English I: Of Mice & Men Blog Work for 9-30

1. George and Lennie are bound by a common dream. Identify this dream and consider the following: Is their dream realistic? Do they both value the same aspects of the dream? How does Steinbeck use the other characters to further define George and Lennie's dream?

2. Now that we’ve read a few chapters of the novella, we’ve discussed how Steinbeck lays the groundwork for each chapter with a careful depiction of settings. He also uses local color- details indicative of a particular environment- to add realism to his setting. Write a short passage (in the style of Steinbeck) that describes, in lucid detail, a setting that you know well.

3. Click here to access a Quizlet review of Steinbeck’s characters. Play “Scatter” and complete a test for a grade of “A.” If at first you don’t succeed, take the test again.

Journalism: Local Source

Journalism students: please identify a local environment, group, individual, location, etc. that you would like to explore for an upcoming journalistic endeavor. Submit your source as a comment here.

Journalism Students: Forms of Journalism

Per our syllabus, your first journalistic adventure is self-directed but must be based on a particular journalistic form. Please submit a comment identifying your form and approach to this post.

Pet Peeves

First, your Peer Profile Quizlet. 

In no particular order:

1. Alex Trebek: Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy, is super-annoying to me. I love the show, and my wife and I enjoy playing along. Alex, on the other hand, possesses a subtle type of pompousness that just gets me fired up. He has all of the answers on the screen in front of him, so why must he correct the contestants as if his intelligence is so impressive? Each evening, it is inevitable that he says something that aggravates me, but I tolerate his presumptuousness for the sake of the game.

2. Phil Simms: He's the former Giants quarterback who works as a game analyst/announcer for the NFL on NBC. He just plain old bothers me. What bothers me even more is the fact that I cannot articulate exactly why he bothers me- he just does.

3. Parking Near Me: Don't park near me. I park, in most cases, as far away from other cars as possible, yet often I return from a place of business to find a vehicle parked uncomfortably close to my truck in some subconscious attempt to make my vehicle feel less isolated. There are hundreds of free spots; why is there a need to bump doors? Go away.

4. "Hon": I don't like it when women call me "hon", especially when they are younger than I am. My mother, grandmother, and wife, along with elderly women, are allowed to call me "hon".

5. People Who Don't Pull Forward at Drive-Thru's: Congratulations, you've placed your order! But you're job is not done. There are seven people behind you, all of whom have not placed theirs, so creep on forward to allow others to do so.

6. "Could Care Less": It is I "couldn't care less". "Could care less" implies the existence of a level of care; "couldn't care less" implies a level of care so minuscule it is impossible to care less. So, "could care less"= I care. Yes, I know- there are so many egregious grammar violations pervading our world today- but this one is so ubiquitous it makes my list.

7. Being interrupted. When I'm not teaching, I'm rather taciturn. I like peace and quiet. So when I am speaking, I find it especially annoying when I'm interrupted or cut off.

What are some of your Pet Peeves? Develop a list-style post on your blog- remember to have fun with this, but be careful and respectful- don't even think about attacking someone directly (or indirectly) and do not include anything that may offend your peers, classmates, or teacher. 

AP Seniors: Dynamic Sentences

Click here to access the Atlantic article regarding what may be "the greatest sentence ever." Post your own grammatically sound 200+ word sentence, along with your original examples of the Sentence Wizardry forms, here.

B & E Seniors: Dynamic Sentences

Click here to access the Atlantic article regarding what may be "the greatest sentence ever." Post your own grammatically sound 200+ word sentence, along with your original examples of the Sentence Wizardry forms, here.