"I ... Knew This Time I Had Them Beat"

The four (or five) pages that Kesey wrote in stream of consciousness might be the best written but the least understood section of the book.

It is commonly believed that what appears in our subconscious dreams, nightmares, and hallucinations represent the real fears, desires, hang-ups, and baggage that we're carrying around.

So a dream (or the like) about a moment from our childhood might take us back to some anxious moment and some repressed feeling that we can better deal with in our dreamworld than in the real world.

So, too, a dream might include some real sound or sensation that our body is actually experiencing. The music from your alarm clock radio appears in your dream--you're on the dance floor "dancing like there's nobody watching."

You're running up a steep slope in your dream, when actually your blood pressure accelerates while you sleep because you took a Pseudofed allergy pill before you dozed off.

Chief hears, "AIR RAID," which takes him back to his days hiding for cover in WWII, but also suggests that he's "under attack" by the voltage of electricity coursing through his body during EST.

Before Chief is shocked, one of the technicians working in EST says about him:" Watch that other moose. I know him. Hold him!"

After he is shocked, Chief dreams, "Hit at a lope, running already down a slope. Can't go back, can't go ahead, look down the barrel an' you dead dead dead." Now he's the moose, hit as he lopes down the slope, feeling helpless going back, going ahead, or looking down the barrel of the gun, maybe someones two eyes, if the Chief has his own eyes open, or seeing the light emitting through his two eyelids, if his eyes are closed. Either way, Chief feels "dead dead dead."

man, Man, MAN, MAN ... I love this book.

Seniors--Research Paper, Cuckoo Test, and Cuckoo's Nest Project

Over the holiday, you may choose (and probably should choose) to work on your research paper and/or your Cuckoo's Nest project.

You MUST finish reading Cuckoo's Nest, too.

On the first day back from break, we'll discuss the end of Cuckoo's Nest and begin to sum up its major motifs and themes. You'll take a mini-test on the novel on Wednesday, April 14.

On April 13, I'd like you to bring in two types pages of your research paper in their best form, complete with in-text citations, for me to check. If you'd like to send me some work over the holiday to look over, please do so. However, don't send any work between April 6 and April 9 since I'll be in Augusta, GA, watching the Masters Golf Tournament.

The handout for the Cuckoo's Nest project can be found on Studywiz. Though the project is not due until April 19, you could use the break to get started or even to finish it.

To sum up---

Over Easter--finish the novel
Two pages of research due for check on April 13
Mini-test on Cuckoo's Nest on April 14
Cuckoo's Project begins April 19
Research paper due April 22

Red Seniors--Tech Lab Work--It's About Dignity

"Maybe I couldn't play first string, but I could of folded towels, couldn't I? I could of done something. That nurse on my ward, she keeps telling me I'm not ready."

The Lifeguard at the pool, a "punchy" ex-football player who is committed for being picked up drunk and disorderly, can't get dismissed from the hospital. Is he a menace to society? Not completely. Once in a while he'll get in a three-point stance like he's ready to open a hole for a running back, but aside from that, he's able to hold a conversation, and he's willing to perform the most menial of tasks, like folding towels in the football team locker room, if it means getting out of the hospital.

Certainly back in the early 60s, people with physical and intellectual disabilities were treated with less understanding, less compassion, than they are today. Thankfully, national groups like Special Olympics and Best Buddies and local groups like DFRC (you know, the Blue-Gold people) have spread the news that "challenged" people are only "handicapped" when we treat them that way or when we whisper or snicker about them as if they didn't exist. Organizations like the OCI (Opportunity Center, Inc. --website is http://www.ourpeoplework.org/) train and employ people with disabilities to make them proud members of the work force. There is a local branch in Wilmington, by the way.

Watch this Special Olympics video ad on youtube (click on link). The video contains an unexpected ending that emphasizes the potential for greatness in everyone.

Your assignment today (complete and post before class on Tuesday, March 23) is to find on the Web an example of a living, breathing, physically or intellectually disabled person who has achieved success far beyond what society would expect from him or her.

Or find someone who has been convicted as a "criminal" or labeled a "psychopath" who has overcome his stigma, worked to amend his life, and has become a positive contributing member of society.

In 200 or 25 blog lines, tell me his or her story.

Provide the link, also, where you found this information.

Yellow Seniors--Tech Lab Work--It's About Dignity

"Maybe I couldn't play first string, but I could of folded towels, couldn't I? I could of done something. That nurse on my ward, she keeps telling me I'm not ready."

