river oaks [english]

If you haven't read the Declaration of Independence in a while, today is a perfect day to do so.

Thank you for all of your work this year!   You should all have a copy of the summer reading list and assignments.  If not, then you can download one from the school's website:  SUMMER READING Enjoy your summer break!

Research Process MLA Format – what it is and how it looks Finding and evaluating sources The two “R”s – Relevance and Reliability Using the databases Using sources The two “I”s – Introduce and Integrate Parenthetical Citation (know the punctuation) Works Cited entries (expect at least to know the form for an article from a subscription database) Romantic Period Introduction to the period (620-638) Gothic Literature & Frankenstein (study guide) Women writers of the period (726-728) William Blake: "The Lamb" & "The Tyger" & "The Chimney Sweeper" (two versions) William Wordsworth: "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" Samuel Taylor Coleridge:"Kubla Khan" & "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Lord Byron: "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" Percy Bysshe Shelley: "Ozymandias" John Keats: "Ode On a Grecian Urn" ...

Remember to read to the end by the end of the week! This week is your last chance for points before the final, and the final will include the novel. The study questions should help you prepare, as will the essay due next week. Wednesday - read to page 50; turn in 10 vocab from Part II Thursday - respond to three (five if in honors) questions from the study guide Friday - read to the end; turn in 10 vocab from Part III The honors essay should be a critical analysis of some specific aspect of the novel. Take your topic from the study guide, and use the homework as a way to get started. Start to pull specifics from the book now, as you read and we discuss, and the job will be easier this weekend. Remember, too, that you all have the opportunity for extra points by (a) doing an essay on the novel if you're non-honors, and (b) taking AR tests on books you have read outside of class. Most best-sellers and all classics are testable. Just check with me or Mrs. Ransom to take a quiz.

Remember to read Part One (1-27) of Heart of Darkness over the weekend. Your homework for this week is on the study guide I handed out in class. If you were absent Friday, then you can pick up yours on Monday (remember to bring my $2.00). As for the context, I know it's horrifying, but it's important to know what happened. Many recent critics have noted that the political context has been overshadowed for years by the various mythological/archetypal and psychological readings since the book was published. A recent article in London's The Independent sheds some light on the context, however, and might help explain why in some ways the Congo region is still in recovery: Forever in chains: The tragic history of Congo

Your final will include the following six chapters: Ch 29 - The Countries of South Asia Ch 22 - Southwest Asia: Regional Atlas Ch 23 - The Countries of Southwest Asia Ch 10 - Mexico Ch 11 - Central America & the Caribbean Ch 12 - Brazil The test will be 100 questions in length - multiple choice and maps.

Your final exam will consist of three sections - AP multiple choice, vocabulary and an essay. The multiple choice section will come from your handout, and you will have a choice of essay prompts. The vocabulary will include 20 of the following 30 terms: eschew - to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds discursive - moving from topic to topic without order veracity - the quality or state of being lively in temper, conduct or spirit perilous - full of or involving danger ephemeral - lasting a very short time prevail - to gain ascendancy through strength or superiority dismal - showing or causing gloom or depression ingenuous - showing innocent or childlike simplicity and honesty syllogism - a subtle, specious, or crafty argument laudatory - of, relating to, or expressing praise pedantic – narrowly or stubbornly learned; unimaginative exhort – to urge strongly sardonic - disdainfully or skeptically humorous reprove - to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly ...

As you work on your memory books this week and next, you should also be working on the end-of-year writing assignments. I've given you a handout (if you were on class): A letter to your future self -- imagine yourself four years from now...where will you be, and what will you be doing? Is it what you planned? What do you hope to remember about NOW? What's important? Address your future self in a letter (standard form), and enclose it in a self-address envelope. I won't read it, but I do need to know you've done it, so don't seal it. A reflective poem or paragraph that will serve as the introduction to your memory book. What is your overall impression of your high school years? What do you want to remember most? Finally, write a poem about your senior class (or graduation). The form and tone of the poem is up to you: funny, serious or sad; rhyming couplets, ballad, or free verse. However you write it, though, please take it seriously. A copy of this poem s...

It's the assignment you've all been waiting for: the memory book. Your assignment is to gather material for a scrapbook that will cover the last four years of your life. Treat it as a document of your high school career. Please start with a LARGE book, not one of the wee little books that you can find some places. Get a BIG one (12 X 12). For each year of high school, you are required to have at least four pages organized into the following categories, but not limited to the examples provided: (1) Student Life -- school-related stuff, friends, sports, spirit groups (2) Personal Life -- family, faith and friends (3) News/Culture -- focus on what you personally were into or affected by CNN Time Magazine Infoplease NOTE: Two sheets front and back for every year = 16 total pages (8 sheets). You can certainly go over this minimum requirement. Although everyone is required to use these same basic categories, consider them as starting points. You can break each category into secti...

