Poetry

Poetry is an expressive form of writing that you will do well to play with! Please post your poems over the next week onto your blog!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost 1874–1963 
     

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

 

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

 

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

Welcome Post

Welcome to the online forum of blogging. You have an opportunity to create your own blog and to respond to suggested writing prompts. You might rather compose your thoughts on a computer because of the editing tools available. These tools will enable you to check spelling and grammar, and to research online resources including, but not limited to, a thesaurus or dictionary.

Here you will be writing for a wider audience, so there are a few pointers that you will want to consider.

• By composing your blogs in a word document you will be able to edit before posting, and you will have a saved copy of each blog in a file that you create.
• You are expected to write at a senior high school level - avoid abbreviations often found in text messages or chat forums.
• Your writing is accessible by your peers as well as the public - write appropriate posts that reflect your academic abilities and your moral integrity.

Your first blog will be to rewrite your personal essay with some consideration given to the structure that we outlined on the board in class.

Write a clear introduction and conclusion. Include three subtopics that are developed in the subsequent body paragraphs. Revisit the essay by Bertrand Russell. 

Throw a picture of yourself onto the post.

Your blog will be visited and graded as a significant component of your English 12 grade. Postings will include responses to what we read or view in class as well as personal reflections on suggested topics, such as the one above. 

 

Good luck and enjoy your blog!

Eng 12 Course Outline

English 12                                              

Mr. Wm. Laven                                                       blaven@summer.com                                           Phone: 770-7750

Penticton Secondary School

158 Eckhardt Ave. E. Penticton BC

V2A 1Z3

 

Semester 1: 2014 – 2015

 English 12 is a course designed to improve your reading comprehension and writing skills. We will explore writing by contemporary and classic authors.

 

1. Drama study: We’ll read two dramas together this semester - one each term.

 

Hamlet, by Wm. Shakespeare       2 weeks

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller        2 Weeks

 

2. Novel study: We will read two of the following novels (one each term) during the course of study. Each of you will be responsible for one other novel.

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

Ninety Eighty-Four by George Orwell (2 Weeks )

The Great Gatsby, by Fitzgerald

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by A. Solzhenitsyn

Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (1 week)

 

Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies

 

3. Public Speaking: Each student will prepare and present an original speech of approximately 3 minutes.

 

4. Essays will comprise both reading and writing throughout the course of study. Our focus will be on theme and structure and improving our own writing skills.

 

5. Poetry: read & write! (2 weeks intermittent)

 

6. Short Stories: We will read a selection of short stories and analyse theme, character and structure. (3 weeks intermittent)

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula LeGuinn

“Gentlemen, Your Verdict” by Michael Bruce

“Just Lather, That’s All” by Hernando Tellez

“The Destructors” by Graham Green

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“War” by Luigi Pirandello

 

Course Evaluation

          Class Work (including participation and attendance)         30%

          Projects                                                                            30%

          Lit Circles                                                                         10%

Homework                                                                        10%

Tests and Quizzes                                                           20%

Accelerated Reader will be used as a bonus project.

The course work will constitute 70% of the final grade with a final exam comprising the remaining 30%. Welcome to what promises to be a wonderful semester of English 12!

 

“Ozymandias”  by Percy Bysshe Shelly

         

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.