The Great Depression

We are about to begin discussing works from The Great Depression as we read Of Mice and Men. One piece of poetry that appeared during this time was Lament by Randolph Goodman. Read this poem and then share your feelings on its theme and the line the lines that best express this theme.

LAMENT

Sweet the water—
Bitter to taste
In a world submerged
In a maelstrom of haste . . .

Fair the sun-rays—
Dark to see
From workaday deeps,
Depths unhappy, unfree . . .

Sweet the blossom—
Acrid to smell
From an earth encrusted
With the Patines of Hell . . .

Fair the breezes—
Harsh to hear;
Discordantly blowing,
With the discord of Fear . . .

Sweet this Life—
God! to feel
Held tight to a Rack,
Fettered fast to a Wheel.

(The deadline to post a response to this blog question is midnight Sunday, March 13, 2011.)

And it shall come down...

In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards creates via great imagery the wrath of God upon sinners. Which image, metaphor, simile, personification, etc., did you find to be most effective in conveying Edwards' message? Explain how it made you feel and how you think the members of the congregation must have felt hearing this. (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight Saturday, March 5, 2011.)

Research! Research! Research!

After Spring Break, we will begin working on learning the research process and methods of documentation. For your research project, you will need the following supplies.
1. a legal pad with spiral binding at top (any color) but it needs to be 8 1/2 by 11 3/4. NO SMALLER.
2. 200 white 3x5 index cards with lines on one side
3. 3 different color highlighters
4. a roll of scotch tape (I recommend the type on a plastic dispenser)
5. black ink pens
6. Liquid Paper/correction fluid.

Remember we are researching topic of social controversy or concern. Here is a website that is help in finding a broad topic and in narrowing it down to one possible aspect of research.

http://www.valenciacc.edu/lrcwest/kaysmith.html

According to the Playwright

Read the essay on the following link. Then, comment on what you believe to be the point of the essay. Cite a line that you think really shows the focus of the essay. (The deadline to post a response to this blog question is midnight Wednesday, February 23, 2011). http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

If Only I Could...

Imagine that you have the opportunity to speak with any character from the play. You have 3 minutes to talk to him or her. What would you like to tell this person? Why? HERE'S THE CATCH: YOU CAN NOT PICK THE SAME CHARACTER AS THE PERSON WHO POSTED BEFORE DIRECTLY BEFORE YOU AND IF YOU PICK THE SAME CHARACTER A PREVIOUS POSTER DID, YOU CAN NOT SAY THE SAME THING AS THE PREVIOUS POSTER. (The deadline to post a reply to this blog is midnight Saturday, February 12, 2011)

What's a Puritan To Do?

At the end of Act Two, both John Proctor and Mary Warren face crucibles: Mary must decide to tell the truth or not about Abigail and what the girls did in the forest while John must decide to go to the court and tell that he had an affair with Abigail. Who should confess? Does this person have the ability to do this? What do you predict will happen if this person goes to the court with the truth? Why do you think this? (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight Wednesday, February 9, 2011)

Wheels Within Wheels

Ann Putnam's statement in Act One of The Crucible that "...there are wheels within wheels and fires within fires" in Salem village present one of the major themes of the novel--selfishness/self-directed society. Which character do you feel is most self-directed and why? How does his/her self-motivation "spin" the wheels of others? In this blogging, you must read the responses given by your fellow classmates who posted before you. Not only must you add to the conversation, you must reply to their responses. I will start the comments. (The deadline to post a comment to this blog is midnight Saturday, February 5, 2011)