# 1 Sophomore journal---Your Favorite Work of Art (post before Sept. 7)

Tell me what you consider to be your favorite work of art. Please don't limit your definition of art to the "fine" arts, like painting. Please feel free to include the "pop" arts, like music, film, cartoons, or television.

You might want to use this post as a "warm up" or pre-writing to the final essay that is due Friday, September 14. However, you may choose to write about something else for the final essay, too.

Complete this blog/journal response before Friday, September 7, so I can post all of your classmates responses for you to read.

Remember, I recommend that you first write your response in a Word document, save it, and then copy and paste it as a comment at Schoolsville. Eventually, I will collect all of your "blog/journal" responses at the end of each marking period as a graded assignment.
Be more succinct here than you will be in your essay--write a MINIMUM of 200 words (your essay should be 3-4 typed pages).

At Schoolsville, you probably want to respond to these questions:

1. What is your favorite work of art?

2. Give a brief description or overview.

3. Why is it your favorite work? Does it make you "think" (appeal to your intellect) or "feel" (appeal to your emotions)? A little of both, perhaps? Briefly explain and be specific.

To get an idea of how to respond properly to this blog, you may check out the archives for September 2011 and read some of the 50-some responses made by last year's sophomores to this blog entry.

The image that you're viewing is of Jamie Wyeth's Portrait of a Pig (currently on display at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA), one of my personal favorite "works of art."

#1 Senior Journal--Personal Essay "Warmup" (post before Sept. 7)

Young writers who feel as if they have nothing to say to the world actually do.

You do, too.

In your short 17 or so years on Planet Earth you have already experienced people and events that have molded your image, touched you to the core, or have changed your life.

If you try to deny this, then answer this question--are you anything remotely like the helpless, crawling, bawling, slobbering infant that lay in the crib? Someone encouraged you to walk, talk, and close your mouth when you ate your food. Someone, and some key events in your life, that undoubtedly involved other people, helped you to become the miracle merging of body and soul that is you.

Bet you never thought about it that way.

So here's the journal assignment: briefly (minimum of 200 words) tell us here at Schoolsville about a person or event that deeply affected your life. I think we all can learn something from your story.

I'd like it if you used your response (if you wish) as a warmup for your personal essay, your first writing assignment reflecting on the same prompt (3-4 pages typed) that's due September 13. If I may begin with a simple metaphor, consider this journal posting a flexing and stretching of your writing muscles for that final paper.

In sharing your experience, you'll be participating in bettering the human race. That's right. You'll be educating the entire world community here at Schoolsville, a world that could stand to learn that no two people, let alone races, religions, or nations, are exactly alike. The world can learn from your story, or at least begin to develop some much needed emotions of empathy or sympathy. Wouldn't you be interested in reading about how some Afghan teen, his country ravaged by foreign and civil wars, responds to the same writing prompt that you've just been given? Would his paper help you to understand his hopelessness, his fear, his distrust of foreigners?

OK, I'm only pretending that the existence of Schoolsville, or the completion of your personal essay paper, is vital to the future of the human race. But the point of my exaggeration is this: reading what others have to say is important, whether they live on the other side of the globe or in the neighboring cul-de-sac. Understanding them might help us to decide if we want to invade their country or invite them to our Labor Day barbecue.

Communication with others is the first "baby step" in learning how to get along. If we can't "walk in someone's shoes," then at least we should be willing to slip on someone's sandals and wiggle our toes for a spell. We just might learn that everyone in the world is not wearing the same 9 1/2 B's.

Respond here before Friday, Sept. 7. I will post your responses for everyone to read early Friday morning. The essay is due Sept. 13.

To get some ideas, you may review the comments given by last year's seniors by visiting the archived post for September 9, 2011.

Grades 10/12 Blogging at Schoolsville

Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate 

First of all, Schoolsville is the place where I'll post your "journal assignments." You must respond throughout the marking period as you are instructed "on the blog" at Schoolsville, but you MUST also turn in a printed copy of all of these journal assignments toward the end of each quarter for a major "grade." For each assignment, I strongly recommend that you type your response in a Word document and then copy and paste it into the blog response box. This keeps you organized and it protects you better in case your computer or the blog site crashes.

Also at Schoolsville, periodically I will give extra reading and homework assignments. Complete them as they are assigned. Make sure that before any test you read and remember the "READ ONLY" posts.

Does this all sound boring? I don't think so, and you won't, either, when you find yourself periodically checking in here for homework or to see if I'm "quizzing the chandelier" or "reprimanding the air."

You have to read Schoolsville (the poem) to understand those references. So do it this weekend. Follow this link to read the Billy Collins's poem, Schoolsville, the imaginary Poetry-town created by a retired teacher who finds it impossible to retire. This could be me in about 9 years (and counting).

Billy Collins is a former poet laureate of the United States. Once a title of great distinction (in countries like Great Britain), these days, a poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government to promote the genre of poetry. The poet laureate might be called upon to compose poems for state occasions and other government events, like the inauguration of a president.

Collins's poetry is on the humorous side. His fans call it realistic, clever, and accessible; his critics call it lightweight and shallow. Since I've chosen one of his poems to name my blog, I think you can guess on which side I stand.

Read on.

Grades 10/12 Instructions for posting comments at Schoolsville

Here are some simple directions on how you should post comments at Schoolsville:

1. Go to the bottom of the blog post and click on the underscored words that indicate the number of comments (to the left of the mail envelope).

2. Type your comment (or copy and paste your comments from a Word document) in the box that reads "Leave your comment."

3. Choose an identity by clicking the circle that reads "Name/URL." When you do, a box will open in which you'll leave your first name, the first letter of your last name, followed by a space which will be followed by your section color. For instance I might leave the name "JohnF blue"(John Fiorelli, blue class) if I were a student in the blue section.

4. Then click the box to "publish your comment." Your comment will not be immediately posted, but a message at the top of the page should say that "your comment has been saved." I moderate the comments, meaning that I'll check them for their appropriateness before I post them.

NOTE 1:it's always good practice to compose your comments in a Word document that you can edit (before you copy and paste into the comment box) and then save your responses for printing at the end of the marking period.

NOTE 2: unless instructed differently, comments should run a minimum of 200 words.

NOTE 3: sometimes, you'll be given a blog post specifically for your section color, so you must post your comments there, still indicating your initials and section color.

Grades 10/12 Integrity in English Class

One of the pillars of personal values for a St. Mark's student  is integrity. Your integrity is your honesty, your truthfulness, and most importantly, your commitment to the Gospel values.

Integrity is important in English class for it will provide an honest relationship with your teacher to aid in the learning process.

I  hope that you resist the temptation to use Internet sources like Sparknotes instead of reading your assigned material.  I hope that you try to formulate your own opinions and questions on your readings instead of using these sites. If you do so, you will gain a personal confidence and satisfaction in the joyful struggle of  learning that cheating, well, cheats you from enjoying.

So in using on line sites like StudyWiz and Schoolsville for our class, I trust that you will respond with your own words and ideas, not ones copied or paraphrased from another source. I trust that you will complete your assignments on time when using these sites,  maybe even sometimes overcoming certain technological problems by doing things "the old fashioned way," like calling up a friend to get your assignment and writing out your homework with paper and pen for the next day's class.


I will trust that you embody integrity in all that you do in English class this year. However, for those of you who might lose my trust, penalties for are spelled out in the Student Handbook for acts of dishonesty, like plagiarism. Let's hope that we never need to review those penalties.