In class today we read and discussed “Finding Prosperity by Feeding Monkeys,” by Harold Taw (Bedford Reader, p. 110) — Here’s the NPR audio, if you’re interested.
I also assigned the intros to Narration (pp. 81-89) and Description (pp. 137-143) for Monday, and Sarah Vowell’s essay “Shooting Dad” (p. 154) for Tuesday. This is all part of our preparation for the first revised essay we will begin soon. How soon? Very soon.
Brian Jay Stanley on writing:
The secret of writing is not so much vision or inspiration but the mundane ability to stop tinkering when we realize we’ve written something worth keeping. By an unmysterious formula, one accumulates good sentences by discarding bad ones. Creativity is the source of writing, but selectivity is the source of good writing. A writer is a prospector panning for gold in the stream of his own thoughts. He picks out the gems and nuggets and presents only them to the world, so that the world thinks his mind produces gold, though it mainly produces mud.
On Saturday, ten dedicated AP Lang & Comp students drove down to the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City. We spent a few hours taking a practice test at the Iowa Memorial Union, so everyone could get used to doing all parts of the test in the same sitting. As you can see, they were working very hard.
We were joined by future student teacher Miss O’Connor, who helped me score and analyze the multiple choice results (thanks for the help!). All in all, I thought it was a productive discussion after the test was complete.
The students were also visited by a surprise guest: former Iowa Governor Chet Culver stopped by to chat (after being reassured that his interruption wouldn’t count against the kids’ time on the test). He offered them all some encouragement and praised their willingness to take a Saturday afternoon to study.
Governor Culver also talked to me for a moment about his new alternative energy initiative, and asked me to pass along a link. Because I know many of you are interested in this issue, APLangComp is now following Gov. Culver on Twitter, to pass along news connected to alternative energy.
Thanks again to the hardworking students who drove down for the study session, and to Miss O’Connor for helping out.
We will be at the Iowa Memorial Union from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. There’s a big, open, study area on the main floor. You should be able to find us.
There’s a parking ramp across the street. If that’s full, the next closest ramp is the one attached to the Old Capitol Mall.
Drive safely!
Without necessarily endorsing the politics behind it, I thought I’d share this blog post by Jonathan Chait at the New Republic. Chait argues that MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough is guilty of using a straw man in a recent editorial. Reading this post might help clarify that particular logical fallacy for some people.
Today, we begin our AP Language & Composition Test Prep sessions. The complete schedule, as previously announced in class and through e-mails to parents, looks like this:
Wednesday, March 30 (3-5 pm, rm 64C)
Thursday, April 7 (3-5 pm, rm 64C)
Wednesday, April 13 (3-5 pm, rm 64C)
Thursday, April 21 (3-5 pm, rm 64C)
Saturday, April 31 (1-5 pm, in Iowa City)*
Remember, Kennedy High School will not provide transportation to the session in Iowa City, so plan ahead. A more precise location for the final session, and directions thereto, will be announced after we have a final RSVP list. Once I know who’s coming, I can make arrangements. Attendance to any and all sessions, of course, is completely voluntary.
You should write a notebook entry on Anthony Bourdain’s episode of No Reservations that we saw. Please address these questions:
* According to the show, what does Paris, and more specifically food in Paris, mean?
* How does the show emphasize subjectivity? (That is, Bourdain’s point of view.)
Please also read and respond to Oscar Wilde’s “Impressions of America.” We will discuss both on Monday.
Here’s the Frank Deford story we listened to in class.
Required Reading (1 NB entry apiece, please, by Jan. 24)
Eric Schlosser, “Why the Fries Taste Good,” from Fast Food Nation (preview through Google Books).
Monsanto, Inc.’s official response to Food, Inc.
Brendan Koerner, “Red Menace,” from Wired Magazine (2010).
—————————–
Non-Required Links
Here’s a conversation I started on my blog last year. In it, I linked to a blog post written by a doctoral student at Iowa State, who wrote back. A good example of getting conversations started that couldn’t happen without blogging.
A Slate.com story about how the FDA determines whether genetically-modified salmon are safe.
Here’s the website named at the end of Food, Inc.
Now Read This 