. Adverb Phrases
20. Review For Finals

Click here, read the article, and respond using your Nonfiction Assignment Sheets.

THE CHARACTERS By Relationship
Parris: A minister in Salem who is more worried about his reputation than the life of his daughter or the lives of his parishioners
Betty: Parris's young daughter; stricken at the beginning of the play; one of the girls who "cry out" during the trial
Abigail: Orphan; niece of Parris; tauntress; mistress of Proctor; leads "crying out" during the trial
Tituba: Parris's slave from Barbados; first accused witch
Putnam: Vindictive, bitter villager who believes he has been wronged and cheated; leading village voice against the witches
Mrs. Putnam: Wife of (Thomas) Putnam; first plants the idea that Betty has been bewitched
Ruth: Daughter of the Putnams; one of the girls who "cry out" at trials
Mercy Lewis: Putnams' servant; also involved in accusation of witches; one of the girls who "cry out" during the trial
Proctor: Good man with human frailties and a hidden secret; often the voice of reason in the play; accused of witchcraftElizabeth:
Wife of (John) Proctor; a cold, childless but upright woman who at first cannot forgive her husband's frailties; an accused witch
Mary Warren: Proctor's servant; an easily swayed young girl who plants the evidence of witchcraft on Elizabeth; one of the girls who "cry out" during the trial
Hale: A minister who is a recognized authority on witchcraft; at the play's end tries to save the accused
Danforth: Deputy Governor of Massachusetts who is taken in by the testimony; attempts to get confessions of accused witches
Hathorne: One of the judges for the trials
Rebecca: Wife of the respected Francis Nurse; midwife; exemplary Christian; accused witch
Francis: Husband of Rebecca; had land dispute with the Putnams
Giles Corey Old, garrulous villager; inadvertently causes his wife to be accused
Sarah Good: Accused witch who cracks under the strain of imprisonment
Susanna: Doctor's messenger; one of the girls who "cry out" during the trial
Cheever: Charged with arresting the witches
Herrick: Also charged with arresting the witches; acts as jailkeeper
Hopkins: Messenger
Martha: Giles Corey's wife who likes to read; accused witch
Goody Osburn: Midwife at birth of three Putnam babies who were born dead; accused witch
Bayley: Putnam's brother-in-law; Putnam's choice to be minister; opposed by Nurses

Here's my list of historical inaccuracies in the play/screenplay:

Betty Parris' mother was not dead, but very much alive at the time. She died in 1696, four years after the events.

Soon after the legal proceedings began, Betty was shuttled off to live in Salem Town with Stephen Sewall's family. Stephen was the clerk of the Court, brother of Judge Samuel Sewall.

The Parris family also included two other children -- an older brother, Thomas (b. 1681), and a younger sister, Susannah (b. 1687) -- not just Betty and her relative Abigail, who was probably born around 1681.

Abigail Williams is often called Rev. Parris' "niece" but in fact there is no genealogical evidence to prove their familial relationship. She is sometimes in the original texts referred to as his "kinfolk" however.

Miller admits in the introduction to the play that he boosted Abigail Williams' age to 17 even though the real girl was only 11, but he never mentions that John Proctor was 60 and Elizabeth, 41, was his third wife. Proctor was not a farmer but a tavern keeper. Living with them was their daughter aged 15, their son who was 17, and John's 33-year-old son from his first marriage.

Everyone in the family was eventually accused of witchcraft. Elizabeth Proctor was indeed pregnant, during the trial, and did have a temporary stay of execution after convicted, which ultimately spared her life because it extended past the end of the period that the executions were taking place.

The first two girls to become afflicted were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, not Ann Putnam, and they had violent, physical fits, not a sleep that they could not wake from.

