Assignment for Sedaris Essay

David Sedaris’s brand of “deadpan” humor doesn’t draw attention to itself, but instead delivers jokes in the same tone as the rest of his essay. The result is that every line in this story, concerning such topics as insecurity and hostility, becomes equally capable of producing a humorous effect. 

After reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” in a response of 150-200 words discuss how Sedaris infuses humor into such a serious topic as the difficulty (or even inability) of humans to communicate. Do you feel his humor is successful? Why or why not? Use specific details from the essay to support your opinions and conclusions.

David Sedaris, "Me Talk Pretty One Day"

Here's a link to where you can read David Sedaris' essay "Me Talk Pretty One Day" online, if you still don't have your copy of The Writer's Presence yet:

http://www.macobo.com/essays/epdf/Me%20Talk%20Pretty%20One%20Day%20by%20Sedaris.pdf

Great Gatsby Historical Background Powerpoint

Here's a link to where you can view the Powerpoint from class yesterday:

http://portal.sliderocket.com/CEQIN/great-gatsby-_pdf_

Oh no!

The Great Gatsby movie release date has been pushed back to Summer 2013 :(

Read about it here:

http://community.sparknotes.com/2012/08/07/the-great-gatsby-is-pushed-back-to-2013

College Admission Essay Websites

To help you out with your search for college admission essay topics, I've compiled a few websites of either a) actual colleges that have posted their essay topics for this year, or b) collections of past college essay prompts. You do not have to choose a topic from only these websites; these are just to help you get going and to get you thinking. Feel free, of course, to use one if it interests you.

University of Georgia
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia College and State University (in Milledgeville)
University of Florida
University of North Carolina
University of Virginia
Common Application (Many schools, such as Emory and Vanderbilt, use the Common Application for admission, usually with a supplement of their own. Find out more at: https://www.commonapp.org/)

Collections of College Essay Topics:
http://hpregional.org/departments/english/mhassenplug/100%20topics.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/11/19/mf.offbeat.college.essays/
http://www.fastweb.com/college-search/articles/72-sample-essay-questions-for-college-apps

Carver, "My Father's Life"

For homework tonight, read Raymond Carver’s essay “My Father’s Life,” which includes the poem “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty Second Year.”  Then answer the following prompt:

What themes does Carver announce in these pieces? How does he expand our understanding of American culture?What parts of each piece of writing (essay and poem) communicate most clearly to you? Just begin with a short quote and then tell how that quote means something to you.

Create about 300 words worth of writing. Your audience is your peer group and the BC community. Pay attention to grammar and spelling, but what’s most important is the quality of your ideas and the sincerity of your response.

This will count as part of your Low Stakes Writing grade, as a pass/fail grade. No late work, no excuses.

Readings This Week

For those of you who don't have your copy of The Writer's Presence yet (which you NEED to have BY FRIDAY), here are links to the readings that we will be discussing in class this week. Each story deals with topics related to family:

Judith Cofer, "Silent Dancing":
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~facoba/readings/cofer.htm

Raymond Carver, "My Father's Life":
http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/raymond_carver-fathers_lif.htm

Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue":
http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mcunningham/grapes/mother%20tounge.pdf


Also remember you find yourself a copy of The Great Gatsby ASAP! You'll need to have chapters 1-3 read soon (by next week). Need to have Chapter 1 read BY THIS FRIDAY.

Bad Haircut Test Tomorrow!

Here you can post your notes from today's class for your test over Bad Haircut tomorrow. 

The sections for your test tomorrow will be as follows:

1. Identifying characters using specific details

2. Identifying significant objects using specific details

3. Answering short answer questions about plot points in the novel

4. Responding to a short essay about the following prompt: Using specific examples from Bad Haircut, describe Buddy's interactions with people in the different groups he joins throughout the novel. Is he able to cultivate a sense of belonging in these groups? Why or why not?

First Assignment

Your first assignment for English this year is meant to familiarize you with our blog, and also to allow you to earn an easy 100 quiz grade.

In the links to your right you will find a link to your class syllabus. You may print this out if you would like, or you can always reference it here (and also on your NetCadet account). You and your parents need to read through the syllabus together.

After you have read through the syllabus, print out the Syllabus Sign-off Sheet. You and your parent(s) need to sign it. This sheet is due back to me by Friday in order to get a 100 quiz grade. Don't miss this opportunity to start the year off right!

Feel free to comment here or to email me if you have any questions.

-Ms. R. 

P.S.  Don't forget to get your copy of The Great Gatsby ASAP!

Great Gatsby Movie Preview

Since first semester we'll be reading The Great Gatsby, I thought it fitting to let you know (if you weren't already aware) that there will be a remake of The Great Gatsby coming out this Christmas (that is, if the world doesn't end days before).

