"Immortality"; Work Session

Today was dedicated to working on the Slam and/or the Sestina.  For inspiration, we watched Rudy Franscisco present his poem, "Immortality" (you can find it on YouTube).

Remember, with the Slam poem, make sure you highlight and label all of the required elements before you share it with me.

SESTINA

We set the Slam poem aside temporarily and began work on the Sestina poem.  I passed out two handouts to help with the Sestina, so if you were absent, get those handouts from me upon your return to class.

 Due date: You have a choice: you can turn in either the Slam or the Sestina on Tuesday.

Slam Poem Writing Advice, "Love Poem Medley"

I collected the annotations on Shooter, and distributed a handout with some advice for writing poetry. If you were absent, you will need to get that handout from me as it is in a format that I can't link to my blog. 

We then watched Rudy Francisco present his slam poem, Love Poem Medley (you can see it on YouTube) and pulled out examples of conceit, allusion, pun, and imagery.

The rest of the class time was used for getting started on your slam poem.

Today is the absolute final deadline for the Nature of Man Synthesis essay.  Share whatever you have, even if it isn't finished; some points are better than none.

There is no HW tonight.

Limericks and Rhyme Scheme

What happened today: 1) I collected the Literary Terms handout, 2) I discussed rhyme scheme using limericks---this will be on the final BTW, so click on this link if you were absent, and 3) You had class time to work on annotating Shooter, which is due tomorrow.

Poetic Devices and Lit.Terms Handout

We finished Louder than a Bomb yesterday; if you were absent, most of the poetry can be found on YouTube.  Although all of the poetry is interesting, you'll really want to hear The Shooter by Lamar Jorden and Counting Graves by the Steinmenauts (this one makes me teary every time I hear it).

We'll be dissecting a couple of slam poems, so I handed out a list of terms to define or to find examples of.  See me for that handout ASAP.  It will be due on Tuesday as there is no school on Monday (to honor our veterans on Memorial Day).

Perfect Rhyme, Slant Rhyme, Internal Rhyme, "Shooter"

In your notebook, under the title Slant/Perfect Rhyme, create lists of perfect and slant rhymes for the following words: WONDER, BROWN, TOPIC.  A perfect rhyme has exact vowel sounds with different consonant sounds (rink/wick, gratitude/latitude).  A slant rhyme has a change either in the vowel sounds or the consonant sounds (how/row, lovely/funny).

Examples: WONDER (under-perfect rhyme; ponder-slant rhyme)

As a class, we watched the short slam poem A Love Letter from the Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire and discussed the literary and poetic devices we could find within that poem.

I passed out a copy of the transcript to Shooter (from Louder than a Bomb).  The assignment is to annotate it and answer the questions.  Get a copy from me ASAP.  

DUE DATES: The Lit. Terms handout is due when we return on Tuesday; the "Shooter" assignment is due Wednesday.
 

CAHSEE Scores, Alliteration Packet, Louder than a Bomb

I passed out the CAHSEE scores for the English portion of the test; get the math scores from your math teacher.

I also passed out an Alliteration Packet which is due this Wednesday.  See me to get your copy.

Lastly, we started watching a documentary called Louder than a Bomb.  Click on this link for what you need to copy into your notebook under the title Louder than a Bomb.  It will take roughly 3 class periods to see the entire documentary; if you miss any of it, I think you can see it on Netflix or some similar movie site.

Verbs and Nouns Game, Found Poem

In keeping with our essential question of "How do poets create interest in their work?" we played a word game.  Pick any two letters of the alphabet and think of words that begin with those letters; however, the first word needs to be a verb or some kind of descriptive word and the second word needs to be a noun. For example: you have the letters T and U.  What combinations can you come up with?  How about Tickling Underwear (verb and noun), Tacky Unicorns (adjective and noun).  Don't worry about making meaning; sometimes the best ideas come out of nonsense.  So, in your notebook, under the title Verbs and Nouns, pick two random letters and write what comes to mind.  Do this 3 times.