The Lifeguard at the pool, a "punchy" ex-football player who is committed for being picked up drunk and disorderly, can't get dismissed from the hospital. Is he a menace to society? Not completely. Once in a while he'll get in a three-point stance like he's ready to open a hole for a running back, but aside from that, he's able to hold a conversation, and he's willing to perform the most menial of tasks, like folding towels in the football team locker room, if it means getting out of the hospital.

Certainly back in the early 60s, people with physical and intellectual disabilities were treated with less understanding, less compassion, than they are today. Thankfully, national groups like Special Olympics and Best Buddies and local groups like DFRC (you know, the Blue-Gold people) have spread the news that "challenged" people are only "handicapped" when we treat them that way or when we whisper or snicker about them as if they didn't exist. Organizations like the OCI (Opportunity Center, Inc. --website is http://www.ourpeoplework.org/) train and employ people with disabilities to make them proud members of the work force. There is a local branch in Wilmington, by the way.

Watch this Special Olympics video ad on youtube (click on link). The video contains an unexpected ending that emphasizes the potential for greatness in everyone.

Your assignment today (complete and post before class on Tuesday, March 23) is to find on the Web an example of a living, breathing, physically or intellectually disabled person who has achieved success far beyond what society would expect from him or her.

Or find someone who has been convicted as a "criminal" or labeled a "psychopath" who has overcome his stigma, worked to amend his life, and has become a positive contributing member of society.

In 200 or 25 blog lines, tell me his or her story.

Provide the link, also, where you found this information.

Purple Seniors--Tech Lab Work--It's About Dignity

"Maybe I couldn't play first string, but I could of folded towels, couldn't I? I could of done something. That nurse on my ward, she keeps telling me I'm not ready."

The Lifeguard at the pool, a "punchy" ex-football player who is committed for being picked up drunk and disorderly, can't get dismissed from the hospital. Is he a menace to society? Not completely. Once in a while he'll get in a three-point stance like he's ready to open a hole for a running back, but aside from that, he's able to hold a conversation, and he's willing to perform the most menial of tasks, like folding towels in the football team locker room, if it means getting out of the hospital.

Certainly back in the early 60s, people with physical and intellectual disabilities were treated with less understanding, less compassion, than they are today. Thankfully, national groups like Special Olympics and Best Buddies and local groups like DFRC (you know, the Blue-Gold people) have spread the news that "challenged" people are only "handicapped" when we treat them that way or when we whisper or snicker about them as if they didn't exist. Organizations like the OCI (Opportunity Center, Inc. --website is http://www.ourpeoplework.org/) train and employ people with disabilities to make them proud members of the work force. There is a local branch in Wilmington, by the way.

Watch this Special Olympics video ad on youtube (click on link). The video contains an unexpected ending that emphasizes the potential for greatness in everyone.

Your assignment today (complete and post before class on Tuesday, March 23) is to find on the Web an example of a living, breathing, physically or intellectually disabled person who has achieved success far beyond what society would expect from him or her.

Or find someone who has been convicted as a "criminal" or labeled a "psychopath" who has overcome his stigma, worked to amend his life, and has become a positive contributing member of society.

In 200 or 25 blog lines, tell me his or her story.

Provide the link, also, where you found this information.

SOPHS-Contemporary Thoreaus--EXTRA CREDIT-POST BY MARCH 21

Perhaps you have read pp. 264-265 in your literature text, the section entitled Contemporary Thoreaus. Annie Dillard and Edward Abbey are great examples of modern Thoreau disciples.

Your EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT (worth 3-5 points) is to provide another example. I'd enjoy reading about someone who is NOT famous, maybe a favorite aunt or uncle, a friend's father or mother, or perhaps a friend of your own. Tell me what makes that person like Thoreau, either in his or her lifestyle or life philosophy. If you can't provide a personal example, then do some research and write about a historical figure. If you'd like, tell me about a character in a book or movie that is "So-Thoreau."

Minimum length of 25 blog lines or 200 words for any credit.

One of my favorites is Jeremiah Johnson, a character portrayed by Robert Redford in a 1972 film. If you're a lover of the Western wilderness and don't mind movies that move at a slower pace, then give this movie a try.

Research Paper Sites

Research Paper Help--The Owl and dianahacker.com

The University of Purdue Online Writing Lab, also known as the Owl, is one of the best college on line sites of its type in the country.

Here is a link to the site, which offers, among MANY other things, a detailed and step-by-step approach to the entire research paper process. Once there, the links in the upper left hand corner will be most useful. Click on the link for grades 7-12 instructors and students (there's plenty of good stuff here) Then scroll down to Different Kinds of Essay Genres and click on writing a research paper.