This time around it's directed by Baz Luhrmann, famous for Romeo + Juliet (the one with Leo DiCap) and Moulin Rouge ....and Australia, but we won't talk about that :/

The original 1974 version, which is quite good, starred Robert Redford as Gatsby. The upcoming version stars Leonardo DiCaprio (one of Luhrmann's favorite frontmen) as Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan as Daisy.

Check out the trailer below, which makes me quite excited about the film! (Aside from the very bizarre choice of Kanye over something more appropriate, since, ya know, the film's about THE JAZZ AGE.) Luhrmann's renown for his over-the-top productions, which should be fitting for the film's cinematographic needs, while Mulligan (beautiful and heartbreaking) and DiCaprio (charismatic but aloof) look like pretty good fits in their respective roles.

So what do you think? Are we in store for an extravagant yet elegant production? Or is it just an overblown frat party, 20s style (like, with nicer suits and haircuts)?

What do you think about the casting? Who would you have chosen instead?

My picks would have been Ryan Gosling for Gatsby (he's got that enigmatic draw to him, and Leo seems a little old for the part, if you ask me), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Nick Carraway (just because I love him in everything). Not sure about who I'd pick for Daisy. Carey Mulligan seems like a sure-shot, though.

Here's to hoping Baz doesn't let us down (since we'll all be experts on the novel by the time the movie comes out!).

-Ms. R

Reccomendations

If you enjoyed your summer reading, Bad Haircut (or Catcher in the Rye from last year), here are a few more coming-of-age teenage-male novels I highly recommend:

Old School, by Tobias Wolff


The protagonist of Tobias Wolff’s shrewdly—and at times devastatingly—observed first novel is a boy at an elite prep school in 1960. He is an outsider who has learned to mimic the negligent manner of his more privileged classmates. Like many of them, he wants more than anything on earth to become a writer. But to do that he must first learn to tell the truth about himself. (From Amazon.com)

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, by Chris Fuhrman


Set in Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1970s, this is a novel of the anarchic joy of youth and encounters with the concerns of early adulthood. Francis Doyle, Tim Sullivan, and their three closest friends are altar boys at Blessed Heart Catholic Church and eighth-grade classmates at the parish school. They are also inveterate pranksters, artistic, and unimpressed by adult authority. When Sodom vs. Gomorrah '74, their collaborative comic book depicting Blessed Heart's nuns and priests gleefully breaking the seventh commandment, falls into the hands of the principal, the boys, certain that their parents will be informed, conspire to create an audacious diversion. Woven into the details of the boys' preparations for the stunt are touching, hilarious renderings of the school day routine and the initiatory rites of male adolescence, from the first serious kiss to the first serious hangover. (From Amazon.com)

 Everything Happens Today, by Jesse Browner

Jesse Browner's dazzling new novel records a single day in the life of Wes, a seventeen-year-old who attends Manhattan's elite Dalton School and lives in Greenwich Village in a dilapidated town house with his terminally ill mother, distant father and beloved younger sister. In the course of one day everything will happen to Wes: he will lose his virginity to the wrong girl and break his own heart, try to meet a Monday morning deadline for a paper on War and Peace, and prepare an elaborate supper he hopes will reunite his family. Wes struggles through the day deep in thoughts of sex, love, Beatles lyrics, friendship, God and French cuisine-a typical teenager with an atypical mind, a memorable young man who comes to the poignant understanding of how fragile but attainable personal happiness can be. (From Amazon.com)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

standing on the fringes of life . . .offers a unique perspective. but there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
since its publication, stephen chbosky’s haunting debut novel has received critical acclaim, provoked discussion and debate, grown into a cult phenomenon with over a million copies in print, and inspired a major motion picture.
the perks of being a wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. the world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. of sex, drugs, and the rocky horror picture show.
of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. (From Amazon.com)


-Ms. R.

Welcome

This blog is designed for Ms. Roberts’s Senior Composition classes at Benedictine Military School. Here you will find regular information, assignments, and homework prompts related to our classwork. Additionally, to the side you will see some links and other resources you might find useful.

It is also important to note that all work you complete on this blog must adhere to Benedictine’s acceptable use policy for computer use, found in your Student Handbook.

BLOG RULES:

1. Post using your real name (or a recognizable version).
2. Shoot for a professional tone, including editing your writing for grammar/spelling as best you can.
3. Typically aim for 300-500 words per post. However, if you're feeling particularly verbose, you can go up to about 4000. 
4. Keep your posts relevant; try not to go off-topic.
5. Absolutely no insults, foul language, or hate speech of any kind will be tolerated. Normal discipline measures apply.

-Ms. R.