The other thing we did in class was to create a Found Poem.  Last Tuesday, I gave as homework the assignment to to photocopy a page from your Independent Reading Book. Today you created a Found Poem using that photocopy.  For examples, click on this link and this link.  The idea is to take an existing text and refashion it, reorder it.  Think of it as the literary equivalent of a collage.  You want to create new meaning, or an action, or a feeling, or a mood.  Notice that you also want to surround the words you isolate with shapes or colors that help to convey your idea.  Turn your Found Poem in to me as soon as you complete it.

Full Moon Me, HOMEWORK Reminder

Where do poets get their ideas?  They start with themselves, and so that is what we did today with a poetry exercise.  Due to the nature of the media, I wasn't able to get the information about the exercise on my blog, so see me ASAP to make up this assignment.

For those of you taking AP Exams or studying for them, good luck!

 Don't forget, for HOMEWORK, you need to bring in a photocopy of one page from your Independent Reading Book.  Make sure that page is full of text, so no (or very few) blank areas on the page.  You need to bring the photocopy with you to class this Friday, May 16.

HW, Emotion List, 3 Poems, Eminem

We worked on some things to start warming you up for creating your own poetry.  The first thing we did was an Emotion List.  Click on this link for those directions.  Next, we saw how poets use clue words to describe things.  Click on this link for those directions.  Finally, we watched a 60 Minutes segment on Eminem to learn about his approach in creating Rap.  Click on this link for the video. Pay attention to how Eminem "bends" words and how he finds words to use.

A couple of other things:
1) Since we're no longer in the Nature of Man unit, you should return your copy of NIGHT to the library.
2) You have homework.  Look through your Independent Reading Book and find a random page that has a lot of words on it.  You want this page to be chock full of words; avoid pages that begin chapters or have a lot of dialogue as these types of pages usually have too much blank or white spaces on them.  Once you have found a page you can use, make a photocopy of it and bring it to class this Friday, May 16. 

The Purpose of Poetry

We began a new unit, our last for the year: poetry.  

Google "The purpose of poetry" and click on the first choice.  You should see a speech from President John F. Kennedy.  Read the speech, then in your notebook, under the title The Purpose of Poetry, answer the questions that are on this link.

Once that is completed, continue to work in your notebook by following the instructions on this link and then this link.

Nature of Man Synthesis Essay

Today was a focused writing session for your essay in which I answered whatever questions came up as you worked.

Remember, everything needs to be in MLA format.  Look at yesterday's blog for the links.

The due date is Saturday, May 10, noon.

Have a lovely weekend!

Works Cited Page, In-Text Citations

Continue writing your Synthesis Essay.  If you're ready to create your Works Cited page, here is the link for that information.  If you need help with in-text citations, here is the link for that information.  If you would like to see more examples on Purdue Owl, here is the link to that website.

Work that Essay!

Now is the time to give maximum focus to your Synthesis Essay.  You're working on it in class as well as at home every night.  The due date is still this Saturday at noon, so you have no time to waste!

Guest Speaker, Notebook Check

We had a guest speaker from the district today, so your HW is to continue working on your essay.  Remember, the due date is this Saturday at noon.

Also, I started a notebook check; if I didn't get to yours today, make sure you bring it tomorrow and you'll still get full credit.

Many of you still haven't sent me your outline. The outline is to help you organize your thoughts and the information you plan to use to support your thesis;  it will be easier for you to write your essay if you plan it with the outline.

New Due Date, Evidence Frames, Notebook Check

If you haven't sent me your outline, you need to do so ASAP.

We have a special presentation in the classroom tomorrow; to make up for the lost day of writing your essay, the due date for the essay is extended to Saturday, May 10, noon.

In order for your essay to make sense, it is important that you utilize your evidence correctly.  You need to do 3 things with each piece of evidence: 1) introduce it, 2) explain it, and 3) connect it.  Here is a link to the handout that will help you to use your evidence clearly.

Also, tomorrow I'll start a notebook check, so make sure you bring it.

Due Dates

Welcome back from the CST!

I checked Nature of Man packets during class while you worked on the outline of your essay. The outline is due by midnight, tonight! Of course, the sooner, the better; why wait? :)

I will doing a Notebook Check on Tuesday, May 6.