Tuesday, June 29, 2010

July 5th-July 11, 2010 Question #2

Question #2
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often called the quintessential American classic of the 19th century. One of the reasons for this argument is its use of language and dialect. Twain could have written the entire work using “proper” or “standard” American English for the time in which it was written. Instead he chose to use the specific dialects of the people he was writing about. How does this choice make his work more or less effective to readers of the 19th century, 20th century, and today? Use examples from the book to illustrate your point.
Yes, I've posted this question early as well for all of the earlybirds...tweet, tweet...oh wait, that's a different social media site...sorry. :-P
Be sure to scrool all the way through the previous posts to make sure that you understand the instructions for "The Blog Question of the Week", the Summer Assignments, etc.
Sample Answer to Question #2
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place around the early 1840s, before the Emancipation Proclamation and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Mark Twain’s use of language in the novel helps readers better understand the time. Speech was one way that classes were distinguished. Slaves spoke poorly because they were banned from having an education; the peasants spoke a little better because they had some education, and so on. In the novel, Jim’s dialect can be easily distinguished from Huck and the rest of the people he encounters, because he is a slave. Language also helps display the irony of the Southern people. When the term “nigger” is mentioned, for instance, it is used in such a way that gives “nigger” the meaning of something other than human. The slaves are in fact not treated like humans. They are imprisoned and forced to labor in harsh conditions. If they try to escape they’re dead. Furthermore, dialect gives figure to character’s personality. Huck, for example, can be perceived as the school-hating type because of his accent in comparison to his caregivers. Also, the point that slaves can actually speak the English language shows how smart they are. Basically, Mark Twain used language to create the mood and setting he wanted to present in his novel.
Another Sample Answer to Question #2
In my humble opinion the use of specific dialects is extremely enjoyble for me. By adding these dialects I can hear what the character is saying. I can understand how that character thinks.
"'Ain't you a sweet-scented dandy, though? A bed; and bedclothes; and a look'n'-glass; and a piece of carpet on the floor-and your own father got to sleep with the hogs in the tanyard. I never see such a son. I bet I'll take some o' these frills out o' you before I'm done with you. Why, there ain't no end to your airs-they say you're rich. Hey?- how's that?'" (pg. 20)
From this passage I can discern several things from Huck's father. The first is that he's ignorant, second he's uneducated, and third he's greedy. He's ignorant because he's afraid of his son. He doesn't want him to be educated because it just isn't fair, it isn't right that his son should be better off. Because in rural Missouri it's a dog-eat-dog world, and you've got to make sure you're on top. It's easy to tell he's uneducated because no one educated speaks with that many grammar mistakes. Thirdly, I can tell he's greedy because he never asks about Huck's wellbeing, once he's done insulting Huck he demands to know about his riches. If this had all been spoke in proper English all that I would have been able to figure out was that Huck's father was greedy and that he doesn't care for his son for some reason. In addition to helping me understand a character and his/ her background it makes a book just that much more interesting when it contains specific dialects.
Bibliography
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam Books, 2003

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Avoiding Plagiarism


Check out the web article below on the Sparknotes website before submitting your work, especially the summer assignment essays. See, even Brandon agrees.
This picture was taken in April 2010 at Brook Farm, MA. Brook Farm was a transcendentalist community where at one time Nathaniel Hawthorne (although not a transcendentailist), Ralph Waldo Emerson (the father of the transcendentalist movement in America), Henry David Thoreau (the person who exemplified what it was to be a transcendentalist), Louise May Alcott (the woman who kept the men from going too far off the deep end when it came to the philosophy of transcendentailism) and many more authors lived together.
Did you notice that the word transcendentalist came up a lot in the above post? Does that have anything to do with 11th grade English?

My Review of Canon Pixma MP560 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer

Originally submitted at Staples

The PIXMA MP560 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One perfectly blends performance and convenience. Its built-in two-sided printing can save you paper and help the environment so you can be efficient and eco-friendly, all at the same time. 3-in-1; Print, copy & scan Prints up to 9.2 ipm ESAT black, ...



The Best All-in-One at this Price Point

By lilypondgirl from Santa Monica, CA on 6/24/2010

5out of 5

Pros: Reliable, True life-like color phot, Low Ink Consumption, Easy Setup, Great Print Quality, Easy To Use

Cons: Slow Print Time

Best Uses: Graphics & Charts, Black & white Documents, Photos, Professional Documents

When they say best all-in-one for the price point they mean it. It was so easy to set up that my grandma could do it and she has problems using a microwave oven. If you forget to open up the document shelf before sending a document to print the machine automatically does it for you. I also like the fact that the paper tray is hidden therefore it takes up less space. The manual controls screen also folds down when not in use, making the printer look much more streamline. The ink replacement tanks are sold as a set or individually. That is a plus because sometimes one color runs out before another; instead of having to waste the ink of the other two colors by buying a single tri-color ink tank, you can conserve resources and money by only replacing the needed color. It also comes with basic forms to create things like calendars, to-do lists, notebook paper, graph paper and more. I am now a firm believe in Canon products.

(legalese)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

June 28th-July 4th, 2010 Question #1

Question #1
What do you believe are the primary differences between American Literature, English Honors III, and AP Language & Composition? Why have you enrolled in the specific class you have chosen?
We are starting off very easy considering some people may not realize that the "Blog Question of the Week" has started. And yes, the question is posted a little early. Everyone who answers this should get an "A" because it is mostly opinion. Be warned, next week Ms. O'Rourke will ask a question related to Huckleberry Finn...hint, hint...at least take a peek at the book before July 5th.
Answer to Question #1
Most of the responses were correct in the fact that most of the same material is covered in all three courses (American Literature). All three are survey courses including but not limited to short stories, historical documents, songs, poetry, novels, folk tales etc. American Literature is designed for all junior level students and has several short assignments (daily questions and some short writing responses), the term papers, vocabulary etc. AP Language covers the same basic material of American Literature and then some (additional readings and AP skill sets). The assignments for AP are less basic in terms of questions and focus more on writing and analysis (how the author uses language...why and how they wrote what they wrote). Students will complete approximately 50 Critical Reading Responses throughout the year in addition to vocabulary, term papers, debates etc. English Honors III is a new course and is more like a bridge between AP Language and American Literature. It won't be like English Honors II in the sense of novels and packets (although there will be at least one). It will have some basic question assignments like American Literature and some longer writing assignments like AP Language.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Instructions for AP Language Blog Summer Assignment

I know that the "Blog Question of the Week" was one of the primary concerns for students choosing not to take AP Language (e.g., afraid that they might miss a posted question, not know how to answer it, think that they won't have access to the Internet in a Western civilized country, and unfortunately even in some cases pure laziness etc.). However, it was either this or a week-long intensive summer class. Which do you really think is better?
For those of you thinking that you are enrolled in English Honors III but want to take a stab at the "Blog Question of the Week"...go ahead! It can't hurt. You may even earn yourself some extra credit for the fall term. However, this Blog is not for students in the standard American Literature course.
Each week throughout the summer (starting the 1st week of July which is actually June 28th...sorry) Ms. O'Rourke will post a "Blog Question of the Week" on Mondays. You will then have until Sunday evening to answer the "Blog Question of the Week." Answers must be a minimum of 100 words and should not exceed 250 words.
When it is time for the next "Blog Question of the Week" the suggested answer will be posted to the previous week's question. As long as you attempt to answer the question with something within the realm of reason you will receive a passing score.
You may either e-mail your answers to me at torourke@stbernardhs.com or post a response to the blog in question. Be sure to clearly identify who you are in your response...you want to make sure that I know who jigglypuff2012@gmail.com is.