The Golden Compass

Posted on December 6, 2007 by msnev

About two years ago, I started reading Phillip Pullman’s book The Golden Compass after several people (colleagues AND students) recommended it. I enjoyed the first chapter or so, but then got caught up in other reading and research that had to be done. When I learned a few months ago that a movie version was being prduced, I dove back into it to finish. I’m almost to the end, and I must say it is a beautiful book. The symbolism in it alone is breathtaking. The setting is used exquisitely as more than just a backdrop for the plot — it seems to take on a life of its own. I’ll leave out details so that I don’t spoil the story for anyone, but I did want to at least quickly recommend it.
I understand that lately there has been some controversy over this piece of literature, and I’m glad that 3rd period has been able to use Fahrenheit 451 and some of Ray Bradbury’s other writings as a springboard to discuss how important it is that we keep an open dialogue going about such things. This is an amazing and diverse world we live in, and controversies are a natural part of it. As our beloved protagonist Guy Montag says, “We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while.

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Sophomores!

Posted on December 6, 2007 by msnev

Don’t forget to sign up for the PLAN test – it’s December 13th, periods 1-4. It’s the practice ACT, and I can tell you from personal experience that it is an extremely helpful tool to help you prepare.

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Return!

Posted on November 14, 2007 by msnev

My apoligies for such a long absence — I was having a little trouble getting links to post on the site from here (school), but I think that my schedule will calm down again in a week or two so I will have time to post new scholarship and writing contest information from home.

So, to make up for weeks of no quotes, here are a few:

” Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history; there could be no concept of humanity.” – Herman Hesse

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” – C.S. Lewis

“Books tap the wisdom of our species — the greatest minds, the best teachers — from all ver the world and from all our history. And they’re patient.” – Carl Sagan

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Remember learning about Constantinople in your history class?

Posted on October 15, 2007 by msnev

My apologies for not posting for so long — I was having a bit of computer trouble, but believe it is all resolved now. I have several new writing contests to post on Tuesday — please be sure to check back here for them!

In other news, several people have been asking me about my trip to Turkey, so here are the basics:

Over the summer, I was invited by two of my former professors from grad school to go with them as part of a teacher delegation to a school in Istanbul, Turkey. The school is affiliated with Kent State University, so once a year a group of teachers visits to observe in classrooms and work with the teachers. I have been paired up with a seventh grade teacher; I will be working mainly with helping to integrate books into the curriculum (they do things a little different over there… mostly memorization, from what I’m told).

I’ll be gone from Saturday morning, October 20th through late Monday night, October 29th. I plan to be back in room 212 the next day, although I will be fighting jet-lag so it might be interesting. I am very much looking forward to learning from my teaching abroad experience so that I can bring some new perspectives back to you.

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Guidance for Seniors

Posted on September 26, 2007 by msnev

Regarding various class discussions from your college/career workshop day, I found this site that seems to have good information and is easy to navigate.  Also, here is the link to the common application that many of you have been asking about.

Filed under: career, college, guidance | 1 Comment »

Pop Culture Literary Reference of the Week

Posted on September 26, 2007 by msnev

pynchon_house.jpg

In the “All’s Fair in Oven War” episode of The Simpsons (which aired on channel 43 last week), enigmatic postmodern writer Thomas Pynchon made an animated appearance. If you happened to catch this and wonder why he had a paper bag over his head, it is because he is notorious for being incredibly reclusive and media-shy. The most recent photo of him available to the public is his 1953 high school picture, and he has refused to be interviewed by the media since the mid-1960’s.

Here’s a synopsis of the scene in which he appears:

Marge is a contestant in a baking contest (think Top Chef or Hell’s Kitchen). As judges are tasting the culinary creations, a man with a paper bag over his head comments “These wings are ‘V-licious’! I’ll put this recipe in the Gravity’s Rainbow cookbook, right next to ‘the frying of latke 49’.”

… and here’s why that’s funny (aside from the paper bag part, which if you’ve read this far you always know is funny):

Three of Thomas Pynchon’s most famous works are novels entitled V, Gravity’s Rainbow, and The Crying of Lot 49. Brilliant!
For the record, this was Pynchon’s second appearance on The Simpsons. If you’re interested in reading about his first, click here.

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* Fun With Magnetic Poetry *

Posted on September 25, 2007 by msnev

I must admit, I rather enjoy reading the phrases and sentences that people have been creating on our magnetic poetry board throughout the day. They run the full spectrum from goofy and nonsensical to serious and profound.

I’ve noticed that a few of you take it VERY seriously — if you’re one of those people and would like to practice (Is competitive impromptu poetry writing a legitimate sport? Hmmm…) you can play it online by going here : http://www.magneticpoetry.com/play.html . I believe the site also has a place where people can post their magnetic masterpieces.

Have fun with words!

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Some good quotes for today

Posted on September 11, 2007 by msnev

Follow this link.

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Quotes (and such) of the week

Posted on September 4, 2007 by msnev

This week I’m posting a double dose of quotes, words, and book openers. Enjoy.

BOOK OPENER #1: “No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

– War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (which, by the way, can be read for AR!)

BOOK OPENER #2:  “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.”

– The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (also an AR book)

WORD #1: virulent

WORD #2: loquatious

QUOTE #1: “The question of literature, I suppose, is whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.” – Elizabeth Drew

QUOTE #2: (the following quote is from the 1980 documentary AC/DC: Let There Be Rock)

Interviewer:  Do you think there will be a third world war?

Angus Young: I am the third world war.

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Welcome Back!

Posted on August 23, 2007 by msnev

I am thrilled to start this new school year after a very hectic summer. I hope that each  of you did something you enjoyed over the past few months.

BOOK OPENER OF THE WEEK:  “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – 1984 by George Orwell

WORD OF THE WEEK: conundrum (Don’t know what it means? Use the Dictionary.com link in the column on the right.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK:  “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. The man who knows how will always have a job. The man who also knows why will always be his boss. ” -Emerson

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