Narrative Poetry Assignment-- Due December 1, 2011

We're going to try something different: pastiche.  A pastiche is a type of writing wherein the author imitates the style of another, but not with the intent to make fun of it, as in a parody.  Writing pastiche is a really good way for a young, inexperienced writer to try out new styles.  It is not plagiarism if the writer acknowledges her/his sources and that s/he is attempting pastiche.

That being said, your assignment, due December 1 INSTEAD OF AN ESSAY (don't cry too hard over that lost chance to write another of my fun and exciting essays tests) is to write 100+ lines of poetry in the style of the poet you have chosen to read.  This means that if you are reading Practical Cats, you will create 2 or 3 traditional verse, light-hearted poems about some other animal (small and dainty poodles, perhaps) -- or see me if you can think of something better than animals -- that can be personified the way the cats are in Eliot's poems.  If you choose Munchausen, you will create 2 or 3 tall-tale episodes in free verse featuring either Munchausen having adventures somewhere besides Europe (put him in the deserts of Utah?  Let him fight Maoris in New Zealand?) or else a different adventurer of your own creation.  If you read "Ossian," you will create fragmented free verse in the style of MacPherson to show a battle scene from a different culture (perhaps using Native Americans?  Or a clash in ancient Israel?  Maybe some victims of Ghengis Khan?).  If you choose either "Minstrel" or "Mariner," you will need to write one long narrative poem in traditional verse (keeping as close as possible to the meter and rhyme schemes of the originals) that includes supernatural elements and either a battle (for the former) or a journey (for the latter).

All poems should include strong imagery and plenty of simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.  In 100 lines, you can certainly work in some of everything.  I don't expect you to be perfect, but you are all capable of creating your own unique poetry while leaning heavily upon the original poets for style, tone, theme, meter, and rhyme schemes.

PS. If you are wondering why I italicized some names and used quotes on others, it's because some of them are books and the others are individual poems.

Mystery Genre Reading Assignment

Your next book test will be an essay.  The study topics are the same as those for The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (click here), and you should KEEP ALL YOUR NOTES ON THE MEMOIRS, as you will need them for the next test.
Due to a scarcity of books, I've had to add to the list.  Here are your options:

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  (Shafer has 4 copies, it's easy to find in libraries and bookstores, and it's available free online.  Just click the title to be taken to the gutenberg.org site where you can download it in various formats.  This is by far the easiest and most popular book.  Yes, it's another Sherlock Holmes story, but this time it's a full-length novel.)

The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie by Alan Bradley.  (Shafer has four copies, the kids in the kindle club have e-copies.  This is a popular book only a few years old and is definitely around in libraries and bookstores.  It is too new to be found online for free.  You can, of course, buy an e-copy of it.  This book features an 11-year-old genius as the protagonist and has some very funny parts, but it is not really a YA novel.)

Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith.  This book may be used ONLY if I have a note from your parents.  It does contain swearing and several adult themes.  I would've been fine reading it in 9th grade, but some of you (and some of your parents) may be too sensitive for this book.  (This is a very popular book that was published a few years ago.  It is about 2 cowboy brothers who decide they want to be detectives like Sherlock Holmes -- who is a real person in this series of books.  The book has some humor in it as well.  It should be relatively easy to find in a library or a bookstore, and, of course, buying an e-copy is always an option, but the book is too new to be available for free online.)

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.  (This is a very popular novel and the Salt Lake City libraries have several copies available.  Unfortunately for you, the author only died in 1976, so the book is still 30 years away from being public domain and free.)

Murder At The Vicarage by Agatha Christie.  (Ditto above commentary.)

Now you have 5 choices.  Pick ONE of them and read it, using post-it notes or taking handwritten notes to find examples of the common elements of 20th Century detective fiction.  Your test essay will involve comparing and contrasting the stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes to the full-length novel you choose from the above list.
If you are at a loss as to which book to choose, I will tell you that Baskervilles is the most common and the one that most people will expect you to have read by the time you're in college.  It's also the easiest to find.  If in doubt, go with Baskervilles.

Now, if you followed directions and are reading this post on the evening of 10/26/11, as directed to do in class, you are in luck.  At the moment, your grades are final for first term, except for the grades of BG, IR, and JW, who  know what needs to happen before their grades are final.  If you are happy with your grade at this point, you can stop reading this post now.  I have already added in extra credit for no tardies and for missing not a single assignment (including planner checks) all term, but some of you still are just a few points away from a higher grade.  If, then, you are still reading this on the evening of 10/26/11, and you want a few extra points, then e-mail me your best and most convincing paragraph ever about why you should get 10 more points.  You need not be truthful.  Creatively fictional reasons will be considered amusing.  However, you MUST write a good paragraph with a topic sentence, 3+ reasons, and a concluding sentence.  And I must receive it no later than 11:59 PM on 10/26/11.  Yes, this is to reward those who follow directions and read this post tonight instead of putting it off.

Extra Credit Project For Holmes Stories

Create a book trailer for one of the stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.  Be sure to make it clear which one.  Remember that the purpose of a book trailer is to hook someone's interest so that they will want to read the story.
The book trailer should be 20-30 seconds long, and may be posted on youtube (e-mail me the link), burned on a disc, or put on a flashdrive.
You may have your friends or family members help you with the acting or with still photos to be used in the trailer, but only one person gets credit for the trailer.  If you and your friends work together, then you must each help each other for trailers on different stories.
Here are some links to help you get ideas.
Bad Girls Don't Die
13 Little Blue Envelopes
Black Pearls

Worth up to 30 extra credit points if done well.
Due by October 17.

