Hamlet Act 5

King Lear Act 5

King Lear Act 1

The Ginger Gossip Show presents King Lear, Act 1

Friday, September 10, 2010

Congratulations on completing the second week! And there are now only 274 calendar days until graduation (for those of you who might be counting).

Period 1: We saw some interesting presentations today and I think the presenters did a good job of making connections to both our text, other presentations, and the world we live in. I've added Tyler & Mike's presentation to the Ning, and please post your digital portions as well.
I encourage you to continue to think about the importance and relevance of history in today's world and also challenge you to consider how it relates to you.

Period 2: Congratulations on completing your first major test in Senior English. As you begin Doctor Faustus keep in mind the notes and learning you did on Greek tragedy as they will assist you in understanding the format of the play, as well as determining if Faustus is a tragic hero. Check out this link which provides some helpful background information as you begin your reading exploration. Don't forget your personal narrative draft for Monday!

Period 4/5: Our discussion on school days, the WHS Mission Statement and I am the Messenger will continue next week. See what connections you can make and also think about your role in achieving the goals stated in our school Mission Statement. Don't forget to keep working on your War Memorial Project (phase 1).

Have a great weekend, keep reading & writing.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

We are almost finished the second week!

Period 1: We will finish the presentations on 1984 tomorrow after the vocabulary & reading quizzes. Continue to think of the role that censorship plays in control and how propaganda relates to beliefs, and yes, censorship. Also watch for other allusions to 1984 in your media.

Period 2: Today's discussions on tragic heroes and exploration of quotes should help you a great deal on tomorrow's Greek tragedy test. Consider why Oedipus and Antigone are still relevant works in today's society.... Don't forget to work on your personal narrative revision!

Period 4/5: Today's discussion on I am the Messenger raised some interesting points, including how we as people view one another, and the importance of both our self perception and others. Continue to think about the school & education article, as we will spend some time working with it and our mission statement tomorrow after the vocabulary quiz.

As a reminder, I need your email address to invite you to my Ning, and all its fabulous resources.

See you tomorrow!

Mrs. Tyler

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Today was our first reading & writing workshop and I think many of you have the beginnings to your personal narrative essays.
In both first period & second period we will be discussing the Hero's Journey and the below video is an excellent portrayal of how the Hero's Journey has been used in different movies.


The Hero's Journey in Film

Ciaran | MySpace Video

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Congratulations- you have all begun your first assigned reading for the year, and completed your first writing activities. Please let me know if you have questions about class policies, the assigned work, etc. I am usually available before school & after for assistance. Remember to bring an independent reading book for class on Wednesdays and be prepared to write. We will begin with personal narratives. I have many samples of student personal narrative and memoir pieces, so see me if you would like to read through them.

Don't forget to turn in your academic honesty pledge and to complete your vocabulary.

Happy reading!

Mrs. Tyler

Monday, August 30, 2010

Welcome back!

I hope you all enjoyed discussing your summer reading books this morning. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences as the week progresses. Remember that if you are a CP or Honor student, your summer reading essay from the world literature book you selected is due tomorrow. Please contact me with any questions you may have after reading the course expectations, and extra handouts of today's materials have been added to my school website. Remember to email me if you would like access to the course Ning.

Have a great evening & I will see you tomorrow.

Mrs. Tyler

And the reading continues...

I just finished Adam Bagdasarian's novel, The Forgotten Fire,and found it to be a riveting telling of the horrific events in Turkey during World War I, the genocide of the Armenians. After reading this story, inspired by Bagdasarian's uncle, I am shocked that nowhere in my education was this piece of history discussed. I learned a great deal about the Holocaust that occurred in Germany, and have even studied and discussed modern genocides, but this was the first time that I learned about the Armenian history. The book opens with a quote by Hitler,"Who does now remember the Armenians?" and after reading this story of a young boy trying to survive as his home, his family and his world is destroyed around him, make me determined to learn more. It is a book that is filled with the horrors of war, but a very worthwhile read.

I somehow managed to make it through all my school years without reading Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. I want to ask my students and myself the often used T.S. Eliot quote: "Do I dare to disturb the universe?" For the main character, Jerry, this is his goal, and he attempts this disruption by trying to stand against the secret school society that exerts itself control over the student body by assigning them "jobs" like unscrewing everything in a classroom, and a frightening teacher/administrator, Brother Leon. Cormier's work examines how hard it is to stand up for what you believe and challenges you to explore the questions raised by the ending. Again, it has material dealing with bullying, teen issues, etc., but it is a good read!

I finished Melissa Marr's Fragile Eternity, this time Seth's story. I really liked how this novel in the series fleshed out his character a lot more and separated him from just being Aislinn's really nice boyfriend, into someone with emotional depth. This novel describes Seth's journey from being a mortal into a fey-mortal (fey in the mortal world, mortal in Fairie). His growing importance to all the Fairie courts make him an interesting figure as the series continues. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Apparently, I read The Christopher Killer back in February when I was really sick. I had a lot of deja vu moments as I was reading (and finally called the library to confirm it), and just couldn't get sucked into the story. Sometimes books are hyped, and they just aren't for you. It is very forensic which I usually like (used to be a big fan of CSI - only the original Las Vegas one, and I LOVE Bones - both the TV show and the Kathy Reich book series), but I just couldn't get into this one. I don't think I really connected to the narrative style or the main character, which made it tough to really soak in the story. If you like forensic type thrillers, this may work for you, but it wasn't for me.