There never was any wild dancing rite in the woods led by Tituba, and certainly Rev. Parris never stumbled upon them. Some of the local girls had attempted to divine the occupations of their future husbands with an egg in a glass -- crystal-ball style. Tituba and her husband, John Indian (absent in Miller's telling), were asked by a neighbor, Mary Sibley, to bake a special "witch cake," -- made of rye and the girls' urine, fed to a dog -- European white magic to ascertain who the witch was who was afflicting the girls.

The Putnam's daughter was not named Ruth, but Ann, like her mother, probably changed by Miller so the audience wouldn't confuse the mother and the daughter. In reality, the mother was referred to as "Ann Putnam Senior" and the daughter as "Ann Putnam Junior."

Ann/Ruth was not the only Putnam child out of eight to survive infancy. In 1692, the Putnams had six living children, Ann being the eldest, down to 1-year-old Timothy. Ann Putnam Sr. was pregnant during most of 1692. Ann Sr. and her sister, however did lose a fair number of infants, though certainly not all, and by comparison, the Nurse family lost remarkably few for the time.

Rev. Parris claims to Giles Corey that he is a "graduate of Harvard" -- he did not in fact graduate from Harvard, although he had attended for a while and dropped out.

The judges in The Crucible are Samuel Sewall, Thomas Danforth, and John Hathorne. The full panel of magistrates for the special Court of Oyer and Terminer were in fact named by the new charter, which arrived in Massachusetts on May 14, 1692 were William Stoughton, John Richards, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Wait Winthrop, Bartholomew Gedney, Samuel Sewall, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin and Peter Sergeant. Five of these eight had to be present to form a presiding bench, and at least one of those five had to be Stoughton, Richards, or Gedney.

Thomas Danforth the Deputy Governor, joined the magistrates on occasion as the presiding magistrate.

The events portrayed here were the examinations of the accused in Salem Village from March to April in the context of a special court of "Oyer and Terminer." These were not the actual trials, per se, which began later, in June 1692. The procedure was basically this: someone would bring a complaint to the authorities, and the authorities would decide if there was enough reason to send the sheriff or other law enforcement officer to arrest them. While this was happening, depositions -- statements people made on paper outside of court -- were taken and evidence gathered, typically against the accused. After evidence or charges were presented, and depositions sworn to before the court, the grand jury would decide whether to indict the person, and if so, on what charges. If indicted, the person's case would then go to a petit jury, or to "trial" something like we know it only much faster, to decide guilt or innocence. Guilt in a case of witchcraft in 1692 came with an automatic sentence of death by hanging, as per English law.

Saltonstall was one of the original magistrates, but quit early on because of the reservations portrayed as attributed to Sewall's character in the play. Of the magistrates, only Sewall ever expressed public regret for his actions, asking in 1696 to have his minister, Rev. Samuel Willard, read a statement from the pulpit of this church to the congregation, accepting his share of the blame for the trials.

Rebecca Nurse was hanged on July 19, John Proctor on August 19, and Martha Corey on September 22 -- not all on the same day on the same gallows. And the only person executed who recited the Lord's Prayer on the gallows was Rev. George Burroughs -- which caused quite a stir since it was generally believed at the time that a witch could not say the Lord's Prayer without making a mistake. They also would not have been hanged while praying, since the condemned were always allowed their last words and prayers.

Reverend Hale would not have signed any "death warrants," as he claims to have signed 17 in the play. That was not for the clergy to do. Both existing death warrants are signed by William Stoughton.

The elderly George Jacobs was not accused of sending his spirit in through the window to lie on the Putnam's daughter -- in fact, it was usually quite the opposite case: women such as Bridget Bishop were accused of sending their spirits into men's bedrooms to lie on them. In that period, women were perceived as the lusty, sexual creatures whose allure men must guard against!
The hysteria did not die out "as more and more people refused to save themselves by giving false confessions," as the epilogue of the movie states. The opposite was true: more and more people gave false confessions to save themselves as it became apparent that confession could save one from the noose. What ended the trials was the intervention of Governor William Phips.