Wordles of "The Final Problem"

Four people did the extra credit (so easy!).

I thought I'd share their creations, which are pretty fun.

This first one is from VN:

The second one was made by VS:

The third one was done by CS:

And the final one was submitted by MG:

Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them full-sized.

Check back again to see more extra credit opportunities.

Information About The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes

If you are going to read the e-book instead of the physical book, here's a link:
The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
You can also find a link on my website.

For background information for test day (October 26), you will need to go to this wikipedia link (Wikipedia "Detective Fiction") and read the introduction and the sections entitled "Early Western Detective Fiction," "Golden Age Detective Novels," and "The whodunit vs. the inverted detective story."
Please pay special attention to this list of items, particularly the red herring and the other linked items):

• English country house robbery
• An "inside job"
• red herrings
• A celebrated, skilled, professional investigator
• Bungling local constabulary
• Detective inquiries
• Large number of false suspects
• The "least likely suspect"
• A rudimentary "locked room" murder
• A reconstruction of the crime
• A final twist in the plot

Early Bird Extra Credit Special:
For 10 extra credit points, click the e-book link to The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, copy the text of "The Final Problem," and use it to make a Wordle, designing it however appeals to you.  Take a screen shot of your Wordle and e-mail it to Ms. Shafer at school by 10:00 AM on Sunday, October 9, 2011.  This is a little perk to reward those who check this blog on 10/7 or 10/8, as you were directed to do in class.  Wordles are fun and easy, so have a good time.  (But, no, I won't take the extra credit late.)

The Irony Essay Specifics

With today's dystopia essay finished (expect it graded and returned next week), it's time to start thinking about the irony essay.
The reading list has been shortened to four short stories.  There are links on Ms. Shafer's website, or you can just click the story titles here to read all of them except the first one, which is not public domain, and hence is not available free online (which is why you must read it from our Outlooks literature book instead).

Irony (Read ALL the following):

1. “The 51st Dragon” by Heywood Broun  (This one is in our literature book.)

2.  “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathanial Hawthorne

3. “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift

4. “The Gift Of The Magi” by O. Henry

We will go over this in class, but here are basic definitions for the 3 main types of irony:

Verbal Irony: what is said is not what is meant
        example: sarcasm

Situational Irony: what happens is not what is expected
         example: you look all over for an assignment, re-do the thing, and then your mom finds it in the  kitchen
Dramatic Irony: the reader or audience member knows more than the character does
        example: you know the monster is waiting in the cellar but the protagonist walking down the stairs    doesn't

Following Blogs

Students,
Ms. Shafer has now removed the app that showed your names and photos when you signed up to follow this blog, so you may now follow it in privacy without people being able to see you.  (The names and faces still show up on the main dashboard, but Ms. Shafer is the only person who sees that.)
Please feel free to encourage your parents to follow if they feel so inclined.  (Their names and icons will remain private as well.)

Reading Lists For 2011-2012

Students and parents, please be aware that the reading lists on Ms. Shafer's school website are still the old ones for last year.  Between the new grades program at school and Ms. Shafer's own computer problems, there has been a delay in the posting of the new lists, which are not exactly the same as the 2010-2011 lists.
The new lists should be (we hope) up on the website within the week; however, the first reading assignment was posted on this blog and mentioned to every student last May, so there's no mystery about that.

Summer Reading Assignment For 9GT 2011-2012

Persuasive essays and literary analysis are a big part of the 9GT experience.  It is expected that all 9GT students are planning on university studies in their futures, and ALL university areas of study expect students to be able to read material, analyze the data therein, form an opinion based on the data, and support that opinion with specific information in a clear, organized manner.  In 9GT English, we use mostly literature to practice these skills.
Students, your first essay will be given early in the second week of the upcoming school year.  You may prepare for the essay during the first week of school, but it is STRONGLY suggested that you begin earlier, during the early part of August.
The first essay topic will be on the latest writing trend: post-apocalyptic dystopias.  Post means "after," as you should already know.  An apocalypse is some kind of end-of-the-world type of earth-shattering event, such as natural disasters, plagues, or destructive wars that wipe out huge portions of civilization.  A dystopia is a fictional society wherein things are not good or happy for most of its inhabitants.  (A Utopia is the opposite.)  Thus, a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel is one that is a sub-genre of science fiction and features a future, repressive society built after a huge catastrophe.   The conflicts often include  the man vs. society types.
The most famous dystopia works of literature are 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, but many works of young adult literature that feature dystopian societies have been published over the course of the last few months.  Our first essay will be about this topic.
So, what should you read?
Everyone will need to read the short story, "By The Waters Of Bablyon," by Stephen Vincent Benet.  This can be read during the first week of school by checking out a literature text book to take home, or you may simply click this link and read the story online.
The longer reading will be for you to choose ONE recent post-apocalyptic dystopian piece of YA fiction.  Here is a list to help you; however, you may choose a book that is not on the list below, as long as it is post-apocalyptic dystopian, YA, and published within the last two years.

1. Enclave by Ann Aguirre

2. Inside Out By Maria Snyder

3. Hunger Games (or one of the sequels) by Suzanne Collins

4. Matched by Ally Condie

5. Divergent By Veronica Roth

6. Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

7. Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

8. Dark Life by Kat Falls

9. Wither by Lauren DeStefano *

10. Trickster’s Girl by Hilari Bell

11. Bumped by Megan McCafferty *

12. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

13. City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

* has mature themes -- parent permission recommended.

Please have the reading of the novel and the short story completed by the beginning of the second week of school.