river oaks [english]

We are reading Jonathan Swift, a satirist from the 18th century, so I thought it might be interesting to look at some recent examples of satire. Your extra point opportunity is to print out a political cartoon . Write a brief explanation of the joke at the bottom or on the back, and present it to the class. You might try Today's Best Cartoons , a frequently updated collection of political cartoons from all of the major artists. If you search the site, you can find a cartoon about practically any public figure. For an index of all campaign-related sub-categories, click here .

I just wanted to let all you nerds out there that I just discovered a new site about WORDS.  Maybe you've heard of it: The Free Dictionary .    It's set up to use as your homepage, with a word of the day, a hangman game, a spelling bee, word match, quote of the day, local weather, a thesaurus, an encyclopedia (and a dictionary, of course) -- cool, in other words. 

I know I've been out, so our exam will be moved to FRIDAY. To prepare for the exam, please review the book and your notes: Introduction to Chaucer (his biography) Setting and Context of The Canterbury Tales "The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales " "The Pardoner's Tale" "The Wife of Bath's Tale" I should be back for an "official" review on Thursday.

Avoid plagiarism. Every year, the fear is always the same: "But what if I accidentally use an entire paragraph from my source and forget to put quotes around it?" You can avoid this problem by avoiding direct quotes ! U se direct wording only when it is absolutely necessary . Instead, summarize the source in your paper. Use your own words to convey the information from the source. Take careful notes. I just want to remind you, once again, that you must take careful notes when conducting your research. Duke's library has a page on avoiding plagiarism that I'd like for you all to read. Here's another site from Louisiana Tech's online writing center . A general rule is to always print out a copy of whatever you are working with. In fact, you are required to turn in a copy of every source you use with every quote and paraphrase highlighted. This serves as a reminder to you, and it helps me when grading your papers. Always cite your source. Always cite

ALL JUNIORS (and those seniors who choose to) are required to write a 500-word essay for the Congressional Seminar National Essay Contest. The essay is for a grade (extra for seniors) and should be typed, double-spaced, and formatted according to MLA. The essay question for this year: "If you were a presidential candidate, what domestic issue would you consider the most important, and what would you do about it?" The most discussed domestic issues , in my estimation, are the economy, the energy "crisis", the health care "crisis", immigration, and the pro-life/pro-choice debate. You are welcome to tackle any other domestic issue, but please limit it to one. In your paper, you will establish the issue (or problem) and provide solutions. The information you use should be documented (discussed in class next week), and a logical place to start is the candidates themselves. The presidential candidates still in the mix: REP -- Mitt Romney , Mike Huckabee , John M

As I stated in class, I'm offering extra points for those who will memorize and recite the first eighteen lines of "The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales " in Middle English. For those interested, here's an example of what it sounds like. Recitations will take place in class on Monday 1/14. Also, for those interested, here are a couple of sites dedicated to Chaucer: Chaucer MetaPage Harvard University's Chaucer page Pilgrims Passing To and Fro : Canterbury Tales

ROUGH DRAFT (two copies): Friday 1/11 FINAL DRAFT (sources attached): Monday 1/14 Your assignment is to write an essay of two (non-honors) to three (honors) pages on a specific aspect of medieval life ( see topics below ). Your report should include information from no more than TWO sources, cited according to MLA. Your essay must be typed. With the final draft, you must also include a copy of each source you used. Staple everything together, with the essay on top. Note that all information from your sources – whether quoted directly, paraphrased or summarized – must be cited. MLA requires that the author include the author’s last name (or first word of the title in quotes) and a page number (none for web pages) at the end of the sentence, in parentheses. Below is a list of possible topics: Social Order Knighthood Feudalism Chivalry & Courtly Love Slavery / Serfdom Religion in the Middle Ages Pilgrimage Heresy The Crusades Holy Grail Judaism Paganism Science & Medicine Humoral