Along the way, I read Iris Johansen's Eight Days to Live (part of the Eve Duncan Forensics thriller series) and couldn't put it down. It starts with Jane MacGuire's art show in Paris, and her refusal to sell a mysterious painting she's entitled, Guilt. The action starts off right away with the grotesque murder of her friend, and art show presenter, Celine, in Paris, and doesn't stop until the final showdown in Syria. It is a fast paced journey throughout Europe and the Arabian Pennisula, complete with secret societies, car chases, and double-crosses. A great summer read.

On to enjoy some more books... waiting on deck: The Gathering, Ten Things I Hate about Me, and An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England.

Keep reading!

Mrs. Tyler's Summer Reading Journey Continues...

Even with all the theory and research I have been reading, I have been seeking out books for my classroom library (and ones to recommend for the school library as well).

Recent books include:

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
I'm on the fence about this book. Frankie came up with some great pranks to be the mastermind about, but it took a long time to get into the story, and I don't know if I ever felt close to Frankie, which was odd when you spend the majority of the story in her head. I'd recommend this book to those who like pranks, private school drama, and are not looking for any real depth to a story.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson
I consider myself fairly knowledgable about our country's history, but this fictional story introduced me to the reality of pox parties... People would gather at someone's house, purposely infect themselves with small pox, go into quarantine together and be sick together (an old fashion, deadly vaccination process). I also was challenged to think about how history perceived races, and how our country's ancestors treated their slaves and what it really meant to claim people as property. Anderson sets up a thought provoking contrast as he sets this work at the birth of the American Revolution where the colonists are chafing from their "slavery" to the English as told through the eyes of an American slave. I'm going to seek out Volume II because I want to find out what happens to Octavian Nothing next.

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
This is the sequel to Marr's novel, Wicked Lovely, and continues the story of the characters, both mortal and fey, introduced in the first book. Aislinn, Keenan, and Seth (Summer Court) play smaller roles in this story, as Leslie and the Dark Court take the lead in this story. This story was more character driven then the last, and deals with the dangers of addiction, the traumatic experiences of Leslie, and provides the details for the replacement of the Dark King. Marr has me hooked with this dark fey story line because the fairies in her tales are nothing like Tinker Bell.

Next up on my list to read: finishing Forgotten Fire, then moving onto Cormier's The Chocolate War (a classic that I have been meaning to get to for a while now and somehow have never managed to read yet), Ferguson's The Christopher Killer (has had great reviews),Marr's Fragile Eternity (the third book in Marr's series), and Enright's The Gathering (2007 Man Booker Prize winner).

What are you reading? What should I read?

July 2010

Hi, all,

I hope you are enjoying your summer break. Don't forget to do your summer reading! I wanted to leave you a note about some of the books I have been reading this summer:

I began the summer with The Master and Margarita, which was an interesting tale from the turn of the century (19th) Russia, and offered a fictional perspective on events in Russian history. The prose was very detailed and the characters were vivid, despite jumping around a bit in the narrative. It did all come together in the end. Like many Russian writers of that period, Mikhail Bulgakov, relies heavily on religious symbolism and I found the addendum explaining the references invaluable in accessing the layered meanings in Bulgakov's work. It is an anti-Stalinist piece offering the question: "What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?"

This literary journey was followed by the quick paced new Riordan series starter, The Red Pyramid. Riordan is working on doing for the Egyptian gods and mythology what he did for the Greeks in the Percy Jackson series, but I found I was not as riveted to "the Kane chronicles". I liked the story line, Carter and Sadie have descended from a line of two pharaoh families, and pharaohs have traditionally been able to host a god and perform magic. Due to their unique heritage, they have the potential to be quite powerful and encounter a number of different Egyptian gods in their adventures. I didn't enjoy how the narration was split between the two main characters, even though each chapter told you who was telling the story. On the flip side, I was invested enough with the characters and story that I will likely seek out the next in series, with the hope that it will be a bit tighter like the Percy series.

I also read Enter Three Witches, which was a retelling of Macbeth told from the perspective of the Thane of Cawdor's daughter, Mary. Mary is being raised as the ward of the Macbeth's so she can learn all the skills she will need to run a household. The story follows the tale of Macbeth closely enough that I ended up reading the play along with the tale to marvel at Caroline Cooney's close adaptation. Cooney uses some of the lines from the play within the narrative, often so well incorporated that you only recall that they sound familiar.

Last night I finished Jose Saramago's novel, Death with Interruptions. The story was completely intriguing: what happens if death (purposely using the small 'd') stopped people from dying? What problems would be encountered? Halfway through, death resumes her role, but has implemented a one week warning system - people receive a violet envelope letting them know they will die in 7 days... Then one day, death's unrefusable letter gets returned to sender. I really enjoyed this book although some aspects of the translation I read may be off-putting to readers - mostly in the layout - dialogue was separated by commas within the same paragraph, although it was always clear who was speaking and some paragraphs would extend for more than a page or two. The story though was strong enough to carry through these layout issues.

Next on my list is: Forgotten Fire, the fictional retelling of the Armenian genocide that occurred in Turkey prior to the Holocaust. It is based on the author, Adam Bagdasarian's great-uncle's experiences during this time period.

As for my assigned summer reading, I have finished The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and am planning on watching the film later this week to compare how they relate and differ.

Please let me know if you have any questions about your summer reading and assignments and I would love to know:
What have you been reading?

Intro to Romeo & Juliet

Virtual Globe

King Lear Act 2

King Lear Act 1

Power of Propaganda

Short Stories...

Freshman CP students are in the midst of working on our short story unit. As a way to help students see how the different elements of a short story connect, I am attaching a presentation that Mrs. Carbonneau at Littleton High School put together for her students. Hit play and think about the stories we have been reading: