Winter Break

Hi, folks --



Don't post a response, but here are your reminders for Winter Break.



1. Relax.

2. Read your Literary Research Book. If you are not in love, contact me before halfway through break so we can discuss other options.

3. Reread the argument chapter of Patterns

4. Create a 1-2 page rhetorical analysis of an advertisement (and this can be a political campaign) addressing the following...

• Purpose


• Appeal


• Audience


• Evidence/credibility -- fact vs opinion


• Fallacies


• Deductive or inductive reasoning

We'll take a look at these ads when you get back to class, so bring the ad with to class, and then you'll develop your analysis a bit more that night, considering diction, syntax, effectiveness. If you want to be a go-getter and do this over break, feel free.

5. Read advertisement on page 582 and The Declaration of Independence in argument chapter for Tuesday after break.

6. Relax some more.

How to be an Assistant Principal

Being an assistant principal is among the most strenuous and unappreciated jobs. However, a truly good assistant principal will know exactly how to conduct his or herself so as to relieve the everyday pressures of this important position.

First of all, make sure you remind everyone that you are the assistant principal, because clearly, the sign above your door which reads "Assistant Principal's Office" is not enough. Even your name tag, labeled assistant principal, will not always work as expected. Everyone needs to be reminded sometimes, and no one will mind.


Also, when writing passes for people recieving two detentions, be sure to draw a smiley face on each one. This will confuse foolish freshman, and immediately alert upper classmen to their plight, allowing everyone a good laugh, except the freshman, but they don't count one way or the other. Misleading new students is simply another part of your job, and anyone who does it will will even be able to pin on some extra detentions for insubordination.

Finally, having done your job as best you can, give yourself a pat on the back, and celebrate by constructing a large, unsightly office. Location doesn't matter, really, but the more trafficked the area, the better. That way everyone will see your office, and more importantly you'll get that oh so important ego booster that every Assistant Principal needs. This also serves to bemuse and confuse.

Metaphor

The stream of life trickles by,

the moments drip dripping.

Life flows by,

overcoming each stone.


Yet through the unity,

each prick leaves a ripple,

touching every drop,

until it is a wave,

crashing upon the

rocky shores

at the bottom of the fall.

How could I have made this metaphor more comprehensive?

How apt is this metaphor in describing life's intricacies?

Revision

I think I would add more lines and description to my poem to help the flow. I might try adding rhymes or stanzas to help with the transition from fall to winter.

Revesion Thoughts

If I were to revise my piece, I would change the line discussing fear, and I would insert a line or two that discusses the break between healthy determination and counterproductive determination. I would also discuss how determination is connected to failure, and I would re-arrange the last line to help the reader understand the whole meaning of the piece better.

Metaphor Revision...

I would add more lines to the metaphor. Also more parts to a rollarcoaster to make it resemble life better. I would spend a little more time on it... and possibly make it rhyme better.

extended metaphor revision

If I could revise this piece, I think I'd first change it into a consistant rhythmic pattern and then make the rhymes a tad more consistant too. I'd omit/ change around some of the lines in the poem maybe, and flirt with the idea of adding more lines to it. I'd try to use more literature devices like alliterations and more similes within the metaphor.

A dream is a cloud

A dream is a cloud
suspended upon airy words
and wispy memories
it will flow through your mind
like a legion of swords
it can blot out the sun
and rain it down upon everyone
it's made out of a pasty gray
which can form an absolute dark
and once you tread into the mist
The contrast is fore'er stark
because a cloud will fade
even as you follow
but between a heart and a cloud
is a bond unbreakable in man
capable of shredding a soul
and seperating a strand
A strand alone
brighter than the rays of dawn
and capable of dispatching all
of the carrion decay
And yet while cloud's cascade away
they hold the key to a glorious fall

O' may God bless the dreamer
for his path shan't be bland
and he shall be enshrined
into the promised land






1. What other functions of a cloud could I compare with a dream?

2. as far as rhythmic patterns, I was thinking about making it Iambic pentameter or at least something more defined, but decided against it. At what parts of the poem does the lack of rhythm suffer most and any suggestions on how to better it?

Life is a rollar coaster

Swathi Nanduri


Life is a Roller coaster

It spins you around sometimes it plunges you to the ground.

It thrills as it spins. It causes laughter and sometime tears.

Some freak out about it others just relax and enjoy it.

Sometimes it even gives you the chills, because of all those thrills.

It is unexpected and you never know what is after the loop.

Sometimes it stops right on the tracks or when you’re upside down.

Life is a rollarcoaster…

Is this in the correct way of writing an extended metaphor?...
What did you like the most about it?...