Responding to "Our Loss of Wisdom" by Barry Schwartz

Answer one of the following questions in paragraph form:

1. How do you feel towards the lecture and why do you feel this way?

2. Does the lecture confront or confirm your personal beliefs? Explain.

3. Write about something important you learned from the lecture.

4. What stayed in your mind after the lecture was over? Why do you think that happened?

5. What made the lecture effective (or ineffective) in your opinion?

Write between 100 and 150 words. Provide a word count, please.

If you would like to read some published narrative essays from last year's class, visit these links.

Powerful Blood Ties Rosemary recounts the tale of her brother's death on Christmas eve.

Home, Sweet Home Rita's terrifying experience of the Kobe earthquake in 1995 leads her to a new appreciation of home.

Remembering the Folly Maryann remembers a fateful meeting with a good friend and regrets her actions that day.

The Railroad Man: A New Journey Marc writes of the death of the "backbone of his life," his father.

Disguised Donors In the aftermath of monsoon floods, Jatinder discovers that not all is what it seems on first glance.

Responding to "The Woman of the House"

Choose one of the following questions and answer in a 150 to 200 word paragraph.

1. Explore a social or ethical issue raised in the writing. Judge the behaviour of the characters or the views of the author. Are they right or wrong in your opinion?

2. Tell about how you feel toward this writing or its author and why.

3. Write about something that surprised you, angered you, delighted you, or evoked any strong reaction as you were reading. Write about anything that stays on your mind after reading

Responding to "How to Write with Style"

Write a short, 100-word, paragraph response to one of Kurt Vonnegut's suggestions about style. Following the procedures found in your "Academic Writing: A Guide," include at least one short quote from Vonnegut (not one of his rules; choose from one of the sentences instead) and be sure to incorporate it into your own sentence. Respond to what he says either positively or negatively and explain why you think that.

Due before class begins Wednesday, September 29.

Here I Am

Write your version of "Here I Am" here as a comment to this post. Remember to follow the format of my examples exactly (use the same punctuation and word forms etc.).

I will provide a third example here as well.

If you have come to my class before, please include your old version along with a new one (in other words, you will post two rather than one "Here I Am.") See you next Wednesday.

Link for Friday, September 17 Homework

Something New; Something Interesting; Something Puzzling (Read each student's response and then choose three different students. For each of the three, choose a single sentence that interested you in some way. Write your response as a paragraph with three examples. Write about 150 words or so and be sure to explain why you found the sentence interesting. Bring your paragraph to class, word processed, on Friday. You'll need it to participate in that day's group work)

Welcome everyone! I look forward to helping you achieve the highest possible score in English 12 and, more importantly, to making you all better writers, readers and thinkers. It was great to meet you all today.

Saying Goodbye at the Blog

Please wish us a fond farewell. I will do so in the next day or so. This is not a required activity but it is your final chance to "speak" to your classmates and teacher.

Provincial Exam Information

Exam Schedule (PDF File) for All Examinations

English 12 is at 9:00 a.m. on June 22 (Tuesday) in the Pearson Gym (just down the hall from the office). Go to our Community Education office (30 minutes early) to check in with the secretaries. If you are more than 30 minutes late, you will not be admitted to the test.

Be sure to bring along your PEN ID number (see a teacher if you do not know it) and photo id to the test session.

2008/9 Exam

Key for Exam

Example Student Answers (Scale 1-6; very interesting viewing!)

List Poem

Put your list poem here as a comment before Wednesday's class. Remember to prepare brief remarks on how you wrote the poem.