Contrary to what Phips told the Crown in England, he was not off in Maine fighting the Indians in King William's War through that summer, since he attended governor's council meetings regularly that summer, which were also attended by the magistrates. But public opinion of the trials did take a turn. There were over two hundred people in prison when the general reprieve was given, but they were not released until they paid their prison fees. Neither did the tide turn when Abigail Williams accused Rev. Hale's wife, as the play claims -- although the "afflicted" did start accusing a lot more people far and wide to the point of absurdity, including various people around in other Massachusetts towns whom they had never laid eyes on, including notable people such as the famous hero Capt. John Alden (who escaped after being arrested).
Abigail Williams probably couldn't have laid her hands on 31 pounds in Samuel Parris' house, to run away with John Proctor, when Parris' annual salary was contracted at 66 pounds, only a third of which was paid in money. The rest was to be paid in foodstuffs and other supplies, but he even then, he had continual disputes with the parishioners about supplying him with much-needed firewood they owed him.

Certain key people in the real events appear nowhere in Miller's play: John Indian, Rev. Nicholas Noyes, Sarah Cloyce, and most notably, Cotton Mather.

Giles Corey was not executed for refusing to name a witness, as portrayed in the movie. The play is accurate: he was accused of witchcraft, and refused to enter a plea, which held up the proceedings, since the law of the time required that the accused enter a plea. He was pressed to death with stones, but the method was used to try to force him to enter a plea so that his trial could proceed. Corey probably realized that if he was tried at all, he would be executed, and his children would be disinherited. (Interestingly, Miller wrote both the play and the screenplay... Who knows why he changed it to a less-accurate explanation for his punishment and execution?)
"The afflicted" comprised not just a group of a dozen teenage girls -- there were men and adult women who were also "afflicted," including John Indian, Ann Putnam, Sr., and Sarah Bibber -- or anyone in Andover, where more people were accused than in Salem Village!
There's a tiny scene in the movie with a goat getting into someone's garden and tempers flaring -- the actual history is that three years before the witchcraft accusations, a neighbor's pigs got into the Nurse family's fields, and Rebecca Nurse flew off the handle yelling at him about it. Soon thereafter, the neighbor had an apparent stroke and died within a few months. This was seen as evidence in 1692 of Rebecca Nurse's witchcraft.

Click here for Ifolders.

To access IFolders:

Click on the IFolders icon on your desktop, then click on IFolders again (if necessary).

Login. Your username is your first name, followed by a period, followed by your last name - all lowercase, with no spaces. For example: daniel.brugioni
Your password is your four digit student ID number.

Once logged in, click on "Create New Folder." Name it.

To save - first, save your essay to the computer. Then, in IFolders, click browse, find your essay title, double click on the title, then click upload. It will be saved, and you can open it anywhere - even Mongolia.

Click here, read the article, and respond using your Nonfiction Assignment Sheets.

Moops - click here for an interactive Lord of the Flies game.

Background on the Salem Witch Trials - Use these links to answer the questions below.
http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/


1. Approximately when did the Salem witch trials take place?

2. What are some possible causes for the hysteria in Salem?

3. Who was Samuel Parrish?

4. Who was Tituba?

5. What event concerning the Parrish children ignited the hysteria?

6. Who was Cotton Mather?

7. What types of punishment were used for those accused of witchcraft?

8. What happened to those who did not confess to witchcraft?

9. How many lives did the Salem trials ultimately claim?



Background on McCarthyism - More links, more questions.
http://encarta.msn.com/


1. What did Senator Joseph McCarthy have to do with the Red Scare of the 1950’s?

2. What political situation prompted the hysteria during the Red Scare?

3. What is the HUAC and what did it set out to do in the 1940’s and 1950’s?

4. What were blacklists and who was most likely to be named to these lists?

5. What happened to those accused by Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC?

6. What kinds of trials or hearings were held? Were they fair or not?

7. What questions were accused people asked?

8. How many were found guilty? Any famous people?

9. What ultimately happened to his investigation?

“The Horla” Quiz.

