English 11S - EXTRA CREDIT!!!

If you respond to this post with a mini-review of the book you're reading for your final, or you share here what you're writing about for your final, you will receive one HW grade of extra credit. This can replace a missing assignment or be added as an extra grade. Posts should be 6-8 sentences in length. See my post as an example. THANKS!!! - Mr. Templeton

AP Lit - Get Your Present!

I don't know why seniors would still check this blog, BUT, if you are, I have a present for you. I made CDs for my senior students of some sweet, sweet tunes for the summer. It kicks off with The Avett Brothers (above) and their song At The Beach, and there is not a better song out there to start the summer with. It also features Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues, which is where the image below is from. It was essentially the first music video, with Dylan tossing down cue cards with the lyrics written on them. It the pictured image, the line is: "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." That's poet Allen Ginsberg in the background. Also featured are Wilco, Warren Zevon, Nickel Creek, and Nina Simone (above), the coolest woman eva. Swing on by this week so I can hook you up. Supplies are limited - get 'em while they're hot!

Senior Memory Book

Senior Memory Books are now due Tuesday, May 29. Take the weekend and make 'em nice!

The Curious Incident

In this space, you can earn extra credit by posting comments and/or questions about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Your posts should include this information:

- a short quotation
- a comment about why you think the quotation is important or what it shows the reader
- a question about the quotation, the book, or autism.

OR

You can write a detailed response to a quotation, comment, or question that someone else has asked. A detailed response would probably be between 5-8 sentences and would include a developed perspective, not just a response such as "Yes, I agree with you," or (even worse) 'lol.'

REMEMBER: Please do not include your full name on your posts. First name, with last name's initial is plenty. Thanks, and happy posting!

Use YAHOO email address!!!

Yo. The Gorham server is down, so please use my yahoo email address if you're trying to reach me over vacation. The address is: tempe04@yahoo.com. Best of luck to seniors on your author projects; best of luck to juniors on your dystopian position papers.

Taylor Mali Reading at Bowdoin

Taylor Mali is one of the most successful slam poets in the country. He has won individual and team awards at the National Poetry Slam and prides himself on his ability to educate and entertain. He is also wicked funny. So, he's reading at Bowdoin College on Thursday, April 19 at 8:00 p.m.

Here is one of his poems from his website: www.taylormali.com. These poems are dramatically better when read aloud, and you can hear him read them on his website too. This one is called "Like, totally whatever, you know?" a poem about the failures of modern language...

"Like, totally whatever, you know?"

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Essays STILL Due

AP Literature scholars: your essays on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead are still due tomorrow, 4/6. If you need help, my email is: kent@gorhamschools.org and Ms. Cantelo's email is: jessica.cantelo@maine.edu. Cheers.

Martha Cooley reading!!!

OK. So, I have to say that I am incredibly, incredibly pumped about this. Martha Cooley is reading at Books, Etc. in Falmouth on Saturday, March 17 at 3:00 p.m. Her first novel, The Archivist is truly spectacular. It has gorgeous writing, fascinating characters, a compelling storyline, and interesting changes in perspective. I have not yet read her latest novel, Thirty-Three Swoons, but it's on my list o' books to read. If you like books, you should go. If you think you might ever want to write anything, you should go. If you're hoping for a memorable St. Patrick's Day, you should go. Here is the Books, Etc. website for directions and information: www.mainebooksetc.com. SEE YOU THERE!

Fahrenheit 451 Posting

English 11 Standard students reading Fahrenheit 451 may post questions, comments, thoughts, and connections here for their classmates to respond to.

If you are posting, please do not include your full name. First name, Last name initial will do. Your post should include:

- a short quotation with questions or comments, OR:

- general questions or comments about the book, OR:

- a connection you've found to censorship that others might find relevant, OR:

- a specific response to what someone else has written.

You will receive extra credit for each posting or response. We will use these first to block out missing homework assignments; from there, you will receive 10/10 on new extra grades.

1984 Posting

English 11 Standard students reading 1984 may post questions, comments, thoughts, and connections here for their classmates to respond to.

If you are posting, please do not include your full name. First name, Last name initial will do. Your post should include:

- a short quotation with questions or comments, OR:

- general questions or comments about the book, OR:

- a connection you've found to government surveillance that others might find relevant, OR:

- a specific response to what someone else has written.

You will receive extra credit for each posting or response. We will use these first to block out missing homework assignments; from there, you will receive 10/10 on new extra grades.

Brave New World Posting

English 11 Standard students reading Brave New World may post questions, comments, thoughts, and connections here for their classmates to respond to.

If you are posting, please do not include your full name. First name, Last name initial will do.
Your post should include:
- a short quotation with questions or comments, OR:
- general questions or comments about the book, OR:
- a connection you've found to cloning that others might find relevant, OR:
- a specific response to what someone else has written.

You will receive extra credit for each posting or response. We will use these first to block out missing homework assignments; from there, you will receive 10/10 on new extra grades.