Sunday, September 30, 2012

Edge Essay Assignment and this weeks good reads


Cool post on space exploration and viability of life on other planets.

Edge Essay Assignment

Link to Urtak

Neil Gaiman's 8 Rules to Writing

Grains of Sand or Stars in the Universe?

For thise interested in mind amplification- Howard Rheingold's new book.

The Trouble with Intentions- Verlyn Klinkenborg
 Experienced writers know that every good sentence is retrieved by will from the forces of chaos
How about this opening paragraph from Robin Finn of the New York Times:

THERE are 383 aspirational keys in circulation in the Big City, each of them numbered and coded, all of them equipped to unlock any of four wrought-iron gates offering privileged access to undisturbed siestas or tranquil ambulation inside the tree-lined boundaries of Gramercy Park. At age 181, the only truly private park in Manhattan is lovelier and more ornamental than ever; yes, the colorful Calder sculpture swaying blithely in the breeze inside the fence is “Janey Waney,” on indefinite loan from the Calder Foundation.

 And...AP Writing Contest-2012-2013 Grammies
I may not give extra-credit but I do grant the wish of extra time.  Late Pass!  On way to grab it is through our weekly participation/ grammar exercise.  You will watch one vignette and write a brief description (1 to 4 sentences) that captures the tone.  The catch is that you must blend in at least one form of selected sentence structure while reflected pitch perfect connotation of the tone of the film.  How do you win?  You vote of course...After I tally all all the entries, I post them so you can review them and vote for the best one.  Let's be clear...you write, vote and gobble up class participation credit while honing your syntax.
This week's syntax move: participial phrase:

  1. Pursing his lips, he struggled not to call out his professor's obvious error.
  2. A lazy student, always looking for a corner to cut with his assignments, ironically, may do more work to get out of doing work. 

Remember to flex with strong verbs!

Find your class and get started.  Week 1- Anthony Mackie- Due Friday P.M.
Period 1       Period 5/6      Period 7/8


Friday, September 28, 2012

Edge Questions + Internet Brilliance


 
  •         What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?
             What are you optimistic about?
         What is your dangerous idea?
         What have you changed your mind about?
         What is your law?
  • What do you believe  is true though you can not prove?
  • What will change everything?

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

This week's cool reads

From Andrew Sullivan's Post of the documentary Knuckleball
Scott Tobias
-
There are essentially two things that can happen with a knuckleball. It can float toward the plate without spin, jerk around like boozy relatives at a wedding hall and make the world's best hitters look like hapless Looney Tunes characters. Or it can float toward the plate with spin, lope with a steady trajectory at 65 mph and give the world's best hitters the juiciest slab of red meat this side of Sizzler. When a knuckleball specialist is on, he's a magician, conjuring the dark and mysterious forces of the universe; when he's off, he's the pot-bellied assistant manager throwing batting practice...



What technique is this from the President's speech at the UN yesterday:
1.
There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There is no video that justifies an attack on an Embassy. There is no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan.
2.
Let us remember that Muslims have suffered the most at the hands of extremism. On the same day our civilians were killed in Benghazi, a Turkish police officer was murdered in Istanbul only days before his wedding; more than ten Yemenis were killed in a car bomb in Sana’a; and several Afghan children were mourned by their parents just days after they were killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Logos and Humor- This week's good reads

I saw this commercial ad nauseum during football this weekend. Here are some cool reads... Shock Me if You Can- from NYT Obama's Way- From Vanity Fair

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Samsara- Starting Friday @ Yorktown

My tickets are already bought for the 7:05 show. This will blow you away! Do find a way to see it this weekend.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Context

It is a rainy day...We can cheer up with this...


Here is the link to released AP Language exams.  Also in the margin under AP Links.