Part One – Short Answer (5 points each)

1. Where did the narrator believe the Horla came from?
2. What was his first evidence of the Horla? (There are several answers; be specific.)
3. What did the narrator leave for the Horla when he went to sleep?
4. What does the narrator find in the morning? (Refer to number three.)
5. What does the narrator do at the end of the story?


Part Two – Essay (25 points)

Does the Horla exist, or is it a figment of the narrator’s imagination? What evidence supports the presence of an entity, and what evidence supports madness? Be specific and use at least three relevant examples.

Here is a link for the short story "The Horla." Be sure to read it, in its entirety, by Monday, when there will be a quiz.

Click here for an article about Guy de Maupassant!

Click here for some information on Glo-Balls.

Click here for the Moodle page.

CLick here for the Moodle page.

Click here for an African webquest.

·Choose 2-4 essays and/or activities you've done in this class, and paste them directly into your website's publish page.

.Write a reflection (1-2 pages, double-spaced) about your essays, what they
meant to you, why you chose them – and your overall progress as an English student.

· Type or paste it directly into your www.blogger.com page.
· To highlight text, hold down the control key, and the “a” key.
· To copy text, hold down control and “c”
· To paste, hold down control and “v”
· To access your criterion page:
· Go to criterion.ets.org. Do not type www.
· Click Go to Criterion Student Website.
§ Your username is your first initial, followed by a period, followed by your last name. Ex: d.comer
§ Your password is the last four digits of your student ID.

I am cool. Ryan Brunn is NOT!!! (Nor is Jennifer.)

I am cool. Edwin Johnson isn't.

I am very cool. Nick Drayton is not.

Click here to play the Odyssey game.

Journals are due! Look below to see what journals you should have.

Freshmen: (50 Points)

Creative Writing:

Similarities/ Differences b/w Romeo and Juliet and Save the Last Dance.
Have R+J been making good decisions?
Response to the painting Land of the Lotus Eaters.
Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?

Grammar Journals: (FIrst lines/ topics listed)

My running shoes are pretty rad.
Pay up or die!
Clauses 1
Adj. clauses
Noun/ Adverb clauses
Sentence Structure

Sophomores: (55 points)

Creative Writing:

Response to the "Christmas Truce" article.
List of Power-Hungry Characters
If you could talk to Brutus, what would you say to him?
Respond to the painting Ceremony at Sunset.

Grammar Journals: (List of First Lines/ Topics)

Passive Voice
Misplaced Modifiers
Dangling Modifiers
Modals #1
Modals #2
Modals #3/ Review

link

Scroll down for Caesar prompt!

Poetry Assignment: Write a poem of at least ten lines (or four Haiku) relating in some way to Spring. They will be due the Wednesday after Spring Break.

Reference: Freshmen - p. 550-552, Sophomores - p. 588-589 in literature books.

"Driving to Rowan Oak"

I
The slow hum in the walls
Sounds louder
It’s very bad tonight
My nerves! she said
Mine too but didn’t say
And cast my eye inward
To where the green
Hangs wet with bent leaves

I find that waiting for the bang
The explosion
Makes me miss the small explosions
Everyday I lose big
Or win and then
Come to you with the news of my achievement
My small victory
Only to see you shrink away
Like plastic from a fire

At the quiet hour
The time when even spirits sleep between
The unaccompanied humming walls
I see the path, it
Takes many forms
And slips serenely southward
The clouds inflating the pine
Permeating
The Springtime sunshine warm

Morning’s a misty reprieve
Painted in dawn-lonely pastels
The underbrush rife with thrush
A passing thunderpeal
Gives way
To the twilight’s humid hush

Alone or nearly alone
The thrill of your touch still
Numbing my fingertips
My road-black nails
A long dormant voice now speaks
Of trips half taken
I leave the safety of numbers
For the mystery of the trail