The time has come to turn in all of your stuff pertaining to the research paper.  Please include ALL of the following in your folder: Your final draft , in a report cover - MLA formatting, including a header on the first page, numbering, and a works cited page (NOT your annotated bib) Your rough drafts , including both the one I wrote on and the one you wrote in class Your sources , stapled with note cards, arranged in the order they appear on your works cited page A couple of all-purpose reminders:  You must USE all of your sources .  I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating.  It is not enough to simply SAY that you used them; I need to see evidence (in-text citations in the final draft corresponding to highlighted passages in your source). Make absolutely certain that you have cited everything that you've used and that all sources are included on your works cited page and in your folder . See you tomorrow.  I'll give you instructions on where to turn in l...

Your next assignment is to create an annotated bibliography .  Format according to MLA and include the following: CITATION - based on the forms on your sheet and covered in class ANNOTATION - brief statement relating the source to your topic (in other words, explain why you used the source) Both the  Purdue site  and the site at  UNC have explanations and examples ( that a re considerably longer than what I've required here). DUE Wednesday! Also bring a  printout of your latest draft.  Please do this at home if at all possible to avoid a traffic jam in the library.  Thanks.

Just a reminder to everyone that I will be at the ULM library from about 3:00 to 5:00 on Sunday to help you guys find sources.  Don't forget to bring your USB drive , and you might also want to bring some change for copies (there are books there too, you know).  If no one shows up at 3:00, then I'll probably be across the street grading papers.  See you then!

As discussed in class, MOST of your secondary sources need to come from “scholarly journals.” The best source for journal articles is a subscription database like the following: EBSCO – a collection of databases, including full-text articles Go to the Ouachita Parish Library (or website: http://www.oplib.org ) Click on “Other Links” in the left column Click on “CLICK HERE for our subscription database links” Click on EBSCO Enter your library card number (if not in library) Select a database (I suggest Literary Reference Center) Search using keywords (i.e. "frankenstein AND criticism") Save and/or print You can also access the State Library of Louisiana directly, but you still need an ID. JSTOR – full-text scholarly articles Go to the ULM Library's list of databases Choose JSTOR (or Literature Resource Center) enter user name and password (if off-campus) search using keywords (string together using “and”) click ...

Great Books Lists (just what it says)

Your assignment for tonight (and the rest of the week) is to gather sources from the Internet related to your topic. Remember to try a variety of keyword terms. If you cannot find something that is directly related to your topic, don't give up. You may to "browse" through titles and read some abstracts (summaries). This will take some time and some work, but if you follow my process, you will get it done. This week (and next) bring what you find. We will evaluate your sources and, if found reliable, we will discuss how to create a bibliographic citation for each. You will need your note cards for this, so please bring them to class. The 4X6 note cards work best. You will need a dozen or so, depending on how many sources you find. Please evaluate each source before printing: Relevance -- Is the source related directly to your topic? How long is the article, more than a page? Can you use the source more than once? Do you NEED the source? Reliability -- Is the source re...

Congrats to the district IV quiz bowl state champs ! The team includes Jacob Waalk, Maira Qayyum, Coley Rahn, Philip Raeisghasem, Aaron Rogers, Ryan Thurman and Deborah Rizzo. Well done guys...I'm very proud of all of you.

Now that you have chosen your topic (proposal letter) and created some note cards, it's time to organize your ideas into a coherent outline. We've discussed the process in class, of course, but I've also included a couple of links with instruction and examples below: Developing an Outline: Purdue's OWL Handout from the University of Washington Your outline must be typed, double-spaced and formatted according to MLA. It must also be over a page long and include the following: Your thesis (can also pre-write your intro) Alpha-numeric subdivisions (I, A, 1.) References to specific page numbers DUE MONDAY - In addition to your outline, bring your book and notes, for you will be writing your initial draft in class.

As we have discussed, advertising is ubiquitous. Everywhere we look -- on TV, on billboards, in magazines, even on people's clothing -- companies use persuasive messages to convince us to buy their products. Advertisers use the same methods of persuasion that apply to political rhetoric and satire: they employ the classic appeals of rhetoric - ethos, pathos, and logos -- through text and sensory images designed to win over their targeted audience. Your assignment is to write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing the rhetorical strategies of two print advertisements. Although your paper will be written in class, you will type the draft for a grade. Please focus on the following: The audience - based on the "context" of the ad (where and when the ad appears) The purpose - beyond the product, what else (abstractly) is being sold? The use of appeals - ethos (establishes ethics/authority), pathos (abstract emotions of the consumer), and logos (a logical argument based on re...

Hello All - As we've been discussing Frankenstein , and the Romantics in general, I know I've mentioned Whitman's poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." And the other day, I ran across John Shaw's photos from Louisiana Tech's observatory. They are a perfect pairing, I think, for demonstrating one of Shelley's main points - that the pursuit of scientific knowledge has the potential to impede our understanding and/or appreciation of Nature. From Louisiana Tech's Observatory: From Walt Whitman: WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in pe...