Saturday, September 25, 2010

More tone vocabulary

For Friday, let's have the next 15 on your tone handout under our belts. The test will be cumulative for all tone words thus far.

Brave New World--Two posts are better than one!

Please (re)read Chapter 18 and post an interpretive question (one that might inspire a discussion, not one that simply needs clarification). This post will be just the question.

Then, respond fully to another student's question. This post will require a more in-depth response.

These TWO posts are due by Thursday 3pm :-)

***If you have NOT received an email from me regarding our next text, please come see me!*****

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Getting to know poetry terms

These terms are all on your poetry/drama terms handout. When researching definitions, remember these pertain to poetry. Thus, "apostrophe" used here, will not be in the punctuation sense.

Alliteration

Apostrophe

Assonance

Caesura

Conceit

Couplet (Heroic couplet)

Dissonance

Elegy (elegiac)

End-stopped line

Enjambment

Euphony

In medias res

Meter

Ode

Quatrain

Rhyme: End rhyme, external rhyme, internal rhyme,

Stanza

Volta (shift)

To what extent is it a "Brave New World" we live in?

Scientists have been researching in vitro fertilization since the 1890s, but is was not until 1978 that Louise Brown, the first "test tube baby" was born. Today, our medical capabilities have progressed beyond Huxley's wildest imagination.

Which aspects of the novel can be seen in our society today? For example, The World State has ensured no sport is promoted unless it involves the consumption of expensive equipment. This can be seen today in our costly "must have" video game consoles.

Let's see how many connections we can find. If someone else posts the idea you were going to use, please find another example. And please refer to the text; cite chapter/page numbers whenever possible.

Post due Wednesday 3pm as usual :-)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Vocab - now with extra fiber!

Your words this week can be found on the tone handout. Let's go easy and say the first ten on the list. On the quiz, you will be asked to use the words in a "literary sentence." For example, if the word is sardonic (scornfully mocking) an example of a "literary sentence" might be (and we will discuss other possibilities in class):

"The author's scornful, mocking attitude toward the subject is evident in her sardonic tone."

Remember: An author has an ATTITUDE about something, which is reflected in the TONE of the piece, which creates a MOOD experienced by the reader.

Brave New World discussion

"No social stability without individual stability." To what extent do you agree or disagree with His Fordship, and do you think our current system of being raised by "family" supports or undermines societal stability?

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Vocab for 9/10 test

acerbic

(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)

acrimony

(n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)

brusque

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the passengers.)

*** cacophony (you will need this one for poetry!)

(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)

capricious

(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)

bucolic

(adj) relating to idyllic pastoral county life. (The tourists were in awe of the bucolic scene, with its rich meadows of sugar grass dotted with delicate daisies and sheep grazing lazily.)

eschew

(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)

evanescent

(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)

fallacious

(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)

fastidious

(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)

Brave New World musings...

Do a little research on world population growth rates.Do you foresee your findings to be a possible societal problem in the future, and if so, why? Do you not see your findings as particularly problematic, and if so, why?

And the million dollar question.....what solutions would you suggest?!

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