OK, if you're ONLY interested in research paper help, just click on the final link. But it might be useful and interesting to familiarize yourself with the entire site, if not for this assignment, but for later in your education (like college) where you'll be asked to write many papers.

Would you like to read a good 6-8 page research paper? Then click on this sample MLA paper from dianahacker.com. It includes a works cited page, too.

Seniors #4 Journal--Research Paper Warmup Lap

Tell us at Schoolsville what your research topic is and why you chose it.

Think of this journal entry as a practice lap before you tackle the Monster Mile of the entire research paper project.

To elaborate on this entry some more, tell us about some interesting research that you've already discovered.

Or maybe tell us how your topic has gone in a different direction since you've begun your research.

Or if you understand car racing lingo, tell us how you've been metaphorically spun out, broken down in pit road, drafting along, or gotten loose a bit. Maybe you've changed your setup or put on some new stickers to get a better hold of the track.

For this entry, write in a minimum of 250 words.

Can you tell I've been watching too much NASCAR lately? (Let's go Junior!)

Soph Extra Credit!!! Hand in with Journal!

Read the entry and complete the assignment that follows for four points extra credit.

Follow this link to read The Story of the Bad Little Boy, a Mark Twain parody of a Sunday school story.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Sunday School stories were moral tales written for the little boys and girls who learned the difference between right and wrong at their local churches in Sunday School.

These stories always ended with a good dose of poetic justice. The good boys and girls were rewarded; the not-so-good boys and girls were summarily punished, learned the error of their ways, and turned out to be model boys and girls themselves.

Mark Twain pokes fun at these stories in The Story of the Bad Little Boy.

Assignment

For extra credit, answer these questions:

1. Define a parody. How is The Story of the Bad Little Boy a parody of the stories in Sunday School books.

2. What details contribute to the humor of The Story of the Bad Little Boy?

3. What details contribute to the serious theme of The Story of the Bad Little Boy?

4. What storytelling "tricks" does Twain use to make the story entertaining, if not humorous? In other words, how does Twain's narration of the story make it entertaining?

5. Tell me about a movie or television show that is an example of a parody. Explain.

Sophs #4 journal--Vernacular and Slang

One of the pleasures of reading Mark Twain is the language, specifically his narrators' and characters' use of a correct and usually comical vernacular specific to his stories' settings. No one in Wilmington, Delaware, would say something like "I don't see no points bout that frog that's better from any other frog " (really, no one would be so interested in frogs too much round here, either).

I still get a kick out of Huckleberry Finn describing his disinterest in the story of Moses in the Bible because "I don't take no stock in dead people."

Only the sarcastic and less than sartoriallly-dressed Twain could have reflected, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."

So what is interesting about your language? If an alien somehow landed in your backyard, would he need to be given a dictionary of YOUR own special collection of words, phrases, and sayings? Probably so.

Pretend that I'm that alien. Make a list of at least 25 words, phrases, or sayings (complete with their "definitions") that would let me know exactly what you mean when you say something that isn't exactly the King's English.

One bit of advice. We're not gangstas here. Capisce?

Sophs Journal #3 Song of Myself

Write a "Song of Myself" in the style of Walt Whitman.

Write in first person.

Write in free verse.

Use eclectic (choosing the best from a variety of sources) words and phrases (slang, common language, foreign expressions if you dare)

Repeat key phrases for emphasis. Repeat key phrases for emphasis.

Write in parallel structure.

These are all distinctive elements of a Whitman poem.


MINIMUM OF 200 words. Why limit yourself? I could go on forever about myself!

Check the first four comments to see some good examples from past years.

Getting Started: Senior Research Topics

You have been asked to choose a research paper topic in which you have some personal interest and then write a 5-8 page paper (in MLA form) that argues, analyzes, or explains a thesis. Your topic is limited only by your imagination, interest, and the length of your paper.

However, you may not argue against an established religious doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.

The relatively short length means that your topic (central idea) and thesis (your road map to your analysis, argument, or explanation) must be sharply focused so that the paper is not a general recitation or documentation of common knowledge and generally accepted opinion.

I have included some links to sites that give you some topic ideas. CAREFUL. Some of these topics are far too BROAD. Some are unacceptable, like topics that argue "against an established religious doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church." However, reading over the information on these links should generate some ideas.

Here are the links:

Dallas High School Library research topics
click on the very BROAD topics to view more focused topics and links to articles

University of Central Florida Writing Lab research topics

Glendale Community College research links

Tidewater Community College research topics