Friday, March 26, 2010

G Block Blog Quest


1. Visit FreeRice.com. Earn 500 grains via "English Vocabulary" and 500 grains via "English Grammar". Show Mr. Kefor your results.

2. Click here to complete an "I Am" Poem. Copy and paste the results as a comment here.

3. Click here. Check out today's best photography. Create and post 2 sentences inspired by 2 different photographs that display your use of a complex sentence type.

4. Click here. Take the test. Have fun.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

POS: Tone in Song


Compare and contrast the tone of Boston's "Rock and Roll Band" with the tone of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar". How do the artists' attitudes towards both subject matter and audience correspond and differ? Cite lyrics from the song to support your analysis.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Food For Thought


I was searching for a particular quote I recalled from Pablo Picasso and was struck by the number of great statements he made. Here are a few of the more memorable ones:

Action is the foundational key to all success.


All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.


Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.


Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.


Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.


Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.


Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar.


He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.


I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.


I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.


Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.


Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.


Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.


Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen.


Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.


The people who make art their business are mostly impostors.


To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de gras for the painter as well as for the picture.


We don't grow older, we grow riper.


Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter?


You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea.


If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.


It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.


My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Freshmen: Personal Reflections

Due 3-11-10 as a comment posted here:

In class, we created a pie chart illustrating the values we place on activities, relationships, academics, etc. We then created charts representing the amount of time we devote to each category. Reflect on these charts and consider the following: Theoretically, if life were perfect, our charts would appear identical. In other words, our priorities would correspond to the amount of time we devote to them. In reality, this is rarely the case. Consider the disparity between your charts and discuss your observations. What changes could you make in order to manage your time in a fashion that is productive for you?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

POS: Literature Quiz


1. Describe Levitin's argument linking a love of music to evoulutionary theory. What claim does he make? How does he support this claim? Cite excerpts to support your response.

2. Describe Oliver Sack's anecdote regarding Tony Cicoria. What does his story suggest about music and the brain? Cite excerpts to support your response.

3. Accoring to Sacks, is the iconic profile of the "blind musician" substantiated or unsubstantiated ? Explain.

4. How has Radiohead's rogue release of In Rainbows changed the music industry? What might this represent to producers and consumers of music?

POS: Reflections of Popular Culture in Music



"As the music is, so are the people of the country."
-Turkish Proverb

Type your response to the following prompt as a Word document and be sure to proofread and edit before you paste and post. You will be assessed using the Short Essay Response Rubric.

Check either Billboard or Rolling Stone for the current list of America's top 50 songs. Choose at least 3 songs; avoid any songs you are very familiar with. Listen/study the lyrics to the selected songs. Consider the subject matter, content and point of view of today's top songs and identify lines which contain poetic merit. What do these songs, as a whole, say about our modern American culture? In particular, what do these songs say about your generation as the greatest consumers of music media? How are gender roles represented in popular music? How is success measured?