A Note about Progress Reports

My period 3A Honors English II class received their progress reports today; my period 3B Honors English class will receive their progress reports tomorrow. If students said I was behind on grading, they were correct.

---Ms Verdone

Online (re)reading of _Oedipus Rex_ for test

Because Sophocles has been dead for a while, copyright laws allow the play to be available online. There are truckloads of translations; the following site has the same translation that is in the textbooks.

https://rrnicholson.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/oedipus-rex-original-text.docx 

The test (Tuesday, September 26 and Wednesday, September 27) covers information from the study guide and from the first scene of Oedipus Rex. You already know the extra credit question.

Have a great weekend, folks! Please wear your seat belts and eat some vegetables!

---Ms. Verdone

First homework assignment

Honors English II Homework

due on Friday, September 5, 2017 (A day class) and Monday, September 11, 2017 (B day class) at the very start of class

The assignment: In dark blue or black ink, write two or more paragraphs of at least five complete sentences each about what you think about living in the United States of America. You may want to address the advantages and/or disadvantages to living here; comparisons to other places you have lived, would like to live or have learned about; and/or favorite or least favorite, most or least interesting aspects of U.S. cultures, history, lifestyles, etc.
            Although I am asking student to not use you or other second-person pronouns, for an assignment like this one, first-person pronouns (I, me, mine, etc.) are entirely appropriate. 

Notes: A. If students choose to do this homework on a keyboard, they must use an easily read font that has serifs (Bookman, Librarian, Times, Times New Roman, New York, Georgia, Book Antiqua, and Garamond) in 11- or 12-point type, and double-spaced in order to be eligible for full credit.

            B. Students who turn in the homework one class day late (meaning that they were present in class on the due date but turn it in any time after I’ve collected it at the start of the day it is due and before I am done asking for it during their next class period) are eligible for up to 80% of the original credit. Students who are absent will need to supply me with an absence note, whether it’s a hard copy or a photograph of a note that has been turned in to the office.

Formality of Writing (please pretend this shows up on the blog as two columns):

For full credit, avoid these:

♦   gonna, wanna, hafta

♦   coulda, shoulda

♦   a/b, b/t, b/c

♦   y’all, you, your, yourself,

♦   mom, my Mom, granddad, his grandma, her daddy

♦   using symbols in the place of words (such as  &, +, / [except in and/or])

♦   slang expressions.

Instead,

♦   write going to, want to, have to

♦   use could have, should have

♦   spell out about, between, because

♦   find a way to make generalizations that does not require you

♦   use my mother, Mom, Granddad or my grandfather, his grandmother, her father

♦   spell out and use more formal terms.

Why turtles?

1. Why not?
2. See the "How did the blog get named?" blurb in the right-hand column.
3. North America has often been referred to as "Turtle Island" by several Native American cultures. Terry Pratchett's Discworld is supported by four elephants standing on the back of a turtle named Great A'Tuin.
4. The 1960s band The Turtles wrote and recorded the songs "So Happy Together" and "Elenore," which includes the line "You're my pride and joy, et cetera." They then went on---bravely--- to rhyme "et cetera" with "better." Gotta love it.
5. I have discovered that it's fairly easy to move small turtles across a road (so as to avoid their being crushed or otherwise traumatized) by scooping them up on a clipboard. I have done it a few times by using the clip part to protect my fingers, whether or not that is truly necessary, and by using the rest of the board to carry the turtle. When I have done so, I have felt a little better about myself and the world.
6. In many Asian cultures, turtles figure heavily in the creation and maintenance of the world. Ancient civilizations include many stories of turtle shells being used to create musical instruments. It is to be hoped that the turtles were done with the shells when they were appropriated.
7. "Turtle" is one of those words that only needs to appear a few times before it starts to look ridiculous. Turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle. See what I mean?

Welcome to the blog!