II
Over the blown land
Over the hanging pines
Over the callused hand
Over the rusted signs

The talking drums, sound
Just on the edge of perception
A thunderstone
Echoes spilling on the noon flat air
Thunk of recognition
Meandering thoughts I
Slump on the splashboard
Wondering if I am only prolonging the inevitable
Or opening another door

There is sclaff then scintillation
Blinding sun on the spillway
The floodwater rising
Giving birth to interred memories
In the thickheaded evening

III
There is sclaff then scintillation
The dirt of inhumation
I saw a girl who looked like you
Leaving from the station
But the train departed early
And I was far away

IV
What’s done can not be undone
Nor what’s said unsaid
The road behind us stretches further than all that’s ahead

Alone on the roadside
Smoke on the air, rising in columns
To the clouds
The air is softer, the stiletto edge of old
Mordancy diminished with my
Easy manipulation of the past

And all the while stretching
On, the sinuous road,
The forthcoming future
Exclusive in its relevance
Slides through the sarcophagus dust
Under painted oaks
Bejeweled with moss in the sun

- Daniel Brugioni

Respond to this question (one page minimum):

A tragic hero is, by definition, a person more noble than evil, whose fortunes go from good to bad. Does Brutus fit this description, or is the tragic hero someone else, perhaps even Cassius or Caesar? Do you think, perhaps, that the play lacks a tragic hero? Defend your answer.

Can you think of any other characters (from stories we've read in this class) who fit the above description of a tragic hero? Explain.

Click here and have fun. Be appropriate!

Freshmen: Be sure you've completed all of the following journals. See me for details.

CW 1 - Respond to the Quickwrite on p. 732.
GJ 1 - Subject Complements
CW 2 - How do you feel during a thunderstorm?
GJ 2 - Prepositional Phrases
GJ 3 - Adjective Phrases
CW 3 - Respond to the painting The Lovers, Somali Friends.
GJ 4 - Adverb Phrases
GJ 5 - Verbal Phrases
CW 4 - Respond to the painting A Young Couple.
CW 5 - Respond to the painting of the couple in the orchard.
GJ 6 - Verbals continued

Make sure you have these done, for they're worth 55 points!

Read this article and then respond to the overhead prompt.

If you finish early, you may read your novel or check that you have all your journals in.

Grammar Journals (9):
1. Indefinate Pronouns (Agreement)
2. Collective Nouns (Agreement)
3. Conjugation
4. Adverb Phrases
5. Irregular Verbs
6. Tense
7. Progressive Form
8. Lie vs. Lay
9. Sit vs. Set

Creative Writing (6)
1. What did you like the most/ least about The Good Earth?
2. Response to Yosemite Valley Picture
3. How do you feel during a thunderstorm?
4. Is war necessary? (JFK quote).
5. Response to the WW1 Cemetery Picture
6. What would you do if you were stranded on a deserted island?

1. Research the following new weapons that were developed for use in the Great War and explain how they changed the face of war. Weapons to explore: flamethrower, tank, machine gun, submarine, airplane, and 3" mortar.

2. Explain what "no man's land" was and draw an illustration of it.

3. How was gas used as a biological weapon in the Great War? What types of gas were used, and what were their effects?

4. What was life like in the trenches for the typical German soldier?

5. True or false: You should read ch. 1 by Friday. Answer in 5 pages or less, demonstrating grade-level appropriate control of diction and tone.

6. How did Americans view the war before American involvement? Did this opinion change once the United States was involved? If so, how?

7. What happened at Verdun that made it so notorious?


Click here to start your search. You may also use such search engine sites as Google or Yahoo, or browse Wikipedia. Remember, plagarism is strictly prohibited! Use vivid sensory details in your answers, and don't be afraid to be unusual. Your anwsers are due Friday, so get crackin' weiners.

Mike Greer: Draw the following: snake, bear, square, dog.